E4 – State – A Biblical View

Veto Voting on the Basis of Issues

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We need to stop disparaging our public officials

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #117 posted August 25, 2020, edited March 10, 2021.

On October 15, 1950, President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur met on Wake Island to discuss the Korean War. When General MacArthur treated President Truman with disrespect, the president severely rebuked the general and then said, ‘I don’t care what you think of Harry S. Truman, but don’t you ever again show disrespect for the President of the United States.’ Here, Mr. Truman demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of giving people in authority the respect due their office. Moreover, he had the support of Holy Scripture:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but from God; the powers that be are ordained by God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and those who resist shall receive for themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same, for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Therefore ye must be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. (KJ21 Romans 13:1-7)

This principle was drilled into me while I was on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. I and every other marine were required by custom to salute our superior officers and address them as “sir” whether or not we thought that they personally deserved it. We did so willingly because we understood that, when we did so, we ensured that our Corps could function as a fraternal unit – i.e. a band of brothers. We would overcome adversity together.

When someone disrespects, let alone vilifies, a public official – particularly the occupant of the highest office in the land – he is hurting our country because he is impeding the official’s attempt to govern as best he can. In addition, he is sowing seeds of disunity and hatred that will soon bear evil fruit. If he does not like the way the official governs, he should cast his vote for someone else at the next election.

Unfortunately, our two most recent presidents have set poor examples in this respect.

President Donald Trump regularly attaches nicknames to his adversaries, like Rocket Man or Pocahontas. These nicknames ridicule their subjects, and they are all the more deadly because they are funny and stick like glue. Alas, whenever I see one of them on TV, I remember the person’s nickname and chuckle.

In a nationally broadcast speech on August 20, 2020, former president Barack Obama made the following comment regarding his successor, a sitting president. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously, that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did. For close to four years now, he has shown no interest in putting in the work.” The irony of this particular comment is that Mr. Obama has spent the last four years working tirelessly to make it as impossible for Mr. Trump to do his job as possible.

These public displays of disrespect for a public official are exactly the kind of behavior for which President Truman rebuked General MacArthur, and which I identified in my blog last week, Veto Voting, as the 8^th criterion that dissuades me from voting for a candidate for public office, particularly the office of the President of the United States.

One of the hallmarks of honorable men and women is the ability to control their tongues. All of us are tempted to lash out at others on a regular basis, but the Holy Scripture warns:

… we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a great fire, a world of unrighteousness” (ESV James 3:2-6).

If we wish to leave our country in the hands of honorable men and women, we must show our children and grandchildren how to behave honorably. We must bridle our tongues and give public officials the honor and respect which are due them.

Veto Voting

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #116 posted August 14, 2020; edited March 10, 2021.

“Veto Voting” is my term for voting against candidates who are running for public office – not for them.

Last week, I pointed out that, for over a century, our nation has been turning away from God and increasingly disregarding his commandments. Not surprisingly, it is now suffering from troubles of every kind (many of which are mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:15-67) to the point where I see it falling apart in plain sight. Nonetheless, the majority of us seem blind to what is going on – particularly elected officials in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, who have been diluting our laws and law-enforcement to the point that nearly anything goes. Worse, we have begun calling evil good and good evil, which can only earn us more woes.^[i]

For the last forty years, I have recognized that, if our nation is going to survive, we must turn away from our wicked ways and start honoring God and obeying his commandments. Unfortunately, during this period, I have experienced increasing difficulty finding candidates for public office of whom I can approve wholeheartedly, and I have not voted in favor of a candidate in many decades. Rather, I have voted against the least desirable candidates. Thus, my criteria for voting are formulated as negatives.

Regardless of how impressive a candidate for public office seems, he or she will not dissuade me from any of the following, which I regard as plain common sense:

First, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing – let alone legalizing – abortion. If he or she does not know that every baby in a woman’s womb is a unique human being^[ii] from conception onward, and thus that abortion is murder, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.^[iii]

Second, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing, let alone legalizing same-sex marriage. If he or she does not know (a) that God made humans male and female to complement one another and fit together physically, mentally, and spiritually, (b) that God instituted marriage as a sacred rite in which a man and a woman commit themselves before God, relatives, and friends to maintain a loving and life-long relationship, and (c) that God established the family as the social unit within which the married couple can, while delighting and supporting one another, procreate, raise, educate, and train children to become God-fearing, responsible, and productive adults, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Third, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing, let alone legalizing parenting by same-sex couples. If he or she does not know that children need the love, attention, and mentoring of both a father and a mother in order to grow into normal, masculine men and normal, feminine women, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Fourth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing – let alone legalizing – sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman. As I have indicated above, God has roundly condemned such behavior. If he or she does not know that these activities are (a) detrimental to individuals, families, and communities and (b) represent an open invitation to God to pour out his wrath on the society that permits them,^[iv] he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Fifth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of penalizing individuals, businesses, or institutions that refuse to deal with those who break God’s laws – e.g. providing health-insurance coverage for abortions, making pastries for or catering at same-sex weddings, treating biological boys or men as females, or meeting any other demands of the enforcers of “political correctness.” If he or she does not know that such punishment is an egregious miscarriage of justice, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Sixth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of allowing – let alone legitimizing illegal aliens – i.e. anyone who enters or is brought into the country by others without formal permission from immigration officials who are acting in accordance with federal immigration laws.^[v] If he or she does not know that a nation cannot exist without secure borders, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Seventh, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who is in favor of judicial activism – i.e. the practice whereby judges ignore the plain meaning of a law’s text and the obvious intentions of the law-makers who enacted it, and then interpret the laws of the land – in particular the U.S. Constitution – as he or she pleases – e.g. the Supreme Court’s astounding discovery of a hitherto unnoticed “penumbra” in our constitution that grants women the right to kill their own children.^[vi] If he or she does not know that “interpreting law” is equivalent to “creating law,” which is the prerogative of the legislature alone, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

