Grant Swank: 2005-09-18

Friday, September 23, 2005

TEN COMMANDMENTS COMMISSION PRESIDENT HOLDS OUT HOPE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

They are the foundation of any civilization that lasts. It’s the moral base if a culture endures.

So it is that Ron Wexler moves ahead with that hope for America in particular. He has formed the Ten Commandments Commission. As President / CEO, he has gathered about him prestigious religious leaders.

Wexler, an Orthodox Jew who is admired in Christian circles, bonded with Dr. Myles Munroe, Christian leader and author, in founding the Ten Commandments Commission.

It is primarily because of the US Supreme Court ruling concluding that public displays of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse were against the laws of the land. The Court stated that the showing of such a message was counter to the US Constitution.

Yet it is that very US Constitution that breathes out the ethic of the Ten Commandments. And it is the laws of this land that are primarily set in place because of the morality base of the Ten Commandments. Therefore, for the US Supreme Court to prohibit the public display of such a fundamental message is counter to the US Constitution, not the other way around.

This is the postulate of Wexler and Munroe. This the basis for their founding the agenda to bring back to Americans the primary truth that our culture was begun with that Ten Commandments base and must continue with that base if the country wants to survive.

With this mission before them, the two men have forged ahead with the hope of centuries. It is the Word of God "given to the nations." As Wexler points out, it’s not a Jewish message alone. It’s not a Christian message alone. Though it is Jewish and Christian it is broader than that. It is a message "to the nations."

Every human being on the planet who would desire to exist within a civilized milieu should realize that such is possible when persons live out the Ten Commandments. It is all there.

That is why God gave such a blessing to Moses. It was then that deity instructed Moses to disperse the tidings "to the nations." The Jewish people were the means by which that message was to be relayed. But it was not for them alone.

Wexler points out that when persons refer to the Jews as "God’s chosen people," they often think of "chosen" as defined as a privileged people. No. Wexler accents that the Jews were chosen to work, and to work especially hard. They were to message the nations.

With what? With the Ten Commandments. When the Ten Commandments are exercised sincerely daily in the interplay of society, the humans involved come into a new sphere of enjoyment, happiness and health.

That is why Wexler and Munroe labor day and night to bring to the American consciousness the historical truth of the Ten Commandments. By living them, a society exists as blessed. By ignoring them, a society exists as cursed. And finally the curse can lead to extinction.

Wexler than points to the "natural disasters" occurring in the United States and elsewhere on the planet. He wonders if this is simply a natural happening or if God is seeking to get through a critical message. If it is the latter, a return to God’s moral base — the Ten Commandments — would lift the curse to bring the blessing. It is that significant an understanding of daily occurrences.

Wexler provides further detail: "As the fury of hurricane Rita is about to hit the shores of Texas just 3 weeks after the disaster left Katrina, people of faith must be wondering. . .

"It was revealed to me that in numerology, the numerical value of the Hebrew letters that make up the name Rita + God is equal 620. The number of all the Hebrew letters that make up the Ten Commandments is…. 620! Is there a connection?

"See Genesis 1:1, “Now the earth was formless and empty (chaos) and the darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the WATER.” The spirit of God in Hebrew “Ruach”, also translates as wind. Therefore this could be read as the wind of God was hovering over the chaos that existed before creation! It was then that God began with His the task of creation.
"Could this now be the spirit of God above the water? Rita + God equal 620 equal the Ten Commandments? Could this be the wake up call for the nation? Now when the Ten Commandments are thrown out of schools and out of courts, could there be a connection? Just think for a moment that there is a correlation.

"The Ten Commandments represent the moral foundation of this great and blessed nation. Sacred laws that this nation was founded on are being assaulted and denigrated daily by an army of secular champions determined to destroy every vestige of America's rich spiritual heritage," Wexler explains.

"We've seen destructive lifestyles applauded and promoted in schools and public venues even as prayer, Scripture, and expressions of faith are ridiculed and banned."

How can this be overturned? By bringing the peoples to the Ten Commandments for adoption as a way of life.

To combat the erosion of the Ten Commandments in society, Wexler met with Jewish and Christian leaders in Canada to formulate a coordinated response. The September 9-19 strategy sessions discussed how churches, synagogues and various religious ministries can affirm and maintain the Judeo-Christian moral tradition in society.

In addition, Munroe states in support of his colleague’s position: "We are very disappointed in the Supreme Court's ruling against the Ten Commandments. Recent court rulings represent a divergence from the founding Judeo-Christian principle of the sovereign divine supremacy, and they threaten the very fabric and foundation of the pillars of our society."

Now the Ten Commandments Commission has chosen February 5 as "Ten Commandments Day" nationwide. The Commission is requesting ministry spokespersons to involve themselves aggressively in this national campaign to return the Ten Commandments and Judeo-Christian moral base to America. The Ten Commandments in particular must be restored to a place of respect and adherence in the country or the citizenry may suffer untold woes due to a purposeful disobedience of God’s expectations for His own creation.

"Declare Sunday February 5 as 'Ten Commandments Day' in your church!" proclaims Wexler. "Plan for your message to center on the importance of the Ten Commandments and godly moral principles both to individuals and to our nation. Pastors, rabbis, and community leaders have a responsibility to lead the challenge that will stop this dark assault on America's morality and God's Holy word."

"There is a huge coalition of people who are committed to the commission's efforts," reports Susan Zahn, founder of the Christian PR firm, WDC Media.

"Daily, churches and ministry leaders are contacting the commission to join the cause." "The Church has always been the moral guide for America-and pastors have always taken the lead," says Munroe. "Now more than ever, our nation needs their leadership. We pray that thousands of God's anointed will answer this spiritual call to arms and join us in taking a bold stand for God's law and moral values."

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

For More Information On This Story Visit: truthinconviction.us/weblog.php

Story Submitted By: joseph_swank@yahoo.com

GOD, WHERE IS THE ACLU WHEN AMERICA NEEDS IT MOST?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

I heard someone on TV say this morning, "Say a prayer for Texas."

What? Say a prayer for Texas? Are you kidding?

That brought me to ask: "Where is the ACLU when we need it most?" I just don’t get it. We are in one slam of an emergency in this nation. Drenched details are spilling over our consciousness 24 / 7.

And with all that is pecking away at the country’s nerves, I find that the ACLU is silent. Silent. Where is the ACLU when the entire continent needs it desperately? It’s a panic out there. And the ACLU acts as if we’re all on our ways to the shopping mall for another spend-out.

I am an American. I pay my taxes. I don’t commit crimes. I do what I can for my town. So why doesn’t the ACLU care a flip about millions of like citizens? Instead, the ACLU just remains mugged up in some coffee café somewhere when the people of this country cry out for help.

Say a prayer for Texas? I say, Say a prayer to find out where the ACLU is hiding. When we need the ACLU it goes hiking off someplace safe.

After all, is it not the ACLU and team that have warned us not to take the Judeo-Christian heritage seriously for it’s all a crock?

And isn’t it the ACLU enthusiasts who have warned us to trump up the nation’s elite edge by deleting "under God" from the pledge of allegiance to the American flag?

And is it not the ACLU clique that has cautioned the lawmakers about creating a theocracy in America, about how utterly dangerous it would be to ensconce the God our country’s beginnings in the schools, the town meetings, the nation’s capitol, university commencement ceremonies, and on and on?

Of course, the ACLU has worked day and night to enlighten us, to bring us into the current secularization of Europe, to mature the younger generation, to broaden our national perspectives so as to realize the potential of the homo sapien sans deity.

Has not the ACLU pounded it into our heads that we are nothing but evolved tissue from the first cell, that all ethic is relative, and that even an Intelligent Design impinging upon evolutionary theory is religious fanaticism run amuck?

With all that energy put out over years and years, surely then the ACLU should come to the aid of the country now that it’s under water. Its oil supply is endangered. Humans are taken from cot to cot and city to city while their medial records have washed away, their children are misplaced and their homes are flooded through and through.

I just don’t get it.

