The United States of Religion

AOL recently printed an article on the religiosity of America as a whole.   A Gallup poll taken in 2011 separated people into three main categories:  very religious, moderately religious and nonreligious.  I’ll give you an overview of the information gathered.

People who stated that religion is an important part of their daily life and who attend religious services every week or nearly every week were considered ‘very religious’ and comprised 40% of the population.  Those who said they were ‘moderately religious’ were classified in two ways.  Either they said religion is important but they don’t usually attend services or they attend church services but don’t consider religion to be important.  These folks comprised 28% of the population.

Why one would bother going to church if religion was not important to them beats me!  Maybe it’s the let’s-go-to-church-to-be-seen-because-that-is-what-a-good-person-does crowd, and therefore they feel content that they did their duty to God and can live like hell the rest of the week.  After all, we know that “I’m a good person” will absolutely NOT cut it with a Holy God when “I’m a good person” stands before Him.  And, boy oh boy, there are a bazillion “I’m a good person” kind of folks in America. That’s about the only kind of person I talk to!

Then there is the last category.  These folks are probably the most truthful of the bunch.  Religion is not an important part of their daily life and they seldom or never attend religious services and are, of course considered ‘nonreligious.’  They made up 32% of the American population.

As expected, 8 of the 10 most religious states are located in the Bible Belt of the South and are Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia with Mississippi ranking as the ‘most religious state’ in the Union. 

The other 2 states in this category are Oklahoma and Utah, the majority of whose residents are Mormon.  They were awarded the honor of being ‘the most religious group in America today.’  Oh yay.  A twisted, mishmash of bizarre beliefs and blasphemous statements about Jesus Christ represents the most religious group in this country.  No wonder the USA is going to hell in a hand- basket!

There are 12 ‘least religious states’ and 6 are in New England.  These are New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island with Vermont nabbing the ‘most heathen’ award for the whole country.  I guess those folks in Vermont are too busy sucking syrup out of Maple trees to give God much thought. 

Other states in the ‘least religious’ category are, Alaska (next door to Russia, what can you expect?), Oregon (The Wicca State), Nevada and Washington (The Tree Worshipper’s State).  The last 2 are the District of Columbia (completely Godless!)and, surprise, surprise, New York. 

So what does all this mean?  According to Gallup, America remains a generally religious nation, with more than 2/3 of the nation’s residents classified as very or moderately religious.  These statistics bring up some interesting questions.

What does Gallup even mean when they use the term ‘religious?’  I suppose that would encompass all Christian beliefs which would include the many Protestant denominations and ‘non-denominational’ congregations.  Apparently they consider Mormonism to be a religion. What about Scientology and their mother ship?  Are they including Muslims?  What about Buddhists or Hindus?  The Wiccans?  The luciferians and plain ‘ol satanists? 

And, of course, we can’t forget the Catholics, because NO one can put on some religion like the Catholics!  The robes. The ceremonies.  The metal thingy’s with incense and smoke being waved about.  Genuflecting to a graven image of Christ on the cross.  Sprinkling holy water on the faithful.  Sitting in a little wooden hut, confessing your sins to some unseen voice who thinks he has the ability to forgive you, along with the seemingly endless hour and a half of men with funny hats, mumbling Latin which no one in the building can understand. 

Mmmm, Lord knows I love me some Catholics! Now THAT’S what I call a good show of religion!

But, if the majority of America is religious and all these people of varying beliefs are trying to find their way to God or their concept of a transcendent Being, why are we aborting 4000-5000 babies a day?  Does that fit in with the definition of ‘religion?’  Of raising ourselves up to a higher level of being and enlightenment?

What about all the murders, rapes, robberies, cheating, adulteries, gossiping, lying, hating, cruelties, coveting, bullying, making our own gods and on and on?  What about all that stuff?  How can we say we’re a religious country?  We threw God out of our schools in 1962 and we’ve spent the years since trying our best to eradicate any mark or memory of His involvement in the founding of our country. 

What precisely is all this religion about if we are overwhelmingly turning our backs on God and even on His chosen people, Israel?  We’ve always had Israel’s back, but not now!  No, we’ve succumbed to the brain dead lies of revisionist history authored by the Arabs, and are feeling so sorry for the poor, poor displaced Palestinians.  If we were truly religious and still worshipping God, we wouldn’t dare abandon the Jews!

I don’t know who this Gallup guy is or why he’s never asked me any questions, but I have to wholeheartedly agree with his poll.   America used to be a Godly country, which is much different than being a ‘religious’ people.  A good definition of ‘religion’ is mankind’s arrogant, worthless attempt to make himself acceptable to a Holy God by his own efforts or works.  Religion is one of the greatest and most destructive lies satan ever hatched in that putrid little brain of his.  It is anything but Godly.

No, America has fallen from being Godly to being religious.  We have a plethora of gods to worship, command and control.  The gods of our religions don’t tell us how to live and don’t expect anything from us so we can toddle off to our churches every Sunday and feel good about ourselves because we’re ‘a good person.’  


Somehow, I don’t think America’s gods will be able to save us from the approaching and well deserved wrath of the one true God.  You know; the one we used to have before we became religious.

Don't Confuse Me with Facts!

 Ahhh.  So many Arabs, so little time… Almost every day I shake my head in amazement at the vitriolic hatred directed towards the tiny country of Israel, seemingly by the entire world.  I never thought I would see a time when America would turn her back on our only ally amidst the insanity that is the Middle East.

But the most egregious culprit that stuns me to silence (and that ain’t easy to do!) is the mainstream church.  Yeah, I’ve written about this before but I just keep running across more and more information that only goes to prove this hatred of Israel is still a long running satanic conspiracy.  The enemy isn’t even trying to hide his preposterous tactics anymore!  They’re out in the open for all to see, unless you decide to turn a blind eye.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, coined the quintessential model of widespread mental manipulation by this saying: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”   Apparently, Yasir Arafat, former Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and former President of the Palestine Authority, subscribed to this theory because he utilized it to a breathtaking level of perfection and it’s still in use today.

