# 1348 (9/14) "The Death of Good Journalism - REPORTING VS. ACTIVISM"

"THE DEATH OF GOOD JOURNALISM - REPORTING VS. ACTIVISM" - By: Eric Metaxas| Breakpoint.org: September 14, 2015;
http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/12/28148?spMailingID=12378693&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=620800742&spReportId=NjIwODAwNzQyS0 [AS I SEE IT: In case you've forgotten, presenting articles with a perspective of the issues of the day you will not likely hear from the mainstream press is the motivation for this blog site. If you know people who only get their news from the mainstream press (including the Comedy Central types), you might suggest they check out this blog. Many have probably not bothered to read a more conservative/Christian view of the news - ie, the "other side of the story." Challenge them to consider a different perspective. - Stan]

The mask of objectivity and fairness has finally been ripped off the face of the so-called “mainstream media.”

Back in the day, the iconic Walter Cronkite closed his nightly CBS newscast with the reassuring words, “And that’s the way it is.” And for a generation at least, Americans believed him. Well, they don’t any more. Survey after survey has shown that few professions are held in lower regard by the public than journalism. Survey after survey has also revealed that many elite journalists hold to a narrow, secular worldview that sees religious belief as irrelevant to the “real” issues of the day—if not downright dangerous.

“Now the problem with this journalistic orthodoxy,” says Robert Case of the World Journalism Institute, “is that it is disingenuous. … The post-modern journalist subscribes to no external standard for her judgments. … With the post-modern loss of the quest for objective truth, journalistic judgment is subject to personal whim, and manipulation by the media elite who have their own perspective on truth.”

If you doubt this, just look at the venerable Indianapolis Star, which has just decided, in the name of what it calls “human rights,” not only to advocate on its editorial page for a new state law that “provides strong legal protections for LGBT citizens,” but to organize a massive public campaign.
Of course, despite a big push from the publisher, the Star assures us that its reporters will cover the issue accurately and fairly, with no bias, saying, “Our newsgathering remains independent from any editorial positions we take.” Sure—if the boss takes a huge public stand, that will have no effect in the newsroom. Right.

I’m guessing The Star will be about as unbiased as it was last spring when Indiana legislators passed a religious freedom bill, only to reverse course in the face of boycott threats. The Star published a front-page editorial, titled “Fix This Mess” in huge white letters on a black background. No bias to see here, folks.

Then there’s Gwen Ifill of the PBS “Newshour.” After it became apparent that President Obama’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran would have enough votes to survive a Senate challenge, the public broadcasting anchor snarkily tweeted out to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce critic of the agreement, “Take that Bibi.” She refused to apologize.

I could go on all day, but I’ll throw in just one more. Have you seen the mainstream media’s reporting of the secret videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s grisly trafficking in fetal body parts? You haven’t? If not, that’s because the networks decided to take a pass. Well, that is until Planned Parenthood hired an “independent” agency to review the videos. The media then dutifully parroted Planned Parenthood’s line that the videos were fakes.

Okay, cede the point that journalistic fairness is dead. What can we do about it? The obvious first step is to be aware. Don’t take what you hear at face value. Look for the other side of a story. As the old journalistic saw goes, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”

Second, take a stand. Tell today’s faux journalists that you’re onto their game. And drop your subscription if necessary. The fourth estate is in economic free fall. Perhaps its lack of integrity is a big reason why.

Third, reach out. Befriend a journalist. Journalists need sources, so become one. And too few reporters these days “get” religion. So let’s help them understand it.

Fourth, if you’re so inclined and gifted, become a journalist. Remember what Abraham Kuyper said: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

It won’t be easy to raise good journalism from the dead, but it is necessary. As Walter Cronkite might say, “That’s the way it is.”

