Tag: morality

The Hobby Lobby Decision: The First Amendment Holds. Religious Freedom Stands.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

American ChristianityYesterday was quite a day.

The Supreme Court, in a in a 5-4 ruling, found that “closely held” businesses do not have to provide contraception to their employees, if the ownership of said company opposes birth control on the grounds that it conflicts with the Religious Beliefs.

In other words, if you want to behave like Sandra Fluke, and if I am a business owner of a “closely held” business, I cannot be forced by the Obama Administration to provide your “protection”, either before or after that “special moment”.

Rush Limbaugh, per usual made an excellent point on his nationally-syndicated radio program, yesterday:

…the thinking everywhere on the left, is either Obama’s gonna pay for it from his stash like they think exists in Detroit, or the insurance company will be forced to pay for it. But they won’t pay for it, they’ll just bill it back to Hobby Lobby. (interruption) No, the principle stands, that’s the point. When all this is said and done, the Supreme Court still ruled that the federal government cannot make a “closely held” corporation violate its own personal religious beliefs. I’m gonna have to double-check this, but I really do think that in that sense we’ve not had a ruling this direct in that regard before, whatever the issue was. I think I saw that somewhere this morning in the mounds of show prep that I was going through.

Look, it means here that Obama cannot unilaterally dictate how religion is to be practiced via laws or regulations or executive orders. It means that the First Amendment is not a casual plaything for cavalier statists whether in the executive branch or whether in Congress. There also was another ruling on the union’s and whether or not parents and nannies taking care of their own loved ones at home can be forced to pay union dues, and that was rejected, too. The headline says: “Sweeping Loss for Unions.” Oh, horrible, the Supreme Court just dealt a devastating blow to public unions. But this one really is kind of narrow. But the principle still stands.

What is really important, yet really small in this case, is that even after the Hobby Lobby decision, women can still go to Target or Walmart and buy a month’s worth of conception for nine dollars. What’s kind of being overlooked here in all this — and we did look at it in great detail on the previous occasion on this program — is that somehow we’ve gotten to the point where women should not have to pay for their own birth control. Somebody else is gonna pay for it, no matter how much they want, no matter how often they want it, no matter for what reason, somebody else is going to pay for it. That’s the root of all this. The employer should pay it, the insurance company will pay it, but in no way in 2014 America are women going to being pay for it, even though you can go to Target or Walmart and get a month’s supply for nine bucks.

So the ruling does not apply to, say, an Exxon or a General Motors. That’s not a “closely held” corporation. But the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby cannot be forced to fund the contraception mandate. Their liberty was defended here, no matter how narrow the left wants to say the ruling was, no matter what the practical application is, when it’s all over the First Amendment was enforced, or maybe reinforced today.

On March 8, 1983, President Ronald Wilson Reagan gave a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, which came to be know as the “Evil Empire Speech”. Here is an excerpt:

Well, I’m pleased to be here today with you who are keeping America great by keeping her good. Only through your work and prayers and those of millions of others can we hope to survive this perilous century and keep alive this experiment in liberty, this last, best hope of man.

I want you to know that this administration is motivated by a political philosophy that sees the greatness of America in you, her people, and in your families, churches, neighborhoods, communities–the institutions that foster and nourish values like concern for others and respect for the rule of law under God.

 Now, I don’t have to tell you that this puts us in opposition to, or at least out of step with, a–a prevailing attitude of many who have turned to a modern-day secularism, discarding the tried and time-tested values upon which our very civilization is based. No matter how well intentioned, their value system is radically different from that of most Americans. And while they proclaim that they’re freeing us from superstitions of the past, they’ve taken upon themselves the job of superintending us by government rule and regulation. Sometimes their voices are louder than ours, but they are not yet a majority. [Applause]

An example of that vocal superiority is evident in a controversy now going on in Washington. And since I’m involved, I’ve been waiting to hear from the parents of young America. How far are they willing to go in giving to government their prerogatives as parents?

Let me state the case as briefly and simply as I can. An organization of citizens, sincerely motivated, deeply concerned about the increase in illegitimate births and abortions involving girls well below the age of consent, some time ago established a nationwide network of clinics to offer help to these girls and, hopefully, alleviate this situation. Now, again, let me say, I do not fault their intent. However, in their well-intentioned effort, these clinics decided to provide advice and birth control drugs and devices to underage girls without the knowledge of their parents.

For some years now, the federal government has helped with funds to subsidize these clinics. In providing for this, the Congress decreed that every effort would be made to maximize parental participation. Nevertheless, the drugs and devices are prescribed without getting parental consent or giving notification after they’ve done so. Girls termed “sexually active”–and that has replaced the word “promiscuous”–are given this help in order to prevent illegitimate worth/birth (quickly corrects himself) eh or abortion.

Well, we have ordered clinics receiving federal funds to notify the parents such help has been given. [Applause] One of the nation’s leading newspapers has created the term “squeal rule” in editorializing against us for doing this, and we’re being criticized for violating the privacy of young people. A judge has recently granted an injunction against an enforcement of our rule. I’ve watched TV panel shows discuss this issue, seen columnists pontificating on our error, but no one seems to mention morality as playing a part in the subject of sex. [Applause]

Is all of Judeo-Christian tradition wrong? Are we to believe that something so sacred can be looked upon as a purely physical thing with no potential for emotional and psychological harm? And isn’t it the parents’ right to give counsel and advice to keep their children from making mistakes that may affect their entire lives? [Slight crescendo of voice and emphasis–Long Applause]

Many of us in government would like to know what parents think about this intrusion in their family by government. We’re going to fight in the courts. The right of parents and the rights of family take precedence over those of Washington-based bureaucrats and social engineers. [Applause]

But the fight against parental notification is really only one example of many attempts to water down traditional values and even abrogate the original terms of American democracy. Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. [Applause] When our founding fathers passed the First Amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference. They never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself.