Arafat, God not rest his soul, was dedicated to the armed struggle against Israel to free Palestine for the Palestinians.  He instigated guerrilla attacks on the tiny country, even encouraging violence against innocent civilians. Then in 1988, he changed tactics, clothing himself in a vesture of pseudo cooperation.

In a speech at a special United Nations session in Geneva, Switzerland, he declared that the PLO renounced terrorism (but he had his fingers crossed!) and supported “the right of all parties concerned in the Middle East conflict to live in peace and security, including the state of Palestine, Israel and other neighbors.”

When  this spewage issued from his lying lips, the peace process began.  The negotiations included Arafat,  Shimon Perez, Foreign Minister of Israel and Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel and led to the Oslo Accords in 1993.  Both gentlemen, as well as Arafat, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, which, truth be told really doesn’t say much. I mean, an admitted terrorist.  Given the Nobel Peace Prize!  HAHAHA!!!  It was a joke, right??  Unfortunately, not.

After all, Obama was awarded the prize in 2009. The man was elected to the US Senate in January 2005 and started his Presidential campaign in 2007. He left his Senate seat in 2008 a few months before he was sworn in as President of the United States in January 2008. The Nobel Prize Committee awarded him this prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”  The committee attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.  What ‘efforts’?  What ‘work’??

I won’t dwell on the fact that this most destructive man, America’s messiah, never held a private sector job in his whole life or that the ink on his Presidential swearing in certificate hadn’t even dried when he was given this prize for having a ‘vision.’  He had yet to accomplish even one thing but, what the heck.  He had a ‘vision!’   This tells me that if you save up your Post cereal box-tops and mail them in to Post’s headquarters with a SASE you too, can get your very own Nobel Peace Prize.  After all, they hand them out to terrorist killers and narcissistic, lying windbags, why not us?

Back to the Palestinian propaganda machine.  Rewriting the history of the Land of Israel in order to deny Israel’s right to exist is key to PA policy and was instigated by, you guessed it, Mr. Arafat (God not rest his soul.)  Even before the PA Terror Campaign, or the Intifada of 2000-2005, the desperate attempt to erase the Jewish nation’s 3000 year old history in the land and replace it with fabricated ‘ancient’ Palestinian, Muslim and Arab histories was well under way.

This is a political strategy whose goal is to deny Israel’s right to the land of their Fathers. It’s accomplished by distorting, downplaying or denying ancient Jewish history, completely ignoring both archeology and historical documentation as well as refuting the Holocaust, along with other elements of Jewish history.

 They also hide from the Palestinian people the fact that Jesus was a Jew who lived in Judea/Israel.  They repeatedly state that He was a Palestinian who preached Islam, which also denies the history and legitimacy of Christianity.  How Christ was able to preach Islam when He lived about 700 years before Muhammad received his “revelation” is entirely beside the point! 

Some of their other delusional claims are that Zionism was Europe’s plot to get rid of the Jews.  They say Balfour supported a Jewish homeland to get the Jews out of Europe and it was a colonialist project with the aim of ruling the land and stealing Arab treasures as well as a way to obtain the genocidal weapons the Jews invented.  Well, at least they put their imaginations to good use…

They demonize Jews to the world, accusing them of having been evil and destructive throughout history which gives non-Jews seemingly justifiable cause to hate, persecute and try to expel them. The PA then makes up fairy-tale accounts of ‘Palestinian’ history in the region, thus negating Israel’s claim to the land.  They even turn a blind eye to the existence of thousands of ancient coins inscribed with Hebrew language, Jewish texts and Bullas (seals) which carry Biblical names that have been found in the area.

This would be hysterically funny, like some lame Saturday Night Live skit, were it not so deadly serious.  Palestinian Media Watch is “an Israeli research institute that monitors the PA’s messages to the general public and reports its findings to the US Congress as well as the Parliaments of numerous countries in order to give the world a precise understanding of the realities of the PA.”

According to one of their news stories in March 2012, a Judean Shekel coin from the year 66 A.D. was sold at an auction in New York for 1.1 million.  The Hebrew words, “Shekel of Israel 66 A.D” are printed on the front and “Jerusalem the holy” appears on the back.  The year 66 A.D. is significant because it was the first year of the Jewish rebellion that took place in the land of Judea against the Romans.  This revolt lasted from 66-70 A.D. when the Romans invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the 2^nd Jewish Temple, located on the Temple Mount, just as Jesus had predicted would happen.

“The Romans changed the name of Judea to “Palestine” 65 years later in the year 135 A.D., after the Bar Kochba Rebellion, NOT because of the existence of a local population that called themselves “Palestinians”, but in an attempt to distance Jews from their own land, as punishment for the Jewish rebellion.”

These events are further backed up by the find of another coin, this one Roman, which was minted after the Roman’s victory and was inscribed “Judea Capta”, meaning “the land of Judea is captured.”  These Roman coins are not that much of a rarity around Jerusalem.  This auction caught the PA with its pants down.  Oh my!  Now there is even more irrefutable, solid evidence the Jews occupied that land thousands of years ago!  What to do??  How do they spin evidence one can hold in one’s hand?

You guessed it!  The official Palestinian Authority Daily (newspaper) acknowledged the auction but claimed the coin sold was an “ancient Palestinian coin and a part of the Palestinian cultural tradition.”  Dudes.  Really.  The thing has HEBREW writing on it and a date of 66 A.D.  ~~~ Awkward ! ~~~~

The PA categorizes any archeological evidence of Israel’s ancient past in the land as a “political agenda.”  Yeah, that’s the ticket!   The PA issued the following statement.  “The announcement that the Shoshana collection-including Palestinian coins which were almost certainly stolen and smuggled overseas from Palestine-is up for auction, is an opportunity for Jewish and Western scholars to use the Jewish revolt against the Romans in Palestine (actually it was Judea) for a political agenda and to connect this local revolt with the establishment of the Israeli occupation state in the 20^th century.  Usually, Palestinians and Arabs show no interest in antiquities from this period; (I bet they don’t!) they are influenced by the Israeli and Zionist propaganda, despite the fact that they (the antiquities) are part of the Palestinian cultural heritage.”