Eighth, I regard as unqualified for public office anyone who engages in or encourages others to engage in disrespecting and maligning the occupants of public office at federal, state, and municipal levels – thereby frustrating their ability to govern. If he or she does not know that citizens of this country must always draw a sharp distinction between a public office and the person who holds it, he or she is not fit for public responsibility, let alone governing.

The foregoing criteria are not comprehensive, but they address the issues that are most responsible for the conflicts that are tearing our country apart. Thus, they are sufficient for determining the least qualified candidates for senior offices in federal, state, and municipal elections. I urge you to join me in veto-voting to ensure that such candidates lose.

[i] Isaiah 5:20.

[ii] There are no duplicate entities in Universe. Entities may share a common concept or design, which is an abstraction and only exists in the minds of thinking beings, but entities cannot share a common substance, which is concrete and occupies a unique position in the space-time continuum that is Universe. Thus, no two inorganic objects, such as drops of water, grains of sand, or snowflakes, are exactly alike, and no two organic objects (creatures), such as animals, birds, fish, humans, insects, etc., are exactly alike. The real world which we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is unique in every aspect. Thus, the space-time position in Universe that I entered at my conception and will leave at my death will never be replicated – in the past, in the present, or in the future. Only God and I know what it is like. That is why only God, who is my creator and sustainer, can also be my ultimate judge.

[iii] See Genesis 1:27; Job 31:15; Psalms 8:5-7, 22:10, 127:3-5, & 139:13-16; Isaiah 49:15; and Jeremiah 1:5.

[iv] See Leviticus 18:24-28; Romans 1:32; 1 Corinthians 6:9; and Ephesians 5:6-12. People who possess sinful sexual desires often try to justify their giving in to those desires by claiming that the Bible was written thousands of years ago, and that the men who wrote it were archaic, patriarchal, intolerant, etc. They should pay attention to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:17-19.

[v] If a person is willing to break the law in order to enter our country, he or she will not be loath to break our laws after getting here.

[vi] The Roe vs. Wade ruling astonished even some pro-abortionists among the legal fraternity, and it has been responsible for the slaughter of well over 70 million, helpless infants by a variety of gruesome methods. They have been scalded with saline solution, dismembered with scalpels, and beheaded with vacuum suction. Even worse, their remains have not been given a respectful burial, but instead have been sold by the abortionists to manufacturers of medicines and beauty lotions. The entire process must create an unholy stench which reaches up to high Heaven and demands vengeance from our Creator, who has a soft-spot in his heart for little children – Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me…” (KJ21 Mark 10:14).

Decline of a Nation

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #115 posted August 7, 2020, edited March 10, 2021.

Whether you believe it or not, (a) God exists,^[i] (b) God created Universe and exercises sovereignty over his creation and his creatures,^[ii] and (c) God hates sin^[iii] and punishes sinful nations in this life^[iv] and sinful individuals in both this life^[v] and the next life – specifically on the “day of judgment.” ^[vi]

You are undoubtedly familiar with God’s rules for individuals, the Ten Commandments, which can be found in Exodus 20:1-17. I summarize them as follows:

01 – You shall not put any god or person above God himself.

02 – You shall not make and worship idols.

03 – You shall not use God’s name disrespectfully, as well as engage in blasphemy, obscenities, and profanity.

04 – You shall not neglect to keep the sabbath holy.

05 – You shall not dishonor and neglect your parents,

06 – You shall not murder others, including babies in their mothers’ wombs.

07 – You shall not engage in forbidden sexual behavior, such as adultery, bestiality, bisexualism, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, pedophilia, and transgenderism.

08 – You shall not steal.

09 – You shall not bear false-witness against others.

10 – You shall not covet your neighbors’ possessions or spouses.

Regarding nations, the Bible indicates that God “…made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (ESV Acts 17:26). Moreover, God instituted national governments to maintain order by creating and enforcing laws which prohibit behavior that he has identified as evil-doing, such as the ten commandments above. In fact, the Bible indicates that God intends governmental officials to be terrors to law-breakers who engage in such behavior.^[vii] In addition, the Bible indicates that, if a nation starts allowing – let alone legalizing – behavior which God’s statutes proscribe, he ceases blessing it and starts cursing it (see Deuteronomy 28:15-67) .