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION - The Death of Good Journalism: Reporting vs. Activism - "These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your courts; … and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all these things" (Zech. 8:16-17). “To diligently report the truth in whatever situation is to take part in the cosmic struggle to redeem human culture. To be truthful with our neighbor is to love our neighbor as ourselves. . .” (Robert Case II)

FURTHER READING
"Editorial: Rights for all — it’s time for Indiana to act" - IndyStar | August 28, 2015;http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2015/08/28/editorial-rights-time-indiana-act/71293646/
"Indy Star Orchestrates Secret Campaign To Promote LGBT Special Protections" - Thomas Rose | Breitbart.com | August 26, 2015;http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/26/exclusive-indy-star-orchestrates-secret-campaign-to-promote-lgbt-special-protections/
Telling the Truth: How to Revitalize Christian Journalism(ebook) - Marvin Olasky | Crossway Books
"PBS Ombudsman: Gwen Ifill Tweet Mocking Netanyahu Was ‘Inexcusable’" - Alex Griswold | Mediaite.com | September 3, 2015;http://www.mediaite.com/tv/pbs-ombudsman-gwen-ifill-tweet-mocking-netanyahu-was-inexcusable/
"The Role of the Christian Journalist" - Robert Case II | World Journalism Institute speech - http://www.worldji.com/resources/view/54

# 1347 (9/13) SUNDAY SPECIAL: "The Christian and Civil Disobedience"

"THE CHRISTIAN AND CIVIL DISOBECIENCE" - Jerry Newcombe | Sep 10, 2015; http://townhall.com/columnists/jerrynewcombe/2015/09/10/the-christian-and-civil-disobedience-n2050007/page/full [AS I SEE IT: As you may know, 26 years ago this past Easter weekend I engaged in what would be called an act of civil disobedience by joining with about 600 others gathered in Los Angeles who blocked the entrances to one of the city's largest abortion killing centers. My actions resulted in my spending 4 days in jail and later having to do 60 hours of community service. The hardest part of those days was not the time I spent incarcerated nor the hours of service. Actually, I experienced God more in jail than I have many mornings in "church." And I really enjoyed helping at a senior center those many Saturdays. No, the most difficult part of the entire experience was the criticism and opposition all of us encountered from those in the body of Christ who just didn't understand what this article shares. THAT was the saddest part of my entire experience. - Stan]
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Recent events have called into question the issue of obeying the government in all ways---even in all circumstances.

In the 13th chapter of Romans, Paul says that God has given us the government as a minister of righteousness. It is our duty to obey it. But we also see in Scripture that on occasion, when the government calls for one to disobey God, then civil disobedience is in order.

There’s a great lesson to learn from one aspect of World War II related to distortions of Romans 13. I’m not calling anybody a Nazi, but consider this lengthy lesson, wherein the Nazis quoted Scripture in order to demand unquestioning obedience. On April 9, 1940, without any warning or provocation, the Germans invaded Norway. It was an unexpected battle and an unfair fight with 400,000 German Wehrmacht versus a nation not expecting it. This nightmare lasted until May 1945.

There were, of course, Norwegian collaborators---Norwegians who sold their soul to get ahead during the reign of the Nazis. Foremost amongst them was Vidkun Quisling. His name has been adopted into the dictionary: A quisling is a traitor.

When the Nazis took over Norway, a country full of “pure Aryans,” they expected the Norwegians to fully participate in their attempts to glorify the "master race" and purge the “undesirables” from humanity, such as Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs. The Norwegians would have nothing to do with this. So they resisted, usually in every peaceful way they could. Much of the battle was fought over distributing accurate information. In Oslo, there is a museum (Norges Hjemmefront Museum) dedicated to the resistance movement in World War II. They have a plaque there in English: “In Norway, Nazi ideology was defeated by the democratic forces rooted in a national, Christian culture.” 

While the Nazis won militarily (until the end of the war), they never came close to winning the hearts and minds of the people. Normally, in those days, the churches were full. But during the war, something happened to cause the churches to go empty. The Norwegian bishops and priests, desiring to be faithful to God and the Scriptures, resisted the Nazi efforts to control the churches and the content of sermons. The clergy reasoned that if they all resisted together as one, nothing could happen to them. They were all arrested and sent to concentration camps. Most of them never returned. Many Norwegian Christians met in private homes secretly for worship and avoided the churches during the war.