You folks might want to back up here.  I thought you guys said Israel never lived in that land!  That it was always Palestine.  By acknowledging the Jewish revolt in 66 A.D., a fact documented by numerous historians of that day, aren’t you kind of shooting yourselves in the Keffiyeh?  Not that it would be a bad idea, but still!

Are the Palestinian people really so obtuse and hardheaded that they deliberately ignore solid evidence that Israel lived in that land at least 2000-3000+ years ago?  Evidence that the whole world knows about??   Are you actually filled with such irrational, illogical hatred for the Jews that you deny what is in front of your eyes and teach your children blatant lies?

 You can deny the truth all you want, but anyone operating on more than basic brain stem function can see what a crock of alimentary waste your revisionist history is!  Apparently the American mainstream church’s cerebral centers of higher reasoning are not operational.

Here, let me help you.  Put down your rocket launchers and listen up.  Before the Israeli patriarch Moses died, he named Joshua to take his place and lead the children of Israel into Canaan, or the Promised Land.  As Jehovah (NOT Allah) commanded, he entered the land in approximately 1350 B.C., and began to conquer the various peoples living there.   King David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites in approximately 1000 B.C. and the city has been known by the Jews as, ‘ The City of David’ ever since. Actually, it still is.

After King David’s death his son, King Solomon, built the 1^st Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount but it was destroyed when the city was captured by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 596 B.C.   After several decades in Babylonian captivity, and after the Archaemenid conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus II of Persia granted the Jews permission to rebuild the Temple and it was completed in 516 B.C. under the rule of Darius the Great.

THAT, my dear Palestinians, is the true history of the land and is corroborated by numerous historians as well as a plethora of archaeological evidence.  Gee, that kind of blows it for you, doesn’t it?  I guess those nasty ‘ol Jews were telling the truth after all!  Now what?  You need to find a new place to live!

Why don’t you ask your Arab brothers for some land to make a Palestinian state on? After all, they have thousands of miles to spare!   Aren’t you weary of being the stooges for the entire Middle East?  Why aren’t you being taken in and provided for by your own people?  Why do you allow yourselves and your children to be used and subordinated by fellow Arabs?

 Why do you let unwarranted hatred fester in your hearts for a people who have done absolutely nothing but bend over backwards to accommodate you, when the ones you should be fighting are your neighboring brothers?  Wake up, fools!  You could have had your own ‘State’ 50-60 years ago!  Look at the time and the lives of your children you’ve wasted in hatred!

What?  Oh yeah.  I won’t confuse you with facts. The PA has sold you a story and you’re sticking with it, believing it no matter what evidence is right in front of your eyes.   I guess I can understand, though.  After all, as the old saying goes, if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, eventually people will come to believe it.  Right?  Apparently so.

For Shame!

Oh my goodness, Urban Outfitters, a popular clothing and home furnishing retailer, has gone and upset the uber-sensitive Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) advocates and may have even caused a few of them to cry!  You see, the company is selling a greeting card that LGBT feels is transphobic and this has hurt their oh-so-tender little feelings.  Shame on them!

The greeting card features an updated version of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme written in the entertaining form of a very bawdy limerick.  Although I found it to be quite vulgar, I must admit it was funny but I can see absolutely no reason why the transgender crowd should wave their g-strings in the air.  After all, what the limerick describes happening has, undoubtedly, been the shocking experience of numerous men the world over. Hey, you’d think they’d be happy!  It’s like free advertising!

But apparently the LGBT doesn’t consider that to be the case.  I think they haven’t had enough news coverage lately, so they needed to manufacture something to be offended about to draw attention to themselves like the prima-donnas they are.  However, to their horror, the official Urban Outfitters website has sold out of the cards! They’re obviously hitting the funny bone of quite a few people who are probably weary of being told what they can think and say about those who insist normal society accept their aberrant lifestyle as normal.

 In 2008, This is Money UK printed an article stating that Richard Hayne, the co-founder and now former CEO of Urban Outfitters “views on homosexuality are both bizarre and old-fashioned,” and said, “Buying his clothes is like giving cash to George Bush.”  Wait a minute.

For an opinion to be considered old-fashioned it has, by definition, to have been an accepted belief for an extended period of time.  When a new belief challenges that established, commonly accepted opinion, the new belief is the one considered to be ‘bizarre.’  So how could Mr. Hayne have an opinion of homosexuality that was both bizarre and old-fashioned at the same time?

Honestly, if the LGBT community continues to insist on lobbing insults on those who reject their choices, the least they could do is compose attacks that make some sense. Come on people, put some brains into it!

Carl W. Bushong, PhD established the Tampa Center Identity Program which provides a variety of transition services including hormone therapy, electrolysis and guidance counseling. He states that, “Gender is a recent concept in our culture. (5000+ years of human civilization is ‘recent’?) John Money, PhD first used the term ‘gender’ in 1955 to discuss sexual roles.  Then in 1966, he added the term ‘gender identity’ while conducting his gender research at Johns Hopkins.”

“In 1974, Dr. N.W. Fisk fabricated the diagnosis of ‘gender dysphoria’. Previously, the male or female sexual role was considered one of two non-overlapping congenital attributes, determined by one’s external genitals.”

Really?  I had no idea!  For thousands of years, all midwives or doctors had to do to figure out this deep mystery of gender was take one look at the newborn and identify the obvious. There. All settled. See how easy that has been? But NOooooo, the liberal doofuses in academia couldn’t leave society alone. They just HAD to plant the idea of abnormality where there had never been a problem before! 

