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There’s nothing dishonest about what this person said. In fact what’s powerful about it is that it is the truth of where we are heading. It is exactly where we are going if this tyrannical abuse of the freedoms of Christians as citizens of the United States is allowed to continue. |
If the Obama administration succeeds in redefining religious freedom in these terms, it will have destroyed the First Freedom of the American people. |
And all this so that it could bend this country over and bow it down to the little g gods of abortion and death. |
I want to thank the strong-hearted Christians who have hung in there during this debate. I encourage some of the rest of you to get in the game along with them. Standing up for Jesus is not a spectator sport. We all need to do it. |
Didn’t you fuss at me about 2 months back for pointing out that President Obama is a communist? Back then, it was name calling. Sure put a damper on any comment I might have made on the thread in question. |
But , yes, you are 100% correct, the rights and freedoms of all Americans are under attack daily and at an ever increasing rate. |
Heloise1, I have a vague memory of having done that, but I didn’t remember it was you I was talking to. I think the reason I did it is that I have blog rules about name-calling. The reason for the blog rule is simple: Name-calling does harm and no good. It hurts people needlessly and causes bitter fights. |
However, this similarity does not mean that I am saying the President is a communist, although I do think he has come to a similar idea about how he wants to see religious freedom treated in America. |
I don’t like to label people because labels are one-dimensional and people are not, but fwiw, the President seems to me to be motivated more by the arguments of extreme secularists in the Western world in this regard. I know he repeats their arguments almost verbatim in some of his speeches and he appears to be followi... |
If you can find something where he says he’s a communist or something of that ilk, then, of course the discussion changes. But, based on what I know now, (and based on speeches he made before he was elected) I see him as a president who privately disrespects, probably to the point of distaste, traditional Christianity ... |
I have always seen him as a dangerous president for Christians, pre-dating his first election in 2008. However, I never thought I would see anything in my lifetime like the HHS Mandate. |
That so upset me that I began this blog as a way of doing my part to stand up for Christ. I regard the HHS Mandate as a declaration of war on Christians and Christianity in America by the President, one of the two political parties and, given the weak-kneed response of the other party, the calculated assent of them as ... |
In short, I think we’re in a terrible fight, and this president is why. |
The difference between a communist and a fascist is slim indeed; but it is important. |
For me, the difference between a communist and a fascist is who is really giving the orders behind the scenes. Is it the government or the oligarchy? |
I think it is pretty clear from the final version of Obamacare that Obama is a fascist, and is taking his marching orders from the Oligarchy- to whom he’s about to deliver 30 million new customers to cheat. |
Truth is beautiful. Keep speaking it. Because without truth, there is no freedom. |
The history of the US is replete with court cases which seek to guarantee the constitutional rights of Americans. Simply because those rights are enumerated doesn’t mean that are consistently granted. And very often there is the matter of determining what exactly are the dimensions of those rights. |
I am not sure that the challenge to the HHS mandate is much different than previous court challenges e.g. conscientious objection to compulsory military service, mandatory school prayers, the right for “sectarian education” as an alternative to public schools. |
In the case of the HHS mandate, the challenge is where to draw the line on individual religious liberty vs the public good. It is something the courts will need to sort out, much as they had to do on similar issues. |
the penumbras and emanations of other rights which were spelled out. |
Yes, red-faced, I was just about to correct that! Thanks for the catch, and may you have a healing encounter with Christ. |
There’s also a difference between what a state can do and what the federal government can do. it’s something we all forget but there’s a reason why we have state governments. I don’t think the mandate is really constitutional but for the states it’s more the 14th or 15th amendment (can’t remember at the moment, and i h... |
Although a proper finding on the Commerce clause would fix many problems. |
In fact, only three stalwart souls tried to stand up for Christ in these arguments. |
Actually, I thought about intervening, but I had the impression that the Christian trenches were well manned. I absolutely did not realize that it was a matter of three people eventually reduced to one. Next time I’ll just step in anyway. |
I’m summarizing my points here, since Rebecca talked about me above. |
(1) The Catholic hospitals, universities, K-12 schools, and Catholic Charities USA, have become, legally, indistinguishable from non-Catholic ones. I don’t know whether that was intentional, accidental, or inevitable, but that’s the situation. And they are legally considered non-ministerial functions and long have been... |
(2) Businesses aren’t people. Individuals, as you say, have the right to freedom of religion. But there is very little legal precedent for how a business could have a right to freedom of religion, especially large organizations. That is a composition fallacy (e.g., all Catholics have livers, but the Catholic church doe... |
(3) Even if the Catholic church or, say, a Catholic hospital were considered to have a right to freedom of religion, the HHS mandate is not about only one entity’s right but how to handle a conflict between competing rights, the rights of the employees and the rights of the employer. The right of the employee, as of al... |
(4) With regard to my “lot of stats about the Church’s” spending, although the various legally-non-ministerial businesses represent about 80% of the Catholic church’s spending, they represent only 1.4% of US health care spending and about 1% of US charitable giving. |