Yesterday afternoon, the current POTUS, Barack Hussein Obama, did not address the Supreme Court’s ruling. Instead, he gave a petulant speech blaming the Republicans in Congress  for failing to deal with the Mexican Munchkin Migration, a horrible, sovereignty-threatening situation on our Southern Border, which he himself encouraged. The Petulant President threatened to issue Executive Orders to “deal with the problem”, a solution which is actually outside the reach of his Presidential Powers.

Now, I’m not naive. As Rush alluded to, I fully expect Obama to administratively arrange for our tax dollars to pay for birth control pills and abortiafacients for employees of these companies who choose not to provide them, due to their religious principles.

Which brings me to the following observation:

The President of the United States of America in 1983 was against the United States Government promoting immorality.

The President of the United States of America in 2014 is promoting immoral behavior and individual irresponsibility…and is expecting taxpayers to pay for it.

HOW IS THIS “PROGRESS”?

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

The War Against Christianity: “Having Done All, to Stand”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

American Christianity 2Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. –  Ephesians 6:13 (KJV)

As I was sitting back yesterday, thinking about the events of the week, international, national, and personal, I started thinking about the Plan that the God of Abraham has for all of us, Believers and non-Believers, alike.

Internationally, as I write this, a Marine sits, neglected by our Administration, in a Mexican Jail, guilty of the horrendous crime of committing some sort of traffic violation.

Halfway around the world, in the Radical Muslim Rogue Nation of Iran, an American Pastor, jailed for preaching the Word of God, and refusing to worship a pedophile, sits languishing in horrible conditions, while his wife and children petition our leaders to get up off their duffs and bring him home.

In North Korea, an American is being held for the crime of reading a Bible in a Hotel Room.

And, finally, this week has seen the President of the United States, the Leader of the Free World, trade 5 Top leaders among Muslim Terrorists for an Army Deserter, who has reportedly converted to Islam, as has his nutjob Father.

Nationally, America’s economy remains rotten, with more and more Americans choosing to drop out of the work force, in disgust and humiliation. 37.2% of America’s Work Force, to be exact.

A lot of these “drop-outs” are Americans over 50, like myself, who are being intentionally ignored, because of our age, which seems to matter more than our business acumen and wealth of experience.

Meanwhile, the very fabric of our society is being torn asunder, through the dissipation of morality and the glorification of evil.

Vampires, Witches, and Zombies…oh, my!

And, of course, legalizing marijuana has no consequences. So what if elementary school kids are being caught selling their parents stash? And, DUI accidents are up?

Yep. No consequences at all.

What we seem to be heading for is not simply an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless Central Government, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so will it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if unchecked, will it lead to America’s.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armour of God”. I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. – Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

The more we stand up for the Triune God, the harder the Enemy attacks…in all areas of our lives…including our political beliefs.

I have been attacked time and again, over the past 4 years, by non-Believers who replied to my blogs insisting that Crosses and other Christian symbols have no place in the Public Square.  They wish for Christians to remain unseen and unheard from, worshiping in private.

Well,  y’all can wish for a unicorn to magically appear in your backyard…but that ain’t gonna happen, either.

As a free nation, all you who are non-believers have every right to exercise your faith.

However, as Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the Jewish Policy Center clearly explains:

[I] understand that I live . . . in a Christian nation, albeit one where I can follow my faith as long as it doesn’t conflict with the nation’s principles. The same option is open to all Americans and will be available only as long as this nation’s Christian roots are acknowledged and honored.

…Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the west is doomed. Which is why I, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, devoted to Jewish survival, the Torah, and Israel am so terrified of American Christianity caving in. God help Jews if America ever becomes a post-Christian society! Just think of Europe!

Is the Rabbi prophetic? I pray that he isn’t. 

I have, however, noticed in the last few years, a propensity among those who have not been raised in a Christian home, to be intolerant toward those who have….starting with the individual who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

Americans’ Christian Faith, of which 76% of us, according to Gallup, still anchor our lives around,has been the Solid Rock upon which our nation was built. To deny that, is to deny reality, to re-write history, and, to, quite frankly, endanger “the Shining City on a Hill”.

As President Ronald Reagan said, 

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. </blockquote

I leave you with a prayer written by America’s Pastor, the Reverend Billy Graham. May God Bless you all.

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable… We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and Set us free. Amen!’

With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called ‘One nation under God!’ AMEN

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

America is in Crisis? The Devil You Say.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

Satan StatueWithin the last week, two stories about the Lightbearer have been in the public eye.

No, I’m not talking about President Obama, I am talking about the original Lightbearer, the fallen angel Lucifer, better known as Satan, or, in colloquial terms, the Devil.

Here is story #1, as reported by foxnews.com:

A satanic group commissioned a statue of the devil, raising money to pay a sculptor who it won’t identify, as a way of protesting the Sooner State’s placement of a Ten Commandments monument on the Statehouse lawn in Oklahoma City. The statue, being sculpted in a New York studio, is nearly complete, according to Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the Satanic Temple.

“We’re really coming along fast,” said Greaves, whose group claims to have raised more than $20,000 for the project through an online crowd-funding site.

“There will never be a satanic monument on the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol and the suggestion that there might be is absurd.”
– Alex Weintz, spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin
The statue of the Baphomet, or Sabbatic Goat, a figure that has been used to represent Satan for centuries, is to be made of bronze, poured over a clay mold. Images provided to FoxNews.com show the hideous figure on a throne, with smiling children at each knee. Greaves’ organization seeks to force Oklahoma to allow placement of their statue or demonstrate what it considers an unconstitutional double standard.

Oklahoma officials say there is no way in hell that a statue of Satan will ever assume a position at the Capitol.

“There will never be a satanic monument on the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol and the suggestion that there might be is absurd,” Alex Weintz, spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin, said in a statement to FoxNews.com.

