FEDERAL FUNDING OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH BLOCKED
What is an embryo? Is “it” a human in the making, or is an embryo a human that is growing? Whatever the answer, some people cannot agree to disagree. Instead, they emphatically insist what they believe is a fact, and the rest of us must fund their belief. Therefore, we must, like it or not, unwilling pay for some very speculative research. At least, that was that case until yesterday.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Obama administration Monday from using federal dollars to fund expanded human embryonic stem cell research, saying the research involves the destruction of embryos.
The ruling comes after the National Institutes of Health last year issued new guidelines permitting federal funding for research on certain stem cell lines that had already been created. (continued here)
What is interesting is why it has taken so long to get to this point. That is, since there is a law against the Federal funding of abortion, why didn’t the courts rule against it right away? Here is the answer.
The District Court previously dismissed the case, saying the plaintiffs did not have legal standing. (from here)
Think about that. If you are a taxpayer, and your government uses your money illegally, some judges don’t think you have the grounds to take your government to court.
Of course, the Obama administration will appeal. What is interesting is comparing press coverage. The Fox News story begins.
The Obama administration will appeal a judge’s ruling that temporarily blocked federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said Tuesday that the department will “soon” be filing its appeal in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, where the ruling came down Monday.
White House spokesman Bill Burton earlier said the administration was exploring all possible avenues “to make sure that we can continue to do this critical lifesaving research.” (continued here)
Whereas Reuters starts this way.
Stunned and disappointed Obama administration officials said on Tuesday they would appeal a federal court ruling that temporarily barred federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
The administration will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals to lift the preliminary injunction issued on Monday, Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. (continued here)
CNN (here) and Politico (here) also tell us how much the judge’s ruling stunned the Obama administration. Apparently, “stunned” is the word of the day for pack journalists.
–Tom Salmon
VIRGINIA CAN REGULATE ABORTION CLINICS TO PROTECT WOMEN
Please let your friends know about the following so they can support Delegate Marshall on this issue.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 23, 2010CONTACT:
DELEGATE BOB MARSHALL
703-853-4213VIRGINIA CAN REGULATE ABORTION CLINICS TO PROTECT WOMEN
Virginia’s Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli issued an opinion that “the Commonwealth has the authority to promulgate regulations for facilities in which first trimester abortions are performed, as well as for providers of first trimester abortions, so long as the regulations adhere to constitutional limitations.”
“This is a victory for women and children across Virginia,” said Delegate Bob Marshall. It is my hope that the Governor will issue health regulations as soon as possible.”
Delegate Marshall had asked for the Attorney General’s opinion earlier this year. Virginia’s Department of Health had regulated abortion clinics until Chuck Robb became Governor and ended the practice.
“We should do everything possible to ensure that every woman’s life and health and their future pregnancies are protected by the Commonwealth of Virginia. To do otherwise is to shirk from government’s first responsibility,” Delegate Marshall explained.
Delegate Marshall added, “The National Library of Medicine has hundreds and hundreds of peer review medical articles documenting the immediate dangers of first trimester legal abortion to women and subsequent pregnancies.”
Marshall concluded, “I have asked that Governor McDonnell issue regulations identical to those approved by the Fourth Federal Circuit Court in Richmond upholding South Carolina’s medical and safety regulations for first trimester abortion providers as referenced by the Attorney General in his opinion.”
**************************************************************************
Letter from Delegate Bob Marshall to Governor Bob McDonnell
The Honorable Robert F. McDonnell
Office of the Governor
Patrick Henry Building
1111 E. Broad Street, 3rd Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
[Via E-mail]Dear Governor McDonnell:
I would like to request that you implement the abortion clinic regulations available to the Commonwealth under the Attorney General’s opinion issued August 20, 2010 which I requested which states in part, “the Commonwealth has the authority to promulgate regulations for facilities in which first trimester abortions are performed, as well as for providers of first trimester abortions, so long as the regulations adhere to constitutional limitations.”
I urge you to craft clinic regulations to meet the limitations set out in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals 2002 decision in the Greenville Women’s Clinic v. Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control case (see attached).
