For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. ~ 1 Timothy 4:4-5Despite our constant inundations, we have a lot to be thankful for in this great nation, namely the blessings bestowed on us by God Almighty. And it is with that truth that we're reminded of the real story of Thanksgiving...
“Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God's fingers? I'll tell you what's walking Salem — vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” ~ Arthur Miller, The CrucibleHighly suspect doesn't even skim the surface of what's turning out to be a rather Salem-like witch hunt launched against Roy Moore. And I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that similar sentiment might also extend to others accused. Except for those who've actually admitted it, I don't know that any of the men as of late who've been accused of harassment, assault or worse are guilty...and neither do you. Denise McAllister may have stated it best, "...we are losing sight of a core principle that sets America apart from barbaric nations: Each one of us is innocent until proven guilty."
No matter how often we're asked to observe this tenet -- due process, 14th Amendment; not to mention Matthew 7:1-3 -- too many times the court of public opinion lords over our collective persuasions. Few of us can honesty say that we haven't fallen for that temptation at some point in our lives. Perhaps if we calm our senses and lay all the cards out, though, we might come to different conclusions than those being pushed by mediaites on all sides...PJMedia: While I want to hold all people to account for their crimes, I do not want to become so blinded by my own fear and lust for vengeance that I stop seeing the humanity in others and the rights they have as citizens of this great nation. To allow accusation, allegation, rumor, and innuendo to rip people from their jobs and drive them from the circles of respectable society is to allow for mobs to rule with torches and pitchforks.
I am particularly concerned by this increasing cascade of accusations leveled against men in positions of power, because it is set against a backdrop of political hostility and cultural animus toward men in general. Again, this is not a defense of the guilty or even a criticism of those who want to take steps to bring the guilty to account — legally. But we must realize that how we are going about it is uncivilized and threatens to rip apart the fabric of trust that is essential in holding the civil society together.
We already have a culture that is anti-man. Masculinity is dubbed “toxic.” Men on college campuses are fighting for their right of due process. Men aren’t allowed their own spaces without being called sexists. Boys in schools aren’t allowed to be boys.
If we are now going to demand that men lose their livelihood and reputations because they have their names placed on an “abuser list,” if we’re going to begin treating mere news reports, second-hand stories, and unsubstantiated allegations as fact, then we might as well admit that we are no longer a free and civilized nation. We are a nation ruled by a mob that wants instant verdicts in the court of public opinion, instant action, and instant punishment.
Instead, we need to stop acting like children and slow down. Let processes work. Investigate instead of accuse. Consider instead of condemn. Let justice rule instead of vengeance. Otherwise, we all lose. If the rights of the few are sacrificed to feed the mob, the rights of the many will follow.
Innocence must be cherished and accusers must not be treated as if they’re infallible, their word immediately becoming judge, jury, and executioner. The assumption of innocence must remain of greater value than the passions of the plaintiff.
And make no mistake, it is from all sides...AmericanThinker: If one reads the original Washington Post article on Judge Moore’s supposed harassment of underage “girls” with an open mind, one will conclude that Judge Moore is completely innocent, and that he is the victim of Fake News.
First, a few definitions. I shall call a human female who is under the age of consent, a “girl.” I shall call a human female who is of the age of consent, a “woman.” I shall also define the “age of consent” to be what the legal code of the state of Alabama, both in the 1970s and today, to be the age of consent: 16. This age is above the biological age of consent, which is puberty: menstruation for a woman, pubic hair for a man. In medieval canon law, a woman was thus of the age of consent around 12. In most of current-day Mexico, this is still the age of consent. I am a 70-year-old college professor, and to me, a woman under the age of 30 seems like a young girl. I personally regard none of my female students as women; all are children in my eyes. But I shall reject both the biological age of consent, and my own personal view of the age of consent, and adopt Alabama’s age of consent.
