I may have linked to this before but it is worth another link. As we approach the election I encourage you to read Paul’s blog post at Vaughnshire Farm: Christianity Verses Marxism. If the points revealed do not sound like the direction we are heading listen more closely to both major candidates. One party may take us in the direction of Marxism faster than the other but make no mistake both parties are heading in the same direction.
I am in the process of reading a very timely book by Kevin Swanson: The Second Mayflower. I will be doing a review in the near future when I am completely done. But even only being half done I can tell you this is a very prophetic book when one looks at the state of the nation today.
Here are two more articles from Albert Mohler to go with two others I linked to previously
What's Really at Stake in the Gay Marriage Debate? Part Three
What's Really at Stake in the Gay Marriage Debate? Part Four
Voddie Baucham writes on the Homosexual Marriage issue in his blog post: The Homosexual marriage Debate. It so frustrating to hear the claims of those opposing Proposition 8 here in California as they are often not only false but they are, as Voddie points out, seriously flawed logically. You also need to follow the link he has to the Human Rights Campaign Equality Index if you are thinking of boycotting Apple or Google. You will quickly find if you go to the Corporate Equality Index report that it is virtually impossible to avoid a company that seeks to be friendly to the homosexual agenda.
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Wesley Strackbein and Bob Renaud, in their paper criticizing LifeNews.com and me, offer an incomplete presentation of McCain's views on abortions and our reasoning for endorsing him.
McCain has been dogged heavily by the pro-life movement over the years for his championing campaign finance reform and for his votes in favor of embryonic stem cell research funding. That has left an indelible impression that he is somehow not pro-life on abortion. That's wrong.
McCain has also consistently championed the reversal of Roe v. Wade in recent years. The senator has come around fully on this issue after taking a tenuous position a decade ago. But he proved his pro-life credentials when he voted against a resolution honoring Roe that the Senate hoped to attach to the partial-birth abortion ban. (http://www.lifenews.com/nat4489.html)
Yes, McCain supports abortions in the very rare cases of rape and incest -- something I and LifeNews.com strenuously oppose.
At the same time, we have an election featuring a candidate who supports 100% of abortions (Obama) and one who opposes 99% (McCain). With those as the only two realistic options for president, McCain is certainly the clear choice for the pro-life movement.
Undoubtedly it would be nice to protect every single baby from every single abortion and to do so immediately. But Strackbein and Renaud literally throw the baby out with the bathwater by adopting the notion that only candidates with perfect pro-life positions are worthy of support against candidates who will keep 100% of abortions legal for decades.
Certainly it would be better to have a candidate who opposes 100% of abortions (and we do in McCain's running mate Sarah Palin) but we don't have those options. Ending the abortions that happen on 99% of babies matter to those babies and forsaking stopping those abortions for the pursuit of the perfect is morally bankrupt.
Certainly we can agree we should save the 99% if we can and get the job done with the rest later rather than putting off saving any unborn children by waiting for the perfect candidate.
The condemnation of voting for McCain despite his flaws misses the Biblical notion that politics is not the answer. We're to give to Ceaser what is his, but Christ didn't offer a political solution for the ills of the world, including abortion. He offered a spiritual one. In the realm of politics, we're confronted sometimes by sinful choices where neither one lines up absolutely fully with the Biblical principles we endorse. But to condemn the saving of 99% of babies from abortion by not supporting McCain and allowing Obama to win is even more out of step with Biblical principles in my mind and the minds of most pro-life advocates.
The authors claim McCain has actively worked to strike the language from the platform that calls for a human life amendment to include rape and incest exceptions. They ignore that McCain gave his approval for the GOP platform to keep the same pro-life language it has had for decades. (http://www.lifenews.com/nat4222.html)
With regard to the votes for Supreme Court judges the pro-life movement disapproves of, McCain has repeatedly stated that he votes for all judges because he believes presidents should have their judges confirmed. Personally, I would not vote for judges, but the consistency of the argument is there.
The pro-life movement made the same point -- that judges are due a proper vote -- when our pro-life nominees were up for votes. When abortion advocates declined to give them votes or voted them down, we complained. I may not agree with McCain's votes, but his thinking that presidents should get their nominees confirmed does NOT meant that he wants pro-abortion nominees.