Virginia previously regulated abortion clinics under our inherent health, safety and welfare powers. I hope that you will do what you can to ensure that the women of Virginia are protected from dangers such as out of state physicians whose licenses are suspended or revoked elsewhere or not having hospital admission privileges in Virginia and, sending women to hospitals in private vehicles and other unsafe conditions which compromise public health that occur at some abortion clinics in Virginia.
Thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any questions please contact me on my cell phone at (703) 853-4213.
Sincerely,

Delegate Bob MarshallRGM/ccg
Download an Audio Clip of Delegate Bob Marshall’s Comments
Download the Opinion in PDF by the Attorney General Cuccinelli
–Tom Salmon
HOMOSEXUALS IN OUR MILITARY: IS HOMOSEXUALITY A RIGHT?
This is the third part in a four part series. What were the first two parts?
- HOMOSEXUALS IN OUR MILITARY: THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES
- HOMOSEXUALS IN OUR MILITARY: ARE HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS A SIN?
This post will attempt to answer the following question: Is homosexuality a right?
Why The Confusion?
The purpose and function of Law has never been a settled question. That is why when we look around the world we always find different kinds of governments that use the Law for different purposes. In fact, the confusion begins with confusion over the purpose of government. Some governments exist to serve the People. Other governments allow one group of people to oppress another.
Our government supposedly exists to serve the People. However, we do not all share the same concepts about Law. For example, if you go to the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, you can read a high-brow discussion, The Nature of Law, that will make your head spin. In a society where government and the laws it enforces exist to serve the People, rulers find it expedient to consider multiple points-of-view. Therefore, our experts approach the subject of Law from a variety of very different perspectives.
The complexity of society itself also creates confusion. The problems of governance must be confronted both at multiple levels and with different types of expertise. In a relatively brief article, The Role and Functions of Law in Business and Society provides an overview of our legal system, observing that:
Although the general functions of law appear to be rather simple, the United States legal system is actually very complex. Laws are broken down into several different types. These include constitutions, statutes, common law, administrative regulations and decisions, treaties, ordinances, and executive orders.
What Is An Individual Right?
In a society where government serves the People, one of major functions of the Law is to protect the rights of the People. Unfortunately, we have trouble defining individual rights. The high-brow “experts” have not helped. Consider again a lengthy article from the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Rights. We have used the term “rights” in so many contexts and in so many ways that the term has almost become meaningless. When a word can mean almost anything, what does it mean?
So how should we define the term “rights”? The blog, Classic Liberal, provides an excellent discussion, observing:
Rights are an inherent part of a human being. Rights are yours at birth, given to you by nature or God, and permit you to act in your own self-interest with total control over your own life and property, so long as you do not infringe upon the same rights of others. Rights are not granted by the State. A legitimate government can only guarantee that the rights of all are equally protected. (from here)
I would add one more observation. In a government of the People, by the People, and for the People, the People are the Government. Therefore, it is the People who protect each other Rights.
Is Homosexuality A Right?
Behavior defines whether or not someone is or is not a homosexual. Does anybody have the right to behave as a homosexual? That is, is the right to behave as a homosexual a right government is obligated to protect?
In a simple world, we would just ask a simple question: Why should anyone else care if two consenting adults want to have sex? Then we would observe that nobody should care and leave it at that. But the world is not that simple. Sexual relationships in particular pose complex questions.
Consider this expression, “recreational sex.” Is sex a recreational activity like baseball, skiing, swimming, bird watching, gardening, reading, and so forth? Just because someone puts “recreational” in front of the word “sex,” should we absolved the participants of individual responsibility and consequences?
Because sex is not merely a recreational activity, men and women have frowned on fornication for thousands of years. Because sexual relations have serious consequences, we celebrate marriage and condemn adultery. Because we expect men and women to control their sexual impulses, we make crimes of inappropriate sex such as rape and pederasty. Therefore, a man can find himself in jail just for dropping his pants in public.