The same thing happened with the school teachers. The Nazis took over the curriculum of the schools. The teachers resisted as one group. They too were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Most never returned.

The museum contains a 1941 book, written in Norwegian used in the schools by the Nazis. In it, they quote Scripture: “What are those called in Romans 13:1 who God has set over us? Have you considered that your parents, your school teachers (your principal), policemen, police chief, judges, the priest, the bishop, the county commission, the state government, are the authorities who are installed by God, and that you owe them obedience?” Then it says: “Overall, we owe the Fuhrer and the government obedience. If you set yourself up against the authorities and against the state, you are standing against God’s structure and are subject to punishment.”

Talk about the devil quoting Scripture. In reality, the Fuhrer was hostile toward Christianity. Hitler once declared, "The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. Bolshevism is Christianity's illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew." But he was happy to have his minions twist the Christian Scriptures for his own ends.

God's Word is pure and right. But that doesn't mean it can't be distorted sometimes by evil people intent on achieving goals that are contrary to the message of Scripture. There’s a time and a place for everything under the sun, including (on occasion) civil disobedience.

Recently I came across an unpublished letter by D. James Kennedy (11/29/1988), in which he addressed this issue: “The basic Bible principles, I believe, are these: 1) All authority is from God. 2) All human authority is delegated from God. 3) No human authority can countermand the authority of God. 4) If such anti-biblical laws are passed, Christians must in conscience disobey them. 5) They must be prepared to suffer the consequences of their actions.”

Then he solidifies the whole point: “The very existence of Christianity depends upon Christians obeying these principles. Had they not done so, Christianity, which was outlawed first in Israel and then in the Roman Empire, would have ceased to exist many centuries ago.”

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Dr. Jerry Newcombe is a key archivist of the D. James Kennedy Legacy Library and a Christian TV producer.

# 1346 (9/12) "National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children September 12" / "Networks Censor Congressional Hearing..."

"NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBERANCE FOR ABORTED CHILDREN - SEPT. 12" - Steven Ertelt, Sept. 10, 2015 | http://www.lifenews.com/2015/09/10/national-day-of-remembrance-for-aborted-children-september-12/

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/congress-must-de-fund-planned-parenthood-immediately.html

Two years ago, three national pro-life groups announced the first “National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children” to honor the unborn at the grave sites where they are buried.

The observance will be marked by simultaneous memorial services in cities from coast to coast at grave sites of aborted babies. This national observance is being coordinated by Citizens for a Pro-life Society, Priests for Life, and the Pro-life Action League. This is the first time in the history of legalized abortion that such nationwide memorials will be conducted and thousands of people from across the country are expected to participate.

Babies have been buried at dozens of locations after having been killed by abortion. Many of their bodied were retrieved from the actual trash bins of abortion clinics, or pathology labs where the bodies of the aborted unborn were shipped. Some graves have hundreds of bodies buried in them.

Now, Eric Scheidler of Pro-life Action League tells LifeNews.com that the third annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children is approaching.

“This Saturday, September 12, is the third annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, being held at the burial places of aborted children and other memorial sites erected in their honor nationwide. The timing of this event is providential. Those undercover planned Parenthood videos have broken our hearts anew for aborted children, in a truly singular way. Let us mourn for them together on Saturday,” he said.

“You can find all the Day of Remembrance locations — over 130 all over the country — right here:  http://AbortionMemorials.com/sites.php. While you’re there, check out my special video invitation for the event — and please share it with all your pro-life friends so they can mourn with us, too,” he added.

Scheidler continued: “The Planned Parenthood videos have struck such a chord because they make us all face the reality that behind every abortion is a broken human body. How we react to those bodies says everything. Where Planned Parenthood sees a commodity to exploit, we see an abandoned brother or sister who deserves to be buried and mourned. Please join me this Saturday to mourn for these children and pray for an end to abortion in our land.”

