Tammany Hall as a ferocious tiger killing democracy by Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly.
“We are Republicans, and don’t propose to leave our party and identify ourselves with the party whose antecedents have been rum, Romanism, and rebellion. We are loyal to our flag.”
Dr. Samuel D. Burchard
Last week brought with it a couple of major events, neither one of them good for America. In the first place, there was the passage of the comically, propagandistically names Inflation Reduction Act, an Act guaranteed to increase, not decrease inflation. Not to mention an Act that sics 87,000 new IRS agents on the American people – more specifically, it sics them on the middle class and small businesses that don’t have the legions of tax lawyers and accountants to fight back against the IRS – an Act that implements parts of the liberty destroying, World Economic Forum, Vatican approved Green New Deal, and an Act that manages to extend Obamacare subsidies passed as part of Covid relief.
In short, it’s another unconstitutional boondoggle that will do exactly the opposite of what it claims it will do.
Then there’s the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Many writers have rightly compared this raid to the sort of thing one would expect in a banana republic. Given the disturbing trend of both the Democrats generally, and the Biden Regime in particular, to politicize justice, this raid must be seen as a continuation of their attempts to outlaw their political opponents.
One can find many articles in the mainstream and even alternate conservative and libertarian press denouncing both the Inflation Reduction Act and the raid on Mar-a-Lago. But none of them, in this writer’s opinion, get to the heart of the matter.
There are in Scripture numbers commands directed to Christians not to be deceived. Take, for example, Christ’s warning to his disciples at the beginning of his discourse about the end times. “Take heed that you not be deceived,” he told them.
My Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines “deceive” thus: the imposing of a false idea or belief that causes bewilderment or helplessness or furthers the agent’s purpose.” On that definition, there are certainly a lot of Americans who have failed to heed Jesus’s injunction.
Our being deceived is no light matter. Speaking of Eve, the Apostle Paul noted that she was “deceived” by the serpent in the garden and that by her deception she “fell into transgression.”
In Deuteronomy, we read, “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.” In this case, one’s being deceived would result in death and dispossession.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote, “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” Here we have a list of sins common, no doubt, in Paul’s day as well as in ours. It would be easy enough to excuse them as they were common practice. It might have even seemed strange to people in the first century if one did not practice such things. Perhaps the Corinthian Christians were tempted to pass over such behavior as customary and not worth mentioning. Maybe they were afraid of challenging those who were involved in them out of misplaced fear of men. Yet Paul says no one who practices such things “will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Many other examples of deception and the Scriptures telling us to avoid it can be found.
I bring up the matter of deception because we live in a world that is working to deceive us 24/7 and doing so with tools that are more sophisticated than at any time in history.
Opponents of critical race theory attend a Loudoun County School Board meeting on June 22 in Ashburn. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Across America, school boards have been losing the battle over Covid restrictions and Critical Race Theory to American parents.
Now they’re getting serious and calling in the heavy artillery.
At least that seems to be the case given the whiney, tattletale-style letter the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent to Joe Biden requesting help from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the U.S. Secret Service and its National Threat Assessment Center, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
All this, because parents don’t like “education professionals” teaching their kids to hate them, their nation, and their entire civilization.
“As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” reads the letter.
In other words, the NSBA thinks all the red-neck parents out there in fly-over country who oppose the brainwashing of their children should just shut up already. And if they don’t, they should be hit with charges of domestic terrorism and thrown in the clink right along with the J6 defendants and all the other deplorable types who deserve to be locked up.
That is to say, the NSBA wants to make disagreeing with school boards a federal offense, in much the same way as many would like to see Covid skeptics locked up who dare express disagreement with Anthony Fauci, the WHO, and Bill Gates.
