On Cecil the Lion and the Resulting Outrage

Recently, my social media feeds have exploded with people expressing outrage and deep sadness over the killing of Cecil the lion. You might be led to think that they were best friends with this beast, although none of these people have ever met or scene Cecil in person, as he lived on the other side of the planet.  But they have seen pictures and videos of him and I can tell you that they appear to have been very deeply impacted by the story of his demise. Petitions! Blog posts! Status Updates! Exclamation Points!!!!

Meanwhile, in our own little corner of the planet, we are completely passive about the premeditated slaughter of millions of innocent humans. We have pictures and videos of these little babies in the womb, yet do not raise our voices to protect them. To speak critically of the immoral practice of abortion is not the current trending topic on the web, and has not been for quite some time. I wonder where the outrage is over the 1 human life that is purposefully ended in utero every 30 seconds in America. Every day that passes on the calendar is another 2,899 people that will never breathe their first breath in the Land of the Free. Over 1 million babies a year are killed and yet it is an acceptable practice. (abortion clock)

If we lined up 120 lions and killed them all in 1 bloody hour, you can be sure that the entire world would demand justice. And yet, we do something far worse every hour here in the United States. 21 percent of ALL pregnancies in our country are terminated by an abortion. 1 in 5. Over 58 million Americans have been murdered in this fashion since 1973. That’s an immediate population loss of over 18%, which does not include possible future generations.  Dwell on that. These aren’t just numbers  - they are little lives that are being purposefully extinguished.

As a father of three children, I truly cannot understand how anyone who has ever stared at a live monitor feed of an ultrasound can defend this practice. How do you deny that the heartbeat that can be measured and seen at 8 weeks post conception is human? I cannot.

I have seen people express anger and outrage over the fact that this animal was hunted just for sport. I understand the emotion and do not disagree with the anger over luring a protected animal to its death. I’m all for obeying the laws that exist and protecting the creatures that have been designated as requiring that protection.

To all the people outraged in general over the hunting/raising of any animal, specifically for food: If you commit wholeheartedly to this thought and stop eating all poultry, pork, red meat, fish and their eggs then I will acknowledge that the outrage you have expressed has prompted life-altering action. To do any less would be picking and choosing what animals are more valuable than others and that doesn’t seem like a valid option to me.

To all the Christians who are outraged by the death of a lion you’ve never met, in a place you’ve never been: Please take that passion and purpose and pour it into defending the lives of the babies who are dying as a result of “choice”. Be willing to take a bold stand in the social arenas for those who do not have the ability to scream for themselves.

To all the Christians who support abortion: Please study the Bible and attempt to reconcile your stance on abortion with what God says about a person’s worth, their creation, Him physically knitting them together and, knowing them in the womb, etc. I don’t understand how the two can be reconciled. I welcome your emails and private messages to begin a 1 on 1 dialogue.

Dead lions don’t have souls and Christ didn’t come to die for them.

Let’s be more outraged about the death of millions of people in our country than that of a lion in a far off land.

Conception to Birth Visualized

This new research out of Yale University is absolutely incredible.
The complexity of the human body is absolutely breathtaking.
The developmental/growth process of it is unfathomable.

"...so perfectly organized a structure, it was hard not to attribute Divinity to it..."

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)

(HT: Justin Taylor)

A Bill to Defund Abortions at Planned Parenthood

You can read the bill here: H.R.217

An Emotional Hell

"I was shocked the other day to read at the current rate, one in three American women will have at least one abortion by the time they reach age 45. Interestingly, 78% of these women report having a religious affiliation.

Anyway you spin the stats here’s the reality, our churches are full of women who are carrying a tremendous amount of guilt regarding an abortion they’ve had."

(HT: Pete Wilson)

Healthcare Hullabaloo

Last night I watched the closing arguments for and against the Healtchare Reform bill in the Senate and wanted to capture a few of my thoughts.

The State of the Union 2010 - My Thoughts

I am getting ready to read through and listen to the State of the Union address that the President gave last night (video). Below are my thoughts as the speech unfolds. Any quotes have been taken directly from the official White House transcript.

One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted -– immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.

It would seem to me that there was no effort made to reduce the government debt during the past year. In fact, quite the contrary seems self-evident. The worst of that storm is yet to come and will be felt most keenly by our children and their children.

