Which Book is Not Fiction … But Full of Truth?

What do these three books have in common?

The Holy Bible

The Hunger Games

Fifty Shades of Grey

If you were to have shopped last week at Costco’s in Simi Valley, CA you would know the answer.  All three of these books are ‘fiction’ according to the bookseller.

 

Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach made that shocking discovery while he was shopping for a present for his wife.  “All the Bibles were labeled as fiction,” the pastor said.

 

Kaltenbach pastors the Discovery Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in southern California.  He thought there must be some sort of mistake so he examined the bookshelf, and found every copy of the Holy Bible with a sticker that read, ‘$14.99 Fiction.’  The pastor knew something must be amiss so he searched for a Costco employee … hoping for an answer.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anyone willing to answer his question.  Since no one in the store was willing to offer assistance, he snapped a photograph of the Bible and tweeted it to his flock.  He said, “People are pretty shocked and upset. We are supposed to be living in an era of tolerance, but what Costco did doesn’t seem too tolerant.”  (Do you think Costco would mistakenly label the Koran as fiction?  I doubt it!)  Pastor Kaltenbach said, “If they don’t believe in the Bible, that’s fine – but at least label it as ‘religion’ as some bookstores do, or ‘inspiration’.”

 

So does the warehouse store that sells laundry detergent by the gallon have a problem with the ‘Word of God’?  Todd Stames of FoxNews.com called Costco headquarters in Issaquah, WA … hoping to get answers. The nice lady who answered the phone told Stames she was aware of the issue and chalked it up to a “human error at a warehouse.”  “It’s all fixed,” she said.  But actually, it’s not fixed … because there are Bibles in the Simi Valley store still marked as ‘fiction.’  At that point, the woman on the phone became not-so-nice and promptly informed Stames that Costco doesn’t talk to the press.  “Nothing to report,” she said curtly.

 

Pastor Kaltenbach said he’s not one to speak out on such offenses to his faith, but seeing the ‘Good Book’ labeled as ‘fiction’ was a bit too much to take.  “On the one hand Christians should not yell out ‘persecution’,” he said.  “We aren’t living in Iraq or Iran.”

 

But on the other hand, there are those of us who believe that we do need to stand up for our faith and we need to be vocal about our concerns. That’s a message that resonates with pastor and author Robert Jeffress. “Let’s hope Costco’s explanation is true and not the result of having been caught attempting to marginalize the very foundation of Christian beliefs, the Bible,” said Pastor Jeffress.  “Christians need to call out organizations like Costco whose actions undermine Christianity – regardless of whether those actions are accidental or intentional.” Steven Smith, of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the fiction label identifies the thinking of the labeler more than the content of the book. “To label the Bible fiction is a practical front for an ideological foundation that assumes things spiritual are unreal,” said Smith.  “What is odd about this choice is the glut of books in the ‘religion and spirituality’ sections in mainstream bookstores.  However, as large as ‘spirituality’ sections are, there must not be any room for Christianity.  Modern thinking on spirituality is too exclusive to allow for the Bible.”

 

Of course, this entire episode may never have gone ‘global’ had a Costco employee in Simi Valley, CA simply answered Pastor Kaltenbach’s question.

 

Say, isn’t Simi Valley, CA where President Reagan is laid to rest?  Yes, he is.  Perhaps his ‘living’ neighbors need to hear from the ‘dead’ – “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.”  (On February 3, 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared that year as the “Year of the Bible” in America.)

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

I Know Lincoln, and Obama is No Lincoln

Last Tuesday (Nov 19) marked the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  President Barack Obama elected not to attend, but instead, met Senators at the White House to persuade them not to impose new sanctions on Iran, and to convince them of the merits of an agreement that will allow Iran to continue to enrich uranium at low levels.

 

There is no doubt that is important!  But it is also a revealing choice.