Lest anyone suppose that I’m advocating an “anything goes” policy at school board meetings, that is not my point at all. As with any public meeting, there are rules of conduct that apply in school board sessions. If someone gets out of line, there are ways of dealing with that person, up to and including arrest if the occasion requires it. These situations can be handled by local law enforcement. But the NSBA wants to make a federal case out of it. Calling on the nuclear option of DOJ shows that the school boards’ main concern is not with ensuring Robert’s Rules of Order are followed. Surely a stern gavel, a security guard, or the local police can handle this. No. Something more sinister is at work here. It appears that the real goal of the school boards is to avoid altogether answering to parents, the very people who pay for the schools, for their appalling decisions on everything from pornographic curriculum, to transgender bathroom and locker room policies, to unscientific mask requirements for students. The goal is the criminalization of dissent from the progressive educratic party line.
“We are Republicans, and don’t propose to leave our party and identify ourselves with the party whose antecedents have been rum, Romanism, and rebellion. We are loyal to our flag.”
Dr. Samuel D. Burchard, Presbyterian Minister and Union Civil War Veteran
“Our patience is wearing thin
.” Thus did the imposter-in-chief and son of Antichrist Joe Biden bellow from the lectern on Thursday.
My message to unvaccinated Americas is this: what more is there to wait for, what more do you need to see? We’ve made vaccinations free, safe, and convenient. The Vaccine is FDA approved [it isn’t, but that’s another matter]. Over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot. We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us. So please, do the right thing. But don’t just take it from me. Listen to the voices of unvaccinated Americans who are lying in hospital beds taking their final breath saying, “if only I’d gotten vaccinated! If only!” It’s a tragedy. Please don’t let it become yours.
With his words, this treasonous liar managed, in very short order, to declare war, not just on unvaccinated Americans, but on all the constitutionally guaranteed liberties of all Americans.
Quite apart from the fact that the Covid vaccines are unsafe and ineffective, Biden’s arrogant and threatening words are among the most disturbing, unconstitutional, and unchristian utterances made by any American politician ever. It’s that serious.
There is no provision in our Constitution that allows a president to dictate what medical treatments a person must have. There is no support for such a thing in Scripture.
It only he had stuck with plagiarizing Neil Kinnock.
Now, when speaking as President in 2021, it seems that Biden has raised his game, lifting his ideas from a higher source. In this case, Revelation 13 seems to be where Biden is stealing his ideas these days. There we read, “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
It is not my point here to argue that the Covid vaccine answers to the prophecy in John’s Revelation. With that said, Biden’s threat to the unvaccinated is certainly of that same spirit we find in Revelation. “Do what I tell you, or else!”
It’s also of the same spirit one finds in the Roman Catholic Church, the Great Babylonian Harlot of Revelation. In the middle ages, Rome was all about “do what we say, or else!” If you didn’t believe that Christ really, truly was present in the sacrifice of the mass, well, you were in a whole lot of trouble and would likely find yourself on the receiving end of some nasty business. This is what dogma is. “Believe, or else!” No matter how stupid, absurd, and unbiblical Rome’s pronouncements were. You had to accept what the pope and his henchmen said or suffer the consequences.
Back in 2006 in his essay “The Religious Wars of the 21st Century,” John Robbins wrote, “The Protestant Reformation is indeed over; the respite of peace, freedom, and prosperity it afforded the West from the long history of human brutality is drawing to a close; and the world is about to enter a new Dark Age of slavery, brutality, and war. Only the second coming of Christ or an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit can prevent religious totalitarians from imposing their will on billions of people.”
Some may have thought Robbins a pessimist when he wrote that. But fifteen years later, his words seem downright prescient.
America is suffering under the government of its second Roman Catholic president. And unlike the first one, John F. Kennedy, Biden not only sees no need to hide his political and economic Romanism, but actually goes out of his way to embrace them.
By political and economic Romanism, I mean the application of the Roman Catholic Church-State’s (RCCS) theology and philosophy to those two disciplines.
“Ye are the salt of the earth…Ye are the light of the world.”
Matthew 5:13, 14
“That’s the job description of a Christian,” said my Sunday school teacher many years ago. By this, he meant that Christians are called to be salt and light in a lost and dying world.
