1

Time to Act

We are all familiar with the expressions, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” or, “A stitch in time saves nine,” meaning it is wise to catch a problem early, while it is small and manageable, rather than to wait until it has grown and become a serious threat. We understand this with things like weeds in our garden or cancer.  But somehow, we neglect it in the arenas of politics and culture.

James Madison lamented that Americans waited until a situation became a crisis before they acted. Politics are so wide ranging, and solutions seemingly beyond the reach of the individual, so most people simply throw up their hands and hope for the best. This must change if America is to survive the Socialist onslaught it is now facing!  “Now is the time,” as Patrick Henry admonished, “for all good men to come to the aid of their country!”

If you are at all aware of what is going on in America, you know radical changes are occurring. This nation was founded on the novel idea that if people are adequately taught in Christian virtues and are self-disciplined, they can govern themselves. Is it not transparently clear that if people govern themselves, they need nobody else to govern them? America is the only, or at least best, example in human history of a self-governing nation!

Abraham Lincoln noted in his famous “Gettysburg Address” that we have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The point being that, as the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states, “We the People” are the government and those we send to our state and national capitals are our servants, not our masters. With the events of the last several years it appears that many of those we have sent to do our will now see themselves as rulers, not servants. President Joe Biden exposed his own personal ambition when he commented publicly regarding Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacy Abrams, that if the Democrat Party had more like her, “We could rule the world!”

No, Mr. Biden, the U.S. Constitution does not make politicians rulers! It makes them servants! Any American politician who establishes himself as the “ruler” is guilty of insurrection!

Good and wise leaders do not exacerbate public fears or exploit them to increase their own personal power, but rather seek to calm the public in times of crisis. Yet day after day our political and cultural leaders ignite new fires and then throw gasoline on them to arouse as much fear as possible. Sweep aside the rhetoric and anyone can see that while the pandemic has tragically taken many lives, it has not done nearly as much damage to America as the rhetoric and fearmongering have.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in wars to enable us to be free to live according to our own consciences, desires, and abilities, but we are now being led down a path toward submission, even tyranny, ironically in the name of “saving lives!” However, virtually everything we have heard from the media and government over the last two years has proven to be either inaccurate or outright lies!  One mandate after another is conditioning Americans to the idea that our elected leaders are our masters, and we must obey them! This must be resisted!

Individually we do not have much power, and neither do our political leaders, which is as it should be. It is only as we come together, listen to one-another, find common ground, and make decisions as a nation that changes are made.

Should we be concerned that tyrants might lurk in the halls of Congress or other institutions of power in the United States masquerading as beneficent saviors?  Well, consider that Joseph Stalin studied religion as a young man, and Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist. Basher al-Assad, the butcher of Syria, studied for a career in medicine. From these examples we understand that tyrants’ personal ambitions and brutality are generally not known until it is too late to stop them.

The adage, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” reminds us that under no circumstance can we allow individuals or small groups to gain too much power. Do we have a Hitler or Stalin walking in our midst? Do we really wish to find out? By the time we figure it out it will be too late  At times like this we should look back to patriot Patrick Henry who notably asked,

“is life so dear and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God!” 

He also noted that

“the Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government-lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” 

How prescient he was!

For that reason, we must act now to prevent any person or any group from amassing such political powers.  If multiplied thousands of Americans went to their deaths on the battle fields of Europe and the South Pacific to ensure our liberties, then we must not shirk our responsibility to stand for freedom, regardless of the personal or national cost.

We were told in panicked tones that COVID-19 would take millions of lives in America, but if we wore masks for two weeks it would flatten the curve and put us on a course to defeat it. Here we are, over two years later and neither of those predictions were accurate. Such proclamations were, in fact, merely a pretext for amassing power in Washington. Sadly, a precise accounting of deaths appears impossible as anecdotal evidence suggests the government incentivized listing any death where Covid-19 was present a COVID death, even if the virus was not the actual cause of death.

