ALPHABET OF ISSUES

It is hard to hear political spin even from alleged "no-spin zones" which are anything but. I decided to use the letters of the alphabet to uncover the lies of Liberals AND Conservatives; I wanted to use a word other than "lies" but what can one use? Not all people who lie deliberately do so - often they are simply repeating what they have heard without checking it out. So for simplicity, I will just use the word and let it go at that!

A is for ABORTION - the liberals say it is a woman's "right to choose". Who ever gave the right to one person to terminate the life of another? No one except God and only to execute justice. The term "fetus" tries to marginalize preborn life. The preborn child is a distinct human being designed and built by God. To treat that child as tissue is a big-time lie. How can you separate this issues from all issues of morality, after all, if one will force taxpayers to promote and pay for murder, what would that kind of person NOT do?

B is for BUSINESS - now I am a businessman but I will not recuse myself. Liberals tend to demonize businesses while conservatives exalt them. More recently, with big business capitulating to demands by the homosexual lobby and funding pet projects, liberals are embracing big business while still demonizing small business. To demonize ANY business by lumping them all together is bigotry of the highest order! There are GREAT businesses that offer much to the consumer - goods and services unattainable in any other way. There are TERRIBLE businesses who cheat customers, change names routinely to cover up their trail, and who offer inferior goods and services. Just like people, businesses can be good or bad. To either demonize them as being "greedy" as many liberals to is absurd, but to glorify them all as conservatives often do is just as absurd.

C is for CHARITY - everyone talks about it. How people respond varies greatly. Liberals see the government as the charitable giver - statistically they give far less of their OWN money to charity or church. Just look at the tax returns of liberals running for office. It is appalling! However, it is also disingenuous for conservatives to think that the private sector can meet all charitable needs. Huge issues need huge solutions. I believe that private entities have been repeatedly proven to be many times more efficient in delivering charity, so I would support the government funding of proven private charities as opposed to hopelessly incompetent bureaucracies such as FEMA.

D is for DISCRIMINATION - it used to be exalted to be discriminating gentleman. Now, to liberals, it is anathema to make any judgments whatsoever. "Oh, he thinks he is a girl? Well, then let him use the ladies room." What an easy way for guys to lie to get their jollies! No one wants to be discriminated against when they are qualified for a job. And conservatives often deny that discrimination is still widespread. The fact is, many people are discriminated against for the wrong reasons - because of physical factors, color, or disability. However, is it wrong to discriminate against having a fraternity move in next door to you who would have parties and perhaps orgies on a regular basis? Or a house of prostitution? Or a gay clubhouse? Discrimination against these uses is a MATTER OF LAW in many zoning codes and any person has a right to peace, quiet, and the safety of their kids. Liberals are aghast at Megan's Law and at making sexual perverts be registered. Yet, is it wrong to discriminate against those who have proven they cannot be trusted around children? I don't think so, and neither does any other sane parent. If you have a house to rent and you can hear a car from a block away playing music at painful levels, and four men get out smoking reefers, is it sane to put out the welcome mat for them and destroy neighborhood peace in the blink of an eye? People discriminate based on quality all the time when choosing building materials, furniture, school districts, clothing, churches, and yes – whom they date and their spouse! You name it. To fail to discriminate in valid ways will mean the falling of everything to the lowest common denominator.

E is for EDUCATION - A whole lot of people believe education is the doorway to great success. In many cases it is. The problem is, true education is hard to find. Much of it is indoctrination, whether conservative or liberal. Learning to think is a vanishing skill. People parrot what they hear rather than analyze it thoroughly. Critical thinking is reserved for criticizing others rather than examining what you yourself believe. Education today does not make people more moral, more attuned to God, better able to distinguish good ideas from disastrous ones, or to be better neighbors and friends. In many cases it vaccinates people against God, morality, and the common good. True education is a blessing. It can come from parents, mentors, and simply living life. Many of the most successful people never went to college, and some people with the most degrees know the least about what really matters. Some scorn those who preach without a theological education, but my experience as a preacher and as one deeply involved in my faith has shown me that many with the most education are unable to stand unequivocally for scriptural truths - there is always an "on the other hand" to leave doubt. Is it any accident that denominations with the most "educated" preachers are the most spiritually dead? That said, it is imperative that people not be allowed to say whatever pops into their mind with horrific consequences. All who talk of the Lord must be schooled of the Lord. That is true education in any field.