Now read the Post article and assume that the reporters wrote the exact truth about what four human females told them (a big assumption, I grant). Then three of the four claim that Roy Moore dated them when they were women, not girls. And not only did they themselves consent to dating Moore, their families consented to their dating Moore. (Actually, according to one, her family withdrew consent, after which Moore ceased to date her). Furthermore, according to these three women, Moore never went beyond kissing and hugging. Which are the only acts a Christian man is permitted to engage in with a woman not his wife. According to these three women, Moore consistently acted as the Christian he claims to have been, and claims to be now.
The fourth human female told the Post reporters a completely different story. She claims that not only did Moore date her when she was a girl of fourteen, but that he also undressed her, and exposed himself. Notice the differences between this single claim and the other three reports: In a single case, Moore, a trained lawyer, dated jailbait. In this single case, Moore behaved in a dishonorable manner to a girl, not a woman. In this single case, we have reasons, given in the Post article, to doubt the claim: the accuser has been married three times, and has been in bankruptcy twice.
A commonsense view of human behavior is that bad guys repeat their MOs. Willie Sutton did not stop with a single bank robbery. Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, and Bill Cosby have numerous rape accusers, not just one. Yet we are asked to believe a single report of mere sexual misbehavior, which is not even a claim of statutory rape.
On the basis of the Post article alone, I would have no doubt that Judge Moore dated young women when he was a young man in his early 30s. It is irrelevant that these women were in their late teens. They were of the age of consent, and hence women, not girls. It was my own experience in my thirties that women preferred older men. My own wife is six years my junior. Judge Moore’s wife is fourteen years his junior. (Judge Moore was 38 when he married his wife of 24, which an indication that he preferred younger women -- and that his wife preferred older men.)
Disregarding the single dubious accusation, Judge Moore is accused of behavior which has been considered completely moral for almost the entirety of human history: courting a young women in her teens while being more than ten years older. In contrast, John McCain, who has demanded that Judge Moore resign from the senate race, committed adultery, and divorced his wife to marry the woman with whom he committed adultery.
Notice that I don’t have to write “alleged to have committed adultery.” McCain admits it, because adultery is not only no longer illegal, it is now not even immoral. But for the entirety of human history, adultery has been, not only immoral, but a capital offence (Leviticus 20:10). “Thou shalt not commit adultery” is the Seventh Commandment. No doubt this is real reason the federal judges object to Judge Moore placing the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.
Democrat Doug Jones, Judge Moore’s opponent in the senate election, supports partial birth abortion, which is to say, infanticide. In earlier times, Jones would have been considered not merely immoral, but a homicidal psychopath. Jones, should be elected, fully intends to continue supporting infanticide. Judge Moore will support pro-life Christian morality.
The Alabama voters have a choice. I hope they make the only moral choice.
On Thursday, Levin also pointed out what's likely going on here...On Monday’s Mark Levin show, It must be wonderful for the Establishment Republicans led by Mitch McConnell knowing the facts and truth about Roy Moore and then beating their chest over morality. These same people who lecture us on morality won’t talk about Ted Kennedy, Bob Menendez, and George H.W. Bush. The people of Alabama will decide if they believe in the allegations against Moore or not. Shouldn’t there at least be some kind of a hearing or Committee Review to find out the facts? It is outrageous that you have Senators talking about expelling a U.S. Senator without having any more information other than media reports. McConnell has his guy Cory Gardner talking about this. They are saying to the people of Alabama, you can vote Moore in, but we will throw him out. This sounds like people who are trying to exploit a situation and don’t care about the truth. Later, the Washington Post, CNN and the left are unleashing their hordes against Breitbart and Sean Hannity. Margaret Sullivan writing a hit piece for the Washington Post goes out of her way to muster a poor argument to trash Hannity and Breitbart. The people of Alabama get to make this decision on Moore not Sullivan or her editorial page. This is devious and lying propaganda, nobody is trashing the accusers of Roy Moore. This same liberal media has been protecting Hollywood and Ted Kennedy for decades. They sought to protect Bill Clinton for years from rape allegations and held Hillary up as a paragon of womanhood while she was running war rooms against Bill’s accusers. This is the totalitarian mindset that we are dealing with. They never want to debate on principle.
