Beating Back the Extremist Assault

Published in the April, 2014 edition of The New Lynchburg Ledger. The Republicans lost Virginia last fall because they nominated the wrong person for governor. Over the past decade, Virginia has become much more liberal politically and a Republican-like Cuccinelli never had a chance. The nominee should have been Lt. Governor Bill Bolling who came to an agreement with Bob McDonnell four ago that McDonnell would run in 2009 and Bolling in 2013. Bolling would have been much less of a lightning rod than Cuccinelli and would have had a much better chance of winning. So what happened? The Republican Party of Virginia was taken over by the radical right wing of the party. For some reason, they hated Bill Bolling and changed the nominating process from a primary election to a convention, which favored Cuccinelli. They essentially broke covenant with Bolling by breaking the previously made commitment. As it turns out the epicenter of this radical right wing movement in Virginia is right here in Campbell County. Behind it is a person I have mentioned several times in past columns, Rick Boyer. Boyer previously served on the Board of Supervisors. I observed he cared little about the concerns of his constituents and only about the power the position gave him. He used that position to publicly attack fellow Republican, Senator Steve Newman. Boyer did not run for re-election because he entered Liberty University Law School. When he graduated he resumed pursuing his political goals. He is an excellent political operative, and I would applaud that if his motives were honorable, but they are not. Besides being responsible for fielding unelectable statewide candidates, he used Chicago-style political tactics to elect two of his disciples to the Board of Supervisors. Once they began serving their terms, it became obvious that they represented a real threat to the county. Boyer now has three of his loyal followers on the seven member board. By taking just one more board seat, he would have political control of the county by proxy. The speculation was that if that happened, they would appoint Boyer County Administrator (a position he is unqualified for), and Boyer would then have the power and the paycheck he so desperately covets. Politically active people across the state fear Boyer because of his extreme political philosophy and Chicago-style tactics. He has taken full advantage of the Tea Party movement and has been able to manipulate sincere, but gullible people into following his political lead. People from across the state have constantly asked us if we can do anything about Rick Boyer because he is destroying the Republican Party. We came 11 votes short of doing just that two years ago in the bi-annual Republican Mass Meeting, which is the time when the local parties reorganize themselves. This year, however, the situation was different. The actions of the two new supervisors alarmed so many that we were able to form a coalition in an attempt to end Boyer’s reign. Boyer, although no longer a resident of Campbell County, had been calling people on his list regarding the 2014 Mass Meeting for two months. He already knew the pre-filing date for the meeting, but we didn’t find out about it until just about a week before the filing deadline. We had just one week to organize. It was a frantic week but in the end, Boyer doubled the people he turned out two years ago, while we tripled our number. Consequently, we were able to take control of the Mass Meeting by electing our own Temporary Chairman who appointed all the committees to run the meeting. The vote was 308 to 240. Realizing we had a clear majority, they tried to cut a deal. They would concede the chairmanship if we would nominate everyone who filed to be local party members and attend the 5th Congressional District and State Republican conventions. We quickly declined as we were sure we would win the chairmanship anyway. If we did not have an initial voting majority in the local party, having the chairmanship would have been meaningless. 5th District Congressman Robert Hurt took the unusual step of publicly endorsing his choice for chairman as the Boyer crowd was pushing someone totally unacceptable. It was our intention to support Robert Hurt and nominate only those who supported his choice. I as appointed chairman of the Nominations Committee. The way the process works is that those wishing to apply for party membership or to be delegates to either or both conventions had to have pre-filed an application with the party chairman by March 3rd for the March 20th meeting. It was the responsibility of the chairman to process those applications by producing certified usable lists of nominees. When I approached the chairman asking for the lists, I was horrified to learn that there were no lists prepared. In my nearly 30 years of political involvement, I have never witnessed such incompetence. We had an administrative disaster on our hands. The only thing the chairman had was seven manila envelopes stuffed with letter-size envelopes containing the submitted forms that had been pre-filed, and he really didn’t have them. Now where do you suppose they were? Why they were in the possession of none other than Rick Boyer who was not a delegate at this Mass Meeting, but an observer. He read the tea leaves and realized he was going to lose possession of the forms. Since he knew no lists of those who filed existed, he and his team were frantically pulling open envelopes and hurriedly writing down names for him to use for his own personal political purposes. This was completely unethical and as an attorney, he should know that. I literally had to wrestle the materials out of their hands and nearly had to call for the sergeant at arms for assistance. I asked Boyer for the lists he was compiling, and he flatly refused. He could care less if people got to go to the conventions just as long as he was able to mine the material for names. Members of my committee were finally able to convince Boyer to give us a copy. It was physically impossible to process the forms there at the meeting as it would have taken hours, and we had only minutes to prepare a list of nominees. Fortunately, I had prepared a list of those who we knew had pre-filed, but that was probably less than five percent of the total. We combed over the data we got from Boyer, even though it was third party and not certified in a desperate attempt to add qualified nominees. We presented our nominees to the meeting, and they were voted in. One of Boyer’s disciples made a motion that all who applied be approved, and that motion was rejected. Our candidate, John Ferguson, was elected chairman by a vote of 301 to 189. The meeting then adjourned but the fight was not over. Many applicants were very upset that they were not nominated and elected, and rightly so. Even 59th District Delegate Matt Fariss was not nominated because his name was not put forth by the party. When we went to collect the forms submitted that evening by about 300 people, we discovered they were missing. There is one witness who overheard a former party chairman and Rick Boyer discussing the fate of these forms. Just as Barack Obama keeps blaming George W. Bush for everything, Boyer and his crowd immediately started blaming us for their colossal administrative blunder. I am sure they are going to appeal, cry and moan and certainly lie. They have already started doing that. And who said politics is dull and boring?

