This article, on so many levels, is a must read.
One hundred fifty-two years after our nation enacted the thirteenth amendment prohibiting slavery the same excuses used to justify slavery are now used by those who would defend abortion. “Property” has become “body,” but otherwise the same arguments are used to deny humanity to humans in order to treat them as less than human. Modern America has just graduated from the trading of bodies to the trading of body parts.
Recounting the popular advice in ancient Rome, Jerry Toner of the University of Cambridge noted Romans of the day advised, “Giving birth to many children does not mean you should keep them all. If you are poor and do not earn enough to be able to support your family, you should throw away weak infants at birth. A child does not become a full human being until the eighth or ninth day when the father has accepted it into his household.…So if your wife does produce an unwanted child, you should instruct her to abandon it at the town dump or by the roadside so the slave-dealers can pick it up.”
Christians were declared enemies of humanity by Roman emperors because, in part, they would collect the discarded babies from the town dump and raise them as their own. Likewise, they would refuse abortions. Two thousand years later it was Christians who took up the cause of abolition and now Christians again seek the abolition of the newest stain on our constitution.
The Resurgent
We must end this stain. Every child has a right to life. Every last one.
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I shared this on Facebook this morning without comment:
An explanation with this is necessary. Many in the progressive movement ignore the atrocities of the Islamic world and call anyone that points them out a racist or Islamophobe. It is pure sensationalism to say that a president that has said crude things— and allegedly sexually assaulted women— is oppressing women. It is a lie to say that the Republicans that want to make abortion illegal are oppressing women. Neither of these things is oppression.
Those are the women this was targetted at. Sensationalizing progressive hypocrites.
Are there issues within feminism that are true, valuable, and should be fought for? Yes. Even from a Christian worldview. However, much of what was featured in the rallies over the weekend cannot be endorsed or supported from a Christian worldview.
The modern feminist movement is largely driven by abortion rights, homosexuality, and transgenderism. It is right, as a Christian, to have a problem with this.
But moreover, through satire and ad absurdum arguments, I think it can be addressed in a way to wake some hypocritical people up.
Sharing this without comment or context was likely a wrong choice.
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The legislation, which passed 238-183, would make the Hyde amendment permanent. The amendment, which has been added to spending bills for decades, bans any federal funding from being used to provide abortions.
In addition, it would target Obamacare plans that cover elective abortions. It would not provide Obamacare customers with subsidies used to pay down the cost of insurance if the insurance plan covers abortions.
Washington Examiner
And before you claim that this is preventing women from having access to abortions:
The bill, authored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., would not affect an Obamacare customer who does not receive taxpayer-funded subsidies.
If you are paying for your insurance and want elective abortion coverage, this bill doesn’t affect you. If, however, you rely on the government to pay part of your insurance cost, this bill means that the government will not contribute to a policy that covers elective abortions.
The Hyde amendment was one of the things the Hillary Clinton wanted to be overturned. Just like Margaret Sanger intended, lower-income and largely black populations are the targets of the abortion industry. Allowing taxpayer money to fund these is a pipe dream of Sanger, who Clinton admired enormously.
Now let’s pray this passes the Senate and we can end another loophole for taxpayer funding of abortions.
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If we are to be faithful in a world of “fake news,” “alternative facts,” and biased sources, we are going to need to be more careful with the statistics we share, the news stories we read, and the sources we trust. Gullible skeptics, either on the right or left, don’t stand out from the world. And what we need today is for Christians to care about getting the facts straight, whether or not they’re useful or beneficial to “the party line,” because we believe in a God who tells the truth.
The Gospel Coalition
The issue of not verifying information exists on both left and right. In the past few weeks alone I have corrected Republican and Democrat friends on where certain politicians stand. It’s oft too easy to hit the retweet or share button because you agree with a meme, even though the meme is verifiably false.
Christians, you have an obligation to do better. So please do.
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I don’t think that all of the 217 people charged with rioting will be locked up. But living for a month with that serious felony hanging over your head tends to make people rethink their lives. And putting a few of them in the pokey for a few years will go a long way toward discouraging this kind of behavior we saw so often during the rocky campaign.
One promise Trump made in his nomination acceptance speech is that he’d be the law and order president. These rioters are finding out the hard way that President Trump intends to keep that promise.
The Resurgent
There is a clear difference between rioting and protesting. While some on Friday came to protest, others came to inflict damage, cause harm, and worse. Under President Obama, all too often this was allowed. Calling these rioters “thugs” resulted in screams of “racist!” Because we couldn’t hold people accountable for their actions when they were rightly pissed.
But it would appear that law & order is returning. Two hundred seventeen people were arrested on Friday and face up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Hopefully, that will cause them to knock it off.
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Instead of learning a single lesson from Donald Trump’s upset victory in November, the American left has strapped on vagina hats and marched in the street, calling Trump supporters Nazis and ridiculing people of faith. The media has been positively enamored with it all and continues to refuse even to learn how to relate to the people who voted for Trump.
The Resurgence
I have a friend on Facebook. He, his friends, and I had an interesting exchange last week. He claimed to not understand how people could vote for Trump. I explained it and he still didn’t understand it. They could have voted third-party— like I did— he claimed. He could not see voting Trump, in any case, better than voting not Trump.