This whole thing doesn’t smell right. This story was planted and perfectly timed in their hopes to doom Moore’s campaign. ... Also, Mitch McConnell is asking Roy Moore to step aside if he is guilty of the accusations against him. You have Bob Menendez a sitting U.S. Senator who is on trial for corruption charges. Why is it that Republicans don’t demand his resignation? Isn’t it amazing that Republicans knew what to say right on cue? They are ready to recruit Luther Strange as a write-in guy.It's just a little too on cue. Collusion much, Mr. McConnell? I know my thoughts certainly align with where Levin was going. I'm also certain everyone is drawing their own conclusions, though.
UPDATE II: More positive signs over the past several weeks as the special election nears. The accusers' stories are unraveling, while Moore continues to fight. And poll results reflect this as Moore returns to the top of the AL Senate race! It's also helpful that others are seeing through this obvious hit job. Notably, President Trump now fully endorses Roy Moore, and the RNC has jumped back into the race, backing Moore's campaign with funding that never should've been pulled in the first place.Despite the controversy, Democrats and Republicans alike believe that Mr. Moore can win the special election to fill the seat vacated by Mr. Sessions when he became attorney general.
“Frankly, I don’t think the people of Alabama want me, any national politician, or the national news media telling them what to think or how to vote,” said Representative Bradley Byrne, Republican of Alabama. ...
“I believe he’s a man of God for the hour that we’re in, and he’ll represent us well,” said the Rev. David Floyd, a pastor at a Baptist church in Opelika. “By the way, we down here in Alabama, we don’t need Mitch McConnell or John McCain telling us who can be our representative in Congress. I believe that’s our choice to make.”Al Franken admits guilt after photographic evidence of his abuse surfaces.— Judge Roy Moore (@MooreSenate) November 16, 2017
Mitch: "Let's investigate."
In Alabama, ZERO evidence, allegations 100% rejected.
Mitch: "Moore must quit immediately or be expelled."
Mr. Moore, sitting in the front row with his wife, sounded a similar note when he referred to the allegations against him.
“Many of you have recognized that this is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama, and they will not stand for it,” he said.
And we finally find out who pitched the LIE to WaPo!I wonder if Allred told her to do that? WE CALLED IT! Gloria Allred Accuser **ADMITS** She Tampered With Roy Moore's Yearbook 'Signature' (VIDEO) https://t.co/pxNhPT90zN— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 8, 2017
"Mental health is your problem here. We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn’t a guns situation. Fortunately, somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction; otherwise... It would have been much worse. But this is a mental health problem at the highest level. It’s a very, very sad event.” ~ President TrumpI'd go one further, as does Erick Erickson. Evil exists, and demons are real...
Excellent interview between Mark Levin and Gov. Abbott Monday evening, discussing the heroism of former NRA instructor, Stephen Willeford, the man primarily responsible for ending Sunday’s mass-murder carnage in Sutherland Springs before the gunman took more lives, and also discussing another government screw up that led to a mass shooting (Air Force forgot to add his name to the national database after a felony conviction!). As important of details as those are, something else that Levin said immediately following the interview stuck with me the boils it down to base level...TheResurgent: The Bible makes clear what a lot of people seldom ever think about. Demons are real. Protestants tend to think it is all Catholic talk and secularists think it is all in the movies. But evil is a very real thing and demons are part of it. Though we may not see them commonly, they are there and the church shooting in Texas should remind us of that.
“Where is your God?” the secularists heckle as the American progressives and Nazis and Soviets and Romans and Persians and Philistines all have heckled Christ’s church. He sits on his throne, still sovereign, mourning the dead and welcoming them into His kingdom. On this earth, as it grows more secular, we should expect more of this as evil creeps back in. I think Augustine was right that evil exists in the absence of God.
...Christian churches need to wake up and realize the evil creeping back in with the rising tide of secularism in America. There will be more church shootings. There will be more persecution of Christians. There will be more evil, often masked under the guise of progressive enlightenment. It all comes as American society increasingly shoves God aside.