In addition to protecting individual rights, society must promote certain values. To ensure that people fulfill their responsibilities, stable societies find the means to efficiently reward good behavior and to punish bad behavior. Otherwise, some individuals tend to luxuriate in their rights and avoid fulfilling their responsibilities.
As demonstrated in HOMOSEXUALS IN OUR MILITARY: THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES, same-sex sex produces health problems. At best, the behavior is self-destructive and unhelpful to the participants. At worse, same-sex sex leads to an increase in societal disorder. Therefore same-sex sex is not a right any more than suicide is a right.
A right to suicide? Granted, some people think we do have a right to commit suicide. However, government is notorious for its excesses. Once we admit a right to suicide, it seems there will be enthusiasts who insist we exercise this right — to end our right to life. Similarly, once we admit a right to homosexuality, it seems the enthusiasts will insist that we normalize the behavior — and will be forced to accept that which would otherwise deem immoral.
Therefore, we must remember why the Founders called our rights inalienable, pre-existing any government. God, who alway was and always will be, endowed us with our Rights. Does God approve of self-destructive behavior such as suicide or homosexuality? If we think the answer “No,” then why would We the People want to be obligated to protect such a thing as suicide or homosexuality as a right?
–Tom Salmon
MIRACLE OF DEMOCRACY? – PART 1
Google ”miracle of democracy,” and you will get about 37,500 hits. What is the top hit? That is www.miracleofdemocracy.org. Hilariously, this hit relates that the Liberty Institute, the sponsor of this website, has an initiative, Ayn Rand in India. Ayn Rand was an atheist. Atheists do not believe in miracles.
What we do to our language is most strange. In our quest to win an argument, we will corrupt the very language we use to convey our arguments. There is “no miracle of democracy,” but there is the ”miracle of a republic.” Unfortunately, if you Google “miracle of a republic,” that will get you about three hits.
Why The “Miracle of a Republic”
What is the difference between a democracy and a republic? Why is it important that we know the difference? In a democracy, we have the despotism of the majority. In a republic, the People choose to restrain themselves. In a republic, the majority recognizes the rights of the minority, thereby limiting the power of government. Thus, only in a republic does each individual have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Why would a People choose to restrain itself? Christians would do so because they love God and each other, and Christians settled America. The colonials’ love of God and neighbor produced a product, self-restraint which some would attribute to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, love of God and neighbor created a miracle, a government that actually serves the People. Government that serves the People…. Before that time, such government was rare indeed.
How did this miracle manifest itself? It did so in our Constitution. Our Constitution created a framework of restraints on majority rule. Because the People wanted these restraints, our Constitution created a republic, not a democracy. To protect individual rights, our laws do two things.
- They say what the government can do.
- They say what citizens cannot do.
When our laws operate this way, both individual citizens and groups of citizens can do almost anything they wish — unless some law or regulation prohibits what they want to do. All we must do is avoid violating each other’s rights.
On the other hand, the Federal government can only do what the U.S. Constitution says it can do. Since the Constitution was not written to greatly empower the Federal government, the Founders did not intend that the Federal government do all that much. Moreover, the citizens of the new republic insisted upon further limitations. Therefore, they added a Bill of Rights.
200 years ago We the People agreed to abide by the restraints incorporated in our Constitution. Do we still honor those restraints? That will be the subject of MIRACLE OF DEMOCRACY? – PART 2.
–Tom Salmon
HOMOSEXUALS IN OUR MILITARY: ARE HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS A SIN?
This post again takes up a thread we started in HOMOSEXUALS IN OUR MILITARY: THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES.
What Is Sin?
To some extent the definition of sin depends upon who we ask.
- The Catholic Encyclopedia provides a detailed explanation philosophical in Sin. This explanation starts with an important point.
Since sin is a moral evil, it is necessary in the first place to determine what is meant by evil, and in particular by moral evil.
- Dictionaries (see here, here, here, and here), oddly enough, seem curiously reluctant to mention the connection between sin and evil. Where they do they reference Bible dictionaries.
- Since the dictionaries referenced Bible dictionaries, that indicates that Bible dictionary probably provides the most appropriate definition. Here is a link to the definition of “sin” from the Easton 1897 Bible Dictionary. How does the definition begin?
