Rare Jewel Insight: October 13, 2005
Table of Contents:
1. COMMENTARY:
The Bottom Line in the Harriet Miers Debate
(by Tim Ewing, Founder, Rare Jewel Magazine)
2. Don?t Miss the Current Issue of RJM
3. Daily News now Available on RJM Website
4. Free Subscription to RJM: Here?s How!
1. The Bottom Line in the Harriet Miers Debate
(by Tim Ewing, Founder, Rare Jewel Magazine)
Just as he did with his first nomination, President Bush has asked us to trust his latest nomination to the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers. Dr James Dobson and other well-known Christian Patriots (e.g. Chuck Colson, Jay Sekulow, Jerry Falwell) are doing just that and are using their bully pulpits to encourage the rest of us to do likewise. However, not all are so easily convinced.
Gary Bauer, a long time ministry-partner of Dr Dobson?s (together they founded the Family Research Council) and former US presidential candidate, remains skeptical. Gary Bauer yesterday reminded us of something Ronald Reagan said during his acceptance speech at the 1980 Republican National Convention:
??Trust me? government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what?s best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties.?
Reagan Supreme Court nominee and strict-constructionist, Judge Robert Bork, who was viciously attacked and defeated by liberal Senate radicals in 1987 [1], bluntly remarked about the Miers nomination:
?I think it?s a disaster on every level?. [I]t?s kind of a slap in the face to the conservatives who?ve been building up a conservative legal movement for the last 20 years. There are all kinds of people, now, on the federal bench and some in the law schools who have worked out consistent philosophies of sticking with the original principles of the Constitution. And all of those people have been overlooked. And I think one of the messages here is, don?t write, don?t say anything controversial before you?re nominated.?
The common denominator between Bush?s nominations (Judge John Roberts and Harriet Miers) is that neither one has a track record or paper trail on the giant issues of our day: Sanctity of Life; Sanctity of Marriage; Public Acknowledgement of God?s sovereignty over America; and a federal government that has grossly expanded beyond its Constitutional boundaries.
Some would credit President Bush with exercising tremendous deft and strategy in selecting two nominees that he believes will remain true to the Founders? original intent for the Constitution yet have no track record to support such credentials--thus preventing Senate liberal radicals from derailing the nominations. Hence Bush?s ?trust me? sales pitch to his base.
However, such an approach is risky and unnecessary:
--Risky because Christian Patriots have been burned time and again on supposed ?conservative? nominations in recent decades (Ford?s Stevens, Reagan?s Kennedy and O?Connor, and Bush Senior?s Souter).
--Unnecessary because we should never stoop to stealthy ?smoke-and-mirrors? tactics to advance the cause of truth.
If Senators who oppose a Supreme Court that adheres to the US Constitution want to fight then fight we must. Now is the time to stand on principle and American citizens are sorely in need of an education on these matters--an education they would get with just such a battle.
Granted, liberal politicians with the help of traditional news media would wield their weapons of deception and lies just as they have in the past, but such would also provide a forum for telling the truth about America, our heritage, our original form of government, and why the Founders so often linked our nation?s ability to endure with a strict adherence to Christian principles. This Constitutional battle would move to front and center in all the national media, debates, and talk shows?just as the Democrat filibusters on Bush?s federal judge nominations were just beginning to hit fever pitch earlier this year before the ?Gang of 14? cut a deal that enabled weak-kneed politicians to scurry back into the darkness and out of the light of truth.
Christ boldly claimed, ?I am the way and the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me? (John 14:6). He left no room for doubt. He did not use stealthy tactics. He boldly put a stake in the ground to mark His position and never backed down an inch.
We should do no less when fighting to restore America?s Christian foundation.
Here?s the BOTTOM LINE in the Roberts and Miers nominations: do we avoid controversy and embrace a practice of stealthy smoke-and-mirrors in order to hopefully achieve our end? No way!
Robert Bork correctly admonishes us to avoid this implied Bush-standard for Supreme Court justices.