Pictures of the partially-completed monument were first posted on Vice.

The Satanic Temple hatched the plan last December after the Ten Commandments monument, presented as a gift from state Rep. Mike Ritze, was placed on the lawn. Because it was a donation, state officials declared that it was permissible to place it on state property. But that prompted Greaves and the Satanic Temple to say they could do the same with a monument of their own.

“When we reach out to them and told them of our intentions, the response we got was asking for the design sketches but we never heard back from them,” Greaves said. “As soon as we are ready, we will reach back out to them.”

And, here is story #2, also from foxnews.com:

A Harvard University student club set to host a satanic black mass reenactment to celebrate witchcraft and satanic worship announced on its website that it will not use a consecrated host during the event.

The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club has organized a May 12 black mass reenactment at the Queen’s Head Pub, which is on campus. The announcement has drawn criticism because these masses typically mock Catholic teachings, MyFoxBoston.com reported.

“Our purpose is not to denigrate any religion or faith, which would be repugnant to our educational purposes, but instead learn and experience the history of different cultural practices,” the club’s statement said. The statement went on to say that the mass will use a piece of bread but will “unequivocally” not use a consecrated host.

The performance will be conducted by The Satanic Temple, a group known to stir up controversy.

The Archdiocese of Boston fired back with this response, “The Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Boston expresses its deep sadness and strong opposition to the plan to stage a black mass on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge.”

“In a recent statement, Pope Francis warned of the danger of being naïve about or underestimating the power of Satan, whose evil is too often tragically present in our midst. We call upon all believers and people of good will to join us in prayer for those who are involved in this event, that they may come to appreciate the gravity of their actions, and in asking Harvard to disassociate itself from this activity,” the statement said.

The Harvard Extension School says the school “Does not endorse the views or activities of any independent student organization. But we do support the rights of our students and faculty to speak and assemble freely.”

 

So, why are these stories concerning Satan of so much national interest.

The fact of the matter is that 77 percent of Americans proclaim Christ as their personal Savior. So, therefore, if you believe in Christ you also believe that Satan, the living persona of evil in the world, also exists.

The problem we face, in this “Me First! Era”, is the fact that self-adulation narcissism, believing that you, yourself, are your own Creator, leaves an open doorway for “Ol’ Scratch” to move right on in to your life.

Consider this Op Ed by Noah Guirney, published today on BostonGlobe.com:

Since 2012, a statue of the Ten Commandments has graced the lawn outside the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Now, it’s time for Satan to take his place, there too.

A group from New York called the Satanic Temple has raised more than $28,000 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo to commission a bronze statue of Lucifer, the design of which has recently been released to the public. While many of the project’s backers are Satanists — as in, they worship Satan — the piece is actually intended to make a broader point: That a statue of the Ten Commandments on public property seems to violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which separates church and state. (This view is also held by the ACLU, which is challenging the Oklahoma government’s right to display the Ten Commandments.)

Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the Satanic Temple, told ABC News that the Satanic piece of art — complete with pentagram and goat head — will “celebrate our progress as a pluralistic nation founded on secular law.”

In truth, the line separating the majority religion of the United States and the government has long been blurred. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court found that the town of Greece, New York could open its town meetings with prayers from guest preachers — the vast majority of whom were Christian, and often directly invoked Jesus Christ.

That’s precisely why this is such a brilliant idea, perhaps even moreso than your standard-issue civil liberties lawsuit. A statue of Satan displayed on public property would no doubt offend Christians. But in a country without a state religion, that shouldn’t matter, and Greaves and his ilk are right to point that out.

If Oklahoma’s Capitol Preservation Committee – which issues permits for statues on the Capitol ground – feels that a statue of the Ten Commandments on public grounds is compatible with a Constitution that protects the rights of all Americans, then the group shouldn’t have any issue with a statue of Satan, either. But if, as I suspect, the horned deity gives Oklahoma officials the heebie-jeebees, they should think about how their current statue looks to Satanists. Or, for that matter, to Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, or Christians who see the separation of church and state as a deeply important tenet of American democracy.

People like this idiot, who take the existence Satan lightly, eventually wind up in some sort of trouble, and those who worship Satan wind up in even greater trouble.

Back in the 1960s, the late, beautiful actress Jayne Mansfield posed for a series of publicity pictures with the Head Priest of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey. The pictures showing her with LaVey, included several shots of taking their version of Communion, simulating drinking blood from a goblet, offered by the priest. She even wore a pink and black medallion of Satan and the goat-headed Baphomet, simular to the Oklahoma statue, to the 1966 San Francisco Film Festival. Later, the beautiful actress died in a freak car accident in which she was decapitated.

Now, far be it for me the link one to the other. That is up for you to decide for yourself.

Now, how can I claim that all this upheaval our nation is facing is due to some sort of Satanic Influence attempting to tip the scales in the in the fight between Good and Evil, across our land?

Noah Webster (EVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; EDUCATOR; “SCHOOLMASTER TO AMERICA”), wrote

[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.129

The moral principles and precepts found in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.

All the… evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.131

[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.

[T]he Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.

The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society – the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men.

[T]he Christian religion… is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government… I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.

The reason that our nation is facing the difficulties we are is the belief by those who proclaim themselves to be the “smartest people in the room”, that they are above the old-fashioned, passe notions of morality and ethics, good and evil, and the Sovereignty of God.

They have made a grave mistake.

Evil exists and these fools opened the door to Satan in our society a long time ago.

When it all comes crashing down around them, what are they going to say?

The Devil made me do it?

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity: Is American Beyond Redemption?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

American FreedomHas the moral and ethical fiber of the greatest country on the face of God’s Green Earth, been irrevocably ripped apart? Should we all start preparing for another Biblical Flood, as in the days of Noah (the real one…not the politically-correct, ecological one)?

TheBlaze.com has the story…

Is mankind evolving into a more peaceful and prosperous people – or are we on a path toward ever-increasing moral depravity, social chaos and destruction?

