HERE IS A FUNNY ONE!
What goes around comes around. At least, it should. See here.
H/T to Fishersville Mike.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF BLOGGING
There are various approaches to pamphleteering on the Internet. Most of us are familiar with how bloggers spread their views. A different approach, however, is by its nature more obscure. That is the commenter who posts the same long and detailed comment everywhere he can.
The first time I saw such a comment I was sort of flattered and amazed. Who would do so much work just to refute me? Fortunately, my curiosity worked against such an ego trip. Taking advantage of the wonders of Google I did a search. Sure enough, I had no particular reason to feel so flattered. 
The last such pamphleteering comment on my little website came from Doug Indeap (see here) on this post, AN EXCUSE TO BE OFFENDED . Here is a list of some of the places Indeap has posted variations of or a portion of the same comment.
- Back to the Constitution provides a concise explanation of the origin of the the phrase: Separation Of Church And State
- Video: The Truth About “Separation of Church and State” provides a teenager’s point of view.
- In his version of the Separation of Church and State, Mr. Garner Goes To Washington very carefully explains what is wrong with the oft used phrase, “separation of church and state.”
- The Emerging Scholars Blog, on the other hand, asks an interesting — and the crucial — question: Is God Relevant in the Public Square?
While Doug Indeap’s comment is carefully reasoned, it is not well reasoned. What follows is an explanation of why I hold that opinion.
For starters, please take the time to read Is God Relevant in the Public Square? I think you will find this post well worth the effort. Is God Relevant in the Public Square? considers the alternative options we have for dealing with the subject of faith in the public square. With Option #3, Is God Relevant in the Public Square? offers our nation’s traditional solution.
This third option is the one for which Guinness argues. In such a public square, all faiths (and non-faiths) are welcome. In such a public square, persuasion is used, not coercion.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this third option is what Doug Indeap advocates. If you look at the video I posted on AN EXCUSE TO BE OFFENDED , it is about a 75 year old cross. Presumably Indeap viewed the video. The cross he thinks violates his religious freedom is about as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get in the lower 48 states. Nonetheless, Indeap still (albeit politely) takes exception to this so-called promotion of religion by government — even though veterans paid for this 75 year old cross.
Indeap either too much fears or reviles any evidence of God in the public square. Perhaps Indeap confuses secular government with the secularization of the public square. There is a clear difference.
Because we are self-aware, we are inherently religious creatures. Because we think, we wonder why. How did we come to be? Although our search is too often aimless, many of us live much of our lives in a quest to know the answer. We debate, we argue, and sometimes we fight over our differing conclusions.
What history has too often demonstrated is that a politically powerful faction will often try to use government to enforce its religious views upon everyone else. In spite of the 1st Amendment, the United States is no exception. In our era, many, particularly many of our elites, have no use for religion. Thus the citizenry must be vigilant against secularism. To ensure each of us can practice our own particular religious beliefs (both in private and in public), we must stand up for each other’s right to practice religion. As a People we must ensure our government leaders do not abuse their powers to either stifle one religion or to promote another.
Forced secularization of the public square is the stifling of religious belief. Look at Arlington Cemetery. Would you have the Christian crosses and the Jewish stars expunged from the tombstones? Would you have the crosses removed? Would you deface the image of Christ? Look at what the secularists demand. The majority religion of the United States is Christianity; that the secularists would have us forget. Christian belief is integral to our history, but the secularists say no way. Christianity is at the foundation of both our culture and our method of government, but the secularists insist it never was.
Without Christianity, could the United States exist as we know it? If you were educated only in the public schools, you may think the answer is yes. However, without Christianity, we would not have religious freedom in the United States. Look at at the Declaration of Independence. God is where it all began.
To secularize the public square is to insist we deny and ignore the truth of our nation’s origins. Secularization creates an unsupportable fantasy. What was the Founder’s objective? Did they create a secular government to protect or to deny the practice of religious belief?
We cannot give into the secularization of the public square. If we continue giving ground, not just our government, but we too, including our families and our children, must become more and more secularized. Yet when he argues for the secularization of the public square, that is what Indeap risks advocating.
PHILOSOPHICAL CONFUSION OVER ENDS AND MEANS
Since we have an election coming up in November, I thought it would a good time to quote one of the first “modern” political pundits.