Sin
is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God” (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is “not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God. Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters, (1) ill-desert, guilt (reatus); and (2) pollution (macula).”, Hodge’s Outlines.The moral character of a man’s actions is determined by the moral state of his heart. The disposition to sin, or the habit of the soul that leads to the sinful act, is itself also sin (Rom. 6:12-17; Gal. 5:17; James 1:14, 15)
Sinning is something we all do. However, just because we all sin that does not excuse sin or make sinning something we should do.
What Does The Bible Say About Homosexuality?
The Bible unambiguously condemn homosexuality as a sin. These websites list and comment upon the relevant passages.
- What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Is homosexuality a sin?
- Is Homosexuality A Sin
- What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
These passages condemn both sexual relations between individuals of the same sex. The Bible only approves a sexual relationship between a married couple consisting of a man and woman. Here is a list of the relevant passages.
- Genesis 19:1-13 tells of Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 offer straightforward statements explicitly condemning homosexuality.
- Romans 1:24-27 explains that when we refuse to acknowledge and worship God we will commit unnatural and evil acts.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 tells us that homosexuality is just one of many evil acts that men can and commit. This passage also reminds us we can repent.
Why Is Homosexuality a Sin?
The mere fact that the Bible says something is wrong is not enough to convince some people that that something is wrong. That is why many point to the health issues. And that is why we began this series by discussing the health issues, showing that homosexuality involves self-destructive behavior.
Part 6 of The Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC) six-part article, Homosexuality: The Untold Story, describes the criteria for authentic love.
Because humans have a soul, their union should far surpass the mere sense level of animals, and should involve the spirit as well as the body. In other words, it should be love that unites them, not just a physical urge. And this love that unites man and woman is meant to mirror God’s love, which has certain characteristics: it is free, total, faithful and fruitful.
Homosexual unions cannot be fruitful. Because it is unnatural, homosexuality can only be form of fornication. When people have sex just amuse themselves, their amusement generally turns upon them. The Apostle Paul explained.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (New Living Translation)
Avoiding Sexual Sin
You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.
Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Think about it: “The two are united into one.” Is that not what literally happens? When we have sexual relations, we share our body with another person. If we choose to engage in sex frivolously, then we profane that gift. We make our own body cheap and worthless.
–Tom Salmon
THE LAW AND CHRISTIANITY – PART 3
Once again we take up this thread. What does Christianity have to do with running our country?
What were the earlier posts about?
- In THE LAW AND CHRISTIANITY – PART 1, we defined the problem and the threat.
- In THE LAW AND CHRISTIANITY – PART 2, we discussed further the threat to private property rights, and we reviewed what the Bible had to say about the subject.
In this post, we will consider the need to reinvigorate Christianity and our instructions from the Bible.
Reinvigorating Christianity In The United States
The Bible serves as the textbook of Christianity; it tells the story of God’s plan for our redemption. To the casual reader, the Bible says relatively little about how we should govern ourselves. However, because the Bible speaks in great detail about wisdom and morality, the Bible is in fact book about government. That is because the Bible defines a moral code that each of us must honor.
How does it work? Human societies build from individuals organized into families, families organized into communities, and communities organized into nations. Thus, the quality of a society is determined by its building block, the nature of the individuals that make it up. If we can improve the individuals that make up a society, then we will improve that society.
Christian belief changes the individual. The Bible tells us what God has done to save our souls, and the Bible tells what we have to do to accept salvation. The Bible also tells us is that the acceptance of God’s gift of salvation has consequences.
Romans 6:15-18 (Today’s New International Version)
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
The acceptance of salvation does not does not make anyone perfect, but it does change us. Instead of measuring our behavior by the standards of this world, we look to the next. As Christians, our first allegiance becomes Jesus. So it is when a government official demands our obediance, we ask: What would Jesus do?