When the ACLU takes away the God-base of a nation, proclaims that even the coins with "In God We Trust" are anathema and that the Ten Commandments should be sliced from every public scene, then why doesn’t the ACLU come through with its agenda of secularization to save our lives? To redeem our souls? To provide the necessary rescue stations to care for our citizenry.

Say a prayer for Texas?

Why, that would be anti-ACLU and we intelligent, egocentric, educated, cosmopolitan, materialistic, secular persons of the New Age can’t reduce ourselves to such a low level as that?

That would par us off with the "born again" zealots. That would categorize us with the Christian fanatics. That would put us in the same league as the evangelicals. That would make us all in Jerry Falwells!

For God’s sake, we can’t permit that to happen. Oh, forgive the expletive. I didn’t mean to bring deity into this mess. But when the ACLU forsakes its own loyal crew in a time of need, I just wonder what the ACLU is all about anyhow.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

GOD, WHERE IS THE ACLU WHEN AMERICA NEEDS IT MOST?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

I heard someone on TV say this morning, “Say a prayer for Texas.”

What? Say a prayer for Texas? Are you kidding?

That brought me to ask: “Where is the ACLU when we need it most?” I just don’t get it. We are in one slam of an emergency in this nation. Drenched details are spilling over our consciousness 24 / 7.

And with all that is pecking away at the country’s nerves, I find that the ACLU is silent. Silent. Where is the ACLU when the entire continent needs it desperately? It’s a panic out there. And the ACLU acts as if we’re all on our ways to the shopping mall for another spend-out.

I am an American. I pay my taxes. I don’t commit crimes. I do what I can for my town. So why doesn’t the ACLU care a flip about millions of like citizens? Instead, the ACLU just remains mugged up in some coffee café somewhere when the people of this country cry out for help.

Say a prayer for Texas? I say, Say a prayer to find out where the ACLU is hiding. When we need the ACLU it goes hiking off someplace safe.

After all, is it not the ACLU and team that have warned us not to take the Judeo-Christian heritage seriously for it’s all a crock?

And isn’t it the ACLU enthusiasts who have warned us to trump up the nation’s elite edge by deleting “under God” from the pledge of allegiance to the American flag?

And is it not the ACLU clique that has cautioned the lawmakers about creating a theocracy in America, about how utterly dangerous it would be to ensconce the God our country’s beginnings in the schools, the town meetings, the nation’s capitol, university commencement ceremonies, and on and on?

Of course, the ACLU has worked day and night to enlighten us, to bring us into the current secularization of Europe, to mature the younger generation, to broaden our national perspectives so as to realize the potential of the homo sapien sans deity.

Has not the ACLU pounded it into our heads that we are nothing but evolved tissue from the first cell, that all ethic is relative, and that even an Intelligent Design impinging upon evolutionary theory is religious fanaticism run amuck?

With all that energy put out over years and years, surely then the ACLU should come to the aid of the country now that it’s under water. Its oil supply is endangered. Humans are taken from cot to cot and city to city while their medial records have washed away, their children are misplaced and their homes are flooded through and through.

I just don’t get it.

When the ACLU takes away the God-base of a nation, proclaims that even the coins with “In God We Trust” are anathema and that the Ten Commandments should be sliced from every public scene, then why doesn’t the ACLU come through with its agenda of secularization to save our lives? To redeem our souls? To provide the necessary rescue stations to care for our citizenry.

Say a prayer for Texas?

Why, that would be anti-ACLU and we intelligent, egocentric, educated, cosmopolitan, materialistic, secular persons of the New Age can’t reduce ourselves to such a low level as that?

That would par us off with the “born again” zealots. That would categorize us with the Christian fanatics. That would put us in the same league as the evangelicals. That would make us all in Jerry Falwells!

For God’s sake, we can’t permit that to happen. Oh, forgive the expletive. I didn’t mean to bring deity into this mess. But when the ACLU forsakes its own loyal crew in a time of need, I just wonder what the ACLU is all about anyhow.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

For More Information On This Story Visit: truthinconviction.us/weblog.php
Story Submitted By: joseph_swank@yahoo.com

Thursday, September 22, 2005

SOPHOMORE CAN’T DISTRIBUTE CHRISTIAN LEAFLETS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Samantha Weatherholtz was distributing leaflet to fellow students. Some had Bible passages printed on them.
That has put Samantha on her own sabbatical, according to the Associated Press. That is, maybe.

It’s in Fort Defiance, Virginia, interestingly enough. With a name like that for a burg, why should not one of its youth follow through?

Anyhow, there in her Augusta County school hallways and classrooms Samantha handed out papers with religious verses on them. Suspension. Over and out. Defiance? Well, that’s what is being decided at the moment while Samantha declares to media that she will be back in studies. Yes.

According to her mother, Kelly Bussard, Samantha will be right there at her desk at Fort Defiance High School in the western part of the state — on Monday. Whether she will continue to give others leaflets with Scripture on them is another question. Time will tell. Right now, Samantha is mum on the issue.

In the meantime, assistant principal Donna Abernathy informed Samantha that if the student persisted in giving away her papers with religious content, suspension would be in her school history record.

School personnel moved into action. Like school staffer Frank Wade refusing to comment to the press about what was going on. That’s action non-applied. Instead, he passed the information gauntlet to Augusta County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent George Earhart. The latter informed the media that "he would look into the incident."

Now the Samantha household has turned to the family’s church as well as the Christian Law Association, Seminole, Florida.

That particular organization has been at the forefront of other like cases. It aided Terry Schiavo’s family with legal assistance earlier in 2005.

At present, Samantha appears optimistic. In other words, she’s keeping the faith.

"A lot of my friends are behind me." With that, she loads up her backpack with textbooks intent on returning to learning.

For More Information On This Story Visit: truthinconviction.us/weblog.php

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CAN JORDAN KING TURN MUSLIM KILLERS AROUND?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Can Jordan’s King Abdullah II turn around a Muslim killing cult? Time will tell.

In the meantime, Jordan’s leader has informed American rabbis that he personally cannot tolerate any longer the huge gulf between Jews and Muslims. He is going to expend his energies to put down the Muslim murderers global. He calls for other Muslims, particularly scholars, to take the lead in remaking a slaughter religion.

The Koran’s Allah calls for Muslims to slay all non-Muslims, the "infidels." If Muslims do not follow through with their deity’s dictate, those cowardly Islamics are to be slain. Further, if Muslims get in the way of killing off non-Muslims, that’s the price that has to be paid in order to rid the planet of non-Muslims. Islam must rule over all.

In addition, there are Muslim schools where teachers instruct the next generation to hate "Jew-pigs" who are descendants of monkeys. Palestinian television telecasts daily programs instructing Muslims to hate Jews in particular.

For those Muslims who commit themselves to Allah’s agenda, there is a paradise of orgies unlimited. That is, for the males. Females are considered worse than dung for they are conceived with ten curses. If they marry, one curse is lifted; the others remain. Therefore, females are covered with fabric lifelong. If they misstep, they may be slain by any clan male for such women have offended the family. The latter is known as "honor killing."

There is no other religion in the world that claims such tenets as the killing cult known as "Islam." Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Judaism, and Christianity never demand that non-adherents be wiped out. Therefore, Islam is not truly a religion among world religions; it must be defined as a "murdering cult."

Governments of civilized people do not tolerate murdering cults. Therefore, Islam should be shut down in freedom-based nations. There are those who advocate that Muslims infiltrating liberty-aligned countries be interned or deported.

US President George W. Bush calls Islam an "ideology of hate" and British Prime Minister Tony Blair refers to it as an "evil ideology." It is no longer called a "peace religion" by heads of state who have become informed that the Muslim belief system is in fact a murdering cult.

Therefore, when Jordan’s leader informs American Jewish leaders that he is working to change Islam into a "moderate" religion, he is now working against all Muslim zealots who have taken up arms to do away with every non-Muslim. That is quite the task, particularly considering that every mosque has cleric bound to see through the Koran’s Allah’s demands to eliminate all non-Islamics.

The Washington Times’ Julia Duin reports that "Jordan's King Abdullah II told a gathering of American rabbis yesterday that Jews and Muslims are irrevocably ‘tied together by culture and history and that he is willing to take radical measures to combat Muslim extremists.

