Unstable Christianity?

One of the earliest Hallelujah moments for me as I began my walk with Christ some thirty odd years ago came as I studied this passage in the Gospel of Saint Luke first chapter:

39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

It filled me with joy! The revelation of the nascent John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb reacted to merely hearing the voice of the mother of the also nascent Christ—How wonderful the workings of God! This likewise marked the end of my heretofore pro-choice position on the  issue of abortion.

You see, as a Spirit filled Christian, I realized like a thunderbolt from heaven, I could not reconcile the incongruity of a person, woman or otherwise having agency in determining the fruit of her womb's worthiness of the God given gift of  life. It pricks at my heart this is not readily understood by all who claim faith in the child growing in Mary’s womb.

The child growing in Elizabeth’s body was no less John the Baptist than the fellow who shouted; “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.’ The Child in Mary’s body was the same Christ who said; “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Given modern thought, many would have advised Mary it would have been wise, given the circumstance of Chris’s conception, to “choose” ending her pregnancy. The idea the person growing within her has no right to life. Particularly when one considers His mother lived in an age of dire consequences for adultery, and the views in the day on fornication.

It struck home for me personally as I and my then future wife had made the very “choice ourselves when she became pregnant early in our relationship—I paid to abort what would have been our first child. We allowed our lack of faith at the time to rob us of a blessing, though the child’s origin was outside God’s prescribed order. Marriage, then sexual relations.

It was compounded by my having made the same decision earlier in my life with another woman. It was a decision not made due to a lack of resources, but rather motivated purely out of selfishness and the wish to avoid distasteful scrutiny. I did not see the children as people, just in ill timed inconvenience.

Then one reads Psalms 139:

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

This drove me to repentance, Prostrate I asked the Lord’s forgiveness, He being faithful to His Word , through faith in Him who has forgiven me. By faith in His promises, proven not by blind belief, but by evidences of His actions in my past I take solace in the hope I shall know these offspring robbed of an earthly life in the eternal life to come.

Had I not early in life been a faithless unbeliever, I would have reacted like Joseph did as recorded in Matthew the first chapter:

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Indeed, hopefully, I would not have fornicated to begin with. Scripture teaches in James the first chapter: Verse eight; “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” This prompts me to ask those who claim Christ as personal savior committed to Him, who still advocate for “Choice” on behalf of "women's rights,"  are you double minded? If not, how do you reconcile this in light of God so often making statements like:

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5, and:

Isaiah 49:1

Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

Galatians 1:15

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

Ephesians 1:4

For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

Romans 8:29

For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Isaiah 44:2

This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

Job 31:15

Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?

How do you argue a woman, or any man has the right to undue what God has made? How do you reject participating with God in His acts of creation? How is your wisdom greater than the creator of ALL THINGS? I ask these questions sincerely, as we all must answer for what we have done in the body when we stand before Him. I know I am not the first to make these points, or to posit these questions, yet I am driven to do so in this hour—I do pray we examine ourselves and our choices in light of God’s revelation. It is through these revelations we are able to apprehend the character of God.

Second Timothy Chapter 3, verse 16 states, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness". 

We ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”—Yet we are all called to conform to His Word. We are not citizens of this world and should not follow the ways of the world. We are called to take on the Mind of Christ and to seek His kingdom first. So I ask you, on the question of life, have you gone astray? Can you hear the Good Shepherd's voice? Are you an unstable Christian?

Digitall Publius

Voting For Bondage

The roots of American Black folks slavishly supporting Democrat/Leftist ungodliness are out there—If you care more about truth and doing what’s right, than being right, rubber stamping policies designed to make you feel good, rather than DO good. Black Christians, as I have pointed out in the past, are the largest Christian group who vote Democratic.

Christians who allow their faith to inform their politics, find it difficult, if not impossible to vote for the Democrat Party—This was the case with me when I came to a saving faith in Christ. As I began studying the living Word of God with all of my might, it occurred to me as a mental side note, I could not vote as I had in 1992 for Bill Clinton in the 1996 election.

Simply put, I could not figure out how I could be both a Christian and a Democrat. The gulf between God’s Word and the left’s political platform was simply too wide. Sadly, the gulf has expanded exponentially in the subsequent 30 years. Yet, the majority of Black Christians compartmentalize their faith when they enter the voting booth.

The Black Christian’s politics supersedes the tenets of God—I have heard Black Christians cite the specious idea of a separation of Church and State as often as I hear it from the most virulent, militant atheistic activist. The Democratic Party is never so hostile and frenzied as when they condemn the slightest homage to Devine Providence in the public square. Going so far at the 2012 DNC convention, as to literally boo God when including references to “God” in the Democrat platform was proposed.

So the Democrat Party works to reverse a state’s right to mandate the Ten Commandments in public school class rooms—While decrying school violence. Incapable of acknowledging a sign saying from an Immutable Source, Thou Shall Not Kill, may just serve to lower school mass shootings.

I understand the left’s dilemma, It’s tough teaching our kids to respect life, while advocating for destroying it in the womb. How do you teach reverence for God while telling children He made a mistake when he made them a boy, or a girl? How do you teach them not to lie, or covet, while telling them it’s perfectly normal to discard healthy parts of their growing bodies, so they can appear like the gender they envy?