Every one admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to keep faith, and to live with integrity and not with craft. Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft, and in the end have overcome those who have relied on their word. You must know there are two ways of contesting,(*) the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man. – The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli
Satan makes the most hideous beliefs palatable and seemingly reasonable. So it is that Machiavelli could give rulers scholarly advice in The Prince. Therein Machiavelli carefully explained how the end justifies the means. One can only guess how many rulers say they do not believe Machiavelli and lie. All we know for certain is that far too many take advice such as Machiavelli would offer into their heart and soul.
Do we the People want leaders who lie to us? Do we want leaders willing to use any means to achieve their ends? Those are questions each of us must decide for ourselves.
How can we tell when our leaders lie to us? When our leaders ask us to believe the end justifies the means, we know our leaders tell us an untruth. Nonetheless, it is not necessarily easy to tell when we are being ask to believe the end justifies the means. Here, for example, we have a rabbi explaining how to solve the problem.
Bernard Berkeley from Glenview, IL:
Dear Rabbi,
Machievelli believed, “The end justifies the means.” What does the Torah offer as a counter-argument?
Dear Bernard Berkeley,
In life, nothing is as simple as a mere five word statement. Let us analyze the statement. Supposing you could save the life of an innocent child (”the end”) and you could do it by lying (”the means”) about his whereabouts to the murderer. In such a case Judaism would definitely say that the end justifies the means. However, supposing I could convince someone of the truth of the Torah (”the end”) by lying (”the means”) about what Torah is, then the Torah would say that it is not justified. Because here the means are a direct contradiction to the end, which is truth. We believe that one should examine each case separately, and indeed Judaism has legal guidelines to teach us how to act in cases of end versus means.
We fall into the trap of choosing inappropriate means when we have a selfish motive. We are commanded to love others as we love ourselves. Unfortunately, we are more often concerned about our own feelings. So we can choose unwisely. Instead of choosing for the good of all, we each tend to vote for the men and women we believe will further our own selfish interests.
According to the Bible, when the Jews allowed evil men to lead them, the Lord turned his face from them. Then the Israelites saw for themselves the ineptitude and foolishness that comes from selfishness. The prophet, Isaiah, provided his own observations in chapter 3 of the Book of Isaiah. This chapter begins as follows:
Isaiah 3:1-4 (King James Version)
For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.
The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Below I have listed the offices and the major party candidates we will have the opportunity to consider in Gainesville, Virginia, this coming November.
Governor
- Creigh Deeds (D)
- Bob McDonnell (R)
Lieutenant Governor
- Jody Wagner (D)
- Bill Bolling (R)
Attorney General
- Stephen Shannon (D)
- Ken Cuccinelli (R)
House of Delegates, 13th District
- John Bell (D)
- Bob Marshall (R)
In posts to come, we will look at each of these candidate’s platforms. Then we will ask the following question:
Is the candidate asking us to believe the end justifies the means?
The Prince Author: Nicolo Machiavelli
BATTLING THE MONEYBAGS
First a little excerpt from Bearing Drift.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds’s campaign announed today that he has raised $3. million from May 28th through June 30th.
(continued here)
Now I don’t have anything against money in politics — so long as I know where it is coming from. Unfortunately, when given a choice, the Democrats like to keep such things shady and secret (see here).
So what can we do? We have to oppose money power with people power. What follows are suggestions from the July 14th edition of the Lingamfelter Report.
Take Action to Produce Victory in November
Dear Friends,
Well, I have taken a week off for the first time in a long time and I must say, I have had to teach myself how to relax! That said, there is never a break from politics.
And I note Republican fortunes are rising on the news that, according to the Gallup folks, more people consider themselves conservatives than at any time since 2004. I’m not surprised given the sudden lurch to the left that the Obama Administration has taken. Slowly, even those who were his most ardent supporters are now having second thoughts.
- The Government now owns 60% of GM,
- A huge stimulus bill that is not reducing joblessness but mortgaging the future of our kids and grandkids,
- The highest unemployment numbers in 26 years now approaching 10% and will be higher this fall,
- A “Cap and Tax” energy bill that will do nothing to abate so-called global warming (have you noticed how cool it is this month) but designed simply to raise money for other stuff like national healthcare,
- Indeed, an national healthcare program that will put the government between you and your doctor and ration what care you will get as you get older,
- The nomination of a Supreme Court Justice who has her own rulings favoring reverse discrimination overturned by the same court that Democrats want her to sit on, and
- A foreign policy on auto-pilot (North Korea and Iran) while the President hobnobs with the Russians and works to throw away National Missile Defense overboard for silly rhetoric on “climate change.”