"’We face a common threat: extremist distortions of religion and the wanton acts of violence that derive therefrom,’ the king said. ‘Such abominations have already divided us from without for far too long.’

"Criticizing al Qaeda terrorists Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi for ‘abuses of our faith,’ the king, speaking at a heavily guarded lunch meeting at the Ritz-Carlton in Northwest, made clear he wishes to establish himself as the voice of moderate Islam."

It appears that New Iraq leadership would agree with Jordan’s King in that those seeking to plant a democracy in that country are fighting daily Muslim zealots, members of their own religion. Therefore, in New Iraq itself there is the evidence of those who do not follow through with the Koran Allah’s dictates but instead desire to live in peace with non-Muslims.

Why then have not more Muslim national leaders voiced the same concern as Jordan’s King? That’s a significant question in that the utter silence from Islamic leadership around the globe as been awesome and frightening. All the more that the Jordan King’s remarks to American rabbis becomes significant. Is this the start of a new voice for Islam around the world? Time will tell.

The Jordan King "pointed to a July conference he held in Amman, Jordan, for 180 Muslim scholars as a key part of his effort to undermine the far Islamic right. The conference was supported by fatwas -- or legal rulings -- from 17 major Islamic scholars.

"’Muslims from every branch of Islam can now assert without doubt or hesitation,’ he said, ‘that a fatwa calling for the killing of innocent civilians -- no matter what nationality or religion, Muslim or Jew, Arab or Israeli -- is a basic violation of the most fundamental principles of Islam.’ Now, King Abdullah said, it's time to mend fences with the worldwide Jewish community."

The Jordanian leader then met with both US President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Stay tuned.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

For More Information On This Story Visit: truthinconviction.us/weblog.php

Story Submitted By: joseph_swank@yahoo.com

FOOTNOTE:

SLAY THE NON-MUSLIMS: DIRECT QUOTES FROM THE QURAN
2:191, And slay them wherever ye catch them.

4:84, Then fight in Allah’s cause.

4:141, And never will Allah grant to the unbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers.

5:33, The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.

8:12, I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them.

8:17, It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah.

8:60, Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.

8:65, O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers.

9:5, But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.

9:14, Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers,

9:23, O ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong.

9:28, O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque.

9:29, Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

9:39, Unless ye go forth, (for Jihad) He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least.

9:73, O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell - an evil refuge indeed.

9:111, Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur’an

9:123, O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.

22:9, (Disdainfully) bending his side, in order to lead (men) astray from the Path of Allah: for him there is disgrace in this life, and on the Day of Judgment We shall make him taste the Penalty of burning (Fire).

22:19-22, These two antagonists dispute with each other about their Lord: But those who deny (their Lord),- for them will be cut out a garment of Fire: over their heads will be poured out boiling water. With it will be scalded what is within their bodies, as well as (their) skins. In addition there will be maces of iron (to punish) them. Every time they wish to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be forced back therein, and (it will be said), "Taste ye the Penalty of Burning!"

25:52, So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them herewith with a great endeavour.

25:68, Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred except for just cause, nor commit fornication; - and any that does this (not only) meets punishment. (But) the Penalty on the Day of Judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in ignominy.

37:22-23, "Bring ye up", it shall be said, "The wrong-doers and their wives, and the things they worshipped- Besides Allah, and lead them to the Way to the (Fierce) Fire!

47:4, Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens.

48:13, And if any believe not in Allah and His Messenger, We have prepared, for those who reject Allah, a Blazing Fire!

48:29, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.

69:30-37, (The stern command will say): "Seize ye him, and bind ye him, And burn ye him in the Blazing Fire. Further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits! This was he that would not believe in Allah Most High. And would not encourage the feeding of the indigent! So no friend hath he here this Day. Nor hath he any food except the corruption from the washing of wounds, Which none do eat but those in sin."

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PATIENTS KILLED IN NEW ORLEANS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Rather than allow critically ill patients suffer during the Katrina threat, doctors actually killed them, according to The Mail and reported on Religious News Online.

While some were raping others in New Orleans midst high winds and rising waters, still others were looting stores, hauling away as much merchandise as they could drag through drenching downpours.

In the meantime, “senior doctors took the harrowing decision to give massive overdoses of morphine to those they believed could not make it out alive.”

The Mail Sunday reported that a doctor actually revealed that she asked the Lord God to “’have mercy on my soul’” because she put to the side the medical ethic, doing away with certain patients under her care whom she deemed could not be salvaged.

This is not widely reported by the media. Nevertheless, in the midst of compassion flowing like rivers from hearts touched by those agonizing through this national disaster, patients were put to death, innocent citizens were sexually molested and stores were stripped of their produce.

As to the hospital killings, orderlies and government authorities confirmed the data. William McQueen stated that “’those who had no chance of making it were given a lot of morphine and lain down in a dark place to die.’”

There are times when stress overcomes every other option but the most dire choices, it was reported. This seems to be the case with the medical professionals overseeing extremely ill human beings, hence the actual killings taking place inside a American city’s hospital facility.

Interestingly enough, euthanasia cannot be practiced in the state of Louisiana. That makes the situation all the more bizarre. Because of that, The Mail is not revealing the personal data regarding medical personnel related to the killings. The media does not want their lives to be endangered by such information being made public.

One physician explained his anguish: "’I didn't know if I was doing the right thing. But I did not have time. I had to make snap decisions, under the most appalling circumstances, and I did what I thought was right. I injected morphine into those patients who were dying and in agony. If the first dose was not enough, I gave a double dose. And at night I prayed to God to have mercy on my soul.’"

Eventually even that female doctor left the city in haste, not wanting to be killed by armed looters. In other words, the whole scene in downtown New Orleans under floodwaters was beyond reason and at times beyond civility. Some persons took the law into their own hands, breaking the basic legal fabric of a society.

In defense of her actions in killing patients, the doctor refused to use the term “killing.” Instead, she said: “’This was not murder, this was compassion. They would have been dead within hours, if not days. We did not ‘put people down.’ What we did was give comfort to the end. I had cancer patients who were in agony. In some cases the drugs may have speeded up the death process.

The Mail reports that “Mr. McQueen, a utility manager for the town of Abita Springs, half an hour north of New Orleans, told relatives that patients had been 'put down', saying: ‘They injected them, but nurses stayed with them until they died.’"

“Mr. McQueen has been working closely with emergency teams and added: ‘They had to make unbearable decisions.’"

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

For More Information On This Story Visit: truthinconviction.us/weblog.php
Story Submitted By: joseph_swank@yahoo.com

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

CHRISTIAN COALITION NEW EXEC ANTICIPATES INCREASED INFLUENCE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Jason T. Christy has just been announced as the Christian Coalition’s new Executive Director. He is presently also Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Church Report, a national news and business journal for pastors and Christian leaders.

Jason has a diverse marketing and media career that ranges from business to business publishing, public relations, media buying, and creative services. Jason was the founding publisher of various publications including Church Business, Modern Car Care, PetroMart Business, Marina Business Today, and Church Executive. In addition to launching these titles, Jason has worked with both McGraw-Hill Companies and Cygnus Business Media in consulting roles.

Jason, 34, comes to his new job as a believer bent on making America increasingly moral. He will do so in part as lead spokesman of the Christian Coalition, appointed to that position as of September 19, according to Coalition President Roberta Combs.

"I will make the Coalition a truly representative Coalition. . .truly representative!" By that the young adult bachelor means that he calls all believers of every denomination to become as one in furthering the mission of the Coalition.

Having lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, since age 6, Jason worships at the Missouri Synod / Lutheran Church where his family has worshiped for years. There he came to believe in the Christian verities. There he has matured into the Christian witness inside and outside the sanctuary walls. Both as successful publisher, active layman and now Christian Coalition Executive, he extends his commitment to Christ.

"I’m going to put together a Coalition of all Christians." With that, Jason amplified that he’s going to reach out to all Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox believers who hold to the moral base of the Coalition. In addition, the Coalition has historically bonded with various Jewish persons holding to the Coalition’s ethical purposes. That, Jason states, he expects to continue and broaden.