We do not know all the details of the shooter in Texas. But we should recognize evil and call it evil. And churches should see what happened in Texas and what is happening to culture as a whole and start preparing their congregations for a harder life in the United States. Actual demons are actually real. They take many forms. But they are all evil and all wish to harm the church.
No exorbitant amount of governmental regulation, or lack of compliance thereof, can isolate us from evil acted upon."There are evil people who do evil things. And not just in our country. In fact, most other countries. ... Historically even, in manner cases worse. That's just a terrible thing."
And the media fools only aid in the assistance of progressing secularism as they tirade within hours of this horror on the need to infringe on certain individual rights while openly mocking the power of prayer...TR: Atheists have no moral boundaries beyond death, which they consider to be the end of existence. The same sentiment that supports euthanasia, so-called “death with dignity,” Iceland’s shameful extermination of Down Syndrome babies, and the push for unlimited abortion, also allows for people like Kelley to exit this life with no conscience after committing hate-fueled mass murder.
This crime will likely be chalked up to “mental health,” as President Trump indicated. But it’s a hate crime. Kelley hated God, hated Christians, and took every opportunity to display his disdain with both of these, based on what the Daily Mail reported.
Trump was right that this is not a “gun problem.” But the militant brand of atheism which cannot account for anyone’s deeds besides “be good for goodness’ sake” has no argument to dissuade others from doing the same thing.
Christians should be suspicious of those who vehemently argue online against God, who belittle and attack Christianity and other religions of faith. We should treat them all as potential Jeremy Joseph Christians and Devin Patrick Kelley’s.
These are the people who would have all Americans disarmed at the hands of our own government, who belong to organizations that would purge the government of believers in God. These are the people who would impose their own narrow morality on the world. These are the people who draw their ideals and trace their moral ancestry directly from Robespierre, Lenin, Mao and Guevara.
Kelly is the face of atheism and the working out of its consequences. Those are: for the dead, there are no further consequences, and that affects us all as the living. Better to believe in a Sky Daddy who can condemn your soul to eternal hell than to trust in those who kill with no consequence.
TR: Between the vehicular attack in New York on Halloween and the terrible mass shooting in Sutherland, Texas yesterday, it’s been a tough week with violence in the United States of America. Compounding the tragedy is the by now familiar compulsion of bad actors across social media to use these events to push some kind of political agenda.It's in these moments, as Peter Heck suggests, that perhaps we should set aside all the noise long enough to really meditate on one thing: our own salvation...
Here is a nice little montage of Democrats, reporters and pundits questioning and mocking thoughts and prayers with no action. This is all about not taking action they want and nothing more.
TR: The response to mass killings has become a sick joke.
After yesterday’s mass shooting in Texas, leftists took to the internet to attack gun laws, the NRA and the Republican Party before the bodies were even cold. As an added measure, anti-religious zealots attacked Christianity and the effectiveness of prayer since the mass murder took place at a Baptist church. Never mind that the killer was apparently an atheist who got his gun illegally.
The sick joke is the reflexive jockeying after terrorist attacks and mass killings to determine who can benefit politically from the tragedy.
Despite the media and political deterrents, much, much more prayer is quite necessary.TR: I’m burdened to say this much to anyone who takes the time to read these words: it could have been you. It could have been you with your small children climbing over the church pews and sharing in fellowship with your best friends right as those doors flew open and a man in tactical gear began unloading his rifle. Not that we need to be reminded, but not a single one of those victims yesterday had any expectation when they pulled into their church parking lot that they had just moments left to live.
The same can be said of the concertgoers in Vegas last month, or the bike riders in New York City last week. They didn’t know they were living out their final seconds here on Earth until it happened. And we don’t know but what we aren’t doing the same right now.
Nothing is guaranteed in this life except death. Think about that. We spend so much time and so much energy preparing, planning, and providing for future events that we have no assurance will ever come. We plan for our weddings, but we don’t know that our fiancé will actually show up to the ceremony. We plan for our retirement, but we don’t know that we’ll ever live to see it. We plan for our careers, but we don’t know that anybody is actually going to hire us.