 

Lincoln's 2-minute speech is remembered because it expressed, simply and elegantly, why hundreds of thousands risked their lives for an idea: “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”  When President Obama previously sought to rouse Americans to support a ‘targeted military strike’ on Syria, he failed to move the nation.  Now, he prefers to counsel the nation to accept a weak compromise with tyranny.

 

The contrast is striking.

 

We all can remember how Obama repeatedly likened himself to Lincoln.  He launched his presidential campaign from the Old State House in Springfield … where Lincoln once served.  He cast his candidacy as the fulfillment of the promise Lincoln made at Gettysburg – “that all men are created equal.”  Like Lincoln, Obama came up through the Illinois legislature.  Like Lincoln, Obama became known for his oratory.  But Lincoln's speeches had something Obama's never will.  Lincoln's speeches are admired; not just because they are well-constructed, but because they contain timeless principles to which he devoted his career and to which he committed the nation.

 

The fate of Obama's speeches is to serve a political purpose … and then fade –

·       Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention – an appeal to unity – launched his national career.  Today, it is largely forgotten amidst the failures of his divisive presidency.

·       Obama's address on race in Philadelphia, in the midst of the 2008 presidential primary, was praised by Chris Matthews and mainstream media as “a speech worthy of Abraham Lincoln.”  Yet just weeks after declaring he could “no more disown” his pastor (the race-baiting Jeremiah Wright) than he “could disown the black community,” Obama severed ties with Wright and his church … and the platitudes of Philadelphia quickly cast aside.

 

Lincoln's speeches were more than words … which is why his words are still cherished.  The highlight of the commemoration at Gettysburg in 1863 had been the 13,000-word speech by Edward Everett – a rousing, anti-Confederate diatribe.  But Lincoln did not distinguish among Union and Confederate dead.  All, he suggested, fought in their own way for the same cause.  He was committing the nation, and himself, to reconciliation.

 

Obama has never shown the same inclination to put partisanship aside for the sake of the nation's needs.  He has coveted the aura of Lincoln's charisma, but has never humbled himself to learn from Lincoln's example.

 

For Obama to speak at Gettysburg, to stand where Lincoln had once stood, would only sharpen the contrast.  That’s the real reason he stayed away.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

 

Postscript: As part of the 150th commemoration of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, film-maker Ken Burns made a documentary where he filmed all our living presidents (as well as Hollywood personalities) paying homage to the speech … by reciting individual lines of the speech rolled into one collage.  Washington, D.C. talk show host, Chris Plante, broke the story on WMAL: “Curiously enough, in his version of the speech, President Barack Obama's delivery contained an omission in a line that every other celebrity delivered as ‘that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.’  President Obama left out the words ‘under God.’”

Once Again, Obamacare Penalizes Your Religious Freedom

A family advocate and policy expert is now pointing out that for those enrolling in Obamacare, it doesn't pay to be married.  Dr. Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America tells OneNewsNow she believes the healthcare reform law is political payback for single women who voted overwhelmingly Democrat and strongly voted for Obama.  “But on a deeper level than that, this is a bill that encourages singleness,” she explains.  “It treats marriage as some kind of institution that ought to be done away with.  And I think it says something about the ideological movement of the radical left … that they want to encourage dependency on the government – and that's exactly what this does.”

 

Crouse says it's a law that disadvantages married couples even if they barely go over $62,000 in combined income.  “And you incur thousands of dollars every year of penalty for being married,” she continues.  Over a lifetime, The Heritage Foundation says that comes to more than $200,000.  Some couples are now considering the economic advantage of getting divorced because of the profound anti-marriage bias within this HHS Mandate.  “Basically,” Crouse says, “it's an encouragement for cohabitation, which is anti-family and damaging to children.”  She says legislation and public policies should incentivize and affirm marriage, but that Obamacare goes contrary to that and invades Judeo-Christian values.

