I Thought Free Speech Included Conservative Talk...

Great Britain has banned radio talk show host Michael Savage from entering their country, as well as jihadists, mass murderers and KKK leaders. They called his views inflammatory and derogatory... and mean. I guess having the #3 ranked radio show in the U.S. means that 8-10 million American listeners belong on that list as well.

It is one thing to disagree with the opinions of someone else, but it is another to ban that person from traveling to your country because their opinions might make some people feel uncomfortable. This is a huge attack on the freedom of speech, and should strike fear into any American who senses we are following the lead of such a PC, castrated country such as Great Britain. This same country allows Islamic terrorists to speak at their colleges calling suicide bombers martyrs. They won't, however, let someone in that wants to stop illegal immigration, abortion, same-sex marriage, and a myriad of other hot-button issues. Unreal.

It was once the liberal mentality to hate what someone has to say completely, but fight to the death to protect the right to say it. Now they just legislate opposing opinions out of the picture. I am sad to see it come to this. I am not at all surprised, though.

Dr. Michael Savage, you are not alone. Although you make people uncomfortable and sometimes angry with your personal opinions, you have never called for the harm of others. You do not incite hatred, racism or violence. You may talk loud at times, and get agitated, but if we could hear the powers that be talk candidly I believe they all could get banned from somewhere. Keep up the good work of exercising your 1st Amendment right to free speech. You have never once called for the muting of opposing opinions from the airwaves, instead, you have invited them for debate on countless occasions.

And to all who enjoy Communist China-esque censorship; be careful what you wish for. Total dictatorial policy only starts with eliminating opinions. And all this time I thought conservatives were the big, mean, oppressors. Interesting.

Obama-nomics

Real Quick: If the top 5% of Americans shoulder 80% of the tax burden, where is the incentive to be creative, invest, expand, produce, and employ? Why wouldn't the rich and industrious go somewhere else where they don't have to redistribute their earnings to pay for the people who contribute absolutely NOTHING. You know, the people Obama is trying to pander to. If you receive government aid, and someone told you they were going to continue to make it easy for you to do nothing, why wouldn't you vote for them over, and over, and over. You are essentially voting yourself a raise and a standard of living increase when you deserve nothing.

I can't say it blows my mind. It does, however, piss me off.

Eery Are The Similarities

Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so exceedingly fond of fine new clothes that he spent vast sums of money on dress. To him clothes meant more than anything else in the world. He took no interest in his army, nor did he care to go to the theatre, or to drive about in his state coach, unless it was to display his new clothes. He had different robes for every single hour of the day.

In the great city where he lived life was gay and strangers were always coming and going. Everyone knew about the Emperor's passion for clothes.

Now one fine day two swindlers, calling themselves weavers, arrived. They declared that they could make the most magnificent cloth that one could imagine; cloth of most beautiful colours and elaborate patterns. Not only was the material so beautiful, but the clothes made from it had the special power of being invisible to everyone who was stupid or not fit. for his post.

"What a splendid idea," thought the Emperor. "What useful clothes to have. If I had such a suit of clothes I could know at once which of my people is stupid or unfit for his post."

So the Emperor gave the swindlers large sums of money and the two weavers set up their looms in the palace. They demanded the finest thread of the best silk and the finest gold and they pretended to work at their looms. But they put nothing on the looms. The frames stood empty. The silk and gold thread they stuffed into their bags. So they sat pretending to weave, and continued to work at the empty loom till late into the night. Night after night they went home with their money and their bags full of the finest silk and gold thread. Day after day they pretended to work.

Now the Emperor was eager to know how much of the cloth was finished, and would have loved to see for himself. He was, however, somewhat uneasy. "Suppose," he thought secretly, "suppose I am unable to see the cloth. That would mean I am either stupid or unfit for my post. That cannot be," he thought, but all the same he decided to send for his faithful old minister to go and see. "He will best be able to see how the cloth looks. He is far from stupid and splendid at his work."

So the faithful old minister went into the hall where the two weavers sat beside the empty looms pretending to work with all their might.

The Emperor's minister opened his eyes wide. "Upon my life!" he thought. "I see nothing at all, nothing." But he did not say so.