Where is the outrage?

Published in the March, 2014 edition of The New Lynchburg Ledger In colonial times, the British government repeatedly violated the rights of the colonialists, who were British subjects. After many attempts to resolve the wrongs being inflicted upon them, it became clear that the British Crown no longer considered them worthy of the rights of free Englishmen. They called it tyranny. Tyranny is defines as “cruel and oppressive government or rule.” It was the pulpits of colonial time that spoke out most forcefully against tyranny. Pastors and preachers of the day were outraged by the lawlessness of the king and were not afraid to say so. They were not afraid to be “politically incorrect.” Up to now, we have been a government of laws built on a Constitutional framework. However, we are rapidly regressing from a government of laws to a government of man. This occurs when those we elect to office simply chose to ignore the laws and the Constitution, much in the way that King George did just prior to the American Revolution. Attorney General Elect Mark Herring was administered the Oath of Office on January 11, 2014 in which he swore to “Support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” However, just 15 days later, broke his oath to the people of Virginia. On January 26, 2014, Attorney General Mark Herring refused to support the Constitution of Virginia by announcing he would not defend the Marriage Amendment to the Virginia Constitution in court. The people of the Commonwealth of Virginia amended their Constitution by the method described in Article XII, Section I of the Constitution of Virginia in 2006. this amendment declared that marriage in Virginia was only between a man and a woman. When Mark Herring took the oath of office, he obviously knew of the lawsuit that had been filed challenging Virginia’s position on marriage and it is safe to say he knew exactly the course of action he planned to follow. In short, he lied. I am outraged over being lied to but I don’t see a whole lot of others being outraged. Attorney General Mark Herring has met the qualifications for Impeachment under Article IV, Section 17 of the Constitution of Virginia by neglecting his sworn duty to support Virginia’s Constitution. So where is the outrage from the Republican-controlled House of Delegates? There is at least one person who is outraged over Herrings refusal to defend Virginia’s Constitution.