Abortion: China and America

Lisa and I were talking last night about abortion, which was generated by watching this video, which has made the rounds of the internet over the past few days:

I had watched the original sermon segment back in January and found John Piper’s plea to be moving, genuine and compelling.

As Lisa and I talked about the issue of abortion, I referenced an issue I had read about regarding selective abortion practices in China. In early April, the Chinese government acknowledged in the British Medical Journal that most couples in China were selectively aborting female babies in order to attempt to have a male child in the future. As a result, China is facing a generational shortage of females going forward. In fact, it appears that the gender gap in China is intensifying over the past several years and shows no sign of abating. The ramifications of this dramatic increase in the male population in the future are far-reaching and have raised some serious concerns for the Chinese government.

It appears that this issue is a direct result of policy changes the Chinese government made in the mid 1980s, which placed limits on the number of children, the citizens could have. With the arrival of affordable technology and a great amount of governmental funding, the residents of China were given readily available access to not only test for the sex of their unborn baby but to have the abortion procedure performed as well at local clinics when the sex of the child was determined to be female.

And so, within the span of twenty years, the nation of China has implemented governmental policy restricting their citizens rights, the government of China has provided the means to abort the unwanted children and now the government of China is facing an unprecedented social, demographic and economic barrier in the coming years.

How is the Chinese government going to deal with this upcoming issue?
There hasn’t been a direction determined yet, but they have stated that “some imaginative and extreme solutions have been suggested”. What does that mean? How do you interpret “extreme” when the government that is talking has already promoted and provided the means to kill literally millions of Chinese girls every year for the past decade?

Some might say "Well that is over in China and they are a little bit crazy and their government is oppressive, but that could never happen here in the United States of America. We know what we are doing and we are levelheaded and science-driven. We have freedom and liberty to choose to act in ways that our government cannot demand of us".

In America, we hear people screaming about women’s rights and the freedom to choose what to do with their own bodies. I’m wondering what happened to the rights of the approximately 500,000 American girls that are aborted every year and thus denied their right to choose anything...

China is leading the way in policy-driven and government-funded family structure. Abraham Lincoln spoke of the united States Government as being “of the people, by the people and for the people”. Oh, how we have strayed far from that noble thought. The American government has determined that the people who need protection the most are the people it finances the killing of and, as a result, promotes the ongoing slaughter of future generations of Americans.

We are a weaker nation as a result of the ongoing horrific practice of abortion and it doesn’t take many years before you find that your country is reaping the seeds that have been sown. In this case, we are killing the seeds before they are sown and robbing our nation and the world of millions of beautiful children who could one day change the world.

The future of a nation that promotes abortion so heavily is not bright.
Just ask China.

My Prayer For Mothers

I read a post from Justin Taylor's blog this morning and wanted to share a few portions of it here.

Hypothetically, what if the choice in an election comes down to two candidates--one who supports abortion policies, and the other who supports an unjust war? Whom would--whom should--you choose? ...

I don't like the label "single-issue voter" and don't use it to describe my position. I'm not sure there's a better term--but the fact remains that there are many issues that are of concern to me. By using the term "single issue," I think we suggest that an issue like abortion is the only issue of serious consequence in this election. Some may believe that, but I don't.Nevertheless, the fact remains that abortion is the great moral outrage of our day--and no one, for example, in the mainstream media (or in many churches) makes a peep about the daily slaughter of the weakest members of the human race.

He embedded the following video about abortion in his blog, but I do not want to do that here. The images in the video reduced me to tears and I do not wish to unwillingly inflict that upon anyone. The message of the words at the beginning is incredibly strong (everything up to 1:17) and if you don't want to see the disturbing images then stop there and you will not have seen anything. If you watch the video in its entirety, you will be exposed to very graphic images of abortion. I post the following link because I feel the message it contains is important and powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLaai6o0O0A

As a man awaiting his first child, this video shook me to my core. It reinforced all of my thoughts regarding abortion and put a very vivid image of what abortion does to the little human lives that are ended violently. From the beginning of our pregnancy, I have set little goals along the way - milestones of achievement and accomplishment that had absolutely nothing to do with me and everything to do with God doing His amazing work and Lisa and the baby remaining healthy.

