Anyone with eyes and ears knows our society is in decay. Our political institutions, our government, both have become a cesspool of liars and perverts. Our education system is now a tool of political ambition and social transformation, teaching only what furthers the Left’s narrative. The media, what used to be the guardian of our Republic, is now a mechanism for accelerating the social and political rot, having no compunction of lying to your face.
Many of our large cities are pits of corruption and lawlessness. State and local governments blatantly ignore laws. Illegal alien criminals are let loose or slapped on the wrist. Victims and their families find no justice; they leave the court houses disillusioned and embittered.
Our government says it is now legal to kill your children before they are born and in some states after. All for the bogus claim of the mother’s health. Someone needs to explain to me what killing a child after it is born has to do with the mother’s health.
It has become obvious that there is a concerted effort to turn our country into a Marxist, Godless state and it has taken root.
What has the Church said? Almost Nothing! In fact, many have joined in the chorus of the new social order.
When I was young, I used to hear every now and then about ‘The Golden Rule’, the treating of someone else the way you would like to be treated. I haven’t heard that maxim or ethical code in many years.
In the late 19th century to the middle of the twentieth century, many churches underwent a liberal transformation, believing that the world would be saved through human improvement. Social and economic change and the human condition would be transformed through human endeavor…and the mechanism best suited of that change would be government, so they thought.
Fundamentalist Christians felt that the approach was humanistic and would not work so they characterized all political activity as such and decided not to have any part of it, restricting their activity to discipling and sharing the Gospel.
By the 1950s, the Church began to wake up to the societal decline, its zenith in the 1970s with Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority. In 1954, Senator Lyndon Johnson, no friend of the Church, pushed through legislation allowing churches to be added to the 501c3 tax code. Johnson sold this as a ‘favor’ to the Church, but in reality it was a way for government to silence the Church, which always had influence in public policy.
The favor had strings attached, grave strings. To maintain a 501c3 tax-exempt status, the Church was prohibited from addressing, in any significant way, the vital issues of the day. They could not speak out against or organize in opposition that which the government declares legal even if it is considered by the Church to be immoral. If they did so, they would jeopardize their tax exempt status. The government put out the bait, the Church bit hard.
This, of course, had a chilling effect on the pulpit and free speech. Johnson was a shrewd and calculating politician and would come to appreciate how effective his legislation became and how easily so many churches would sell-out. This was as much a commentary on the Church as it was on Lyndon Johnson. Their priorities became apparent.
The true shocker in this depressing story is that the Church did not need the 501c3. Churches were already tax exempt. They were never taxable nor were they ever under the taxing authority of the government. The First Amendment clearly placed the Church outside government jurisdiction…”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Religion cannot be free if you have to pay the government through taxation for it.
By the IRS’ own publications, churches are automatically tax exempt. Contributions can still be taken as a tax deduction without 501c3 status.
So, what is the result?…Abortion, homosexual marriage, government sex education, gender confusion, Socialism, etc. The Church showed itself to be more interested in its fiscal health than the spiritual health of its congregations.
In the words of a former IRS Sr. Officer, Steve Nestor: “I am not the only IRS employee who’s wondered why churches go to the government and seek permission to be exempted from a tax they didn’t owe to begin with, and to seek a tax deductible status that they’ve always had anyway. Many of us have marveled at how church leaders want to be regulated and controlled by an agency of government that most Americans have prayed would just get out of their lives. Churches are in an amazingly unique position, but they don’t seem to know or appreciate the implications of what it would mean to be free of government control.”
To all the churches and irresolute, pansy clergyman out there, it is time to speak out and preach against the political and social immorality that is everywhere and now in your face. You’ve slept long enough. You should have no fear of reprisal or incrimination.
Scripture commands us to be salt and light. Salt to preserve the truth and what is right. Light to expose the dark. It’s time to take a stand. Speak up and speak out.
Go, and sin no more.
Why have the number of Jews in Ireland decreased to the present point where the only synagogue in Cork closed because they did not have enough for a meeting together?
It is true that the Arabs sold the Palestinian lies very successfully using the emigration issue… Yes this was done skilfully but still we have evidence that the Catholic Hierarchy supported the the IPSC in their joint campaign of vilifying the Jews who in modern parlance they took to calling Zionists.
