Born Again? What Is It?

With today’s blog post, I begin a short group of questions about the Christian faith which I think are interesting. These questions have been proposed, for the most part in a Bible study established at our retirement center for people from various religious disciplines—all of whom are interested in knowing more about the biblical faith of the Christian.

The question for today’s post is this: What are Evangelicals talking about when they claim that in order to follow Jesus, a person must be “born again?”

The best answer I have to this is one given by J.C. Ryle, an Anglican preacher of the late 19^th Century: “To be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likings, new dislikings, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God, and ourselves, and the world, and the life to come, and salvation.”

There’s Hope For the Nation!

Nancy and I have just returned from state-wide speaking contest put on by Christian Communicators of Ohio in Columbus. We had six grandchildren competing in that contest, which involved debating and giving speeches on various subjects, some of which were prepared in advance and some were extemporaneous speeches covering a wide range of subjects. Some were concerning the defense of the Christian faith. Some were humorous, some were persuasive. The subjects of the speeches ranged from current political events, to climate change, to abortion, to literary criticism. All of the speeches were inspiring and appealed to higher human values.

Aside from just enjoying the speeches, Nancy and I served as judges trying to evaluate speeches and apply fair grades on the quality of each speech. Each young person received written reports on how well they presented their subject.

We noted that the quality of this event featured speeches that were being closely evaluated—and something more. Young people in this contest remarkably demonstrated Christian ideals in their dress and in their deportment. They demonstrated excellent behavior toward one another during debates, showing that it is possible to be respectful and courteous to other people while strongly disagreeing with their viewpoints.

If American leadership can emulate behavior and values such as those  that were demonstrated at this contest, there is, indeed, a strong possibility of renewed national leadership with moral and political integrity. Let’s pray for that!

Yes, Mr. President, We Are A Nation of Takers

(The following blog post is redacted from an editorial in the Wall Street Journal of 25 January 2012 by Nicholas Eberstadt.)

In his second inaugural address, President Obama said, “The commitments we make to each other—through Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.”

But…there is a growing body of empirical evidence pointing to increasing dependency on state largess. The evidence documents as well a number of perverse and disturbing changes that this entitlement state is imposing on society.

For instance, since 1960, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, entitlement transfers—government payments of cash, goods, and services to citizens—have been growing twice as fast as overall personal income. Government transfers now account for nearly 18% of all personal income in America—up from 6% in 1960. The myriad welfare programs in America currently dispense entitlement benefits of more than $2.3 trillion yearly. That amounts to $7,400 per American man, woman, and child!

In 1960, the Office of Management and Budget, social welfare programs accounted for less than ⅓ of federal spending. Today, entitlement programs account for nearly ⅔ of federal spending. That is nearly twice as much as defense , justice, and everything else Washington does combined.

Today, 49% of Americans live in homes receiving one or more government transfer benefits—that is up almost 20 points from the early 1980’s. And despite what the White House suggested during the last election, this leap is not due to the aging of the population. Only about one tenth of the increase is due to upticks in old-age pensions and health-care programs for seniors.

Instead, the country has seen an expansion in public reliance on “means-tested” programs—benefits intended for the poor, such as Medicaid and food stamps. Today over 100 million Americans are accepting money, goods, or services from “means-tested” government programs. This percentage is twice as high as in the early 1980’s.

This might not be so bad if it had not been accompanied by a flight of working-age men from the work force. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the proportion of adult men 20 years old and older working or seeking employment have checked out of the labor market—that is 13 percentage points more than between 1948 and 2008. This male flight from the work force includes 7% of men in their late 30’s, the prime working age group. Moreover, this happened before the recent recession.  This workforce opt-out was more than twice the rate experienced in Greece, the poster child for modern welfare-state dysfunction. America’s rate of workforce dropout is worse than practically any Western European economy.

It is common knowledge that America’s entitlement balloon has been keynoted by huge increases in disability benefits, mostly because of musculoskeletal complaints and mood disorders. Both of these problems are usually impossible for doctors to document objectively. Another burgeoning expense to the government and the taxpayer is a large increase in people on food stamps.

Transfers of wealth funded by other people’s money tend to foster a pernicious “something for nothing” mentality—especially when those transfers seem to be progressively and relentlessly growing year by year. This “taker” mentality can only weaken civil society; and this pattern is not sustainable.  

Generosity with our own money is a virtue; but generosity with other people’s money is not.

 

 

Read the Qur’an.

