YEAH! #500 (4/20) Not Allowing Passions To Over-Ride Reason

URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS: 

Stop Censoring the Abortionist Gosnell Mass Murder Trial! - Please go to the following site and join me by adding your name to a petition signed by a growing number of people who want the mainstream media to finally report on this incredible trial that they have largely CHOOSEN not to do. (Go to the site to get full info about this, though I did post an article about it in post #493 last Saturday.) https://www.mrc.org/action/stop-censoring-abortionist-gosnell-mass-murder-trial?roi=echo3-15276168063-12322625-78ab33e7c6cdfb9ca6e76919b81a7eaa&utm_source=apr16remark&utm_medium=email&utm_content=abortiontrial&utm_campaign=stopcensoring

Check Out Also: "Tiresome Bias -Turning a Blind Eye to Evil," Eric Metaxas|Breakpoint.org; April 16, 2013, http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/21964 

PRAY that 1) justice will be served to this abortionist for his crimes and that he would repent of his sins and find salvation in Jesus, and 2) this trial will lead many involved in performing abortions to finally repent and turn away from doing evil and turn their lives over to Jesus.

Same -Sex "Marriage"- PLEASE PRAY WITH ME (every day untill the decision is revealed around mid-June) THAT THE SUPREME COURT WILL VOTE TO UPHOLD THE 2 LAWS REVIEWED SUPPORTING A TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE.. PRAY that the Court will resist any pressure to MAKE new law based on "cultural trends." PRAY as though the very future of the institution of the family is at stake because it is. PRAY! -  for the sake of possibly millions of children, and for our country if it is to continue to be shown any more favor by our Heavenly Father, who I promise you will be very displeased if homosexual marriage is legalized; "GOD IS NOT [TO BE] MOCKED..." - (Gal. 6:7)  - Stan [Be sure to check out my brief essay at post #478.]

CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED (Iranian-born AMERICAN pastor who just started an 8 year sentence for helping the underground churches in Iran)  If you have not already, please join over 500,000 (was recently250,000) who have signed the petition  for Pastor Saeed's release and tell your friends about it.  http://aclj.org/iran/save-american-pastor-from-iranian-prison-sentence  As the Lord leads, please pray: *For Pastor Abedini as he endures one of Iran’s most deadly prisons, potentially beaten and abused regularly, simply because of his Christian faith. *For the pastor’s wife and family and the Holy Spirit’s comfort upon them. * For God to visit his tormenters and all in his cell with him with supernatural dreams of the risen Christ, and use the pastor's actions and words to draw them to repent and turn to Christ; that God would use the pastor's time in that prison to spark a genuine spiritual revival that will bring scores of Iranians to Christ..*For the U.S. State Department to get involved in a significant way to obtain the pastor’s release.

April  9 - 1) It's been reported that even though Pastor Saeed has developed  internal  bleeding from months of beating  by prison guards, he has been denied medical  attention. (http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/April/Iran-Denies-Pastor-Saeed-Medical-Treatment/) PRAY that Pastor Saeed might finally receive the medical  treatment he needs. 2) More than 550,000 people  from 180 countries have signed the petition to Save Saeed. Your voice has moved the U.S., the European Union, and many others to call for his release. But as Pastor Saeed's May 7th 33rd birthday approaches, it's time to encourage him directly. At the ACLJ, they've obtained the address of Evin Prison, and their goal is to flood the prison with thousands of messages of encouragement for Pastor Saeed. Just write a letter (or simply sign your name to one proposed greeting) and they will be sure that its delivered. These messages will let Pastor Saeed know that we're praying for him and his  release, as well as send a signal to the Iranian leaders that Americans will not give up standing up for him. Go to Save Saeed.org and add your name to those sending letters to him.

 "Who cares what the majority wants on guns?," By: David Harsanyi
4/17/2013 http://www.humanevents.com/2013/04/17/who-cares-what-the-majority-wants-on-guns/

President Barack Obama has been struggling to wrap his head around the “unimaginable” idea that Congress may “defy” the American people and stop a vote on a gun control package compromise. The notion, he says, resists the “overwhelming instinct of the American people” after the massacre in Newtown, Conn., to pass gun control legislation.

Well, the unthinkable happened. The Senate’s sweeping gun legislation came up short on the votes required to move forward. And despite all the idealistic calls for passage and despite the fact that many pundits and advocates seem to believe that something should be law simply because “the vast majority of Americans” support it, not every issue deserves a majoritarian decision.

To begin with, whether Democrats like it or not, this issue concerns the Constitution — where stuff was written down for a reason. That’s not to say that expanding background checks or banning “assault rifles” would be unconstitutional (though you may believe they both should be). It’s to say that when you begin meddling with protections explicitly laid out in the founding document, a 60-vote threshold that slows down stampeding legislators is the least we deserve.

The Founding Fathers worried that “some common impulse of passion” (http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm) might lead many to subvert the rights of the few. It’s a rational fear, one that is played out endlessly. Obama, who understands how to utilize public passion better than most, flew some of the Newtown families to Washington for a rally, imploring Americans to put “politics” aside and stop engaging in “political stunts.” This is, by any measure, a preposterous assertion coming from a politician piggybacking tragic events for political gain. It would have been one thing, I suppose, if the gun control legislation written in the aftershock of a gruesome massacre had anything to do with the topic at hand. But what senators came up with would have done nothing to stop the shooter in Newtown — or the one in Aurora, Colo. Passions can be aggravated by events, but in this case, events have little to do with the policy at hand.

I’m not operating under the delusion that any of this is good national politics for Republicans — though the arguments about obstructionism’s dooming the GOP are probably overblown. No doubt, when the next disaster hits — and it will — Democrats will blame the overlords at the National Rifle Association and Republicans for the act of a madman. That’s life.

But generally speaking, it’d be nice if Congress occasionally challenged the vagaries of American majority “instinct.” Though it might seem antithetical to their very existence, politicians should be less susceptible to the temporary whims, ideological currents and fears of the majority. Theoretically, at least, elected officials’ first concern is the Constitution. And if the need for gun control is predicated chiefly on the polls taken immediately after a traumatic national event, they have a perfectly reasonable justification to slow things down. In fact, if Washington internalizes the 60-vote threshold as a matter of routine, voters should be grateful. Considering Washington’s propensity to politicize everything and its increasingly centralized power (what your health care looks like is now up for national referendums, for instance), this might be the only way left to diffuse democracy.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]