Hi Green Sapphire, I agree with some of your points, although I disagree about your conclusions. |
In the past decade I have noticed increasing desire to reclaim the Catholic identity of hospitals and schools. During the past couple years in particular, we have seen numerous reports of teachers who are fired due to violating the “morals clause” of their contract. That these incidents are considered controversial und... |
I’ve noticed the same trend. |
wrt the courts, I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this legal process unfolds. |
Many businesses, especially my wife’s, are individuals. She is a single proprietorship with no employees. Should she gain more than 50 employees, she’d still be a single proprietorship, but subject to the HHS Mandate. This would then become a clear case of conflict of rights. |
That’s the composition fallacy you’ve missed. |
Would you like a Jehovah’s Witness employer to be able to have a health care plan that didn’t cover your blood transfusions, because of her faith? |
Should a Scientology employer be allowed to exclude all mental health services for your severely depressed child? |
How far should an employer’s private religious faith be able to invade each of her 50+ employees’ private physical and mental health? |
As far as it needs to, because *you can always pay for private health insurance yourself*. Just because we here in America have gone down the rabbit hole, for the most part, of linking our health care to our employers does not mean that is the only way to fund health care. How about setting aside a Health Savings Accou... |
Sole proprietorships are a special case; in that case, the human person and the business person are in effect a single entity before the law. And, as I understand (though I could be misinformed; I’m not a lawyer, nor other expert on this), under the Affordable Care Act such sole-proprietorship businesses are not consid... |
In contrast, most of the lawsuits filed over the contraception mandate minimum ACA standard have been filed by various incorporated businesses, where there is a major legal distinction between the human person and the corporate person, created by the process of incorporation. Generally, the hazard of unlimited personal... |
Like most advanced civilizations, this country does not deny woman the right to control what goes on in their own bodies. That has nothing to do with bowing to any gods. |
I don’t have the ability to control what goes on in my own body, what makes women better than me? |
Women do not have to stay pregnant, Theodore. That is one thing they CAN do if they choose to. I’m not promoting it, only saying as you asked. |
Sorry Rebecca. Would love to jump in and defend/share more but the discus change blew my old ipod away. Can only reply if I wrestle the laptop away from teens, and after a long day on computers–need to unplug at home. |
This disqus change has been tough for me, too. I can’t imagine trying to wrestle a computer away from my boys! |
It’s great to hear from you. Just chime in as you can. |
Gen. Joseph Dunford said he would devote some time as Joint Chiefs chairman to enhancing the Pentagon's ability to deter adversaries in cyberspace. |
The July hack of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's unclassified email network showed that the Defense Department's investments in cybersecurity have been insufficient, said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford. |
The hack, which news reports have attributed to Russian spear phishers, "clearly highlighted for me...that whatever investments we've made in cyber defense to date have not gotten us to where we need to be, and that needs to be an area of continued investment as we move forward," Dunford said Dec. 14 at a Center for a ... |
"When you have that kind of a vulnerability...you really don't have the kind of resilience you need to provide the president with options in the event of a contingency to advance our interests," Dunford added. |
After his appearance, the general declined to elaborate on what cybersecurity measures he has put into effect since the email breach. He assumed command Oct. 1, two months after the breach was reported. |
The hack forced the Joint Chiefs' unclassified email system off-line for two weeks and drew scrutiny of the staff's security practices. The hackers took advantage of encrypted traffic that the Joint Chiefs were not decrypting and inspecting, a former intelligence official familiar with the network has told FCW. Moreove... |
The Pentagon's cybersecurity budget for fiscal 2015 was $4.97 billion, and it would rise to $5.5 billion under the fiscal 2016 budget request, according to documentation provided by the DOD CIO's office. |
Dunford made cybersecurity a policy focus in his previous role as commandant of the Marine Corps; in January, he issued guidance to the Corps that highlighted cybersecurity as a critical domain in which to build capacity. |
In his Dec. 14 remarks, Dunford said he would devote some time as Joint Chiefs chairman to enhancing the Pentagon's ability to deter adversaries in cyberspace. |
"Clearly, we have challenges in cyber not only to protect ourselves, but also the development of offensive cyber capabilities," he said, adding that "cyber deterrence is an area we probably need to spend some time on." |
New Delhi : ONGC Board in its 304th Meeting held on 1st March, 2018 has approved 2nd interim dividend of 45%, i.e. Rs. 2.25 on each equity share of Rs. 5. The total payout on this account will be Rs. 2,887 Crore. The Record date for distribution of dividend has been fixed for 14th March, 2018 which has been intimated t... |
1st interim dividend of 60% (Rs. 3 on each equity share of Rs.5) was paid by the Company in November, 2017. |
EXCLUSIVE: Wife Swap producer RDF USA has signed with WME after more than 4 years without agency representation. The American branch of U.K.’s RDF Media, which was recently acquired by Zodiak Entertainment, is prepping 8-10 new unscripted projects – both RDF-owned British formats and original concepts – which it will t... |
R. Kelly Arrives at Court ... Lower My Child Support, Your Honor!! |
8:15 AM PT -- The hearing just ended, and R. Kelly's lawyer says there's been no change in child support yet. He says they're setting a new court date to argue the matter. R. Kelly's back in a court of law, shooting his shot with the judge in his child support case. |