The Jews of Ireland came mainly from Latvia and Lithuania. How often has the Catholic Church in Ireland, or even the Catholics in Ireland, told the story of the Holocaust in Latvia and Lithuania. Never for a second did they tell that story, for the very reason that the Catholic Church in Lithuania were allied with the Nazis and with the Fascist Lithuanians.
This was the country that the Nazis did not have to do all that much killing of the Jews,these Catholics inspired by that Catholic Church did the killing of the Jews for them.
If you were to make any sense out of Ireland today, why Ireland became such a pro Palestinian Arab country, why it came to hate Zionism so much, then you need to go back to 1941 and see what the Catholics did to the defenseless Jews there in Lithuania.
If you are to explain the Ireland of today to the Irish of today then you have to do the opposite of what is suggested by these two characters here, you actually have to go into this history, and just tell the story as it happened in truthful terms.
Spain is another country stripped of its history. How on earth could a nonentity like Franco manage to win is the abiding question? But it has a lot to do with that ideology of the Catholics which taught that there was a Jewish/Bolshevik conspiracy afoot. For that the Francoists overthrew democracy in Spain, which indeed is a treasured thing and must not be given up easily.
And it was not just Spain and Ireland. it was very widespread in Europe and partly too in America.
Obviously, history is the key.
The thing about discussion if entered into sincerely is that you learn something (but not our two fellows here coz dogmatists know everything) and Edgar I am now very interested in Edgardo Mortara…that is a good thing.
@ Michael S:
Michael old buddy….I’m really disappointed in you. Just because you’ve found a new pal is no reason to make pejorative and uninvited remarks about me. I suppose you couldn’t resist sticking your proboscial nostrils in, when you saw the words “christianity”..(like a canine doing his “smelling”)… just remember…I’m ALWAYS like “that” and with massive cause.
But….you reminded me..Hum…although I think you’re really at heart a decent fellow…just “Jesus” obsessed, I’ll do you a favour and ignore you too…completely this time -not like before when I forgave and “forgot”… But when you’re rattling “dem bones” …in your vicarious rites, you can just shout “Halleluyah” and your sins will be forgiven…(Have I forgotten anything…?)…
I recall that you like to emulate your “saviour” by “bearing all the burdens of the world” on your inadequate and scrawny shoulders. I suppose you don’t remember the nifty little discussion there was about THAT..and not only by me….
I suppose you also never heard of Edgard(o) Mortara….??
@ David E Chase:
David,
You can see for yourself that the man is consumed with hatred and cursing. When he gets like this, I ignore him.
@ David E Chase:
Since you posted such a megillah …from politeness I will try to emulate and respond…..this once.
You are-as usual- smartly changing the discussion from the “particular” to the “(thin but very widely irrelevant) general”… and instead of discussing my very specific, focussed points, you obfuscate by accusing me of “this and that and the other”… none of which makes any sense, because you have no idea what I think beyond what I’ve specifically written about,in my post.. For your information–but don’t tell a soul- I am a not very-religious, but a traditional Jew, who practices little but feels much..!00 PER CENT JEW and VERY happy and proud to be a member of a unique people..
(Again you are wrong…Christianity is just as political an entity as Islam..it got into power that way and enlarged on it…If you’ve read the history of the church..from the Papacy down. It was the greatest political force in the world for many hundreds of years making and breaking kings and emperors and …much more…even dirty, ignorant friars and priests ruled over the rulers.) Jews are presently more afraid of Christianity than Islam because It’s bred in our bones. Islam is less threatening to Jews…except in Israel… for the time being ONLY. I grew up in Ireland…. which should tell you everything you need to know about me and my despising of, and repugnance to, Christianity.
As for the Liberal Jews you mention. the JINOs… they’re “liberal” today” but where are they tomorrow…poof…gone…. never to return.
I AM anti-Christian. I hate Christianity for what it’s done for nearly 2000 years to Jews . I am a first generation from the shtetl. My dear late Father, (Latvian) to escape the 25-40 year enforced Russian Army “enlistment”, had his eardrum pierced and deafened irrevocably. He said very little about those times they’d gone through, except that he was one of the kids who were based around the shtetl outskirts to warn against “Cossacks”… which meant any drunken christian mob of monsters…. They escaped via Hambourg. and lived on water, black bread and salt herring for 6 weeks before landing…. they didn’t know where…!!
But personally I take individual Christians…like Michael…as I find them… many perfectly nice people.