Most of the general public are, I hate to admit, basically sheeple, content to have someone else take care of their needs and tell them what to do, where to go and what to think.  I suppose God made us to have these somewhat child-like qualities because He wanted us to look to Him as our Father who would perpetually love and care for all our needs. Just a theory.

But, isn’t it interesting that before the 1950’s you never heard of anyone questioning their own sexual identity or gender?  It was only when these morons introduced their theories of aberrant gender issues that the general public began wondering if something was, indeed, wrong within them. “Here, little sheeple, listen to us. We’re the intellectual elite and we say you should begin to examine whether you were born in the right body.”

 “Baaa-baaa, oh no!  I should have been born a girl!  I need to destroy what God has made and tinker with my wonderfully balanced hormones, get sacks of saline surgically implanted in my chest, tie the old man down and start wearing dresses and high heels. There, I feel SO much better and more fulfilled now! Baaa.”

I’m a huge proponent of the, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, mindset. Now, don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with innovation and improvement on things that will make life easier and more pleasant. But for thousands of years of human history, what gender we are has never been in dispute. This isn’t a matter of not liking your hair color or wanting to try a new style of clothing to make yourself feel more confident and attractive. This goes WAY beyond that.

 The problem with people who are so miserable inside they question the very basics of whom and what they are has nothing to do with being the wrong gender! They aren’t gonna like this but truth is truth. It boils down to the very simple, original sin of wanting to be our own god. Make our own decisions about how we live our lives. They are listening to and believing the same slick lie Eve fell for. ‘God is holding out on you.’

“Pssst!  Did God really mean to make you a boy? Didn’t your parents want a girl all along? They must be pretty disappointed they had you. I bet you’re ashamed of what you are. You can undo what God has made, you know. They have the technology now…”

How sad. What an abomination those brainiacs came up with. I think of all the men and women who have tried to remake themselves; who have endured unnecessary, painful surgeries and hormone treatments. All the ones who got so depressed and lived in such misery they committed suicide. Their blood is on the hands of those men who came up with the question of being the ‘right’ gender and on the hands of the people who continue to perpetuate and support this lie today.

This is just one more brick in the wall of God’s coming judgment. They should have just left well enough alone.

Global March to Jerusalem

Come on everybody, pack a picnic lunch, grab your honey and don’t forget the sunscreen ‘cause ya’ll are  invited to participate in the Global March to Jerusalem, to be held on March 30^th!  This event hopes to draw at least 1 million Arabs and their supporters to march on and attempt to infiltrate Israel’s borders as well as demand freedom for Palestine and its capital, Jerusalem.  What a party it promises to be! 

Organized on the sly by Iran and approved by its supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, this fun filled event is being presented as part of a new strategy designed to increase regional unity against the ‘Zionist occupation of Jerusalem’, and is based on the ‘Resistance Axis’, made up of Syria and various terrorists organizations, used as proxies by Iran.  Apparently Iran is too shy to support this publically.

One Iranian website, believed to be directly connected to the regime, even wants to include the kids in the festivities! There will be a cartoon contest in support of the March with the theme: the “right of return” of the Arab refugees.  There will be three winners, each receiving a prize of $1000, a trophy and a t-shirt emblazoned with a large photo of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s smiling, excessively bearded face.

Vendor stalls will be set up along the March’s route and will feature the latest in burqua fashions, plus a variety of roasted meats in pita bread, including goat, lamb, camel and lizard.  Slaughter small livestock just for fun or pick out commemorative bullet shells from previous skirmishes with the evil Israeli soldiers.  Once the sun sets, you can expect major fireworks displays back and forth across the border in unspecified locations but you may want the kids inside for those.

Of course, when we put the hype for this March for Palestinian ‘justice’ aside, we find the entire premise for this inane gathering is based on the Islamic predilection for rewriting history to suit their purposes and to slant the public opinion of ignorant masses to support their causes.  Here is the little known fact regarding their obsession over Jerusalem: until Israel liberated Eastern Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, Muslims hardly ever gave Jerusalem a second glance.  AH-HA!  You didn’t know that, did you?

Jerusalem was occupied by the Arab and Islamic Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1949-1967. However, during this time, the King of Saudi Arabia and PLO leader Yassar Arafat NEVER once visited the city and never felt the need to go to the Temple Mount and pray at the hideously tacky Dome of the Rock mosque. NOT ONCE.  Hmm, interesting, huh?

Remember the snot nosed little jerk bully on the playground who didn’t want their piece of candy until you started eating it; then they went to their mommy, hysterically crying that you ‘stole’ their candy and then everyone thought you were the bad kid?  The snotty brat’s name is Palestinian.  Jerusalem is only important to Muslims because they know it is sacred to their age old enemies, the Jews and Christians, and has been since the days of King David from 1010 BC- 970 BC.

The city of Jerusalem is spoken of 669 times in the Jewish Bible.  It is NOT mentioned even once in the Quran or in any Islamic prayers.  The wonderfully imaginative prophet, Muhammad NEVER visited the city and the mosque wasn’t built on the site of the two previous Jewish temples, until 682 AD.

Calpih Suleiman Abd al-Malik had the mosque built as an alternative ‘holy’ site for Muslims because some guy named Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr rebelled against the Islamic rulers in Damascus by conquering Mecca and denied Muslim pilgrims entry into the city to complete the hajj.  The Caliph went on to build the city of Ramia in 705 AD and his homeys ruled the region from there—not Jerusalem.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar explained the TRUE history of Islam’s interest in Jerusalem in a 2008 article in Yediot Ahronot.

“The Caliph named the mosque ‘al-Aqsa’ or ‘the further mosque’ where Muhammad supposedly prayed; this was done as a political move in response to al-Zubayr’s rebellion and his control over Mecca.  Islamic tradition tells us that al-Aqsa is actually near Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. This was stated in a book by the Muslim historian and geographer, al-Waqidi in ‘Kitab al-Maghazi.’  According to this historian, there were two places where Muhammad prayed in al-Gi’irranah, a village between Mecca and Ta’if.  One was the ‘closer’ mosque (al-masjid al-adna) and the other was the ‘further’ mosque (al-masjid as-aqsa).”