F is for FAITH - This word used to be the byword among conservatives and a dirty word to liberals. Now liberals use it a whole lot. Faith sells. How many times have Conservatives been demagogued by so-called experts claiming this or that political leader had "faith"? I suppose everyone believes something - even atheists. However, all faith is not created equal, and sorry liberals, sincerity doesn't count. How many people gave Harold Camping credit for being sincere? Even though he was dead wrong, he had suspended his salary and put $175k of his own money in his misadventure. The fact is, all faith except that which is in Christ as the only begotten Son of God and word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit will be shown to be as useless as Harold Camping’s May 21, 2011, folly.

G is for GENDER - God made gender. In fact, he made two of them. The transgender movement is in direct rebellion to God. There aren't three of four of them. God also made gender ROLES. He made men and women to be different, and many Conservatives have joined with the liberals in blurring the distinctions and putting women over men spiritually. I have yet in fifty five years to hear even ONE woman preacher who was not in some form of rebellion against the Lord. Her words always betray her. I also have not seen a woman who rebelled against her husband's authority not fall into religious, political, or other deception. God made boundaries. When we cross them, confusion results.

H is for HATE - What an overused word! People love to say other people hate. I have found those who say that the most hate more than anyone. Actually, not all hate is bad! Did you know God hates??? See my post IS IT ALWAYS WRONG TO HATE from 2/10/10 on this blog. We are to hate sin and we are to hate the effects of sin. Hating people is left to God. He is the one who sent his son into the world because he LOVED the world. What he does to those who reject him is his affair. And we had better not be one God hates or do things he hates. Neither can we hate anyone, for man judges from the outward appearance, but God judges from the heart. We may be exalting people God had condemned and condemning people he approves of.

I is for IMMIGRATION -Liberals like the idea of open borders for many reasons. First, it gives them more votes, most of them fraudulent. Secondly, it strains the United States, and like or not, most liberals appear to want the United States to be brought down to size and be unexceptional in the world. Thirdly, the people being kiloloed and whose property is destroyed live in states that are more conservative. Who cares about them? The fact is, huge numbers of illegal immigrants ARE criminals. They are involve in drugs and violence and make up a large percentage of prisoners. EVERY country that wants to survive has to control its borders. It was easier when people came from overseas. Our nation is very generous in terms of immigration, and most conservatives I know are not againt that. Many immigrants believe in America more than the natives do. Historically, we must know that prisons were empties out in Europe to come to Georgia. and America has historically been the land of the second chance. Conservatives must not insist that everyone who comes here be untarnished. Rather, all must insist that those who come are coming to be part of a new country and assimilate and leave their old culture and ways behind. We already have so many people who don't know English or care about it and they are duplicating their cultures from abroad, many of which are at odds with what America is. That type of Balkanization has destroyed every country where it has happened. We need walls with wide gates to let in those who truly want what we have to offer. The same is true of the church. Many places take everyone regardless of what they believe and practice. The apostasy of the modern church is duplicating itself in the nation as similar policies have been followed.

J is for JUSTICE - This is a BIG one. Liberals love to talk about justice, but rarely ever practice it. Look what they did to Sarah Palin. Total hatred, mischaracterizations, lying, and the like. What would happen if the press put Obama under that level of scrutiny and opposition for even one weak? (See my 11/20/09 post COMPARE "DUMB" PALIN TO "SMART" OBAMA). For liberals, justice means letting their own go unpunished, letting the guilty free on technicalities, smashing the rights of those who disagree with them, and unjustly exalting the deeply flawed. Conservatives often deny that within many areas of the system, justice is unequal. Those with expensive lawyers get out of the same offenses others are in jail for, and sentences are often disparate. Liberals try to balance the scales the wrong way by opposing hard core punishment for hard-core criminals. The Bible says it is a curse to either let the guilty go unpunished or to punish the innocent. Can't we keep it that simple? Statistically, if one demographic commits more crimes, more should be punished. And crimes like Bernie Madoff's and identity theft can be just as destructive or more so than a mugging and must be punished more seriously. There must be a just balance and then let the chips fall where they may.