 

You’re an absolute fool if you still think Obamacare is only about providing healthcare for the uninsured.  Its ‘hidden’ agenda is the dismemberment of the very foundational values that are the bedrock of American culture.  Get smart!  Come to realize that if the United States doesn’t soon stop uprooting its well established standards for society we will most certainly come crashing down!  And by the way: You are going to see it in your lifetime … that’s just how close we are to the downfall of what was America.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Atheists are Antagonistic to Christians in Public Prayer

It appears that atheists not only want to ban prayer inside government facilities, but also wish to block prayer outside municipal buildings … as demonstrated by their actions on the steps the U.S. Supreme Court during the Town of Greece v. Galloway case.  (Refer to my October 21 blog posting for more detail.)

 

The Christian Defense Coalition (CDC) and Faith and Action sponsored a prayer vigil at the Supreme Court for ‘religion freedom’ in reaction to the case and in support Christian prayer.  During the vigil, self-professed atheists, humanists and secularists repeatedly interrupted Biblical readings and prayers.

 

The Supreme Court heard the controversial Town of Greece v. Galloway argument on November 6.  The case questioned whether explicitly Christian prayer is allowable during government meetings.  While atheists labeled Christianity as “mythology” and yelled, “God does not exist!” at him, CDC's Rev. Patrick Mahoney prayed and expressed his own opinion.  Mahoney stressed, “The court opens with prayer.  The building across the street, the United States Capitol, opens in prayer. Our position is simple.  Everyone should be allowed to express their faith values and views free from government interference or harassment.”

 

The prayer vigil event invite read, “This case will have a major impact on Christian expressions of faith in the public square for the next generation.”  They continued, “We cannot be silent on the issue of religious freedom and through prayer we can see God shift and shape history!”

 

While media covered the Supreme Court opinions closely, the protests outside the court have yet to gain coverage.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

God Forbid That Christian Chaplains Quote the Bible or Mention Jesus

Two Baptist chaplains said they were forced out of a Veterans Affairs (VA) chaplain training program after they refused orders to stop quoting the Bible and to stop praying in the name of Jesus.  When the men objected to those demands they were subjected to ridicule and harassment that led to one of the chaplains leaving the program and the other being ejected, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week.

 

The Conservative Baptist Association of America is suing the VA Secretary – Eric Shinseki – alleging two of their chaplains were openly ridiculed by the leader of San Diego-based VA-DoD Clinical Pastoral Education Center program.  “Not only was the treatment these men received inappropriate, it was also a violation of federal law and the religious freedom guarantees of the 1st Amendment,” said John Wells, an attorney representing the Colorado-based denomination.  “No American choosing to serve in the armed forces should be openly ridiculed for his Christian faith,” he said … calling it one of the most blatant cases of religious discrimination he’s ever seen.

 

Lt. Commander Dan Klender, a Navy chaplain and Maj. Steven Firtko, a retired Army chaplain, had enrolled in the VA’s Clinical Pastoral Education Center program in San Diego last year.  The one-year training program is required for anyone wanting to work as a chaplain in a VA hospital.  VA chaplains differ from other military chaplains in that they are limited to working in VA hospitals.  The program, that has affiliates around the nation, is open to chaplains of all religious faiths.  However, applicants must have completed master-level seminary work.  There were seven chaplains enrolled in the San Diego program led by Nancy Dietsch, a Department of Veterans Affairs employee with a history of antagonistic behavior towards evangelicals, Wells said.  “She’s been very, very critical of Christians,” said Wells.  “Instead of teaching anything dealing with faith issues, she’s dealing with a holistic, humanistic approach.  It’s the idea that the spirit comes from within.”

 

The VA released a statement to NBC San Diego.  The VA said the two men were “bullying other classmates and refusing to honor other faith groups.”  Wells said the chaplains were subjected to anti- Christian bigotry.  “And that would be putting it mildly,” he said.  “A lot of these so-called liberals are very liberal with their own ideas, but when it comes to somebody else’s ideas, they don’t want to hear it.

 

Among the allegations listed in the lawsuit:

1. Dietsch told the chaplains that it was the policy of the VA in general and her in particular that chaplains should not pray in the name of Jesus.