Therefore, when we look at the behavior of our neighbors, our children, and our selves, and we find it wanting; we cannot blame government. When we see our government out of control, the men and women who lead us unrestrained in the pursuit of power, we cannot blame them. Instead, we must each regard the failure of our government as possibly a personal failure. Have we each done our part to be Christ’s obedient slave? Have we each lived and taught by our example the Word of God?
Our Instructions From The Bible
According to the Bible, God has specific commands for us. He twice makes this clear in the Book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 4:2 (New Living Translation)
Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.
Deuteronomy 12:32 (New Living Translation)
“So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.
Latter, Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they added to the burden of the people with false teachings (See Matthew 23:13-39 and Luke 11:37-54). Instead of teaching what God had taught, too many of the Pharisees had twisted God’s teachings to elevate themselves.
Like the Pharisees, we too risk unscrupulous legalism or worse. To suit our own preferences we can add to the Bible things it does not say or entirely ignore it. Thus, we must read the Bible carefully and scrupulously. We must try to understand each book as its author intended. We must put ourselves in the place of the people who first heard its words. In addition, we must consider the Bible as whole, connected work, putting each book in its proper context with the others.
When we do try understand the Bible, we can be shocked by the results. For example, because of this passage, many teach that Jesus intended Christianity to be apolitical.
Mark 12:13-17 (Today’s New International Version)
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.
The key statement is: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” With this statement, Jesus taught that church and state had separate spheres of influence, but by itself the statement is ambiguous. Jesus does not define what is Caesar’s and what is God’s. What does the rest of the Bible say? With his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus made a political and well as a religious statement. That is why Caesar’s soldiers beat and crucified Him. Jesus left no doubt that we must consider our obligation to God infinitely greater than our obligation to Caesar.
Consider Jesus’ prayer the evening before His crucifixion.
Mark 14:32-42 (New Living Translation)
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.
When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”
Jesus went to His Father for comfort. While His apostles slept, our Father gave Him the strength He needed. So it must be with us. When confronted with a choice between Caesar and God, Christians must choose to render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. Therefore, in the years that followed Christ’s resurrection, Christians chose, and Roman soldiers made their choice. It was then that Roman soldiers tortured and killed many Christians.
Nevertheless, many now insist that neither Jesus nor His martyred disciples made a political statement. That defies logic. Are we to suppose believe that the Roman government killed and persecuted Christians for hundreds of years for no reason at all? That would be foolish. We must see the truth. Christianity undermines the authority of those who would make government their god.
So what can we do? Christ left his apostles with The Great Commission, to make disciples for Christ. We must work for the salvation of our countrymen.
It ain’t over until it is over, but it is nice to get off to a good start. What’s the big news?
Judge Permits Virginia Health Care Law Challenge to Continue
The state of Virginia can continue its lawsuit to stop the nation’s new health care law from taking effect, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson said he is allowing the suit against the U.S. government to proceed, saying no court has ever ruled on whether it’s constitutional to require Americans to purchase a product. (continued here)
Thus, Virginia can sue to stop Obamacare.
Here are some reports from area blogs. There is stark partisanship.
- Virginia, Cuccinelli Win Round One Against ObamaCare!
- A SMALL VICTORY!
- Virginia’s AG Cuccinelli on FoxNews at 10 PM
- Virginia wins first round in federal health care battle in Va.
- Liberty – 1, Government – 0
- The White House responds to Cuccinelli’s law suit against health care reform
- The rise of the confounding conservative
- Activist Conservative Bush-Appointed Judge Lets Cooch’s Healthcare Lawsuit Go On
Both our governor and lieutenant governor issued words of support.
- Cuccinelli’s health care lawsuit moves forward, McDonnell sounds off
- STATEMENT of LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BILL BOLLING on HEALTH CARE RULING
–Tom Salmon
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT BORROWING
We have huge national debt. This debt serves as a sorry indication that we no longer read the Bible or take it seriously.
Most of this discussion on borrowing comes from the Old Testament. What follows are some of the relevant verses and passages.
Deuteronomy 15 begins with a discussion on cancelling loans made to other Jews. However, Jews were not required to forgive loans made to foreigners. If they obeyed the Lord, they were to rule over them.