What does McCain want? He's laid that out very consistently over and over again that he wants judges in the mold of the pro-life ones who have already said Roe must be overturned. (http://www.lifenews.com/nat4489.html) That, of course, is contrasted with the pro-abortion litmus test Obama has.
The authors also mention McCain's ESCR position and LifeNews.com has repeatedly condemned it. But, I urge readers to consider the comments in our endorsement of McCain (http://www.LifeNews.com/johnmccainprolife.html) that talk about his view likely changing, his opposition to other anti-life aspects of the bioethics debate, and how abortion is so important that we must vote for McCain anyway.
The authors also question National Right to Life for its older articles about McCain. I do not speak for the organization and it can represent its own views, but I would point out that NRLC said in its own endorsement of McCain that any disagreement about campaign finance reform is MUCH less important than the agreement that 1.2 million abortions a year is a travesty. Surely the authors would agree on that point.
I'm saddened to see that Wesley Strackbein and Bob Renaud call "shameful" those who see things differently. While the authors spend an entire article bringing up objections to McCain's record, the millions of pro-life people and than many pro-life groups that support him have equally lengthy writings about how he has championed the pro-life cause.
Curiously, the authors leave out any explanation of his voting record, do not include several of the points made above, and say nothing of McCain's family's adoption, his lengthy speeches touting the pro-life message, his writings or anything else that is critical in evaluating a candidate's position.
Fortunately, the authors do not engage in the ad hominem attacks by claiming we are not pro-life. They could have castigated the millions of pro-life people who recognize that McCain is an imperfect candidate but worthy of support because he, unlike Obama, will help us get to our goal of protecting unborn children (or at least not stand in the way as Obama would).
Ultimately, their pro-life viewpoint is obvious as well as their desire to protect unborn children. As is ours.
While we disagree on McCain's worthiness and political strategy, we vehemently agree on the end goal, and that is babies deserve complete and total legal protection from the time of conception forward.
Mr. Ertelt
Sorry, but it is not those that may oppose Obama and McCain that are condemning the babies but it those that have not done all they can to save them and I would have to say that having looked at the record of John McCain for many years he has not done so. This would not be just my opinion but many of those that now support Him said much the same even as short a time ago as during the republican primaries.
The bible gives us guidance to disqualify a candidate for a single issue but we as believers should be looking at more than just the abortion issue when choosing a candidate, even though it is a major issue. Would we choose a God hating, family destroying Marxist (by the way this is not referring to any particular candidate but is simply an extreme example) simply because he would claim to be pro-life? The humanist agenda of the major parties in truth simply fuels the autonomous mindset of those that follow them and thus leads to a mindset that seeks such things as abortions. Yes we need to abolish abortion but this needs to be done alongside a direction of government that fosters a mindset that sees abortion for what it is.
Simply having a candidate that at best seems to be seeking to maintain the status quo is not the answer we need to go another direction, a biblical direction. I know this is not easy but at the end of the day we have to stand before God and account for our vote As for me I am not comfortable in answering that I simply voted for the lesse evil person but would rather search out scripture and vote for the man that meets HIS standards.
Please do not, as many have done, seek to lay blame for a possible Obama victory on those that would not support McCain. To support Obama one must vote for him and to vote for someone else is just that a vote for someone else. Also, if Obama wins it is by the will of God that he will do so as a punishment for the direction we as a nation have gone. The republican party for far too long has used Christians and where we have ended up is where we are now with a President under whom, as far as I know, has allowed government money to Planned Parenthood to be the most it ever has been. Christians need to stand up for Christ and not some party. Now is the time to do so.
Thank you for sharing these links. I particularly appreciate the article on Marxism. This, like McCain's abortion record, is an issue that needs to be brought into discussion more than it has been to this point.
I'm looking forward to that review of The Second Mayflower! I've been wanting to read it myself.
Grace and peace to you,
Rissa
Rissa:
Thanks for stopping by. I checkout your blog and was impressed. My wife and daughter spent time on it yesterday and they said they will definitely be checking back.
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