I am not a fool …which may not have been clear to you.. What’s the nonsense about Obama and Palin…your “red herrings”……or just being “clever” ??… But I’ll answer you. I would have voted for Palin. She is honest, not an evangelist, nor does she want to murder me. (McCain was a cunning fool) but Obama was allied to the enemies of the human race, without doubt. And very Anti-Israel ,,,,so that alone would be enough for me to “consign him to “THE PIT” as the Sages would have said. Neat how you changed my factual observations about never-ending Missionary attacks on Jews into US politics… Of course I’m merely humourously speculating here….!!
Your essay was far to long and unrelated to my post, and too convoluted to respond to without making it into a book. MY past connections with publishers are long gone. Also. I don’t have that much time to waste.
You should stick to the points… I pointed out the true, factual, Christian enemies of the Jews. Why not just deal with them and not neatly divert and wander.
You’ve been doing the very same thing to poor Felix, and I’ve been watching and wondering why Felix doesn’t “catch on”. He’s a very serious and honest person I believe, who, once he gets into a subject, delves far too deeply, for most to understand… But he has enormous patience…… You act like an “agent provocateur” –a mischief maker. Although I can see you are enjoying it.
No response necessary, Your first is so good that it can be your “only”. No need for more. Than you indeed.
By the way…did you ever hear of Edgard Mortara….you should read up on this obscenity….
Edgar, Who would you vote for today- Barack Obama or Sarah Palin? Again, Methinks thou dost protest to much. You seem probably, or hopefully, not anti-Christian but certainly “Christian-phobic”. Jews who are secure in their religious practice and faith should not fear missionaries or be bothered by them -they certainly do not present a physical threat. You are politicizing Christianity as if similar to political Islam, the real threat to Jews and the rest of the world today. Those in this discussion who feel a need to “demonize” Christianity for past sins vis-a-vis the Crusades or for condoning Nazism miss the whole point of Christianity- forgiveness as a way of moving on. “Never again” was meant for the Nazis.-not the Christians or the crusades or even 70 to 80 years ago. It was “righteous” Christians who saved many, many Jews during the Holocaust. It’s not Christians of today who are the new Nazis- but the Islamists- as you know. That should still be appreciated today. It was their Christian doctrine in practice that effectuated the saving of Jews- they didn’t do it for missionary purposes. There is far more fear, animosity and apparently suspicion among Liberal Jews today for religion in general, including of course Orthodox Judaism, towards Christianity than there should be and a simultaneous either denial,or embracing of alledged Muslim sensitivities which is actually being used as a sort of quiet stealth missionary tactic against not just Jews but every non-Muslim in the world that is the real,threat to Jews today and yet there are people who would vote for a Barack Obama Islamophilic, probably closet Muslim himself, rather than a John McCain because his running mate is Sarah Palin- an Evangelical Christian. I’ve got news for you- Sarah Palin is a far more loving woman than any liberal could ever be- Have you ever heard of a “liberal” Christian. What could that mean? The “inclusiveness” of abortion rights?- The subversion of family values for progressivism and pseudo-understanding?Do LGBT members accept Christians and Christianity in return for their rights. Is it Jesus’s fault that liberals are miserable people? If you ever walk through the Old City in Jerusalem, you don’t have to beware the Christian missionary but the potential Islamic “hater”. Liberal Jews are so stupid in their liberalism that they care more about an Moslem’s rights to his outright “political” Islamic preachings of conversions than say a “missionary” Christian simply explaining in words, not swords, Jesus’’s teachingenious. The Christian missionary just tries to convince while the Islamist seeks to force. Any Jew who fears being convinced more than forced to convert probably needs to go back to the drawing board or at least ask him or herself what it is that is being said that causes them their distress- acknowlefging and answering that question may actually provide the real healing that a reaction like yours to this article is apparently a symptom of.
@ David E Chase:
David…you are wrong. Christianity is a great threat to Judaism today. It particularises to the extent that they spend hundreds of millions yearly on “Missions to the Jews” “Messianic Jews” …”Jews for Jesus” (a curse on his name) and all the fake groups that swarm over to Israel to open their cunning “synagogues next door to real Shools and try to attract the Jews into their clutches.
Whilst as you say, not really religious Jews would even bother to spit at them, the vast majority of Jews today…. even in Israel are NOT religious at all. They would keep no Festivals if it were not for the fact that they have all the preparation handed to them right under their noses…but only in Israel. You know damned well that in the Diaspora, Jews are disappearing in their tens of thousands, to the degree that of the world’s “7” million Jews outside Israel, about 80% are not Jewish, and many who “are”…. erect “Chanukah Bushes” at the appropriate times.
