Inside Baseball: Healthcare in Congress

From the July 30 Wall Street Journal:

On the conservative side of the equation, Mr. Waxman has unrelentingly antagonized the rural Democratic members who make up the majority of his committee. He wrote a climate bill without their input, loaded it with provisions that hurt their districts, and left them to vote on Republican amendments designed to inflict maximum political damage.

He ignored requests to wait to see if the Senate could produce, instead forcing a painful floor vote on legislation prior to the July Fourth recess. Members went home to be brutalized by constituents and local employers.

This high-handed treatment already had Blue Dogs loaded for bear, not that Mr. Waxman heeded warnings. When he again ducked into secret meetings to craft health-care legislation, a group of 45 members sent a letter complaining. “We don’t want a briefing on the bill after it’s written. We want to help write it,” declared Arkansas’s Mike Ross, chair of the Blue Dog health-care task force. Rebuffed, conservative Democrats delineated for Mr. Waxman what they saw as an acceptable bill. Rebuffed again, they asked Mr. Waxman to let the Senate go first. Rebuffed yet again, Mr. Ross took his case to the nation, with a revolt that has beat down the House bill for weeks.

More at: The Waxman-Pelosi Follies

The Beer Sgt. Crowley Should Have Requested at the White House

Busch.

The Seven Deadly Sins

I grew up in a church whose catechism included lessons on the Seven Mortal, or Deadly, Sins. Although the Scriptures frequently discuss these sins, the Bible does not list them in the same way as it lists, say, the Ten Commandments.

Having said that, the Seven Deadly Sins are a valid template for understanding the moral milieu. The sins are:

1. Pride
2. Greed
3. Envy
4. Wrath
5. Lust
6. Gluttony
7. Sloth

During my youthful days in the catechism, the teacher’s focus was on how such sins can scar one’s soul and threaten one’s eternal salvation, hence the moniker Seven Mortal Sins.

True that such sins will destroy a person’s spiritual life, but it is also true that they are destructive to nations and societies. Take a look at those sins and imagine how a society would look once those sins take hold.

Think of an economy and business environment where greed, envy, gluttony, and sloth are dominant motivating factors.

Or a political environment where pride, wrath, greed, and lust are part of the daily news cycle.

Or a culture where families are wracked with pride, wrath, lust, greed, and sloth.

Put differently, if a nation practices as a matter of course the Seven Deadly Sins, it might look like a lot like what we see around us.

Maybe a little lesson in the Seven Virtues is the medicine the culture needs.

Why the Left Turned on Hillary Clinton

During the 2008 Presidential primary, I was stunned how quickly the left turned on Hillary Clinton. At the time it appeared to be no more than the novelty of Mr. Obama and the superiority of his campaigning skills.

But then I came across this article on Mother Jones website. Read from one of their own on the real issue they had with Hillary Clinton.

Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics

Excerpt:

For 15 years, Hillary Clinton has been part of a secretive religious group that seeks to bring Jesus back to Capitol Hill. Is she triangulating—or living her faith?

Wall Street Journal on How Obama Stumbled on Health Care

Today's Wall Street Journal's op-ed piece by Kimberly Strassel outlines why Mr. Obama is failing in his healthcare initiatives. People should ask how a political party that has a filibuster-proof Senate, a large majority in the House, and control of the White House can blame the Republicans.

Read the inside baseball here: How Obama Stumbled on Health Care

I Got Racially Profiled!

I know what it’s like to be racially profiled, and I have understood this well since 9/11. Only I don’t mind.

I am of Italian descent, more specifically of southern Italian descent. My Sicilian ancestry means I likely have some Arab blood in my veins, since they controlled that island for many years. My olive skin lends credence to my Mediterranean background. I spent the summer in Israel some years back, and the Palestinians themselves (no kidding!) often confused me as being one of them.

So when I’m about to get on an airplane, especially in the absence of my kids and blond wife, I invariably notice people giving me sidelong glances.

