The Grand Illusion...

Why Conservatives Have Lost Cultural and Political Ground to Liberals:

Conservatives accept the logically flawed premise that liberals employ. Consequently conservatives often end up not even arguing for their cause. Rather they get drawn down the rabbit hole of illusion which often helps advance the liberal argument and/or makes the conservative seem out of touch or incoherent. 
 
This tactic is successfully complete when conservatives actually adopt the liberal approach of using logical fallacies to construct and support their argument.
  

 February 18, 2016
Author: Brett Kunkle
Stand to Reason Ministries

On Sunday, I returned home from another Berkeley Mission trip, where I intentionally exposed high school students to some of my atheist friends in the Bay Area. For the last six months, we’ve taught apologetics to these high schoolers from Upland Christian Academy. Now it was time for them to “get off the sidelines and into the game” and engage non-Christians with the truth. Of course, my atheist friends are more than happy to oblige, so they meet with our missions teams, challenge them with a short lecture, and then dive into some rigorous dialogue.

Without fail, a couple of our atheist guests will contend, “Religion is the cause of most wars.” This cultural mantra has been uttered so often and with so much force, it has come to be accepted as an undeniable declaration. Prominent atheists like Sam Harris contribute to the chorus of voices, arguing religion is “the most prolific source of violence in our history” (The End of Faith page 27). Richard Dawkins claims, “There’s no doubt that throughout history religious faith has been a major motivator for war and for destruction.”

But as we trained students for this trip, we equipped them with a simple question to expose such claims: “How did you come to that conclusion?” (also known as Columbo Question #2). We simply taught students to recognize when someone makes a claim and then to request their supporting reasons. When our atheist presenters were challenged to provide justification, they could only offer up the Crusades, the Inquisition, 9-11, or vague references to Islamic terrorism. Certainly we recognize religion’s role in these examples, but three or four references cannot support the claim that most wars are caused by religion.

Not only were students able to demonstrate the paucity of evidence for this claim, but we helped them discover that the facts of history show the opposite: religion is the cause of a very small minority of wars. Phillips and Axelrod’s three-volume Encyclopedia of Wars lays out the simple facts. They examined 5 millennia worth of wars—1,763 total—and found that only 123 (or about 7%) were “religious in nature.” If you remove the 66 wars waged in the name of Islam, it cuts the number down to a little more than 3%. A second scholarly source, The Encyclopedia of War edited by Gordon Martel, confirms this data, concluding that only 6% of the wars listed in its pages can be labelled religious wars. Thirdly, William Cavanaugh’s book, The Myth of Religious Violence, exposes the “wars of religion” claim. And finally, a recent report (2014) from the Institute for Economics and Peace further debunks this myth.

We didn’t stop there. We showed students it gets worse for the atheists’ claim. A strong case can be made that atheism, not religion, and certainly not Christianity, is responsible for a far greater degree of bloodshed. Indeed, R.J. Rummel’s work in Lethal Politics and Death by Government has the secular body count at more than 100 million...in the 20th century alone.

Our students were able to see that a simple examination of the facts relieves religion from blame for most of the world’s wars. In addition, we were able to help cultivate in students a healthy skepticism of atheistic claims. If the skeptic will shout such an unsubstantiated claim so loudly and with so much force, what other skeptical claims might quickly fall apart under rational scrutiny? 

Gambling, Drugs, and Odd Political Bedfellows

Personal Autonomy and Big Government

By: John Stonestreet|Published: August 5, 2014 6:04 AM

 

What do legalized gambling and legalized pot have in common? They fill
government coffers and fuel social pathologies -- all in the name of
personal freedom.

 

In most political commentary, libertarians and liberal advocates of  an expanded role for government are considered to be on the opposite sides of the political spectrum. Libertarians oppose increased government revenues as an assault on personal freedom, while the people they deride as “big government” supporters argue that these revenues are needed if government is going to perform its proper role.

As it turns out, the reality is not nearly as clear as the theory. There are times when their interests coincide to the detriment of many.

This was the subject of a recent Washington Post op-ed by one-time Chuck Colson colleague and former White House speechwriter Michael Gerson. According to Gerson, both “the growth of payday gambling and the legalization of marijuana” are “justified as the expansion of personal liberty,” and at the same time “they serve the interests of an expanding government.”

The latter is, or should be, obvious: legalizing various forms of  gambling allows states to raise revenues “without the political inconvenience of requesting broad tax increases.” For instance, Maryland voters legalized video slot machines in 2008 and approved the addition of a casino just outside Washington, DC in 2012.

As Gerson pointed out, Maryland’s motives had nothing to do with “personal autonomy.” Its motives were the 61 percent tax it collects on video slot machine revenue.

The same is true of every other state with legalized gambling. State-sponsored gambling allows elected officials to provide voters with government services without asking voters to pay for the services if  they don’t want to. Instead, they can stick other people, often those who can least afford it, with the tab: between 40 and 60 percent of all video slot revenue comes from problem gamblers. And, as if to reinforce the whole “free lunch” idea, “casinos are often sited to attract working-class” customers.

And as Gerson tells us, history seems poised to repeat itself. My state of Colorado is expected to collect $114 million in its first year of marijuana legalization. Other states are watching, and it’s safe to say that many will follow the money trail. The political logic that drives the spread of legalized gambling also drives legalized drug use.