Yet the one thing we are guaranteed – that we will die – is something we avoid planning for, preparing for, or even thinking about. We contemplate it at moments like this because it becomes real to us. But in a few days, we’ll be consumed with what is happening on this side of the grave again, and our thoughts about death will be pushed away until the next tragedy unfolds. But given that we could be involved the next time it unfolds, that seems to be a tragically and needlessly risky way to live.
My humble suggestion is that this time, rather than using this unspeakable horror to spur our deliberations about gun control, concealed carry, security systems, armed guards, and politics, let’s try – just this time – to let it spur our thinking about death.
I think that thinking about death is as natural as death itself. I think we are wired to think about death. And I think we’re wired that way because the One who did the wiring wants us to think about death.
No, I’m not calling God dark or morose. He is everything the opposite of those things. He is life (John 14:6) – true life, vibrant life, pulsating life. And He knows what awaits us on the other side of these vaporous few years (James 4:14) is eternally more significant than the temporal things that consume far too much of our thinking here on this side of the grave.
We should be thinking about death and preparing for it far more than our weddings, what movies we’re going to see, the careers we’re going to have, or the retirement we want to enjoy. We should be obsessing about the preparations needed before death in comparison to the preparations needed before parties, picnics, and promotions.
Not because we are macabre. But because we wisely recognize what God has told us – the entirety of our existence on earth is merely the beginning of our life. Only a fool then would fail to think about what happens when the beginning ends.
It ended for 26 precious souls Sunday. It could end for you today. Are you ready?
MLS 10/19/17: John Solomon calls in to discuss his breaking story that Bill Clinton sought the State Department’s permission to meet with a Russian nuclear official during the Obama uranium decision.Related links: FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow
Related links: Silverglate: How Robert Mueller Tried To Entrap MeMLS 10/20/17: It is time we take a closer look at Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller and his tactics. Mueller’s tactics in dealing with Paul Manafort are very disturbing. The FBI breaks into his house at 6 in the morning with their guns drawn and combed through the residence for 10 hours. You would think Manafort was searching for a mass murderer or had sold the country out on uranium. Mueller’s investigation has become a targeting of President Trump, his family, and anyone associated with him. In addition, you have a Democrat Party poised to push for impeachment based on what Mueller and his team claim. He and his leading prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann are way over the top.
Related links: Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossierMLS 10/24/17: The Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for research that lead to the Russian dossier which contained allegations of the Trump Campaign’s collusion with Russia. This is a massive scandal now, the entire story has flipped. No wonder the Democrat party kept accusing the Trump campaign of collusion. They accuse of what they themselves have done. Notice how the Clinton campaign and the DNC have kept their mouths shut on the dossier, hoping that the praetorian guard media would protect them.
Related link: Former Clinton Spox: Hillary ‘May Have Known’ About Dossier Funding [VIDEO]MLS 10/25/17: Our institutions including the FBI and the media are rotting from within. We have a number of incredibly outrageous and dangerous scandals that have taken place during the Obama administration. We have the revelation that Clinton Campaign and DNC funded Fusion GPS through Marc Elias. In addition, members of Trump world were unmasked. This happened all during the course of the scandal environment of leaks and all intended to hurt candidate, and President Trump. The media believes this is a distraction. They are completely exposed for their inattention to this. The FBI is stonewalling and covering and refuses to comply with requests from Congress and its Committees. The FBI under its senior leadership has become a rogue operation. Is Robert Mueller going to investigate himself? No and Rod Rosenstein is not, because he appointed Mueller. What we need is a special select committee of Congress dedicated to investigating the FBI, Mueller, Rosenstein, James Comey and Andrew McCabe. This committee also needs to investigate the Clinton Campaign, Marc Elias and the DNC. After that, the spokesperson for Hillary does not know about Hillary’s awareness of contacting Fusion GPS. Marc Elias contacted Fusion GPS, and Fusion GPS contacted Christopher Steele. Steele did his dirty work for the Kremlin in order to politically take out Trump. When Donald Trump Jr. went to a meeting that proved to be completely useless – it was merely his intention to acquire information about Hillary Clinton and her campaign, potentially from the Russians – the media said that was treason! But when the Clinton campaign and the DNC hires an ex-spy to dig up dirt from the Kremlin on Donald Trump? And when that information from the Russians gets used by the FBI and leaked to the media? The media says that’s not treason, that’s opposition research.