We read and hear about many events involving “radical Islamists” and “Islamic extremism” these days. We wonder how people could become so violent as to throw bombs, start fires, shoot to kill, and even blow themselves up in order to kill their enemies. To those of us who have grown up in the Christian tradition of love and kindness to our enemies, these acts seem offensive and senseless. Now, it is true, that Christians have been guilty of violent acts in the past. The truth of Christianity is that our Savior can be found in the context of learning to love our enemies—violent acts in the name of Christ are aberrations and grossly misplaced acts, almost always motivated by political and social issues—and almost never are they done in the name of our faith.

On the other hand, I believe that most Islamic violence is undertaken by people who are trying to obey the precepts written in the Qur’an, their holy book. I believe that the world’s violence comes directly from the basic teachings of Islam. I would invite all my readers to read the Qur’an and see if I am right. You will find the Qur’an very difficult to read, mainly because all of its reported beauty has been lost in translation from the original Arabic. Even some of the grammar and wordy meanings seem to have been lost in translation, making much of it impossible to completely understand. But…the main body of the document can be understood; and I think you can plainly see that a recurring theme in the Qur’an is a call for violence in defense of the religion. If you do not want to read the whole document, I have listed below the ayats (verses) (surahs are like chapters)that call Muslims to violent behavior.

To give Muslims the benefit of the doubt about the peacefulness of their faith, be sure to read my last paragraph. It is taken from a commentary by a knowledgeable Muslim leader.

Calling Down Violence:

1.    Surah 2:54
2.    Surah 2:191
3.    Surah 2:216:218
4.    Surah 2:244 Fighting for Allah authorized.
5.    Surah 2:279
6.    Surah 3:142 Reward for fighting for Allah.
7.    Surah 3:152 Reward for annihilating the enemy.
8.    Surah 3:154 Encouragement to participate in slaughter.
9.    Surah 3:169 Those who fight for Allah live in heaven.
10.  Much of Surah 3 has to do with an encouragement to violence in the name of Allah. Rewards for faithfulness to the fighting cause of Allah is reiterated over and over.
11.  Surah 4:74 A promise of reward in bliss for those who fight and die in a struggle for Allah.
12.  Surah 4:77 Allah encouraging his followers to fight.
13.  Surah 4:89 A call to slay the hypocrites. 
14.  Surah 4:91 A call to slay your enemies.
15.  Surah 4:95; 57:10 A reward to those who strive and fight for Allah.
16.  Surah 4:104 Do not slack in following up the enemy.
17.  Surah 5:23
18.  Surah 5:33 Cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides is the punishment of infidel.
19.  Surah 5:38 Cut off the hands of thieves.
20.  Surah 5:45 The principle of eye for eye, etc.
21.  Surah 6:6 More violence endorsed.
22.  Surah 7:4 Recounting how followers of Allah have destroyed many towns on account of their sins.
23.  Surah 7:24 Allah threatening to cut of hand and foot on opposite sides and to crucify his enemies.
24.  Surah 8 This Surah is an account of the battle of Badr; and it is encouraging to those who would fight for Islam.
25.  Surah 8:12; 69:44, 46 Allah encouraging fighters and promising to cut off all the finger tips of the enemy.
26.  Surah 8:16 If followers of Allah back off the battle, they will go to hell.
27.  Surah 9:5 Muslims called to slaughter pagans.
28.  Surah 9:12-14 More call to fight and kill pagans who have broken covenant.
29.  Surah 9:20 Reward of salvation promised to those who strive with might and main and suffer exile for Allah.
30.  Surah 9:29 Fight against unbelievers until the pay the jizyah and feel subdued.
31.  Surah 9:36 Fight against the pagans.
32.  Surah 9:44 There is no exemption from fighting for Allah and giving goods and persons.
33.  Surah 9:86-89 Those who will fight are promised prosperity and eternal life.
34.  Surah 9:93-97 Rewards implied for those who go to war for Allah and do not stay behind. 
35.  Surah 9:111 Those who slay and are slain in the cause of Allah will receive paradise.
36.  Surah 9:123; 71:26 Fight the pagans.
37.  Surah 9:5 Admonition to slay, beleaguer, wait in ambush, and seize pagans.
38.  Surah 17:5 Allah and Muslims sent “terrible warfare” on their enemies.
39.  Surah 17:7 Enemies of Islam were injured by their enemies with the approval of Muslims.
40.  Surah 17:8; 61:4 Threats by Muslims to attack and injure nonbelievers.
41.  Surah 17:16 Muslims threaten to destroy an entire population of transgressors.
42.  Surah 17:58; 21:11; 21:95; 22:45; 22:48; A promise to destroy all populations or punish them by a dreadful punishment.
43.  Surah 17:68, 69 Allah will send a violent tornado with a shower of stones.
44.  Surah 17:75 Punishment meted out to people in this life; I cannot see why in the context.
45.  Surah 18:59; 19:74; 19:98 Populations of people destroyed because they committed iniquities.
46.  Surah 22:25; 69:30, 31 Unbelievers are to be punished.
47.  Surah 23:41 Allah sends a blast to destroy his enemies as rubbish.
48.  Surah 33:26,27 Muslims slaying and throwing terror into the hearts of people of the Book. Approved by Allah!
49.  Surah 38:3 Muslims destroying generations of people.
50.  Surah 47:4 Muslims called to fight and kill the enemies; eternal rewards will be for those who fight.
51.  Surah 48:25 Punishment threatened to unbelievers.
52.  Surah 48:29 Muslims are to be strong against unbelievers but compassionate to one another. The exact opposite of the Golden Rule!