On the other part of the spectrum the Moslems are attacking the whole world -not just Israel and Jews in general..Israelis presently, are only the most convenient, seeing that they live right amongst the monsters and are the most tempting target…
@ Felix Quigley:
Felix,
The only one here spouting off about Marxism and Fascism is you.
What makes you think your interpretation of today’s Christianity vis-a vis some onetime alledged or even real historical connection to Nazism is what Jesus preached and is still somehow an anti-Israel thing today. One who forgets the past is condemned to repeat it but one who is fixated on the past cannot forgive and move on and see the world as it is today. Christianity is not any threat today to the State of Israel or even any truly religious Jew. Of course, the religious threat to the State of Israel is not from Catholics or any other Christians- that brand of anti-semitism is mostly outdated. The real threats to Israel today and to Jews still scattered around the world is from the Islamist- I won’t say Radical Islam because I think it’s actually just Islam. If you are really concerned about Israel today you need to get over the “Sins of the Church” which are yes facts of history butbthe odds of someone blowing up Jews yelling Alluah Akbar today are far greater than some misguided Christian from blowing up Jews yelling Alluah Jesus.
The best thing anybody can do to support Israel, Jewish or not, leftist or conservative, Democrat or Republican, no matter where you live in the world, is to learn at least a little Hebrew so when someone goes out into the public sphere and blows themselves up screaming Alluah Akbar you are equipped to simply respond-L’Hitraot and have a cup of coffee.
“Methinks thou dost protest too much.”
What is that supposed to mean. I am not protesting at all. I am disciussing a number of issues one of which is how Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party took possession of state power in 1933 with the most serious of results, and I am seeking to learn the lessons of that. I said there were three main components that ensured the Nazis took state power, Stalinism, Social Democracy and the Catholic Church in general. All three are definitely guilty. You and Michael seem to understand no history and wish to keep us from learning it. This is a Jewish site so perhaps you would offer a view on that issue, I cannot think of any issue more serious for Jews than this one.
Methinks thou dost protest too much.
Well it did not take me too long to realize that you two guys are so crazily mixed up, and downright ignorant about historical facts, it is a waste of time trying to make any sense out of you.
This is the point, however. I personally am not going to allow any person to mix up Lenin and Trotsky with Stalin. This means a struggle on a very wide front today because there is a very large segment of the right which is doing this, and doing it consciously and systematically.
But to answer these people it is necessary to base the reply on history.
And when it is people tied to the Catholic Church who are attacking Marxism then I really do intend to go to town on this issue.
Most people do hate hypocrites and this is it. Hitler would NOT have taken power in Germany in 1933 without these three groups:
1. Stalinism
2. The Social Democracy (equivalent of present British Labour Party in Germany)
3. The Catholics in Germany in The Centre Party
Hitler did not come to power by magic or by any supernatural act. It was all totally and is totally understandable.
Moreover in Ireland, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Germany and others there was an important component of the Catholic Church which was Fascist. Have you not heard of the “Brown” Clergy in Germany?
So Mr Michael S. and Mr Chase the next time you try to spout about Marxism and Fascism being tied somehow together then remember I have lots more where this comes from!
Thanks.Although I am deeply NOT agnostic- (Doubt is a really the necessary precondition for any genuine faith so let the agnostics know that they’re at least halfway there- I actually wrote a paper on Faith and Doubt in a Psychology of Religion class in college once a long time ago) I usually don’t like to read from agnostics and atheists but I know about David Horowitz. I know the article you are recommending is not about making a case for or against agnosticism or any religious belief but rather his insights into the political and cultural realities of leftist politics vis-a-vis it’s desire to crush people who do have faith and in particular, like Ben Shapiro is also now talking about, it’s primacy in America to take Christianiy out first even before going for the Jews. Of course, Ben Shapiro is Orthodox so it’s pretty courageous and righteous for him to say so. I’ll read the article when I get a chance.I’m not in a position to get the book. Without even reading it, I know the necessity for all of us to keep praying. I do want to read the book too though.I was a high school math teacher for many years. I would sometimes say to my students though that prayer will help but you’d better study too.