What would a nation under God’s curses look like? Well, I have lived long enough so that my early years fell in the 1940s and 1950s and my twilight years are falling in the 2020s. From my perspective, I would say that such a nation would look like the United States today, which my parents’ generation would not recognize. Here is what I see happening:

Built environments are becoming increasingly inhuman as city planners work assiduously to replace local, friendly small-town neighborhoods with uniform, blocks of urban sprawl by allowing and even encouraging developers to tear down small, attractive, brick and stone buildings containing intimate, mom-and-pop shops and restaurants that have been there for generations and to erect large, glass & steel, apartment and office towers containing impersonal, corporate banking, fast-food, and retail outlets that can be found everywhere in the world.

Cultural decadence is becoming ubiquitous, (a) with architecture, dance, drama, drawing, literature, music, painting, and sculpture become increasingly decadent, dissonant, ugly, & unsettling, (b) with journalism replacing factual reporting with character assassination, fake news, & propaganda, and (c) with schools replacing education with social engineering, as well as inculcating in their students disrespect for the religion of their parents and the founders of our country, which holds that our Creator decides what is right and wrong, and respect for atheistic humanism, which holds that Mankind should decide what is right and wrong for himself.

Economic distress is increasing, (a) with the value of our currency plummeting, thereby causing price inflation, loss of savings, and increase in individual, corporate, & governmental debt, (b) with speculation in financial instruments replacing investment in productive enterprises, (c) with corporate raiders dismantling companies, selling off their assets, debasing the quality of their products, laying off their employees, increasing their debt to the maximum, siphoning off their cash, selling their stock, and then walking away from the crippled enterprises, whose quick decline and demise are inevitable, (d) with company owners and executives moving jobs overseas, reducing domestic operations to a minimum, and eliminating local tax payments and employment, which leads to the impoverishment of entire communities, (e) with massive increases in unemployment, and (f) with incentives to work disappearing as government transfers ever more money from productive citizens to welfare dependents.

Governmental dysfunction is increasing, (a) with federal, state, and municipal politicians enriching themselves with public funds, (b) with out-of-control spending at every level of government, (c) with burning, looting, & rioting in our streets, (d) with foreign immigrants being admitted who neither speak English nor have any experience with democratic republicanism and may even hate our country, (d) with tolerance of wide-spread theft by foreign agents of the nation’s intellectual capital in both the arts and the sciences, (e) with continuous involvement in costly and unwinnable foreign wars, and finally (d) with an ongoing invasion of foreign immigrants, many of whom are terrorists, and (e) with the rising threat of outright attack by enemy military forces using cyber and missile warfare.

Natural calamities are increasing in number and severity, such as air & water pollution, drought & crop-failure, earthquakes, grass & forest fires, insect & vermin infestations, ocean, river, & stream flooding, rain, snow, ice, & wind storms that devastate the land and destroy real property, and pestilences that strike at both humans and animals.

Infrastructure failures are increasing, such as bridges falling down, dams and water mains springing leaks, roads and highways crumbling, power-plants becoming obsolete, trains jumping their tracks, and tunnels imploding.

Social pathologies are proliferating, (a) with people alone and in groups exhibiting incivility, hostility, hatred, intolerance, & self-righteousness, (b) with criminals engaging in assault, battery, bribery, fraud, extortion, maiming, murder, & theft, (c) with addicts succumbing to alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, etc., and (d) with families collapsing under the impact of feminism, gender confusion, same-sex marriage, sexual immorality, and substance abuse.

For over a century, our nation has been turning away from God and increasingly disregarding his commandments Not surprisingly, it is now suffering from troubles of every kind (many of which are mentioned in Deuteronomy 28:15-67 to the point where I see it falling apart in plain sight. Nonetheless, the majority of us seem blind to what is going on – particularly elected officials in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, who have been diluting our laws and law-enforcement to the point that nearly anything goes. Worse, we have begun calling evil good and good evil, which can only earn us more woes.^[viii]

Fellow Americans, we need to wake up! There is still time to reverse course, and the following verse tells us how to do so: : “…if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sins, and will heal their land” (KJ21 2 Chronicles 7:14). We need to become God’s people again, honoring him, obeying his commandments. and asking for his mercy, which is “abundant in loving-kindness to all who call upon [him]” (Psalm 86:5).

[i] God exists in a tri-unity that consists of three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).

[ii] God-the-Father designed Universe and wrote Universe’s script; God-the-Son made Universe and manages Universe in struct accordance with the Father’s instructions; and God-the-Holy Spirit energized Universe and breathes life into Universe’s flora and fauna

[iii] Deuteronomy 25:16, Psalms 7:11-13, 45:7.

[iv] Deuteronomy 28.

[v] Leviticus 26:14-30,

[vi] 2 Peter 2:9, 3:7, Revelation 14:10-11..

[vii] Romans 13:7.

[viii] Isaiah 5:20.

The ultimate irony

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #099 posted July 29, 2019, edited March 10, 2021.