Salt in the sense Jesus spoke of here meant “savory” or “flavorful.” As John Gill put it,
This is to be understood of the disciples and apostles of Christ; who might be compared to “salt”, because of the savoury doctrines they preached; as all such are, which are agreeable to the Scriptures, and are of the evangelistic kind, which are full of Christ, serve to exalt him, and to magnify the grace of God; and are suitable to the experiences of the saints, and are according to godliness, and tend to promote it: also because of their savoury lives and conversations; whereby they recommended, and gave sanction to the doctrines they preached, were examples to the saints, and checks upon wicked men.
In the Scriptures, “light” is often a reference to knowledge of the truth. And that is the sense in which Jesus used it here. Again, John Gill,
What the luminaries, the sun and moon, are in the heavens, with respect to corporal light, that the apostles were in the world with regard to spiritual light; carrying and spreading the light of the Gospel not only in Judea, but all over the world, which was in great darkness of ignorance and error; and through a divine blessing attending their ministry, many were turned from the darkness of Judaism and Gentilism, of sin and infidelity, to the marvellous light of divine grace.
As Christians, are words out actions, even our thoughts, are to show Christ to our neighbor in a lost, dying and hopeless world.
Doubtless, most Christians would agree with this assessment. But how hard it can be to put into practice!
If I’m honest with myself and with you, I have to say that I don’t always do a very good job at this. Perhaps you’re a bit like me, and look around you at the mess, the perfect babel of confusion our civilization has become and despair. The forces of evil are overwhelming, and I cannot overcome them. They have power, money, influence, and prestige in abundance. What are my puny efforts in comparison to that? And you can probably guess at some of the great discouragers I’m talking about.
For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.
Matthew 12:37
“So even when you’re on your path to trying to figure out how to be a better human being – because I believe that white people are born into not being human…That y’all are born into a life to not be human, and that’s what y’all are taught to do, to be demons.” Thus spoke Ashleigh Shackelford, now Hunter Shackelford, a self-described, “Black fat queer cultural producer, multidisciplinary artis, nonbinary shapeshifter, afrotechnologist and data futurist based in Atlanta, Georgia, with roots in Richmond Virginia.”
One could spend a great deal of time studying Critical Race Theory (CRT) and have a hard time coming up with a better example of what many CRT advocates believe than this.
Her statement was made in front of an audience of mostly white, middle aged women sitting for what appears to be some sort of CRT conference. You can watch the full video here. It’s less than a minute long but is one of the best illustrations of CRT in action that you’re likely to see.
While lecturing the audience of mostly white, middle aged women, the camera shows one of the flip chart pages Miss Shackelford is teaching from. At the top in all capital letters are the words “ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE RACIST.” Under that, she has included the details of her Paypal account. So confident is she in the rightness of her cause and her audience’s meek subservience, that Miss Shackelford has no problem asking donations from the very people she is simultaneously slandering.
This remarkable video illustrates two disturbing trends related to CRT. First, the open, unapologetic, blatant anti-white racism of CRT promoters. Second, it demonstrates calm acquiescence to such racist hectoring by those who are the targets of it.
The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
Deuteronomy 28:43, 44
Just a few hours before the Capitol Hill riot captured the world’s attention on January 6, Washington Post political reporter Dave Weigel tweeted out, “Protestants locked out of the top offices for the first time ever (president, chief justice, speaker of the house, [Senate] majority leader).”
Of the offices he referred to in his tweet, three – President, Chief Justice, and Speaker of the House – are held by Roman Catholics. Senate Majority Leader, Charles Schumer, is Jewish.
Jesse Curtis, whose Twitter bio states he is a historian of race and religion and is starting a job as Assistant Professor of History at Valpariso University in the fall of 2021, retweeted Weigel’s tweet, commenting on it, “The decline of Protestant supremacy (both as fact and ideology) is really something. Less than a century ago this would have been front page news and major social tension. Now it’s just quaint trivia.”