Recently, I was flying back from Cincinnati. I was in line to get my boarding pass and I was literally pulled out of line by an airport employee who started to ask me, courteously I might add, a series of questions clearly designed to check me out. Where are you going? What do you do for a living? May I see your ID?

It took about 30 seconds, whereupon he printed off a boarding pass for me and I was on my way.

Some people might think that I would be offended by being profiled. But you know what? I was not. The poor guy was simply doing his job, which happens to be protecting airline passengers of which I am one. So good on him.

And you know something else? If you see me in an airport without my kids and blond wife, go ahead and give me a sidelong glance. I won’t mind and I’ll even be amused. Most of all, I’ll be glad about it because you are looking out for the rest of us.

For Such a Time as This

Religious folks over the millennia have often felt the need to separate themselves from the world and its foibles, whether it be to hold up in a monastery, to form separate communities, or even to trek across mountains, prairie, and ocean for a completely new start in an untamed land.

I understand the sentiment. I confess to having such thoughts in my melancholy moments. After being bombarded with several days worth of distressing news stories, I have blurted out more than once a desire to move to Honduras or other such climes, and while the events of the past few weeks have changed my fantasy destination, the desire to tell the world where to get off is a very real one.

In 1527 the plague inflicted the German city of Wittenberg. Wittenberg is otherwise famous as the site where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door. Luther was in the city at the time of this plague while many of the residents were leaving the city for healthier locations. The question naturally arose, what is the duty of the Christian in such a time as this?

Luther gave his answer in his treatise Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague. Wrote Luther, “This I know, that if it were Christ or his mother who were laid low by illness everybody would be so solicitous and would gladly become a servant or helper. Everyone would want to be bold or fearless; nobody would flee but everyone would come running ... If you wish to serve Christ and to wait on him, very well; you have a sick neighbor close at hand. Go to him and serve him, and you will surely find Christ in him.”

Martin Luther in essence was saying what many Christian teachers have said for many years: It’s time for the church to be the church. This is an ailing world, and times such as this require a cadre of committed people who have their wits about them and are motivated by nothing less than a willingness to serve.

The world is hurting and it needs us. Perhaps, as with Esther, we have been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this.

Camp Outreach

George Orwell and the Abuse of Words

In his 1946 essay "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell wrote about words used in a "consciously dishonest way." "That is," Orwell wrote, "the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different." Americans are right to wonder if their president is using his own private definitions for the words he uses to sell his policies.

-- From Karl Rove’s OpEd in the Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2009.

Some Catholic Bishops To Close Hospitals If FOCA Is Enacted, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reports

**CORRECTED**

FOCA is the Freedom of Choice Act. If enacted, medical professionals will have no legal protection should they refuse to do procedures that violate their conscience, i.e., abortion.

The article discusses two options being discussed in Catholic circles should FOCA pass. First would be to close Catholic hospitals. A second option is to ignore the law.

If they take option two, once known as civil disobedience, we should all applaud and stand behind them.

Some Catholic Bishops To Close Hospitals If FOCA Is Enacted, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reports

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Recapturing Your First Love

Do you remember what it was like when you first realized you were in love? Do you remember what it was like to walk hand in hand on a cool spring evening sharing your hopes and dreams, looking forward to the future with excitement and perhaps a bit of trepidation?

But the years go by and the monotony of daily living often dulls that first excitement. The flush of first love gets buried in the world of earning a living and building a life. The petty annoyances of life can steal our joy, and it’s hard to get it back.

Our lives as Christians can be that way too. I get reminded of this every time I meet people who are new to the faith. So often they virtually bubble over with joy and with eagerness. The word of God is a grand new adventure, and no amount of study is too much, no sacrifice too great.

But with time that first love can wane. The excitement is gone, family and neighbors reject the message, we sin and disappoint ourselves and our heavenly Father. We become disillusioned with other Christians and we sink into the rituals of the faith without recognizing our slow slide into mediocrity.

We don’t know where the feeling’s gone, and we just can’t get it back.

