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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 27 February 2001 | Vol. II #28 | ||
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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 27 February 2001 | Vol. II #28 | ||
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I've been pilloried by Christians for the last week for opposing the federal seizure of a church in Indianapolis.
Most of the criticism boils down to two scriptural references, which, these folks apparently believe, mean Christians should never resist evil perpetrated by government. The first reference is one found in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke in which Jesus said "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."
The second reference cited by readers is Romans 13, in which the Apostle Paul advocates submission to earthly rulers.
A great many Christians -- including many pastors -- wrote to me explaining that it is the duty of good citizens and churches to "render unto Caesar."
I hardly know where to begin in addressing such a fundamental issue. But let me start by asking all Americans who subscribe to this principle as an absolute how our founding fathers, many of them devout Christians, justified breaking the bonds with their rulers in Great Britain? Were they not under a scriptural obligation to render unto King George? Have you read the Declaration of Independence?
I strongly suggest that my dear misguided Christian friends spend a little time reading the great debates that precipitated the War for Independence -- all of which took place among men far more learned in the Scriptures than the average modern Christian.
It's important to consider the circumstances and the audience behind Jesus' instructions to "render unto Caesar." The Sadducees were attempting to trap Jesus into advocating open contempt for Caesar. He recognized their wicked and hypocritical little game and answered them with a totally truthful response that astonished everyone.
But think about it. There are two components to Jesus' words. We are to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," but we are also to "render unto God the things that are God's." Well, everything ultimately belongs to God. But, most of all, this injunction by Jesus instructs us that government laws cannot trump God's laws -- ever.
If government commands you to do evil, as a Christian you must resist. There is no alternative. Citing the "render unto Caesar" line is an excuse for accountability to God -- nothing more, nothing less.
Furthermore, it needs to be pointed out to my critics that in America we don't have a Caesar. Never have, never will. You see, our system of government is called a free republic and it is based on the concept of constitutional self-government. We have no "rulers" in America -- except ourselves and our God. We believe in the rule of law, not the rule of men.
This is an important distinction, not a semantic one.
Nowhere in the Bible does it teach us to obey evil rulers. Nowhere. Quite the contrary. In fact, the Bible has inspired more non-violent civil disobedience movements than any other religious document. The example of Jesus and the apostles was to submit to arrest, submit to being jailed, even submit to execution. But, in no way, can one derive from biblical example that we are to do evil because we are told to do so by government.
I believe it is evil -- pure and simple -- for the Internal Revenue Service to force a church to serve as its unpaid tax collection agency. That is the issue in Indianapolis. Armed federal agents seized the Indianapolis Baptist Church because it refused to collect withholding taxes from employees.
This is an act of conscience that demands respect -- not only for churches but for independent, privately held, tax-paying businesses as well. The IRS cannot at once pretend the income tax is voluntary and at the same time demand that employers collect it from employees before they ever see it.
It is stealing. And stealing is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Christians are not to countenance stealing, because stealing is evil. Christians are to resist evil -- even at a cost of life itself.
I for one am not accountable to any Caesar, thank God. I am accountable to my Creator. My rights and responsibilities as a free man descend not from government, but from God Almighty.
I would love to ask my Christian critics how they feel about those heroes who risked death in Nazi Germany because they refused to render Jews unto Hitler?
The greatest acts of moral courage in the last 2,000 years have been the countless examples of individuals standing up to tyrants against all odds. Sadly, it seems many modern American Christians are content to sit on their duffs and condone evil because of their own scriptural illiteracy and moral blindness.
[ WorldNetDaily.com ]
There was something very unusual this morning. CNN showed George W. leaving HM-1. The marine at the front step saluted, GW returned it, and as he walked away, the marine executed a right face to stand facing GW's back. That is something that was missing in eight years of the Clinton presidency. The traditional Marine Corps mark of respect was rendered to the new president. That one goes back to the days in the rigging, when the marine orderly to the ship's captain always faced him, no matter his direction of movement, to be ready to receive an order. Who says that enlisted men can't hold back when they don't respect someone? ...And for eight years, they did.
In the news this week, President Bush was on the road promoting his modest tax reduction proposal and his plan to increase spending for the Department of Education by 11% -- $6.2 billion. "Good education starts with high standards and the unfailing belief that every child can learn, regardless of their background or their circumstances," said Mr. Bush. (Will someone please show us where the Constitutions says the central government can levy direct taxes for the purpose of funding government education!)
[ The Federalist ]
"Close associates of Vice President Dick Cheney deny that he is pressing hard to install his longtime Wyoming fly-fishing pal, environmental activist John Turner, as deputy secretary of the Interior. Conservative Western interests are appalled by the possibility that Turner could counter the strong private property positions of Interior Secretary Gale Norton. ... Turner heads the liberal Conservation Fund, which has been sharply critical of Norton. He personally is an advocate of expanded federal intervention in the environment and ownership of land."
