2008 California Election Forum

Little is said in the United States about the secular war on Christianity and family values in Europe.

On April 25, the European Union legislature adopted a resolution condemning what they called "homophobia" with 325 "for" votes versus 125 "against" and 150 abstentions. The EU warned Poland that it will face sanctions if it adopts a law forbidding the promotion of homosexuality in the schools.

Churches were also reprimanded for "fermenting hatred and violence" (against homosexuality).

Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said "nobody is...Get the full story. Sign up for a FREE all-access membership by clicking here.

Numerous books have recently come out to attack Christianity and disprove the existence of God.

Christopher Hitchens' book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything is now #15 on the Amazon.com best-seller list and #2 on the New York Times best-seller list.

Basically, Hitchens disproves God by pointing to past and current hypocrisies displayed by some believers or professed believers. Some of the examples are horrible actions.

What Hitchens basically has done is:

• Say that because some people who have professed Christ have not lived their life in the spirit and love of Christ, Christianity is wrong
• And that because some have failed, God does not exist

On the contrary, these failures are a reflection of man's sinful nature as explained in God's Word.

What Hitchens doesn't recognize is that it's Christianity that has changed the world. It's Christianity that has increased respect for children, women and human rights.

It's Christianity that started schools, orphanages and charities for the poor. And it's the Christians who created the foundation for...Get the full story. Sign up for a FREE all-access membership by clicking here.

Throughout America, churches and religious institutions have been denied their First Amendment rights by cities refusing to let them build or expand.

A Catholic day care program recently won a suit against the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan under RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act).

RLUIPA is a federal law passed by congress in response to unfair city laws. In this case, a Michigan appellate court agreed that denial of permission to operate the school violated RLUIPA and the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

"There is evidence for intelligent design in the universe."

For these words, Guillermo Gonzalez, a professor of Astronomy at Iowa State University, was denied tenure. Despite a stellar academic record, he made the mistake of writing a book The Privileged Planet which showed there is evidence for design.

However, Dr. Gonzalez does not teach intelligent design in any of his classes.

This is one reason only "politically correct" teachers exist.

The recent murder of shoppers in a Salt Lake City mall saw both the media and the government underplay the fact that the murder was committed by an Islamic radical.

Investor's Business Daily reported it well:"It looks like the Muslim teen who opened fire on shoppers in a Salt Lake City mall is yet another case of 'sudden jihad syndrome,' a condition in which normal-appearing American Muslims abruptly turn violent."

Invisible Jihad in America

Taken together, this and other cases add up to an invisible jihad inside America. But don't tell that to the FBI. The politically correct bureau does everything it can to avoid recognizing the obvious Islamic factor in these heinous crimes.

The late Sulejman Talovic, who as an 18-year-old Bosnian Muslim immigrant, was loaded with enough ammo to inexplicably kill dozens of victims—and he would have, if an alert off-duty cop hadn't returned fire and stopped him. Talovic still managed to methodically murder five and wound four others with a shotgun.

Witnesses say it was an act of cold-blooded violence aimed at random victims—something otherwise known as terrorism. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Talovic attended Friday prayers at a mosque about a block from the mall.

Yet the FBI saw no religious motive, and quickly ruled out terrorism. Nor could it find anything to indicate terrorism in several other Muslim-tied cases since 9/11...In all these cases, the feds' first reaction was to shrug.

They said the perps were lone individuals who just went ballistic after having a bad day, as if anyone could have committed such crimes. But they weren't just anyone. They were all young Muslim men.

Random acts of domestic terrorism

We're likely to see more of these seemingly random domestic attacks. They may seem isolated, but all have radical Islam at their nexus. They're not senseless or utterly inexplicable or impossible to rationalize, as the media intone. They are purposeful. These men act as conscripts called up for a mission, sick as it is.

And Mike Adams also had some interesting insight:

"What do you suppose was the perspective of the Muslim murderer who went on that shooting spree in Utah? Does he favor concealed carry permits like the one that helped someone kill him?

"And how about the people who died or had to rely on someone else to defend them from that gun-wielding member of the religion of peace and love, which is otherwise known as Islam? Do they favor concealed carry permits?"

A survey by Rasmussen Reports says 69% of Americans would rather hear “Merry Christmas” than “Happy Holidays.”

Incidentally, breaking it down by party affiliation, 85% of Republicans want to hear “Merry Christmas,” compared to 61% of Democrats. A huge majority in both groups.

Here is what I would suggest:

• Say it: If someone says “Happy Holidays,” reply with joy, “Merry Christmas.” Don’t lose an opportunity at any gathering, meeting or retail store to say, “Merry Christmas.”
• Your cards: Make sure your Christmas cards don’t say “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” like the pagans. Proclaim Christ in Christ-centered cards.
• Christmas purchases: We called for letters asking Wal-Mart to reverse their decision to ban employees from saying “Merry Christmas” and to leave out the word Christmas in ads and products (using instead such expressions as “Happy Holidays” or “Holiday Trees”). With pressure, Wal-Mart did reverse their decision, and we need to thank them.