No, you can’t have those pesky Commandments around, they get in the way of our anti-life agenda. The Democrats are committed to killing babies in the womb and mutilating children so they themselves, can never experience participating in the greatest collaborative creative act, working with God to bring human life into the world. A true blessing.

Yes, the Democrats boisterously gainsay publicly acknowledging our Creator… Until election time rolls around. Then they affect dialects meant to endear themselves to Church congregants  all across the nation. That is Black congregants. I can’t recall a Democrat candidate ever being filmed at a majority white congregation on the political stump. I’m still waiting for a Democrat to whip out a bottle of Lea & Perrins at a White church the way Hillary broke out the Frank’s in the Black church.

Even though the God they proclaim with their lips to serve declares: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalms 139:13,14  They still side with the Party arguing what grows in a mother’s womb is not human life, and you are not wonderfully made, remake yourself by cutting the bits off you find offensive.

The Democrat strongman has a hold on the Black man’s soul through decades of conditioning and the cooperation of those Margaret Sanger called, silver tongued Black preachers and leaders when she began implementing her “Negro Project.” Folks like Mary McLeod Bethune, W. E. B. DuBois, and Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Is it any wonder why so many Planned Parenthood abortion mills are found in urban areas? WE will support all of the ungodly things the left peddles, as long as they keep promising largesse to the Black community.

The biggest fish Planned Parenthood landed to convince the Black community it was merciful to kill our own babies, was the Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was the first recipient of the Margaret Sanger “Humanitarian” award. The following is an excerpt from his prepared acceptance speech:

“There is no human circumstance more tragic than the persisting existence of a harmful condition for which a remedy is readily available. Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical and necessary. Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess.

There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger’s early efforts. She, like we, saw the horrifying conditions of ghetto life. Like we, she knew that all of society is poisoned by cancerous slums. Like we, she was a direct actionist — a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions. At the turn of the century she went into the slums and set up a birth control clinic, and for this deed she went to jail because she was violating an unjust law. Yet the years have justified her actions. She launched a movement which is obeying a higher law to preserve human life under humane conditions. Margaret Sanger had to commit what was then called a crime in order to enrich humanity, and today we honor her courage and vision; for without them there would have been no beginning. Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her.“

“Obeying a higher law to preserve human life under humane conditions.” You somehow “enrich humanity” by destroying it? I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans; “And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.”

The left has convinced so many good is evil and evil is good. They don’t want teachers to pray with students, but they are fine with telling them to hide their gender identity from parents. The American flag triggers, the Pride flag uplifts. Sexually explicit books are welcome in elementary school libraries, while parents objecting to children being sexualized are painted as extremists—Further, legislators fighting for parent’s rights are labeled book banners…

We are so committed to the flesh, we are ignoring the spiritual evil being propagated. The left relentlessly, through the media they control, sell the idea Black folks are under racist attack every waking moment of our lives—They get us to co-sign the most ungodly things with our vote. Is it any wonder they have convinced us not to replace ourselves in society by embracing every anti-life agenda known to man?

But hey, no more mean tweets! We may be paying more for everything, but at least our sons will be able to castrate themselves in the most humane way possible. Orange man and Project 2025 bad—Drag Queen Story Hour good. It’s not about being a “One issue voter,” It’s about demonstrable good and evil.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 5:11

Digital Publius

Ain't Enough Red Pills

It is time to pray. I am by nature an optimist, more amenable to the half full side of things than the alternative. However, it has also been my endeavor to add a measure of pragmatism to the glass—Truth beats pie in the sky everyday of the week and twice on Sundays. The United States of America is in trouble.

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18

If you are a Holy Bible believing Christian, I don’t mean a churchgoer, there’s scads of churchgoers. I mean people who not only believe in God, but actually believe Him. The sort of faith you find compelling enough to speak out when you clearly see things contrary to the teachings of the God revealed in the Holy Bible—You are a walking, talking red pill and know this, the overwhelming majority you find yourself in the midst of daily, prefer blue.

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 10:22

If you are a churchgoer, and you find yourself in ready agreement with what you see in the media, abortion is about women’s rights, Billy Porter looks good in a dress, some races are more virtuous than others, you feel you must apologize for your ethnicity, Lil Nas X can be a “Birthing Person… If you find yourself nodding your head in agreement with 99% of modern American news… You are right where the enemy of all mankind wants you.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” II Timothy 4:3,4

In an article I wrote several years ago I posited: “In a society as powerful and throughout most of our history, incredibly prosperous like the United States, socialism cannot rely on the old ways. The old ways work well in underdeveloped nations, but in the West, a softer revolution was in order.”

I was partially right—We have in fact undergone a softer revolution, it just wasn’t socialist in nature—it was fascist. Consider the words of Giovanni Gentile, the philosophical father of fascism—As Adam Smith to capitalism, Marx and Engels are to socialism/communism, Gentile is likewise to fascism.