Al Mawdudi points out in his commentary on Surah 64 that “the Qur’an encompasses four fundamental truths: First, that the universe in which they live is not Godless, but its Creator, Master and Ruler is an All Powerful God, and everything in it testifies to His being most Perfect and absolutely faultless. Second, that the universe is not without purpose and wisdom, but its Creator has created it with truth, and no one should be under the delusion that it is a mock show, which began without a purpose and will come to an end without a purpose. Third, that the excellent form that God has created you with and the choice that He has given you to choose between belief and unbelief is not a useless and meaningless activity so that it may be of no consequence whether you choose belief or unbelief. In fact, God is watching as to how you exercise your choice. Fourth, that you have not been created irresponsible and un-answerable. You have to return ultimately to your Creator, and have to meet the Being who is aware of everything in the universe, from Whom nothing is hidden, to Whom even the innermost thoughts of the minds are known.” All men are responsible before Allah; he ordains all things, including the possibility of falling away from the faith; but anyone who chooses to do that loses Allah’s presence in his heart and his place in heaven.

 Those who would insist that Islam is a religion of peace and submission should carefully consider the above notes about the sect. Nowhere in the document could I find the word “love.” I think the Islamic terrorists are simply acting out the instructions they find in the Qur’an.

Why Work?

Let me tell you a modern-day parable:

 A political science professor in a state university recently flunked his whole class. The professor announced at the beginning of the school term that there would be three tests, two preliminary tests and one final exam. After the first test, he explained that he was going to average all the test scores and give everyone in the class the average grade on the exam. The average score was a B. When the second test came up, he told the class that the same scoring system would be used. The average score was a D. When the final test came up, he announced that the same scoring and grading system would be used. The average score came out to be an F. The whole class flunked!!

This parable illustrates the fact that people won’t work to do well if the outcome does not benefit them—at least a little. They won’t work for the good of the other guy. Socialist systems illustrated by this parable do not inspire people to work for the good of others.

In the United States, today, we are beginning to see the same kind of force at work in our culture.

Labor force participation has declined since 2000. The recession accounts for some of this decrease in productive working among our people, but not all of it. The other significant reason is soaring government benefits. Many people think that it is not necessary to work when so many economic benefits come to them free from the government.

One disincentive to work is the proliferation of food stamp recipients. There are over 30 million more Americans receiving food stamps today than in 2000. The sharp rise in the number of those receiving food stamps predated the financial crisis of 2008. From 2000 to 2007, the number of beneficiaries rose from 17.1 million to 26.3 million according to the Department of Agriculture. That number has leaped to 47.5 million in October 2012. That increase amounts to 10,000 more beneficiaries per day! The average benefit per person jumped in 2009 from $102 to $125 per month.

The increase in food stamp distribution is not all due to recession-related unemployment. From 2010 to 2012, unemployment decreased from 9.6% to 7.8% and real GDP was rising steadily. Instead of decreasing with the decreasing unemployment rates during that period, food stamp usage continued to rise; and 7,223,000 more people received food stamps.

A second factor in the disappearance of Americans from the work force is the easier availability of Social Security disability payments. The health of Americans and the decreasing physical dangers of the workplace have improved over recent decades. Yet…the number of Social Security disability recipients have increased. Three million Americans received SS disability payments in 1990. Now, the number has risen to 8.6 million.