Answering that dichotomy depends on one’s worldview, but Christian author Jeff Kinley is in the latter camp, telling TheBlaze that he sees human beings continuously and perilously cutting God out of society.

“I look around my world and I think, ‘Wow, we’ve written God out of our own story here,’” Kinley recently said in an interview. “We’re content in living in our own lives.”

The author, who believes Noah, the flood and the ark unfolded as the Bible recounts, draws parallels between contemporary culture and the “pandemic godlessness of the earth” during Noah’s in his new book “As It Was in the Days of Noah.”

Human behavior then and now, he posits, isn’t all that different.

“Humanity had forgotten God so literally every man just did what they thought was right in their own eyes,” Kinley said of the days of Noah.

As for the current conditions, the author described what he sees as “pandemic unrestrained immorality” and “a falling away of the purity of faith.”

Kinley proceeded to describe how society’s current treatment of God mirrors the Bible’s depiction of the “end times” – a time-frame in Christian theology that precedes the Earth’s end.

While he said it’s impossible to judge when the end times might unfold, Kinley described the current conditions as matching those presented in the Bible, citing Matthew 24, among other references.

“As we ramp up to the end times, there’s going to be, as Romans 1 describes, a simmering hostility against God, against biblical morality,” Kinley told TheBlaze.

Kinley repeatedly spoke against the removal of God from society, saying that it leaves mankind to his own devices, creating a horizontal rather than vertical morality – one in which there is a “sliding scale of morality.”

Citing gay marriage, which is now legal for the first time “perhaps since the days of Noah itself,” Kinley said that human beings are creating new ways of doing things based on shifting standards.

The author also mentioned Israel’s reemergence as a prophetic sign as well.

So, is America beyond Redemption?

It troubles me to no end that, even though I know, in my heart of hearts, that there are plenty of average Americans who are just as upset over the dilapidated moral and fiscal condition of “the shining city on a hill” as I am, there are times when I feel like the little Dutch boy, with his finger in the dike, desperately trying to hold back the flood waters, which are about to destroy everything in its path.

I know that civilizations come and go. I am a student of history, and I have read about the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Their incredibly advanced governmental, military, and architectural legacy was eclipsed by situational ethics, immorality. and governmental corruption, caused by enemies foreign and domestic.

Sound familiar?

The United States of America has been one of the most noble undertakings in the history of mankind.

Our Founding Fathers came here to escape religious persecution. Not to get away from religion , as both Liberals, and their unwitting dupes, attempt to claim as truth.

John Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Second President of the United States said..

It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue.

…We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Benjamin Franklin, signer of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, said…

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

I have 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 that 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 partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.

Thomas Jefferson, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Third President of the United States, said…

Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life, and in the moment of death.

So, how did we get to where we are?

Today 78% of Americans still believe that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior. You wouldn’t know that fact from exposure to our American Media, nor from following the anti-Christian actions of our present Administration.

The problem though, is the fact that man is a fallen creature. There was only one Perfect Man. We all fall short of the Glory of God.

There will be no escape for America from this downward spiral we find ourselves in, without Revival in the Land.

Just as addicts, going through the 12-step program, are told to reach out for spiritual help, so should we, as a sovereign nation, bought with the sweat and blood of our fallen, who fought for an ideal much greater than themselves, so that this Blessed Land, UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, should not perish from the face of God’s green Earth, seek the help of the God of our Fathers, to reclaim The Promise that is America.

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.- Ronald Reagan

Until He Comes,

KJ

November 2014: A Chance for Redemption (A KJ Op Ed)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

americaneagleflagYou and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, “The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.” – Ronald Reagan, Address to the nation, October 27, 1964

I miss the country I used to know.

The America that was respected all over the world. ..”One nation under God…indivisible…with liberty and justice for all”…where children were raised to love God and country and were taught that anyone could be successful in this great land, if they worked hard enough.

When did the American Dream turn into our National Nightmare?

I know it wasn’t during my parents generation. After all, they were the greatest generation. When all of our American Heroes returned home from World War II, they set upon the task of building a better life for themselves and their families. Then, somewhere along the way, as things got better and better, things started to change for the worse.

Remember how they referred to the Kennedy Administration as Camelot?

It was because there was still a hopefulness in America…an unbounded optimism that we could not only make a difference in our own nation, but that we could go out and make a difference in countries not as fortunate as ours. Then, after the tragic assassination of JFK, something changed. President Lyndon Baines Johnson somehow turned the country’s optimism into pessimism, concerning the future of minorities in our nation.

He told America’s minority population that they could not achieve the American Dream of their own accord. They had to be assisted by a benevolent nanny-state government.

This pessimism became entrenched in the very fabric of our society, as young people began to tune in, turn on, and drop out, protesting the Vietnam War and the very parents who brought them into this world in the first place.

As this pessimism continued in the 1970s, it turned into a malaise during the Carter Presidency,. as Carter’s Domestic and Foreign Policies proved to be failures.

After the debacle of the Carter Presidency, we were waiting for something good to happen…and it did.

A plain-spoken gentleman from the Midwest named Ronald Wilson Reagan told us it was time for “Morning in America”.

This country experienced a resurgence in national optimism and international stature during President Reagan’s 8 years in office. Then, when he left, things started to unravel once again. We endured a sexual predator in the White House and the worst terrorist attack ever on American soil.

And now, after 6 years with an inexperienced community organizer occupying the Oval Office, America is facing challenges domestically and in the field of Foreign Relations, that we have never seen before.

However, our domestic challenges are not just of a political nature. They are moral and cultural challenges as well.

The faith of approximately 70% of our population is being attacked on a daily basis by a government whose founding documents reference Our Creator.

Additionally, those of us who believe God’s Holy Word, as found in the Bible, are being called bigots and are being marginalized as being out of touch with the viewpoint of the majority of America’s population.