The two swindlers begged him to come nearer and asked him how he liked it. "Are not the colors exquisite, and see how intricate are the patterns," they said. The poor old minister stared and stared. Still he could see nothing, for there was nothing. But he did not dare to say he saw nothing. "Nobody must find out,"' thought he. "I must never confess that I could not see the stuff."

"Well," said one of the rascals. "You do not say whether it pleases you."

"Oh, it is beautiful-most excellent, to be sure. Such a beautiful design, such exquisite colors. I shall tell the Emperor how enchanted) I am with the cloth."

"We are very glad to hear that," said the weavers, and they started to describe the colors and patterns in great detail. The old minister listened very carefully so that he could repeat the description to the Emperor. They also demanded more money and more gold thread, saying that they needed it to finish the cloth. But, of course, they put all they were given into their bags and pockets and kept on working at their empty looms.

Soon after this the Emperor sent another official to see how the men were ,getting on and to ask whether the cloth would soon be ready. Exactly the same happened with him as with the minister. He stood and stared, but as there was nothing to be seen, he could see nothing.

"Is not the material beautiful?" said the swindlers, and again they talked of 'the patterns and the exquisite colors. "Stupid I certainly am not," thought the official. "Then I must be unfit for my post. But nobody shall know that I could not see the material." Then he praised the material he did not see and declared that he was delighted with the colors and the marvelous patterns.

To the Emperor he said when he returned, "The cloth the weavers are preparing is truly magnificent."

Everybody in the city had heard of the secret cloth and were talking about the splendid material.

And now the Emperor was curious to see the costly stuff for himself while it was still upon the looms. Accompanied by a number of selected ministers, among whom were the two poor ministers who had already been before, the Emperor went to the weavers. There they sat in front of the empty looms, weaving more diligently than ever, yet without a single thread upon the looms.

"Is not the cloth magnificent?" said the two ministers. "See here, the splendid pattern, the glorious colors." Each pointed to the empty loom. Each thought that the other could see the material.

"What can this mean?" said the Emperor to himself. "This is terrible. Am I so stupid? Am I not fit to be Emperor? This is disastrous," he thought. But aloud he said, "Oh, the cloth is perfectly wonderful. It has a splendid pattern and such charming colors." And he nodded his approval and smiled appreciatively and stared at the empty looms. He would not, he could not, admit he saw nothing, when his two ministers had praised the material so highly. And all his men looked and looked at the empty looms. Not one of them saw anything there at all. Nevertheless, they all said, "Oh, the cloth is magnificent."

They advised the Emperor to have some new clothes made from this splendid material to wear in the great procession the following day.

"Magnificent." "Excellent." "Exquisite," went from mouth to mouth and everyone was pleased. Each of the swindlers was given a decoration to wear in his button-hole and the title of "Knight of the Loom".

The rascals sat up all that night and worked, burning more than sixteen candles, so that everyone could see how busy they were making the suit of clothes ready for the procession. Each of them had a great big pair of scissors and they cut in the air, pretending to cut the cloth with them, and sewed with needles without any thread.

There was great excitement in the palace and the Emperor's clothes were the talk of the town. At last the weavers declared that the clothes were ready. Then the Emperor, with the most distinguished gentlemen of the court, came to the weavers. Each of the swindlers lifted up an arm as if he were holding something. "Here are Your Majesty's trousers," said one. "This is Your Majesty's mantle," said the other. "The whole suit is as light as a spider's web. Why, you might almost feel as if you had nothing on, but that is just the beauty of it."

"Magnificent," cried the ministers, but they could see nothing at all. Indeed there was nothing to be seen.

"Now if Your Imperial Majesty would graciously consent to take off your clothes," said the weavers, "we could fit on the new ones." So the Emperor laid aside his clothes and the swindlers pretended to help him piece by piece into the new ones they were supposed to have made.

The Emperor turned from side to side in front of the long glass as if admiring himself.

"How well they fit. How splendid Your Majesty's robes look: What gorgeous colors!" they all said.

"The canopy which is to be held over Your Majesty in the procession is waiting," announced the Lord High Chamberlain.

"I am quite ready," announced the Emperor, and he looked at himself again in the mirror, turning from side to side as if carefully examining his handsome attire.