And we have myriad reports of people dying who were not infected at all yet were reported as COVID related deaths. What actually happened? We don’t really know, do we? It is said that “the first victim of war is truth.” And, if you are not seeing it, understand that we are in, as some have pointed out, a “cold civil war.” Americans are terribly divided, and our leadership is largely to blame.

Actor Michael Douglas in a video made not long ago noted that our political system has been “hijacked” to “ensure that those with power keep it.” Truer words have not been spoken. Our Constitution yields very limited power to elected officials and only for a brief time. It is diametrically opposed to anyone having great power for even a moment.

The answer to the power-grab by the Leftists is not to accrue power to conservatives, but to educate all Americans regarding the necessity of diffusing power across the electorate, and the importance of informed voting. Loyalty to God and country must eclipse Party and even friends. Too much is at stake!

First and foremost, the answer for America is to bow at the feet of Jesus Christ in repentance and submission to His lordship over every nation and people!

If noble and patriotic citizens do not stand up, speak up and act, it may soon be too late.





Time to Act

We are all familiar with the expressions, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” or, “A stitch in time saves nine,” meaning it is wise to catch a problem early, while it is small and manageable, rather than to wait until it has grown and become a serious threat.  We understand this with things like weeds in our garden or cancer.  But somehow, we neglect it in the arena of politics.

James Madison lamented that Americans waited until a situation became a crisis before they acted, but I expect it is not only Americans who have that problem. It is people in general. Politics are so wide ranging, and solutions seemingly beyond the reach of the individual, most people simply throw up their hands and hope for the best. This must change for those of us who love what made America the greatest and freest nation ever!

If you are at all aware of what is going on in America, you know radical changes are occurring. This nation was founded on the novel idea that if people are adequately taught in Christian virtues and self-disciplined, they can govern themselves. America is the only, or at least best, example in human history of a self-governing nation! Abraham Lincoln noted in his famous “Gettysburg Address” that we have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”  The point being that, as the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states, “We the People” are the government and those we send to our state and national capitals are our servants, not our masters.  With the events of the last several years it is clear that many of those we have sent to do our will now see themselves as rulers, not servants.  President Joe Biden betrayed his own personal ambition when he commented publicly regarding Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, that if the Democrat Party had many more like her, “We could rule the world!”

No, Mr. Biden, our Constitution does not make politicians rulers!  It makes them servants!  Any American politician who establishes himself as a “ruler” is guilty of insurrection!

Good and wise leaders do not exacerbate fears or exploit them to increase their own personal power, but rather seek to calm the public in times of crisis.  Yet day after day our political and cultural leaders ignite new fires and then throw gasoline on them to arouse as much panic as possible.  Sweep aside the rhetoric and anyone can see that while the pandemic has tragically taken many lives, it has not done nearly as much damage to America as the rhetoric and fearmongering.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in wars to enable us to be free to live according to our own consciences, desires, and abilities, but we are now being led down a path toward submission, even tyranny, ironically in the name of “saving lives!”  However, virtually everything we have heard from the media and government over the last eighteen months has proven to be either inaccurate or outright lies! One mandate after another is getting Americans used to the idea that “they” are our masters, and we must obey! This must be resisted!

Should we be concerned that tyrants might walk the halls of Congress or other institutions of power in the United States?  Well, consider that Joseph Stalin studied religion as a young man, and Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist.  Basher al-Assad, the butcher of Syria, studied medicine. From these examples we understand that tyrants’ personal ambitions and brutality are generally not known until it is too late to stop them.

The adage, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” reminds us that under no circumstance can we allow individuals or small groups to gain too much power. Do we have a Hitler or Stalin walking in our midst? Do we really wish to find out? By the time we figure it out it will be too late! At times like this we are reminded of the thoughts of patriot Patrick Henry who notably said, “is life so dear and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God!” He also noted that “the Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government-lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” How prescient he was!

For that reason, we must act now to prevent any person or any group from amassing such political powers. If multiplied thousands of Americans went to their deaths on the battle fields of Europe and the South Pacific to ensure our liberties, then we must not shirk our responsibility to stand for freedom, regardless of the personal or national cost.