2. During a classroom discussion on faith, Firtko said “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Dietsch told the chaplain he was not allowed to quote from the Bible in her classroom.

3. In October 2012, Dietsch told the class she believes God could be either man or woman.  When Firtko referred to “The Lord’s Prayer,” she “angrily pounded her fist on the table and shouted, ‘Do not quote Scripture in this class.’”

4. In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, Klender mentioned during a group discussion on counseling that he would tell a parent that “there is evil in the world.”  Dietsch retorted, “You don’t actually believe that do you?”

5. In January 2013, she told the chaplains “there is no room in the program for those who believe they are right and everybody else is wrong.”

6. Later that month she told students that there are many ways to heaven and that one religion cannot be right, while others are wrong.  Firtko objected to that statement by quoting Jesus who said “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through me.”  Dietsch told him to stop quote from the Bible and then stated, “If you believe your beliefs are right, and everyone else’s is wrong, you do not belong in this program.”

 

The harassment had become so bad by February, Klender withdrew from the program.  A week later, Firtko received a letter notifying him that he’d been dismissed from the program.  In July, the pair filed a formal complaint against Dietsch for religious discrimination and violating the Association of Pastoral Continuing Education standards.

 

Attorney Wells said it appears the government is trying to establish “a secular humanist-based religion free from any influence of Christian dogma.”  “The most egregious part is the VA supervisor told two chaplains that they were not allowed to pray in the name of Jesus and they could not quote Scripture,” he said.  Wells feared that unless changes are made, Christian chaplains are going to be discouraged from serving in the military.  “Christian chaplains are under a lot of pressure right now and facing a lot of challenges,” he said.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Possessing a Bible = Execution on N Korea

While many Christians were at worship (yesterday) commemorating National Bible Sunday, communist North Korea made know its regard for readers and possessors of the Word of God.

 

Earlier this month, according to Fox News, as many as 80-people were publicly executed in atheistic North Korea for offenses as minor as watching South Korean movies or possessing a Bible.  The story said that South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that the so-called criminals were put to death in seven cities across North Korea on November 3, in the first known large-scale public executions by the Kim Jong-un regime.  “A source, who is familiar with internal affairs in the North and who recently visited the country, told the paper that about 10-people were killed in each city,” the story went on to say.  “Eight people—their heads covered with white bags—were tied to stakes at a local stadium in the city of Wonsan, before authorities shot them with a machine gun, according to the source.”

 

“Wonsan authorities gathered a crowd of 10,000 people, including children, at Shinpoong Stadium and forced them to watch the killings.”  “I heard from the residents that they watched in terror as the corpses were (so) riddled by machine-gun fire that they were hard to identify afterward,” the JoongAng Ilbo source said.

 

Most of the Wonsan victims were charged with watching or illegally trafficking South Korean videos, involvement in prostitution, or possessing a Bible.  Relatives or accomplices of the execution victims implicated in their alleged crimes were sent to prison camps.

 

“There is no clear reason for the executions.  One government official noted they occurred in cities that are centers of economic development. Wonsan is a port city that Kim is reportedly planning to make a tourist destination by building an airport, hotels and a ski resort on Mount Masik,” said Fox News.  “Simultaneous executions in seven cities could suggest an extreme measure by the North Korean government to quell public unrest or any capitalistic inclinations that may accompany its development projects.”

 

North Korean law permits executions for conspiring to overthrow the government, treason and terrorism.  But the country has also been known to order public executions for minor infractions such as religious activism, cellphone use and stealing food … in an effort to intimidate the public.

 

There were no executions in the capital of Pyongyang, where Kim depends on the support of the country's elite.  The young leader continues to build luxury and recreational facilities in the capital, including a new water park.

 

Christian believers in America need to be mindful of the world-wide persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ; and equally aware of the subtle (and less-cunning) attacks taking place in the United States.  (If you are unaware, write any number of my previous blog postings.)