“The Fascist, on the other hand, conceives philosophy as a philosophy of practice (”praxis”). That concept was the product of certain Marxist and Sorellian inspirations (many Fascists and the Duce, himself, received their first intellectual education in the school of Marx and Sorel)—as well as the influence of contemporary Italian idealistic doctrines from which Fascist mentality drew substance and achieved maturity.“ *

The founders of fascism were all committed socialists who were bitterly disappointed when the workers failed to unite against capitalist oppressors during the First World War but instead fought with their individual nations against each other—putting their national identity ahead of their economic philosophy. German socialists fought with Germany, Italian with Italian, British with British… So nationalism was introduced to the wider socialist theory and fascism was born. Hence for example, National Socialist German Workers,’ or NAZI Party. In fact, if you find “Workers” in the title, it’s a safe bet there’s socialism somewhere in the mix.

“The authority of the State was not a product, but a presupposition. It could not depend on the people, in fact, the people depended on the State… The Fascist state, on the other hand, is a popular state, and, in that sense, a democratic State par excellence… Every citizen shares a relationship with the State and is so intimate that the State exists only in so far as it is made to exist by the citizen.“ — Giovanni Gentile **

“How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.” Jude 1:18

The United States Preamble begins with “We the People…” Not we the State and this was our strength for much of our national history. It is the reason we have been so indomitable as a people—It was therefore the most important thing for the fascist left to undermine. It is the reason the Democrat Party strives to control every aspect of American life.

The media, academia, technology, entertainment and now all three branches of government work tirelessly to make government the center of our society. Never in our history has individual liberty been under so constant an attack—The Pandemic is the greatest tool to ever enter the left’s kit box to meet their Hegelian dreams.

Add to the Pandemic, a heaping helping of anti-American sentiment, carefully cultivated now for generations in our schools and media and the United States is just about finished. I’m a fan of Longfellow—In works like his novel “Kavanagh,” you find words describing the feeling America used to inspire:

“We want a national literature commensurate with our mountains and rivers ... We want a national epic that shall correspond to the size of the country ... We want a national drama in which scope shall be given to our gigantic ideas and to the unparalleled activity of our people ... In a word, we want a national literature altogether shaggy and unshorn, that shall shake the earth, like a herd of buffaloes thundering over the prairies”

We seem now more interested in emphasizing the depraved in our works of art. There is much more cache in hating America than praising it nowadays. The fascists of old played up nationalism—Today in America they mock it—The fascists of old kickstarted the Hegelian dialectic by unleashing the Brownshirts in Germany and the Black Shirts in Italy—Thugs controlled invisibly by agents of the state to sow chaos so the benevolent state can then step in and restore order—Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.

In modern America these thugs are called Anti-Fascist, or AntiFa and from a more political perspective, BLM. AntiFa is fitting when one apprehends the anti part is in fact anti national American pride. In every other way it is classical fascism. The Brownshirts had their “Kristallnacht,” AntiFa had their “Summer of Love.” The contemporary fascists have discovered supplanting nationalism with statism eliminates the middle man. 

The Democrat Party for example cares nothing about our nation—This is made manifest by their disinterest in maintaining our sovereign borders. Not to mention the wanton abandonment of our citizens and allies to the tender care of the Taliban. What could more perfectly Illustrate their disdain for you and me? Beyond our devotion to them, we have no further value.

The problem is the Democrats/Leftists know who their true spiritual and philosophical fathers are and most of us don’t—they study and implement their ideas; While providing academic cover, teaching only hatred for America, capitalism and Western Civilization—They have literally made generations believe Fascism is a right wing ideology even though NAZI has socialism right in the name and its origins are as left as you can get. The earliest enthusiasts for the theory in the United States where themselves “Progressives like F.D.R. and W.E.B. DuBois… More from Gentile:

„Of which liberalism does one wish to speak? I distinguish two principal forms of liberalism. For one…liberty is a right; for the other a duty. For one it is a gift; for the other a conquest… One liberalism conceives liberty rooted in the individual, and therefore opposes the individual to the State, a State understood as possessing no intrinsic value—but exclusively serving the well being and the improvement of the individual. The State is seen as a means, not an end. It limits itself to the maintenance of public order, excluding itself from the entirety of spiritual life—which, therefore, remains exclusively a sphere restricted to the individual conscience. That liberalism, historically, is classical liberalism—of English manufacture.

Classical Liberalism is conservative, it is right wing, Gentile and the fascist reject conservatism out of hand while perfectly defining it. He continues:

 It is, we must recognize, a false liberalism, containing only half the truth. It was opposed among us by Mazzini with a criticism, that I maintain, is immortal. But there is another liberalism, that matured in Italian and German thought, that holds entirely absurd this view of the antagonism between the State and the individual.“ ***

I don’t know a single conservative who would agree with that. It does nevertheless describe the transformation of the term liberal. More over, I don’t see how a Christian could align themselves with such ideas—Yet when you elect men like Joe Biden and find yourself more often than not, agreeing with CNN and MSNBC you already bow to the State.

“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” I John 5:19

“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 15:19

The modern day American fascist assures you daily through the likes of Don Lemon, Howard Stern, Joy Reid, Anthony Fauci, Jen Psaki… opposing the collective will of the State via vaccine mandates, travel restrictions, or straying from any of the left’s brand of orthodoxy, be it Pro Choice, open boarders, or an infinite regress of gender possibilities, you are to be shunned, vilified, demeaned… 

This is what the State demands, this is what the world demands. Unquestioned compliance or you are the problem. Are you thinking for yourself, or is the world thinking for you. Are you among the many? 