Of course, no elected official will acknowledge the cynical political calculation at work here. Instead, the preferred rhetoric is that of personal freedom. Thus, as Gerson writes, “libertarians are now,
paradoxically, providing ideological cover for irresponsible government.”

Missing in all of this is any consideration of the impact of  government’s trafficking in human weakness. Just as there is ample evidence of the damage that problem gambling causes to individuals,
families, and communities, there are reasons to be concerned about the impact of legalized marijuana, especially on children.

But all of this takes a back seat to government’s need for revenue and the libertarian desire to maximize personal freedom. As Gerson writes, “the idea of a political community upholding standards, in order to help other institutions (such as families) pass healthy cultural norms between generations, is anathema.”

As Chuck Colson pointed out on this program 15 years ago, it’s as if  government were deliberately setting about “to increase crime, divorce, suicide, child abuse, bankruptcy, and domestic violence.”

Come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary. We’ll link you Mike Gerson’s excellent editorial. We’ll also link you to Focus on the Family’s resources on the scourge of gambling—as well as the Family Research Council’s work on marijuana.

As Gerson says, “politicians increasingly benefit when citizens are addicted, exploited, impoverished and stoned.” And, the oddest of  political bedfellows—libertarians and the advocates of big government—are calling it the “advance of freedom.” Gerson is correct when he says that a better word is “contemptible.”

Do You Know Why Economics Is a Moral Issue?

Summit Ministries 
August 7, 2013

Every liberal economic policy is predicated on the assumption that coercive governments are morally superior to free markets. But how would progressives react if they realized the exact opposite is true?
Bad economic ideas lead to bad — and immoral — economic decisions. As the Acton Institute’s Dr. Samuel Gregg puts it in Becoming Europe, quoting economist Arthur Brooks, the goal of a free market system of economics is not “the endless acquisition of wealth.” Rather, it is human flourishing1 — our ability to, inasmuch as we can after the fall, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and rule over creation (Genesis 1:28).

The Bible doesn’t instruct us on specific tax policies. Nowhere does it prescribe what percentage of gross domestic product the federal government ought to be spending. But it does give us a framework from which to orient our economic thinking: people are made in the image of God and carry inherent dignity and the ability to produce good things. Economic systems that affirm these truths lead to human flourishing. It’s for that reason that the free market system, when coupled with personal virtue and community responsibility, better aligns with a biblical worldview than any other economic system. Christians ought to learn to articulate this: what is immoral is not the free market system, but the diminishment of opportunity and dignity when it is corrupted by greed or destroyed by power.
As New York Times bestselling author and Summit faculty member Jay W. Richards recently said in an interview with Summit, “If we, as Christians, care about people, economic reality is something that impinges on people in a thousand different ways. We need to learn something about it.”

Our Economic Responsibility Includes Learning Basic Principles

Aside from basic economic principles like the law of supply and demand or the function of price in a market, two key principles can help us rightly order our economic thinking.

1. Prudence
As Richards says in Money, Greed, and God, “Prudence means to ‘see reality as it is and to act accordingly’ to conform your mind, and then your actions, to reality.”2 Elsewhere in the book, Richards recounts the story of Bob Geldof, who helped organize movements in the 1980s to fight poverty in Africa, including Live Aid and Band Aid. Those movements have done little to lift struggling nations out of poverty, mostly because they misunderstand what creates prosperity. Geldof’s take: “Something must be done, even if it doesn’t work.”3

Well, his plan didn’t work. Unthinking aid creates lifelong dependence and stamps out the entrepreneurial spirit of whole nations. Though his intentions were good, the outcome was deeply immoral. “We spend too much time focusing on what we mean to do and what we like to do instead of putting serious empirical work into what’s actually going to work,” Richards said in an interview.

2. Subsidiarity
The principle of subsidiarity goes back to medieval thinker Thomas Aquinas. Subsidiarity claims that it is wrong for a “larger or higher association” to step in and try to fix a problem when an institution closer to the issue can act.4 So, for example, when a young family finds itself in trouble, it’s inappropriate — even unjust — for the state or federal government to provide aid when extended family members, a local church, or neighbors can help the family in need.

This principle has significant implications for fighting poverty. In the face of federal welfare, poverty rates in the U.S. have remained between 12 and 15 percent for the last fifty years. Prior to President Lyndon Johnson’s welfare programs, local communities were primarily responsible for taking care of the poor. Poverty was actually on the decline in the years leading up to Johnson’s War on Poverty; federal welfare halted that decline.5

Economic Responsibility Also Means Having the Right Cultural Values

In Becoming Europe Gregg pinpoints the differences between European economies and that of the U.S., demonstrating how the U.S. can avoid plunging into the sort of economic crises in which Europe currently finds itself. At the root of Gregg’s argument is a study of the cultural values that undergird economic realities. As Gregg puts it, “. . . any given economic setting . . . is influenced by a range of value commitments, ideas, and movements.”6 In other words, economies serve as cultural barometers for their respective countries:

A market economy, for example, relies on processes such as market prices and the exchange of goods and services, institutions such as private property and rule of law, as well as actions such as innovation and economic entrepreneurship. Note, however, how every single one of these economic processes, actions, and institutions assumes a commitment to freedom.7

As Gregg explains, top-down economies necessarily restrict freedom, ignoring prudence and subsidiarity and thus denying essential truths about humans and the imago Dei. Ignoring these realities, in turn, creates a negative view of entrepreneurship. A biblical view, on the other hand, begins with God as creator. Bearing his image, we too know how to create. God wants abundance; bearing his image, we are by nature equipped to produce more than we consume.