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Syrian Christians Need Prayer – Not Politicians

You cannot rely on mainstream news media to keep you abreast of Christian persecution worldwide.  Let me prove the point.

 

Are you aware of what has taken place in Syria?  It has come to light that the “Biggest Christian Massacre” in the Syrian Civil War occurred on October 21, when Islamic militants attacked the town of Sadad – a 2,000-year-old village, rich in historic landmarks and archaeological sites, with Christians comprising 10% of the population.

 

As reported in the Christian Post, a total of 45 Christians in Sadad were killed and 30 bodies of Christian civilians were uncovered in mass graves there.  Said Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Homs and Hama, “For one week, 1,500 families were held as hostages and human shields; among them children, the elderly, the young, men and women.  Some of them fled on foot traveling 5-miles from Sadad to Al-Hafer to find refuge.  About 2,500 families fled from Sadad …”  The report also noted that eyewitnesses said the city, with a population of 15,000, had been entirely destroyed and looted.

 

As a Christian, were you aware of what your brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing?  More importantly, do you care?  Is your church praying regularly for our persecuted family members?  If not, why shouldn’t YOU bring it to the attention of your body of Christian fellowship?

 

Don’t look to politicians to bring about a resolution; rather rely on the power of prayer to resolve this!   

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Abortion Is Not Healthcare

The other week, the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with an Ohio business that challenged Obamacare’s birth control mandate. The business owners — two brothers who own and operate Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics in Sidney, OH — argued that providing such coverage would violate their Catholic beliefs.  The appeals court panel ruled in their favor (via LifeNews.com): “The burden on religious exercise does not occur at the point of contraceptive purchase; instead, it occurs when a company’s owners fill the basket of goods and services that constitute a healthcare plan,” Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote on behalf of the court.  “They can either abide by the sacred tenets of their faith, pay a penalty of over $14 million and cripple the companies they have spent a lifetime building, or they become complicit in a grave moral wrong,” Brown wrote.

 

The Obama Administration said that the requirement is necessary to protect women’s health and abortion rights.  The judges were unconvinced that forcing companies to violate their religious rights was appropriate.  This ruling is just the latest in a series of court cases challenging Obamacare’s birth control mandate, which many legal analysts expect will ultimately be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Beyond the judicial branch of government, the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to put an end to late-term abortions following graphic testimony on the excruciating pain the unborn feel during the procedure.  The testimonies on the horrors of late-term abortion before members of Congress were both powerful and disturbing.

 

Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist described the brutal and deadly procedure in great detail, showing Congress the instruments he would use in a procedure.  Dr. Maureen Condic from the University of Utah also testified, detailing how far along unborn babies already are weeks before the proposed ban, reporting that unborn babies have the capacity to feel pain much earlier (at 8-10 weeks).

 

But even more condemning was the recent events of the ‘Dr.’ Kermit Gosnell case, a powerful testimony in and of itself.  America was horrified when they finally got a glimpse into the true horrors of the abortion industry when Gosnell was convicted for doing the same thing that other abortionists do on a routine basis – The only difference … a few seconds.  Gosnell waited until babies were delivered before he killed them, instead of “legally” doing it inside the womb.  But these babies, inside or out, were clearly viable, fully-formed babies.

 

After the horrors of the Gosnell case, you'd think that ending late-term abortions of fully developed unborn babies would be a no-brainer … especially for a group that worked so hard to distance itself from him. Not for Nancy Pelosi and her cronies.  Pelosi even went so far to defend it by declaring the so-called “right” to a late-term abortion as “sacred ground.”

 

Of course, pro-abortion members of Congress have tried to distance themselves from Gosnell's atrocities; but their actions speak far louder than words, and their votes affirming abortion-on-demand for the full 9-months of pregnancy leave them bearing Gosnell's battle standard … paving the way for others to pick up where he left off.

 

The abortion lobby's bloodlust has shown that they'll take babies (born or unborn) at any point and for any reason.  And while the ban itself faces tough odds in the Senate controlled by Harry Reid, what is amazing is that all but six of the 190 Democrats and 6 Republicans voted to keep late term abortion legal.  Now the U.S. Senate will likely have to go on record on the same.