@ David E Chase:
Hi, David
Felix is like a broken record, always returning to the same point and repeating. His thinking is revealed in sentences like,
“you seem to be saying that AOC is a Nazi, and the implication that Marxism is Nazism, or linked to it in some way.”
This all spun from:
” A. O. Cortez went further, calling capitalism “irredeemable”.”
Felix considers himself a Trotskyite; so to him, all roads lead back to the Fourth International of 1938. To his credit, he is pro-Israel.
I notice that Ted has posted an article by David Horowitz at
https://www.israpundit.org/david-horowitz-the-war-to-destroy-christian-america/
Mr. Horowitz is an agnostic, with a very clear vision of the things we’ve been talking about here. I highly recommend reading it.
Felix Quigley
There are so many long “sentences” here from Mr Chase, which are absent even a capital letter and full stop, terrible grammar, but above all are characterized by rambling “thinking”.
And…Mr Michael S is on a roll again.
But what on earth is this all about?:
“This is because of a deliberate attack on President Trump (as well as on Christians, and on Israel) by the media. It was Hillary Clinton who called Trump supporters “deplorables”. A. O. Cortez went further, calling capitalism “irredeemable”. These are incredibly big lies; but as Hitler said,
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.”
— “War Propaganda”, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925), by Adolf Hitler
This isn’t to say that der Führer is behind the attacks on the President, on Christians and on Israel. The prevalent opinion on Israpundit, in fact, is that the Christians themselves are somehow the perpetrators. Whatever the source, the attacks persist; and BECAUSE they persist, as Mein Kampf tells us, they are believed.” end quote
Mr Michael S. I have no idea what exactly you are saying here (as you utter the above in response to in particular AOC) except that you seem to be saying that AOC is a Nazi, and the implication that Marxism is Nazism, or linked to it in some way.” {By the way you are quite incapable of understanding the point that AOC has nothing whatsoever to do with Marx}
Why not cut out some of your verbiage (guff) Mr Michael S. and come straight to the point as you write this stuff?
But you are, sadly for you, on very shaky ground as you write on a JEWISH website because it was the Catholic Papacy and Hierarchy who supported the Nazis and Stalin made a pact with the Nazis. Stalin was denounced as a total enemy of Marxism by Leon Trotsky for doing so. But the Churches did support the Nazis, especially the Catholic Church.
Point to me where you have covered that the Catholic Church was an open advocate for the Nazis and for the Holocaust of the Jews? I would sure like to know.
Felix Quigley Said:
@ Felix Quigley:
You’re nuts.
@ Michael S:
You have not got the guts to face me in open debate, and all you can do is cut out a phrase or something out of context. The fact is that the Catholic Church has a large responsibility for the Holocaust. Do you and your mate Chase understand that much?
@ Felix Quigley:
“Mr Michael S. I have no idea what exactly you are saying here”
I noticed that.
There are so many long “sentences” here from Mr Chase, which are absent even a capital letter and full stop, terrible grammar, but above all are characterized by rambling “thinking”.
And…Mr Michael S is on a roll again.
But what on earth is this all about?:
“This is because of a deliberate attack on President Trump (as well as on Christians, and on Israel) by the media. It was Hillary Clinton who called Trump supporters “deplorables”. A. O. Cortez went further, calling capitalism “irredeemable”. These are incredibly big lies; but as Hitler said,
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.”
— “War Propaganda”, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925), by Adolf Hitler
This isn’t to say that der Führer is behind the attacks on the President, on Christians and on Israel. The prevalent opinion on Israpundit, in fact, is that the Christians themselves are somehow the perpetrators. Whatever the source, the attacks persist; and BECAUSE they persist, as Mein Kampf tells us, they are believed.” end quote
Mr Michael S. I have no idea what exactly you are saying here (as you utter the above in response to in particular AOC) except that you seem to be saying that AOC is a Nazi, and the implication that Marxism is Nazism, or linked to it in some way.” {By the way you are quite incapable of understanding the point that AOC has nothing whatsoever to do with Marx}
Why not cut out some of your verbiage (guff) Mr Michael S. and come straight to the point as you write this stuff?
But you are, sadly for you, on very shaky ground as you write on a JEWISH website because it was the Catholic Papacy and Hierarchy who supported the Nazis and Stalin made a pact with the Nazis. Stalin was denounced as a total enemy of Marxism by Leon Trotsky for doing so. But the Churches did support the Nazis, especially the Catholic Church.