Thus, coercive economic policies have the effect of suffocating the entrepreneurial impulse. In the European Union 45 percent of citizens preferred to be self-employed, while 46 percent preferred to be an employee. What happens in a nation when a majority of the citizens expect others to take care of them instead of taking responsibility themselves? Interestingly, too much economic despotism may actually cause people to wake up to their servitude. In China, where citizens have lived under severe state planning, entrepreneurship is much more highly valued: 71 percent of Chinese citizens preferred to be self-employed, as opposed to 28 percent who said they wanted to be an employee.8

So is it possible to avoid Europe’s path? Gregg says yes, but only if we affirm five values that stave off an immoral economic despotism and create an environment for freedom and flourishing:

1. Wealth Creation Over Wealth Redistribution. History — and the principle of subsidiarity — shows us that people benefit when they can work to improve their lots themselves. This value affirms the fact that God made people to be co-creators of culture, not passive consumers.
2. Accountability and Transparency: Truth Over Falsehood. In a true market economy, people are held accountable for poor economic decisions by the outcomes of those decisions. A culture of bailouts and corporate welfare undermines this value.
3. Justice: Rule of Law Over Rule of Men. None of these values will amount to much if the government fails to enforce just laws. In addition to protecting the innocent and punishing wrongdoers, securing justice provides a climate of stability in which wealth creators can reap the rewards of their risk and create greater abundance.
4. Property Rights Over “Dirigisme.” Dirigisme is simply the government stepping into the private sector to directly manage wealth. Leaders who regularly threaten to diminish private property rights create uncertainty, diminish investment, and generate a climate of fear.
5. Hope Over Fear: Openness vs. Defensiveness. Productive people are not the bad guys, and our government ought to stop portraying them as such.

So how do we reclaim the moral high ground from those advocating leftist policies? Bill Whittle thinks he knows. Bill is the “Virtual President” whose mock presidential addresses have gone viral on the Internet for articulating what our president should say. Whittle suggests using simple questions to communicate three central components of free market morality: freedom, private property, and virtue:

1. On freedom: ask, “Are you the kind of person who wants to be left alone, or are you the kind of person who likes to tell other people what to do?” Leftists assume that they are so smart that they deserve to coerce the rest of us. But very few people will admit to wanting to be a busybody.
2. On private property: ask, “If you believe in ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need,’ are you willing to donate your smart phone and other possessions to charity? How can you justify eating every day when others are starving?” Why do they expect others to make their sacrifices for them?
3. On virtue “Do you believe it is okay to hit someone and take their stuff if they have more stuff than you do?” If it is not okay on a personal level, it’s not okay for governments to do it either. Obviously we all must pay taxes. But to base tax policy on jealousy is to institutionalize theft.

People may not have a clear idea of what freedom, private property or virtue are, but when you put these simple questions to them, you’ll leave them thinking. You might even get them to see the moral basis of the free enterprise system.

Notes

1. Samuel Gregg, Becoming Europe: Economic Decline, Culture, and How America Can Avoid a European Future (New York: Encounter Books, 2013), 300.
2. Jay W. Richards, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem (New York: HarperOne, 2009), 46.
3. Ibid, 45.
4. Ibid, 51.
5. Ibid, 47.
6. Gregg, 41.
7. Ibid, 8.
8. Ibid, 19.

Pulpits Are Silent

Jeremiah 5:26-31

For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

Despite what the political parties would like you to believe, the problem in America is not the politicians, it is the pulpits. I hate to break the news to you, but most of America’s pulpits are filled with cowardly men unwilling to address the issues that have swept over our country like a tidal wave.

I am about fed-up with what I see. How did we ever get such man-pleasing leaders? All that our fore-fathers held dear is being destroyed before our very eyes and hardly a peep from the pulpit. They don’t want to hear it. It's the pulpiteers that I am talking about. They are concerned with being too harsh, they tell me that “Jesus is in control,” that they are not “called” to fight evil and that "we should pray for our enemies.”

What we need is a return of the Voice of God thundering through the prophets standing in America’s pulpits. Not the prissy purpose driven therapeutic Christianity drivel passing as the Gospel today. Few of the feminized-preachers of the day can hold a candle to those who ushered in The Great Awakening which led to the American Revolution, and the abolition of slavery -- two world-changing events spearheaded by the pulpit.

·         Public schools are destroying the faith of Christian children and the pulpits are silent.

·         Legislation is introduced to remove the rights of parents and the pulpits are silent.

·         Children are taught they came from apes and the pulpits are silent.

·         Millions of children are “medicated” to control their behavior and the pulpits are silent.

·         Gambling is promoted to pay for schools and the pulpit is silent.

·         Precious babies are being murdered in the womb and the pulpits are silent.

·         Planned Parenthood kills babies with our tax dollars and the pulpits are silent.

·         Judges make laws and the pulpits are silent.

·         Tolerance trumps Truth and the pulpits are silent.

·         Sodomy is granted legal protection and the pulpits are silent.

·         The institution of marriage is crumbling and the pulpits are silent.

·         Obama says the Sermon on the Mount justifies gay marriage and the pulpits are silent.

·         Government has replaced God as defender and provider and the pulpits are silent.

·         Faith-based initiatives invite the government into the Church and the pulpits are silent.

·         The IRS muzzles the voice of the Church and the pulpits are silent.

·         Taxes are levied to do the work of the Church and the pulpits are silent.