Monthly the new executive will be in Washington, D.C., where he has acquired an apartment. He will remain there for a week to 10 days. There is already on location a Christian Coalition staff within the nation’s capitol. A parallel Coalition staff has been established in Scottsdale. Lobbying in Washington has been a staple with the Coalition in years past and will continue, even more aggressively, into the future, according to Jason.

Jason emphasizes that he anticipates keeping in place not only the usual Board of Directors but also a Pastoral Advisory Council. "I expect this Council to be composed of some of the most prestigious religious thinkers in America. They will be active. They will be influential. They will make an impact," he accents.

Further, Jason is now gearing up for an increase in Coalition membership. There are presently 2.5 million members. He anticipates another 500,000 by the 2006 elections. He will bring together the necessary forces nationwide in order to see through a new rush of enthusiasm throughout the organization.

Jason, a graduate of Boston University, sets forth Coalition ethical issues that he wants to give prime time to. They include social security "which heretofore has been on the back burner. But it can’t remain there. I’m going to see to it that it moves on to one of the front burners," Jason anticipated.

In addition, he is going to put the Coalition up front regarding the upcoming 2006 elections. "That’s a must," he emphasizes. "We must make a difference in what takes place in this country. We will be there — loud, clear and articulate! No doubt about it."

On other issues, Jason reports that same-sex "marriage" will be confronted head-on by the Coalition. "I don’t want one of my nephews to sit in an American public school classroom being taught in a sex education class that same-gender ‘marriage’ is permissible, even tolerated."

Moreover, Jason accents that "the culture of life" issues will get the Coalition’s utmost attention. These include fighting abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell research. In the positive phrasing, the Coalition will defend the unborn, the elderly and handicapped, and embryonic human beings in particular.

As to voluntary school prayer, the Coalition will defend it. As to school students pledging the American flag, the Coalition will defend it. As to Intelligence Design taught in public schools, the Coalition will defend it.

Jason admits that the bulk of the Coalition’s strength is in America’s Bible Belt. It is there that the Coalition membership thrives because of the correlation between the local biblically moored congregations and the Coalition’s statement of faith. However, even in some of the more secular-based geographies of the country there are active, aggressive Coalition workers.

Many Coalition members come from not only Roman Catholicism but such evangelical denominations as the Baptist conferences, Missouri Synod / Lutheran, Assembly of God, Church of God, Wesleyan Church, Free Methodist Church, Missionary Church, Mennonite Church, Church of the Nazarene, independent congregations and so forth.

The new executive admits that within the theologically liberal segments of Christendom there is little or no support for the Coalition. That he takes as a compliment for the Coalition does not compromise its moral convictions. In that it holds to the eternal principles as set forth in the Bible. Consequently, theological liberals who have a low view of Scripture do not find much compatibility with the Coalition’s mission statement or agenda.

However, within the mainline Protestant denominations that have experienced recent pockets of apostasy, particularly on the issue of practicing homosexuality, Jason holds that certain members still believing in the biblical truths become Coalition members. "They find shelter within the Coalition for there they have comradeship with believers of like faith," he explains.

These persons can be found, for example, in the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Church of Christ (Congregational), United Methodist Church and certain segments of Presbyterianism.

Expectations are high and deserving in regard to the new executive. "The Coalition has always relied on leadership with a solid understanding of America's Christian community and the public policy issues that impact it," said President Combs.

"Jason Christy has demonstrated that understanding, as well as the ability to inspire and encourage people of faith to action. I look forward to working with him."

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

CHILDREN FOR SALE

CHILDREN FOR SALE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

According to Zenit News Service, "babies (are) bought, sold and traded."

The report regards this as "a dark side of the consumer mind-set. Abortion advocates’ decades-long push to deny or downplay the humanity of the unborn child is bearing fruit. Unborn children are increasingly being treated like consumer products. . ."

Real live humans are being traded off sometimes as tissue for beauty treatments. Mothers are paid "big bucks" for providing the human material to merchandisers wanting the babies for beautifying adults.

It was the London Times that broke the story in detail. The piece described the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in Kharkov, as making baby parts up for purchase.

"Last April 17, a report in another British newspaper, the Observer, alleged that Ukrainian women were being paid to sell their fetuses to clinics. The tissues are then used for beauty treatments that purportedly rejuvenate the skin and cure diseases. The Observer claimed that the women were paid 100 pounds ($182 at current exchange rates) per fetus, which were later sold in Russia for up to 5,000 pounds ($9,100)."

While the pro-life endorsers make progress on certain fronts, the abortion enthusiasts break new ground on others. Of course, it’s a never-ending battle. What is most important to the protectors of womb infants is that they never give up the cause. They must forge ahead, regardless of what occurs. It is the ethic that holds them to the course.

Christians in particular must never renege for the biblical morality is at stake. God has stated in His divine revelation that he abhors the slaying of the unborn. It is not to be tolerated. Therefore, believers must stand strong no matter the cost. (See footnote).

"Ukrainian law considers that babies born before 27 weeks or weighing less than 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) are automatically considered abortions. As such, the babies are not officially registered, and are sometimes taken away from their mothers and not returned, human rights activists told the Times."

Obviously, the misuse of human beings as revealed above is anguishing to those of moral sensitivity. It is murder. It is also devilment seen through by those very professionals who should be protecting human life. Nevertheless, sales mark the children for money gained. And therefore, the trading continues, the stealing babies from their mothers continues, and the lawmakers look the other way in some locales.

The situation becomes even more complex. Those seeking to misuse human flesh count the yield monetarily and then proceed, no matter the immorality of it all. "This past week, concern was expressed in Canada over the use of ‘fresh’ embryos as a source of stem cells, reported the National Post on Tuesday. An article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal warned that women are being encouraged to donate fresh, as opposed to ‘surplus,’ frozen embryos left over from previous in-vitro fertilization treatments, to create stem cells.

Now let’s turn to babies suffering from genetic defects. Sadly, they are up for extinction, according to the Washington Post. That newspaper reported that "according to a survey of nearly 3,000 parents of children with Down syndrome, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, health professionals who do prenatal screening commonly give negative depictions to parents of the consequences of bearing a child with this problem.

"’In many cases the doctors were insensitive or just plain rude,’ said the author, Harvard medical student Brian Skotko, whose 24-year-old sister has Down syndrome.

"The article explained that changes in past years have greatly improved the situation for those who suffer from Down syndrome. Instead of being relegated to institutions they now tend to live among the general population, and better medical attention has seen a dramatic increase in life expectancy. Babies who survive often live into their 50s, according to the National Down Syndrome Society.

"But, according to an article by George Neumayr, in the June issue of the American Spectator, researchers estimate that 80% or more of babies now being diagnosed with Down syndrome in prenatal tests are aborted. As well, a high percentage of fetuses with cystic fibrosis are aborted."

FOOTNOTE:

THE BIBLE AND ABORTION

It is alarming to realize the nonchalance on the part of many concerning abortion. But it is not new. A popular newsmagazine quoted one medical opinion: "Abortion is finding its place as a perfectly acceptable and valid health measure. We no longer think of it as a crime."

There are those who say that every woman has a right to control her own body. That is true. Then, having control over her own body, she should not become pregnant if she does not want children. That is control! When she becomes pregnant, then she has lost her control over that situation.

But more importantly, only God has final rights to any person's body. He brought that body into life and someday will take that body out of life. In the meantime He provides the very sustaining power for the body's life to continue.

The Bible speaks of a fetus as a person, not simply tissue that can be discarded if found to be a bother or nuisance. Since the fetus is a person from the moment of conception, then the destroying of the fetus is killing a person. "In the past, some people have mistakenly speculated that perhaps the body might be in the process of formation for some time, and then 'God breathes a soul into it.' They had it backward. The life that is present forms matter into a body for itself' (Joseph Breig, "Life Forms Matter," The Catholic News, Jan. 24, 1974, p. 8).

"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk ... and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit" (Job 10:8-12 NIV).

"Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name...and now the LORD says--he who formed me in the womb to be his servant..." (Isaiah 49:1, 5).

"The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations’" (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

In the following passages we note that personality is ascribed to the unborn.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well. 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, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:13-16).