[ Robert Novak's "Inside Report" / GOP N&V ]
NewsMax.com contributor Jack Thompson notes a most intriguing development in the burgeoning Pardongate scandal.
In her news conference Thursday outside the Senate chamber, Sen. Hillary Clinton said one truly remarkable thing. Here it is, from the Washington Post transcript:
CLINTON: No. You know, I never knew about Marc Rich at all. You know, people would hand me envelopes, I would just pass them. You know, I would not have any reason to look into them. I knew nothing about the Marc Rich pardon until after it happened.
Why did Hillary Clinton bring up envelopes? I can suggest a reason.
There is probably one or more documents out there either addressed to Hillary or copied to Hillary telling her about who was in the pardon pipeline.
If that is the case, then she must get out there, immediately, the idea that although there is a letter showing that she was in the loop on one or more of these horrific pardons, that she really wasn't in the loop, because it is a letter she never saw.
Remember, folks, this is the same lady who didn't know how the long-lost Rose Law Firm billing records on Whitewater got into her private White House study.
Look for the damning document to surface shortly, with or without the envelope.
[ NewsMax ]
Ms. Rodham-Clinton also held a press conference: "I was very disappointed and saddened by this whole matter. It came as a surprise to me, and it was very disturbing, and I'm just very disappointed about it. ... I did not know any specific information until late Monday night. I didn't know about it, and I am very regretful that it occurred and that I didn't know it."
You must pay close attention to the Clintonese parlance. Remember last week when Bill Clinton said, "There's not a single, solitary shred of evidence that I did anything wrong," rather than forthrightly declaring he did nothing wrong? You will note Ms. Rodham-Clinton's words: "I did not know any specific information." The key word here is "specific."
[ The Federalist ]
"The suggestion that I granted the pardons because Mr. Rich's former wife, Denise, made political contributions and contributed to the Clinton library foundation is utterly false. ... The applications were reviewed and advocated not only by my former White House counsel Jack Quinn but also by three distinguished Republican attorneys: Leonard Garment, a former Nixon White House official; William Bradford Reynolds, a former high-ranking official in the Reagan Justice Department; and Lewis Libby, now Vice President Cheney's chief of staff." -- The Great Prevaricator in a New York Times op-ed last Sunday.
From the New York Times the next day: "Correction: The article by former President Bill Clinton...stated erroneously...that 'the [pardon] applications were reviewed and advocated' by three prominent lawyers. Clinton's office and the lawyers are in agreement that none of the three men...reviewed the pardon applications or advocated for the pardons." -- New York Times
Sen. Hillary Clinton said Thursday she had no idea her brother was lobbying the White House for presidential pardons.
Just like she had no clue that her husband intended to pardon billionaire fugitive Marc Rich or leaders from a Hasidic village in New York that ended up voting for her nearly unanimously.
But the testimony of friends suggests that the chances Mrs. Clinton was out of the loop for any of her husband's big decisions are slim to none.
A year before Pardongate erupted, longtime Clinton protector Betsey Wright told Hillary biographer Gail Sheehy that she sat in on all of her husband's strategy sessions. "Her own performance in selling and implementing his government programs was extraordinary. There were so many ways he needed her."
Clinton insider and Presidential Library Director Skip Rutherford, who's currently guarding the names of secret library donors against Pardongate subpeonas, was even stronger in his comments.
"I've never seen a Clinton campaign or a major political decision Bill Clinton made without Hillary's conclusions," he told Sheehy.
[ NewsMax ]
"Arkansas was just a starting point for Bill Clinton and a place Hillary had to tolerate while nurturing national ambitions. ... [T]hey left the state behind in favor of New York City, a place that can match the scale of their own egos, appetites and ambitions. They have never looked back. ... The Clintons are not a couple but a business partnership, not based on love or even greed but on shared ambitions. Everywhere they go, they leave a trail of disappointed, disillusioned friends and staff members to clean up after them. The Clintons' only loyalty is to their own ambitions."