Yep, it’s incredible. But take heart. All the polls are pointing to a rejection of the Administration’s liberal agenda and their liberal lieutenants in Congress. In Ohio and Virginia, two states Obama won last year, his popularity has dipped below 50%.
Some say that Republicans want Obama to fail. Wrong. What I want is his far left policies to fail. And as best I can tell, people are beginning to see it that way too.What can you do? Well first, get behind the Republican ticket right here in Virginia of Bob McDonnell for Governor, Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor, and Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General, as well as your local Republican House of Delegates candidate.
Second, contact your local GOP Committee and become a volunteer to help make calls, go door to door, and work the polls in November. You can Google them up or go to rpv.org and find the right contact.
Third, contribute money. You can help my PAC help other Republicans by making a safe and secure contribution on my PayPal cite at http://www.va31st.com/donations.asp today. I know who needs the help and will help them win.
We can win big in Virginia this November. But we can’t “wish ourselves there”, we must take action. Please do so today. All eyes are on Virginia. Show them who you are.
Sincerely,
L. Scott Lingamfelter
Delegate, 31st District
Virginia House of Delegates
In Prince William County, our local GOP Committee is the Prince William County Republican Committee. They will happily take your money, but they will be even more pleased to have you as a volunteer.
In Gainesville, VA, we are fortunate to have Delegate Bob Marshall represent us in the House of Delegates. If you only have time, money, or the heart to support one campaign, please make certain your choice is Bob Marshall.
Unauthorized and paid for by nobody. 
MARSHALL REQUESTS CHANGE IN FEDERAL LAW TO KEEP VIRGINIA REST STOPS OPEN
I just received an email from Delegate Bob Marshall. Before you read it, you may need a little background. What is is the problem? Because the Virginia Commonwealth and the United States government cannot properly manage our money, they want to mothball 18 rest stops. This post here at SWAC Girl provides the details.
Manassas, VA- Delegate Robert G. “Bob” Marshall (R-13th District) today sent a letter (Click Here to View Letter) to Congressman Frank Wolf and Senator Mark Warner requesting that they introduce an amendment to the Transportation Appropriations Bill to suspend the federal law for one year which prohibits Virginia and other states from contracting with private restaurants or gas stations to operate at state owned rest stops on Interstates. This would give Virginia a way to get the large number of rest stops which will close on July 21, 2009 reopened as quickly as possible.Marshall believes that the $8.6 million needed to keep these rest stops open could have been found in Virginia’s $78 billion two-year budget. However, since Governor Tim Kaine decided to cut this service from Virginia’s budget, Marshall is trying to find an alternative way to keep the rest stops open. These services are the public face of the government of Virginia that citizens and visitors see and feel in their daily lives,” said Marshall. “Public safety and practical necessity require that these Virginia Interstate rest stops and welcome centers stay open. I think that allowing these public/private partnerships would be a great way to get these rest stops reopened as soon as possible.”
Marshall noted in his letter to Wolf that the closing of these facilities will negativly affect Virginia’s economy in several ways including negative impacts to tourism and the loss of jobs associated with the rest stops. “In this economy that is unacceptable,” said Marshall. He also mentioned the negative safety impacts as a result of these closures. “In many areas of Virginia these rest stops are the only place for a drowsy driver to safely stop and rest. We need to get these stops reopened.”
Contact Delegate Marshall at (703) 853-4213.
What amazes me is that Marshall only suggests a one year suspension. Where do the leaders of our Federal Government get the gall to tell Virginians how to run rest areas? Why do they think we need such help? Patrick Henry must be rolling in his grave.
How did we get into this mess? Why is our country slowly falling apart? I think the answer is that we have been letting power hungry politicians turn our country into a “socialist paradise.” When you think “socialist paradise,” keep in mind the people who think a “socialist paradise” is a paradise. At first it is the people who don’t pay taxes (or are too dumb to realize how much they do pay in taxes). These fools love the idea of making the “rich” pay taxes, but they have not got the brains or the diligence to make any such thing happen. Instead, it is the upper middle class (which they want to join) they see made poorer. Latter, when their “paradise” has come to full fruition, only the man in charge still thinks it a “paradise.” Because the government owns everything, and he is the government, everything he surveys he owns, including you and me.
Other Views
Tertium Quids is providing excellent coverage here.
Fisherville Mike has memories (here).
The Richmond Times Dispatch provides the customary official corporate news media view (here). It’s a crisis, of course. What is wrong with calling this stupid move stupid?