My first goal was to get out of the first trimester without any complications. This is when a large portion of miscarriages happen. My second goal was to make it to 20 weeks, when I would be able to see my child again (for the last time until birth) in an ultrasound. My third goal was 24 weeks because I knew from Lisa's work experience that it is possible for a child to survive outside the womb at that point. My fourth goal was to make it to 37 weeks, where the baby is considered fully formed and can survive outside the womb without any assistance whatsoever from an oxygen machine. Now that we have hit all those goals without any issues or complications, I look back and praise God for what He has done for us throughout this pregnancy.

Sitting here waiting for the arrival of my first child, I am moved to prayer for those who have aborted their first child. The devil has tricked millions of people into thinking that this was their right and their choice to make when in reality it was God who had determined that this baby would come into existence. Just because it is aborted prior to the action of giving birth does not cease to make this child a person and more importantly a creation of God. While the act of abortion might stop the process of creation that God is involved in, it doesn't stop God's involvement in that mother's life. I believe that the reason that women have such a terrible time "getting over" having their baby aborted is because the Holy Spirit is letting them know that they interfered with an act of God. It's not that God is suprised by the act or caught off guard, but I believe that it grieves Him and He lets the mother know it.

In the aftermath of an abortion, God can open the mother's eyes to recognize what she has done and still show her that He is more than willing to forgive her of that sin in a way that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. This makes me wonder why I don't pray for others more often. I pray for myself, my wife, our child, our family and our friends, but I do not spend much time at all praying for those around me who are suffering due to their sinful state and the actions they have taken.

Today, I am praying for all the mothers of the world - those who have carried their babies full term and those who have stopped God's knitting process along the way. The need for a Savior is found in both cases and is a very pressing need.

"Why I Can't Vote For Obama" by Huntley Brown

A friend of mine passed this along to me. It's a note from a friend of his named Huntley Brown who is an incredibly talented pianist and God-fearing Christian. I felt like sharing it here.

Why I Can't Vote For Obama By Huntley Brown
Dear Friends,
A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it's worth repeating... First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader. I can't vote black because I am black, I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior. In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning wrong, to name a few, economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007. (NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)) To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason planned parenthood gives him a 100 % rating.There is a reason the homosexual community supports him.There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion.There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue. Lets take a look at the practice he wanted to continue.

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedure
A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed. God help him.

There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law. Think about this: you can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years. Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now? Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you, talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a
1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that? Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside. This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world. A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if its a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book "A Black Theology of Liberation". Cone once wrote: 'Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment. Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king.First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 'Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.' Then God says 1 Samuel 1:18 ' When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.' 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.' 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.'

Here is what we know for sure. God is not schizophrenic. He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God. Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say "Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four supreme court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you.. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy."

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends. Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation:

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.
2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings,
Huntley Brown

Abortion & Black Genocide

(HT: Zach Nelson)

Vice Presidential Debate: My Notes

Since I didn't get a chance to watch it last night, I took the time today to watch and read the debate in its entirety to see if I missed anything and to be capable of having my own opinion about the event versus merely repeating what others that I normally agree with have said about it. Below are my notes I took while watching/listening/reading the debate, capturing what I thought to be the more important or poignant moments of the discourse. The page number coreesponds to the exact location of the text in the official debate transcript, which incidentally has a few errors in it.

Palin (p5) - “We need to make sure that we demand from the federal government strict oversight of those entities in charge of our investments and our savings and we need also to not get ourselves in debt. Let's do what our parents told us before we probably even got that first credit card. Don't live outside of our means. We need to make sure that as individuals we're taking personal responsibility through all of this. It's not the American peoples fault that the economy is hurting like it is, but we have an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons through this and say never again will we be taken advantage of.”

Dave Ramsey would be proud of this statement and I believe it to be true.

Palin (p6) – “We do need the private sector to be able to keep more of what we earn and produce. Government is going to have to learn to be more efficient and live with less if that's what it takes to reign in the government growth that we've seen today. But we do need tax relief”

I am a huge fan of the idea of reducing the size and scope of the federal government.
I wish she would have answered or responded directly to the deregulation question/issue.