The Destruction of the Black Sub-Culture

Published in the February issue of The New Lynchburg Ledger February is Black History Month, and we will be hearing about various Black Americans who have made significant contributions to society, such as George Washington Carver, Charles Richard Drew and Alexander Mils, just to name a few. What we will not be hearing about is the decline of the black family and black culture over the past 50 years at the hands of the liberal Democrats. We will not hear it because that would be politically incorrect. In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Passage of this landmark legislation was far from smooth sailing with notable Democrats such as Senators Mike Mansfield (Senate majority leader), J. William Fulbright (mentor to Bill Clinton) and Al Gore, Sr. opposing the legislation. The Senate passed the bill by 73 to 27 with most Republicans supporting the bill and most of the opposition coming from Democrats. The Civil Rights legislation removed the institutional barriers to race equality in America. It could do nothing, however, about what is in the individual heart. That would take a couple of generations to work its way out. While the Civil Rights Bill was a benefit to black Americans, in the same year, Lyndon Johnson called for a War on Poverty in his January 8, 1964 speech which set in motion programs that have devastated American families in general and black families in particular over the past 50 years. We have poured trillions of dollars down a rat hole and in the process devastated the core of the black family in America. Prior to 1964, the black family in America was still fairly strong, even under segregation. However, the more that government inserted itself, the weaker the black family became. In 1965, the black “illegitimacy” rate was 24 percent, roughly one in four black children were born to a single mother. The rate in the white community was four percent. As government stepped in, the black male was pushed out, relegated to being nothing more than a sperm donor. So now, after 50 years, the black illegitimacy rate has almost tripled to 72 percent. No culture, or in this case sub-culture, can succeed with numbers such as that. The white illegitimacy rate has also increased and now stands at 29 percent. Other ethnic rates are 17 percent for Asians, 53 percent for Hispanics and 66 percent for Native Americans. A male is genetically predisposed to be a provider so when a government program steps in and renders him unnecessary, he looks for other ways to assert his manhood. Often, this brings him afoul of the law. In 2010, blacks were almost six times more likely to be in jail than whites and twice as likely as Hispanics. Liberals attribute this to a problem within our judicial system when, in fact, it is an endemic problem of crime in the black sub-culture. In fact, one in three black males expects to be incarcerated at least once in their lives. The custom of wearing pants low with underwear showing stems from prison life where inmates are not allowed to have belts, and their pants continuously drop down. When it comes to employment, black American unemployment runs about twice that of the white population. Again, the liberals blame the society but are blind to the real reason, which is far too many blacks are simply unemployable. The public school system has very low expectations for black students, especially in the inner cities where black unemployment is the highest. I would submit that the plight of black Americans is much worse today then it was 50 years ago. As a nation, we have made great strides in racial equality in the past 50 years. Today, the NFL and NBA are dominated by blacks. Blacks are well represented in entertainment with icons such as Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby commanding big audiences. Blacks are also well represented in politics. After all, we elected a black Democrat as president, twice. Although blacks are well represented throughout society, there still remains an almost permanent underclass that has become dependent on government for their existence. Self appointed leaders such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, along with the Obama administration, continue to divide America along racial lines. Instead of holding up successful blacks as examples, such as Dr. Ben Carson and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, they continue to portray blacks as victims of white Americans such as in the Trayvon Martin case. Martin was a thief, punk and drug abuser who would probably be alive today had the criminal justice system not given him a pass. The solution to the problems within the black community lies within the black community itself. However, when influential blacks like Bill Cosby have spoken out about it, they have been all but shouted down by liberals. Even liberal Juan Williams, a Fox News contributer, has recognized the problem and has addressed it in his book, Enough. This too has been rejected by black leadership. When they talk about equal opportunities, what they really mean is equal outcomes. In today’s America, everyone has an equal opportunity. Our illegal immigration problem is proof enough of that. The liberal’s solution to equality is not to raise up the non-producers but to tear down the producers. Liberals have been very successful in silencing those who speak out by calling them racists. They even call those who criticize Obama policies, racists. Well, it is time to throw that right back in their faces and challenge them to drastically reduce unwed black births (not through abortion), reduce black crime, especially black-on-black crime, and challenge black youth to embrace education instead of rejecting it as being “too white.” Meanwhile, blacks continue to vote in overwhelming numbers for those responsible for keeping them a permanent under class. That is like chickens voting for Col. Sanders, and pigs voting for Jimmy Dean.

