A Christmas message from Bill Whittle

Did Obama sign books, too?

This is rich — and typical Obama.

Last week, TheOne turned a visit and reading at a Virginia elementary school into his own book promotion tour. Instead of reading the traditional Twas the Night Before Christmas as was originally planned, he decided to read from his new book, Of Thee I Sing.

As the article puts forth, when did he find time to write this book?

Read it at The American Spectator

The Passive Persecution of American Christians

According to R. Emmett Tyrell, Jr. at The American Spectator, the Andy Warhol Foundation is threatening to pull it’s funding from the Smithsonian. Their complaint is that the Smithsonian caved to Republicans and the Catholic League over “hosting a video showing ants crawling over the crucifix entitiled “Fire in My Belly.”

As Tyrell says, the double standard that the liberals operate on is fundamental to their mindset. It’s okay, justified and in fact, righteous to disturb the peace of those who disagree with them but when the public at large doesn’t want their ‘art’, it becomes an issue of social injustice, bigotry, civil rights violations and hate crime.

“If the ants were swarming all over the Koran it would clearly be a hate crime and out it would go without the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts having a leg to stand on.”

Not only would the Foundation not have a leg to stand on but they would be in the front lines demanding religious tolerance and decrying the bigotry of holding such an exhibit — but only for Muslims.

The Foundation’s argument is one of censorship. “For the Arts to flourish,” writes Joel Wachs, president of the Warhol foundation, “the arts must be free, and the decision to censor this important work is in stark opposition to our mission to defend freedom of expression wherever and whenever it is under attack.”

No one has censored this particular video or the entire exhibit for that matter. This video is available at another New York City museum for those who are so inclined to view and support it. No one is stifling the ‘art’ of anyone. Taxpayers just don’t want to pay for it. All art should be paid for by those interested in supporting it;  that’s where private foundations and patrons come in. Raise your own money for this “very important” exhibit.

Don’t be mistaken, this is not about freedom of expression or censorship. The liberals would love to paint that picture but it’s simply not true.  This is about religious persecution of those who are not Muslim or those whose religion is not fashionable to the artsy, elite left.  This particular assault on Christianity by the left is passive and insidious compared to the persecution they are suffering worldwide. Pope Benedict highlights this in his World Peace Day missive:

“Sadly, the year now ending has again been marked by persecution, discrimination, terrible acts of violence and religious intolerance,” Benedict lamented […]

Benedict singled out the “reprehensible attack” on a Baghdad cathedral during Mass in October, killing two priests and more than 50 other worshippers, as well as attacks on private homes that “spread fear within the Christian community and (create) a desire on the part of many to emigrate in search of a better life.”

[…]

“At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith,” the pontiff asserted, and cited Christian communities suffering from violence and intolerance particularly in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Holy Land.

“This situation is intolerable, since it represents an insult to God and to human dignity” as well as “a threat to security and peace,” Benedict wrote [. . .]

It’s time that Christians fought back. If that means fighting in court, then so be it. The First Amendment guarantees us that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” No one or entity, including the government or a private foundation, have the  right to stifle the free exercise of religious worship and religious assembly. But the left has hijacked the government and the courts and is passively (without violence) persecuting and stifling the practice of religion by Christians in America.

We see this passive religious persecution in America every day, from Chase Bank refusing to allow their banks to decorate for the holidays to schools that no longer allow Christmas trees.

If the left objects to paying, with tax dollars, for a Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn, then there is no problem with the religious objecting to pay for an exhibit of ‘art’ that depicts Christ or Christianity in an abusive, illegitimate and dishonest way.

As Governor Christie said (on another topic): the double standard ends now.  Christians have to stand up and object as loudly, and if necessary as obnoxiously as the left has.

What is it going to take for Congress to get the message?

I agree with Mark Levin: the Republicans should go home and let the Democrats do whatever they want and then in January, come back and fix it all. Until January, the Democrats have control of both houses – until then, how this omnibus bill turns out is really up to them. And they will carry the wrath of the voters along with that for the next 2 years.

I cannot imagine why Americans aren’t stampeding the Capitol and burning effigies right now – except that it’s Christmas – Christmastime again, all over again. This is just like last Christmas when ObamaCare was shoved in our faces and down our throats. This year we have the omnibus bill. And again, the American people don’t want it.

It’s discouraging and frustrating that we elect these people and they don’t listen to or care about what their constituents want. Even after the elections, they aren’t listening. This bill will help fund ObamaCare, which the Republicans have pledged they would defund. What is wrong with them? Did they learn nothing in November?

 

Muslims in America – a double standard fueled by fear

What would be the response by the Hollywood snobs and the Muslim apologists in the country or even just average working Americans, if Pope Benedict called for the murder and beheading of people the Church felt are in opposition its theology?

Imagine the United States Council of Catholic Bishops issuing a its own form of “fatwa” against people who they thought were Muslim terrorists or Islamic heads of state like Iran’s Ahmadinejad. When was the last time the College of Cardinals called for the stoning of homosexuals?

How about the Catholic Church demanding that every classroom provide a holy water font at each doorway, like the foot baths that have been required at federally funded universities and now even, airports?  Institutions of higher learning from NYU to Indiana and financed by tax dollars, are now providing foot baths for Muslim students. The Kansas City airport (again, tax payer funded) has already installed these religious foot fonts in several airport restrooms.

from BareNakedIslam.com

This from Bare Naked Islam in 2009:

Minneapolis Community and Technical College has a policy that “strictly prohibits religious displays.” For example, this past Christmas season a memo from Dianna Cusick, director of legal affairs and President Phil Davis, warned against any public display of holiday cheer: “As we head into the holiday season, all public offices and areas should refrain from displays that may represent to our students, employees or the public that the college is promoting any particular religion.”