You have to live for the next four years with those that voted for Trump. Just like they have to live with you. Calling your opponents Nazis and insulting their religion is not how you heal America. It’s not how you end divisiveness. How about, instead of stonewalling half of America and saying you cannot understand them while you have your fingers in your ears, you shut up and try.
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Just like God chose Saul. Just like God chose Caesar. Just like God chose Nero, and Stalin, and even Hitler. Our God is sovereign. Even when we don’t understand His choices, He is sovereign. It’s one of the comforts that comes with Christian faith.
But remember one thing: God can choose to punish as justly as God can choose to bless. Trump could be either. He could be neither. But God is sovereign no matter what.
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During Tom Price’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Bernie Sanders rebuked his claim that we are a compassionate society.
“No, we are not a compassionate society,” Sanders said. “In terms of our relationship with poor and working people, our record is worse than virtually any other country on earth.”
The Resurgent
This has been repeated over and over in the last decade. Rand Paul’s response to Sanders was a thing of beauty.
“One of the things that’s extraordinary about our country is just two years ago, in 2014, we gave away $400 billion — privately, not the government, individually — to churches and to charities,” Paul said. “We’re an incredibly compassionate society. This was misplaced in sort of the wonky numbers of this number and that number within health care how much we do help each other.”
“Not only do we help each other within our own county, I’d bet you most — half the physicians in my community in Bowling Green have gone on international trips and done international charity work and all that is lost in saying that we’re this heartless, terrible country, and I would just argue the opposite,” Paul continued. “I think the greatness of our country and the greatness in the compassion of our country — we give away more than the gross domestic product of most of these socialized countries around the world.”
There is a huge difference in what Sanders and Paul/Price are saying. Rand Paul’s expectation is that the government is small and that it taxes the people reasonably little. The people then, not the government, can choose to do with their money how they desire. Sanders, on the other hand, expects the government to provide services to the people, and to do so requires large amounts of taxes and government structure.
When Sanders, on Wednesday, makes the claim that we lack compassion for the working people and the poor, he is saying that the government doesn’t do enough for these individuals. When Paul and Price say that we are compassionate, they point to all the individuals and private institutions do and give to society.
If it is your expectation that the government should provide for the people, you would be right to think we don’t care. But then look at the $400 billion given to church's and charities that goes to help the people you think the government isn’t doing enough for. Maybe, instead of demanding that the government take more money from your fellow citizens, give your own money to these causes and make a difference.
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The Echo Chamber. Since November, much has been focused on it. How Facebook, through algorithms, enforces it. How our own confirmation bias encourages us to surround ourselves with things that we agree with. But how does one start to break out of their chamber?
A few years ago, I started to use my morning commute for podcasts. I went through quite a few before finding a couple that I regularly enjoy. While there are a few tech podcasts on my list, my daily morning commute is Albert Mohler’s The Briefing. The Briefing is a news and events podcast, covering things from a Christian worldview. The benefit, however, is that he doesn’t grab articles from Fox, or The Blaze, or even Breitbart. No, he regularly references New York Times, HuffPo, Washington Post, and more on the Left-leaning side. Hearing the way that liberals put things, their use of language, and their train of thought has become a part of my daily routine.
The other podcast that is a part of my weekly routine is Steven Crowder’s Louder with Crowder. While he is less respectful and more comedic, he too cites liberal news sources more often than conservative ones.
By taking 20 minutes a day, one can start breaking down the barrier. So if you are a conservative, I’d recommend both of these podcasts. If you are a liberal, I’d honestly recommend both of these podcasts as well. The reason is that Albert Mohler has a humble honest way of explaining things that I feel anyone can respect him and from him understand the way that conservatives look at things. And Steven Crowder is just hilarious and I think that can work across political boundaries.
Breaking the echo chamber in your life has to be intentional. Make a choice to understand people instead of stereotype them.
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I’m supportive of protests, however this particular protest exposes ignorance. What?! Liberals, ignorant? Yes, it’s true. You see – this protest demonstrates that these people believe there are only two options – Obamacare and going back to the way things were before Obamacare. The reality is that Republicans have released several thoughts on what the best replacement plan might be – yes that’s right, replacement plan – as in not going back to the pre-Obamacare years. It’s no secret there were issues with healthcare – no one is denying that.
The Resurgent
This goes back to the echo chambers that we build around ourselves, whether on Facebook, Twitter, or the news we read. For the conservative, it is hard to live in a self-confirming echo chamber. All major news sources have a liberal lean outside of Fox and even if you watch television, liberal concepts and priorities are pushed very heavily.
For the liberal, the opposite is true. Outside of Fox, Last Man Standing, and a number of online publications, almost all news and media content from Hollywood is self-confirming. Breaking the echo chamber has to be intentional.
Ignorance of your opponents is what is driving people to declare everyone that voted Trump to be racist, misogynist, bigots. I regularly ready articles from the New York Times, Washington Post, and even HuffPo. Why? Because hearing about something from multiple worldviews is important and makes it harder for me to stereotype the Left.
So back to healthcare, the article above gives some insight into the Republican reform of healthcare that is coming this year under Trump. We don’t want to go back to how things were before Obama. I don’t know anyone that does. So read that and ask questions of conservatives in your life. If you don’t know any conservatives, this is a good year to start.
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