In the first century there was a church in Ephesus. This was a strong, solid congregation. They knew God and his word. No one could deceive them, although many apparently tried. But this church had a problem. The passion of the newness had waned decades in the past. They had lost their first love (Revelation 2:1-4).

Jesus was not about to let them draft into an oblivious comfort zone without first giving them an instruction or two on how to get it back. He offers a three point plan to recapture the first love, and it works, whether it be the love of your life or your love of the Lord. You’ll find it in verse 5 of Revelation 2.

1. Remember. Remember what it was like at the beginning. Remember the things you did and the joy you had while doing them. Recall the excitement of the early days. And once you have grasped again that elation of those days, go the step 2.

2. Repent. Admit that you have left the course. Admit it to God and your loved ones. Make a determined effort to turn around, to change your current patterns of behavior and begin to do what you once did in the beginning.

3. Do. Do those things that you did in the beginning. Attitudes often follows action. Remembering and repenting are good, but they aren’t enough. Go back and do the things that matter. Take those walks in the park again. Share the special times. Recapture the excitement of learning and growing. Show the extra respect. Be on your best behavior.

First love: it really is more wonderful the second time around.

Question: Who said this?

"No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end."

No peaking until after you have guessed.

Link: Associated Press

God is a Good Listener

“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:8 NKJV)


I am thankful that God knows what I need even before I ask, but that leads me to wonder: “If God knows what I need before I ask, then why ask at all?” God is good. He’ll give me what I need. Besides, Paul says that “we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26 NKJV)

It’s tempting to think that we might bore God with things he already knows, but we run no risk of doing that. Even though God knows everything we need, he likes to hear us talk. In John 17, Jesus prayed the obvious: The hour has come. God gave Jesus authority over all flesh. Eternal life is to know God and Jesus. Jesus had glory with the Father before the world was. Jesus had shown God’s name to men. Etc, etc., etc.

The point being that Jesus said nothing that the Father didn’t already know. And the Father didn’t seem to mind. Jesus needed the therapy of talk and the Father wanted to listen. One can get the impression that the Father likes to hear us talk, and that is part of the therapy of prayer.

Knowing that God already knows but listens anyway teaches a lesson that reaches into my living room. Sometimes I am tempted with boredom when my daughter wants to talk about kid things. I really don’t want to put down the book or turn off O’Reilly, who is talking about the really big issues rocking the world (which I can do nothing about) in order to hear about the latest schoolyard problem. And I really don’t want to take a break from writing this essay when my wife decides it is time to talk about cleaning up my desk before company comes over.

But then I must ask myself: What does our Heavenly Father do when I talk to him about the obvious? He would put down the book, put the universe on cruise control, lean forward, and listen. God likes to hear us talk, and he is the best listener there is.

With God, the check is always in the mail. -- Dan Erickson. Visit Dan's website at http://www.peoplematterministries.com/

I Went to a Tea Party!

I’m not a crowd joiner. Never have been. But I’m glad I went to the TEA Party in Kansas City on July 4.

An old proverb says, “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul” (Proverbs 22:24-25). I wanted to be certain that the TEA Party outrage has not been tainted with the lowest common denominator. Joining a movement based on love of country and the Constitution is one thing. Joining it out of hatred is another.

I needn’t have been concerned. They were regular folks sincerely concerned about the direction the country is going. Afraid? Yes. A little angry? Yes. Concerned for the burdens being placed on their kids and grandkids? Yes. Hateful? Not in the least!

Those people, in short, are just like me.

But they have a problem. A Soapbox is a wonderfully American way to give people a chance to grab the microphone and exercise their First Amendment rights. The TEA Party had a Soapbox, and the people used it generously. The Soapbox itself was not the problem, but it highlighted a difficulty that the TEA Party movement will need to address in order to get to the next step.

The movement so far has defined itself by what it is against. This informal alliance of Conservatives, Libertarians, Objectivists, and Constitutionalists have a common focus of ire: antipathy for encroachment against both limited government and freedom, which many of us understand to be inextricably linked.