It’s time to pray! Not for a nation I fear too far gone, but for each other to see the truth and come out from among them. Be in the world, but not of the world—We do not want to share in the condemnation so surely to come.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14

Digital Publius

* “The Philosophy of Fascism,” first published in English in the Spectator, November 1928, pp. 36-37. 

** Orgini e dottrina del fascismo, Rome: Libreria del Littorio, (1929). Origins and Doctrine of Fascism, A. James Gregor, translator and editor, Transaction Publishers (2003) p. 28

*** Che cosa è il fascismo: Discorsi e polemiche (“What is Fascism?”), Florence: Vallecchi, (1925) pp. 42-45, 47-48, 49-51, 56,Origins and Doctrine of Fascism, A. James Gregor, translator and editor, Transaction Publishers, 2003, p. 63

The Tragically Stupid

No group is more reactionary towards President Trump than American black folks—The media has fought like tigers to make it so. They are particularly adept at twisting Mr. Trump’s ham-fisted way of communicating to remove all context, painting him a bigot. American black folks have been carefully weaned on a diet of rejecting conservatism and Republicans in general—None more so than Mr. Trump. This is so despite the fact Black folks are by nature very conservative.

The narrative advanced by the left and the leftwing dominated mainstream media, really anyone in opposition to President Trump, is he is easily influenced—The last person who speaks to him on a subject, is a predictor of the way he will go on an issue. This in fact may be true. If so and you have an agenda you want advanced, wouldn’t it make good sense to desire being in a position to bend his ear?

Progressivism as it has grown in the United States is a disease first infecting the idle and moneyed within society—the so-called “Parlor Pinks.” Folks sold on the idea of their native superiority, bent on controlling the masses. They spread their virulent philosophies, exposing any they can manipulate by stoking the red hot coals of “Social Injustice” and victimhood.

Once infected, the new carriers become immune to reason—feelings take primacy over rationale and nothing ever really changes—which is precisely what their enlightened handlers want, a constituency of victims with whom to offer ethereal largesse in exchange for power...forever.

A prime example of this is the modern professional athlete. One fellow makes an empty gesture, kneeling on the field before a football game during the national anthem—What the NFL has to do with perceived heightened police violence against blacks is elusive. Nevertheless and without regard for a clearly stated agenda behind the action, the media anoints him a conscious and brave hero and others soon follow suit.

The progressives promote such actions because they are hollow and it keeps the very rich and influential athletes from the truly screwy idea of putting their resources to actual good use on the ground. The sort of work true heroes like Hall of Fame Football star Jim Brown has been engaged in for decades. Literally yanking young men out of gang life in California and other areas.

In 2016, Jim Brown along with fellow gridiron legend Ray Lewis, Rapper Kanye West and Pastor Darrell Scott met with President Elect Trump at his election headquarters to discuss ways his impending administration could address issues important to the black community. Mr. Brown said regarding the meeting:

“We couldn’t have had a better meeting.” He continued: “The graciousness, the intelligence, the reception we got was fantastic. He’s amenable to listening to people who didn’t vote for him.”

Mr. Lewis stated: “black or white is irrelevant” when trying to help people out of poverty and improve people’s lot. “Urban development and job creation are everything,” Lewis said. “What we believe with the Trump administration is if we can combine these two powers of coming together – forget black or white. Black or white is irrelevant. The bottom line is job creation and economic development in these urban areas to change the whole scheme of what our kids see.”

Mr. Brown went on: “I can’t speak for the pastor [Scott], but I fell in love with him, because he really talks about helping African-American, black people and, uh, that’s why I’m here.”

“You fell in love with Donald Trump?” asked CNN’s Brooke Baldwin.

“It isn’t really about Donald Trump,” Brown replied. “It’s about him and the position he occupies. When he goes through what he went through to become the president, he got my admiration. They called him names … he reached back and brought them along with him. He held no grudges.”

The Trump administration, In just over 500 days, has orchestrated record highs in black employment and record lows in overall unemployment. It’s being reported, reluctantly by the mainstream media, we actually have more available jobs than people to fill them.

Mr. Trump met with 100 of the Historical Black Colleges and University Presidents last year—Most black folks have no idea. The HBCUs had a very contentious relationship with the previous  Obama administration—Whether President Trump’s continuing support for the HBCUs is merely political oneupmanship or not, the net effect is positive for the black community.

Sylvester Stallone, along with ex-heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis, met with President Trump to advocate pardoning the first black Heavyweight Champion, Jack Johnson who was unjustly convicted under the Mann Act in 1913–a vindictive action motivated solely by bigotry. A bill passed in the House requesting a pardon for Johnson from President George W. Bush, but died in the senate controlled by 35 Democrat seats.

A bi-partisan group in 2016 lead by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former senator Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), along with Congressmen Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) and Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), requested a pardon for Jack Johnson from President Obama, he and Atty. Gen., Holder rejected the idea. Despite these previous ineffective efforts, a talk with Mr. Trump secured the pardon in short order.

Most recently, reality TV star, Kim Kardashian West met with President Trump in the Oval Office  to argue for the release of 63 year old Great Grandmother, Alice Johnson, convicted 22 years ago for her role in a cocaine distribution ring, a nonviolent drug offense—Mr. Trump commuted Johnson’s sentence and she is now free. 