During the Cold War, the USA’s leaders were still under the influence of Christianity to the point where Congress passed and President Eisenhower approved on July 30, 1956 a joint resolution to inscribe “In God We Trust” on the nation’s currency. At the same time, they were roundly condemning the Soviet Union’s leaders for (a) imposing atheism on the land it controlled, (b) abusing other nations, and (c) seeking to dominate the world. Now, the USA’s leaders are under the influence of Godless Secularism and are (a) imposing atheism on the land it controls, (b) abusing other nations and (c) seeking to dominate the world, and they are condemning Russia for showing signs of being God-fearing and motivated by Christian rather than secular values in their international relations and behavior.

A – Christianity role in each nation’s founding and formation

Both Russia and the USA were formed by Christianity, but in quite different ways.

A1 – Christianity in Russia

Russia was pagan until the 9^th century AD, when Greek missionaries from Byzantium introduced Christianity into Kievan Rus. In the 10^th century, Olga of Kiev visited Constantinople, where she was baptized. Although the rulers who followed her remained pagans, Tsar Vladimir the Great decided in the late 10^th century that Russia needed a national religion that could bring with it unity, civility, and morals that fortified the realm and the family. He received representatives of several religions in Kiev and then sent out envoys to study lands that lived under Greek Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, and Roman Orthodoxy. After listening to their reports, Vladimir settled on Greek Orthodoxy, was baptized himself, and then insisted that residents in the urban cities of his empire undergo mass baptism. Thus began what became the Russian Orthodox Church.

For the next ten centuries, Russian Orthodoxy served as the national religion. It populated the land with beautifully designed cathedrals, churches, monasteries for both monks and nuns, and sacred shrines, all of which were furnished with beautiful iconography, illuminated manuscripts, bejeweled golden cups, saucers, plates, and crucifixes, and intricately carved wooden furniture and reredoses. Here, priests robed in finery and surrounded by clouds of incense conducted the rituals that sanctified the special events of family, communal, and national life, such as baptisms, marriages, burials, investitures of public officials, and coronations of the tsars.

Then in the early 20^th century, Lenin and his Bolsheviks seized control of the country and, following the dictates of Marx, did their best to extinguish Christianity throughout Russia and replace it with atheism. Believers were stigmatized, persecuted, and exterminated, churches were converted to other uses or destroyed, and church contents, such as historic icons, manuscripts, and religious artifacts and furnishings were moved into museums or warehouses. Upon Lenin’s death and Stalin’s rise to power, the war on Christianity continued and produced the greatest atrocities in history thus far. It is estimated that Stalin was responsible for starving twenty million Christians to death in the Ukraine alone.

Russian Christianity survived, however, and, during the era of Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika (political and economic reform) and glasnost (openness) c.1986-1991, began a slow revival. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, religious freedom returned to the country, and Russian nationalists identified the Russian Orthodox Church as a major element of Russian culture. Churches were renovated, and their former contents that had survived were returned to their original locations. Moreover, although Russian Orthodoxy remained predominate, it was joined by Roman Catholicism and several strains of Protestantism.

Since his inauguration as Russian president in 2000, Vladimir Putin has often attended church services and exhibited a positive disposition toward Christianity’s revival throughout the country. It is difficult to assess the depth of his personal faith, but he has clearly indicated that a faith in God and an observance of Christian morals is important to the health and strength of mother Russia.

A2 – Christianity in the USA

Christianity arrived in Northern America from many European sources, the most important of which were the following: the Spanish explorers under Christopher Columbus in the late 15^th century; the Spanish conquistadors and settlers in Florida and southern California in the early 17^th century; the British colonists in Virginia and the Pilgrims and Puritans in Massachusetts also in the early 17^th century; and the French colonists (a) along the waterways from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the east to Lake Superior in the west and (b) along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the late 17^th century. Because these Europeans were always advancing into uncultivated grasslands and virgin forests, often occupied by either dangerous animals or hostile Indians or both, the churches which they built tended to be austere, lacking in either impressive architecture or sumptuous furnishings. Services were conducted by itinerant preachers or by local pastors or laymen and consisted mostly of hymn-singing, corporate prayer, and Bible-study.

Due to the many Christian sects that existed in America at the time, the founders of the USA in the late 18^th century inserted in the Constitution a clause that forbade the federal government from interfering in religion in any way.[1] It is important to note, however, that this clause was not intended to separate Church and State, as so many secularists maintain today, but only to prevent the federal government from adopting one of the Christian sects as the national religion and forcing the states and individuals to observe it; the states and individuals were left free to adopt the sects which they preferred. Unfortunately the multiplication of Christian sects of every kind eventually led to the acceptance of every kind of religion, including atheism, which denies that God exists and argues that man himself is sovereign over the world.

A3 – Differences between Russian and American Christianity.

Paul Grenier, an essayist and founder of the Simone Weil Center for Political Philosophy, has written two articles for The American Conservative (TAC) that I find germane to the issue that I am discussing.