Even, if we clearly are not.

Meanwhile, all around the world, America has lost stature, because we have a president who does not believe in American Exceptionalism and would rather bow to other world leaders then look them in the eye and represent America from a position of strength and as a World Power.

As we head toward the 2014 Midterm Elections, it is up to us as Americans to decide what kind of country we want.

Do we want to return to an America that is fiscally sound, with a culture and character that is admired all over the Free World?

Or, do we want to watch the “Shining City Upon a Hill” continue to tarnish and decay as those who are supposed to be serving us, serve themselves instead, while following, intentionally or unintentionally, the failed nanny-state philosophy of Marx and Lenin?

On January 25, 1974, Ronald Reagan spoke the following words in a speech which has come to be known as “The Shining City Upon a Hill” Speech…

Somehow America has bred a kindliness into our people unmatched anywhere, as has been pointed out in that best-selling record by a Canadian journalist. We are not a sick society. A sick society could not produce the men that set foot on the moon, or who are now circling the earth above us in the Skylab. A sick society bereft of morality and courage did not produce the men who went through those year of torture and captivity in Vietnam. Where did we find such men? They are typical of this land as the Founding Fathers were typical. We found them in our streets, in the offices, the shops and the working places of our country and on the farms.

We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, “The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.”

We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth. 

This November, this country will, once again, make a choice.

I pray that it is the right one.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama and Obamacare: Americans are Hurting. To Whom Can We Turn?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

americaneagleflagTo say that America is facing a pivotal moment in history is an understatement. Obamacare is wiping out Americans’ health insurance coverage all over the country, causing despair and discouragement.

Add an American President, who seems to care more about supporting our enemies and improving his golf game, than protecting and serving the country he is supposed to be leading, and you see a country in the middle of a National Crisis.

Yesterday, in an interview with CBN’s Chief Poltical Correspondent, David Brody,  to promote he new Christmas Book, “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas,” the following discussion took place,

David Brody: “Look, you don’t pull any punches, what a shock. In this book, when it comes to Jesus, you talk about him, you talk about God, Jesus, right there and you talk about how that name that if it wasn’t called Christmas, if it wasn’t about Jesus, then it may be a whole different story, but that name seems to offend and I’m curious about your views on that.”

Sarah Palin: “That’s a great point that you’re bringing up because that’s exactly the point. People who would be offended that we celebrate the Prince of Peace because it is called Christmas, it’s because the name Christ is in the title that they would be offended. So that tells you this war on Christmas is really the tip of the spear when it comes to a greater battle that’s brewing and that battle that’s brewing is those who would want to take God out of our society, out of our culture which will lead to ruin as history has proven. Any country, any government society that has kicked God out of the public square completely, it leads to ruin. Why would we go down that path when we know what would happen?”

So far, most of the ads, on television, Internet, Radio, and print, which I have seen, refuse to refer to the day on which we celebrate the birth of the Savior as “Christmas”. Instead, they refer to the time using the nebulous words, “The Holidays”.

Frankly, this ignorance in the name of Political Correctness is just a symptom of our rapidly-decaying American Culture, which has accelerated even greater in the last 5 years, under President Barack Hussein Obama.

This has been the most Christian-stifling Administration in the History of America.

As I have written in previous posts, the entire military is under the advisement of leaders who are following the advice of Mikey Weinstein, Founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an Atheist Organization. Weinstein’s mission is to remove God from our military.

Obama seeks the elimination of Christianity from the military and, eventually, from our daily lives, as well. Obama favors another religion over the Faith of Our Fathers.

Now, I know some of you will claim that he is just being sensitive to other religions. However, Jewish Americans have worked and served side by side with Christian Americans since the birth of our nation. They are respectful of our faith, as we are respectful of theirs.

What is it about Christianity that this Administration is so opposed to?

The American clergyman and author, Phillip Brooks, once said:

Christianity helps us face the music even when we don’t like the tune.

And, without America’s Moral Compass of Christianity in the way, Obama has free reign to “radically change” the “shining city on a hill”.

I’m sure that you have seen, or heard of, by now, the “Bro-surance” and “Ho-surance” commercials designed to lure healthy young Americans into buying Health Insurance through the Obamacare Exchanges.

The commercials portray young Americans as Hedonists, on a par with Sandra Fluke. You remember that chick…the 30 year old professional student, who insisted that we have to pay her $3,000 each month for her birth control.

Here’s an aspirin, precious. Place it between your knees and squeeze tightly.

But I digress…

Staying on the subject of Obamacare, what sort of “Christian” President (as he has claimed to be) would lie to the American People 29 times that “if you want your health insurance, you can keep your health insurance” and “if you want your doctor, you can keep your doctor”?

Additionally, what sort of “Christian” President would treat our sworn enemies, Muslim Extremists, better than he treats our greatest ally, the home of God’s Chosen People, Israel?

During my soon-to-be 55 years, I have noticed that our country’s culture tends to model itself after the character of the man sitting in the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

If you have a leader who loves God and Country, Americans tend to follow his example, becoming more conscious of their role is shaping this nation, by working hard, and taking pride in providing for their families, through personal responsibility, perseverance, and faith in the God of Our Fathers.

However, if you have an American President who embraces the teachings of Marx and Alinsky, and who seems to be more enamored by the Muslim Call to Prayer, “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset”, than he is “Rock of Ages” or  “Amazing Grace” (old or new version), then you will have Americans following what their President believes in, causing a crack in the fabric of American Society and Culture.

That is where we stand today. As Americans continue to lose their health insurance, and the realization of their betrayal by their fallen messiah sets in, there will be a lot of misled, hurting Americans, seeking some sort of assurance that their lives are still worth-living and that they will “get by”.

Last week, as he has done all his adult life, America’s Pastor, the Reverend Billy Graham, celebrating his 95th birthday, provided the answer. He advised Americans to RETURN TO THE CROSS.