I have seen black folks irrationally down play the move, arguing the President didn’t pardon Ms. Johnson, “...like he did for his boys.”

Alice Johnson, unlike Jack Johnson before her, was not the victim of an unjust conviction —She was guilty of her crime, the life sentence plus 25 years she received, the result of mandatory sentencing installed during the President Bill Clinton administration for a non-violent crime, was unjust, so the sentence was commuted.

Whatever Mr. Trump’s motivations, if you are a cynic and believe it all to be just political pandering, or opportunism—If you have a cause worth fighting for and meaningful goals can be met, why would you squander your opportunities. The Philadelphia Eagles players, LeBron James, Steph Curry... all these mushy headed, privileged and entitled rich, pseudo activist athletes, refusing to visit the White House with Mr. Trump in residence, get your collective heads out of your butts.

You have the chance to meet and perhaps chat with arguably the most powerful man in the world. A man with the resources and authority to actually make things happen. It would be tragically stupid to squander it—If you have a worthy cause, or a grievance with the man, take whatever opportunities presented you to lay them out before him... Or you can stick to your high-minded, but shallow, empty gestures.

‘Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.“ James 4:2

Digital Publius

Dumbest Meme Ever

“I need every black man in the country to go out tomorrow and buy an AR-15 assault weapon. They’ll be banned by Tuesday.”

Thus read the dumbest meme I’ve read since the Parkland, Florida shooting—Made doubly stupid by it originating with an LGBT activist white male and posted on a black male friend’s FB page. It speaks to a sort of backhanded racism rife in the contemporary and completely self unaware American left.

The meme brings up questions obvious to the thinking, yet elusive to the folks inclined towards posting such utter nonsense. Do you believe American government is so systemically racist it would make the meme true? Do you buy into the idea law enforcement is so systemically racist it makes it policy to kill as many unarmed black men as is possible to get away with? Do Black lives indeed matter?

If you answer yes to any of the above queries and subscribe to the idea of banning AR-15s or any other high-capacity, commercially available semi-automatic firearm the question begging for an answer? Why would you cede your personal protection to the same racist government and law enforcement you fear undermines the importance of your black life? Government and law enforcement, have real assault weapons capable of full automatic fire which will go nowhere after they ban your semi-automatic rifle.

If they are as problematical as you fear, wouldn’t it further empower a system already hostile to LGBT and black folks?

The idea so many black folks in America (That is black folks not tied into criminality.) buy into the leftist idea of banning and removing semi-automatic rifles, speaks directly to the effectiveness of our handlers conditioning. The first restrictions on our 2nd enumerated right came about specifically to keep freshly emancipated slaves unarmed. The 1893 Florida Gun Control Act as explained by Supreme Court Justice Rivers Buford was “Never intended to be applied to the white population.”

In the 1960s when Riots began to break out in Los Angeles, Newark and Chicago, Congress passed the 1968 Gun Control Act. The Act, authored by Democratic Senator Thomas Dodd and signed by President Johnson was literally copied from the gun act passed by the Nazis in 1938 Germany. The Dodd act was pushed by the public outcry following the assassinations of DR. King and Bobby Kennedy, but it specifically targeted a specific group, black folks. The left uses every opportunity to use the same Hegelian principals which inspired the Nazis—Like Rahm  Emanuel stated: “You never let a good crisis go to waste.”

The contemporary liberal says the 2nd Amendment is archaic and governmental tyranny can and will never rear its ugly head in the United States. Yet, it was in fact state and local municipalities all over the nation, in our not too distant past acting to curtail our inalienable rights. Further, the tyranny inflicted by the United State’s criminal culture is no less oppressive than can be brought to bear by government. Real tyranny played out daily as the law abiding are preyed upon.

Decades of cleverly devised and implemented messaging in all American media created and controlled by the left has worked to vilify firearms instead of villains. I see men, I mean grown men, husbands and fathers saying “I can’t understand why anyone wants or needs to own a gun.” How do you look at your loved ones and not see a reason to procure the most effective means of defending them?

Growing up as one of the last members of the Baby Boom, I did not personally know a father who did not own a firearm to protect his family. My dad owned a surplus M1 carbine just like the one seen in the famous (By any means necessary) Malcolm X photo, equipped with what he used to call banana clips. These were 30 round magazines in a rifle, though not all black like a scary looking modern AR-15, had the equivalent rate of fire. In the 1970s a surplus M1 was dirt cheap, as was the surplus ammo—Dad liked the M1 carbine because it was what he learned to use in the Navy. In other words, the M1 is an actual military rifle issued to GIs during WWII and up to it being replaced by the M-16.

By virtue of the M1 carbine being only capable of semi-automatic fire, it is not designated an Assault Weapon, hence the need for an actual American Assault Weapon resulting in the M-16 which is capable of full automatic fire. The commercially available AR-15 is a copy of the M-16 without the full auto “Assault” function. Just like  dear old dad’s M1 carbine.

My dad also had a Smith and Wesson .38. He taught my sister and I how to operate both firearms. In fact, the M1 was the first firearm I ever fired. The carbine is a very effective home defense weapon precisely because it is so easy to operate and has such little felt recoil, a ten year old boy can do it. Just like a modern AR-15.