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him" (Psalm 127:3).

Exodus 21:22-25 relates how Israel was to judge a circumstance relating to the death of the unborn:

"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

All of the latter deals with unintentional hurt that comes to a pregnant woman; how much more will divine penalty come upon those who intentionally discard the fetus? The Gospel of Luke ascribes personality to the fetus within Elizabeth:

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit... As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy" (1:41, 44).

Mere tissue does not leap for joy; only personhood leaps for joy. The Bible regards the fetus as having personality. In Galatians, Paul speaks of himself as a person while still in his mother's womb, but more a person consecrated by God for a holy mission (compare Jeremiah 1:5 for the same accent):

"But when God, who set me apart from birth, and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles..." (Gal. 1: 15-16).

Since the Bible regards the fetus as personality, then the aborting of the fetus is murdering personality.

Some verses from Scripture dealing with murder are then appropriate for study, such as Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Also, read Exodus 23:7: "Have nothing to do with a false charge, and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." Note I Peter 4:15: "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer..."

"For all the talk of freedom and self-determination, the abortion movement is at its heart a movement denying rights to a silent segment of humanity and soliciting public sanction, support and subsidy to its own cause" (Donald P. Shoemaker, ABORTION, THE BIBLE AND THE CHRISTIAN, Hayes Publishing Co., 1976, p. iv).

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

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CATHOLIC SEMINARIES GRAPPLE WITH HOMOSEXUALITY

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

One of the questions is this one:

"How does the formation integrate harmoniously the spiritual dimension with the human one, above all in the area of celibate chastity?"

According to Jerry Filteau of Catholic News Service, the homosexuality question is going to get its due when seminaries are visited by "inspectors" of Catholic belief and practice.

But that’s not the only delving. There are others. Another is prime. It asks if seminary students are taught to gear away from such theological detours as New Age "doctrine." It appears that quite an influence on priests and nuns has been the influx of New Age teaching.

I attended a Catholic retreat house in mid-Maine where a nun held forth for the day. We were learning about death and dying when, as the day proceeded, I realized that the nun was in fact interjecting New Age patterns.

When I raised the question obliquely, the nun caught on to what I was asking and let it be known to me in no uncertain terms that what she was instructing was indeed perfectly permissible.

Upon returning home I wrote the bishop to ask if she was correct in her instruction content. In a few words he let me know by letter that she was not in keeping with the Catholic belief system. So with that slight introduction to the New Age intrusion, I realized that it had spread quite far and wide throughout, not only America, but the Catholic worldwide community.

However, back to homosexuality.

Since of course lack of celibacy keeping has been of great concern to the Vatican — both relating to homosexual and heterosexual practice — the seminary visitors will hone in on the need for students to understand what it means to take a real-life in real-time promise to keep to no-sex-at-all-throughout-a-lifetime when serving the Roman Catholic Church.

"Of 56 questions that will serve as the framework for apostolic visitations of U.S. Catholic seminaries this academic year, one – ‘Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary?’ -- sparked a big media flap in mid-September."One of the main purposes of the visitations is to assess how well U.S. seminaries are preparing their students for a lifelong commitment to celibacy as priests."

Of course, clergy in all denominations whether Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant have known homosexuals to be among their number. However, many have assumed that those with homosexual tendencies have not acted out their leanings. Therefore, there are known to be countless numbers of non-active homosexual clergy, many of them married.

The question then is whether the Catholic seminaries can still accept an individual who has a homosexual tendency, believing that he can make a vow for life that will stand against the temptations to be sexually active.

"’The church is trying to put out a very clear signal’ that those seeking ordination ‘must embrace a life of celibate chastity,’ said Father Stephen J. Rossetti, president of St. Luke Institute, a facility in the Washington suburbs that specializes in treating priests and religious who suffer addictions or behavioral, emotional or psychological problems.

"’The question of homosexuality is an important one,’ he told Catholic News Service Sept. 16. He said there is a need to determine when it is appropriate and when it is not to ordain someone who is homosexually oriented."

AFGHANISTAN: WILL BUSH BE LAUDED? HE SHOULD BE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

The Afghan vote went smoothly. Very little ruckus.

Should the US President George W. Bush be applauded for that? Certainly. Why? Because it is the Bush team that has made this Afghan success possible, despite the nay-saying from the US Democratic Party and some foreign leaders who thought progress in Afghanistan was impossible.

According to Carmen Gentile of The Washington Times, "Afghans embraced democracy by the millions yesterday, with voters undaunted by weeks of violence and threats of terrorist attacks to cast ballots for the first elected parliament in decades.

"The vote went smoothly, with only a handful of incidents involving gunfire or militant attacks at the 6,200 polling stations.

"’We are going to vote for the people who will do something for the country, not just for us,’ said Yosof Khan, dressed in the traditional loose-fitting garb and turban donned by members of his nomadic Kuchi tribe for centuries."

Thank you, Mr. Bush.

Thank you for staying the course. And no thanks to those who fought the Chief Executive on his freedom spread throughout the world. It is Mr. Bush who has shared with more persons outside the United States the hope of democracy than any other American President. He has made that his prime mission throughout both terms in office.

Is not that the way a freedom owner should act? Is not that the way a Christian President should respond to those in political bondage? Is that not the expectations of Americans who thank God for their daily liberties?

"It is more blessed to receive than to give," Jesus said. Mr. Bush realizes that. What other most-powerful-nation leader would spend such time and energy in seeking to develop other nations, lift the down-trodden, and share democracy with grassroots wherever possible?

Other powerful leaders have become dictators, slaughtered their own citizens and turned on outsiders with bloodletting. Other mighty national despots have used their leverage by which to murder and rob, to instill fear in their subjects.

Mr. Bush has lived out just the opposite. Afghanistan is a prime example of his character. He lives to help. He breathes to encourage. That is why his addresses to other nations’ audiences have been so well received. He speaks to their hearts, their longings and their dreams.

Yet those who exist to stomp upon, kick around, and beat up don’t have an inkling as to the motive of Mr. Bush. That is why there were so many stone faces in the United Nations when Mr. Bush presented starkly his agenda for the democracy spread to other countries. There sat before the most powerful nation’s leader those who exist to imprison their own citizens. There sat delegates to the UN who are out to squelch personal liberties back home.

Yet it was Mr. Bush from the United States of America who spoke forthrightly concerning his hopes for all peoples, that they would come under freedom’s banner, no matter where they lived. That did not set well with the dictators who sat before him — the thugs who return to home base to jail their own, misuse their powers for personal pleasures and undercut benefits due to the common persons populating their countries.

It is the Afghanistan progress that returns once again to Mr. Bush.

He has not only forged ahead without hesitation but against severe criticism from American liberals — both elected officials and the biased press in particular — as they have sought to cripple him at every turn. Yet they enjoy personal liberties that Mr. Bush seeks to share with others. Nevertheless, they have shown their own egocentricity by trying to thwart every program for liberty-sharing Mr. Bush has set before the world.

As The Washington Times reported: "Less than a year ago, Afghans elected Hamid Karzai as president.

"’We are making history,’ Mr. Karzai said while casting his ballot. ‘It's the day of self-determination for the Afghan people. After 30 years of wars, interventions, occupations and misery, today Afghanistan is moving forward, making an economy, making political institutions.’"

Thank you, Mr. Karzai. Thank you, Mr. Bush.

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PRO-LIFERS: DON’T TRUST JOHN ROBERTS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

There’s a good (actually, "bad") chance that Judge John Roberts could prove to be another Sandra Day O’Connor.

Conservatives applauded former US President Ronald Reagan appointing O’Connor to the Supreme Court. The conservative rejoicing proved sad. She did not end up being on the conservatives’ side. Instead, she was most purposefully defending the feminists at practically every turn, which meant that she was not a conservative but a liberal on the court.

The same could very well happen with Roberts.

Why? Because mainly due to his temperament. I don’t mean that his personal temperament is to be conservative. I mean that his temperament is not to make waves. That’s how he has survived so handsomely to this date and this age. That’s how he could so smoothly proceed through committee inquiries. And that’s no doubt why US President George W. Bush put him where he is today. It’s because he doesn’t make waves. He is not going to cause a ruckus. He’s not a fighter, a warrior, a crusader.