Biden (p7) – “Well Gwen, where I come from, it's called fairness, just simple fairness. The middle class is struggling. The middle class under John McCain's tax proposal, 100 million families, middle class families, households to be precise, they got not a single change, they got not a single break in taxes. No one making less than $250,000 under Barack Obama's plan will see one single penny of their tax raised whether it's their capital gains tax, their income tax, investment tax, any tax. And 95 percent of the people in the United States of America making less than $150,000 will get a tax break.
Now, that seems to me to be simple fairness. The economic engine of America is middle class. It's the people listening to this broadcast. When you do well, America does well. Even the wealthy do well. This is not punitive. John wants to add $300 million, billion in new tax cuts per year for corporate America and the very wealthy while giving virtually nothing to the middle class. We have a different value set. The middle class is the economic engine. It's fair. They deserve the tax breaks, not the super wealthy who are doing pretty well. They don't need any more tax breaks. And by the way, they'll pay no more than they did under Ronald Reagan.”

Sounds like fairness only extends to the middle class.

Palin (p8) – “Now you said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that's not patriotic. Patriotic is saying, government, you know, you're not always the solution. In fact, too often you're the problem so, government, lessen the tax burden and on our families and get out of the way and let the private sector and our families grow and thrive and prosper.”

When I heard this and reread it I just about shouted "Amen!"

Biden (p8-9) – “Now, with regard to the -- to the health care plan, you know, it's with one hand you giveth, the other you take it. You know how Barack Obama -- excuse me, do you know how John McCain pays for his $5,000 tax credit you're going to get, a family will get? He taxes as income every one of you out there, every one of you listening who has a health care plan through your employer. That's how he raises $3.6 trillion, on your -- taxing your health care benefit to give you a $5,000 plan, which his Web site points out will go straight to the insurance company.
And then you're going to have to replace a $12,000 -- that's the average cost of the plan you get through your employer -- it costs $12,000. You're going to have to pay -- replace a $12,000 plan, because 20 million of you are going to be dropped. Twenty million of you will be dropped.”

Wasn't Biden talking of giving to the middle class and taking from the rich earlier and calling it fair?

Palin (p10) – “I want to go back to the energy plan, though, because this is -- this is an important one that Barack Obama, he voted for in '05. Senator Biden, you would remember that, in that energy plan that Obama voted for, that's what gave those oil companies those big tax breaks. Your running mate voted for that…
So it was Barack Obama who voted for that energy plan that gave those tax breaks to the oil companies that I then had to turn around, as a governor of an energy-producing state, and kind of undo in my own area of expertise, and that's energy.”

I liked how she states what she had to do to overturn at the state level what Obama and others voted for in the past at the federal level. It's kind of a "I'll see your energy package and raise you a *zing!*." I'm a big fan of states rights.

Biden (p11) – “And, look, I agree with the governor. She imposed a windfall profits tax up there in Alaska. That's what Barack Obama and I want to do…
So I hope the governor is able to convince John McCain to support our windfall profits tax, which she supported in Alaska, and I give her credit for it.”

This was a classy move by Biden. It might have been brought on by the fact that he couldn't respond to her previous statement directly, but this was a great way of dodging any further discourse on that topic.

Biden (p13) – “Number two, with regard to bankruptcy now, Gwen, what we should be doing now -- and Barack Obama and I support it -- we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal that you owe.”

If this happens then I would like to see my principal also re-adjusted by the same percentage that these free-spending, immediate graitification seekers receive. Anything less than that wouldn't be fair, right Joe?

Palin (p13) – “I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet.”

This statement gives me reason to hope that Palin has actually read up on the topic and understands that the drivel being forced down our throats by Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore and the media is not necessarily the absolute truth.

Biden (p14) – “If you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution. We know what the cause is. The cause is manmade. That's the cause. That's why the polar icecap is melting. Now, let's look at the facts. We have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We consume 25 percent of the oil in the world. John McCain has voted 20 times in the last decade-and-a-half against funding alternative energy sources, clean energy sources, wind, solar, biofuels.”

I like the idea of alternative energy, but I disagree with Biden's drinking of the global warming koolaid. Notice how it is now inconvenient to talk about global warming these days and how everything is about "climate change"?

Biden (p14) – “Drill we must, but it will take 10 years for one drop of oil to come out of any of the wells that are going to begun to be drilled.”

Only if the government stands in the way. New refineries and transportation infrastructure can be built in much less time and once oil is struck all you need is the refinery capability to process it. Again, the government has to get out of the way.

Palin (p15) – “Barack Obama and Senator Biden, you've said no to everything in trying to find a domestic solution to the energy crisis that we're in. You even called drilling -- safe, environmentally-friendly drilling offshore as raping the outer continental shelf.”

And yet, clean coal is the answer suddenly. Why is the idea of drilling a hole in the ground worse than digging a huge pit in the ground that can never be filled effectively? Can someone explain this to me?