He taught me to field strip it and clean it—he removed all mystery from the firearms in our home, preparing us to defend ourselves when he was out. We did not touch them without his supervision, though they were easily accessible at all times. However, an intruder was equally at risk whether or not my dad was home.

I see men say silly things like: “I have a baseball bat, swords, knives, martial arts training…” If your home is assaulted while you and your family are home by thugs with guns and you are standing there with a sword, you are unarmed. You may get lucky and cut the first guy, but the next one will not be surprised. It’s the reason cops and soldiers don’t carry swords in the field.

Not quite sure how leaving your personal defense to others is somehow noble—In my opinion it speaks to a sad naïveté, or tragic stupidity at best and cowardice at worst. We’ve all heard the cliché by now: When every second counts, the police are minutes away.

I’m not saying a bad guy can’t get the drop on me, even if I’m armed locked and loaded—Nevertheless, call it a character flaw if you must, I’d rather be prepared.

One of the heroes of the so-called “Woke” black community, the aforementioned Malcolm X habitually called on the black community to buy not pistols, not swords and knives, but rifles and shotguns. Going so far as to admonish black folks to organize rifle clubs. This was before “After School Specials,” social justice propaganda indoctrinated teachers and liberal media made owning a firearm for protection akin to mental disorder, especially in the problematic black community.

The left continues its soft assault on the black community, it’s better for us to choose killing our children in the womb, keep our children in failing urban schools instead of vouchers and look to the democratic teat for succor. Black Lives Matter… but not enough to own a gun so you can protect yourself, we got you, don’t worry.

Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and Bernie Sanders are fine with you and our school children being defenseless as they seek “Common Sense” gun laws. They expect you to ignore the fact they may not be armed personally, they still have serious and resolute men armed to the teeth ready to do violence on their privileged behalf.

Guns have always been plentiful in the United States, 40, 60 or 100 years ago there was no paucity of firearms of any kind, yet our youth weren’t shooting up their schoolmates. Firearms are even more ubiquitous in countries like Switzerland where families have generations of military rifles in their homes. After service in the Swiss Army, you take your weapon home with you. Yet we do not see this happening in Switzerland or in our own past. What is the difference here and now?  What has so dramatically changed since the 80s?

The left wing rush to promote secularism in The USA has removed the societal reinforcement of the principals formally taught in our homes and churches. When you remove the Immutable Source for morality, what you end up with is not morality at all, but rather fashion. Absent a fear of the Creator God holding us responsible for our actions in our children, is it any wonder for some students it is fashionable to become a “Professional School Shooter?”

As always I am reminded of Holy Scripture, specifically the Lord preparing his disciples for the days to come Luke 22:31-38

“And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.”

Digital Publius

Not Quite So Black and White

I haven’t felt compelled to write an article since November 7th 2016—Today I am saddened by the ginned up racial strife running rampant in our nation.



After the 2016 elections resulting in a win for President Trump and republican majorities in the House and Senate—New York Times editor Toni Monkovic and election’s analyst Nate Cohn published a lightly edited transcript of their written exchange on the subject.



Therein they echoed the same rather narrative destroying fact the pundits on the right offered to explain the stunning Trump campaign win. Namely—the same white working-class voters who voted for President Obama in droves, actually supported Donald Trump during the last cycle. This exchange is salient:



Toni The fact that they voted for Obama, you wrote, suggested that racism wasn’t the primary reason that so many of these voters chose Trump. But there’s a counterargument that Trump made an explicit appeal to racial/ethnic resentment (which John McCain and Mitt Romney did not). And white nationalism has been a rising force in recent years, not just in the United States.

Nate Well, I think I’d make two points. One is that racism might be the animating feature of Trump’s base, but may not be the way that he expanded his appeal to the voters who often support Democrats on economics.

The other thing I’d say is that I think it’s possible for racism to play a role, even for Obama voters: You could imagine, for instance, that these voters may have liked Obama but may have real reservations about demographic changes, or they may have perceived Trump as “on their side” in part because of racial appeals. I think, though, that making racism the core of the reason Trump won the election is probably oversimplifying things. As I said, I think Democrats have to grapple with the importance of the Obama-Trump voter, and I think that applies on race as well.

One other thing: Both Trump and Obama made white working-class voters feel a little better about racial anxiety.

The left, especially the media, want desperately to infuse race into an issue where it is most likely not playing as large a role as desired. The left thrives on identity politics! Be it the local democrat politicians vying for city, state level positions, or the national political stage, together with the mainstream media—there is no argument without a root sunk deep in the soil of division. Black, white, gay, straight, rich, poor… there must be grievance.



With all their talk of diversity and tolerance, the left cannot envision, nor abide the idea of an America whose majority white citizens may in fact have embraced Dr. King’s “Content of character ideal” when they chose to tacitly support President Barrack H. Obama…twice. Let alone the idea these same citizens voting for a non-establishment, “Hope and “Change” agent for two previous cycles, may not have liked the changes wrought and saw Trump as a counterbalancing non-establishment change agent in the last elections. It has to be racism.

The racial friction so keenly felt contemporaneously in America is an ember steadily stoked over the last ten years with great care. On the stump in 2007 we heard candidate Obama’s unity soaked soaring rhetoric: 



In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.”
 