He concluded: “It’s sobering to realize that grave markers for the unborn victims of abortion list only a date of burial. They have no birthdays because they were never allowed to be born. We can list no date of death, because those who killed them discarded their bodies like garbage. But they are not garbage to us. They are our brothers and sisters. That’s why we buried them, and that’s why we visit their graves to mourn for them and testify to their humanity.”

“Abortion is not an abstract issue,” added Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life. “Having a memorial service where these babies are buried reminds us that abortion is not merely about beliefs, but about bloodshed; not just about viewpoints, but victims.”

Monica Miller, Director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society, stated, “Since 1973, 55 million innocent unborn children have been killed with the sanction of law. A fraction of these victims of the American slaughter were actually buried. The graves of these victims are scattered across America– graves of sorrow and graves of indictment on a nation that permitted the killing of the innocent. This year, the 40th year of legalized abortion, ceremonies will take place at all graves of these unwanted babies–and our nation will be called to remember and bring an end to the injustice of abortion.”

Follow LifeNews.com on Instragam for pro-life pictures and the latest pro-life news. - https://instagram.com/lifenewspics/

[bold, colored, and italics emphasis mine]

"NETWORKS CENSOR CONGRESSSIONAL HEARING Exposing Planned Parenthood Selling Aborted Baby Parts" -  Matthew Philbin, Sept. 10, 2015 | http://www.lifenews.com/2015/09/10/networks-censor-congressional-hearing-exposing-planned-parenthood-selling-aborted-baby-parts/   

Say this for ABC, CBS and NBC: they’re nothing if not tenacious. The networks have been diligent, even relentless, in their efforts to ignore the Planned Parenthood scandal, proving that when they circle the wagons around an ideological comrade, they stay circled.

The networks have maintained their blackout of news about the hidden camera videos from the Center for Medical Progress showing that America’s largest government subsidized abortion mill trades in a robust aftermarket of aborted baby parts – and does so with all the sensitivity and humanity of an automotive chop-shop. Last night, the nets upped their game; ignoring U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearings on the videos.

Too bad. It sounds, from a Washington Post description, that the hearings would have made for good TV, with emotional testimony and heated exchanges. They could also have covered the related news that what the Post called “far-right conservatives” (presumably identifiable by their horns) in the House may force a government shutdown in their efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. Of course, the nets were busy with other pressing news. ABC World News Tonight with David Muir let his audience know that the NFL had invited singer Bruno Mars to perform the Super Bowl halftime show (it would be Mars’ second Super Bowl appearance!)

CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley spent a minute and 34 seconds on two Texas high school football players who tackled a referee. NBC Nightly News dedicated about 30 seconds to describing Apple’s new product offerings. That’s a modest amount of time, but half a minute is enough to let viewers know congress is investigating whether their tax dollars are going to an organization that sells infant body parts.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

LifeNews.com Note: Matthew Philbin writes for the Media Research Center and this originally appeared at its Newsbusters web site.

# 1345 (9/11) "Remembering September 11, 2001 and 2012"

"REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 AND 2012" - Allen West | Sep 09, 2015;
http://townhall.com/columnists/allenwest/2015/09/09/remembering-september-11-2001-and-2012-n2049622/page/full

The US Congress will return to Capitol Hill this week after the August recess and Labor Day holiday. They will immediately have to take up a monumental foreign policy issue that will present immense challenges for the free world: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal.

Last week, U.S. Senator from Maryland Barbara Mikulski became the coveted 34th vote that sealed President Obama’s veto. Due to the U.S. Senate not treating the JCPOA as a treaty - as the Constitution outlines - President Obama only needed to attain one third in order to sustain his veto of the resolution of disapproval. However, since the Republican controlled Senate decided to restore the 60 vote filibuster threshold – remember Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had changed it to a simple majority – Obama can keep the JCPOA resolution from even coming to a vote with 41 Senate Democrats. That means Obama needed only seven more Democrats to preclude the JCPOA from even being brought to a vote.