Deuteronomy 15:6 (Today’s New International Version)
For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
Deuteronomy 28 enumerates the blessings for obedience. That includes:
Deuteronomy 28:12-14 (Today’s New International Version)
The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Deuteronomy 28 also enumerates the curses for disobedience.
Deuteronomy 28:43-44 (Today’s New International Version)
The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.
In one simple verse, Proverbs explains why we should avoid debt.
Proverbs 22:7 (Today’s New International Version)
The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.
The Bible explicitly prohibits usury. In fact, the Bible takes a markedly dim view of the matter.
Exodus 22:25-27 (Today’s New International Version)
“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can your neighbor sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Leviticus 25:36-37 (Today’s New International Version)
Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that your poor neighbors may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit.
Ezekiel 18:12-13 (Today’s New International Version)
He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.He lends at interest and takes a profit.
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.
In fact, we are suppose to be generous even to our enemies.
Luke 6:32-36 (Today’s New International Version)
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
What lesson should we take from these verses? During ancient times and times not so long ago, people enslaved each other. In fact, if you did not pay your debts, you risked slavery. As a practical matter, the practice of slavery continues. Where authoritarian governments rule, the elite live on the backs of the poor.
In our nation, we have made the most vile practices associated with usury, a tool of enslavement, illegal. Nonetheless, as a nation, we have greatly indebted ourselves to foreigners. This debt indicates two things.
- We are buying more than we produce. Since we are supposedly a rich people, this profligate behavior demonstrates a severe lack of national self-discipline. Even the prodigal son had better sense than to divert himself with borrowed money.
- We have become dependent upon the goodwill of foreigners. Will these foreigners rule over us? Is that not effectively what we are asking them to do.
THE LAW AND CHRISTIANITY – PART 2
This post continues where THE LAW AND CHRISTIANITY – PART 1 left off. In Part 1, we defined the problem and the threat. We learned that in order protect our life and liberty, we must protect our right to private property. In this section, we will address the threat posed by politicians. In addition, we will discuss what the Bible says about stealing and limited government.
How And Why Politicians Pervert Our Notions About The Right Private Property
The Statesman Versus The Politician
We elect different types of people to lead us. The quality of the people we elect depends upon us. If our leaders do their job well, most likely we chose those people to lead us for the right reasons. When our leaders fail, we probably chose them for the wrong reasons.
The Statesman leads wisely. Such were the type of gentlemen who established our nation. Instead worrying about great social programs and running the economy, they focused on the proper role of government, protecting our rights.
A Politician focuses upon self-aggrandizement, to be enriched and idolized by the “masses.” Instead of doing what is best for the country, Politicians seek to buy our support and our votes with “other people’s money.”
The Tyranny of Conformists
Though they pretend otherwise, many people are conformists. To cover up their drive for conformity, these people make a big show of nonconformity, but the behavior of their fakery contradicts their show in two ways. These “nonconformists” want to look like all the other “nonconformists.” In addition, they insist that others conform. When others don’t behave the way they think they should that bothers and even frightens them. Then these “nonconformists” look to Big Government to assuage their concerns. That is why, for example, we have government-run education. In spite of the obvious bureaucratic absurdities and the ridiculous costs, public education ensures mediocrity (i.e., conformity). Thus, to make certain everyone educates their children (the right way?), these “nonconformists” demand taxpayer dollars (other people’s money) to educate other people’s children their way.
When some people insist upon infringing upon the rights of others, we need the force of government to stop them. This is the primary purpose of government, to keep people from doing things they want to do, bad things. Big Government goes way beyond that. Big Government is bossy, busybody government. Big Government makes people do things they do not want to do, supposedly good things. What power mad “nonconformists” forget is that that face in the mirror is the one that should concern each of us. We cannot make others good, but we can allow our Maker to use us as His hands and feet. As our Lord demonstrated, we can set a good example. Unfortunately, merely setting a good example is not enough to satisfy the ego of a self-righteous “nonconformist.”