Grenier wrote an article for TAC’s January/February 2017 issue entitled, “The Legitimate Differences,” in which he points out that Russia and the United States have focused on very different aspects of Christianity. “American Protestantism embraces individualism and is open to change; in many ways it has hitched its cart to the modernization project.[2] Russian Orthodox Christianity uses virtually the same liturgy today as it has for hundreds of years…. Russian spirituality is oriented to what is timeless and to beauty. American spirituality is oriented to the future and to rights.”

Although Grenier’s observations on the differences between Russian and American “spirituality” are apt to a point, I would express them differently. From the beginning, Russian leaders were interested in the ability of a national religion – specifically Russian Orthodoxy – to infuse the national culture with spirituality and uniformity.[3] Also from the beginning, American leaders were wary of a national religion because so many of them had experienced at first hand the abuses of a national religion under the heavy hand of monarchs like King Henry the Eighth of England. Thus, they emphasized Christianity’s salvific and transforming effects on the individual, partly because of the centrality of Christ’s Gospel to Christianity, but also partly, I think, because of the founders’ exclusion of the federal government from the religious realm.[4] As a result, it seems to me that, broadly speaking, Russian Christianity emphasizes the relationship between God and the community, and American Christianity emphasizes the relationship between God and the individual.

A4 – Religious developments in the 20^th century

While the Russian atheists were trying to eradicate Christianity with the sword during the communist era (1917-1991), American atheists were infiltrating the critical institutions of American society (foundations, media outlets, political parties, private schools and universities, and state public schools with the intention of seizing control of them and using them to unseat Christianity from its prominent and preferential place in American life. The two campaigns have had opposite effects.

The campaign in Russia failed, and since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Christianity has experienced a revival in the land.

The campaign in the USA, which is still on-going, has experienced remarkable success, to the point that (a) Secular Humanism has replaced Christianity as the preferred religion, and (b) Secular Humanists feel free to despise, disparage, and dismiss Christianity and Christians at every opportunity. Moreover, if what has transpired in history is any indication, their destruction may be just around the corner. That success has come at a terrible price, however, as the culture which Secular Humanism has produced is decadent and disgusting in the extreme,[5] as well as increasingly unable to make common sense distinctions between good and evil, male and female, truth and falsehood, historic facts and fables, science and scientism, etc.

B – The impact of the above on foreign relations

B1 – Current Russian and American approaches to foreign affairs

Grenier wrote another article for TAC’s January/February 2018 issue entitled “A Conference in Moscow,” in which he describes a symposium that he attended in Moscow. Its purpose was to discuss and possibly identify the root causes underlying the current hostility between Russian and the USA. Its attendees were highly intelligent and well informed men of some distinction. Thus, it provides me with an excellent example with which to make my point.

Apparently one of the conferences attendees, Paul Robinson, Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, set the framework for the discussion as follows. He drew a sharp distinction between the expectations with which the two nations approach formulating foreign policy. I will characterize the distinction as follows:

• Russia proceeds on the basis that there should be one set rules that govern its interactions with all other nations and that the objective of its diplomacy should be agreement between it and other nations concerning what those rules should be.

• The USA, on the other hand, proceeds on the basis that there should be two sets of rules and that, because it is preeminent in world affairs, it has the right – and the duty – to establish what they should be and to whom they should apply. The first applies to nations that exhibit the proper degree of subservience to the USA and at least some willingness to amend their stance on individual human rights in order to conform to the USA’s views on the subject. They will be treated as valuable – although junior – partners to whom civility and even friendship are owed. The second applies to nations that refuse to exhibit the proper degree of subservience to the USA and put the needs of their communities above the rights of their individual citizens. Such nations, I would add, can be treated as implacable enemies to whom incivility and even hostility can be shown. Even worse, they may be isolated, undermined, attacked, and even destroyed without significant moral pangs.

B2 – The irony in the current situation

As the title of this essay states, the ultimate irony in this situation is that, to a great extent, Russian and the USA have switched places. The USA is now doing everything that we condemned Russia for doing in the 1950s.

B3 – What each nation can expect

When I compare the Russian and American approaches to foreign policy, two things strike me.

• Neither nation’s leaders are considering that God’s sole criterion for blessing or cursing a nation is whether or not it is honoring God and his commandments (see my blog of July 22, 2019). They share the erroneous assumption that a nation’s treatment of God has nothing to do with its peace and prosperity. Thus, to use a naval metaphor, I will state categorically that they are polishing the brass on their respective ships of state while those ships are steaming full speed ahead into harm’s way.

• The USA is worse off than the Russians. If Professor Robinson’s descriptions are accurate, Russia’s approach to foreign affairs is somewhat reasonable, equitable, and peaceable, whereas the USA’s approach, is definitely arrogant, self-serving, and belligerent. I still cringe whenever I think of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s reference in 1998 to the USA as the world’s “indispensable nation.” Since then I imagine that many other nations have become tired of Americans constantly preaching to them, meddling in their internal affairs, and even coercing them with economic and military sanctions. I wouldn’t blame them if they now regard the USA as the world’s “dispensable nation.”

Americans, particularly Americans in leadership positions, need to remember the warning in KJV Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall….” We had better wake up soon or we will suddenly find our country in shambles. In fact, in many respects we are already there. Read the passages in Deuteronomy 28 concerning God’s curses on a nation that dishonors and disobeys him (verses 15-68) and then just look around you.