The singer and his legal team made their way into the Chicago court Wednesday morning, hoping to score a reduction in his monthly payments to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly. |
As you know, Kelly was arrested last week, and sat in jail until he coughed up $161,633 ... the back child support he owed Drea. |
Kelly was supposed to be paying Drea $20,833 per month as of January 2009 but he fell way off schedule last year. Sources close to the singer told us he scraped together the $161k with the help of a "benefactor." |
As we reported ... Kelly's camp says the singer got into a huge fight with Drea back in 2017 and, after that, she didn't allow their daughter and 2 sons to talk to him. |
Drea calls BS ... saying Kelly cut her off as a means of controlling her when she spoke out publicly about him allegedly abusing her. |
Ultimately, the child support is the lesser of Kelly's legal issues right now -- with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Cook County hanging over his head. |
Sheikh Khalid says presence of foreign forces in Qatar will have consequences, apparently referring to Turkish soldiers. |
Just over two weeks after stating that Turkey's military's presence in Qatar has no relation to an ongoing Gulf crisis, Bahrain's foreign minister appears to have performed a complete u-turn. |
Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa on Monday accused Qatar of creating a "military escalation" in the regional diplomatic dispute, in an apparent reference to the long-planned deployment of Turkish troops in Qatar's capital, Doha, in recent days. |
"The disagreement with Qatar is a political and security dispute and has never been military," the Bahraini foreign minister said on Twitter. |
"But the deployment of foreign troops with their armoured vehicles is a military escalation for which Qatar will bear the consequences." |
Yet, these remarks contradicted previous statements made by Khalifa during a visit to Turkey in June 10, three days after Turkey's parliament fast-tracked the approval of a 2016 agreement with Qatar that allowed troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in the Gulf state. |
"This base has been established … to protect the countries in the region from threats that might emerge. It has nothing to do what is going on between us and Qatar," Khalifa said at the time during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, according to Turkey's state-run media. |
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in the news conference that no country in the Gulf region should regard the deal about Turkey's base in Qatar as against itself. |
He also stressed that the setting up of the base was aimed at contributing to the security and stability of all Gulf countries - a statement welcomed by Bahrain's foreign minister. |
[The Turkish foreign minister] stressed that this base has been set up in order to protect the security and stability of the GCC countries and will not be used against anyone," Khalifa told reporters at the same press briefing. "We are pleased with this statement," he added. |
Along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and a number of other countries, Bahrain severed relations with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting "terrorism" and Iran. Qatar strongly rejects the accusations. |
Last week, the four Arab countries reportedly gave Qatar 10 days to comply with a list of 13 demands to end the crisis, insisting, among others, that Qatar close the same Turkish military base that Khalifa had acknowledged as helping in the protection of the region's security during his Turkey visit earlier this month. |
Qatari officials immediately dismissed the document as neither reasonable nor actionable. |
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday also denounced the demands of the Saudi-Emirati-led bloc as being "against international law". |
Two contingents of Turkish troops with columns of armoured vehicles have arrived in Doha since the crisis erupted following the Ankara-based parliament's approval of the April 2016 deal. |
Turkish and Qatari forces have also carried out long-planned military exercises, which are part of a mutual agreement aimed at strengthening the defence capabilities of both countries, as well as boosting efforts to combat armed groups and maintaining stability in the region. That deal was signed by the two countries i... |
Earlier in June, Erdogan said that he had offered to also build a military base in Saudi Arabia after work began on the Turkish base in Qatar. |
"I made the same offer to King Salman ... and said that if it's appropriate we could also establish a base in Saudi Arabia. They said they would look into it but since that day nothing more came," he told the Portuguese broadcaster RTP. |
Shortly after Erdogan's statement, officials in the kingdom rejected the offer, according to Saudi Arabia's state-run media. |
Before the arrival of the Turkish troops, Qatar's foreign minister had clarified that their deployment in Doha was for the sake of the entire region's security. |
In an interview on June 8, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also insisted that the crisis be solved by peaceful means. |
At least three persons including would-be suicide bomber were killed and several others injured in two separate bomb explosions in Kachlak area near Quetta on Thursday. |
According to police sources some unidentified miscreants planted an explosive device inside a mosque located in Kalikateer in Kachlak area which went off with big bang, killing two persons on the spot and injuring many others. |
An old mosque was also damaged in the blast. |
In another blast, a would-be suicide bomber was killed when the detonator, he was carrying, went off before hitting the major target, SSP Saddar said. |
Talking to media SSP Mehmood Notizai said the person killed in Kachlak blast was suicide bomber, adding he was killed when his detonator went off prematurely. |
The SSP said the suicide bomber might be going to hit any major target. |
It was a suicide blast, an eye-witness said. |
Security forces cordoned off the area after both blasts, whereas, bomb disposal squad gathered evidence from the blasts site. Rescue team shifted the deceased and injured to Civil Hospital in Quetta. |
Darius Henderson scored a hat-trick as Millwall climbed out of the Championship relegation zone with a surprise victory at Leicester. |
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