We were told in panicked tones that COVID-19 would take millions of lives in America, and that if we wore masks for two weeks it would flatten the curve and put us on a course to defeat it. Here we are, going on two years since the virus showed up and neither of those predictions were accurate. Such proclamations were, in fact, merely a pretext for amassing power to Washington. Sadly, a precise accounting of deaths appears impossible as the government incentivized listing any death where COVID-19 was present a COVID death, even if COVID was not the actual cause of death.  And we have myriad anecdotal reports of people dying who were not infected at all yet were reported as COVID related deaths. We understand that “the first victim of war is truth.” And, if you are not seeing it, understand that we are in, as some have pointed out, a “cold civil war.”

Actor Michael Douglas in a video made not long ago noted that our political system has been “hijacked” to “ensure that those with power keep it.”

Truer words have not been spoken, and if noble and patriotic citizens do not stand up, speak up and act, it may soon be too late.





Chicago Public Schools Want to Replace Columbus Day

The Chicago Board of Education voted 5-2 on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, to stop celebrating Columbus Day and replace it with “Indigenous Peoples Day.” This latest example of political correctness comes on the heels of calls for paintings in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that contain images of white people to be removed. CPS has the largest collection of early 20th century murals in the U.S. Most of them were commissioned by the Work Projects Administration as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.

CPS has created a new educational steering committee to evaluate all future artwork displayed in the schools saying they will, “evaluate concerns raised about specific works of art to ensure equity and cultural responsiveness.”

A district statement read, “The district recognizes that some works of art in schools do not reflect the district’s values of diversity and inclusion.” This statement is ironic considering most of the paintings that are being suggested for removal feature Native Americans pictured peacefully with early white missionaries and settlers. Apparently, “diversity and inclusion,” means excluding white people.

Sarah Dennis, a social justice advocate, says her children were taken on a field trip to Bateman Elementary where they saw a mural that contained white women wearing head-coverings (a religious symbol that was common in early American history). Head-coverings are still worn today by Illinois citizens in the Amish and Mennonite communities. Her response is, ““We went out into the hallway and stared at it. I asked them, ‘What do you see? What kind of message does it send to the children who attend here, about who is important?’”

Other commentators called the art, “racist, dated and offensive.” This kind of disregard for religious practice and historical accuracy is reflective of the new postmodern deconstructionist mindset that seeks to tear down existing social structures and replace them with new politically correct ones.

Ironically, the Italian-American community that hosts more than 500,000 citizens in Chicago alone, released a statement against the removal of Christopher Columbus as a historical figure in the schools:

For Italian Americans, who endured horrific discrimination and continue to be the subject of stereotypical degradation in popular culture, Christopher Columbus is a symbol for the resilience of a people that have helped shape the cultural landscape of this great nation.

Is CPS seeking to represent all cultures equally and fairly or do they seek to give preference to some people groups while excluding others? This is the inequality that often happens when multiculturalism gets hijacked by special interest groups who seek to promote their own agendas.

Some paintings have already been removed. Last year at Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park, students from the Social Justice Club successfully pressured administrators to remove Ethel Spears’s 1937 mural Child and Sports – Winter because the painting included only white children.

This follows the example of other schools around the nation that have removed any paintings of America’s founders (e.g., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Patrick Henry) because they owned slaves.

Teaching history demands telling the truth about the mistakes that have happened in American History. We don’t want to lie to our children, telling them that America’s past was perfect. That can be done, however, without removing any reference to the positive impact made by European settlers. They were not all slave-owners, oppressors and racists. And even those who were often contributed in ways that have helped all future generations of Americans including historically oppressed groups.

The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, though written by flawed humans, have helped all Americans. Oppressive regimes like Communist regimes scrub history to advance an ideology. As Americans we should seek to tell the whole story: the good, the bad and the ugly. We can’t do that if ideology leads to censorship.


THIS SATURDAY! IFI is hosting our annual Worldview Conference on March 7th at the Village Church of Barrington. This year’s conference is titled “Thinking Biblically About Our Corrosive Culture” and features Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Rob Gagnon. For more information, please click HERE for a flyer or click the button below to register for the conference.