[1] Few Americans today have studied the Constitution and realize that it has one objective – limiting the powers of the federal government so that it cannot curtail the freedoms or frustrate the wills of the states and individual citizens in any way. Unfortunately, under the influence of presidents like Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson and Supreme Court justices like Earl Warren, most of what goes on in Washington today is unconstitutional. The city is filled with people who think they know better than the American people themselves how the affairs of the nation should be conducted – to say nothing of their desire and determination to become rich and powerful at the taxpayers’ expense.

[2] Indeed. The desire to appear au courant and comfortably aligned with modern science and scholarship has caused many clergymen to doubt first the Bible’s inerrancy and then the Bible’s authority, at which point they have left the narrow and difficult path that leads to life and moved over to the wide and easy path that leads to destruction (see Matthew 7:13-14). Worse, the majority of their congregants have followed after them, and much of what is still called “American Christianity” is now apostate.

[3] The individual’s need for Christ’s atonement for his or her sin took back seat.

[4] What American Christianity stressed was the Christian Gospel.

[5] I include in this indictment all forms of artistic expression, such as architecture, cinema, dance, designer-dress, drama, literature, music, painting, photography, sculpture, etc., as well as every day language in both public and private settings.

The only way a nation can enjoy peace and prosperity

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #098 posted July 22, 2019, edited March 10, 2021.

A nation’s peace and prosperity depends on whether or not it honors God and obeys his commandments – not on any other factors, such as its internal polity and productivity or its external diplomacy and trade.

1 – God’s rules for individuals

In Genesis 1-2, God makes it very clear that he defines what is good and what is evil – not humans. Later in Exodus, he inscribes his rules for individuals (Exodus 20:1-17) on two stone tablets with his finger, and then he gives the tablets to Moses (Exodus 31:18). The rules or commandments can be divided into two groups, probably one group to each tablet:

• Commandments 1-5 govern the manner in which he expects us to relate to him: (1) we must honor and obey God; (2) we must not fabricate and worship idols; (3) we must not blaspheme or use profanities and obscenities; (4) we must observe the Sabbath, ideally congregating with others to praise him, pray to him, and attend to his Word, the Holy Scriptures; and (5) we must honor our parents because he chose them to conceive us and to exercise his authority over us as they raise us.

• Commandments 6-10 indicates the manner in which he expects us to relate to one another: (6) we must not murder one another; (7) we must not commit adultery or otherwise be sexually impure; (8) we must not steal from one another; (9) we must not bear false witness against one another; and (10) we must not covet one another’s spouse or possessions.

Humans may make the rules for chess, Parcheesi, or the Olympic Games, but we cannot change the rules that govern our treatment of God and one another.

2 – Christ’s Gospel

Our problem is that none of us can keep the above ten commandments, which explains the need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which consists of

• The bad news that all of us are sinners and in need of an atonement for our sins which satisfies God, because the best of our intentions and good works are not sufficient to do so, and

• The good news that God will accept his Son’s death on the cross in 33 AD as sufficient atonement for our sins if we accept his Son as our Savior and Lord. Only by accepting Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish Messiah, as our Lord and Savior can we receive the awakening of our spirits by the Holy Spirit and enjoy a righteous and eternal relationship with God.

Three points regarding the above are worth stressing:

• We have only two choices. God intends to resurrect all of us on the Last Day to either (a) an eternity in heaven with God or (b) an eternity in hell without God. There are no other alternatives.

• We cannot just act like Christians – i.e. by merely attending church, participating in its rites and rituals, and supporting it with our time, talents, and treasure.[1] We must individually undergo a change of heart, which involves (a) ruing, confessing, and repenting[2] of our sins to God and to one another when appropriate, and (b) openly acknowledging God’s sovereignty over our bodies, minds and spirits for the rest of our lives.

…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all who call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (KJ21 Romans 10:9-13)

Obvious signs of our having done so are (a) acknowledging and turning away from our previous, sinful behavior, (b) showing concern and love for others, particularly for fellow saints,[3] and (c) demonstrating love and reverence for God’s Word, the Bible.

• All of the foregoing is based on God’s promises in the Holy Scriptures, which we can trust completely because “…Scripture cannot be broken” (KJ21 John 10:35).

3 – God’s rule for nations

Now there is a startling difference between God’s rules for individuals and God’s rules for nations. He has set down ten rules for individuals, but only one rule for nations in the form of a choice between two alternatives.[4] To Israel, he said in Deuteronomy 28 – and I paraphrase – ‘If you honor me and obey my commandments, I will bless you in every respect – such as when your are coming in and when you are going out. If you dishonor me and disobey my commandments, however, I will curse you in every respect – such as when your are coming in and when you are going out.’ In other words, Israel’s well-being, both internally and externally, depends on nothing other than its treatment of God and his commandments. Since God intended that Israel be an example to the Gentile nations, his policy toward Israel applies to them as well.

4 – How should a nation honor God?