The Islamic historian al-Waqidi’s description above, which is supported by several authorities (isnad), was not ‘convenient’ (politically correct) for the Islamic propaganda of the 7^th Century because Mecca wasn’t available.  So, the Caliphs of the Ummayad dynasty started inventing several ‘traditions’ to establish the value of Jerusalem to Islam, which would justify a pilgrimage to the city like they previously traveled to Mecca.  

The ‘futher mosque’, al-Aqsa, actually located near Mecca, was magically transported to Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock mosque was built, sitting on the Temple Mount ever since like a magnificent peristaltic prominence.

When Israel was reestablished as a sovereign state on May 14, 1948, they were naturally eager to reclaim their most venerated Holy site, the Temple Mount. Again, Muslims paid little to no attention whatsoever to Jerusalem until Israel regained East Jerusalem in 1967. THEN, all of Islam lost their collective minds and suddenly decided the city and mosque was the third ‘holiest’ Islamic site, simply because of their insipid, ancient hatred of Jews and Christians.  Just like the snotty kid on the jungle-gym who never learned to play nice.

Today, most of the Western world, including certain politicians in Washington, D.C and, I am horrified to say, a majority in the mainstream church, are ignorant of the true history of the city and are happy to  buy into the never ending schmorgesborg of Islamic lies regarding the God given, Promised Land of Israel in general, and Jerusalem in particular.

The Bible tells us in Zechariah 12:3 that in the last days, God will, “make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”  If that doesn’t show where we are on God’s prophetic clock, I don’t know what would!  This verse applies to everyone who tries to force Israel to give up their land and, especially those who demand they give up rights to and control of Jerusalem, The City of David, Jehovah’s beloved city.  Hear that Obama?

The Arabs can march, parade, protest, scream, yell, throw rocks, fire rockets, wiggle their behinds and invent politically correct lies, but Jerusalem will NEVER belong to anyone but Israel again.  Don’t believe me?  Go ahead, try to take it….really, go ahead!  I dare you!

Where Is The ACLU?

After two years of legal contortions preparing a lawsuit filed by David Coppedge for religious discrimination in the workplace, opening statements are expected to begin in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, March 12, 2012.  Supporting Mr. Coppedge’s case is the Alliance Defense Fund, A Christian civil rights group (What an oxymoron! We don’t have any civil rights…), as well as the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design.  John West, Associate Director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute said, “It’s part of a pattern. There is basically a war on anyone who dissents from Darwin and we’ve seen that for several years. This is free speech, freedom of conscience 101.”

Uh…then where is the ACLU?

Mr. Coppedge worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA as a ‘team lead’ computer specialist for the Cassini probe mission exploring Saturn and its moons. He began as a contractor in 1996 and was designated as a ‘team lead’ in 2000, serving as a liaison between technicians and managers even before he was hired full time 2003. He held this position for nearly ten years before being demoted in 2009 and was let go last year, after fifteen years on the mission.

He contends he was demoted and fired because he enjoyed talking with his co-workers about his belief that because the universe and life is too complex to have developed through evolution alone, a higher power or intelligent designer had to be involved in creation.  He is a board member of Illustria Media and gave his co-workers DVD’s made by the company, which examines scientific evidence for intelligent design.

Where is the ACLU?  Oh yeah, Mr. Coppedge isn’t a minority or gay.  Duh!

Can you even believe the outrageous criminality of his actions?  Well, the only explanation I can imagine for all the brouhaha is that he must have been chasing people down the halls of his office, tackling them and stapling the DVD’s to their foreheads for this to result in his being terminated.

Otherwise, if they were not interested in the material, one would surmise all they would have had to do was simply say, “No thank you.” Apparently, this simple solution was too much for some of the courtesy challenged employees to handle, because a few complained to management they felt (*sniff*) harassed, which resulted in his receiving a written warning.  

Coppedge’s attorney, William Becker, says, “David had this reputation for being a practicing (*GASP*) Christian.  He did not go around evangelizing or proselytizing and he is not apologizing for who he is. He’s an evangelical Christian.”

He also had the unmitigated gall to publically support a state ballot that sought to define marriage as limited to a man/woman relationship and nearly caused catastrophic damage to the entire space program by requesting the annual office “holiday” party be called what it actually was, a “Christmas” party!

Yoo-Hoo, ACLU…where are you?

Attorneys for the California Institute of Technology, which manages the Jet Propulsion Lab, state that Coppedge was one of two Cassini technicians and among 246 other employees let go last year due to planned budget cuts.  Okaaaay.  We’ll run with that explanation, unless maybe someone can come up with evidence that the mission still has plenty of life and funds to continue. Hmmm, perhaps someone like….ME?!

According to the official NASA Cassini Mission website, the missions and continued experiments of the probe will last at least through November 29, 2012.  They are still getting a plethora of images and information from this probe and will, no doubt, continue to use it until it sputters, pops a couple more bolts and gives its last little squeak in outer space before going to that great space probe graveyard in the sky.  Kind of makes me think the ‘budget cuts’ weren’t the whole reason Mr. Coppedge was fired after fifteen long, faithful years at NASA.

This should be an interesting case to follow. Is it about religious discrimination?  Is it a simple employee/employer dispute?  Scientists from both spectrums of the intelligent design argument are waiting with baited breath to see which way the court will rule.  Can you imagine the high pitched, girly  screams of angst and protest that will emanate from the court house if the Judge rules in favor of the plaintiff and his right to express in the workplace, his opinion that Almighty God designed the universe?  Stay tuned!

Oh,  ACLU-hooooo….!  Now, where could they be??

Must You??