Palin (p16) – “Well, not if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. And unfortunately that's sometimes where those steps lead. But I also want to clarify, if there's any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends and even within that group you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue, some very dear friends who don't agree with me on this issue…
But I will tell Americans straight up that I don't support defining marriage as anything but between one man and one woman, and I think through nuances we can go round and round about what that actually means. But I'm being as straight up with Americans as I can in my nonsupport for anything but a traditional definition of marriage.”

Her stance is clear and straightforward and I appreciate that. I also know that she will be drug repeatedly through the mud for it.

Biden (p17) – “Gwen, with all due respect, I didn't hear a plan. Barack Obama offered a clear plan.”

I agree with Biden. Palin didn't talk at all about a plan.

Palin (p18) – “Now, you said regarding Senator McCain's military policies there, Senator Biden, that you supported a lot of these things. In fact, you said in fact that you wanted to run, you'd be honored to run with him on the ticket. That's an indication I think of some of the support that you had at least until you became the VP pick here.
You also said that Barack Obama was not ready to be commander in chief. And I know again that you opposed the move he made to try to cut off funding for the troops and I respect you for that. I don't know how you can defend that position now but I know that you know especially with your son in the National Guard and I have great respect for your family also and the honor that you show our military.”

This was a highlight moment for Palin and I am sure it will brushed under the rug.

Biden (p19) – “I promise you, if an attack comes in the homeland, it's going to come as our security services have said, it is going to come from al Qaeda planning in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan. That's where they live. That's where they are. That's where it will come from. And right now that resides in Pakistan, a stable government needs to be established. We need to support that democracy by helping them not only with their military but with their governance and their economic well-being.”

I agree with these sentiments, but I am not sure it’s a reason to bail out from Iraq at this point.

@ 47:42 – 48:33 – 4 times Palin said nucular – yikes! I’m sure this triggered a lot of GWB thoughts for a lot of people.

Palin (p20) – “But again, with some of these dictators who hate America and hate what we stand for, with our freedoms, our democracy, our tolerance, our respect for women's rights, those who would try to destroy what we stand for cannot be met with just sitting down on a presidential level as Barack Obama had said he would be willing to do. That is beyond bad judgment. That is dangerous.No, diplomacy is very important.
First and foremost, that is what we would engage in. But diplomacy is hard work by serious people. It's lining out clear objectives and having your friends and your allies ready to back you up there and have sanctions lined up before any kind of presidential summit would take place.”

I agree wholeheartedly.

Biden (p20) – “Can I clarify this? This is simply not true about Barack Obama. He did not say sit down with Ahmadinejad.”

Yes he did. View the question and the response from the CNN/YouTube debate 23JUL08. Hillary's answer to the same question was actually very well stated and lines up with the position that Obama and Biden are now attempting to spin.

Palin (p21) – “Israel is our strongest and best ally in the Middle East. We have got to assure them that we will never allow a second Holocaust, despite, again, warnings from Iran and any other country that would seek to destroy Israel, that that is what they would like to see.”

We allow a travesty worse than the Holocaust to occur on our soil every day – abortion. Obama and Biden don't see it that way. See my previous post "Biden's Beliefs Betray Babies".

Responding to Darfur Biden lists his talking points as A and Number 2 - whoops…
Both candidates agree there is dire need for action Darfur, which I agree with.
This is an issue that should have been aggressively approached by the US and the UN at least 3 years ago.

Palin (p28) – “So that people there can understand how the average working class family is viewing bureaucracy in the federal government and Congress and inaction of Congress.
Just everyday working class Americans saying, you know, government, just get out of my way. If you're going to do any harm and mandate more things on me and take more of my money and income tax and business taxes, you're going to have a choice in just a few weeks here on either supporting a ticket that wants to create jobs and bolster our economy and win the war or you're going to be supporting a ticket that wants to increase taxes, which ultimately kills jobs, and is going to hurt our economy.”

She hits the nail on the head here but I don't think a lot of people understand that fact.

Overall Impressions
I thought that Joe Biden did a good job answering questions directly. He did seem to spend a lot of time talking about the past and the current administration as opposed to what he plans on doing to bring the "change" that their ticket is promising and Sarah Palin called him on it. Overall, I felt Joe did a good job and gave decent responses.