·         The Church locks arms with compassionate-conservativism and the pulpits are silent.

·         Children’s service agencies separate family members and the pulpits are silent.

·         Self-help books replace the Bible and the pulpits are silent.

·         A Purpose Driven Life is elevated above dying to self and the pulpits are silent.

·         Leaders say Christians and Muslims worship the same God and the pulpits are silent.

·         The Constitution is ignored and the pulpits are silent.

·         Pagans pray to open a session of Congress and the pulpits are silent.

·         Our elected officials lie and steal and the pulpits are silent.

·         Private property is stolen by government and the pulpits are silent.

·         Mother Earth is protected more than Father God is defended and the pulpits are silent.

·         Illegal aliens over-run our borders and the pulpits are silent.

·         The entertainment industry celebrates debauchery and the pulpits are silent.

The Magician's Twin - The Case Against Scientism - C.S. Lewis

Death of Common Sense

Cultivating Courage

The First Cardinal Virtue

By: Eric Metaxas

Sometimes it takes courage to do the right thing. But what is courage, and why does the Church need it in spades?

The day before Chuck Colson fell ill at the Break the Spiral of Silence conference, he filmed a series of “Two-Minute Warning” videos on a topic he felt was crucial for the survival of our culture and our nation: The cultivation of virtue.

So starting today and continuing through the next three Wednesdays, you can watch the final four “Two-Minute Warnings” Chuck recorded — all at ColsonCenter.org.

Just as there are laws we must follow for physical health, so too there are laws we must follow for the health of the soul. That's what virtues are: laws for a healthy soul. And healthy souls are a prerequisite for a healthy civilization. As John Adams once wrote, “Public virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private Virtue, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.”

Greek and Roman thinkers placed a high value on cultivating virtue. And four virtues in particular — prudence, justice, courage, and temperance — they ranked as the cardinal virtues, meaning that they are foundational to all the others. For example, courage is a cardinal virtue because doing the right thing — practicing any of the virtues — under pressure takes moral courage.

So what is courage? It’s not the absence of fear. Courage is overcoming a natural fear. Courage means saying yes to right action even at risk of pain or loss, just as Chuck did during Watergate.

At that time he was offered a plea bargain: He could plead guilty to something he didn’t do and be charged with a misdemeanor, or he could face years in prison. But Chuck could not swear to a falsehood. Instead, he pled guilty to a different charge, and he and his family paid the price. The story is all in “Born Again.” If you’ve never read it, we have it for you at the Colson Center bookstore online.

Another important aspect of courage is that it is not a momentary, one-time thing. Courage sticks with a challenge, however difficult, until it is finished.

The fact is, friends, we’re facing a challenge in America today that’s going to require a good dose of courageous stick-to-itiveness. That challenge is defending religious liberty. Chuck made it very clear in his final months and days — and I agree with him — religious liberty is under assault in America today like never before.

We have been alerted to the danger, and we must act, regardless of the risks. The Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has just completed a statement on this topic called “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty.”

As Catholic scholar George Weigel points out, the document not only tackles the so-called HHS contraception mandate, it highlights “state laws that impede the Church’s service to immigrants, attempts by state legislatures to turn religious communities into bureaus of state government, discrimination against Christian students on university campuses, and restrictions on the Church’s capacity to draw on public funds in its service to orphans and victims of human trafficking.”

The bishops rightly say, “Restrictions on religious liberty are an attack on civil society and the American genius for voluntary associations.”

Folks, they are right. And even though we will face a lot of opposition, this is a battle worth having. But we will need courage.

Editors Note: This week’s “Two-Minute Warning” is hosted by John Stonestreet and Timothy George. Next week, Chuck Colson’s pre-recorded broadcast on the cardinal virtues starts. In total, we have an eight-part series, four of which Chuck recorded.

School Bullying Webinar

Bullying Hurts & KGAB Radio have partnered to bring parents and students a free webinar 

Tuesday May 15^th. 6:30 – 7: 30 p.m. Mountain Time

The focus of this webinar is to inform parents and equip students how to identify and better deal with bullying incidents in all settings. Many parents don’t know the correct protocol for communicating concerns and details effectively. Take part in this webinar to learn how to successfully communicate in a positive and safe manner to the proper school administrators and/or authorities.

Log onto KGAB.com on Tuesday May 15^th at 6:30 p.m. and click on the webinar link.

Send questions to bullyinghurts@aol.com before or during the webinar. For more information call 307/287-6711.

By What Standard?

A few years ago, a documentary called Collision was made where Douglas Wilson debated Christopher Hitchens on Is Christianity Good for the World? Hundreds of hours of footage was shot and edited down to 90 minutes of solid debate and conversation. The clip you see above didn't make into that 90 minutes. Consider it deleted scenes. This is the first time it's being released, and we have it here for you to learn what it means and looks like to make a defense for your faith.


Notes from Douglas Wilson

Vandals smash windows at Mars Hill Church in southeast Portland

 "Hate Crime"?

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Vandals smashed nine windows with rocks at Mars Hill Church in southeast Portland overnight and a group claimed responsibility in an email sent to FOX 12.

Editor threatens on-line contributor for reporting abusive comments

By now we have all witnessed malicious comments on news articles and editorials by on-line readers. Most on-line communities have guidelines encouraging proper and civil conduct in posting comments along with a method to report improper comments to the on-line community moderator.