The SS disability program is soaked in inefficiency and ineffectiveness as reported by David Autor from MIT. Many reported cases of fraud have been revealed.

Extended unemployment benefits are a third source of non-earned income that keeps people out of the work force. The traditional 26 week benefit has been continuously extended over the past four years—many persons out of work a year or more are still receiving benefits.

In conclusion,  If more people have less incentive to stay out of the work force, they might seek jobs and help spur economic growth.

(Much of this blog post was taken from the Wall Street Journal of 1/16/13 page A13.)

Conservatism Revisited

“Conservatism” seems to be a word that is not very respectable, lately; it has degenerated into the realm of what lots of people consider to be lacking in compassion. But I would beg to resurrect the word and the concept. Conservatism is not just a plea to change nothing. I think it is a philosophy of government that seeks to retain things that have worked in the past while, at the same time, looking for changes that need to be made in order to make things work better in the present. There is no warrant for thinking that conservatives are just a bunch of reactionary do-nothings that have no new ideas, no innovations, and no compassion in government and societal matters.

We need to get a better look at the term, “compassionate." Compassion for the poor and underserved must not be measured by how much we spend on it, but how many people we help, and certainly not by how many programs the government creates to attain it. Conservatives have always maintained that conservative ideas—of government, the economy, society, the family—are based on sound MORAL principles.

It is true that in the late 19^th Century, when Adam Smith was writing his Wealth of Nations, merchants and manufacturers were living by the maxim, “all for ourselves, and nothing for other people,” as Smith observed. I am sure that left completely unbridled, present day entrepreneurs and capitalists might degenerate into the same mindset. And it is right here that government regulation of business and finance has shown its value. Such government acts as the Sherman Antitrust Act and child labor laws have greatly mitigated the “mean rapacity” of unfair and uncompassionate employment practices.

Being a medical person, I will point out another good effect of government regulation on business and manufacturing. In recent decades, laws have been instituted outlawing the use of lead in gasoline. This regulation has resulted in falling blood lead levels in all Americans and less brain morbidity among children as a result.

In discussing the evils of Obamacare, one of my son-in-laws, David, has reminded me of the many benefits of the law, such as sharable medical records that will prevent a lot of test repetition and, thereby, a lot of excess expense. There are many other benefits of Obamacare, too; but I am still wary of government control of businesses—and especially of health care. I think the government has overstepped its reach.

In sum, I believe that the individual is better off where he is free to better himself by working for his needs. Earned money is much more valuable than money that is given to him in the form of government entitlements. Self-help nurtures a spirit of independence rather than fostering the dependency that is too often the result of misguided entitlements. True compassion finds expression and fulfillment in civil society more often than in government. This is not to deny the validity or utility of safety nets and entitlements in principle, only to define and limit them in practice. Nor is it to deny any role to government, only, again, to define that role more precisely and to limit it more severely.

Here is a quote from a Civil War veteran, Robert Ingersoll: “I will now give you my ideas about finance. In the first place the Government does not support the people, the people support the Government.

“The Government is a perpetual pauper. It passes round the hat, and solicits contributions; but then you must remember that the Government has a musket behind the hat. The Government produces nothing. It does not plow the land, it does not sow corn it does not grow trees. The Government is a perpetual consumer.

“We support the Government. Now, the idea that the Government can make money for you and me to live on—why, it is the same as though my hired man should issue certificates of my indebtedness to him for me to live on.”  

We need to mix some common sense with the race to control everything and every need of our society by means of government intervention.  

 

 

 

 

What Did We Learn From the War of 1812?

The War of 1812 found America woefully weak militarily. Our shipping on the high seas was being raided by both the British and the French; our sailors were being impressed into the British navy. Thomas Jefferson had thought that our country could deal and negotiate with these foreign powers as gentlemen at a table of diplomacy. The result was a disaster—his policy resulted in British soldiers marching into Washington, D.C. and burning the White House.

After the war, America seemed to have waked up. The military was built up and for decades afterward, any nation that treated with the United States knew that we had a strong military to back up our words.

I guess we need to learn that lesson over, again. Today, we have an administration that tries to reason with our enemies and to deal with them by means of sanctions instead of arms. Our military is being withdrawn from Afghanistan before the primary goal of war is accomplished, i.e., VICTORY.

There is certainly a place to save money in our present-day situation; but I doubt that it is by cutting off money from the Pentagon. Let’s not back out of Afghanistan before the job is done. We have lost a lot of American lives there; and if we leave too soon, we will have wasted the whole investment—money and soldiers.