 

40-years after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and 54-million abortions later, the United States continues the debate between pro-life and pro-choice.  With an ever-increasing number of U.S. citizens opposed to abortion … now greater than 50% of the populace … the pro-abortion politicians will have to reconsider their stance if they’re thinking about re-election.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wait, There’s More … on this Veterans Day

President Obama is sinking for more reasons than just Obamacare. Every day, more people are deciding that he is deceitful.

 

Reporters Mark Halperin and John Heilemann disclose in their new book – Double Down: Game Change 2012 – that Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama, speaking of the Administration’s use of drone attacks, said, “I am really good at killing people.”  That’s hardly the comment the ‘doves of the left’ want to hear from the mouth of their fearless leader!

 

Obama’s cultural wreckage and attack on Judeo-Christian values in the U.S. Armed Forces is more evident every day as well.  Beyond the repeal of Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell and his refusal to enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act, this Commander-in-Chief ‘s Department of Defense has granted 10-days non-chargeable leave to homosexuals for getting married in a state that recognizes same-sex marriages; designated the month of June for celebrating Gay Pride; permitted uniformed service members to march in Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) parades; conducted training that labels Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as religious extremists on par with Al Qaeda and Hamas; and is threatening the religious liberty of military chaplains to preach, teach and counsel in accordance with their personal convictions and tenants of their faith.

 

The other weekend, the historic Cadet Chapel at West Point was the scene of its first same-sex “marriage” involving two men.  (There were two unions of women in late 2012.)  Do you feel the pride?

 

Meanwhile, there is a very evident purging of U.S. military general officers for reasons that … more-often-than-not … seem contrived. Some folks are alleging that the sackings are politically motivated.

 

I suppose these things are of little concern to the 99% of the U.S. population that has never don the uniform of any of our nation’s branches of service.  But for the less than 1% of us who have, we are always concerned about anything that might jeopardize our national security, threaten our unit cohesiveness, and negatively affect our readiness and morale.

 

Oh well, enough of this on this Veterans Day.  For the most part, the American people just want this day off and to tip their hat to our veterans; they don’t want to give a lot of thought to the future of our military.  Though retired, my thoughts this day are directed to my comrades-in-arms who currently seek to live the core values and defend this nation against its enemies – both foreign and domestic.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

America’s Best Days: Past, Present or Future?

Wenzel Strategies recently conducted a poll for WorldNetDaily (WND). The survey revealed that more than three-quarters of Republicans and Independents who vote in GOP primaries – including 87% who describe themselves as very conservative – are ready to write the nation’s epitaph … believing the best days for America are long gone, never to return. The poll also found 90.5% of the likely GOP primary voters believe the nation is on the wrong track.  The frustration peaked among those who describe themselves as ‘very conservative.’  Among them, 98.1% said President Obama is off track.  Even among those who described themselves as ‘very liberal,’ more than 8 out of 10 (83.3%), said America is on the wrong track.

 

Pollster Fritz Wenzel said the fact that 9 out of 10 Republican primary election voters say they think things in the United States are headed in the wrong direction is not a big surprise.  “It is the foundational organizing principle of the GOP that the reign of the Obama Administration and the aftermath of those 2-years of total Democratic Party control from 2009 to 2011 represent the worst diversion from personal liberty and constitutional governance in the history of the nation,” he said.

 

The critique of Obama’s occupancy of the White House has remained the same for several months.  This poll, however, found that even Independents … who vote in GOP primaries … are opposed to Obama’s leadership.  “Since this survey sample does include Independent voters who prefer to vote in Republican primary elections, it’s interesting to note that even among these non-aligned voters, 88% said things are headed in the wrong direction,” Wenzel said.  “It is simply mind-numbing that the very future of American health care is being handed to the federal government at the same time when American distrust and dissatisfaction of the government is at or near an all-time high,” he commented.