As a kid in high school, my English Literature teacher, Mr. Rainey, had us all memorize famous speeches, and stand and deliver them in class. I picked the famous Call to Arms by American Founding Father and Christian, Patrick Henry:

Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here, idle? I know not what course others may take, but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!

This American Patriot also said,

Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.

The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.

Righteousness alone can exalt America as a nation. Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.

The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.

Raise your eyes to the hills, Americans, from which cometh our help.

For greater is He who is in us…than he who is in the world.

Until He Comes,

KJ

America’s Culture War: Of Pedophilia and “Gay” Apparel

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics5 Comments

American FreedomWhile our nation’s attention has been focused on the all-out political assault of this Administration and their Progressive Lackeys on our Healthcare, Health Insurance, and our very rights as American Citizens, the Slippery Slope which our nation has been plummeting down since the ascension of The Lightbringer to the Throne of the Regime in January of 2009, just became even steeper…if that’s possible.

According to The Washington Times,

Pedophilia is not a “sexual orientation,” and erroneous use of that phrase will be corrected soon in its new manual on mental illnesses, the American Psychiatric Association said Thursday.

The APA’s statement came in response to media inquiries, including from The Washington Times, about an uproar on the Internet that the APA had designated pedophilia as a sexual orientation in its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as DSM-5 or DSM-V.

About a week ago, a blog called NeonTommy, produced at Annenberg Digital News at the University of Southern California, said the APA had drawn a “very distinct line” between pedophilia and pedophilic disorder in its new manual.

According to the DSM-5, pedophilia “refers to a sexual orientation or profession of sexual preference devoid of consummation, whereas pedophilic disorder is defined as a compulsion and is used in reference to individuals who act on their sexuality,” NeonTommy wrote.

The item was picked up and circulated on countless other Internet sites. Many bloggers bashed the APA for “mainstreaming” deviance and capitulating to pro-pedophile groups. Others tied it to gay issues — one wag wrote that it was “time to change the LGBT letterhead to LGBT&P.”

The APA said in its statement that “‘sexual orientation’ is not a term used in the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder and its use in the DSM-5 text discussion is an error and should read ‘sexual interest.’”

“In fact, APA considers pedophilic disorder a ‘paraphilia,’ not a ‘sexual orientation.’ This error will be corrected in the electronic version of DSM-5 and the next printing of the manual,” the organization said. The error appeared on page 698, said a spokeswoman.

It added: “APA stands firmly behind efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents. We also support continued efforts to develop treatments for those with pedophilic disorder with the goal of preventing future acts of abuse.”

The DSM-5 was released in May. For several years prior to that, major discussions were held about the pedophilia category.

In the end, however, only a small change was made: “Pedophilia” was changed to “pedophilic disorder,” to conform to other disorders in chapter on paraphilias, the APA said. The “diagnostic criteria essentially remained the same as in DSM-IV-TR,” it added.

To be diagnosed with a paraphilic disorder, DSM-5 requires that people “feel personal distress” about their atypical sexual interest or have a desire or behavior that harms another person or involves “unwilling” persons or “persons unable to give legal consent.”

Whoa. Hold on there, Slim.

Now, I realize that I’m just an ignorant old soon-to-be 55-year-old white male with a Bachelor’s Degree, including 3 Psychology and 2 Sociology courses, but…if performing unspeakable acts on innocent children is all you ever think about, THAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION. 

Calling it an “Interest” is parsing words in the self-serving interest of notoriety, Political Correctness, and the continued normalization of Deviant Behavior.

This is, in reality, nothing new. When I was in college, in the late 1970s, in my”Introduction to Sociology Textbook”, in the chapter on Deviant Behavior, both Homosexuality and Pedophilia were classified as such.

Then as time went on, and more and more practitioners of the ‘alternate lifestyle, got their doctorates in Sociology and Psychology, Homosexuality was re-classified as a “Sexual Preference”, and not a “Deviant Behavior”.

This trend of acceptance has continued, until now, you have a movement by Homosexual Activists and their Progressive  Accomplices to re-define the word “marriage”, which has been defined as the intimate spiritual, familial bond between a man and a woman, since Biblical Times. And, even though the overwhelming majority of states in our country have voted against “Gay Marriage”, the movement for re-definition continued, aided by self-serving politicians and activist judges.

Everyone is so “gay” sensitive, that Hallmark has even changed the lyrics to a classic Christmas Carol, afraid that Americans won’t buy a silly little ornament, as Fox News reports…

 The ornament, which was reportedly designed by Matt Johnson, a keepsake artist, was described on Hallmark’s website as an ornament that can “make your tree’s outfit complete.”

“With its catchy phrase, Don we now our FUN apparel! everyone will be in on the joke,” the website’s description reads.

 The company, which is more known for apolitical greeting cards wishing a boss a happy retirement, issued a statement to media outlets explaining the history of the song dating back to the 1880s, a time “when “gay” meant festive or merry.”

“Today it has multiple meanings, which we thought could leave our intent open to misinterpretation,” the statement said. “The trend of wearing festively decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided to say what we meant: “fun.” That’s the spirit we intended and the spirit in which we hope ornament buyers will take it.”

In reality, fewer than 5 % of Americans are Homosexual. If you believe the pundits, or what you see every night on television, you may have thought that the number was much higher than that.

The name of the game is perception.

If a person thinks that a group has a huge number of participants, than the more likely than person is to think that the groups activities or, more presence is not a deviation, but rather, normal and thriving.

Plus, when you remove society’s labels and categorization of an activity, as the APA did with pedophiles, substituting a kinder and gentler description of the “condition” which causes their morally abhorrent “activities”, you make the violation of innocent children “more acceptable” tin popular culture.

Remember Roman Polanski and his supporters, like Whoopi Goldberg?