The Government We Deserve
We get the government we deserve. Whether we vote for Statesmen or Politicians determines the type of government we get. We can and do say we deserve better, but that is nonsense. When we will not hold ourselves to high standards — when we demand things from government we have not earned — how can we hold our leaders accountable? If we accept a Politician’s offer of other people’s money, we will get bad government-run by bad people.
What The Bible Suggests About Limited Government
Right To Property
What does the Bible say? It says “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Look up the definition of “steal.” Is stealing that hard to recognize or define? Apparently, it is.
What the dictionary does not do is connect government with stealing. Yet we all know tyrants use government to steal. Don’t gangs of thieves come in many forms?
But the Bible goes further; it tells us not to covet our neighbor’s property.
Exodus 20:17 (New Century Version)
You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife or his male or female slaves, or his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The Bible also tells us that God expects us to be merciful.
Proverbs 6:30 (Today’s New International Version)
People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
In fact, God expects to share with those in need.
Ephesians 4:28 (Today’s New International Version)
Those who have been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
Yet if government steals and then waste what we earn, what will we have to share?
Whether it is you or I or someone else who does it, stealing is wrong and violates God commandments. When government confiscates a citizen’s hard-earned property and gives it to someone else, does that make stealing moral? Does the fact that this “redistribution” helps a politician to buy votes make it “moral” stealing? Or is redistributing the wealth just theft masked with legality and disguised in flowery language of compassion?
The Consequences Of Unlimited Government
Before the Israelites had a king, God ruled over them, but that was not good enough. The Israelites wanted to be like all the other nations. So they demanded that Samuel, then the man of God who judged them, appoint a king to rule over them. When Israel asked for a King, God granted their wish, but he gave Samuel these words.
1 Samuel 8:10-18 (Today’s New International Version)
Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
There are only two types of government. There is a republic with limited government, and there is an oligarchy with Big Government. When the Israelites chose to have a king rule over them — when they chose to conform and be like all the other nations — they chose Big Government.
What to Expect in Part 3
- Reinvigorating Christianity In The United States
- Our Instructions From The Bible
–Tom Salmon
WHAT SHOULD BE OUR FOCUS?
Various people have various ideas for solving the problem of America’s out of control government. Here is a sampling of their ideas.
- Starve the beast by depriving it of tax revenues.
- Rid ourselves of professional politicians with term limits.
- Eliminate the influence of special interests by publicly financing political campaigns.
- Sunset all legislation.
- And so forth.
Many of these proposals would perhaps be great improvements, but few get to the root of the problem.
What is the problem? We are born into the world ignorant savages. Like sponges, we absorb the beliefs and the attitudes of those around us, particularly our parents and our teachers. However, it does not stop there. We also learn from entertainers, particularly in this era. In fact, many people partake of entertainment for hours each day.
Because people act from what they believe, there is a poem that says the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. That is why all governments strive to control what children learn. In the past, the self-appointed elite fought to control churches. Now they fight to control our schools. Meanwhile, because they understand the consequences if they do not, they educate their own children separately.
If we want our children to run their own lives, we take upon ourselves the responsibility of educating our children. To learn how to participate properly in our society (to work cooperatively with others), we must ensure that our children receive their instruction in civics and in religion from people who love them, not bureaucrats appointed by the minions of politicians.
If you are an adult, then consider the quality of your own education. What did our socialist school system teach us about civics and religion? Did our instructors teach us about the virtues of good citizenship or good bureaucracy? Do you suppose it is getting better? Then consider this absurdity. Most communities have both School Boards and Boards of County Supervisors. Every state has a legislature, and our country has that immensely popular body we call Congress. Each of these legislative bodies has a role in school finances and regulation. In addition, to see to it that educators carry out their wishes, each of these legislative bodies appoints its own administrative trolls. Thus, we have four levels of bureaucracy hounding the lives of teachers and confusing the minds of our children. If we were not so poorly educated, why else would we ever allow such a system? How could we believe that such a system would improve upon what local communities once did on their own initiative?
Because it stands in the way of parents fulfilling their responsibilities to instruct their children, the public school system must inevitably be harmful. Therefore, we must focus first of all on education reform. We must put parents back in charge.
–Tom Salmon