If Mr. Bush had put up a fighter, warrior or crusader, the sniffing dogs on committee would have sniffed that out of the appointee immediately. Therefore, the Bush man or woman would have been thrown out with the morning’s trash. However, Mr. Bush presented Mr. Peace At Any Price.

Mr. Peace At Any Price is not going to overthrow Roe vs. Wade. Not on a chance. He just won’t do it mainly because it’s not his nature to do that sort of thing. In other words, it’s not his personal temperament. He’s more Mr. Handsome and Debonair than he is an example for morality or a defender of ethics. He is one who blends in, smiles a lot, and shakes hands with a gracious grip.

I believe that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was right on target when speaking on Fox News. Graham said, "Supreme Court nominee John Roberts cannot be counted on to vote to overturn the Roe versus Wade decision that legalized abortion."

True.

He can’t be counted on to do that. Therefore, when that issue comes to the fore with the court, conservatives, and pro-lifers in particular, will weep and wail. They will realize that their hope was hyperbole. They will be smacked with the reality that "their man" is not their man at all — and he never was.

Yes, he’s a family man. Yes, he’s a Roman Catholic. Yes, he’s a gentleman. Yes, he’s adored by the conservatives. But so what? That does not a fighter make. And Roberts is no fighter. Time will show that to be absolutely true, sadly enough.

Therefore, as far as Roberts is concerned, he will be more concerned about being polite than being morally correct. He will be more attuned to the popularity of his colleagues on the court than the Judgment Seat of Christ. He will be more in league with his own personal opportunism than the biblical ethic concerning defending the unborn.

Stay tuned.

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NORTH KOREA NUKES NO: THANKS, GEORGE W. BUSH

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

IF, and that’s a huge IF, North Korea is sincere in its telling the world that it has agreed to halt nuclear weapons build-up, then it is US President George W. Bush who deserves the lion’s share of gratitude.

Yes, it is Mr. Bush who has held the North Korean’s hands to the fire over time. Patience over time.

It’s the same strategy Mr. Bush has maintained in his other international agendas. It is patience over time in the New Iraq. It is patience over time in Afghanistan. It is patience over time now with North Korea. The same with his approach to the Iranian nuclear threat.

It is Mr. Bush who has not flinched.

Others have given up or never got into the dialogue with North Korea. The US Democratic Party surely has been no major assistance to the Bush administration in its international dealings, including the North Korean nuclear debacle.

Nevertheless, Mr. Bush has kept to his principled agendas. When asked by such interviewers as Barbara Bush if he has made mistakes along the way, Mr. Bush has responded candidly by saying that he has not. That speaks not of egocentricity but his confidence.

Of course, Mr. Bush, being mortal, is not without flaw. However, it is comforting to the American public to have in the Oval Office a gentleman of morality and conviction, forging ahead in some of the most significant issues confronting the global community.

Therefore, with the Associated Press Burt Herman stating today that North Korea agreed to "stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections. . .," such is encouraging. Once again, I as an American citizen concerned about our relations with North Korean applaud our Chief Executive for remaining firm in his stance regarding North Korea’s position.

What is sad is that so many in the United States take for granted the accomplishments of Mr. Bush. That is particularly true of the liberal mainstream media. When he has seen through diligently a success level in any area, he is provided scant news attention. However, when Mr. Bush is not quite perfect in performing yesterday what liberals demand, the news makers are most quick to cast a doubting eye on his administration.

Of course, that’s politics. But for those of us who can abide politics in a democracy as well as appreciate work well down, we seek more from Americans than a mere ho-hum when Mr. Bush provides us with another benefit to our own daily freedom enjoyment.

Of course, a North Korean halt to nuclear programming is just that. That is, it is a benefit to our daily freedom privileges which we often taken so lightly that is selfish of us. However, for those of us who do pause long enough to thank heaven and earth’s sincere democracy leaders for the liberties we have, we thank Mr. Bush on this North Korean news.

May it be genuine. May it last. May it be deep and abiding.

But if it is not, still Mr. Bush has set the pace for where we are at the present. And for that all those who recognize the freedom milieu that we wake up to each morning should applaud the President for his unfailing efforts to secure our peace.

Thank you, Mr. Bush.

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BRIT FOOD TO BURN? U.S. STUPIDITY OR INEPTNESS?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Brits now find out that their gifts are going to go up in smoke — burnt.

Britain has come to the aid of the destitute due to Hurricane Katrina. They’ve sent food to America for those hungry and homeless to have something to eat.

It’s causing quite a fuss within the Brit compound. They are raging, in fact, that while Britain is extending its cordial hand to the United States, the US seems to be snubbing the kindness from across the waters.

Now one wonders if the US is stupid in all this confusion or if it is just plain inefficiency at work. There has been a lot of the latter regarding the Katrina situation; therefore, for another circumstance focusing on ineptness to surface would be believable.

However, when it involves those good people from another country, it’s not something minor. Therefore, the Brits are complaining especially via their own media.

For instance, according to Ryan Parry, US Correspondent in New York for Mirror.co.uk, "hundreds of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

"US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees. Instead tons of the badly needed NATO ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption."

Brits are given to expressing themselves in particularly creative and colorful language. Therefore, it is with that kind of temper that one sorrowfully observes the Brit givers’ anguish at what is happening. As Parry reports it, "One British aid worker last night called the move ‘sickening senselessness’ and said furious colleagues were ‘spitting blood.’"

Now what Brits sent to the US is food eaten by both British and American troops in Iraq. So why cannot it be eaten by starving Americans hoisted out of normalcy due to a hurricane? Yet the Food and Drug Agency is doing little while the food "is sitting idle in a huge warehouse."

One worker said: "’There will be a cloud of smoke above Little Rock soon - of burned food, of anger and of shame that the world's richest nation couldn't organize a p**s up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations.

"’Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from UNICEF are walking around spitting blood. This is utter madness. People have worked their socks off to get food into the region.

"’It is perfectly good NATO approved food of the type British servicemen have. Yet the FDA are saying that because there is a meat content and it has come from Britain it must be destroyed. If they are trying to argue there is a BSE reason then that is ludicrously out of date. There is more BSE in the States than there ever was in Britain and UK meat has been safe for years.’"

With red tape running down the watered streets of what once was New Orleans-dry, Spain and Italy also have sent food. However, their gifts likewise don’t seem to meet American food standards; therefore, they have not been distributed to the starving.

Further, Israel reports that their relief offices are "furious that thousands of gallons of pear juice are to be destroyed because it has been judged unfit."

What’s going on here? American stupidity or inefficiency or something else?

Stay tuned.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

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WHAT’S RIGHT IN NEW IRAQ

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

"’The relationship between the Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces and the local populace grows stronger every day,’ said Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, 48th BCT commander as reported by United States Central Command Headquarters, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Rodeheaver was referring to those residents of Radwiniyah tipping off the Task Force Baghdad Soldiers of a weapons cache. It was a significant find. Locals relayed important data to the authorities who then moved in.

The militia searched the locale, coming across a cache of arms that could have been used against New Iraq citizens desiring a democracy planting. The Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were joined by 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment and the 48th Brigade Combat Team in sealing off the area.

Then the search team moved out into a larger scope, coming upon two more caches of weaponry.

"’This find will significantly decrease the amount of rocket and mortar attacks against the community and Coalition Forces. I am extremely proud of our Soldiers,’" Rodeheaver reported to media. That’s an example of what’s going right in New Iraq.

Yet American mainstream media gives scant if any attention to progress in New Iraq. Instead, any negative situations are headlined. Once again, US citizens are left with filtering out prejudicial news reporting from the liberal newscasters while searching out the positive accomplishments taking place under the Bush administration.

All the while, US President George W. Bush maintains his mission of freedom spread, regardless of the lack of support from liberal press and the US Democratic Party. Unfortunately, there are even some turncoats within his Republican Party who side more with the political opposition than remain loyal to the Chief Executive.