I know it’s human nature to mainly remember the positive aspects of the past but I’d have to say that when I was in high school back in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s, times really were so much simpler and more innocent.  I’m not romanticizing those high school years because they were rather cruel and unhappy and I escaped the misery as soon as I possibly could by starting college during my senior year.

No, what I’m talking about is the moral culture of that time.  Looking back, it seems almost laughable what used to raise eyebrows and caused a ruckus in the small town I grew up in. I remember one of the biggest hush, hush secrets or poorly hidden rumors was that a girl a year ahead of me was having an affair with the school coach.  He ended up quitting, or being fired, she quit school and last I heard, had gotten married.  It was a big deal back then.  If I told someone about that incident now I would, no doubt, get a blank stare of bored indifference.

There were a few pregnancies and a couple of rumored abortions and again, they were whispered about in the halls between classes, although I will say when the Homecoming Queen was crowned, she was within her 1^st trimester which made things interesting.  And these were the girls the rest of us losers were supposed to envy and emulate.

There were the cool rebels who huddled together in the designated smoking section, under the oak trees.  Once in a while I’d hear about some kid who got a hold of some pot and passed it around over the weekend during some beer party. Then there were those who had to push the rules and smoke in the bathrooms between classes which added a certain je ne sais quoi to the atmosphere of dirty floors strewn with used paper towels and un-flushed toilets.

There was never any mention of snorting cocaine, much less shooting speedballs, heroin, methamphetamine or PCP.  Only the real loonies had access to LSD and they weren’t in high school anymore.  Yep, marijuana and alcohol, especially beer, were the hardest substance abuse problems.

No one and I mean NO one, talked about homosexuals.  Ever.  No boy ever came to school wearing barrettes and eyeliner, pontificating that he should have been born in a female body.  No girl walked around in combat boots, eyebrow piercings and tongue studs talking about what she did to her girlfriend the weekend before.

Had that happened, that person would probably have either been beaten silly by the tough guys or would have been suspended and picked up by the cops before their black nail polish had a chance to dry, never to be seen or heard from again.  It just never occurred to anyone during that era to dress or act like that.

The days we are living in have certainly changed, and not for the better!  Now, high-schoolers especially in public schools, schedule threesomes and it’s a given that you simply aren’t cool unless you have your own sex tape circulating YouTube.  

If you or your daddy has a meth lab in the garage, it’s the bomb, baby!  And going to school is just someplace to hang out, avoid the cops and conduct business in drug dealing unless, of course, you’re getting busy with some teacher in the janitor’s closet.

Even those things sound quaint upside stories I see in the news every single day.  Within the last month alone, I have read of two mothers habitually selling their little 5 and 6 year old girls to grown men for sex so Mama can earn drug money. 

And then, there is the popular rise in bestiality.  Ah, geesh people, must you??  Really?  One married couple and the wife’s boyfriend were searching Craigslist for a dog she could have sex with while they video taped it because she had always wanted to do that.  Fortunately, they were corresponding with an undercover cop and were busted, thank heavens!  

Then there was the teenage kid who agreed to care for his neighbor’s pit bulls in exchange for money to finish his GED.  While the dog owner was napping, other neighbors witnessed and taped the kid in the kennels, raping two of her prize dogs.  During the day! 

The cops came to her door and alerted her to what happened but she didn’t believe them until they showed her the tape.  She was speechless with outrage that someone she had taken under her wing, given fair employment to in order to assist him to further his education, would betray her in such an egregious way.

Of course, there are the geezer farmers with their sheep and pigs.  They should keep up with the times because there are cameras everywhere.  Now, I just have to ask a question here…

What kind of lame, pathetic, loser, deviant, pervert or...or…What kind of human being does this stuff??  I know it’s occurred during mankind’s history because those who did this were to be stoned according to God’s law in the Old Testament.  So, like Ecclesiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun.

But doesn’t it seem the incidences of these revolting acts seem to be occurring more often?  Like I said before, back when I was in high school, you never even heard of people, grownups included, speaking of gays, much less the proliferation of these befouled, beasty, bum-buggers!

The Bible warns us multiple times that in the last days, morality will degenerate to an all time low but it seems to have happened so gradually that, with the aid of constant media coverage and acceptance, there is very little that is shocking anymore.  I am ashamed or perhaps I should say, saddened to admit it takes quite a bit to shock me these days.  Isn’t that a pity?

Now, when I hear that old song from 1973, Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room, I have to snicker.  Just think.  That used to be as bad as it got…

Rick Warren's Folly: Part 2

In my previous article about Rick Warren, Pastor of the massive Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, I was mainly focused on his proclivity to cuddle up to the Muslims in his area; attending their Ramadan breaks in fasting, holding huge dinners for them at his church as well as endeavoring to find ‘common ground’ between the Christian and Islamic faiths in an attempt to “bridge 1400 years of misunderstanding between them.”

He has been working at this for over 10 years and these efforts have resulted in an official document, called Kings Way which was co-authored by Abraham Meulenberg, Pastor of Interfaith Outreach at Saddleback and Jihad Turk of the Christian-Muslim Consultative Group. It was written to establish key points of theology that the two religions can agree upon.  My beef was that this declaration says, among other things, that Christians and Muslims believe in the same God.

When Mr. Warren was recently interviewed by the Orange County Register, he vehemently denied ever saying this and the ‘reporter obviously misquoted’ him.  He subsequently issued a statement in the Christian Post in February 2012 saying, “A few days ago an article appeared in the Orange County Register that included some outrageous statements about Saddleback that were incorrect.”  He goes on to lament that, “secular reporters trying to cover churches and theological issues often get it wrong.”  Well, I’d have to agree with him, but is that the case here?

See, trouble is back in 2007, Mr. Warren was one of several other Christian leaders who endorsed a document called, A Common Word Between Us and You at the Yale Divinity School, which says within the first few lines that “many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors.  Before we ‘shake your hand’ in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.”

