My instinctive, visceral reaction to Carly Fiorina’s presidential aspirations was to dismiss her out of hand. There were two reasons for this.  

Number one: I have grave reservations about the presidency being anyone’s first political position. While I don’t like giving the nomination to “the next person in line,” and I find that career politicians frequently lose touch with life outside the Beltway, going straight to the presidency seems too big a jump.

Number two: I despise any argument that begins with, “This will be a good way to get the (fill in the blank) vote. I actually believe in certain principles, among them supporting policies that help America.  I abhor the idea of passing legislation that is wrong for the country in the hope of getting women, African-Americans, Asians, young people, citizens of a certain state, older people, Hispanics etc., etc., to vote for you. Aside from being wrong, I also think it is foolish as there is no way to out ‘identity politics’ the Democrats.  The number of people who were promoting Carly Fiorina because, “We need a woman to go against Hillary,” primed me to dislike her campaign, even if she did not make that argument herself. 

What changed?  A friend told me to take a look at a speech Carly (I never know how to refer to candidates. Are we on a first name basis?) delivered. I did and was impressed. Then I clicked on a few links and saw her go on the offensive when media tried to make her defensive about abortion. Little makes me angrier than Republicans slinking around with their tails between their legs, so that got my attention. 

I have signed up to follow Carly on Facebook and have given her campaign the green light to send me emails. There are too many candidates in the race to be able to pay attention to all of them, but I am going to start looking more closely at her. She is joining the ranks of those I am most interested in as I seek someone with principles, guts and the ability to communicate. 

It is early and my antipathies and allegiances are fluid, so I’m interested in hearing who is causing you to take note.  Is there anyone whose campaign has attracted your attention?

Whether you don’t know a letter of Hebrew or whether it’s your native language—this book will open your heart to God’s language. 

Buried Treasure: Secrets for Living from the Lord’s Language

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Question:

I met you recently when you came to Dallas, TX to address our meeting with Primerica. Thank you for what you do. 

My question is short and basic. What does the bible teach about punishment for children? My wife and I are expecting our first child. We are not in agreement with the idea of physical punishment. We need guidance to what scriptures says about spanking your children. 

Please help!

∼ Colter D.

Answer:

First of all, may God shower blessings on you and your wife for recognizing that raising children needs much thought and discussion even before the child is born. It is wonderful that the two of you see the need for being on the same page and having clear, guiding rules by which to run your family.

(more…)

This fellow I know runs a struggling consulting business.  The advice he delivers is of high quality–I know because I have consulted with him once or twice.  Yet he struggles.  He agonizes about his lack of success. He is proud of his professional competence but is baffled by his competitors who vastly outperform him financially, though his skills and experience are superior to theirs.

Obviously there could be many reasons to account for his lackluster growth.  Maybe he makes mistakes in his marketing or perhaps he should adjust his pricing but these are relatively easy to fix. This fellow has worked on that yet he continues to fail.  And I know why.  But he’s never asked me so I’ve never told him.  Unsolicited advice is seldom welcome.

I know what his problem is because he unknowingly reveals it to me.  In casual conversation he has often said things like this: “You know that builder friend of yours, do you think you could get him to do me a favor?”  Or this: “At that birthday party I attended last night I met a lawyer with whom I hit it off; I think his wide range of contacts could help me.”  Even this: “Remember you suggested I look up Mr. Jones while I was in Chicago? I did and I can’t see what good he could do me.”

Not once has he ever said to me, “If you ever encounter a struggling entrepreneur whom you think I could help, call me and I’ll help him pro bono.”  Or, “I looked up Jones as you suggested and I’d really like to help him. Do you have any idea of what the best way would be to do so?”  In other words, this fellow sees the world only in terms of how it could benefit him.  He sees his connection with the world as a great big pipe with a one-way valve ensuring that goodness and abundance only flow inbound.

At first glance, this would appear to be sound business strategy.  Focus on getting rather than giving and evaluate people only in terms of what they can do for you.  However, nothing could be further from the truth.  Our behavior shapes our personalities and, with the passage of time, it also sculpts our faces.  Sure enough, to my eyes, this fellow has, in the last few years, acquired an unappealing self-centeredness.  He seems even less interested in me, my family, and my life than he used to be.

God designed His world to incentivize us to be obsessively preoccupied with the needs and desires of His other children.  He does so by bestowing upon us the enormous blessing of financial abundance in proportion to how many of His other children we please and how significantly we please them.  Most of us prefer being pleased by people who at least appear to be as interested in our needs as they are in their own.  When I encounter a sales professional who radiates only self-interest I take my business elsewhere.

One way to make our personalities and faces radiate a pleasing effect is to engage in regular acts of giving.  Each evening as we privately perform our daily self-evaluation, we ought to make certain that we devoted ourselves just as much to giving as we did to getting.  That includes not only time, energy and resources but also love, recognition, and attention.

Ancient Jewish wisdom teaches that every strength comes with a parallel weakness.  For all the strengths and advantages the oldest sibling acquires, he also should be extra vigilant about becoming overly self-centered.

You might remember the story from Numbers chapter 32 when, upon the eve of Israel’s conquering the Promised Land, the tribes of Reuven and Gad requested to settle on the east side of the Jordan River where they had encountered excellent grazing for their animals. Moses reacts quite angrily, accusing them of abandoning their brethren as the tribes approach the impending war for the land of Israel,

Once the two tribes explained that of course they meant to settle in Transjordan only after helping fight the war of acquisition, Moses was still not placated.  He remained critical of them.