How should a nation honor God and his commandments? First, its laws should conform to his laws, prohibiting what his laws prohibit and permitting what his laws permit. Second, each public event should start with a prayer, (a) praising him for his greatness, goodness, and mercy, (b) thanking him for his past and present blessings, (c) confessing the nation’s transgressions against his laws, as and when appropriate, as well as asking for his help in avoiding such transgressions in the future, and (d) invoking his blessings on the purposes of the event about to begin.[5]

Since the early first century AD, there has been some divine clarification in what it means to honor God, which has to do with the identity of the Lord. When, just before the beginning of His ministry in 30 AD, John the Baptist baptized Jesus, a voice from heaven spoke, saying “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (KJ21 Matthew 3:16; see also Mark 1:11, and Luke 3:21). Then, during His ministry, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (KJ21 John 14:6). Later in His ministry, when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain top, a voice out of the clouds said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him!” (KJ21 Matthew 17:5; see also Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28, John 35:37, and 2 Peter 1:17). Finally, after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Paul wrote of Him:

And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death – even the death on the cross. Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (KJV Phil 2:8-11 ).

Clearly, God-the-Father has indicated that honoring God and obeying his commandment means honoring and obeying Jesus, who is God-the-Son, Israel’s Messiah, Israel’s Prophet, Priest, and King, and the world’s “…blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15).

* * *

Most nation’s operate on the assumption that a nation’s treatment of God has nothing to do with its peace and prosperity. Their leaders focus their attention and efforts on the following aspects of their nation’s life:

• Its relations with other nations,

• Its currency, both its issuance and its protection from counterfeiting and devaluation,

• Its defense against aggression by its neighbors, and, all too often, a bigger nation’s assault on its smaller neighbors,

• Its administration of justice by its courts,

• Its management of its commons (publicly owned land),

• Its ability to feed itself,

• Its commerce, both among its citizens and with other nations,

• Its labor force, both its fair treatment and its health,

• Its built-up areas, particularly the planning and management of its dense urban areas and its publicly owned housing,

• Its transportation systems, such as airports, bridges, canals, highways, railways, rivers, and tunnels,

• Its energy supplies,

• Its medical and retirement provisions for its citizens,

• Its education of its children,

• Its care of its veterans,

• Its safety from illegal immigrants and malevolent terrorists, etc.

All these aspects of a nation’s life[6] are important to a nation’s peace and prosperity, but how well the nation’s citizens attend to them is not the controlling factor in their outcome. God is the controlling factor. He blesses or curses their outcome based on whether or not the nation honors him and his commandments. Thus, nations ignore God at their peril. As the Bible warns us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (KJ21 Hebrews 10:31).

Indeed, to use a naval metaphor, most nations’ leaders are doing nothing more than polishing the brass on their respective ships of state while those ships are steaming full speed ahead into harm’s way.

[1] G.K. Chesterton is credited with observing that “Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car.”

[2] Turning away from….

[3] The biblical definition of a saint is a sinner who acknowledges Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord – not someone whom any church has canonized.

[4] Probably because individuals will be judged finally in eternity (or outside Universe), whereas nations are judged in time (or inside Universe).

[5] All of the foregoing were commonplace in the USA prior to the 1960s.

[6] I have enumerated the foregoing at some length because I want to stress the difference between what most man and women regard as important and what God regards as import.

A lesson regarding public charity

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #042 posted April 24, 2017, edited March 9, 2021.

Preamble

During the 20^th century, the idea took hold that public charity – i.e. the use of public funds for private benefit – is a legitimate function of federal, state, and municipal governments. Now in the 21^st century, few people question this idea. Indeed most people regard the claim that public charity is an illegitimate function of any level of government as preposterous. Such was not always the case.

In his biography of Davy Crockett, Edward S. Ellis gives an account of a meeting between Crockett and Horatio Bunce. At the time, probably 1831, Crockett was a congressional representative from Tennessee. Seeking reelection for another term, he was traveling through his congressional district and talking to his constituents. Bunce was a simple farmer and one of those constituents. Bunce indicated that he would not be voting for Crockett in the future and explained why. During his previous term, Crockett had apparently voted in favor of the federal government providing support to a private person. Bunce predicted that, once the federal government started down the road of dispensing public charity, what had begun as a trickle would become a torrent.

Later Crockett credited Bunce’s remarks with causing him to reverse his position with respect to public charity. I will let those remarks speak for themselves and avoid further comment – except to say (a) that the US Constitution is the Law of the land, (b) that the U.S. Constitution does not give to any branch of the federal government the power to dispense public funds to private entities, (c) that the Bible admonishes us to obey the laws of duly constituted civil government, and (d) that, in view of the excerpt from the Congressional Research Service Report below regarding federal spending in 2011- six years ago; the situation is far worse today – Bunce’s prediction of the future of public charity was remarkably prescient.

Horatio Bunce’s Remarks to Davy Crockett[1]

…I know who you are; you are Colonel Crockett, I have seen you once before and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine. I shall not vote for you again.

Colonel, it is hardly worthwhile to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows either you have no capacity to understand the Constitution or that you are wanting in honesty and firmness to be guided by it.