K is for KINDNESS – “Random acts of kindness” used to be the bumper sticker mantra of liberals. Conservatives believe they should be less random. Kindness out of one’s own pocket means more than empty words or telling people they gave by favoring tax hikes of which other liberals will siphon off most of the money to support themselves in some of the least efficient job positions ever created. Kindness has to be a way of life. If is genuine love and concern for everyone.

L is for LOVE – To liberals, love often is used as a synonym for sex, most of which is done outside of marriage, and where love is actually the farthest thing from the participants’ minds. Infatuation, lust, and mutual gratification are not substitutes for real love. Love offers covenant, commitment, and protection to those it is extended to. Loving churches offer that to people. A person truly in love offers that to the other. It is a lie to say one loves everyone when they don’t. Liberals don’t love Sarah Palin and Conservative don’t love Obama. Let’s be real.

M is for MOTIVATION – Here is an area where either direction goes bad. Some say that as long as good is done, the motivation does not matter. The person received their soup even if it was given in condescension or to relieve guilt. Others say the motivation is what matters even if it does no good. Dumping billions into a failing educational system is “righteous” because the intention was good. I don’t think functional illiterate would agree when they get their fiftieth rejection for a job. God cares a lot about motivation because wrong motivation will corrupt any good that is proffered.

N is for NATIVITY - Liberals believe that if there really was a Jesus, he was born by the will of man, not by the will of God, and a prophet, but not the only one, and certainly not one deserving of all our allegiance. Conservatives are divided, with some teaching the Nativity as God becoming flesh and dwelling among us to bring salvation, while others are members of religious cults who have varying ideas about him or atheists who deny him completely. The fact is in either case, Christ is not to be viewed primarily as a baby in a manger, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who came first in order to save us.

O is for OPPORTUNITY - Liberals like to say there is a huge divide and only a minority have real opportunity. The rest are victims. Conservatives like to say anyone can be what they want to be - if only they work hard enough. The fact is, that in this country as least, there is a whole of opportunity not being taken advantage of. There are many jobs going unfilled. If there were not attractive alternatives to working, people would be taking those jobs. However, some folks really ARE lazy - whether a college graduate moving back with Mom and Dad because they can't get EXACTLY the job they believe they are ordained for or someone whose company closed who refuses to learn needed new skills. On the other hand, some people are locked into difficult circumstances. The only company in town shut down and they have no resources to move. They have a disability or are hard to look at and no matter how hard they try they come up dry. Beyond that, you CANNOT be whatever you want to be. Only one person can be the "most valuable player" in a sport. Not everyone can get a perfect score on the college boards (they would redo the curve if too many people did well. And only one person can be President of the Untied States at a time. Opportunity has its limits, but people can usually do far more than they are.

P is for POLITICS - Liberals and Conservative love to demonize each other. I have yet to run across any candidate of any party that I totally agree with. Some who say great things take back with an explanation what they shouted from the rooftops. People who have read through this blog can see why people on both sides can get steamed. The fact is, people LIE. Conservatives used to LIE about just about every GOP President being a Christian. If you listened closely, you really wondered. Remember when Bush 43 though the mike was off and uttered an expletive? Now the liberals caught on and many who have no idea what a Christian even is since they have been demonizing them for years are now insisting that Obama is a Christian despite ample evidence to the contrary. We must not lose our integrity in p0litics. Everyone is flawed and we simply have to make the best choices, warts and all.