Another example of New Iraq progress focuses on Polish troops. They have made available a new electric generator for school boys and girls in Sumer. This was part of the completion of Civil Military Cooperation projects extension.

Further, air conditioners were placed in school classrooms. In addition, Polish militia furnished the facility with a water pump and established a refrigerator for potable water. Faculty in particular informed the press that these improvements were most appreciated by all the community residents.

With the beginning of another school year, the Polish soldiers bonded with locals in this cordial manner, much to the pleasure of those in command.

Yet is any of this detail shared with the American public? Is Cindy Sheehan accenting this cooperation between Polish troops and Sumer’s local school authorities? Not.

Nevertheless, commendation is appropriate to those who continue to continue in building freedom’s security in New Iraq, despite the lack of help from some Americans who yet daily enjoy their own liberty base without immediate threats from Taliban or Muslim killers international.

Still more: soldiers who are a part of the Multi-National Division Southeast have custody of three terror suspects who were caught in Basrah recently. Operations to uncover enemy hideouts were in the areas of Jaameat and Tuninah.

The three were identified as particularly focusing on attacks against multinational coalition forces. The division seeing through the capture was a part of the Multi-National Force-Iraq investigation.

Further, South of Haditha, a vehicle carrying explosives and weaponry was raided by Coalition Air Forces as the latter uncovered further al-Qaida activity in a "terrorist complex." The Euphrates River Valley complex came under air strikes, being destroyed, by the Coalition Forces.

It was because of information provided by the local citizenry and intelligence forces that the complex was located successfully. All the more, local citizenry is determined to see through the establishment of a democracy in place of the former Saddam Hussein murder machine.

Though there is the remnant of Muslim killers seeking to cripple the freedom spread in New Iraq, liberty-hungry locals are more than ever cooperating with the multinational forces.

The complex was composed of 12 buildings. The area was raided by troops who discovered that some of the edifices were cover for weapons and explosives storage as well as manufacturing VBIEDs.

Two weapons caches with mortars and artillery shells, a number of RPG rounds, launchers, AK-47s and small arms and ammunition were uncovered, according to the official reports. Multi-national forces also came upon three VBIEDs primed for use and a couple of vehicles "rigged as VBIEDs but awaiting explosives.

"After a search of the complex, Coalition air assets delivered precision guided munitions that destroyed three buildings and five vehicles. During the strikes, multiple large secondary explosions were observed as the VBIEDs and weapons caches were destroyed."

Is any of this going to be reported on the evening news? Probably not. Will any of this success be highlighted by Nancy Pelosi or Ted Kennedy? Probably not. Will Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) thank the President for such progress in the New Iraq? It’s doubted that they will go that length.

Nevertheless, the President of the United States joins with the President of Iraq to continue to state that a democracy will be set in place in New Iraq, despite the lack of help from liberals worldwide and Muslim murderers within the country.

It is patience in time that wins the victory finally. It is that final win that the mature wait for, believing that the people of Iraq deserve it.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

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Sunday, September 18, 2005

GOD IN HURRICANES’ INCREASE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Hurricanes are getting worse, according to the Red Herring site http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13606&hed=Hurricanes+Getting+Worse#

Jesus predicted that in the End Times prior to His Second Return, "pestilence" would increase along with the increase of sin. Detail can be read especially in the Gospel records of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

In other words, God speaks through His own natural world. He did so in Noah’s day with the floodwaters. He did so in Lot’s day with fire and brimstone falling upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He did so in Moses’ day with seawaters overcoming the Egyptian armies. More examples could be given.

The world belongs to God. "In the beginning God created. . ." The world will answer to God. God is Alpha and Omega, the start and the finish. An ultimate accountability is due Creator God and it will in fact take place, taking place as well all along time’s journey.

Research reveals that "that the strongest hurricanes are occurring nearly twice as frequently since the seventies. Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, have found that the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes worldwide has almost doubled in the last 35 years. . ."

DrudgeReport headlines that another hurricane is spinning in the Gulf on Sunday, September 18 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT18/refresh/AL1805W5+gif/025617W_sm.gif

Also, the Hurricane Center reports warnings for the Keys http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT3+shtml/181440.shtml

It elaborates with "...DEPRESSION ORGANIZING AS IT NEARS THE BAHAMAS... ...HURRICANE WATCH ISSUED FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS... AT 11 AM EDT...1500Z...A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUED FOR ALL OF THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM OCEAN REEF SOUTHWARD AND WESTWARD TO DRY TORTUGAS..."

Red Herring site reports: "’What we found was rather astonishing. In the 1970s, there was an average of about 10 Category 4 and 5 hurricanes per year globally. Since 1990, the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled, averaging 18 per year globally,’" according to Peter Webster, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Yet so many dead in what we refer to as "natural disasters." So many grieving. So many distraught.

Where is God? Where is the good God?

Good God created all things sound and pure. Then He placed our first parents in paradise — the Garden of Eden. There, however, was a stipulation. They dared not touch a particular tree. That obviously was to test the mortals-with-free-will obedience quotient.

All other creatures on Earth were programmed by instinct. Only Adam and Eve were gifted with free will — the awesome power of choice. In that, at least, was their image of deity upon their very own natures — the power to think, to make decisions.

Yet, sadly, our first parents disobeyed God to follow the Lie. The Lie told them God really didn’t mean what He said. It was all a ruse. Good God would overlook their eating of the forbidden fruit. After all, He is good God.

However, good God is not only mercy but also justice — eternally so. If He were not, none of us would want to know Him let alone worship and obey Him.

In His mercy and justice, God dealt with Adam and Eve’s disobedience. In His mercy, He did not slay them. He permitted them life and forgiving grace — but a temporary span on Earth, not the eternity He had originally planned. In His justice, He disciplined them by casting them out of Eden. Further, Eve would give birth in pain. Adam would dig out a living by the sweat of his brow.

Earth fell when our first parents disobeyed God. In that, mortal’s body and soul fell, hence there being sickness followed by death as well as meanness, madness and murder, anger, animosity and anxiety.

Further, when Earth fell due to Adam and Eve falling for the Lie, the globe itself came upon its own calamities. They were not originally intended by good God. They were the result of mortals’ disobedience, hence floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and, yes, earthquakes.

Earth’s calamities should then remind us that mortals are indeed frail, fragile creatures in need of the Power above and beyond themselves. Mortals are temporary creatures of a spiritually fallen planet. Mortals are in need of a merciful, comforting God.

Therefore, when earthquakes and hurricanes take lives, spring forth wails of woe, and cover the planet with depression, they remind us of history’s beginnings. They remind us of the awful state the planet is in due to mortal going his and her own way apart from good God. They remind us to call out for mercy, for divine help, and for a hope that is beyond and above the earthquakes, winds and fire.

An earthquake is not God’s fault. A hurricane is not God’s fault. It is mortals’ fault — from the start, that is. Adam and Eve’s lineage have had to deal with their disobedience ever since they went for the Lie. That should surely underline for all thinking mortals how truly crucial it is to obey an Almighty God, falling at His feet for mercy and grace, beseeching Him to redeem Earth’s tragedies into a meaning that only eternity can fully explain.

The hope? The hope in a spiritually fallen world is still the good God. There really is no other alternative other than despair and finally spiritual and / or physical suicide. Hope comes from reaching out in faith to good God, calling upon His everlasting arms, and finding Him there — no matter the tragedy, the loss, and the perplexity.

In that, good God has the last word for those in faith. In that, good God then is their Almighty One placing His period at their last sentence.

God Himself acted out before us how to deal with this spiritually fallen planet. He came to earth in Jesus. He taught and loved and healed. Then the jealous enemy spiked Him to the cross. Murder. Injustice. Madness. Meanness. Cruelty.

Yet from that zenith of calamities came His resurrection. And from those lips — now alive and loving — come the words: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall not die. Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone will open, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me."

Till the close of Earth’s history, tragedies will continue to spill themselves over the face of the planet — since Adam and Eve first fell for the Lie. But out of every tragedy, faith can lift the arm of hope toward good God. In doing so, victory is assured through the tears. Eternity will prove it to be true.