Personally, I avoided shopping at “Happy Holidays only” retailers. I thought it was insulting to walk through Lowe’s and see only “holiday.” Especially when you consider that they have taken Christmas money, but refused to mention Christmas!

This false political correctness is growing; however, if we don’t spend our money with these retailers, they too may reverse their decisions.

If you also decline to shop at these retailers, politely let them know of your decision and the reason for it. Some of the worst offenders are: Banana Republic, Best Buy, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Home Depot, J.Crew, Lane Bryant, Lowe’s, Old Navy, PetSmart, Rite Aid and Staples.

The Lord said, “You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13-14.)

Recently, a reader named Bob sent me the Dobson email chain letter concerning petition number RM-2493 and asked me if its warning was true. He wrote:

“I hate to bug you with this kind of thing, but as a Christian I am bombarded by so many of these types of e-mails where if I don't sign up or don't send it to 10 people right away I'll blow it and ruin it for everyone. Is this true?

“I understand these kinds of things are really not faith based, but futile works based on immature Christians thinking they are doing something good. Maybe they should actually do something for some of the poor people in their neighborhood.

“But I want to know if this Dobson email is a hoax. After looking at it, I think it has to be! If the petition is true, sending a bunch of names on an email isn't going to do anything. Any advice you could give on matters like this would be much appreciated.”

The email warning says that atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hare was responsible for CBS’s decision to take Touched by an Angel off the air and that there was a move to have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stop religious programming.

The email, which comes in several versions, called for Christians to flood Congress and the FCC with letters and petitions. It also said Dr. James Dobson was asking for help in this effort.

This is all false. The truth is, O’Hare has been dead for more than five years and Dr. Dobson has nothing to do with the email. Touched by an Angel ran successfully for more than nine seasons. It was cancelled because of a lack of viewers in a competitive market, not any political pressure.

To get a full explanation of why the email is false, go to Rich Buhler’s website www.truthorfiction.com. It’s a great website that addresses false rumors and gives the real truth. Check this website out before you forward any email that might be a rumor or false.

Many outraged Episcopal congregations are splitting from the liberal Episcopal Church in the United States. They disagree over the ordination of homosexuals and over the authority of scripture.

The church largely preaches humanism and is void of historic Christian doctrine. Its politics of liberalism are its god.

In a recent issue of Reality Alert we discussed the lawsuit against San Diego for charging higher fees to religious groups that rent public facilities than to secular groups.

The suit was filed by Canyon Ridge Baptist Church. As often happens, instead of pursuing a lawsuit, cities usually give in when a suit is filed. San Diego agreed to charge the same amount to religious groups as to secular groups.

On November 12, Elton John said that he wants to see an organized effort to suppress institutionalized faith. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely,” he said. The superstar said that even though there are some wonderful things about it...the reality is that organized religion doesn’t seem to work. "It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate," he said. “I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays.”

This is another example of the left's intolerance, their desire to avoid radical debate, and their desire to use the power of the state to impose their own beliefs and values.

Can you imagine if a “religious” person suggested banning homosexuality or atheism? The outcry would have been deafening. But that’s not Christianity. Homosexuality is a sin. And Christ is the solution to get one out of the lifestyle. Not the state and not force.

Atheism is a flawed philosophy. Christianity has the answers to truth and life. But we won't use the state to do the work of the Holy Spirit.

This is the type of anti-Christian mentality that seeks to ban symbols and expressions of public faith on buildings, events and public institutions. The controversy against crosses, the Ten Commandments or even saying “under God" in our pledge is evidence of the liberals' intolerance in action. We can see the left's violent reaction to issues of textbook curriculum, especially intelligent design, that liberals want to suppress. Pray for Elton John, that he will experience the love of Christ and a changed heart.

Now, the liberals are using Bible verses, especially concerning the poor, to promote liberal causes.

As Christians, we must be concerned about the poor. We must be obedient to God’s word about the poor.

However, government welfare programs and transfer-of-wealth schemes are economically unsound and have a history of hurting the poor.

For example, the increase in the minimum wage hurts the poor, minorities, students and young adults by destroying entry-level jobs that provide the opportunity to learn the skills that lead to better paying jobs.

The unintended consequences are devastating

What the liberals don’t get is that Christians do help the poor—not by being forced to pay taxes, but by giving $93.8 billion annually in charitable donations to organizations promoting physical and spiritual needs. These donations are effective. The money actually helps the people, while government money is wasteful and largely ineffective.

Christians reach out voluntarily in the private and independent sectors. That’s what America is all about—Christians reaching out in love to the broken, the poor and the underprivileged, with physical help and the transforming power of Christ.

And Christians volunteer, on average, 12 times a year compared to 5 times a year for the average non-church attendee.

Government only messes things up. Look at the Katrina disaster. Help came from God’s people reaching out with the love of Christ, not politicians and bureaucrats.