In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it in that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting or wounding you.

I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the Constitution is different from mine; and I will say to you what, but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest….but an understanding of the Constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth having, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the more honest he is.

Though I live here in the back woods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by a fire in Georgetown.

It’s not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing to do with the question. The power of collection and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is, the more he pays in proportion to his means.

What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he.

If you had the right to give him anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20 million as $20,000. If you have the right to give to one, you have the right to give to all; and, as the Constitution neither defines nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you believe, or profess to believe, is a charity, and to any amount you may think proper.

You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose.

If twice as many houses had been burned in this district as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about 240 members of congress.

If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week’s pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men in and around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even one luxury of life. The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditable. And the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from the necessity of giving by giving what was not yours to give.

The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.

So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt that you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.

Excerpts from the
Congressional Research Service Report on Welfare Spending[2]

Ranking Member Sessions and the minority staff of the Senate Budget Committee requested from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) an overview of cumulative means-tested federal welfare spending in the United States in the most recent year for which data is available (fiscal year 2011). The results are staggering. CRS identified 83 overlapping federal welfare programs that together represented the single largest budget item in 2011—more than the nation spends on Social Security, Medicare, or national defense. The total amount spent on these 80-plus federal welfare programs amounts to roughly $1.03 trillion. Importantly, these figures solely refer to means-tested welfare benefits. They exclude entitlement programs to which people contribute (e.g., Social Security and Medicare).

A list of all 83 federal welfare programs examined by CRS follows:
o Family Planning
o Consolidated Health Centers
o Transitional Cash and Medical Services for Refugees
o State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
o Voluntary Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit—Low-Income Subsidy
o Medicaid
o Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
o Breast/Cervical Cancer Early Detection
o Maternal and Child Health Block Grant
o Indian Health Service
o Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (cash aid)
o Supplemental Security Income
o Additional Child Tax Credit
o Earned Income Tax Credit (refundable component)
o Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
o School Breakfast Program (free/reduced price components)
o National School Lunch Program (free/reduced price components)
o Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
o Child and Adult Care Food Program (lower income components)
o Summer Food Service Program
o Commodity Supplemental Food Program
o Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico
o The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
o Nutrition Program for the Elderly
o Indian Education
o Adult Basic Education Grants to States
o Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
o Education for the Disadvantaged—Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I-A)
o Title I Migrant Education Program
o Higher Education—Institutional Aid and Developing Institutions
o Federal Work-Study
o Federal TRIO Programs
o Federal Pell Grants
o Education for Homeless Children and Youth
o 21st Century Community Learning Centers
o Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEARUP)
o Reading First and Early Reading First
o Rural Education Achievement Program
o Mathematics and Science Partnerships
o Improving Teacher Quality State Grants
o Academic Competitiveness and Smart Grant Program
o Single-Family Rural Housing Loans
o Rural Rental Assistance Program
o Water and Waste Disposal for Rural Communities
o Public Works and Economic Development
o Supportive Housing for the Elderly
o Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
o Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance
o Community Development Block Grants
o Homeless Assistance Grants
o Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
o Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
o Public Housing
o Indian Housing Block Grants
o Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers
o Neighborhood Stabilization Program
o Grants to States for Low-Income Housing in Lieu of Low-Income Housing Credit Allocations
o Tax Credit Assistance Program
o Indian Human Services
o Older Americans Act Grants for Supportive Services and Senior Centers
o Older Americans Act Family Caregiver Program
o Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (social services)
o Child Support Enforcement
o Community Services Block Grant
o Child Care and Development Fund
o Head Start HHS
o Developmental Disabilities Support and Advocacy Grants
o Foster Care
o Adoption Assistance
o Social Services Block Grant
o Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
o Emergency Food and Shelter Program
o Legal Services Corporation
o Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (employment and training component)
o Community Service Employment for Older Americans
o Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult Activities
o Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Activities
o Social Services and Targeted Assistance for Refugees
o Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (employment and training)
o Foster Grandparents
o Job Corps
o Weatherization Assistance Program
o Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

[1] From The Life of Colonel David Crockett (1884) by Edward S. Ellis. Bunce’s remarks were spoken to Crocket, then reported by Crockett to Ellis, and then reported by Ellis to his readers. Thus I doubt that we have a verbatim record here. Moreover, there are other problems with Ellis’s account. He identifies the beneficiary of Congress’s largesse as the victim of a devastating fire in Georgetown, but there are two things wrong here. House records indicate that the location of the fire was Alexandria VA and the time of the vote was 1827, prior to Crockett’s assuming his seat in the House. The victim may have been Widow Brown, the wife of a deceased general and another beneficiary of public funds, approval for which was given by both House and Senate in 1828, after Crockett took his seat in the House. Despite the errors and inconsistencies in Ellis’s account, however, Bunce’s remarks have the ring of authenticity to them and undoubtedly reflect the tenor of what he said to Crockett with some accuracy.

[2] https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CRS%20Report%20-%20Welfare%20Spending%20The%20Largest%20Item%20In%20The%20Federal%20Budget.pdf