Christ’s example: a child
Sep 20, 2009 Five Non-Negotiable Issues
Gospel
Mk 9:30-37Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”
Today’s gospel provides two relevant lessons for Americans (and people of the world). First of all, Christ warns the apostles that anyone who acts selfishly and worries about their own interests are in grave danger. This is especially fitting when looking at the candidates and the issues a person supports with their time and fortune.
The second lesson in resides in the example he uses — a child. Considering God was omniscient, this is a very telling example for all of the ages to come: that there is nothing more precious in this world than a child, even the lowest and most unworthy of children (as is the case in this example). Yet, Christ puts the child on the pedestal and says you cannot receive him without receiving the child.
Many Christian-Americans continue to vote according to their wants and needs, and not the needs of the least among us. They have continued to put issues like education, taxes, and government services ahead of the needs of the unborn. They have continued to discount the millions of children we mercilessly kill every year while propping up the need for free markets and civil liberty. The first freedom we are entitled to in this world, though, is Freedom. People should heed the words of an ultimate civil libertarian, Ron Paul:
Contrast that with a guy who many Ron Paul supporters also support, but whose priorities are truly mis-guided, and you don’t have a civil libertarian at all. Be very prayerful and thoughtful before you give any kind of support to a man like Peter Schiff. Supporting a man with the thoughts to come (below) is denying the very child that Christ is begging you to receive (and thus, the Father):
Thursday round-up on health care
Sep 10, 2009 Blogging's Best, Governmental Reach, Health Care, Obama Administration
There are some great pieces that have come out this morning regarding the health care debate, and particularly as President Obama’s speech last night affects it.
We start with Fred Barnes, where he was looking for the answers to five basic questions to see if the president had gotten back on track in the debate. Among them:
4) Did he demonize the health care providers he’s actually made deals with? Well, not all of them, but the health insurers took their usual beating.
5) Did he repeat the false claims he’s made repeatedly in earlier speeches? Yes indeed. He brought up nearly all of them, including the ones on no abortion coverage, no loss of one’s current health insurance, and the “savings” that would come from more preventive care.
Terry Madonna and Michael Young write, today, that not only is the conservative right gaining some momentum, but the left is becoming increasingly impatient with him.
The subtext of these and dozens of similar stories is crystal clear-Obama is in early trouble and the fate of his presidency may be at stake. The presidency that many thought might resemble FDR’s is looking more and more like Jimmy Carter’s. The aspirations of last November are becoming the trepidations of this September.
Madonna and young state that it’s not even out of the question that, among challenges from the conservative right, Obama could even be in store for a challenge from the liberal left come 2012.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, calling the speech a “missed opportunity,” sums up the problem with the president’s claims nicely:
We need to have a full and open debate about these concerns. But based on his speech last night, Obama would have us believe that he has a blueprint for a health care system that miraculously would be both much cheaper and much bigger — and the only thing that those who doubt him can offer is “misinformation.”
Sorry, Mr. President. That’s just not true.
In the end, keep in mind that even Congress “cackled” at the comment Obama made that “there remain some significant details to be ironed out.”
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Tags: Health Care, Obama
Recommended political blog
Sep 9, 2009 Blogging's Best, Governmental Reach
David Carlson has taken his political commentary to a new blog. Please make sure to visit him over at The Liberty Blogger. Of particular interest to me, see his post on school vouchers.
Tags: David Carlson, education, School Vouchers
Minnesota State Fair Poll Results
Sep 8, 2009 Governmental Reach, polls
The Minnesota House of Representatives have released their state fair poll results, and there are some very interesting tidbits in it, including opinions on the use of medical marijuana and the use of two fishing poles at once.
Here are the results. (PDF)