2014, Time to Take a Stand

Published in the january, 2014 edition of The New Lynchburg Ledger The First Amendment to the U.S Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So, did A&E violate Phil Robertson’s First Amendment rights when they suspended him from Duck Dynasty? The answer is, “No.” The first word in the First Amendment is “Congress” so only the federal government can violate the First Amendment. And it does so almost every day. Phil Robertson was exercising his First Amendment rights of “freedom of religion” and “freedom of speech” when he gave an interviewer from GQ magazine his personal beliefs on homosexuality, which are based on the teachings of the Bible. The reaction from the homosexual community was predictable (as I am sure the GQ interviewer knew it would be), and A&E caved quicker than a moderate Republican raising the debt ceiling. However, the backlash A&E received was not so predictable, because they quickly caved and restored Robertson to his popular show. I have never seen Duck Dynasty but I fired off an email to A&E in protest because, what they did was religious bigotry. The people who for years have screamed for tolerance turn out to be some of the most intolerant people on the planet. In fact, intimidation is used by the left to silence the critics and it is time to put an end to it. In 2014, my New Year’s Resolution is to take a stand against political correctness and exercise my religious and free speech rights. I was absolutely incensed when I learned that the Rose Parade this year would feature a homosexual wedding on a float. I vowed not to watch it, and I suggested to people I know to do likewise. I also contacted some of the sponsors of the Rose Parade (Honda, FTD, Taco Bell, Macy’s, Coca Cola, Farmer’s Insurance, Miracle Grow and Wells Fargo) to let them know my displeasure. Had I not been forewarned, I would have had that perversion come uninvited right into my living room. Perversion, isn’t that too strong? No, not at all as that is one word that God uses to describe extreme sexual immorality. I intend to be Biblically correct and could care less if I am politically incorrect and if some liberal is offended. Our culture is crumbling around us and if we do not start pushing back, it won’t be long before we will be unable to do so. One of the other freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment is the “freedom of the press” which the Founding Fathers found to be essential to good government. Government by “We the People” cannot function without an informed citizenry. Today the media is nothing more than a branch of the Democrat Party. They lie to support the liberal agenda and anyone who depends on them is a fool; they are being ill-informed, misinformed and are being fed a steady stream of liberal propaganda. The media, our public education system, Hollywood and even the Episcopal Church have succeeded in brainwashing the American people into thinking homosexuality is just a harmless alternate lifestyle. The fact is just the opposite. The biggest deception is the lie that homosexuality is genetic. Although there is absolutely no credible evidence to support this myth, many supposedly smart people, such as Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, believe the lie. They ignore the overwhelming evidence, testimonies from thousands of former homosexuals (ex-gays), that it is not genetic. For further information on former homosexuals go to pfox.org and sbministries.org. The homosexual lifestyle is fraught with serious health concerns. First is HIV/AIDS with over fifty percent of the cases among homosexual males. AIDS was brought to the U.S. by homosexual males and was first called Gay Related Immune Deficiency (GRID). As a frequent blood donor, I am confronted with a long questionnaire every time I donate. One of them asks if you have ever had sex with another male. If you have, you cannot donate. Homosexuals contaminated the nation’s blood supply before anything about AIDS was known and are responsible for the deaths of thousands of hemophiliacs who required blood transfusions. Many homosexuals are alcohol and drug abusers. To engage in some of their perversions, they need to self-medicate. Consequently, IV needles became contaminated, and AIDS quickly found its way into the IV drug culture, killing tens of thousands of drug addicts. AIDS is not the only health concern. According to the CDC, approximately 10 % of new Hepatitis A and 20% of all new Hepatitis B infections in the United States are among men who engage in homosexual sex. Since the homosexual population is only between two and three percent, they contract hepatitis five to 10 times more than the average population. Then there is Gay Bowel Syndrome. I won’t go into the details of that so I’ll leave it to the reader to Google for further information. While you are on line, check http://www.biblebelievers.com/Cameron2.html for “MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HOMOSEXUALS DO.” It is obvious our media is grossly negligent in performing their constitutional duty of truthfully informing the American people and that is just fine with the liberals.

Analyzing the Loss

 Published December 13, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

In my last column, I concluded that America was now under the judgment of God because as a nation, we have turned our backs on Him.  It has taken over 50 years, but it appears that God has finally abandoned us to our own vices.

Now that over a month has passed since the election, we now have a better understanding how Romney lost and Obama won.  There is no one thing we can point to; it is a series of events and facts that determined the outcome. 

One of the things I love to do is analyze election results and see if I can spot causes and effects as well as trends.  In this election, there were many causes with one dismal effect, and the trend is indeed troubling.