I seldom use this method because I have felt that by allowing inappropriate comments to remain on articles readers get a better insight towards the character of the agency publishing the content article. However, I have communicated concern with comments on several occasions to our local newspaper, the Casper Star Tribune. My most recent encounter was interesting to say the least.

The editorial board ran an editorial suggesting that Wyoming begin considering charter schools in an attempt to help improve graduation rate and overall academic improvement. I posted a comment supporting the idea and gave examples of how the local school district wastes money and is “top heavy”.

Moments after I commented another reader, screen name embarcadero, commented, personally attacking me and with completely off topic remarks. I reported the distasteful comment through the “report to moderator” process. I then posted another comment referring back to the editorial article in an attempt to keep any further discussion on topic. Again, moments after posting, embarcadero fired another round of similarly distasteful remarks towards me and others; also mentioning them by name. These people were not mentioned in the editorial or commenting on the article. This was especially troubling to me so I reported that comment to be removed also. My second request read as follows:

Report number two: Continued personal attacks - "Hate Group". Also in violation of the following "Rules for Commenting":

• Be truthful. Don't lie about anyone or anything. Value
• Be nice. No racism, sexism or any other sort of -ism that degrades another person.
• Stay focused, and ask questions. Keep on the story's topic.

If embarcadero's (Sean Patrick Larvie) slanderous comments are not removed immediately I will follow-up in person on Monday April 23rd. by 9:00 A.M.

Thanks you,

Marc

 This happened in the late evening hours on Sunday so I knew that moderation would not be immediate. Consequently, with my second “report of abuse” I added that if the slanderous comments were not removed by 9:00 am Monday morning I would be following up in person.

The comments were removed as requested but later in the day I received an e-mail from the Editor, Darrell Ehrlick . It is posted here in its entirety:

Dear Mr. Smith,

William Zeiders, our online editor, forwarded a concern written by you regarding another online comment. When comments escalate or cause us concern, we review them.

Your comment is particularly concerning to me. One of the challenges anyone has is reading tone and intent into email. In this instance, I have opted to handle your comment internally, rather than follow another protocol that we could have employed. We have reviewed the comment you found offensive, like we do with all that are reported to us. However, in the future if you make similar reports that include a specific threat, then I will have to take the following action. You will be banned from online commenting on our site. Secondly, I will report it to law enforcement.

Again, I don’t believe this was your intent. However, I cannot intuit intention in email. If you have questions about our policies or have concerns, you can contact me. We must take all threats seriously, though. We have to believe you meant what you said. We will continue to take you at your word. 

Thanks for your understanding,

-Darrell

Editor Ehrlick apparently felt that by me saying that I would follow-up if the comments were not removed was some kind of a personal threat.

It is amazing to me that the chief editor of a statewide newspaper doesn’t know what follow-up means and would take it as a threat that would warrant banning me from their on-line community and secondly report it to law enforcement before consulting his dictionary. After all, Mr. Ehrlick is working in the field of journalism. The response by this newspaper and their chief editor is unfounded, absolutely absurd and completely beyond reason.

I can assure you that the comments directed towards me and others by embarcadero and then the threat by editor Ehrlick were far more concerning than me letting the Casper Star Tribune know that I would follow-up to make sure that action was taken to remove the comments as their policy outlines.

The obvious over reaction by Mr. Ehrlick suggests a number of things, not the least of which is that they truly don’t want to be bothered by well meaning readers who assume that the Casper Star Tribune is actually serious about maintaining civility within their on-line community comments area. Of greater concern should be; what is the motive behind someone who believes that reporting abuse and following-up on the report is in any way a threat which would justify banning the person reporting abuse and then threatening to notify law enforcement? Something else is obviously at play here, bubbling under the surface. When someone in Mr. Ehrlick’s position can’t correctly identify a threat in a situation as simple as this, one must ask; what is the real issue? Could it be something as simple as insecurity or is it something larger, like a clash of worldviews and an editor with an agenda?

Check out embarcadero, who is Sean Patrick Larvie, and Darrell Ehrlick’s agenda should become a little more clear as you gain perspective. Any and all who disagree with either one of these gentleman are simply labeled as bigots. I have discovered that Mr Ehrlick believes these "bigots" must be banned from commenting and reported to law enforcement. Should the head editor of Wyoming's only statewide newspaper be so prejudiced?        

Authentic Love

“Authentic Love” -  Phil. 1:9-10

Hi, I'm Crawford Loritts with a Legacy Moment.

Some years ago, I had a disturbing conversation with a pastor. Without going into all the details, he told me of some families in his church who were breaking the law. This was not questionable stuff or gray area things, it was flat out wrong, no question about it. He said if the police came, they would be in big trouble.

I asked him if he or the other leaders in his church confronted them. I was fully expecting for him to say “yes.” His response made my jaw drop. He said, “We’ve chosen the law of love in this case. We’re looking past their behavior and affirming them as people.”

Now listen, love never ever endorses what is wrong. That’s not love. Love never says, “I’m going to ignore the wrong you’re doing, the self-destructive behavior, and the poor testimony this is projecting because I just want to affirm you as an individual.” No, true love cares enough to overcome fear of confrontation and speak the truth.

Philippians chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, really underscore this principle; “And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.”

Did you hear those words? God is calling us to operate from informed love. He says “real knowledge and discernment,” not just sentiment, not just a warm feeling. This type of authentic love produces Christ likeness. He says right here, “so you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.”

Here’s what I want you to remember today. Love is more than just a feeling. It is surrounded by knowledge and discernment, and it will never, ever endorse what is wrong.