The courtiers who were to carry the train felt about on the ground pretending to lift it: they walked on solemnly pretending to be carrying it. Nothing would have persuaded them to admit they could not see the clothes, for fear they would be thought stupid or unfit for their posts.

And so the Emperor set off under the high canopy, at the head of the great procession. It was a great success. All the people standing by and at the windows cheered and cried, "Oh, how splendid are the Emperor's new clothes. What a magnificent train! How well the clothes fit!" No one dared to admit that he couldn't see anything, for who would want it to be known that he was either stupid or unfit for his post?

None of the Emperor's clothes had ever met with such success.

But among the crowds a little child suddenly gasped out, "But he hasn't got anything on." And the people began to whisper to one another what the child had said. "He hasn't got anything on." "There's a little child saying he hasn't got anything on." Till everyone was saying, "But he hasn't got anything on." The Emperor himself had the uncomfortable feeling that what they were whispering was only too true. "But I will have to go through with the procession," he said to himself.

So he drew himself up and walked boldly on holding his head higher than before, and the courtiers held on to the train that wasn't there at all.

-The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen

Have You Been Paying Attention?

Matthew 15:14: 'Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.'

Isaiah 9:16: 'For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.'

America Needed a Leader But Elected A Rockstar

If you look at my previous posts it is clear how strongly I feel about the direction our country is going. I am filled with optimism and hope, but those feelings are coupled with caution and inner reservation (some not so inner). I have many friends that want to know how I feel about America's decision electing Barack Obama. I have been sorting through my feelings for a couple days trying to shake the post-election blahs that finally came after two years of relentless media attention. In some ways I am glad it is over, in other ways I have that sense of limbo that one gets after taking a huge test and waiting over a long weekend to see if you get to pass the third grade. (What a relief!) Many of my family and friends are curious if I am going to hang myself because Obama won, and unfortunately for the haters, I'm not.

Here are my immediate thoughts. Our current president has been less than adequate in many ways, and a change is what we were gunning for either way. I am happy, however, to break the Bush-Clinton-Bush oligarchy. I was not naive to the fact that McCain was not the right man for the job, and I had a pretty good feeling it was Obama's election to lose. I don't like that many votes were cast for Obama only because W. sucks, only because he was tall, dark, and handsome, and because he seemed normal enough to connect with common people. I honestly didn't like that many people only wanted to make civil rights history rather than common sense history. I truly didn't like the fact that this election was about as political as the VMA's rather than addressing the down and dirty issues facing our nation. Catchy slogans and photo ops have their place in US Weekly, but America deserves more. Not one candidate had to answer a tough question, only the softball questions that are asked to get someone on the student council to put a pop machine in every classroom. I truly didn't feel represented by either guy at all. That is the saddest part of all. Old man winter versus new kid with no experience. Awesome!

The decision has been made, however ill-advised I believe it may have been. I only hope and pray people did their research on both candidates and voted knowledgeably.

So here we are with a rock star for a commander in chief and the the leader of the free world. A cult of personality, if you will. Now what? The man somehow 'inspired' enough people to get elected, but we should be the one's inspiring him to lead properly, ethically, and morally. As Christians, we should be more vocal than ever. We need to be praying harder, louder, more often, and unite to bring about the 'change' no slogan or sign can bring. The media keeps glorifying the fact that we just elected the first black president. Get over it. Call me naive, but I could not care less what color any leader is, and if that is the only reason he got hired, this country has another thing coming. Jackie Chan could be elected in America too with the right campaign message! He is inheriting two wars and a country in financial turmoil. Hopefully, he will surround himself with qualified advisers that will give him true wisdom. The man is going to need a TON of prayer. Remember James 5:16, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

I can only hope the man knows what he got himself into. I don't buy in to pop culture phenomena unless we are talking Napoleon Dynamite. I don't like hype and I don't like a false sense of hope. I just pray that the aura of a prophet-like figure fades and we see the real man behind the hype. We need truth and integrity. We need a leader. We don't need another tabloid regular. God only knows how that will turn out.

What It All Boils Down To...