I felt that Sarah Palin did a little dodging of questions and diving back into previous questions, but she had the most to prove and to try and convey throughout the night so I guess I can understand it to a point. Her answers satisfied me and obviously reflect my viewpoints on a lot of issues. I think it would have been fun if she would have pointed out at some point that Barack Obama has less governmental and leadership experience than she does, but I understand why she didn't.

Overall, I feel that it was a decent debate with no outstanding qualities. Neither candidate made a major gaffe and they both presented their side of the issue well. People where I work seemed to think that Palin was idiotic, rambling on about things that weren't the question and altogether avoiding the major issues. I don't necessarily see it that way. I think she knew what her strong points were and she tried to stay in that arena as much as possible. Frighteningly, a lot of people I know have already chosen which pill they will swallow on November 4th and they are signing up to join Barack's creepy children's choir.

Christian Woman Who Is A Botched Abortion Survivor

BornAliveTruth.org

Biden's Beliefs Betray Babies

Tom Brokaw interviewed Joe Biden on "Meet the Press" and asked him about when he believes life begins and what his stance is on abortion (video)

Much has been said about his comments in the news and on the internet, particularly surrounding this section:

I'd say, "Look, I know when it begins for me." It's a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I'm prepared to accept the teachings of my church. But let me tell you. There are an awful lot of people of great confessional faiths-Protestants, Jews, Muslims and others-who have a different view. They believe in God as strongly as I do. They're intensely as religious as I am religious. They believe in their faith and they believe in human life, and they have differing views as to when life-I'm prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception. But that is my judgment. For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society.

Later on in the interview, I believe a true reflection of Biden's faith is made clear when following question was asked by Biden in response to a statement by Brokaw:

Brokaw: You believe life begins at conception and you've also voted for abortion rights...
Biden: ... How am I going to go out and tell you if you, or anyone else, that you must insist upon my view that is based upon a matter of faith?

I believe that within that question we find that for Joe Biden his faith doesn't come into play when deciding how to form governmental policy. To me, this is an irreconcilable issue. How can a man who claims to be so strong in his faith, turn right around and state that it does not come into play when he is making decisions about life and death matters. In fact, the Roman Catholic church has taken a stance against abortion and has issued the following statement in response to Biden's interview:

Abortion is a foundational issue; it is not an issue like housing policy or the price of foreign oil. It always involves the intentional killing of an innocent life, and it is always, grievously wrong.

and here:

Resistance to abortion is a matter of human rights, not religious opinion.

Within his own religious establishment, Joe Biden's remarks have set off a firestorm of responses from all levels of the church he claims to adhere to the teachings of. If he did indeed believe and attempt to live out what the Roman Catholic Church believes, wouldn't Joe Biden be fully aware of the church's staunch stance against not only abortion but contraception as well. The Roman Catholic Church believes so strongly that life begins at conception that it has deemed any form of contraception to be sinful. Yet, here is a man claiming to be a strong follower of the Catholic faith who does not deem this to be an important issue or one worthy of flexing his political clout to attempt to impact the society he lives in in a way that reflects his supposed beliefs.

Albert Mohler provides a great closing thought on this issue:

Can a morally serious man really say that he believes that unborn babies are human beings, but that it should be a protected right to kill them?

The answer, which appears obvious to me, is a resounding "No!". There is no way to reconcile any amount of faith you claim to have with this attitude of justified inaction.

Abortion - Destroying God's Knitting Work

I wanted to capture these thoughts about abortion from John Piper video below...

Piper quotes Psalm 139:13-14 - "I am mysteriously, wonderfully made" - in the original language it reads "I am being knit together in my mother's womb..." "Who is the knitter?" The knitter is not nature, the knitter is God.

"What's happening in a woman's tummy is God is at work. God is making a human being."

Piper on the "ambiguity of the moment of personhood":
"Clearly life is there from the beginning... If life, if soul, if personhood happens by God's creative decree and you are not sure where, which way are you going to push it? And who can be dogmatic here? I mean, who can say that 'I know for absolute certainty that it's the breath the baby takes where life, where human personhood is imparted'. Or 'I know that when the brain stem is this big and he flitches his eyes, God has made him a person'. Or 'I know that when these chromosomes come together Bang! God has created a person'. Frankly... All I know is this: I am going to err on the side of not killing a person."

"Ultimately, it's because God is at work. And if He is supreme, leave His knitting work alone."