Nevertheless, the college is planning to use taxpayer funds to install facilities for Muslim ritual foot-washing. School officials are going on a junket to visit a community college in Illinois to view similar facilities there.

Davis justified the disparate treatment by pointing out the differences between Muslims and those of other faiths. “The foot-washing facilities are not about religion, they are about public safety,” Davis said. “Christians and Jews aren’t going to kill anyone over this issue. Muslims are different. We’ve already received threats saying the college will be bombed if we refuse to build this facility. So, as anyone can see, we’re not promoting the Muslim religion. We’re saving the lives of our students and faculty.”AZ CONSERVATIVE

Yes, he’s right. Christians and Jews don’t threaten destruction when WalMart tells its employees to only say “Happy Holidays” to customers. They aren’t threatening to bomb town hall when the Nativity scene or the Menorah is banned from its lawns. Imagine  the Rev. Billy Graham calling for the death of Larry David (a Jew, by the way) who peed on a picture of Jesus (ala fatwas of cartoonists who drew Muhammad) in one of his more controversial episodes of HBOs “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Of course, the argument from the left is that these baths are available to anyone of any faith (or none) that want to use them. This is the ACLUs stance.

They also claim that foot baths are a health and safety measure: one student fell in a public bathroom while attempting to wash her feet in the sink, something ALL of us do at least 5 times a day.

Have Obama’s image handlers been on vacation, too?

Great column here about how Obama’s image makers and news shapers have been falling down on the job in the last 2 weeks.

And as Vicki writes here, the images that the White House is putting out are less than flattering. Smug-down-his-nose pictures of Obama with Biden, an empty oval office… what’s the message being sent to the American people? This whole year has been about image from the WH. What’s happened to Axelrod?

The One’s on television 3 times a day but let someone try to blow up a plane over Detroit and he’s mousy mum for 4 days! Does he not think that the American people needed to hear some reassurance after this Christmas day terrorist attack? That we needed to know that the LEADER was on top of this?

Make no mistake about it: the bomb may not have gone off but the attack was successful, just the same. We are scared, we are off balance, we are confused and we were surprised. And the president has been golfing and snorkeling and dining in a $4000/night estate. We have over 10% unemployment and he’s vacationing like this?

Again, it’s about image and lack of attention to it. The real Obama seems to be emerging.

Reagan’s Christmas gift to his Secret Service

You can read it here.

Reagan stayed in the White House every Christmas in order that his Secret Service detail could spend Christmas with their families.

Pray for the freethinkers this Christmas

It’s awful what we do to these freethinking atheists. They call the holidays an “onslaught,”  imposed on them by Christians.

Watching Laura Ingraham tonight, sitting in for Bill O’Reilly – yippiee, more Laura, please! – and her interview with this Annie Laurie somebody, co-something of this FFRF.org, was entertaining and interesting. Annie kept pushing that this was the winter solstice and “the real reason for the season.” Over and over she said this. And then she said that her kind do not believe in following with blind faith after ancient unprovable celebrations.

Okay. So who celebrated the winter solstice and why? And is this not an ancient celebration? The Druids honored the season and they did so at Stonehenge, several thousand years ago. Lots of ancient civilizations honored and celebrated this day and this season. In fact, when the Christians entered Ireland, they took over this holiday and assimilated it into the Christian holiday in order to more easily win over the hearts and souls of the pagan inhabitants.

There are modern day pagans who consider paganism a religion. And who consider the winter solstice a holiday. They even do drum dances by firelight and exchange gifts. Freethinkers are celebrating the exact same thing.

Aren’t these freethinkers really hypocrites? Aren’t they practicing a kind of religion of their own? Well, I think they are.

The message that there is no God but there is a Santa is another tactic that makes no sense. They insist that they only believe in provable things. Then why is Santa on a billboard? They don’t believe in indoctrinating children (with Christianity) but they are targeting children in this particular billboard!

These people really are a confused bunch.

Add them to your prayers this week. They need them.

Ben Stein and Christmas

Ben Stein

An article claiming Ben as the author about Christmas and Christians has been circulating in email and it is inaccurate. This is his real essay from his website and I think, much better than the poorly written, grammatically incorrect one that you might be receiving from that cousin of yours in Wisconsin.

By the way, I don’t know who Nick and Jessica are either.

72% Favor Merry Christmas

Just something to think about today:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The constitution says “Congress shall make no law…” There is no reference to or restriction on  the individual states.

If the state of Utah decides to allow a nativity scene on their state house grounds, and there are a bunch of atheists who are offended (and I wish someone would explain to me how this offends or injures any one) and they appeal and lose at the state supreme court level, then it’s a done deal. The U.S. Supreme Court should refuse to hear a case like this because constitutionally, the men and women in black robes have no right to be involved.

But every Christmas we have to go through the same furor and fuss about who and what kind of holiday representation the government will allow on OUR real estate. And not only that, it becomes news when over 70% of Americans prefer “Merry Christmas” over other holiday neutral greetings.

This, from Rasmussen Reports is even more telling:

Ninety-one percent (91%) of Republicans and 70% of adults not affiliated with either major political party like store signs that wish them a “Merry Christmas,” compared to just 58% of Democrats.