The first thing to note is that the white male vote failed to show up, according to Dick Morris.  While the black vote was up by 300,000 and the Latino vote was up by 1.7 million over 2008, the white male vote was down by seven million – 91.6 million compared to 98.6 million in 2008. 

The next thing I noted was switch in the evangelical vote.  In 2008, McCain won 88 percent of the evangelical vote to Obama’s 11 percent.  In 2012, Romney received only 81 percent of the evangelical vote while Obama’s vote increased to 17 percent.

Roman Catholics went for Obama by 57 to 42 percent while Protestants went for Romney by the exact same percentage, 57 to 42 percent, according to a Barna Group survey, almost identical to four years ago.

So what were the major factors that changed the evangelical vote and caused seven million white males to stay home on Election Day?

One major factor was the Romney campaign itself.  The political consultants employed by the Romney campaign had financial ties directly to companies they hired.

Romney consultant Stephen Meyers owns SCM Associates, Inc., which billed the campaign $48 million for direct mail. 

Romney consultant Rich Beeson is a partner in FLS Connect, which billed the campaign $36 million for telemarketing and “robocalls.”

The Romney campaign spent $130 million on direct mail up through October 17^th (last report before the election) as opposed to the Obama campaign’s $80 million.  Analysis shows that direct mail is the least effective means of contacting the voters.

The Romney campaign failed to support building a strong grassroots effort in places where it was needed, such as Northern Virginia.  In the Lynchburg area, there was a grassroots effort mounted but it was not strongly supported.

I stopped by the Republican headquarters at Candler’s Station one day to get some Romney-Ryan signs for folks at my church and was told I could have only one sign. 

Besides structure, the Romney campaign and the supporting super PACs made a fundamental flaw in judgment when they failed to mount a vigorous counterattack to the Obama ads, which were aimed at discrediting not just Romney but the entire capitalistic system.

During primary season, the Romney PACs had no hesitation in attacking opponents like Gingrich and Santorum but in the general election they were afraid to attack Obama and counter his lies.  They were afraid the media would call them racists. 

Obama kept attacking Romney’s former company, Bain Capital, which undermined Romney's standing among white voters and led directly to their diminished turnout, according to Morris.  They failed to understand that Bain posed a mortal threat to the credibility of their candidate.

The Obama campaign also planted the thoughts in the minds of unmarried women that Romney was going to take away their birth control, which the Romney campaign never responded to. 

The difference between the two campaigns was that Obama relied on emotion to connect with voters, and the Romney campaign, stuck in the past, countered with logic and facts.  Any time one pits emotion against logic in a debate, emotion wins every time.  The Romney campaign never once tried to connect emotionally to the voters.

Another factor that needs to be acknowledged is the changing demographics of America, especially among young people.

According to a very recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, twenty percent of adults in America now have no religious affiliation and they overwhelmingly vote Democrat. Exit polling on Election Day indicated that ‘religiously unaffiliated” voters constituted 12 percent of the voters.

The study notes, “In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from just over 15% to just under 20% of all U.S. adults. Their ranks now include more than 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics (nearly 6% of the U.S. public), as well as nearly 33 million people who say they have no particular religious affiliation (14%).”

In the last five years, the unaffiliated have risen from 17% to 24% of all registered voters who are Democrats or lean Democratic.  72 percent of them support abortion and 73 percent support homosexual marriage.

So, when you combine an inept and incestuous Romney campaign with a flawed campaign philosophy and a rapidly changing demographic of those under 30 with no religious affiliation, you have an Obama victory and a Romney defeat.

The Republican Party is now tearing itself apart.  Speaker Boehner has purging “Tea Party” Republicans from key committees and they are banding together to oppose Boehner’s re-election as House Speaker. 

The political climate is not going to improve for the Republicans until the U.S. hits “rock bottom.”  It is not until a drunk or a drug addict hits rock bottom that they can begin the process of rehabilitation.  The U.S. is currently addicted to liberalism and the “free stuff” that comes with it. 

I agree with Sen. Rand Paul who suggests that Republicans vote “present” in the “fiscal cliff” issue, and let the Democrats do what they intend to do, raise taxes on the employers who are the only hope rebuilding our economy. 