But once we get beyond the stage of what we are against, we must then face the heavy lifting of deciding what we are for. From the Soapbox I heard talk of the Fair Tax, voter picture IDs, illegal immigration, fiscal responsibility, and hints at third parties, to name just a few. Those are all topics worthy of discussion and debate, but once we get past the “what we are against” stage, will we be able to agree on what we are for?

Here’s the problem. What if I like the idea of limited government and fiscal restraint at the same time viewing the Fair Tax as a well-intentioned mistake, while you think the Fair Tax must be the centerpiece of fiscal reform. What if I have no problem with an independent Federal Reserve System and I like free trade, while you want to abolish the Fed and protect American industry and jobs?

At some point the heavy lifting will need to be done. Building a movement must go beyond being against something. It must focus on a set of core principles. The genius of all great political leadership is to bring together disparate groups and unite them around the core. Building a coalition means that we all must be willing to give a little in order to affect change in the right direction.

George Washington was able to bring together political antagonists such as Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton, and I think we would all judge his presidency a success.

Reagan not only energized the right, he knew how to court the middle, but unlike today’s Republicans, he was able to lead the middle toward a more conservative agenda. He managed a coalition of otherwise bickering factions by establishing a simple set of core values that all could use as a rallying point. He stood for strong defense, tax relief, restraints on federal overreach, and a robust anti-communist foreign policy. This was a simple though not easy agenda, and one that everyone could understand.

Now the hard work must begin.

Preaching Amid Pluralism

I found this article from Preaching Today to be most interesting given the "no objective truth' paradigm that infects the thinking of the Western world.

Some excerpts:

I preached, "Christianity is the only faith that tells you that God lost a child in an act of violent injustice. Christianity is the only religion that tells you, therefore, God suffered as you have suffered." That's worded carefully as a way of saying, "Other religions tell you many good things, too. But Christianity is the only one that tells you this. If you deny this, then you lose a valuable spiritual resource."

Pluralists get stumped by that because they realize that they want the distinctives of Christianity—a God who has known human pain, salvation by grace, and the hope of heaven—in their times of need. But when I consistently say, "Only Christianity tells you this," their defenses begin to rise. How dare you say your religion is superior to any other?

Regarding the old story about the blind men and the elephant:

Pluralists contend that no one religion can know the fullness of spiritual truth, therefore all religions are valid. But while it is good to acknowledge our limitations, this statement is itself a strong assertion about the nature of spiritual truth. A common analogy is cited—the blind men trying to describe an elephant. One feels the tail and reports that an elephant is thin and flexible. Another feels a leg and claims the animal is thick as a tree. Another touches its side and reports the elephant is like a wall. This is supposed to represent how the various religions only understand part of God, while no one can truly see the whole picture. To claim full knowledge of God, pluralists contend, is arrogance.

I occasionally tell this parable, and I can almost see the people nodding their heads in agreement. But then I remind them, "The only way this parable makes any sense, however, is if you've seen a whole elephant. Therefore, the minute you say, 'All religions only see part of the truth,' you are claiming the very knowledge you say no one else has. And you are demonstrating the same spiritual arrogance you accuse Christians of.

Finally:

After September 11, I reread Augustine's The City of God. Rome in Augustine's time was facing something similar to what New York faces. The city had been sacked. It didn't really fall; it had just been violated. It's as if the barbarians attacked to say, "See what we can do?" All of Rome, even the Christians, felt that if the barbarians could do that, there would be nowhere safe.

Augustine's point was that people were confusing Rome with the City of God. They were seeking their security from the wrong place. While pagan Romans might run and hide, Christians should be different. As citizens of the City of God, there are no weapons or bombs that can threaten a Christian's home. For Christians it was illogical, even wrong, to flee Rome when there were so many needs to be met and no threat to a Christian's true security.

Read the entire article. It's worth it.

LC