Q is for QUESTIONING - Liberals used to have bumper stickers saying "QUESTION AUTHORITY". Now that they control education, government, the media, and most religious institutions, they demonize anyone who does, since their guy is in power. They also refuse to let anyone question their theory du jour concerning origins. No questioning of Darwin or Hawking or the Smithsonian. No scientist no matter what his or her qualifications can question anthromorphic climate change or a host of other issues. Most of the scientists who enabled us to live in the advanced society we do today would not be admitted into a modern university to teach because of their public belief in God. Conservatives often fall into the same trap. They tell people to believe and to swallow their questions. God doesn't mind questions. We have a reasonable faith ordained by a rational God who created man in his own image. So often, the church does not ask and then answer the hard questions. Christopher Hitchens thinks he has asked some hard questions. But there are answers to ALL of them I answer the one I never in 55 years of being a Christian heard addressed in my LIFE IN THE SPIRIT blog - TWO KINDS OF ATHEISTS. It was on how Jesus could be in Nazareth and Egypt at the same time. The Lord gave me the answer in about a minute and it is so straightforward. Never dodge questioning. It is a "faith preserver".

R is for RACE - This is one issue where we may finally be seeing some consensus. There really is only one race and one skin color -it is a matter of shade more than anything. So-called racial differences are minute when considering all the genes a person is made up of. My wife is of Ghanaian descent (we believe) and I of German/Dutch. Scientists now say our genes are likely more similar to each other than either of ours would be to people of our ancestral countries. Liberals have lied that all whites and almost no blacks are racists while conservatives have lied in saying that there are only vestiges of racism left. Trust me when I say that racism is alive and well and while fewer people may be overt about it, and I believe more people are free from it, a huge number of people of ALL races still make a large number of judgments and decisions with racial considerations. It is a cancer, and America is not the only place it occurs. Inter-ethnic feuding and tribalism is world wide, and when Christianity is present, it tends to be far less. Look at Europe -- supposedly enlightened, but spiritually on life-support, "post-Christian" and with huge racial animus.

S is for SIN - Liberals hate the word. There are no sins (except disagreeing with them, of course!) Each person does what is right in their own eyes. It is judgmental to call anything "sin". Conservatives often concentrate only on the sins they do not commit. Any reading of scripture in any depth whatsoever will show that Christ hates ALL sin. We must not be proud of what we have no problem with, but concentrate on overcoming the things that trip us up. Liberals seem to love temptation. It makes life more exciting. After all, the entertainment establishment tempts people non-stop with list, excess, dissipation. They produce endless movies glorifying it. We are to FLEE temptation! Conservatives talk a better game about it, but they so often EXCUSE falling into temptation. When ministers fall, the priority is to "restore" them, usually before one knows whether they have truly repented or simply regretted getting caught. When politicians fall, "they are only human". We need to know that tempation is not sin and that there is a way to escape ALL temptation - God ALWAYS gives a way to escape, and we should never excuse failure in ourselves or others, but allow God to deal with us and change us from the inside out.

T is for TAXES - The tax system is grossly unfair. In a whole lot of ways. Many people don't pay any taxes - some are poor and some are rich, but it seems everybopdy ought to pay SOMETHING. Conservatives harp on lower rates while liberals want to soak "the rich". Problem is, almost every "reform" messes things up more. Even though the rich pay a lot in taxes, I am for them paying more - but not the way liberals want to do it. I believe that tax rates should either stay the same or reduce a bit, but the massive loopholes should be drastically reduced. I believe that charitable contributions should be unlimited as to deductability, as well as a few other uses of money that help society. However, off-shore and ingenous tax shelters need to go. If most of the rich paid the posted rates, we would be better off. However, there are not enough rich people to solve our problems. Liberals lie about how much wealth is concentrated in a few. The fact is that if EVERY billionaire in the world donated 100% of their money just toward the United States' annual deficits, the money would run out before the winner of the 2012 election took his or her oath of office! Conservatives are not totally truthful in stating that the rich will invest their money in jobs if given a tax cut. Now to some extent this is true, and revenues in real dollars go up when tax rates decrease, but so does excessive spending on themselves, some at what reasonable person could consider obscene. While this also benefits the economy by providing jobs, I cannot see how anyone can justify the wretched excess we see. The simple facts are that we must cut spending drastically and stop inefficient government programs and find a way that everyone pays fairly without favoritism. To whom much is given., much is required, but simple confiscation of wealth has failed everywhere. We must protect small business especially which provides most jobs and which has been most adversely affected by this economy. Empty busonesses are everywhere it seems, and the people who worked in them are sitting home. Predictability of taxes is critical. One of the dumbest moves of Congress was a limited time extension. that just prolongs uncertainty. No wonder these folks vote for more and more programs. They would never be able to hold a job in the "real" world!