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IRAQI FORCES UP PRECISION VS KILLERS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

US President George W. Bush has continually stated that the international forces will leave New Iraq when Iraqi security forces along with Iraqi militia are prepared to protect their new democracy. To leave prematurely would collapse the Operation Iraqi Freedom mission and so put all democracies worldwide at risk before Muslim murderers global.

Though various European national leaders as well as the US Democratic Party spokespersons have basically called for stalling every progressive intent of the Bush administration regarding New Iraq, the President has kept on course.

Even with a few Republicans stalling various Bush administration procedures, thereby aligning themselves with the Democratic sludge, the President has remained firm in his proposal of spreading freedoms wherever possible.

Time and again, the mainstream US press has been informed by the Bush team that it takes time and patience in establishing a democracy in a Muslim country shredded by Saddam Hussein’s years of persecution against his own people. Yet the liberal press refuses to face reality, instead proposes perfection yesterday while they themselves, along with the Democrats, cannot produce perfection within their own venues.

Each day the Iraqi personnel increase their precision in guarding their citizens against Muslim killers international. According to the American Forces Press Service, the latest success was Operation Flea Flicker. It was a program focusing on searching neighborhood houses and surrounding fields for Muslim murderers intent on disrupting the democracy planting.

The specific area was Zafaraniya, Iraq. The operation was seen through by the Iraqi Public Order Brigade, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, and 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Muslim killer enthusiasts carrying out their Koran-instigated slaughter of non-Muslims and interfering Muslims were "disrupted. . .in the area in preparation for the October 15 constitutional referendum," according to authorities.

Once the constitution is presented to the citizenry, New Iraq will all the more prove to the dissenters that the populace is determined to wipe the country clean of those who would return to a cloned Saddam Hussein murder machine.

The Iraqi Public Order Brigade was strategic in sweeping through the area, seeking out "illegal weapons, propaganda and other contraband."

In the process, weapons violations were reported as well as a man with a 60 mm. mortar round. Two Muslim extremists were detained as suspects in Ramadi. Further, two men were held "during a combined combat patrol. Iraqi forces came upon a homemade bomb, a couple of AK-47 assault rifles and a machine gun."

New Iraq officials continued to inform media that they are proceeding with detail in putting in place liberties for all Iraqi citizens, no matter the threats of Muslim murderers.

Copyright © 2005 by J. Grant Swank, Jr.

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SUNDAY = AFGHAN BALLOTS SLAY MUSLIM KILLERS INTERNATIONAL

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

It’s Sunday, September 18, 2005.

That’s the day that Army Brig. Gen. James O. Champion predicts will prove that the Afghans are "tired of this war" by killing off the Muslim murderers global by casting election ballots throughout the nation.

Twelve million citizens are projected to take advantage of their newly planted democracy. US President George W. Bush and team have stayed the course in Afghanistan, against a liberal press, the US Democratic Party and nay-sayers here and there who have tried every measure possible to thwart the freedom spread.

Nevertheless, the Afghans and international forces working together have got this far with progressive liberty implants throughout the country. It is a tribute to those who believe that human beings deserve freedoms practical and personal, President Bush leading the march forward.

Millions of registered Afghans are anticipating being a part of a new day as well as the trouncing of Islamic slaughterers who have delighted in laying low every mortal hoping for a better future. These voting citizens will cast their ballots for their nation’s general assembly elections, according to US military officers reporting to the Pentagon on recent progress.

General Champion, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, informed the press that he expects a "very successful" election day throughout Afghanistan. Instead of putting up with daily bloodletting from those who wake up to kill, the peace-adhering Afghans will pledge their support for a democracy ongoing.

President Bush has continually lauded those who have worked day and night in both New Iraq as well as Afghanistan to see through the overthrow of Muslim extremists, the latter believing that their Koran Allah demands every non-Muslim be laid low as well as every non-cooperating Muslim be killed as a coward. The Bush team has informed the media daily that they intend on keeping to the original agenda of implanting democratic ideals in a previously war-torn country.

It will be interesting to note how the US press covers the Afghan elections. Will the liberal media congratulate those forces that have seen through this advance or will the elections be muffled by negative conclusions reported characteristically by anchorpersons out to depose the Bush-endorsed successes?

"Afghans casting their votes at polling places across the country this weekend ‘will experience democracy at work the second time,’ the general noted. He was referring to Afghanistan's presidential election held late last year when the Afghan electorate chose Hamid Karzai as president."Champion said U.S. and coalition forces are providing a backup security role during the Sept. 18 election, noting that Afghanistan's Army and national police are charged with conducting security at 6,000 polling places."

Once again, patience in time has proven the mode by which to see to fruition amazing political and social advancements. The liberal media and US Democratic Party know very little of such a virtue. They are mired in endless criticism of America’s mission to spread freedoms wherever possible. Instead of cheering on the progress, they carp and complain, especially in seeking to tear apart anything set forth by the President Bush.

Yet apparently the patriotic US citizenry remains loyal in sharing their personal liberties with others, even at the cost of personal sacrifice. Therefore, the American dream is being transplanted elsewhere, this Sunday especially in Afghanistan with the local elections delighting those who once gave up hope of enduring nothing other than relentless bloodshed from Islamic zealots.

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NEW ORLEANS DISASTER REPEAT? COULD BE

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

There are those moralists who conclude that Katrina just didn’t happen. There was a divine hand in it.

New Orleans for decades has turned into a repeat of Sodom and Gomorrah. Homosexuals had planned another "Southern Decadent" celebration for Labor Day weekend 2005.

Moralists conclude that God in his mercy permitted the homosexuals to witness the hurricane devastation as a divine warning. If that is true, God was giving homosexuals another opportunity to repent of their wickedness and so return to the godly lifestyle laid out in the Bible. (See footnote).

The Bible states that God’s mercy is beyond our fathoming. However, there is a line that when crossed equals God’s wrath come upon a stubborn mortal bend. Many reason that Katrina was witness to that divine anger justified because mortals long persisted in defying His commands.

Consequently, with homosexuals and those supporting their activities celebrating even now in New Orleans, it could forecast a repeat of Katrina. So it is with other geographies that have come under the divine hand moving against persistent disregard for God’s expectations.

The Bible is replete with historical evidence of God’s mercy at work in pleading for mankind to live out His stipulations. However, when mortals knowingly continue in their evil lifestyles, God’s patience runs out and his wrath descends upon the wicked. Sadly, even in such times, the innocent suffer along with the wicked. Such is the situation here in this spiritually damaged world.

Jesus said, "The rain falls on the just and the unjust."

There are numerous instances in which the innocent suffer because of the purposefully wicked. An example is the child in a home overseen by an abusive adult. The child is the innocent one caught in the abrasive web of daily mistreatment from a selfish, sinful adult. That example can be extrapolated ad infinitum.

The hope for the innocent who intend on living for God while being mistreated by the wicked is that God will eventually lift that innocent believer into His divine grace for eternity’s rescue. Moreover, there are many who have suffered at the hands of the evil ones, the former having learned valuable lessons in compassion for others suffering from like circumstances.

The prime example of history’s suffering leveled against the innocent is the life of Jesus. He knew no wrong. He lived love in holiness. Nevertheless, the wicked saw through murdering Him in a most disgraceful display. Naked, He was spiked into the wood. The Father concluded the injustice from mortals by lifting the Son into resurrection glory.

Even as officials and humanitarians are planning for the rebuilding of New Orleans, homosexuals are parading through the streets, Bourbon Street in particular. "Southern Decadence" has been put back on the calendar for New Orleans location.

Homosexuals have informed media that it’s New Orleans and that equates with homosexuals displaying nudity and sexual activity in public, according to the Associated Press. The French Quarter would once again will be revived for evil frolic. According to the homosexual news site 365gay.com (it’s present banner reading "HELLBENT HERE"), homosexuals have planned on taking over the metropolis.

Just as Noah’s generation persisted in sin while being warned that God’s patience would one day run out for destruction to come upon the disobedient, so Jesus predicated that in the Last Days of the Church Age it would be like unto Noah’s generation. We are witnessing Jesus’ prophesies coming true, not only in New Orleans but other geographies of willful allegiance to satanic practices.

Time