Wyoming agrees to settle abortion protest lawsuit

 By The Associated Press

CHEYENNE — The state of Wyoming settled a federal lawsuit filed by an anti-abortion pro-life group.
Under the settlement, the state admitted that state officials violated the constitutional rights of WyWatch Family Action by removing a display of materials it posted in a tunnel leading to the state Capitol last year.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal approved the settlement and dismissed the lawsuit on Thursday.
Under the settlement, the state admits that it unconstitutionally prevented WyWatch from engaging in protected expression during the 2011 legislative session. The state agreed to pay the group $1 in nominal damages and $30,000 in attorney fees.

The State Building Commission, composed of the state's five statewide elected officials, this year banned all outside groups from displaying materials in the tunnel.

Social issues and the economy

Do divorce rates, incarceration, abortion, and low educational achievement affect the economy and government spending in America?

Of course they do.  Yet political pundits are trying to make us think the upcoming presidential election is solely about the economy.  Even some right-leaning commentators want us to believe that America's political parties, candidates, and voters have to choose between economic issues and social ones.

It's a false dichotomy. America's social and economic issues are inextricably inter-connected! America cannot have a healthy economy without strong moral values. Consider:

Marriage—Traditional marriage is vital for numerous reasons. As I've witnessed working in prisons for the past 35 years, the breakdown of the family is the principle reason why the prison population has increased tenfold since 1975. As the traditional marriage unit disintegrates, more and more single parents struggle to provide for their children, relying on public assistance and putting further strain on our economy. A recent study by the Institute of Marriage and Family says that the family breakdown's cost to society amounts to more than $6 billion a year in the U.S.  It's both a moral and economic crisis.

Protection of life—This is key.  Abortion, which kills more than 1 million babies each year, is the leading edge of the encroaching culture of death today. It is the overriding issue at the heart of what we are as a civilization. In addition to the moral toll that abortion takes on our society, the economic costs are also significant. Besides the $330 million of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood every year, there are also 52 million lives that have ended since the legalization of abortion. These babies could have been consumers, producers, and inventors in our society. In essence, abortion has eliminated key players in our national economy.

That defense of life—that commitment to the equal dignity to every single human being—is the reason we have a free market economy! Christian theologians realized that work had innate dignity. As a result, a capitalist economic system developed in the northern Italian states during the 11th century. This freed people to work and give full expression to their God-given creative gifts.

Low Educational Achievement—As the world economy globalizes, the U.S. public school system has less and less influence on the world market. Historically, the mission of schools was to develop in the young both intellectual and moral virtues. Early universities—Bologna, the Sorbonne, Oxford, and Cambridge—were founded by Christians to serve as institutes for Christian education. Christians knew that to fulfill their God-given potential they needed to be educated not just in the Bible but also in virtue.  Without a virtue-filled education, society—both moral and economic—will eventually breakdown. We are witnessing these effects in our lifetime. Our schools are now ruled by moral irrelevance resulting in low educational achievement and limited Kingdom impact.

To have a strong economy, you must have a strong moral foundation. But the "Great Illusion"—the myth that we can somehow have a values-free economy and keep it free—has affected American life. Our nation's social and economic issues have always been inextricably interconnected and must remain so if we are to survive.

As a Colson Center supporter, we know you "get it." Your courage to speak out is paramount—especially since courage is in such short supply! I hope you know how much we appreciate your efforts to seek out and speak out truth.

The Colson Center is here to help strengthen your Christian worldview. Please use the articles, tools, resources, and educational materials available at ColsonCenter.org. Participate in our ministry. Grow in your faith. And speak out for truth.

To encourage you, your family, and your friends to live unashamedly for God's Truth, we would like to offer you a copy of The Sky Is Not Falling. This book is a compilation of articles I've written in Christianity Today over the past dozen years, and it addresses many of the issues facing our culture today—and how we Christians can arm ourselves with knowledge and a vision for living with renewed optimism.

The support of friends like you is vital to our ability to share these truths with others! I am delighted to offer you this book as a thank you when you become a Member of The Colson Center.  Your contribution will help us share these truths, educate our friends and family, and restore our country's moral and fiscal values.

By standing together, combating the myths, and educating with Christ's love and hope, God can awaken His people and change our world. Our society can be changed. In fact, the onlyway a society is ever changed is by a movement of the people—and that's you and us together.

Will you stand with us today?

Yours in His service,

Charles W. Colson
Founder

Deafening Silence

Moral Issues in the Election

By Chuck Colson | Published Date: February 06, 2012

This reflection from the 2010 elections continues to be relevant for this year.

Here we are, six days from the midterm elections, and the silence is deafening.

Next Tuesday, I hope you will do your Christian duty and head to the polls to vote for the candidate of your choice. I trust that your faith will guide you in your decision. Which candidate will best promote justice and preserve order? After all, those are the biblically sanctioned roles of government.

And which candidate best exemplifies the cardinal virtue of prudence in his or her public and private life?

And which candidate will best promote the sanctity of human life, advocate for traditional marriage, and protect religious freedom?  Well, if you’ve got an answer for that last question, then you’re among the few. Because for the life of me, I have never heard so little about these core issues during a political campaign. These core issues—human life, marriage, and freedom—which—all expressed so powerfully in the Manhattan Declaration and supported by half a million signatories, aren’t even on the political radar this year.

And that, to me is shocking.