Point to me where you have covered that the Catholic Church was an open advocate for the Nazis and for the Holocaust of the Jews? I would sure like to know.
@ David E Chase:
I don’t think “having fun” follows partisan lines. God has assigned limits to our “fun-making”, where our fun becomes someone else’s misery. Pointing accusing fingers about such matters, either towards ourselves or toward others, doesn’t seem to help matters a bit.
Forgetting Christian doctrine for a second, I figured out the real problem is that, for the left, having “fun” is deplorable and nowadays politically incorrect in and of itself. Hell hath no fury like a liberal who catches you having to much fun. Barbecues and beaches and Fourth of Julys are not to be brought up in any proper public discourse.
I don’t wish to be an “adorable” deplorable, a “proud” deplorable, a “repentant” deplorable or even just a “Trump” deplorable. I want to be a “deplorable” deplorable and just let the good times roll.
@ David E Chase:
Hi, David. You said,
“Why are people assuming something intrinsic about Trump that makes supporting his policies as not just deplorable but something deplorably sinful on top of that.”
This is because of a deliberate attack on President Trump (as well as on Christians, and on Israel) by the media. It was Hillary Clinton who called Trump supporters “deplorables”. A. O. Cortez went further, calling capitalism “irredeemable”. These are incredibly big lies; but as Hitler said,
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.”
— “War Propaganda”, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925), by Adolf Hitler
This isn’t to say that der Führer is behind the attacks on the President, on Christians and on Israel. The prevalent opinion on Israpundit, in fact, is that the Christians themselves are somehow the perpetrators. Whatever the source, the attacks persist; and BECAUSE they persist, as Mein Kampf tells us, they are believed.
You went on to say,
“Why can’t a Trump supporter be a PROUD deplorable without having to seek absolution for Trump’s past or present actual,or alledged sexual transgressions or other sins”
I wear the moniker with pride, as do most Trump supporters, because the one who called us “deplorable” is herself such a liar, cheat, self-seeker and betrayer of my country; and because Jesus himself has been called the worst of ephitets throughout history; but whether the slur is taken with pride or not, I admit to being indeed deplorable, in having sinned and fallen short of God’s high calling on me as His creation.
It’s 11:19 here — about time I went down for breakfast. Ciao.
If you combine the promotion of socialism with a potentially unchecked stealth Islamic Jihad from within with immigration, not for just terroristic reasons from hotbed countries, but from all Islamic countries through a quiet demographic takeover of the political landscape-which we see, and should take as a warning with the three muskateers now operating openly in Congress, which I believe could eventually legislate the Constitution out of existence- we may have the 50 United States but we’ll no longer have America.
By the way- if the left gets stuck looking in the mirror the only solution for them would be to realize that it is not the Trump supporting deplorables, but they themselves that need absolution and such an admission would NNE the beginning of the end of the excuse-ridden victimhood embraced mynthe left. So there is a need for Christian principles in any sovereign country that wants or expects its citizens to assume some personal responsibility for their lives. In a free society, where everything is possible, that can be very threatening prospect to those that are used to externalizing blame on others, something which is a precondition and necessary component of a racist society. Ralph Wald Emerson wrote about self-reliance as a precondition to happiness-or at least that was my interpretation, but if a victimhood society has too much freedom with it’s commensurate expectation of some self-reliance (Work instead of Welfare) the rebellion that ensues can be formidable. You’d have to wonder about the leaders?/politicians in charge that would suborn such behavior- where did they come from and what gives an Ivy League educated snob, who never held a real job, the right to be making public policy in a country where self-reliance is supposed to be fostered and encouraged and, again, with paychecks and the dignity it brings TRUMPS (that’s my favorite double entendres these days) entitlements and the Welfare state it creates. With popularity of the three new musketeers in Congress, we see how the attempt to foster dependency through socialism is at the core of bad parenting, teaching, and certainly any therapeutic process where, despite the love of a parent or the compassion of a therapist,it is sometimes necessary to expect the self-reliance necessary for the indepencevnecessarybfor any child, student, or patient to continue on on their own. It is a selfish and mean society that keeps it’s children and citizens downs perhaps because of their own selfish needs. That’s why conservatism is the only cure for the direction of dependency and self-destruction tbst’s taken footingnin America today as we see in the “mainstream?”Democratic Party embracing post-partum abortion’s and it’s inability to call an anti-Semitic spade a spade. It’s actually quite frightening. We need to be thankful to Trump no matter what our predelictions or thoughts are about his past, and I emphasize, “alledged” sins- either personally, professionally, or now politically that the left ONLY cares about.