 

Men (90.4%) and women (90.7%) were alike in their opinion about the nation’s direction, as were married (91%), single (88.1%) and divorced or separated (94.1%) respondents.  There was no region of the nation where more than 12.1% of the GOP primary voters though the nation is going the right way.  And in what may be a surprising result … given Obama’s push for amnesty for illegal aliens … fewer Hispanics (5%) than Whites, Blacks or Asians, believe Obama is leading the right way.

 

Another question focused on whether respondents believe the nation’s best days are gone for good, now that Obama has been president for about 5-years and has three more left in his second term.  Nearly 78% said “yes.”  “This is as disturbing a measurement of the American view of their own nation as we have seen, because it speaks very personally to what these adults think about the lives their own children will lead,” Wenzel said.  “It is a measurement of American discouragement, and no one is more discouraged that those age 45 to 64, the age group including parents of children who are just entering or have recently entered the workforce.”  Wenzel said these people have “witnessed firsthand how their own children are struggling to find meaningful careers, and they are witnessing the result of Washington’s demonization of the traditional American dream and financial success.”  “When you strip the politics out of this question, it speaks to a very sad situation here in the United States,” he said.

 

87% of those who describe themselves as “very conservative” said the best is in the past.  The breakdown was 83% of the women, 84% of blacks and nearly 83% of those in the middle income range, from $50,000-75,000 a year.

 

The Wenzel poll from May showed that even 42% of the president’s own Democratic Party believes him to be leading the nation on the wrong path.  At that time, Wenzel warned that for Obama it “is growing more unlikely that public opinion will ever improve much, if at all.”

 

Perhaps your thoughts were not solicited in this Wenzel poll.  So let me ask you: Would you say that things in our country are headed in the right direction, or would you say things are off on the wrong track?  Would you say that, thinking about everything that is going on in the United States today and our overall state of affairs, the nation’s best days are behind us, ahead of us, or are we right now enjoying the very best days in the history of our nation?

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Obamacare: Destroys Human Life and Denies Higher Learning … the Fundamental Freedoms

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Cornerstone University in Michigan; but you need to!  Here is a university that promotes building “a life that matters” — which to them does not include supplying employees with birth control, sterilization, and abortifacients.  The school has filed a lawsuit against Obamacare's HHS Mandate along with Dordt College in Iowa.  According to the complaint: “The schools are Christ-centered institutions of higher learning.  They believe that God has condemned the intentional destruction of innocent human life.  The Schools hold, as a matter of religious conviction, that it would be sinful and immoral for them intentionally to participate in, pay for, facilitate, enable, or otherwise support access to abortion, which destroys human life.  They hold that one of the prohibitions of the Ten Commandments (“thou shalt not murder”) precludes them from facilitating, assisting in, or enabling the use of drugs that can and do destroy very young human beings in the womb.”  The suit is merely an effort to preserve the religious freedom guaranteed to Americans under the 1st Amendment, according Cornerstone President Joseph Stowell.

 

The suit claimed the government violated seven laws, including: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the 1st and 5th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act.  “Given our conviction that life begins at conception and our commitment to the sanctity of life, we find the mandate to provide our faculty, staff and students with insurance that provides access to abortion inducing prescriptions unacceptable,” Stowell stated.

 

Many other religious colleges and universities are also fighting for the exemption, including: Notre Dame, Biola, Wheaton, Colorado Christian, Belmont Abbey, Nazarene, and East Texas Baptist.

 

This concern for the Affordable Care Act’s threat to religious liberty has been felt beyond this academic realm.  Dozens upon dozens of others have felt pressure to compromise their personal values, including: a Roman Catholic order and private businesses such as Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood.  (Refer to my previous blog posting for details on these establishments.)