And:



It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.

He then went on to eight years of calling America “Arrogant” and “Dismissive”—never missing the opportunity to play up every incident in America as a struggle between one group or another. You can’t begin a statement with: “Too many feel…” as often as President Obama did without seeking to play up differences. Thesis, antithesis, leading to a desired leftist synthesis. You create a crisis so you can be the deliverer.

Presidents Clinton and W. Bush were no less, or no more embattled than President Obama, it's the nature of the beast—Only when the opposition targets a minority, or a woman is the destructive specter of race or fill-in-the-blank identity politics raised. You cannot object to leftist policy without some appeal to one’s inner bigotry don’t you know?

This is the soul of Hegelian dialectics—If Saul Alinsky is the high priest responsible for President Obama and to an even greater degree Hillary Clinton’s leftist catechism, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was the god Alinsky served. Hitler used it in his rise to power, releasing his brown shirts into the world to wreak the havoc he would then remedy. 



It was signaled by Mr. Obama’s initial Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Hegel’s philosophy was to be employed in the United States in earnest, when he made the statement: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

 

It is important to note, the above statement was made in context of the financial crisis, created by the collapse of the GSEs. The same entities the democrats argued were so healthy when President Bush and other republicans pleaded with the democrat law makers year after year to reign in and regulate before disaster struck.

Have you taken a look at Mayor Emanuel’s Chiraq lately, one can’t help but wonder with a sense of genuine foreboding what awaits the once proud “City of the Big Shoulders.”

The media began this present-time racial crisis with the false narrative surrounding George Zimmerman, painting him as a virulent anti-black, profiling racist in the incident leading to the death of Trayvon Martin. All done with clever editing of the 911 call Zimmerman made—It was somehow lost NBC was forced to offer an apology to Mr. Zimmerman who is nevertheless labeled a hate filled murderer.



Then they advanced the false “Hands up, don’t shoot” exploiting the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson… Re-imagining America into a land where innocent black folks are shot by white cops willy nilly as a matter of course. Black Lives Matter is created and funded by powerful puppet masters.

Now we find, Jason Kessler, the man credited with organizing the Alt-Right protest, the racial crisis du jour, which lead to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. It seems Kessler was an Obama supporter. He voted for him twice and had gone to at least one Occupy Wall Street event. A woman lost her life in the madness, a sacrifice to please Hegel.


As I stated above, the right has correctly pointed out most of the voters who supported Trump, were erstwhile Obama voters disillusioned with his version of Hope and Change and his focus on identity politics. You can only call the white folks who voted for the first black President racist for so long before they grow…resentful.

You do not get to be President of the United States without overwhelming support from white America. This plays hob with the narrative painting President Trump and the people who voted for him as racists and most of all, the republican party, conservatism and anything to the right of Squeaky Fromme intrinsically ipso facto racist.



The democrats as Obama apologists, chafe whenever Mr. Obama is referenced as a divisive figure, not because of his race, but his and the rest of the party’s constant exploitation of identity politics. Ironically, the left leaning Snopes, in their fact check on Jason Kessler affirm the notion when they posted: “He told us (and has consistently said elsewhere) that he was an Obama supporter and voted for him. He says he began to sour on Obama and the Democrats during Obama’s second administration because of their focus on what Kessler terms “identity politics.”

Kessler is either an agent of the left, pretending to be an ersatz modern brown shirt—or a legitimate person driven over the edge by constant leftist identity politics—Neither explanation lays blame at the feet of conservatism…there is no third thing.



Having a heart for history I can’t help thinking of the Weimar Republic, the Reds fighting the Brown Shirts in the streets of Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, locked in a struggle to control the left in a weary Germany… Today, we watch groups like Antifa vying against the so-called Alt-Right, both claiming to represent what is best for the United States of America—The same dance, the same piper, the same aftermath?



We are being manipulated the media is the left’s most powerful tool. Preying on you, identifying you as a victim of one kind or another. Black vs white, man vs woman, gay vs straight—bound by forces with one aim, strife and conflict leading to the demise of the greatest nation in the history of the world. Spoiled by envy and hatred fomented by those who despise liberty and feed on chaos. Resist!



Mark 3:

23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Digital Publius

The Fat Lady Sings?

In the spring of 2011 I wrote an article titled “Trump Psychosis!” Therein I chronicle the rise of the Trump voter scourge, likening it to the same sort of mental abnormality as the “Hope and Change” voter. I had no idea then how virulent the malady would prove to be.

I’ve written less this election cycle than in cycles past, more out of disillusionment and the desire to interact more directly on social media than a lack of subject matter. I feel however,  it is necessary to pen something on the eve of the 2016 election.

I am astonished not so much by the idea people truly think the openly corrupt Donald Trump will be useful in supplanting the oh so obvious corruption of Hillary Clinton. The troubling thought is the gyrations my fellow conservatives use to contort their brains, so they can rationalize supporting Donald Trump.

I’ve seen the religiously recalcitrant Donald Trump compared to the Biblical King David, Moses, the Apostle Paul and lately, King Cyrus II of Persia due to impressive examples of Scriptural eisegesis. All of which highlighted much to my chagrin, either the right’s epic Biblical ignorance, or the depths folks will go in soothing their spirits when they know Trump is tragic at best, or more likely a democrat shill who conned them. Too invested, they hunker down.