Another tweet by Sean Penn – yes, the actor – from 2/12/2021 reads, “Evangelical leaders should themselves be impeached by the Vatican if they themselves don’t follow Nikki Haley’s – The Monstrous Regiment (R-SC) – lead & clearly state they should not have followed Satin (sic) – this is a reference to Donald Trump – into the bowels of hell. But, perhaps they are too busy at sex parties.”
Now one could dismiss this as just another silly tweet from a confused Hollywood dweller. But a response to Penn’s tweet caught my attention. “thank you”, it began. “people often don’t like to acknowledge that the one holy roman catholic apostolic church has authority over the protestants so i’m glad you’re speaking out on this critical issue.” That response was sent by Elizabeth Bruening, whose Twitter bio indicates she’s an “Opinion writer at @nytimes.” That is to say, she is someone with journalistic and cultural clout. Bruening also retweeted Penn’s tweet with the comment “absolutely.”
A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; The simple pass on and are punished.
Proverbs 27:12
Here we stand at the end of the Year of Our Lord 2020 and at the precipice of 2021. My, how time flies.
When I was pondering what to write this week, it took some time, but it finally dawned on me that this would be my last Sunday post of 2020. “Of course,” I thought to myself, “it’s time for my year-in-review post. Problem solved!”
Before launching into a review of 2020 and casting an eye toward the future in coming year, I would like to take this occasion to thank my Lord and Savior Christ Jesus for all the blessings he has brought into my life over the past year. For the grace he has shown me in forgiving all my sins and patiently teaching me, for a job to pay my bills, for health to do that which I needed to and wanted to accomplish, for the love of family and friends.
It would be remiss of me not to mention how thankful I am for the Lord’s gracious provision in my life to write this blog. I began blogging in March of 2009, so it won’t be long before I celebrate 12 years of posting online. Most blogs make it only a few months. That I have had the strength to sustain this work for so long is a testament, not to my skill or smarts or energy or anything in me, but to the calling and faithfulness of the Lord. During my first five years of blogging, I posted occasionally. Here a little, there a little. It was in November 2014 that I prayed God would help me to reach the goal of posting at least once a week, and he heard me. From that time until now, I have not gone a week without writing and posting at least one article.
I thank God also for the opportunity to resume work on my podcast, Radio Lux Lucet. I mentioned in last year’s end of year podcast that I wanted to start podcast again more regularly. As it turned out, although I didn’t start out the year all that well, I have managed to string together about eight weeks in a row of podcasts, so that’s progress!
Finally, I would like to thank my readers for their support during 2020. It is my prayer with each post that the name of God would be glorified and that my words would edify his people. With every post, it is my goal to bring you perspective on the events of the day that you won’t be able to find just anywhere. As John Robbins was wont to point out, the Bible has a systematic monopoly on truth. This includes truth in the areas that I like to write about, namely, economics and politics. The psalmist wrote, “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.” Writing to Timothy, the Apostle Paul said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” While I don’t claim to have greater understanding than all my teachers, I can testify to the fact that there is nothing that can prepare the Christian to take on the received “wisdom” of this world more than a solid grounding in the Scriptures. All the truths of philosophy, politics, and economics are hidden in Christ Jesus. And there is no other source to which Christion must repair to fight the good fight of faith against the lies of this world – and how many lies there are and how great! – than to the 66 books of the Bible. It is from the Word of God that Christians must rebuke senators, judges, governors, presidents, prime ministers and popes for their sinful and foolish words and actions. And this, the Apostle tells us, is a good work for which the Scriptures thoroughly equip the Christian man. It is this good work I aim to do with each post.
Thanks is also due to those who have graciously donated to support the work of this blog. I greatly appreciate your kindness.
Special thanks is also owed to John Bradshaw, brother in Christ, friend and keen eyed and patient editor of my posts. This blog is much better for your work. Thank you.
Lux Lucet 