It wasn’t “rape-rape”.

Now, you may think that I have gone off my meds this morning, but, I believe that the “Slippery Slope” argument, which Reagan Conservatives, such as this ol’ Cracka, have been making, regarding “Gay Marriage” leading to the erosion of American Culture and the acceptance of other forms of Deviant Behavior, has been, if not proven, strengthened by the actions of the APA, this week.

Keep praying, Americans.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Spare the Rod and Spoil the Miley

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Miley CyrusThe hottest water cooler topic in America yesterday, was not the fact that our nation is about to be brought in the middle of another country’s civil war by President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm), It was the behavior at Sunday nights live broadcast of the MTV Video Music Awards by a young woman named Miley Cyrus, who rose to fame on The Disney Channel as a fresh-faced, innocent pre-teen named Hanna Montana.

The show, which co-starred her dad, singer/songwriter Billy Ray Cyrus of “Achy Breaky Heart” fame, was a mega-hit among our nation’s youth. The plot concerned a ordinary girl named Miley (what a stretch, huh?) who donned a wig to become pop music sensation, Hanna Montana. The series followed all the goofy adventures which she, her brother, and her best friend, constantly found themselves getting into. Guest stars included Dolly Parton, Vicki Lawrence, and Brooke Shields. Ms. Shields, a child star, herself, played Miley’s estranged Mom on the show. To say that Brooke was not pleased by the real-life Miley’s actions Sunday night, is an understatement.

I just want to know who’s advising her, and why it’s necessary. I mean the whole finger thing and the hand and Robin [Thicke] probably at that point was going, ‘I don’t think this is a good idea.

Are you trying to be Gaga? (Gaga has) a genius behind all of it. It’s not just display, you know, I think it’s different.

We noticed that when we went to her concert with my daughters, who were obsessed, and they met her when I was playing her mother. And then we went to her Miley Cyrus concert and it was a very different vibe. You could see her trying so hard to go against that…She can sing beautifully, and I feel like if she lets that lead, rather than let her bottom lead….And the tongue out, and I think it’s just a little desperate… trying so, so hard.

“Trying so, so hard” to do what?

To be noticed.

Back in 2007, Radio Talk Show Host Glenn Beck, in his television show on Headline News, interviewed Billy Ray Cyrus about his daughter’s enormous popularity…and about their relationship.

“Are you at all concerned?” Beck asked the young star’s father, Billy Ray Cyrus, at the time. “I mean, the odds of Miley turning into Ron Howard — meaning sane — pretty low. Living in Los Angeles, being a child star — hello? Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, name a million others…”

Cyrus was confident that his daughter had a “great head on her shoulders” and a “great heart.” He also explained that he tries to be her “best friend,” while letting his wife act as the disciplinarian.

“I taught them how to build a good snowman, how to ride a motorcycle, how to ride a horse, how to roast a wiener properly over a fire, and a good marshmallow,” Cyrus explained. “…But discipline I always left up to the mama. She was really, really good at that. That never was — I never was really good at that.”

“This is driving me crazy…What is that from you then?” Beck interrupted. “…I don’t mean to be crass here — are you a cowardly guy?”

Looking back to that interview, after witnessing what Miley has turned into, I do believe the majority opinion is “yes”.

Billy Ray often has referred to the style of parenting which he used with Miley as laissez faire parenting.

I would just call it lazy.

Billy Ray’s, and his estranged wife’s, lack of parental guidance has produced a train wreck of a young woman, along the lines of a Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan.

You know what’s scary? Miley will not be 21 years old until November!

Think about this: a young fresh-faced, pre-teen girl, who was once marketed as the role model for young teens, with her likeness on clothes, lunch boxes, notebooks, and backpacks, in the center aisle in Walmarts around the world, has become a 20 year old, with her rear up in the air, on all fours, like she was a canine in heat, on a live television program, seen around the world,

The shock value, and outrageousness of her “performance” is what has made her the talk of the nation.

And, now, we all know that this simulated sex act , put on by 36 year old, Robin Thicke, who is married with a 3 year old child, and 20 year old Miley Cyrus, is called “twerking”.

The problem is: We didn’t want to know.

So, Miley…you’ve gotten your wish. You are the talk of America. However, folks are not talking about you in the same manner as they used to, when you were that angelic-looking child with the beautiful voice, winning smile, and perky personality.

Now, what Americans are trying to figure out, Miley, is how you’ve degenerated into what you have become: a young woman with loose morals, rubbing her rear against an older man, while appearing in a nude-colored two piece underwear-looking outfit, in front of God and everybody.

In other words Miley, the whole world knows what you are, all that’s left is the dickering about the cost.

Until He Comes,

K:J 

America: No God = No Peace

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

American ChristianityHave you noticed a general unhappiness in our country? People don’t seem to smiling as easily any more. They don’t seem to be as outgoing and friendly. They tend to pass each other on the street, and, even if they know one another, they just keep on walking.  Let’s explore some possible reasons…

Breitbart.com reports that…

Only a third of U.S. adults say they are very happy — minorities show particularly pronounced declines in the past two years, a U.S. survey indicates.

A Harris Poll of 2,345 U.S. adults surveyed online April 10-15 by Harris Interactive found certain groups, such as minorities, recent graduates and the disabled, trended downward in the last couple of years.

“Our happiness index offers insight into what’s on the minds of Americans today and is a reflection of the state of affairs in our country,” Regina Corso, senior vice president of the Harris Poll, said in a statement. “While the attitudes on the economy may be improving, we’re seeing that this is not translating into an improvement in overall happiness.”

Since last measured two years ago, the Happiness Index was especially low among the Hispanic-American population. It is important to note that a causal link cannot be established, it might not be a coincidence that this drop coincides with a political landscape that has seen frequent, sometimes contentious, discussion of immigration policy in recent months, Corso said.

