GUEST POST BY ZACHARY ZUPANThe most important event of my day on April 30, 2015, was not my professing socialist senator announcing a presidential campaign. On that day, I had the privilege of meeting a Vietnam veteran who came through my lane of a small-town Vermont grocery store. I thanked him for his service, but the veterans of Vietnam deserve more than gratitude. They deserve an apology.
What I could have told him was how sorry I am that he and his brothers in arms fought for a just cause, the extermination of an oppressive ideology, under the leadership of a government that would not follow through in achieving the victory he had fought for, but let the righteously shed blood of so many American men flow and dry in vain. I could have said how sorry I am that the forces of communism thwarted him in his own homeland while he was abroad. I could have told him how sorry I am that he and his surviving brothers returned not to a humble and grateful nation as had all their forbears, but to a people among whom abode a small but vocal minority that spat their contempt at them like napalm, who made the lions of our country scapegoats, who offered no respite to the weary creditors of a debt that can never be repaid. I could have told him how sorry, how truly sorry I am, that the very same oppressive ideology of forced wealth redistribution at gunpoint has taken hold in his home. How deeply sorry I am that a man like him could travel abroad to fight against socialism with all his might, and live to see the day when he would be scoffed at as a fossil for not embracing it. How inexpressibly sorry I am that someone American by birth – and in no other sense – adopting the very word affixed to this day to the name of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, came to his Green Mountain State and used it as a stepping stool in a quest for the highest office in his country. How disgusted I am that Bernie Sanders’ name is pronounced by the liberal intelligentsia with a hushed awe no veteran would presume to claim for himself. If you want to honor the sacrifices of the Vietnam veterans, a wonderful start would be refusing to enlist in the ranks of the enemy. That shouldn’t be too hard. You haven’t been drafted.
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The California State Senate Appropriation Committee passed a bill that would legalize Assisted Suicide, so far five states have done so; Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, and New Mexico. SB 128 is dangerous in California and must be stopped. The bill is supposed to be voted on by the full Senate later this week.
Assisted Suicide devalues life because life becomes only about what makes an individual happy. The individual's comfort and their "quality of life" becomes the most important, once that is gone they believe that their life is of no value. The truth of the matter is that life is valuable not because of the comfort that we have but because of what we can learn and those things for which we can strive. A life-threatening and or degenerative disease does not destroy the individual's ability to contribute to those around them or destroy their ability to learn and wonder. Even dementia does not destroy the ability of an individual to wonder and live a full life. If quality of life is our standard for whether life is worth living, poverty and chronic depression would become a decent excuse for suicide. For a full explanation of arguments against suicide click here GUEST POST BY SARAH DAHLKEI can't imagine what it's like to go to war. I can't imagine the impact it can have on a person; mentally, physically, etc. I can't imagine what it would be like to be 19 and stare death in the face every single moment of every single day and ultimately pay the highest price. These men were not only true patriots, they were selfless, courageous, willing to give up everything for the sake of our great nation... true heroes!! Most of them I'll never know... most of them I'll never be able to thank and indeed my thanks is absolutely nothing in comparison! They went for our country, they died for their brothers, and now we live free and prosperous only because they were willing to shed their blood in defense of our great nation and the ideals she stands for! The freedoms we enjoy are set upon a foundation that is soaked in the blood of every man and women that has given their life in defense of them... Without these heroes, our world would be a much different place. Our thanks will never be enough... but it's our duty and our privilege to ensure their great sacrifice never fades from memory. Texas House Representative Bryan Hughes recently filed two CPS reform bills, including one focusing on the central registry problems (HB 4119) and another CPS reform bill (HB 4121). These bills help to level the playing field between an often subjective government system and intimidated parents in CPS investigations. Both bills have passed their committees. According to State Representative Stuart Spitzer, "These two bills allow for the parents to have due process when dealing with CPS. They provide some balance between CPS, which can be overbearing, and the parents."
"The Child Protective Services system must always consider the safety of our children first and foremost. Without compromising that mission, we have to make sure that parents' rights are protected in the process." -Rep. Bryan Hughes It appears after reading the Supreme Court Arguments that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of homosexual marriage at the end of next month. Justice Kennedy, the swing vote on the court, compared the recent cases dealing with homosexuality (Bowers, Lawrence, and Obergefell) to the Civil Rights cases (Plessy, Brown, and Loving). This would be an expected comparison when dealing with the lawyer defending the state bans on homosexual marriage, but Kennedy compared these cases during a discussion with the lawyer opposing the bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
This begs the question, what will Christians do when the Supreme Court elevates homosexual marriage to the status of heterosexual marriage? Once the Supreme Court does this it is likely to declare that any institution that refuses to accept homosexual marriage will not be eligible for non-profit status or government funding, as it did following Loving. Thus churches would face a decision, lose many of their charities and much of their organization or retain these institutions but cave and ignore what the Bible says. I predict we shall see some of both. Most likely this decision will result in the eventual closer of Hospitals, Adoption Agencies, Colleges, and other Christian organizations that rely on their non-profit status and their government funding. Also since the Government has taken over the student loan industry, students who take out student loans will not be able to attend Christian College. Christian Colleges that do survive will eventually face a battle to protect their accreditation. Already in many conservative evangelical denomination there is mounting pressure with in the Church to accept homosexual marriage. For example at the Nazarene Church's last Church wide meeting in 2013, a large group of supposedly homosexual Nazarenes pushed for an amendment to allow acceptance of homosexuality within the Church, although in 2013 this amendment failed, the push to remake the Church in the image of man is growing. I hope you will join me in voting NO on Proposal 1 today here in Michigan. I consider a number of Michigan legislators my friends, and I've heard passionate arguments from both supporters and opponents of Proposal 1. Both sides agree that our roads need to be fixed, but disagree on how we should pay for it. It's time that our state government prioritize spending and put safe roads before corporate welfare and film subsidies. Michigan families are having to make tough decisions, and we should be working to lighten the tax burden, not increasing it. Proposal 1 increases the sales tax from 6% to 7% and much of the new revenue will not even go to fixing our roads. Vote NO on Proposal 1 today and tell Lansing that Michigan families are taxed enough already. To learn more, visit www.michigantaxpayers.com. Mississippi FREE, an organization dedicated to improving Mississippi’s educational system and repealing the Common Core curriculum standards, celebrated Governor Phil Bryant’s recent veto of the controversial SB 2161. SB 2161 was listed as a bill to replace the failed Common Core initiative that Mississippi had adopted in an attempt to get a Race to the Top education grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009, commonly known as the “Stimulus Package.” However, SB 2161 did little more than rename the standards and create a new organization to make tests to implement the Common Core standards in Mississippi. All curriculum changes would have remained in place. Mississippi FREE argues that if this bill had gone into law, it would have been nearly impossible to actually repeal Common Core next year.