That way, it will be impossible to blame Republicans (even though the media will try) for the economic disaster that will follow as unemployment rates rise along with the costs of life essentials such as energy and food.

As far as the “moral cliff,” is concerned, it appears we went over that some time ago.  The only hope there is for a spiritual revival similar to the First and Second Great Awakenings of the 1700’s and 1800’s. 

America Under God’s Judgment

Published November 15, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger 

There has been no shortage of reasons given for the devastating Romney defeat, and the disastrous Obama victory last week.  Many political pundits have offered a wide variety of explanations, and indeed each is part of the mosaic.

Some say Romney failed to go on the attack in the second and third debates.  They point to the Romney campaign and its fear of offending the independent voters.

Some say Romney did a poor job in pushing back against the Obama campaign’s flood of lies and character assassination.

Some blame New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and giving Obama a chance to be presidential following Hurricane Sandy.

Still others point to the estimated 6.5 millions Christians who did not vote or the 3 million McCain voters who didn’t show. 

Others point to the “free stuff” (health care, Obamaphones, Food Stamps, etc.) offered by Obama and the Democrats.

Some say Obama stole the election by voter fraud.  They point to places like St. Lucie County, Florida where they had a 141% voter turnout.  They had 247,713 votes cast, but have only 175,554 registered voters. 

In 59 voting divisions in Philadelphia, Romney received not one single vote.

They also point to Colorado, where in 10 counties, the number of registered voters exceeded the Census Bureau population count by between 104 and 140 percent.

Now, looking at it from a Christian Worldview perspective, there was Hurricane Sandy, which stopped Romney’s momentum in its tracks and took Benghazi off the front pages. 

The timing of Sandy was uncannily perfect, which to me suggests divine intervention.

From our nation’s very beginning, there has been ample evidence of God’s hand in national affairs.  No less than Benjamin Franklin attested to this when he spoke at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 

When the convention appeared to be deadlocked, Franklin, who some historians mistakenly call a Deist, rose and said these words:  “In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.”

Both Thomas Jefferson and George Mason held that God judges nations.

Thomas Jefferson said, "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

George Mason said, “As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this.  By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.”

I believe that God is now judging our nation.  What has amazed me is that He has waited this long. 

9-11 was a warning which our nation failed to heed.  The sins of our nation have just become more and more brazen over the 11 years since 9-11. 

When you read the Old Testament, you see how God judged Israel until they repented and returned to Him.  However, since we live in a fallen world, it did not take long for Israel to fall back into sin and incur God’s wrath.

When we consider our national sins - 50 million unborn babies killed, embracing the homosexual lifestyle that God calls detestable, an epidemic of pornography and a political party that booed God - we can begin to understand why God is withdrawing His protective hand.

Matt Barber, Vice President of Liberty Council Action, has an excellent column in “World Net Daily” titled “God Will Not Be Mocked.”  I commend it to you.

He writes, “America has tasted the poisonous fruits of lust, pride, passion, and envy – sloth, frivolity, iniquity and entitlement. She has tasted of their sweet deception and found it irresistible. She has danced in the streets, intoxicated by the very poison that will be her undoing.

“America has rebelled against God. She has shaken her fist at Him and arrogantly cried, ’We don’t need you. We don’t want you. We know better than you. Now go away.’

“And so He’s going away.”

Just as in the American Revolution when God used a weather phenomenon, a dense fog to shield Washington’s retreating army across the East River, so too has he used Hurricane Sandy to give America just what it is says it wants. 

With three states voting in favor of homosexual marriage, which is the very first time the voters have approved it, and two states legalizing marijuana, God has withdrawn His protective hand. 

The days ahead are going to be very difficult financially.  We saw the stock market react negatively the day after the election and saw many companies announcing layoffs. 

The cost of energy is going to escalate, as well as health care and the basic necessities of life.

For people of faith, it is going to be difficult times because traditional values are being discarded and there will be attempts to censor religious speech in the public arena.

It is going to take a national tragedy much greater than 9-11 for our nation to repent.  God has already told us what we need to do when He said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-15)

Can a Christian Vote for a Mormon?

Published October 18, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger. 