Let’s recall that President Obama stated that the JCPOA should be voted upon and not just simply debated in the media. Upon this agreement being signed by the P5+1 the objective was not to allow our Congress to read, debate, and vote – but instead the Obama Administration went first to the UN Security Council for approval, which was unanimously achieved. And now the goal is to garner enough partisan party votes to defeat the resolution of disapproval itself. So much for the American legislative process and the consent of the governed.

This Wednesday, there will be a massive rally at the US Capitol against the JCPOA. According to President Obama this is just a gathering of “crazies,” but the American people deserve to know: how exactly does the JCPOA benefit America? There are no “snapback” sanctions. America is not allowed to participate on any inspection teams. We have come to find out what one of the IAEA-Iran side deals is – Iran gets to inspect its own Parchin military installation. You know, the one that Iran has been stonewalling for inspections and hiding.

Iran has already started negotiations for weapons deals, despite the supposed ban on conventional weapons sales and purchase for another five years. Iran has unveiled a new ballistic missile system, when it is supposed to be under a ballistic missile ban for another eight years.

We, the “crazies,” just want to know what it is that America gets from the JCPOA? Spare us the rhetorical explanation that the only alternative is war – history dispels that assertion. President Obama’s declaration referencing this “deal” was no different than the declaration of President Bill Clinton in 1994 referencing the North Korean nuclear deal. It was just twelve years later in 2006 that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea, tested a nuclear device. Chamberlain did not avert war; Clinton did not avert war; and Obama’s JCPOA will not avert war. As history evidences, the weakness will only serve to embolden the “Dogs of War.”

So here we are just a few days from 911, a very sacred day when we shall remember the assaults of Islamic jihadism/terrorism against the United States. In 2001 thousands of Americans lost their lives because we failed to confront the enemy, Al Qaeda. Our lack of determined action only emboldened their movement. And it was the Clinton administration that allowed a group called the Taliban to establish a 7th century Islamic caliphate in Afghanistan, from which they planned, trained, and launched their attack. Today, we have allowed ISIS to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and our lackluster response is enabling them to grow and proliferate their savage and barbaric ideological objectives – as well as create the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.

We are a few days from remembering 9-11-2012, which some consider a faux issue, where our nation abandoned four Americans to die. But even more disturbing was the obfuscation by the Obama Administration, which blamed it all on a video.

And now, we are being told to support an agreement with the largest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism in the world. We must ask ourselves: who exactly are the “crazies,” those who oppose this ill-conceived policy? Or could it be the ones shouting “death to America,” “death to Israel,” and who hope for the day of return of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi. They are the ones who believe that a catastrophic event will usher in the restoration of a global Islamic caliphate. Perhaps the “crazies” are the ones who have no defense of the JCPOA other than to demonize those presenting appropriate inquiry?

Regardless, we shall all be deemed as “the crazies” if at the time when we remember 9-11 we enable the Islamic Republic of Iran to further its design to support Islamic terrorism. We owe our children and grandchildren a better and more secure future. We must not fail as others have throughout history to recognize the dangers and threat posed to liberty, freedom, and peace. Neville Chamberlain’s wrong assessment of “peace in our time” led to the loss of millions of lives.

As we remember 9-11, let us not forget that Iran was killing Americans even before 2001. 241 people were killed in the 1983 Beirut Barracks bombing. And today, we know that 20% of the deaths in Iraq – estimated at 500 American troops – were killed due to Iran supplying of explosive force penetrator IEDs to Islamic terrorists.

Two words come to mind: “never again.”

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Allen West - A former member of Congress, Allen West is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who served as a battalion commander in Iraq and is the CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.

# 1344 (9/10) "Democrats, Republicans and Mushroom Clouds"

"Democrats, Republicans and Mushroom Clouds" - Mona Charen | Sep 09, 2015;
http://townhall.com/columnists/monacharen/2015/09/09/democrats-republicans-and-mushroom-clouds-n2050153/page/full
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The Democratic Party has been weak-minded on defense for decades, but with the Iran capitulation, they've achieved a new threshold of cowardice and treachery. While it's true that an honorable handful of Democrats have resisted the president's pressure, the overwhelming majority have chosen to go over the cliff with Barack Obama, a president who never met an enemy he didn't wish to conciliate or an ally he didn't seek to betray.

