Thank you Veteran!

Thank you to our veterans - those who sacrificed their relative safety and comfort to fight to protect our nation and, hopefully, to bring freedom to many unnamed people of the world.

This is to a veteran who was in South Korea in 1950 and 1951. The land was decimated with war and many families were killed or separated. Very few buildings remained in the city of Seoul. The stench of death was prevalent everywhere. When a train of American soldiers rolled in, it was immediately surrounded by hordes of starving orphaned children. Some of the soldiers pushed the children away. You see, there was a Longshoremen strike in San Francisco holding up food and other supplies to the troops, and the soldiers had only their limited supply of C-rations to scarcely nourish themselves. But, some of the soldiers reached out to the children and gave them their last cans of food.

When I prepared for a missions trip to South Korea in 1990, I knew that I was going to a place that was now very modern. I went to share my Christian testimony at eight college campuses. There was a great response, with the attendance at the Seoul meeting numbering over 6,000 students. However, in some cities, I was led away from areas where communists had incited campus riots by some of the young people. And I was sad that it took only one or two generations after the war to forget the history of their nation and the sacrifices that were made for them. Later during the trip, an older Korean man ran up to me and frightened me by wrapping his arms around me. He hugged me tightly, wept and cried out, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I wondered if, in God’s wonderful providence, this man had been one of those orphaned children, for it seemed that he was showing gratitude to this American in remembrance for another American who unselfishly shared with him the little that he had.

The Bible reflects how forgetful people are. God has loved us by giving us His only Son, Jesus Christ the Lord as sacrifice for our sins. For at the last supper with his disciples, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19). Christ also taught us to honor those deserving honor. As we honor Christ our Savior, let us also remember and honor our veterans with love, respect, and gratitude.

Some call the Korean War “The Forgotten War.” To those who fought for us and showed Christ’s love in the worst of conditions, I write this in remembrance of you and echo the grateful unnamed Korean man. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Al-

Webster's Definitive Voter Guide

On October 16, 1758, one of our founding fathers was born. Noah Webster would be made famous, not just in defining words in his dictionary, but in defining a citizen's principles of conduct. See what he says about the public voting responsibility in an excerpt from one of his books below.

"302. Remedy for public evils.—The command of God is, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God,” 2 Sam. 23:3. This command prescribes the only effectual remedy for public evils. It is an absurd and impious sentiment, that religious character is not necessary for public officers. So far is this from being true, that it is one of the principal qualifications, for any man making or administering laws.

When the form of government admits men to office by hereditary right, rulers may or may not be good men; the people have no choice, and must submit. But in representative governments, if rulers are bad men, it is generally the fault of the people. The electors may indeed be deceived in regard to the principles of the man they choose; they are sometimes most woefully deceived. But in general, the calamity of having evil counselors, legislators, judges, and ministerial officers, is the fault of the electors. They do not regard the precept, to choose “just men, who will rule in the fear of God.” They choose men, not because they are just men, men of religion and integrity, but soley for the sake of supporting a party. This is a fruitful source of public evils.

But as surely as there is a God in heaven, who exercises a moral government over the affairs of this world, so certainly will the neglect of the divine command, in the choice of rulers, be followed by bad laws and a bad administration; by laws unjust or partial, by corruption, tyranny, impunity of crimes, waste of public money, and a thousand other evils.

Men may devise and adopt new forms of government; they may amend old forms, repair breaches, and punish violators of the constitution; but there is, there can be, no effectual remedy, but obedience to the divine law. "

Noah Webster. Value of the Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion: For the Use of Families and Schools (1834)

Do the right thing. -AL

A Person's a Person No Matter How Small

These are the words of Dr. Suess' packederm hero, Horton, who saved the people living on a small dust speck from being boiled by the skeptical crowd. Though outnumbered, Horton alone heard the small voices and risked his own life to save theirs.

Unfortunately, this modern parable is lost on the modern day skeptics, they who would trample on the constitutional right to life of our smallest citizens, the unborn aborted children. Unfortunate, still, is that so-called Christians are partnering with a political party whose primary doctrine is to commit infanticide. In an article posted today about "aborting faith", the Family Research Council makes the following report. If you find in this that "you are the man" (2 Samuel 12:7), where you are guilty of this grievace sin of supporting such practices, the time has come for you to repent and receive forgiveness.

In a passionate speech on what it means to be "pro-life," Archbishop Charles Chaput spoke Friday about the disservice done by Christian voters who are abandoning the abortion issue. More churchgoers seem to be twisting faith to fit their politics instead of evaluating candidates through the lens of faith.

Speaking as a private citizen, Chaput talked about the crisis of conscience in this election. "I believe that Senator Obama, whatever his other talents, is the most committed 'abortion-rights' presidential candidate of either major party since the Roe v. Wade abortion decision in 1973. Despite what [others] suggest, the party platform Senator Obama runs on this year is not only aggressively 'pro-choice,' it has also removed any suggestion that killing an unborn child might be a regrettable thing.

To suggest-as some Catholics do-that Senator Obama is this year's 'real' pro-life candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse." For more, please read Professor Robby George's article at http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/.

Do the right thing. -Al

Truth & the VP Debate

OK. I confess. I've been absent from my blog. I hope you will welcome me back, though.

I watched the Vice Presidential candidates, Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, debate and I have a few comments to post here that I also posted on the Fox News website.

Let me begin with a vocabulary lesson. Assumptive language is a term that should be taught to the rest of the country. It is making statements that sound authoritative, but are not necessarily true. Satan speaks with authority, but Jesus says of him that "there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). So, let us not be deceived by stereotypes, by name calling, by mockery, and other pejoratives that are prevalent on network TV. If you are a Christian, you should be concerned about truth. Jesus said about himself, "for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:37).

Both candidates spoke authoritatively, but only one spoke with integrity and that was Gov. Palin. I consider her to be the winner of this debate.

Sen. Biden lied when he stated that Sen. Obama did not say that he would meet with certain people without pre-condition. In fact, Sen. Biden had made this a key point when he was running against Sen. Obama. And this was not the only lie. He also accused Sen. McCain of voting against certain energy bills, etc.

Even if he did not mean to lie, his attack was disingenuous. We must understand that congressmen do not vote for every bill that has a nice name and a flowery ribbon tied to it. It may be that they reject a bill that has a very good purpose, but look closely why they might reject a bill. It could be that other things (entitlements, earmarks, "pork") have been added to the bill making the primary issue in the bill impalatable. For instance: Chicken soup is good for you, but if you add poison to it, the soup becomes impalatable.

Let us, therefore, be as "shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matt 10:16).
-End of the vocabulary and civic lessons for today.-

I love you. Do the right thing. Blessings. -AL