John Jay was one of our most important and influential Founding Fathers, yet few today recognize his name.  He was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses, negotiated the peace treaty with England to end the Revolutionary War along with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, one of the authors of the Federalist Papers and authored the Jay Treaty preventing the U.S. from becoming involved in the war between France and England.

Besides being an accomplished statesman and juror, John Jay was also a devout Christian.  In 1818 he was elected president of the Westchester Bible Society and in 1821, he was elected president of the American Bible Society.

On October 12, 1816, Jay 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 elect and prefer Christians for their rulers.”

In the 196 years since Jay made that statement, our nation has gone from being a Christian nation to a post-Christian nation and is now rapidly becoming an anti-Christian nation.  Largely because we are woefully ignorant of our American history, we have allowed anti-Christian activists to banish God from public education and the public arena.

I attribute the many woes we see today in the American society to God withdrawing his hand of protection from our nation because we have rejected Him.

So we now find ourselves on the precipice of history.  Will our nation continue down the socialistic road Barack Obama is leading us down, or will we begin to reverse course back to a free enterprise economy under Mitt Romney?

Barack Obama claimed to be a Christian when he first ran for the presidency.  Although only God knows what is in his heart, Jesus tells us how identify a false leader.  In Matthew 7:15-16 he said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”  What is the “fruit” of Barack Obama?  Not only support for homosexuality but for unrestricted abortion and even infanticide.  He rejects the Biblical principle of free enterprise in favor of the socialistic beliefs of Marx, Lenin and Stalin.

Mitt Romney does not claim to be a Christian.  He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly called Mormons.  The Jesus of the Mormon Church is not the same Jesus of the orthodox Christian church.  Although they use the Bible, they also add a second book, the Book of Mormon.

In his book “Kingdom of the Cults,” author Walter Martin lists Mormonism as being outside the pale of Christian orthodoxy and among the list of cults.  Normally when we hear the word “cult,” we think of Jim Jones of the People’s Temple and David Koresh of the Branch Davidians.  However, many among Martin’s list of cults are just non-Christian religions such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Zen Buddhism, Unification Church and Scientology.  Many who practice these religions are people of strong moral character.

Even today we see what we call the “mainline churches” rapidly falling into apostasy.  The Roman Catholic Church chose to ignore the sin of homosexual act and the Episcopal Church has chosen to embrace it.  Other denominations such as the Methodists, Presbyterians and Lutherans are following closely behind the Episcopalians.

I believe the reason Jay stated we should prefer Christians (note he did not say demand) is because of the issue of character.  He reasoned that a committed Christian would likely have a stronger moral character than a non-Christian.  However, that is certainly no guarantee as I know some who claim to Christians who have very poor moral character.

Many of the states agreed with Jay when they drafted their new constitutions after independence.  For example, the Delaware constitution of 1776 required officeholders to pledge the following, “I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forever more, and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration.” 

In his commencement address at Liberty University this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney acknowledged the difference between his faith and that of the audience when he said, “People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology.  Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview.”

Mormons do indeed share the “moral convictions of our nation” and I would argue more fervently than many Christians.  They are far more likely to confront the culture than are some of the Christians I know.

If we were voting for someone to take a leadership position in a Christian church, such as deacon or vestryman, or even pastor, a Mormon would be unacceptable.

However, we are voting for a civil leader and as such we should select the one with the highest moral character.  Mormons are traditionally a people of high moral character.  Being a Mormon, however, is no guarantee as exhibited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who is also a Mormon.  He is indeed a despicable person and a pathological liar.

So, to answer the question, I believe the answer is yes, a Christian can vote for a Mormon for two very good reasons.  First, although we disagree with his theology, we are in full agreement with his political ideology.  Second, the alternative, Barack Obama, would change America forever making us just another third-world nation.

Finally, there is a third option on the ballot which has me concerned.  Former Congressman Virgil Goode is on the Virginia ballot and on the ballot in 16 other states.  I would have thought Virgil would have had more sense than that but obviously not.

Virgil Goode cannot possibly win, but he has the potential of re-electing Obama.  Religious “legalists” may just opt for “Christian Goode” over Romney.  With Virginia being a battleground state, in a close race, they could swing Virginia's 13 electoral votes over to Obama.  In a close race nationally, that could conceivably be the difference in re-electing Obama.