 

These lawsuits are moving up the judicial system, and are on the verge of coming before the U.S. Supreme Court.  We are about to see how the Court will rule on religious freedom.  People of conscience had better earnestly pray that Godly wisdom will fall afresh upon the Justices.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

God Forbid U.S. Air Force Academy Cadets Ask for God’s Help

Did you hear about the decision made last month at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado?  Air Force Academy cadets will no longer say “so help me God” at the end of the Honor Oath.  School officials said the words will be optional.

 

What would provoke this course of action? – a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.  This watchdog/advocacy group was established by Mickey Weinstein to ensure that U.S. Armed Forces members have freedom from religion.

 

Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson says the change was made to respect cadets' freedom of religion.  The oath states, “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.”

 

The academy says cadets are required to take the oath once, when they formally enter the school after boot camp.  The school, outside Colorado Springs, has about 4,000 cadets.  When they graduate, they are commissioned as second lieutenants.

 

U.S. Army Chaplain (Colonel-Retired) Ron Crews, Executive Director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, says, “We want to respect religious liberty – and that means that we can respect those who don't come from a position of faith.  But we don't want to remove faith from the Air Force Academy by forcing all to no longer say ‘so help me God.’”

 

The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was never intended to guarantee that government should be free from religion or religious influence.  The only freedom of religion that was envisioned by the Founders was freedom from government sponsorship of one particular religion or denomination.  In fact, the “exclude religion from politics” view would invalidate the very reasoning of the Declaration of Independence.  The first two sentences mentioned God twice in order to say that God's laws authorize this independence from Great Britain in 1776, and that God is the One who gives human beings the rights that governments seek to protect.  In other words, the 56-signers of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that both the “laws of nature and of nature’s God” and the “Creator” Himself gave our country the right to become an independent nation.  They are claiming divine authorization for the very existence of the United States of America, and conclude by pledging their lives, fortunes, and “sacred honor.”

 

Our Founders never envisioned that the 1st Amendment would become a weapon to excise Christian or traditional religious expressions from the public arena.  Today’s judicial activism has absurdly interpreted civic free exercise of religion as an unconstitutional establishment of religion … thus causing the 1st Amendment to violate itself.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Will the United States of America Become the ‘Islamic States of Allah’?

Muslims in the U.S.A. are often quoted as saying they just want to be accepted by their fellow Americans; they have no intentions of forcing their Shariah Law on this nation; they say that CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is a moderate organization and that they only want peace and to be treated like everyone else.  But that’s not what CAIR founder Omar Ahmad indicated when he was quoted as saying: “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant.”  “The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.”

 

That doesn’t sound moderate, tolerant or wanting peace with anyone in America … unless they convert and submit to Islam and Islamic rule. And they are well on their way to accomplishing the goals set out by Ahmad.

 

One of the key tools being utilized by CAIR and other Muslim groups is the liberal mainstream media.  They recognize the fact the major media outlets care little for the truth, but will run with anything liberal, anti-conservative and anti-Christian.  Pamela Geller with Atlas Shrugs, pointed out that a spokeswoman for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA/CAIR) spoke of the liberal mainstream media, saying: “Media in the U.S. is very gullible.  If you have something to say, especially as a Muslim, they’ll come running to you.  Take advantage of that!”

 

CAIR and other Islamic organizations are using the media to its fullest. U.S. mainstream media rarely portray Muslims in a negative light.  It’s okay for the media to bash Christians and Jews, but American Muslims are lifted up on a journalistic pedestal and worshipped as the tragic heroes of the tragic attacks from America’s conservatives.  But underneath that hallowed veneer lays an organization that is nothing more than a political front for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.  As one commentary described it, CAIR is like an onion that makes your eyes water more and more after peeling off each layer to get to the core.

 

There is a lot of information available on CAIR and what their real agenda is.  Learn more for yourself; it’s an easy search online.

 

Fellow citizens who respect our nation’s sacred origins and traditional values: Take warning of CAIR’s insidious plans to push the Muslim religion and laws on all Americans and create the ‘Islamic States of Allah’ … where a proud and strong Christian nation once stood.  It will happen … if it is not stopped by every loyal patriotic American.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel