The Founders Were Not Deists

Some in this nation get very uncomfortable if anyone mentions the religious heritage of our nation.  They immediately go on the defense, calling our Founders "deists", like they fear someone forcing them to wear a burkha.  One has to wonder if these people even know what a deist is.

The simplest way to understand deism is that it is a belief that there is a Supreme Being, but once this Supreme Being sets forth certain laws, he does not intervene in the affairs of men.  It is often called the "watchmaker theory" which states that once the watch is made and wound, the watchmaker does nothing else.

A deist would not pray for God's blessings on human endeavors because that would be futile and violative of their beliefs.  A "watchmaker" God would not and could not bless anyone or anything.  Deists know this and consider prayer a foolish exercise.

In spite of this what does history teach us about our Founding Fathers?  Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are always cited as the most deistic of any of our Founders, yet Franklin, himself, stated, "I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe.  That he governs it by his Providence.  That he ought to be worshipped."  A watchmaker God could not and would not govern the universe by his Providence.  Jefferson said, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever."  A Deist's God could not do anything about it, even if his sense of justice was offended.  

George Washington, at Valley Forge, when the nation seemed at its most vulnerable prayed, "...look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me Thy servant...."  Who would care if a God of a Deist had pity or compassion on someone?  A Deist certainly would not consider himself to be a "servant" of such a God.

The facts are that from their writings and known congregational associations, the majority of our Founding Fathers were church members.  The very first act of the Continental Congress was to pray for Divine Providence in the face of the British bombardment of Boston.  A watchmaker is incapable of Divine Providence in a crisis.

Our Founders were not Deists. Our Founders knew that only God could see this nation through its early trials and tribulations, and only God can see this nation through today.

Does The Left Believe In Choice?

Those that set the agenda for the Democrat party claim to have faith in the American people. Do they really mean it?  They constantly demand that women should have control of their bodies when it comes to abortion.  They call themselves "pro-choice".  But, are they?

These are the same elites who do not believe that you can be trusted to know what job and what job conditions are good for you. They must meddle, because you are not smart enough to walk away from low pay, long hours and unsafe conditions. They must interject themselves into the individual contractual relationship between employer and employee.

These elites do not trust you to make the right decision on what vehicle to purchase. Instead of realizing that car manufacturers make the cars and trucks that consumers want to buy, they want to restrict the types of automobiles that can be sold. Why? Because car makers are greedy and you are too stupid to purchase a safe, fuel efficient, environmentally friendly car.  If left alone, you might not make a wise choice.

These elites do not believe that you can make proper choices concerning what you eat. They seek to regulate McDonald's and other fast food places to the extent that their advertising would be restricted and their exposure to liability is increased. Why? Because you are incapable of making appropriate food choices for you and your children. 

These same elites want more Federal standards for education and oppose vouchers to encourage school choice. They don't even believe that you can decide what is best for your child's learning.

They oppose lower taxes because the Great White Father in Washington can spend YOUR money better than you can. In fact most domestic governmental programs are full of "Father Knows Best" paternalism.

These elites claim to "trust the people". They really only trust you when it comes to killing a baby.  Otherwise, they know best.

I Don't Understand

While watching some of the debate regarding the partial-birth abortion bill, one would have thought that Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were being ordered by the government to wear burkhas and chastity belts.  Their level of passion to defend an indefensible procedure was stunning.  I truly don't get it.

Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life regarding abortion in the first trimester, how can you support partial-birth abortion?  I'm sorry, the "it isn't a baby, it's a fetus and it's the woman's body" argument doesn't cut it here.  Partial birth abortion occurs in the third trimester when anyone who has watched an ultrasound or felt their own baby kick knows that what is in there is a separate living thing.

You can't scream that the government shouldn't be allowed to get involved, either.  Most of you who support partial birth abortion would chain yourself to an iceberg to force the government to get involved to prevent baby harp seals from being clubbed.  You would have no problem with the government putting hundreds of loggers out of work to protect a spotted owl.  I would like to know how you rationalize a spotted owl or harp seal being more valuable than a viable fetus.

Doctors who perform the procedure even play mental gymnastics to justify it.  Somehow a baby who is purposely delivered breech can be killed, but not so with an identical baby coming out head first.  Almost eighty percent of partial birth abortions are performed because of fetal defects.  I'm sorry folks, that doesn't improve your argument, it just makes you sound like selfish versions of Dr. Mengele.  My wife's baby sister was born with cerebral palsy and I cannot imagine life without her.  When we were first married, my wife worked in a group home for mentally challenged adults.  Trust me, these people have value.

The partial-birth abortion law provides for an exception for the life of the mother, so that arugment isn't valid either.  It is a gruesome, horrible procedure performed on a viable fetus that has its own separate heart, brain, emotions and personality.  If partial-birth abortion is not murder, then there is no such thing.  Like I said, I don't understand.

Oh, and don't whine about the baby harp seals.

The Elites Know Best

The elites among us have consistently tried to tell us two things about the War on Terror.  First, they tell us it is not about religion.  Secondly, they tell us that the fundamentalists make up only a very small minority of the Muslim population.  Now, since opinions are like noses, let's look at some facts.

The terrorists themselves and their supporters say this is about religion.  Every pronouncement from the jihadists talks about Allah commanding them to fight us, the infidels.  They claim that the Holy Qu'ran demands it.  I know that elitists like to tell people what they are supposed to feel, think and believe; yet, if the terrorists say this is about religion how can the elitists say otherwise?

Now as for the claim that only a tiny percentage of Muslims subscribe to this fundamentalist view, the facts call that into question as well.  The examples of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt are very illuminating.

The excuse given for why the House of Saud cannot help in the fight against terrorism is that the Wahabbists want to overthrow them and put in a theocracy.  If they are that much of a threat, they must control a large portion of the population.

Iran has already imposed a fundamentalist theocracy and even though they are Shi'ites, they are permitting Al Qaeda Wahabbists to keep camps and conduct training there.  Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's biggest threat is from the militants who would take over if he did not remain vigilant.  Those militants are fundamentalist Islamists.

The KLA in Kosovo, the terrorist army trying to take over the Philippines, a large portion of the population of Yemen; they are all fundamentalists.  In fact, the only two predominantly Islamic nations that do not have significant fundamentalist movements are Jordan and Kuwait; both of which are tiny by Muslim standards.  Even Turkey has problems with its religious zealots from time to time.

The elites say that there are plenty of moderate Muslims that do not support terrorism.  I am glad to hear it.  Where are they?

Trying To Understand Leftists

Surprisingly to some, I don't consider leftists to be evil people.  I don't consider them, by and large, to be stupid people.  Yet I consider leftism to be as dangerous as terrorism to the United States of America.

It is hard for me to understand leftism.  I have tried, since I first encountered professors who had opposed the Vietnam War and didn't believe that the Soviet Union was the "evil empire".  I had seen people like that on television, but to actually discuss issues with them and ask them questions was a shock.

The first thing I learned was that equality, to them, is actually more important than liberty.  They view inequality itself as a form of oppression.  Yes, I know, people can be unequal in condition without someone else causing that inequality, but leftists see the condition as evidence of oppression.

Next I learned that leftists are uncomfortable with the idea of the United States as a "superpower".  In the eyes of leftists, America is too controlled by corporate interests, which are inherently evil, to be allowed to be so dominant in the world.  The Soviet Union actually did a service by keeping some of our more insidious corporate interests in check. 

I further learned that leftists have an inherent NEED to look at the world objectively.  This notion of the United States of America being "our team", is juvenile in their eyes.  They see the hope of a peaceful unified world where there is no need for borders and armies.  The entire concept of borders, to them, is inherently discriminatory and xenophobic.

Further, they see differences in viewpoint, rather than good and evil when it comes to relations between nations.  Now admittedly, they see good and evil, or rather, oppressed and oppressor, in relations between business and employee or consumer.  The United States is too big to be the good guy in their eyes.  We fit the part of oppressor much better than the oppressed in their eyes.

Having said this, I still don't get it.  They see a nation that has done better at living up to ideals than any other, and they still cringe at the thought of us being "good".  They see a nation where economic mobility is the norm rather than the exception, and they still see a negative picture.  I know this old country boy isn't the smartest guy in the room, but ...

Searching For Nuance

Leftists constantly criticize conservatives for seeing issues in terms of right and wrong, good and evil, black and white with no shades of gray.  According to leftists, we are not capable of seeing the nuances of a particular situation, particularly in the area of foreign policy.

Amazingly, they even accuse us of this when it comes to the War on Terror.  Now, very few of them are willing to say publicly that we brought 9/11 on ourselves; but they do get very uncomfortable if we view the battle in terms of a war between good and evil.  They tell us that we are being narrowminded.  They tell us that we need to give some consideration to the terrorists' point of view.  They say we need to look for the nuances.

Therefore, I am going to search for some nuance in this conflict.  Al Qaeda and its associates believe that murder is an appropriate way to get closer to God.  If that is not evil, then there is no evil on this earth.  These terrorists believe that women are nothing more than property and should not even be permitted to leave their home without a family member accompanying them.  Even leftists would agree that is evil.  So far, no nuance needed.

These people see nothing wrong with asking their children to become human bombs.  They see nothing wrong with killing your children simply because they believe differently.  That is evil.  There is no other way to describe it.  Nuances don't apply.

There can be no serious argument made that our opponents in the War on Terror are not evil.  There can be no nuance that grants them a legitimate justification for their beliefs or their actions.  Yet, the leftists don't want us calling this a war of good vs. evil.  The leftists want us to find some nuance.

Wait a minute.  Now I understand.  The leftists don't have a problem with calling our enemy evil.  The problem is that they can't bring themselves to call the United States "good".  That is the nuance they want us to see.  I should have known.

Hell Refuses To Freeze Over

I have never been a Cubs fan.  I was raised a Yankees fan and became a Braves fan by virtue of geography and cable television, so I never could understand the warm fuzzies that people got over a team that seemed destined to finish among the also rans every year.  I was simply of the opinion that their ownership didn't want to spend the money and make the committment necessary to win.  Thus, I had a hard time sympathizing with them.

However, having seen the sport that I love fall on hard times, and seeing the interest that the Cubs and Red Sox generated in this year's playoffs; I changed my mind.  I began cheering for the law of gravity to be repealed along with millions of other baseball fans.  This team seemed to have destiny on its side.  Against Atlanta, Wood and Pryor looked unstoppable, and they were up three games to one on the Marlins, a team that even the most die hard baseball fan has a difficult time appreciating.  Satan was breaking out the long underwear.

The Cubs then lose on Sunday in a game that they never seemed to want to play.  It was okay, though.  They were still up three to two and going home to the friendly confines.  All seemed to be going according to some divine plan.

On Tuesday night, the Cubs were five outs away from exorcising all the demons that had plagued them for decades, then fate, chance, the forces of evil or something snatched it all away.  The fan did nothing wrong.  He was simply trying to grab a piece of history.  He never intended to make history.

Last night was academic.  The Cubs made a gallant effort, but those of us who understand the baseball gods knew what would happen in the last chapter.  Hell is still hot and the Cubs are still cursed.  As a baseball fan, that makes me sad.