The Hillary voter falls under the auspices of the willingly/unknowingly ignorant and the knowingly wicked—There is no third thing. Hillary Clinton is the most unrepentant, loathsome creature ever to be nominated for President. There is not a shred of decency in a person who can stand before victim’s families and lie to their faces for no other reason than political expedience. Unfathomable shame should fall on anyone who supports her.

The only argument for Trump I can almost understand is he has the virtue of not being Hillary Clinton. If people stuck to this line of reasoning in supporting Trump I could partially relate. All the other rationalizations though… The saddest is the, we must protect the Supreme Court from Hillary appointees! Even though Trump is a congenital liar, we should trust he will appoint conservative Justices as he sort of promises—Never mind not too long ago, Trump stated his über liberal and pro abortion sister, would make a great Justice.

I can think of no better example than the Roe v. Wade decision to illustrate the fallacy of this reasoning. Of the nine seated justices, ruling in Roe, six were appointed by real, dyed in the wool Republicans, namely Eisenhower and Nixon—These weren’t ersatz Republicans like Trump.

Only two of the nine justices voted against and offered dissenting opinions, William Rehnquist, appointed by Nixon and elevated to Chief Justice by Ronald Reagan and Byron White, appointed by John F. Kennedy—The two dissenters weren’t even both the result of Republican administrations.

Far more recently, a conservative majority failed to strike down the dreadful Affordable Care Act. This with John G. Roberts, Jr. appointed by George Bush as Chief!

Then I hear, the painfully shallow, “We aren’t electing a pastor.” This is without question, the most pig-ignorant, immature, buck passing argument ever! It’s insulting! This bit of silliness is eclipsed only by the even more vacuous: “According to your standards, no Christian can vote for anyone because we are all sinners. No one is perfect enough for you.”

Well, I believe God when he gave us a formula for choosing leaders.

“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:” Exodus 18:21

Was God Himself suggesting the men Israel was to provide His people be sinless? The God who says we all fall short of His glory? Are we so immature we think there were less sinners back then than today? Yes, we all sin, but this does not absolve you of the solemn responsibility to consider some men are more worthy than others. Does the above verse suggest Trump or Hillary to you at all?

John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court the Trump voters are so worried about preserving from Hillary stated: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Was Jay suggesting “Perfection,” or simply a standard we ought to not think ridiculous and unattainable? Certainly making the argument “No one is perfect” lets you off the hook when you choose as abysmally as Hillary and Trump.

That God allows us to choose, does not infer he approves of our choices, or is in any way responsible for our errors. I say this for the “God is in control,” folks who feel comfortable passing Trump onto God, as if He is going to use Trump to usher in a new golden age. Please don’t blame our choosing between Trump and Hillary on the Holy God revealed in the Holy Bible.

I am a believer—I don’t just believe in God, I believe God! When you say you believe in God, but ignore His tenets for political expedience you betray Him and yourself—This is the opposite of faith. God has earned our faith because He is faithful. Faith is not belief without proof, the sort of faith one has to have in a Trump or Hillary who lie as a matter of course, but rather trust without reservation based on a proven track record.

This is why Christ admonishes us to “Judge not according to appearance, but judge a righteous judgement.” You have the folks who castigate people for judging Trump and Hillary harshly—They do this while quoting from Matthew 7: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” As if Christ was speaking of judging in general, as opposed to judging hypocritically as is contextually obvious.

This is the same God who says in the very same chapter of Matthew: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Why would the Lord tell us to examine folk’s fruits, if we shouldn’t heed what we glean about a person’s character by doing so? Are we not supposed to temper our dealings based on observing a person’s track record?

The Trump supporter claims they like Trump because he says he will fight for them and he is not an insider, even though during the time Ted Cruz for example was actually leading filibusters and revolts on the people’s behalf, Trump was, with his personal treasure, aiding and abetting the very people Senator Cruz was fighting against. If I have to choose the saddest thing for me personally this cycle, it would be admitting the right is not immune to the exact same strain of cognitive dissonance the left exists on.

As I stated above, as a believer I believe God. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14

America’s problem is not political it’s spiritual. Today, we have a haughty spirit in our nation—one comfortable with disregarding God’s tenets. If you can explain to me how voting for a man who has said from his own mouth, he has never approached the throne of grace in humility asking forgiveness for anything--Or a woman so wicked, like a modern day Ananias and Sapphira, together with her husband, raised millions for Haitian relief only to enrich themselves is an indication of a nation humbling itself and seeking God’s face, I will gladly vote one of those wretches in.

Do you believe this nation can be healed apart from God? You must, or it would not be so easy to support Trump, or Hillary for any reason. I am reminded of the words of Ben Franklin spoken before the Constitutional Convention in our nation’s youth: “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

Elections are not always binary; this is the thinking of the small-minded. Voting isn’t always a matter of simply who wins and loses. Voting is about exercising your voice. There are times when you don’t knuckle under, taking what they give you; there comes a time your voice has to say NO! Until we have a true rebellion fueled by people refusing to choose between evils, we are doomed to forever doing just that.

The fat lady sings? Who knows, either way it's curtains for morality and decency.

Digital Publius