I am opinionated. I am a Christian. Mix the two together and you get someone who is strongly disliked by worldly people. I was once told that the reason people who stand up for what is right and speak out against what is wrong get vilified is because people don't like being held accountable for their actions. Or more simply; it is easier to stick your head in the sand then to stick your neck out and stand for truth. The reason people feel judged by others many times is a result of feeling ashamed for behavior that they know is wrong. In a lot of ways it is likened to having your mom catch you stealing a candy bar at the gas station and marching you back in to return it and apologize. At first, you tried to justify why you did it. Then, your argument became hatred for your mom for embarrassing you. But you knew what you did was wrong. It wasn't her fault for calling you out. She was not being judgmental. She only wanted to correct a character flaw in you before it took root and became something worse. When we are left to our own devices, human nature will always take the path of least resistance. Indifference, apathy, selfishness, and all things centered around me, myself, and I.

For so long people have blamed Christians for not being accepting, sensitive, open minded, culturally relevant, and tolerant. What they don't seem to understand is that there are some things that can't be ignored. Some things that are tell tale signs of moral decay have to be addressed. Sometimes we have to look at past cultures and societies and ask why their empires fell. If you forget the past, you will be destined to repeat it. Their are some eerily strong similarities between extinct cultures and the culture of the United States, and I refuse to be swept away with the current. I will not surrender my beliefs for acceptance. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. I fully understand how Christians are viewed in this country. Just watch SNL or any other show on TV. The world can't wait to see a prominent Christian fall to scandal. Why? Because many of us have only wanted the position of judge, not the accused. I stand accused. Guilty of sin, no less than any other. I don't condemn anyone to hell. That is not my job. But if I just sit idle while the enemy is moving full speed ahead, I will lose and so will you, and so will our culture.

I have the right to believe that homosexuality is a high-risk, dangerous lifestyle, and that it is destructive and unnatural. I don't have to embrace it as a main stream family value! Do I hate homosexuals? No I do not. Does Jesus love any sinner more than another? No, we are all loved equally, but we all must reject sin and seek forgiveness. I have to be forgiven daily for my sins. I will never claim to be any holier than anyone else. But I will strive to be better every day.

I also believe that I don't need a uterus to stand against abortion! The baby in my wife's womb doesn't have access to a lawyer like abortion lobbyists do. One of my closest friends was 12 hours away from being aborted many years ago, but thank God someone cared enough to be there for that mom and convinced her to have that baby. I could not imagine life without this person! Less than 1% of abortions in America are due to rape or incest. Is it possible that bad choices, reckless actions and unbridled freedom may be to blame? Is it conceivable that selfishness and an unwillingness to take responsibility for our own actions has something to do with why so many babies lose their lives? Can God forgive a women for having an abortion? Absolutely. That is exactly why He died. He wants to be a restorer of what has been lost. Do I still love that woman even though she had one? Absolutely! What good would condemning her do, other than push her away from the love of Christ? If only our society shifted towards true Godliness and virtue, maybe there would be less death all the way around.

You may hate every word I have written, and it is your right to feel that way. I may not be able to articulate exactly what I want to say in a tidy little paragraph. But it all comes down to this: America can not keep going the way it is going or all will be lost. God is our only hope, and we can not succeed without Him. It may not happen over night, but piece by piece our culture will implode as long as we keep rejecting truth.

A Rebuttal For A Confused Secular Humanist

If equality is your goal, maybe we should let some of the 3700 babies who will be dismembered and exterminated tomorrow in the U.S. have an equal shot at life. You should remember that tomorrow when you pull the lever for a man who wants to expand that number exponentially. For a man who wants to dissolve the family structure as we know it by redefining marriage. A man who wants to redistribute the wealth of the hard working to the lazy and undeserving. Homosexuality is not 'the norm', regardless of what your beloved prime time drama tells you. They are God's people as all of us are, but what you do in your bedroom should not have to be legislated to be taught in my kid's school as okay.

Your mindset will be the downfall of our country. Your argument makes me ill. I can only hope that there are still some 'Christians' out there that value human life more than sexual freedom and accommodation.

And as for our forefathers as mere 'theists', here is a quote from one of the more famous ones. Maybe you have heard of him:

I've lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing Proofs I see of this Truth — That God governs in the Affairs of Men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that except the Lord build the House they labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this, — and I also believe that without his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political Building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our Projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a Reproach and Bye word down to future Ages. -Benjamin Franklin