Democrats have long tended toward appeasement of aggressors. Throughout the Cold War, they scared themselves (and everyone else) silly conjuring specters of nuclear holocaust. Then-Sen. John Kerry was one of many prominent Democrats who endorsed the "nuclear freeze." It wasn't America's enemies that we should fear, the Democrats argued, but the weapons themselves.

Democrats rejected the insight of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and others that the surest way to prevent war was "peace through strength." Reagan was regularly accused of courting Armageddon because he described the Soviets accurately (something liberals were too intimidated to do) and because he declined unilaterally to disarm. The dumbfounding reality is that the Democrats have never acknowledged that Reagan's approach succeeded. Instead, with Iran as our chief enemy now, they hope to replay the Cold War so that this time, we fully surrender.

At least the Soviets made it easy for them, playing up the "peace" angle at every opportunity and investing heavily in organizations with names like the "World Peace Council" and the "International Institute for Peace." Soviet leaders and propagandists of the 1970s and 1980s spoke silkily of their desire for "peaceful coexistence" with the West even as, behind the curtain, they were engaged in every form of subversion, terror, espionage and violence.

Iran, by contrast, doesn't bother to disguise its hatred for our country. There is no disingenuous talk of coexistence. "Death to America" is their motto, and the Supreme Leader (not some mythical "hardliners" in the background) has repeated it with grinning audacity even as his negotiators sat across from Kerry in Vienna.

No regime on Earth has been as diligent in executing attacks on Americans since 1979 as Iran. By itself or through proxies, the Islamic Republic took Americans hostage, bombed our embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut, bombed our embassy in Kuwait, and destroyed the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia housing U.S. servicemen. Hezbollah's tentacles extend far beyond the Middle East, with a flourishing branch in the tri-border area (Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil) of South America. During the Iraq War, Iran's IEDs accounted for up to a quarter of the 4,400 casualties we suffered there. Even members of the Obama administration acknowledge that Iran has an ongoing cooperative arrangement with al-Qaida -- though the administration declines to publish the extended evidence discovered at Osama bin Laden's bunker.

The world's leading terror state is expanding its hegemony and contributing, through its brutal support of Syria's Assad, to the horrific refugee crisis now swamping Europe. Even the grotesque Sunni extremist group ISIS owes part of its success to Iran, which has so frightened the Sunnis that some have been willing to support such monsters of their own sect. And the Islamic Republic has threatened, unabashedly and consistently, to annihilate the state of Israel.

This is the regime the Obama Democrats propose to enrich, to grant international legitimacy to as a nuclear threshold state, and to invite to monitor its own nuclear sites. No other signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty is permitted to enrich uranium. This is beyond naivete -- it is sheer lunacy. The Democratic Party has forfeited any claim to national leadership.

Republicans cannot simply shrug and announce that they lack the votes to stop this catastrophe. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a reputation as a shrewd inside player. He has many possible options. 1) Pass a rule by simple majority declaring that the filibuster cannot be used for grave matters of national security. 2) Announce, as David Rivkin and Rep. Mike Pompeo have proposed, that because the president is not in compliance with the Corker/Menendez legislation (which requires that all side deals be submitted to Congress), the 60-day review period has not yet begun. 3) Decide (as Andy McCarthy has suggested) that this agreement -- so crucial to the security of the nation and the world -- is clearly a treaty and can only be considered by Congress as such, requiring a two-thirds vote in both chambers for passage.

If this is not a time for considering every possible congressional strategy, what is? The Democrats trashed the filibuster for some second-tier appointments. Republicans can revive it to prevent terrorists from getting the bomb.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]
   
Mona Charen is a syndicated columnist, political analyst and author of "Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help ." 

# 1343 (9/9) Kim Davis, Chaplain Modder - When Religious Liberty Is Threatened

"KIM DAVIS: Freed but Not Free" - Tony Perkins, Washington Update, Sept. 9, 2015, http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/20150908/voters-tired

Most of us haven't spent a single night in jail. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has spent five. The Kentucky Christian, now the face of a national firefight over religious liberty, is the first believer to test the theory that the government is willing to jail men and women of faith who disagree with the Supreme Court's definition of marriage.