Shocking to me because I know that politicians are survivors. They watch the polls. They know what people want. And all the candidates seem to be talking about is the economy.

One side swears up and down that they have saved our economy from another great depression. The others side says Congress is spending our nation into bankruptcy and that they’ll slash federal spending.

But no one—OK, hardly anyone—is talking about life, marriage, and liberty.

Why is that? It’s because we Christians--whether it’s from culture-war fatigue or worry over our own jobs and bank accounts--have not been vocal enough on these issues.

The Republicans devised their Pledge to America after months and months of polling, focus groups, and web chats. These moral issues weren’t on their supporters’ minds or lips—at least not until I asked you to tell the Republican leadership that you want them to address these issues. You emailed by the thousands . . . but it was only enough to get the Republicans to throw us a bone. One short paragraph in a 45-page document!

But folks, I’ve made the case again and again, we cannot have a healthy economy apart from morality and ethics. Without promoting stable, healthy families, without protecting life and freedom, without promoting a Christian ethic that values work and saving over instant spending and gratification, no economy or nation can thrive.

So, where do we Christian stand with our political leaders and the two political parties?

I want you to come to ColsonCenter.org today and watch this week’s Two Minute Warning. It’s called “Politically Homeless.” I want to share some thoughts and observations that may startle you.

And I also want you to share your thoughts with me. Go to ColsonCenter.org or BreakPoint.org and click on “Speak Out with Chuck” session. How should Christians approach this election? Will either party ever realty promote the values we hold dear? I want to hear from you. I will read every comment and will respond where I can.

But make no mistake. No matter how silent the candidates are on life, marriage, and liberty, we believers must never be silent. For the sake of our faith in Christ, our nation, and the common good, we must speak out.

Outrageous Choice

Religious Freedom or Healthcare? By: Chuck Colson | Published: February 2, 2012

I’ve told you that the Obama Administration is intentionally restricting religious freedom. I’ve told you we are in danger of losing the right to exercise our faith in public.

Well, maybe I’ve been too understated. The attack is relentless.

Just recently, the Obama Administration announced that the Affordable Healthcare Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare, requires that employers pay for contraception, including abortifacients, and that Catholic institutions are not exempt from this requirement.

Well, Catholic Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh and other bishops are blowing the trumpets on the ramparts. And my hat’s off to them. They see the Administration’s actions for what they truly are.

In an open letter released last week, Zubik said that, “Kathleen Sebelius and through her, the Obama administration, have said ‘To [H-] with You’ to the Catholic faithful of the United States. To [H-] with your religious beliefs, to [H-] with your religious liberty, to [H-] with your freedom of conscience.” I’ll leave it to your imagination what the H- stands for.

In the administration’s twisted way of thinking, contraception is “preventive care” that helps prevent illness in the same way that cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes screening do — even though pregnancy is the means by which life is perpetuated and the species’ existence continued.

Even worse is the willful refusal to accommodate the beliefs of the nation’s largest religious body.

Sibelius defended the decision as “striking the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.” This is the same Kathleen Sibelius who told the crowd of abortion supporters at a NARAL fund-raiser, “we are at war” over the “pregnancy prevention” issue.

This the same Kathleen Sibelius whose department has issued hundreds of waivers for plans that fail to meet other Health and Human Service standards, including those offered by McDonalds. “Appropriate balance,” my foot!

Every Christian, not just Catholics, should be outraged by the Obama Administration’s decision. The regulations represent a move to define religious liberty in the narrowest possible terms. As one wag put it, the exemptions in these regulations are so narrow Jesus would not have been able to get through them.

Given the Catholic presence in areas such as health care, education and other social services, this is folly. Think of the public serves that won’t be delivered to people in need.  And, Catholics are being asked to make a choice no Christian should ever be forced to make: heeding your conscience or serving your neighbor.

Folks, we’ve got to stand with all Christians and protest the Administration’s outrageous assault on religious liberty. Our religious freedom is in grave peril. Today, now, I want you to go to BreakPoint.org. We will link you to Bishop Zubik’s letter. I want you to read it and then send it to everyone you know.

And then today, as well, go sign the Manhattan Declaration. Again, we’ll link you to it. In the coming months, you will be hearing much more from us on efforts to defend life, marriage, and religious liberty, for we have no time to lose.

Gambling Insanity

Political Chicanery and Cowardice
By: Chuck Colson | Published: January 31, 2012

A well-known expression attributed to Albert Einstein defines insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Well, if that’s insanity, then most state officials are quite insane when it comes to gambling: for more than two decades, they have looked to casinos, lotteries, slot machines, and video poker as a way out of their budgetary woes.

In virtually every instance, actual revenues fell far short of expectations: There was no pot at the end of gambling rainbow. Whatever added revenue was gained came at the expense of social problems associated with gambling.

At this point, a sane person might conclude that it really wasn’t worth the trouble. But state officials seem intent on proving Einstein right.

Case in point: a recent New York Times story about states possibly legalizing online gambling. Specifically, the goal is to get a cut from the online poker industry. The thinking is that just as the states took the various numbers rackets and turned them into state-run lotteries, the states could do the same with online poker.

The states would sell licenses to websites and tax the game operators’ earnings. And thanks to a favorable ruling from the Obama Justice Department just before Christmas, states now have the green light to proceed.

As Einstein might have predicted, the case for government-licensed online poker is drearily familiar: industry trade groups are predicting billions in additional tax revenues, an enticement state legislators find hard to resist. As a California legislator put it, “Two hundred and fifty million dollars buys you a lot of teachers.”