MLS 10/26/17: Democratic Party Chair Tom Perez dismissed the Clinton, DNC, Russia collusion story as a case of opposition research. The Democrats have been hammering and lecturing Republicans on supposed Russian collusion for months, but now that the Clinton campaign and DNC are involved, working with the Russians to change the outcome of an election is just opposition research? The fact of the matter is, like it or not, the Democrats, were in bed with the Kremlin. Not only were they seeking dirt on President Trump, they were happy to concoct dirt on him and to spread it as fast as they could. In addition, people are claiming they did not know about the details of this dossier. It is simply not believable that Hillary Clinton, her senior staffers and the chairman of the DNC did not know about this. After that, when did the Obama administration begin investigating Trump and upon what evidence were these investigations based? Whose orders did the Obama administration act upon to begin this investigation?
MLS 10/27/17: We now know the Washington Free Beacon originally funded the Fusion GPS opposition research that was later picked up by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. The research was done on several candidates, not just President Trump. How is it that Hillary, John Podesta, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz knew nothing about it?
Related links: Furious Trump tweets ‘NO COLLUSION’ and washes his hands of campaign chairman Paul Manafort after Mueller indicts lobbyist on $75 million money-laundering charge and accuses him of conspiring against the U.S.MLS 10/30/17: The mainstream media are forgetting crucial details about Paul Manafort’s indictment. If these conspiracy charges were serious, the statute of limitations would’ve legitimately run out. Special counsel Robert Mueller was serving as FBI director while Manafort was allegedly engaged in this criminal activity. The question is why wasn’t a case brought against Manafort when Mueller was in charge of the FBI and the statutes of limitations was a non-issue? That means somebody dropped the ball. And furthermore, President Trump had nothing to do with any of this, this predates his campaign. There’s no Trump world involved in any of this. This isn’t about justice or seeking the truth. This is about doing everything possible to make a case against the president of the United States when you don’t have a case against the president of the United States. The best they could do is dig up financial statements and have George Papadopoulos plead to a false statement. After that, Andy McCarthy a former prosecutor and contributor to National Review calls in to talk about the charges against former members of the Trump campaign. Later, we have Mark Warner alleging collusion, when even Mr. Mueller couldn’t prove collusion from a criminal aspect. There is no collusion but that is not stopping Warner. The bottom line is that the left wants to impeach Trump, and get him out.
MLS 10/31/17: Failing to file as a foreign agent is almost never charged. It is a filing issue and technically if you violate it, it is a misdemeanor. Robert Mueller and his team are alleging that Paul Manafort and Rick Gates laundered money in order to conceal what in worse cases is a misdemeanor. This makes no sense.Meanwhile, more on Democrats' approval sending uranium to Russia through the back door, all while Mueller headed the FBI, a man who now grossly wields prosecutorial power...
Related links: Uranium One deal led to some exports to Europe, memos showMLS 11/2/17: John Solomon calls in to talk about the Uranium One Deal. One of the main talking points of the Democrats is that after they approved Uranium One, no uranium left U.S. soil. However, the uranium was sent through the back door to Canada and made its way to Russia. Also, what did Robert Mueller do about this as he was FBI Director during the time of this deal? The FBI won’t say what Mueller knew when which is incredible. Later, Attorney’s for Paul Manafort defended him on Thursday as a successful international consultant who has done nothing wrong and poses no threat to fleeing the country. Now Robert Mueller is going after Manafort’s insurance policy. They want to bankrupt him and Rick Gates and try to drain their incomes. What Mueller is doing is completely out of control and grotesque.