Judge David Bunning turned the prophecy into reality last week, when he ordered the bailiff to put Davis, a second generation clerk, behind bars for refusing to issue court-created same-sex marriage licenses. The mom of grown children spent the holiday weekend in a cell, while Americans shook their heads in astonishment at the hostile place our once-welcoming nation had become. In editorials on her imprisonment that took up pages of last Sunday's editions, many compared Davis to a modern Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, Jr. "This is what the other side wants," bemoaned one LGBT activist. "This a biblical story, to go to jail for your faith. We don't want to make her a martyr to the people who are like her, who want to paint themselves as victims."

After meeting with her this afternoon, I can tell you that Kim Davis isn't a martyr -- she's a hero. What the Left is almost certainly afraid of is what is coming to pass: courage is breeding courage. And months from now, we may all look back and realize that she was the example that sparked a blaze of resistance across this country. When other people might have cowered in fear, Kim took a stand. And today, she is surrounded by hundreds of Americans who stand with her.

A few hours before a rally in her defense, Judge Bunning (whom the American Bar Association accurately rated "not qualified" in 2001) decided that jailing Kim may not send the most helpful message -- and freed her. Unfortunately, she and her fellow clerks haven't been released from their ideological prison, which still demands that they violate their faith to do their jobs. "We're back to Square One," her attorney and Liberty Counsel President Mat Staver said. "She's been released, but there's been no resolution."

Shortly after the latest development, I applauded Kim for her boldness. Standing with Governor Mike Huckabee, I told the rally, "When the arbitrary edits of man conflict with the explicit instructions of God, we cannot and must not submit -- no matter the cost." As I told the #ImWithKim crowd, Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." He did not say, "Blessed are the pacifists." There's a grave misconception in this country that religious liberty is simply the freedom to pick the church of your choice. The myth is that you have the ability to believe as you wish within the four walls of that church and between your two ears, as long as you don't speak about it in public.

Think about that for a moment. Do you really think William Bradford and the Pilgrims were just trying to move their church membership? Weren't there churches a little closer that that would not have resulted in nearly half of them dying that first winter in Plymouth? They came for what Kim Davis is standing for. They came for the ability to live their lives according to their Christian faith. And now it's time for the government of this country to step back and let us.
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"How Kim Davis Can Be Released From Jail Without Agreeing to Violate Her Conscience" - Roger Severino / September 04, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/04/how-kim-davis-can-be-released-from-jail-without-agreeing-to-violate-her-conscience/

Navy Sinks Left's Chances of Sabotage [AS I SEE IT: For many months now, one of the things I've been praying  daily for is that our military chaplains are not prevented from fully teaching God's word and our enlisted personnel  practicing and sharing their faith. Please join me in praying too that every person deployed for combat will have heard the gospel message at some time from someone they have served with. - Stan]
     If anyone understands the importance of religious liberty, it's a military chaplain! And today, the Navy's Wes Modder is celebrating the free exercise of it during a monumental turning point in his case. For months, FRC has been working with members of Congress and the Defense Department to vindicate Chaplain Modder, while Liberty Institute argued his case before top Navy officials.

Late last week, the military finally exonerated Chaplain Modder for doing what he was hired to do: counsel sailors according to the Christian faith. As you may remember, Modder was relieved from his job after his own temporary assistant, who hid the fact that he was a homosexual and married to another man, reported him to the Equal Opportunity office for promoting the biblical morality his sponsoring church espoused. The almost 20-year Navy vet served 8,000 combat service members "with distinction" until he was ordered to clean out his office for not being socially liberal enough.

Despite months of legal limbo, the Navy ultimately sided with Modder, who can continue to serve without a blemish on his record. As Liberty Institute's Michael Berry told our good friend and Fox News correspondent Todd Starnes, "This is not only a great day for Chaplain Modder, but for every American who supports religious freedom in our military."