Hi Michael, My comment was addressed to you, or should I say, your comment..In particular, the last paragraph, pointing out and stressing that Christian doctrine requires that people admit they are sinful deplorables in order to become Christians. However, why is it an a priori assumption that supporting Trump makes one automatically a deplorable sinner. Why are people assuming something intrinsic about Trump that makes supporting his policies as not just deplorable but something deplorably sinful on top of that. There is an inherent implication of some kind of admission of guilt or wrongdoing equivalent to some kind of original sin that requires a Trump,supporter to accept and atone for. Why can’t a Trump supporter be a PROUD deplorable without having to seek absolution for Trump’s past or present actual,or alledged sexual transgressions or other sins. The whole point of the political problem with Trump’s candidacy and now his presidency is the left’s inability to separate the two and, instead of focusing on the job he’s doing, accuse his supporters of being a supporter of a racist, sexist, xenaphobe which is really just an extreme counter phobic response to that aspect of Trump’s personal public personal persona that they can’t face in themselves. For Trump to succeed on policy means he gains relevance and credibility and keeps him in the public “limelight”which, although should only be political, because of the left’s obsession (which makes you wonder about THEM) with his past known transgressions means they need to get rid of that reminder at all costs-even America’s security.For them to give in to Trump on the wall, for example, despite it’s obscenely obvious need, means to give him a political victory which will solidify, not just his Presidency for eight years, but the Conservative movement for decades. And then the left would be stuck looking in the mirror for a very long time. They apparently are willing to sacrifice American lives with an open border rather than allow that to happen.
@ David E Chase:
Hi David.
I can’t tell whether or not your comment was addressed to me. If it was, I appreciate your endorsement. I’ll say a few more things here:
My comment above was in response for the OP’s title, talking about the “Sin of the Church”. Titles require very little time and effort to write; but I consider them to be perhaps the most important part of the article. Now I’d like to go into the body of the OP:
When the generalizations and too-brief history is set aside, the article seems to center on the Johnson Amendment to 501c3 status. (American) churches are criticized for submitting to this amendment which, theoretically, could inhibit free speech. In practice, I don’t know of this amendment ever having been invoked to chastise churches for endorsing political candidates. To the contrary, I was in a Black church on the South Side of Chicago during the 1980s, and watched the pastor openly UN-endorse a certain mayoral candidate.named Harold Washington.
Nothing ever came of that endorsement, nor was any fuss made in 1957, when 115 African-American ministers got together to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference — an overtly political organization which, it’s worthy of note, has itself been granted 501c3 status. In 2013, the scandal-ridden Dayton chapter lost its tax-exempt status, though, after the pastor failed for three years to file the required forms.
I think the reality is that tax laws, including the Johnson Amendment, have had little impact on how “political” a church becomes. The Southern Baptist Convention has been politically conservative for decades, though former Presidents Carter and Clinton have attempted to change this:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/jimmy-carter-makes-one-final-push-to-end-racism/484859/
The American Baptist Convention, on the other hand, is part of the World Council of Churches and is as liberal as they come.
I personally view President Trump’s efforts to repeal the Johnson Amendment, as a political ploy to win Evangelical support — just as President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the amendment in the first place, for political reasons. Having said that, I don’t doubt for a moment, President Trump’s depth and sincerity as a Christian — nor, for that matter, LBJ’s.
So much for the Christian churches and 501c3 status. It’s worthy of note, that not only Christian churches, but also Jewish synagogues and other religious institutions, all apply for and use this tax loophole; yet Delorenzo hasn’t accused any of them of “sinning”.
I appreciate the freedom I have in the USA, to practice my Christian religion — with or without the Johnson Amendment. My daughter does not have this much freedom in China.
That’s very good.
People who attend church services (and are therefore exposed to sermons) are more likely to live in states that supported Donald Trump for President:
https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/tulsaworld.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/82/18250233-3ce4-58f4-a8ea-ca21fc9736d7/551f0932c4c6a.image.jpg
If support for Trump is the “sin” Delorenzo is referring to, then he might have a point. Personally, I think of those advocating sin to be more on Hillary’s side.