The title, All-Merciful One is what most Muslims call the Islamic god, Allah.  Although Christians know that Jehovah is also all merciful, we don’t refer to Him the same way. As much as Mr. Warren desires to distance himself from this controversy, this isn’t the first time this issue has come up.  Let’s look back at the shocking prayer he gave at President Obama’s inauguration.  He ended his invocation by stating that he was “praying to the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (Hispanic pronunciation) who taught…”

Whoa, back up there cowboy…”Isa”???  Who the heck is Isa?   Oh, he must have meant the Islamic pronunciation of the historical Jesus.  But now I’m confused…he denies ever implying that the Son of God we Christians worship, Jesus Christ, is the same as the Muslim’s Isa.  And he couldn’t have been talking about the Christian Arab’s Jesus because they pronounce His name, Yasu.  So if that’s the case, who was he praying to at the inauguration??

According to the Quran, Isa (the real, historical Jesus) was simply a created human being, NOT the Son of God and was a slave to Allah and did not die on the cross because a substitute was crucified by ‘a very large deception hoisted by Allah on the world.’ (Are they saying Allah is a deceitful liar?)  According to the Quran, this Isa will appear on earth again, will be a devout Muslim and will accomplish two major things:  he will help the al-Mahdi destroy their version of the anti-christ and he will ‘correct the mistakes in Christianity’. 

 Isa will declare that Christians have been wrong to worship him; that he never claimed to be God’s son and he will go around destroying crosses and forcing Christians and Jews to convert to Islam or die in war.  Oh yeah, he will also confirm that Christianity is a corruption of the true religion, Islam.  I’m still not clear on how Christianity could possibly be a corruption of something that didn’t even exist until 650 year later.  I mean, doesn’t something have to exist before it can be corrupted?  Raise your hand if you know the answer… Anyone?

The point is the good Reverend most certainly HAS said the two faiths worship the same god until he is pinned on it, then he suddenly ‘never said it and it’s all some reporter’s fault.’ Yeah, that’s the ticket!  Unfortunately, when Mr. Warren is caught with his proverbial pants down, he has a long history of saying one thing and then flatly denying he made the statement, even when cold, hard evidence is present to him.

For instance, he denied supporting California’s Proposition 8 which sought to protect and uphold the legal definition of marriage between one man and one woman back in 2009 even though he made a clear statement in front of his congregation endorsing it and encouraging the folks to vote ‘yes.’  A short time later, he appeared on Larry King Live and stated that he had to apologize to his homosexual friends for making comments supporting the amendment and that he has, “never been and never will be anti-gay or an anti-gay marriage activist.”

He also said that shoring up traditional marriage was not something that was on his agenda.  Uh, excuse me?  He is a Christian ordained minister, is he not?  For that matter, why on earth does he have homosexual ‘friends’ when Christians are told not to associate with evil doers?

After several hours of research and having read his New York Times #1 bestseller, The Purpose Driven Life, which catapulted him to world-wide fame, I have much more serious issues with this man than whether he can keep his stories straight.  Oh my, there is so much…where to start?

How about the beginning?  Warren’s Saddleback church had its first service on Easter Sunday, 1980 with about 200 people showing up.  It has since grown to average 30,000+ in attendance.  Nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but we need to examine why this church is so successful.  Back when he was new to the community, scouting locations for the church and meeting people in the area, he would poll them by asking what kind of church they thought they would like to attend.  Huh? How about one that teaches the Bible?  But no, that was SO passé and he felt he’d never be able to compete with all the other churches in the area, so he came up with a rather brilliant strategy.

He has been quoted saying, “The church audience must be treated as consumers and must be appealed to out of their love for self.”  He is a master marketer and has built a huge following by appealing to the Emergent Church style of New Age, feel good, aren’t I a wonderful person, kind of crowd. 

He spent the subsequent years developing the principals that led to the church’s success, which he calls the five biblical purposes of the church: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism.  These are the points on which he based, The Purpose Driven Life.  This book, by the way, has gone on to sell over 24 million copies in English alone and is now the bestselling non-fiction hardback book in history.  Must be some mighty good stuff in there, right? 

The issue his detractors and I have shows up within the first few pages of his book.  When speaking of our lives, it declares, “It’s not about you. It’s about God.”  It supposedly shows how God can enable us to accomplish His purposes thus allowing us to live the ultimate life God planned for us. Boy that sounds good!  However, the book ends up being light on the ‘God’ part and heavy on the ‘you’ part.

Back in May 2005, at the Pew and Religion Forum, Warren stated, “Now the word ‘fundamentalist’ actually comes from a document in the 1920’s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith and it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity.”  What are these legalistic, out of date, fuddy-duddy fundamentals of our faith?

1.      The Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ

2.      The Virgin Birth

3.      The Blood Atonement

4.      The Bodily Resurrection

5.      The Inerrancy of Scriptures

Apparently Mr. Warren feels the beliefs taught by Christ and the apostles are outdated or unneeded.  These are a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity??  I always thought they were the basics!

He goes on to say, “My goal is the 2^nd Reformation of the church.  The first one was about creeds, this one is about deeds.  This reformation needs to be about behavior, about what we should do.  It’s about the church’s mission.  I intend to give my life to this.”  

(Does anyone else hear angels singing…?)

Finally, he goes on to say, “Building churches is more important than evangelism.”  WHAT? Since when?  I don’t recall reading that in the Bible and I don’t remember hearing that a ‘church’ ever brought someone to salvation.  Maybe I missed something.

Mr. Warren seems to feel that the function of the church is to go about doing good and start new churches.  Well, sound’s reasonable.  I mean, Jesus himself “went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil” so how is that philosophy in error?  Because it concentrates on works instead of the Great Commission.  Anytime you hear a pastor blabbering on and on about works, you’d better perk up your ears because something ain’t right.