We have truth on our side--we have nothing to be embarrassed about. It is time we put a stake in the ground!
Our elected and appointed public leaders should be so courageous. We say to them, ?Lead or get out of the way? because We the People will be courageous!
??Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down, and now they are here disturbing our city,? they shouted.? (Acts 17:6, New Living Translation)
Endnote:
[1] After the Senate rejected Bork, Reagan nominated and the Senate confirmed Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy has been extremely disappointing, for example he flip-flopped at the last minute in Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992 thus preserving Roe v Wade which otherwise would have been overturned. See Rare Jewel Magazine, ?Roe v Wade: Past v Present v Future?; by Nathan Paul Mehrens, Esq., Jul/Aug 2004, pp 38-39.
2. Don?t Miss the Current Issue of RJM
Order Rare Jewel Magazine today before our inventory of the Sep/Oct 2005 edition runs out.
* Learn about the Great Awakenings of America?s past and find out whether it can happen again--or is it too late?
* Kerby Anderson of Point of View radio and Probe Ministries shares how the First Great Awakening prepared a generation of Patriots to win the American Revolution
* David Manuel, co-author of The Light and The Glory series of books, provides for us lessons-learned from the Third Great Awakening that we can apply today
* Vision America?s founder Dr Rick Scarborough encourages pastors and congregations to lead a national spiritual awakening by first reforming our churches
* Faith and Action?s founder Rev Rob Schenck provides us the key to another Great Awakening
Subscribe now at: http://www.rarejewelmag.com/subscribe.
View selected articles and the Table of Contents at: http://www.rarejewelmag.com/articles/index.shtml.
3. Daily News now Available on RJM Website
Daily news from a Christian perspective is now available at www.rarejewelmag.com/home and look for ?Christian Headlines.?
Visit us each day for a new batch of 5 to 10 brief articles on the most important news for Christian Patriots.
4. Free Subscription to RJM: Here?s How!
Rare Jewel Magazine and Faith and Action are pleased to announce a new partnership.
Donate $30.00 or more to Faith and Action and you?ll receive a FREE six-month (3 issues) subscription as a thank you gift.
Go to: http://www.faithandaction.org/042705RareJewelOffer.htm
My wife and I first met Rev Rob Schenck, founder of Faith and Action, and his staff in March 2004 at the Pledge of Allegiance rally and prayer vigil that FAA hosted on the steps of the Supreme Court building. We were so impressed I interviewed him for our inaugural issue of Rare Jewel Magazine (?From the Trenches: A Missionary to Capitol Hill?; May/June 2004, pp 5-8).
Here?s an excerpt from that article: ?Faith and Action is prophetic in the sense that we can communicate our message as a gentle appeal to an individual heart and soul (and we do that with regularity), and we confront our national leaders in a warning that, should they fail to cooperate with God?s standards, there is a severe consequence both personally and professionally, and on a larger scale, as a nation. We are doomed to fail as a culture if we fail to conform to the rules and regulations that God has given us in his Word?.
?Because of the unique nature of our government in this country, by virtue of being American citizens, with our citizenship comes a responsibility of stewardship. We are all shareholders, if you will, in this giant ?corporation? called the United States of America. All of us are members of that corporation, and with membership comes responsibility. If we fail to live up to that responsibility then we are, I believe, guilty of negligence. That is a violation of the concept of Biblical stewardship.?
Reverend Schenck is one of the most intelligent and articulate Christian Patriots I?ve met. He and his entire staff are truly salt and light for Christ in the rough and tumble world of Washington DC politics.
They could really use our help during these summer months, especially now that new action has heated up with the nomination of Judge Roberts for the Supreme Court. Faith and Action?s offices sit right across the street from the Supreme Court building -- they are uniquely positioned and anointed to keep their finger on the pulse of the Supreme Court; spending their selves on our behalf. Let?s show them how much we appreciate their vital work.
Don't miss this special offer. Help an important ministry and at the same time you?ll get a FREE six-month subscription to Rare Jewel Magazine!
(Note: Current subscribers will receive three issues added to their subscription term).
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