U is for UNITY - Liberals say that we all need to get together. We need consensus. Churches should be ecumenical. We all need to agree. Conservatives may wish for that in terms of patriotism, but parse many issues so that it is hard to get two people who totally agree with each other. The explosion in denominations has largely been among theologically conservative ones while liberal churches merge since their differences are diminishing and not worth fighting for. Jesus prayed for unity, but Christians cannot be united with the world, and people of principle cannot be united with those who seek to destroy the very heart-throbs of their spirit man.

V is for VANITY - Hollywood and the popular culture is all about vanity. Billions are spent on plastic surgery. On line home pages seem to have bikini features every day. The body is exalted while the spirit is minimized. The exaltation of carnality by both liberals and conservatives is a bane to our existence. God appreciates beauty - the beauty and handsomeness of a person is often alluded to in scripture, but true beauty for a woman comes from a submissive spirit such as Sarah's and in handsomeness in true obedience for a man. Saul and Samson are among those who paid the price for being handsome without sufficient regard for God. Then, consider Jesus - "He had no form nor comeliness that we should desire him." And who in all the world is more to be desired than the Lord Jesus? Paul wasn't easy to look at either. Yet, political leaders and even ministers tend to be tall, handsome, and engaging, regardless of how much truth they tell. Our priorities must be God's priorities.

W is for WORD-FAITH - Oddly, people approach this from different directions. Many conservatives and liberals in Charismatic traditions believe that God died to make them rich. All they have to do is speak what they want and it will happen. This is a heresy of course. What many do not realize, however, is that in liberal political circles, the belief is that truth is what THEY (not God) makes it! "Situation ethics" from two generations ago allowed man to determine what was right is his own eyes. If they have faith in the idea they are promulgating, they make it absolute truth. The nasty situation today is that these folks believe that what they say is truer than the Constitution, just like aberrant Christians believe that what THEY say is truer than the Bible.

X is for XENOPHOBIA - Liberals believe the lie that all fear of what is foreign is bigotry and prejudice. Some conservatives deny these fears exists. The truth is that there is nothing wrong with being discriminating in what you accept. God warned the Israelites repeatedly about foreign gods and practices. They weaken the society. Europe tried to assimilate Islamic folks and it has been a dismal failure. It is wrong to discriminate based upon color, ethnicity, etc., but to assume that cultures are equal or compatible is foolishness. Everything has to be on a case by case basis with eyes wide open. Cultures have room for diversity, but not for goals that would mean the destruction of the others.

Y is for YOGA - Liberals love Yoga and meditation. It feeds the spiritual side while making no demands other than personal discipline. It is a lie from hell. The processes are Hindu in origin and contrary to Christ. Some theological conservatives are being drawn into neo-mysticism. We are NOT to worship God the way the heathen do. Beware of Yoga, "soaking" or any other esoteric experience. Worship God in Spirit and in truth.

Z is for ZEAL - This is a characteristic of all people who believe strongly in what they believe. Liberals are just as zealous as conservatives for what they believe and even more so at times. However, they hate the zeal of conservatives who are single-minded while they exalt their own zeal. Zeal WITH knowledge is a good thing. What I have witnessed of late, though, is a whole lot of zeal WITHOUT knowledge. That is one of the most difficult things to deal with because the person believes they are right and beyond criticism. Don't forget, the devil is as zealous as they get!