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Governor Phil Bryant made it clear that he intended to repeal the Common Core standards. At a rally in front of the capital sponsored by MS FREE, Bryant told the people that he would repeal, not rename, the controversial curriculum changes. Tate Reeves, lieutenant governor, also said that he supported repealing Common Core. However, as the 2015 legislative session unfolded it became clear that Tate Reeves only intended to rename the standards while leaving all changes in place. SB 2161 was designed to do just that. While it was listed as “repealing Common Core,” it would have made no substantive changes. Governor Bryant’s veto of this bill paves the way for a full repeal next year. "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God." Psalm 20:7 (KJV) Governor Mike Pence, who was standing so firmly in the face of an unbelievable onslaught by the media and liberal activists, has caved. Earlier today, he signed a so-called "fix" to Indiana's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) -- a fix that many say is worse than not having the RFRA in the first place. How can one describe the thoughts and feelings of anyone who puts any real value on religious freedom? Disappointed? No -- it goes much deeper than that. Our hero in this battle has fallen, has given in. We are crushed. Shocked. Angry. Betrayed. I am reminded of David's words after the death of Jonathan, in 2 Samuel 2:25 (NKJV)... "How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!" Friends, we -- Christian conservatives -- have tried a variety of methods as we seek to defend freedom. We've tried ignoring politics. We've tried electing good people. We've tried passing good laws. We've tried stopping bad laws. But at the end of the day, even the greatest among us stumble. The best of laws are overturned, and bad laws are, it seems, far too often passed. Who can we trust? Is there any hope? "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Even in the midst of shocking disappointment and crushing defeat, I trust God's plan. I know that he works everything together for good for them that love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God is constant and unchanging, even as the culture around us tosses about as waves on the sea. His plan never fails.
To paraphrase the Psalmist in Psalm 20:7... "Some trust in laws, and some trust in lawmakers, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God." The final round of our 2016 Republican Presidential Straw Poll has ended. In all three rounds combined, over 3,100 votes were cast and 20+ candidates were eliminated as each new round narrowed the field. Here are the final results: As we've been doing at the end of each round, here are a few key takeaways from this round:
Write-ins are always interesting. In Round 3, we had 5 write-ins for Trey Gowdy, 5 write-ins for Donald Trump, 3 for Carly Fiorina, 2 for Jeb Bush, 2 for Sarah Palin, 2 for John Kasich, 2 for Mitt Romney, and 2 for Joel Grewe. Allen West, Tom Cotton, Mike Pence, Alan Keyes, Susana Martinez, Ron Paul and former Congressman Dave Weldon each scored one write-in vote, as did Robert Macleod Jr., Celina Evans, Yvonne Simpson, Webster Barnaby, and "None of Them." Ben Carson's base is organized and excited. Ben Carson did pretty well in previous rounds -- 5th place in Round 1 and 3rd place in Round 2 -- but his supporters really showed up for this round. Carson won with a 7%+ lead over Cruz and Walker, who tied for second place. Notably, Mike Huckabee did pretty well in this round, with a late boost pushing him up to 4th place and close to 12% of votes cast. About the poll: This is a non-scientific straw poll. Each participant could choose up to five candidates. In Round 1, there were just over 30 candidates and the bottom 33% were dropped. In Round 2, there were twenty candidates and the top 10 advanced to Round 3.
For the last week the news has been dominated by discussions of Indiana's new law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This law allows businesses to not engage in practices that are contrary to their faith. This law does not allow for example, a business to refuse to serve someone who is homosexual. It does allow a business to refuse to participate in something that violates the business owner's conscience.
For example a wedding is a sacred institution in the Christian church. Cake making, taking photographs, or decorating all help the couple in their ultimate goal - the wedding. Christians cannot in good conscience help someone violate the laws of God and thus they do not want to participate in a homosexual wedding. If the same homosexual came in asking for a birthday cake a Christian baker would still, under this law, have to provide it. A Birthday after all has nothing to do with being homosexual. The key here is what is the service in question doing? Is it helping one violate the laws of nature? Or is it a benign practice that in no way relates to God's eternal law? Bill Clinton signed an act similar to this, as President, and 19 other states have the same law or one very similar to Indiana. See the map below for the list (the Dark Green has RFRA).
If you would like to read Indiana's Law; click here.
Also Arkansas just passed a similar law: to read theirs click here. For more information please click here.
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