Describing the Clintons not as political drifters but "grifters," Jordan continued, "Grifters was a term used in the Great Depression to describe fast-talking con artists who roamed the countryside, profiting at the expense of the poor and the uneducated, always one step ahead of the law, moving on before they were held accountable for their schemes and half-truths. [But without] the frills of high office, we can now examine...the Clintons for what they are." --Hamilton Jordan, former White House chief of staff for Jimmy Carter
"Federalism does not consist in determining which level of government delivers services most efficiently. Nor is it devolution of power to the states. First and foremost, federalism is about limited government -- checks and balances based on dual sovereignty." --Robert A. Levy
"If Clarence Thomas is tar baby, Jesse Jackson is Teflon black." --Wm. F. Buckley
"[A] move to Harlem is not an original ploy....Whenever he returns to New York, for a U.N. gathering, [Fidel Castro] goes back to Harlem, where he is mobbed by cheering, adulatory throngs.... In 1995, at a Baptist church, they all screamed, 'Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!' and 'Viva Cuba!' Said Castro there, 'As a revolutionary, I knew I would be welcome in this neighborhood'." --Jay Nordlinger
"The truth is these people -- the Al Hunts, the Chuck Schumers and the Joe Liebermans -- have no standing to criticize the Clintons for their misdeeds any more than Dr. Frankenstein had to condemn that mindless monster he created for killing innocent people. They all helped to create the Clinton monster. I want to go further. Not only have they no moral right to criticize the Clintons eight years after the fact (actually nine, counting the Gennifer Flowers revelations during the 1992 campaign), they owe the rest of us boatloads of apologies." - Columnist David Limbaugh
House Majority Whip Tom DeLay issued a response to comments by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who criticized DeLay for speaking out about judicial deficiencies though he is not a lawyer:
"In her speech, Justice Ginsburg raised a serious public policy question which deserves thoughtful consideration and a vigorous debate. What, if any, redress is available to the American people when judges do not follow the law? I'm sure Justice Ginsburg does not believe that the judicial branch is above accountability. We all agree that judges must adhere to the law just as every other citizen is required to do.
My question to her is this: By what mechanism can the American people enforce accountability for judges if not by the tools given to us by the Constitution?
I also reject Ginsburg' s assertion that I am not qualified to offer an opinion on problems within our justice system. Unlike Justice Ginsburg, I believe that every American citizen...has the right to be heard on this and other legal questions.
Our Constitution was not intended to be an inaccessible legal document. Our Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution so that every American would be able to understand the proper scope of the law. I believe that average Americans -- not just Ivy League lawyers -- have both a right and an obligation to speak out when they see members of the judiciary overstepping the proper scope of the law."
[ The Federalist ]
Congress just funded the IRS's request to hire an additional 2,036 full-time employees this year.
TCN Comment: Aren't you glad we have all of those Republicans in Washington paring down the size of the federal government and trimming the fat from the federal budget?
After analyzing satellite images of Iraqi targets, it appears that most of the 25 AGM-154A "Joint Standoff Weapons" dropped last week missed the mark by significant margins. According to sources, the guided munitions "veered to the LEFT" just before impact. (Perhaps Albert Gore invented the software!)
Congressman Ron Paul and/or I will discuss the International Criminal Court on the following radio programs:
Monday, 2/26/01 at 11:06 a.m. ET, 10:06 a.m. CT
WACV-AM 1170, Montgomery, Alabama
Host: Don Markwell
Monday, 2/26/01 at 11:00 p.m. ET, 10:00 p.m. CT, 8:00 p.m. PT
Talk Radio Network
Host: Roger Fredinburg
Simulcast on Web site: www.talkradionetwork.com
Tuesday, 2/27/01 at 8:10 a.m. ET, 7:10 a.m. CT
WAAM-AM 1600, Detroit, Michigan
Host: Dave Pekrul
Wednesday, 2/28/01 at 10:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. PT
KSFO-AM 560, San Francisco, California
Host: Brian Wilson
Simulcast on Web site: www.ksfo.com
Thursday, 3/01/01 at 6:00 a.m. ET, 4:00 a.m. MT
KOA-AM 850, Denver, Colorado
Host: Rick Barber
Simulcast on Web site: www.850koa.com
Friday, 3/02/01 at 8:05 a.m. ET, 7:05 a.m. CT
USA Radio Network
Hosts: Al Lerner & Richard Stevens
Simulcast on Web site: www.usaradio.com
Monday, 3/05/01 at 3:00 p.m. ET, 2:00 p.m. CT
VCY America Radio Network
Host: Vic Eliason
Simulcast on Web site: www.vcyamerica.org
Saturday, 3/10/01 at 10:00 a.m. CT, 8:00 a.m. PT
KSCO-AM 1080, Monterey, California
Host: Barbra Alexander
Simulcast on Web site: www.money-hotline.com
Monday, 3/12/01 at 7:15 p.m. ET, 4:15 p.m. PT
KKLA-FM 99.5, Los Angeles, California
Host: Warren Duffy
Simulcast on Web site: www.kkla.com
Wednesday, 3/21/01 at 5:30 p.m. CT, 3:30 p.m. PT
KPAY-AM 1290, Chico, California
Host: Bruce Sessions.
A list of these programs along with any short-notice additions or changes will be posted on our Web site.
Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org
"The Utah legislature today put its stamp of approval on a comprehensive 'paycheck protection' measure similar to, but tougher than, California Proposition 226, narrowly defeated in 1998. The Utah measure, the 'Voluntary Contributions Act,' like 226, requires up front written consent before money is deducted from a private sector worker's paycheck for political purposes. It is stronger than 226 insofar as it outright prohibits public employers in the state from making payroll deductions for political purposes under any circumstances, thus getting government out of being the political bag man for public sector unions altogether. Governor Michael Leavitt (R) has publicly indicated he would sign the bill."
[ Paycheck Protection activist Ron Nehring,]
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