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# 1342 (9/8) "Debunking the Abortion Crowd's Old Saws"

"DEBUNKING THE ABORTION CROWD'S OLD SAWS" - Douthat Sets the Record Straight" - By: Eric Metaxas|Published: September 2, 2015; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/12/28094?spMailingID=12284528&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=620065077&spReportId=NjIwMDY1MDc3S0

Planned Parenthood supporters paint a scary picture of what will happen if the organization is defunded. But one New York Times columnist isn’t buying it. Nor should we.

The ongoing Planned Parenthood scandal has shone an unwelcome light on the way abortion-on-demand actually works in this country—as opposed to the way abortion-rights advocates want us to believe. It has also opened the door for pro-lifers to make a fresh case against the old saws that prop up pro-abortion arguments.  And few people have done a better job of this than Ross Douthat of the New York Times.

Douthat recently answered a series of questions posed by Katha Pollitt, a well-known abortion-rights advocate. Her questions and Douthat’s responses are worth talking about. For instance, Pollitt raises the specter of women being injured or even dying as a result of so-called “back-alley” abortions. She argues that restricting abortion or even outlawing it won’t substantially reduce the demand for abortion, and that this demand will be met in ways that will harm women. While Douthat concedes that “abortion cannot be absolutely prevented,” there are “good reasons to think that restrictions and bans do, in fact, reduce the abortion rate much more substantially than [Pollitt suggests].” 

For instance, Ireland, where abortion is banned, has an abortion rate one-fourth that of the neighboring U.K., and that’s including Irish women who go to the U.K. for abortions. Furthermore, there’s no evidence of the dire health consequences Pollitt and others warn about. As Douthat tells readers, “If you compare Ireland . . . to other countries like it, there’s simply no evidence that its laws are imposing the kind of massive, back-alley harms that [Pollitt deems] inevitable; its maternal mortality rate is normal for Western Europe and compares favorably to Great Britain.” That’s because “the great modern plunge in pregnancy-associated deaths was not accomplished by [legalized abortion], but by medical advances that . . . predated the legalization of abortion.”

Then there’s the old argument about pro-lifers only caring about the child in the womb and being indifferent about the economic and logistical reasons that would lead a poor woman to choose abortion. Well, Douthat sets the record straight on that score, as well. He writes, “as in other areas related to religion, social conservatism and charitable works . . . the pro-choice side tends to underestimate just how much non-governmental work people with pro-life convictions really do that supports mothers and families . . . how much they give and volunteer, and how big a difference it actually makes.” To which I say “Amen.” My wife runs a pregnancy center, and I know first-hand how dedicated she and other women are to meeting the needs Pollitt mentions.

Douthat is also perplexed by Pollitt’s assertion that pro-lifers are okay with letting men “easily walk away” from their responsibilities toward their children. After all, he says, “the current abortion regime is itself a gift to men who want ‘to easily walk away,’ itself a legal and cultural enabler of male irresponsibility, on a profound, society-altering scale.”

No one less than Janet Yellin, the current Federal Reserve chair, has written that “By making the birth of the child the physical choice of the mother . . . the sexual revolution has made marriage and child support a social choice of the father.”

[Check out the link to Mr. Douhat's article below] . Sometimes you come across somebody that is so smart and so articulate that all you can say is, “I’m glad he’s on our side.” This is one of those instances.

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FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION - Check out Ross Douthat's reasoned and intelligent rebuttal to the pro-choice crowd's case for abortion below. Then contribute your time, energy and resources to one of the many pro-life organizations working to end the scourge of abortion in America. Listed below are websites for just a few of these organizations.
RESOURCES:
"There is No Pro-Life Case For Planned Parenthood" - Ross Douthat | New York Times | August 5, 2015;http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/there-is-no-pro-life-case-for-planned-parenthood/?_r=1
ORGANIZATIONS:
CareNet - http://www.care-net.org/
Pro-Life Action League - http://prolifeaction.org/
National Right to Life - http://www.nrlc.org/
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