Category: Christianity and Culture
Book Review: Elizabeth Bettina and It Happened in Italy
| July 28, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under Blog, book reviews, Christianity and Culture, eugenics, General, Holocaust, morality |
For a homespun story of great historical value, I submit Mrs. Bettina’s It Happened in Italy. Given current trends in America, Europe, and the world at large, I greatly fear that a hundred year’s hence there will be need for books documenting humanity’s bravery in the face of unadulterated murderous evil. I suspect that here too the story will be the same: the most educated people on the planet created and carried out their calamities… and the ‘uneducated’ simple folks tried to stop them.
It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust by Elizabeth Bettina. Buy on Amazon
The Current Enslavement of America by Taxation
| July 23, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under Blog, Christianity and Culture, human rights, politics, Secular Humanism |
The truth is that it is a very small thing to say that if our hypothetical family wanted a parent to stay home with the kids they could easily do so if so much wasn’t being automatically withdrawn from their paycheck. In reality, if we looked at how much governmental interference was costing the family at every level of its existence… fuel taxes, cell phone taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, etc, etc, etc, we may find that the actual tax burden is beyond stifling.
I said at the beginning that there is a proper place for government and there certainly is a proper time and mechanism for taxation. However, it is important that we understand the actual impact and consequences of government and taxation and alert ourselves to the very real possibility that tyranny, actual outright tyranny, can be foisted upon a society- indeed, is already upon us- with that society’s ‘consent’ and without even their knowledge.
But now you know. Now what are you going to do?
Christians Should Take Freedom Into Account
| July 22, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under Blog, Christianity and Culture, eugenics, General, human rights, philosophy, Secular Humanism |
For example, consider a family with children that would prefer to have the mother stay home to care for those children. Unfortunately, the income isn’t there to support it, and so the mother has to get a full or part time job. Thus, this family becomes enslaved to a societal structure that makes it difficult to act on the principles and priorities they believe. Ah- but upon further examination, the income is there to support it. When we look at the pay stub, thousands of dollars, every month, are being automatically withdrawn by the state and federal government for taxes and social security.
Put this money back into the hands of this family and suddenly it is possible, even easy, to have one of the spouses stay home.
This example is meant to illustrate the principle that taxation has a direct impact on freedom. As Christians, we should not be indifferent to the effect that governmental policies have on individual groups.
The Christian and his God Appointed Sphere of Influence
| July 10, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under apologetics, Blog, Christianity and Culture, General, morality, spirituality, theology |
Important caveat: the following is written BY A CHRISTIAN and pertains ONLY TO CHRISTIANS, and then, ONLY THE CHRISTIANS THAT TAKE THE BIBLE AS THEIR FINAL AUTHORITY. I hope that is sufficiently clear.
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1 Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Sprinkled throughout the Scriptures is evidence of God’s fondness for a certain order of interaction with the human race. The idea that judgment begins with the family of God is not isolated to Peter and the idea that there are stages in judgment is not isolated to the apostles. For example, Jesus himself alludes to it in Mark 7 when he at first refuses to minister to the Syrophoenician Woman, saying, “First let the children eat all they want.”
Christians Should Not Use the Government to Do THEIR Good Deeds
| July 3, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under Blog, Christianity and Culture, General, morality, politics, Secular Humanism |
Who needs the Gospel when you have the Government? And why should you believe the Gospel when all the Christians you know seem to be stingy and just as worldly as anyone else? It isn’t like Christians are paying more taxes then anyone else, right?
It seems like the very opposite of compassion, but Christians need to extract themselves from this vicious cycle of using the Government as the tool to ostensibly carry out the duties that belong to them. This is not a call for being dismissive regarding social issues. It is a call to meet them on our own terms.
A Christian checks out Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals
| June 7, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under abortion, atheism, Blog, book reviews, Christianity and Culture, End Times, General, homosexuality, human rights, Obama, original sin, politics |
Having only read excerpts of Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals, I was pleased to have the opportunity to sit down and read it for myself in its entirety. Knowing how influential Alinksy was for the young Obama (and many others who now occupy seats of power) I am more worried than I was before now that I’ve actually read this book. Go to the library and pick up the book. You need to read it.
The subtitle of the book is “A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals.” It is not an inappropriate subtitle. Alinsky is all about pragmatism and realism. Alinsky is dismissive of ethical questions related to the question “Does the end justify the means?” He says:
The practical revolutionary will understand Goethe’s “conscience is the virtue of observers and not of agents of action”; in action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one’s individual conscience and the good of mankind. The choice must always be for the latter. Action is for mass salvation and not for the individual’s personal salvation. He who sacrifices mass good for his personal conscience has a peculiar conception of “personal salvation”; he doesn’t care enough for people to be “corrupted” for them. (pg 25, chapter titled: Of Means and Ends)
All pro-lifers culpable for Tiller Killing
| June 3, 2009 | Posted by Anthony under abortion, Blog, Christianity and Culture, End Times, General, politics |
In my blog entry yesterday I indicated that the reason why proportion and a sense of perspective were necessary regarding the Tiller killing was because in the liberal mind, referring to abortion as murder, etc, is inflammatory language that really is ‘hate speech.’
The current hate speech legislation coming through Congress (Matthew Shepherd Act) aims to draw exactly this kind of connection, though of course this legislation is related more to homosexuality. The idea is the same, though: if anyone person commits a crime and it can be tracked back to someone who can be perceived to have ‘instigated it’ the person who did the ‘instigation’ is equally guilty and consequently should be punished under the law.
In today’s perusal of the web I found more evidence of this attempt to condemn the entire pro-life movement because of this single event. The irony is that the day after Tiller was killed, an American soldier was gunned down at a recruitment center by someone we now know was acting on Islamicist principles.
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