In his book, Warren says, “People are driven by guilt because they are manipulated by memories.  They allow the past to control their future.  When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God’s presence and God said, ‘You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’ That describes most people today, wandering through life without a purpose.”  Cain’s SIN disconnected him from God!  SIN, Mr. Warren.  You know, the reason we need a Savior.  Remember?

He teaches that people need to accept Jesus, receive His forgiveness and begin to search for God’s purpose for their life to further His kingdom, because He has one for every person.  Strangely enough, he uses quotes from New Agers, occultists, mystics and spiritual liberals to back up his theology.

For instance, the book claims that ‘God lives in everything’ which is patently pantheistic New Age teaching. However, cool and groovy this sounds, it is not Biblical.  Reverend Warren is missing some critical points here that completely negates any good he is trying to accomplish.  There is NO mention of the conscience smiting terms ‘satan’, ‘repentance’ or ‘hell’ anywhere in his writing.  What bothers me is this appears to be a deliberate choice on his part.  After all, we gotta pack those pews and we can’t do that if we offend people, right?

He, like many other Christian authors, penned a prayer of salvation that his readers can say to receive Jesus and His forgiveness.  What’s wrong with that?  Isn’t that what the Bible tells us we have to do to be saved?  NO!  Listen up!!

Simply believing in Jesus and saying a prayer or walking up to the front of the church during an altar call will not accomplish anything unless you are convicted of your of sin and realize you are automatically doomed to be separated from a Holy God for eternity.  The Bible tells us that even the demons believe in Jesus and tremble, so saying you ‘believe’ is basically worthless.  A conscious realization of being hopelessly lost must take place.

You must have a desire to repent, which means to turn away from and give up your sinful ways.  You need to confess you are unable to ever do enough good deeds to be acceptable to God, and then receive the pardon Jesus paid for with His blood and desire to live in a manner pleasing to the Lord.  Unless this spiritual transformation happens, there is no salvation.  You will be a false convert and will go your merry way deceived and bound for hell just like you were before you said your nice, scripted little prayer.  Wouldn’t you expect Time Magazines, 2004 ‘Most Influential Christian in America’ to teach this basic truth?

The problem is our flesh rebels against having to bow before God.  We naturally want to be our own little gods and gain heaven by ‘being a good person’ which is exactly what a purpose driven life means and this is what is so dangerous about Mr. Warren’s teaching!  He acknowledges we must be saved, but does not explain exactly what that entails, probably because it is repugnant to our sinful nature.  It’s hard to build churches and gather in millions of dollars if you are offending the sensibilities of the ones you are trying to reach. 

There is nothing wrong with seeking God’s will and desiring to serve Him, but unless we give up our own agenda on the altar of our hearts and completely surrender, we’re wasting our time.  Heck, we might as well be out partying and partaking in all the ways of the world!

Now, to be perfectly fair, Rev. Warren claims that he and his wife are ‘reverse tithers’, that is, they keep 10% of their income and give 90% away.  If that is truly the case, I heartily applaud and admire him for such a wise decision and encourage other mega church pastors to consider doing the same! But back to the point of this article…

When Paul was speaking of the last days, he warned us in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”  This purpose driven teaching is exactly what Paul was describing we would see in the last days.   2 Timothy 3: 5 states that people, even in the church, will be seen, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:  from such turn away.”

Jesus never told us to build churches.  He never mentioned we are to worry about finding our purpose in life.  In Mark 16: 15 “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  What is the Gospel?  It is the news that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  The Gospel is the Good News that we can be reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus and escape an eternity separated from Him, frying in everlasting fire.  Gee, that IS good news!

It is NOT figuring out what our purpose on this earth is!  How did Rick Warren drift away from the basic Gospel?  Why does he feel the five fundamentals of our faith are outdated, narrow minded and legalistic?  Somewhere Mr. Warren has lost his way and his first love, Jesus Christ.  His eyes appear to be on the conquest of ever larger congregations and building more ministries around the world. 

Corruption is always born out of the lust for either money or power.  I’ll give Tricky Ricky the benefit of the doubt and assume he really does give away 90% of his income.  But boy oh boy, that fame must feel mighty good! 

Just think: “The Most Influential Christian in America.”  Being invited by the newly elected President of the United States to pray at his historical inauguration.  Traveling the world, meeting heads of state, kings and princes.  Having an inside track with what is happening behind the scenes in Washington.

 Mmmm, can you smell the heady, seducing fragrance of that kind of power and influence?  Is that your motivation for failing to present the ugliness of sin and the need for repentance and the cross to your congregation?  To avoid offending someone and losing all the accolades and privileges?

I’ve been chided by several people for my first article criticizing Rick Warren because I was being ‘divisive’ and judgmental and doing damage to the body of Christ.  I agree that Christians don’t need to be fighting Christians over minor theological issues.  But when a Christian, especially one who is as well known as Rev. Warren, starts coming out of left field and obstinately refuses to listen to the concerns of other pastors, you’d better believe I’m gonna call him on the carpet, whether anyone agrees with me or not! 

1 Timothy 5:19-20 says, “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.  Them that sin rebuke before all, that others may fear.”   Reverend, you are the elder or the one who presides over your congregation.  You have been rebuked for years by numerous clergy regarding your insistent failure to present the full Gospel message, which is a sinful violation of God’s Word and call on your life.  Must I actually remind you that your Lord, if He indeed is still that, considers you to be their shepherd?

Let me be blunt, Mr. Warren.  To measure the success of your ministry by the size of your church, or by your book sales or by the influence you wield over the movers and shakers is worldly and carnal.  Dare I even say, narcissistic?  How successful are you in winning souls for Christ; not false converts but sincere, changed lives dedicated to the service of Christ?

What will you say to those thousands of lost souls who listened to your incomplete teaching, as they pass by you on their way to hell?  What excuse will you give your Savior when you are forced to admit you knew better?  Finally, I want you to really consider where all this so called success might be coming from.  Almighty God is not the only one who can manipulate minds and increase book sales, you know…