Ah, the old “we’re doing it for the children” gambit. The same gambit was employed in Florida in support of casino gambling. It didn’t turn out that way. Casino money didn’t “fix education” as politicians promised. In fact, the state wound up spending less money on education after legalizing casino gambling than it did before.

Folks look, this whole thing is a political shell game.

Licensing and taxing gambling is an easy out for every lilly-livered politician who refuses to make tough political and budgetary decisions. And it perpetuates the illusion that you can get something for nothing.

Since support for state-sponsored gambling is a way to avoid hard truths, you are unlikely to hear this. Likewise, you are unlikely to hear that lottery revenues are the most regressive of taxes, since the poor spend a larger proportion of their income on gambling. You also won’t hear about the social and personal costs associated with gambling, including crime, family breakdown, and on and on — up to $10,000 a year for each compulsive gambler.

So let’s be honest: As Alan Mallach of the Brookings Institution put it, “every dollar dropped into a slot machine is a dollar not spent on something else.” It’s taking money away from things like groceries and child support.

None of these arguments are new: state-sponsored gambling has always been a sucker's bet, which makes the newest rush to expand it, well, insanity.

Superintendent bullies Christian student

School officials at Shawano High School in Wisconsin have censored and punished Brandon Wegner, a 15-year-old, for writing an op-ed article explaining the Biblical view of homosexuality and supporting natural mother-father adoption, according to Liberty Counsel.
After Brandon wrote this article he was pulled into hours of meetings with school administrators and staff, without his parents' knowledge.

Superintendent Todd Carlson

Superintendent Todd Carlson told him that the column "went against the bullying policy," and asked him if he "regretted" writing it. According to Liberty Counsel, when Mr. Wegner stated that he did not regret writing it, and that he stood behind his beliefs, Superintendent Carlson told him that he had "to be one of the most ignorant kids to try to argue with him about this topic," that "we have the power to suspend you if we want to" and that the column had "personally offended me, so I know you offended other people!"

Brandon's opinion was a part of an editorial page which presented viewpoints both for and against homosexual adoption, each articulated by a student. After the school newspaper was published in the local town paper, a homosexual in the community complained to the school. School officials then censored Brandon's article, forcing him and his classmates to pull the page out of the newspaper before distribution at the school.

Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said "The bullying at Shawano High School is by Superintendent Todd Carlson and the school officials, not the student, Brandon Wegner. The school officials have displayed blatant intolerance of a view on homosexuality held by many people. The school's actions are shocking and unjustified. The superintendent should immediately apologize and stop the bullying."

TAKE ACTION
Send an email to Shawano Superintendent Todd Carlson. Urge him to immediately apologize for his unconstitutional and irrational censorship and humiliation of student Brandon Wegner.

Ask Mr. Carlson to publicly acknowledge that, in the future, all students will be allowed to express their religious beliefs, free from bullying and harassment by school administrators, staff and other students.

First It Was the Catholics

Restricting Religious Freedom

By: Chuck Colson | Published: January 24, 2012

If you needed more proof that religious freedom is in danger, the Obama Administration is glad to help.

In yesterday broadcast, I warned you that the Supreme Court’s decision to grant religious groups a “ministerial exception” in hiring, while important, does nothing to halt the Obama Administration’s relentless crusade to restrict religious freedom.

Just Friday, the Administration announced it would not expand exemptions for religiously affiliated organizations when it comes to insurance. So, a Catholic hospital, for instance, will be forced to purchase insurance for its employees that would provide free contraception and sterilization services.
Now, in case you didn’t know, the Catholic Church teaches that using artificial contraception or undergoing sterilization are grave sins. The government now said, “Tough.”

Even the liberal Washington Post sees this for what it is: a restriction of religious freedom. Its lead editorial called the Administration’s decision, “wrong.”

Perhaps the Administration was feeling benevolent because it delayed the implementation of the insurance mandate for a year.

Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan wasn’t feeling the love. He rightly fumed: “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.” Dolan said that “to force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable. . . Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."

Folks, I’ve been warning for more than a year now that the Administration is constricting religious liberty bit by bit. It has abandoned any defense of traditional marriage. It is promoting gay rights abroad at the expense of religious rights. And I’ve documented that the Administration, beginning with Secretary of State Clinton, has intentionally used the phrase “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion,” implying that one’s faith is a private matter — and that exercising that faith in public is not a protected right.

Well, if the Administration’s latest move isn’t proof of that, I don’t know what will be.

Now, to all my evangelical brethren who may be wondering why I’m making so much of this — after all, the vast majority of evangelicals don’t have a problem with contraception — I will say this: Which of our religious convictions will we be forced to abandon one day? Will our religiously affiliated groups be forced to hire people who oppose our faith? Will the government force a curriculum upon our schools and homeschoolers? Just a few years ago these possibilities seemed crazy. Now, they seem very real.

I’m reminded of the famous saying of German pastor Martin Niemoeller, referring to the horrors of Nazi Germany:

“First they came for the Socialists, and I
did not speak out —
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists,
and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did
not speak out — Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me — and there was
no one left to speak for me.”

Folks, all Christians speak out against this latest attack — and every attack — on religious liberty. Please, I plead with you, sign — and get your friends to sign — the Manhattan Declaration in support of religious liberty. Do it today at ManhattanDeclaration.org.

Because pretty soon no one will be left to speak out for us.