Also, notice that the states most actively Christian are those where Baptists and Mormons predominate. By contrast, the author speaks of “the church” as though it’s a monolithic entity. Worldwide, “the” church is usually the Roman Catholic Church, as it has been since the early Middle Ages. I don’t know whether or not this has skewed his reasoning.
At any rate, I am a Christian, and am content to accept the label “Sinner”, along with “Deplorable”. Christian doctrine, after all, requires that people admit to being deplorable sinners in order to become Christians.
I bet the Muslims know they are tax exempt and don’t even apply for it.
Thanks Ted. Appreciate it. I actually believe that that was Sarah Palin’s real contribution to the conservative political discourse at the time. It initiated and validated not just an early “America First” agenda but an awareness of how faith had been replaced with a culture of progressive entitlements that got way out of hand and why even pro-Israel “Jewish”, but progressive Democrats, would rather vote for an Islamophile, closet Muslim, for President than pull the lever for a Republican ticket with the unapologetic Evangelical Christian Sarah Palin only second on the ticket. For that “Pro-Israel?” Jewish Democrat it was not Israel that determined his vote but a fear of his progressive being replaced or marginalized by any renewed Christian American values. No matter what anybody thinks of Sarah Palin’s intellect- and despite that the ticket lost, this was the best contribution made to American politic since Reaganism and paved the way for the “hedonistic” Trump to get elected. If Trump ran on the same MAGA agenda as an evangelical he never would have been able to even get his points across- and people who call him a racist miss out on the point that, even if he isn’t an evangelical Christian or practicing Catholic, he’s promoted the pro-American, pro-family values which are the necessarily pre-conditions to reestablishing the life-affirming, death-culture defying abortion on demand progressivism that has been the Jihad from within that the left has been conducting since the civil rights era. Now, he has to call out the Islamic stealth jihad that is using America’s progressive immigration to create the demographics which will elect Sharia-law compliant Congresspeople to slowly but surely replace the Constitution with Sharia law. And we see it happening already with the three musketeers already actually using the new-found push for socialism to grab the masses in order to create a voting block which, even if the Green New Deal is not enacted, will be able to pass laws allowing for the consideration of law in legal proceedings in more and more courts around the country. That’s thevthrest- the Green New Deal,is just a front. The country shouldn’t be too complacent when they vote and see these socialists in office thinking the Green New Deal won’t pass anyway because it’s the same socialist candidates that will willingly “legislate” the constitution as we know it out of existence- and THAT’S the real threat. And Jews voting for Obama in massive numbers was more of a repudiation of Christianity and a reversal of progressivism at Israel’s expense with the further, and far more dangerous consequences, of enabling the erosion, not just of traditionalism, but of the very Constitution itself- ifbthey don’t care about Israel they should at least care about that- but they’re simply probably either too stupid or too far gone to realize it. If they are willing to sacrifice Israel at the American ballot box, they’d better be willing to also sacrifice their Constitutional freedoms as well. It won’t be mutually exclusive.
@ David E Chase:
Very good comment, david.
Wow. Great article. Simply true. Very important. The apple cart Sarah Palin began to overturn. The 8 Obama years were a step back and sheer repudiation of that newfound, no longer so incipient, awareness, and Donald Trump, although maybe not a strict Catholic is achieving in policy what the Church failed at in placating to the Tex breaks dangled in front of them. It’s kind of funny that it will be Trump the sexist racist that might initiate and , turn around and validate Christian clergymen to reestablishing the values of the Churchnthe country was founded on and what the “progressive?” movement has attempted to subvert and replace for the last 50 years beginning with the 1970 Immigration Act to bring in immigrant voters so that they could vote the values of the Church out of existence with the monetary incentives of entitlements and tax breaks. Trump is actually going to lead the way for the resurgence of Church values, as well as all conservatism, upon which even progressives, when they wake up, realize are the value that the civil rights movement was trying to make available to them- and NOT a lifetime of handouts. We see in today as Blacks in America are more and more seeing that it is Trump, and not Biden or any other Democrat that is actually going to take them out of their shackles- and not put them back into- as the Democrats have continually claimed is the real Republican/Conservative agenda. As the Black community, in particular, begin to see that, the real shackles- the shackles of the Democratic Party will begin disintegrate into oblivion. And then , the Blsck community will have a real chance to enter “mainstream” America and fell pride in being, as they should be, not just a Black but American too. And then America will no longer be a racist country.