Americans earning under $50,000 per year were less likely to qualify as very happy than in 2011 — down from 33 percent to 29 percent among those earning less than $35,000, and from 35 percent to 32 percent among those earning between $35,000-$49,999.

Those 50 and older were more likely to be very happy than younger people.

If money CAN buy happiness, we’re in a heap o’ trouble…because none of us have any.

According to an article posted on Friday by CBSMoneywatch.com…

Increasing housing prices and the stock market”s posting all-time highs haven’t helped the plight most Americans. The average U.S. household has recovered only 45 percent of the wealth they lost during the recession, according to a report released yesterday from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

This finding is a very different picture than one painted in a report earlier this year by the Fed that calculated Americans as a whole had regained 91 percent of their losses. The writers of the report released yesterday point out that the earlier number is based on aggregate household-net-worth data. However, this isn’t adjusted for inflation, population growth or the nature of the wealth. Further, they say much of recovery in net worth is because of the stock market, which means most of the improvement has been a boon only to wealthy families.

“Clearly, the 91 percent recovery of wealth losses portrayed by the aggregate nominal measure paints a different picture than the 45 percent recovery of wealth losses indicated by the average inflation-adjusted household measure,” the report said. “Considering the uneven recovery of wealth across households, a conclusion that the financial damage of the crisis and recession largely has been repaired is not justified,” the researchers said.

Household wealth plunged $16 trillion from the top of the real estate bubble in the third quarter of 2007 to the bottom of the bust in the first quarter of 2009. By the last three months of 2012, American households as a group had regained $14.7 trillion.

The report says almost two-thirds of the increase in aggregate household wealth is due to rising stock prices. This has disproportionately benefited the richest households: About 80 percent of stocks are held by the wealthiest 10 percent of the population.

Much of the total wealth of middle- and lower-income households is based on home values, not stocks. Even though home prices have increased nearly 11 percent in the past year, they remain about 30 percent below their peak.

While Americans continue to pay down their debt, the report says debt levels and problems with rebuilding net worth are the main reasons the recovery has been so slow. Also, the people who bore the brunt of the recession through job losses and reduced income were the ones who had borrowed the most.

The report found that members of the households that suffered the most financially were less educated, relatively young or black or Hispanic, or some combination of these factors. Those families tended to have low savings and high debt, with much of their wealth based on housing.

The poorest households have felt the sharpest losses as a consequence of the recession: “While many Americans lost wealth during the Great Recession, younger, less-educated and nonwhite families lost the greatest percentage of their wealth,” James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, said in a statement. “Household deleveraging, or paying down debt, has played a key role in the recent recession and the slow recovery.”

Americans are being besieged from all sides. Not only is the government taking our money, but, this new Progressive Culture around us, is succeeding in eliminating Godly Influences from our everyday life.

Gallup.com tells us that…

Over three-quarters of Americans (77%) say religion is losing its influence on American life, while 20% say religion’s influence is increasing. These represent Americans’ most negative evaluations of the impact of religion since 1970, although similar to the views measured in recent years.

Americans over the years have generally been more likely to say religion is losing rather than increasing its influence in American life. In addition to the previous peak in views that religion was losing its influence measured in 1969 and 1970, at least 60% of Americans thought religion was losing its influence in 1991-1994, in 1997 and 1999, in 2003, and from 2007 to the present.

Americans were more likely to say religion was increasing rather than decreasing its influence when the question was first asked in 1957, in 1962, at a few points in the 1980s during the Reagan administration, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in late 2001 and early 2002, and in 2005. The high point for Americans’ belief that religion is increasing its influence, 71%, came in December 2001.

These perceptions of religion’s influence in American society are not related to Americans’ personal religiosity, as measured by church attendance or the self-reported importance of religion in one’s life. In general, highly religious Americans are neither more nor less likely to say religion is losing its influence than those who are not religious. There is, however, a modest relationship between Americans’ ideology as well as partisanship and their views of the influence of religion, with liberals and Democrats more likely than conservatives and Republicans to say religion’s influence is increasing in American society.

And, of course Progressives would be saying that, because the religion they are referring to is a modified “Christianity”, which preaches the salvation of the “Collective” and “Social Justice” for all.

Working hand-in-hand with “The State”, i.e. the Obama Administration, Liberal/Progressive Churches preach this watered-down version of the Gospel to their unwitting congregations, “tickling their ears” and telling them that whatever gets them through the night, is alright.

In these Progressive Churches, the glorification of social programs and modern culture has taken the place of the Glorification of God and the hunger for His Word.

I mean, Gay Marriages are being performed in America’s National Cathedral in Washington, DC!

And, in churches around the country, Bible Studies, Youth Meetings, and Choir Practices, have been replaced with Studies on Philosophy, Voter Registration, sponsored by Organizing For America (Obama), and Yoga Classes.

The very Progressives in Power who have been whining for years about the Separation of Church and State, are the ones responsible for the removal of religion from American’s Everyday Life.

And, the worst part about it…Americans let them.

As I have gotten older (54), I have noticed that, concerning the two generations that have come after me, have consciously moved away from organized religion. Their movement is a result of Christ not being taught in their homes, and parents and other adult role models not providing a Godly example in their young lives, as they were growing up.  Without someone providing that example in their young lives, as my Daddy did for me, they have no Anchor to hold them steady through the Storms of Life and no Solid Rock upon which to stand.

And, unfortunately, that lack of Moral Compass, not only affects these two newest generations of adults, but all of those in their lives, and, eventually, society, as well.

Which is why we are now living in an America, which is well on its way to embracing a nanny-State Mentality, complete with its Situational Ethics and “50 Shades of Gray” Morality.

Gallup.com tells us that 78% of Americans proclaim Christ as their Personal Savior. 

Well, Americans, its time to return to Him.

For our sake, our children’s sake, our grandchildren’s sake, and our country’s sake.

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.- Ronald Reagan

Until He Comes,

KJ