What bothered Moses?  They betrayed their true interests when they told Moses that they’d build enclosures for their animals and cities for their children before joining the war alongside their brothers. (Numbers 32:16)

When Moses responded, he reversed the order, pointing out that their priority ought to be their children, not their wealth.  (Numbers 32:24)  Children are one of the primary vehicles God uses to train us to become happy givers.

Moses was well aware that the two tribes involved were first born sons. Reuven was Leah’s first born son (Genesis 29:32) and Gad was Zilpah’s first born son (Genesis 30:10-11).

Moses recognized the negative tendency of egotism which can infect the first born who has a stint as the ‘one and only’ child. He can be prone to self-centeredness and self-centeredness tends to isolate us from other people.

A few years later, Joshua berated these two tribes (Joshua 22) because they built their own altar to God instead of joining in worship with their brothers in Jerusalem.  Their eventual comeuppance was that they were the first tribes to be exiled when Israel was later attacked by her enemies.

The regular practice of giving stimulates awareness of and connectedness with others.  If the fellow I know would learn this truth, immediate and tangible benefits would flow to him as they would to all who follow God’s plan for human economic interaction.

Invest in my Income Abundance Set and gain insights such as the one above. If you already own it, may I suggest flexing your giving muscle by gifting the set to someone who this resource can help lead a more successful life, both spiritually and financially.

__________________________________________

Make the NEW Rabbi Daniel Lapin PODCAST part of your week

If you wandered around the Marina del Rey, CA docks a few years back, you might have found my husband on his hands and knees, polishing the teak on his cherished sailboat. Sun and salt water are both tough on wood, so it was a job that constantly needed doing.

Polishing wood was therapeutic. Daily life is filled with activities that only give us delayed feedback. As the rabbi of a congregation, a business-owner, a husband and a father, it was frequently difficult for my husband to know how things were actually going. A discouraging week could be followed by a productive one, a brilliant speech could be followed by one that fell flat. Did we over-react or under-react to a child’s problem? In many cases, it is a matter of weeks, months, years and even a lifetime before we can gauge our success. 

Not so with teak. One sets out to tackle a worn, tired looking patch of deck and after applying polish, time and elbow grease that same area is a shiny pleasure to behold. Of course the change won’t last, but for a short while you know that the job is well done. 

My version of wood polishing is tidying up, and one of my favorite things to tidy is bookshelves. I love seeing favorite editions lined up neatly and I delight in greeting volumes I haven’t perused for a while. Last week, as the world spun out of control, I organized many years’ accumulation of children’s books. 

While the authorities that instantaneously knew that the murderer of church members in Charleston was motivated by racism but found themselves confused as to what could possibly have motivated the murderer of five military members, I sorted books. While politicians explained that giving nuclear weapons to those who hate us would bring peace, I alphabetized fiction. While newspapers covered up stories of violent crime unless the “right” people were the victims, I labelled biographies.   

Amidst it all, I prayed. Yes, I called my political representatives telling them of my concern about the Iran debacle and I took my own private steps to add merit to the world’s balance, but most of all, I prayed. The hatred for God’s guidance, the growing anti-Semitism and anti-Christianism in the world, the betrayal of America’s foundations and the irrational blame placed on Israel demand that we resist these ‘advances’ with all our human effort. However, we will only defeat them with God’s mercy and help. So, I pray for peaceful years when my grandchildren can cuddle up with books, their imaginations venturing far afield while their families and homes provide a safe and secure oasis among a world once again running amok.

We have to do what we can to give young people guidance.
Please take a look at this book and share it with those you love. 

Question:

I have an ailment affecting daily tasks. My decline causes need for care. The system for this is through Federal assistance, etc. Were I better, I’d never ‘go on the dole’. Yet I am viewed as a taker. 

Yet, did not my folk put forth that which was placed into the chest so to speak, for such events as mine? I paid it too. Now it is my turn. Do I give it up or accept thankfully what I have?

∼ Al H.

Answer:

We are very glad that you wrote us because this is one of those questions that doesn’t lend itself to thirty-second statements. For this reason, exaggerated, misquoted and misleading statements get made and repeated.

Many people are rightly concerned that the percentage of Americans who are dependent upon government is becoming larger than the percentage who are supporting themselves. This is a valid concern, however we must recognize that there is a huge difference between someone whose lifestyle choices lead them to irresponsibly take advantage of their fellow citizens and those who, for example, are members of the military getting paid by the government.

(more…)

Some Republican politicians shock me when they make statements like these.

“My tax plan will benefit the working class.”

“We must show how much we care for the poor.”

“It’s not only the rich who’ll benefit…”

“We don’t have to worry about the upper class.”

“Crime is concentrated among the lower class.”

By adopting the language of Karl Marx they surrender to socialism.  Socialism’s core belief is secularism whose paramount doctrine is that there is no God directing humanity; no God decreeing morality.  Socialism insists that all you see around you is materialism and it owes its origins to nothing but unaided, random physical and chemical processes.  It follows that every human being is little more than about $9.50 worth of common chemicals cunningly arranged. A little carbon, some oxygen and a dash of hydrogen; throw in some potassium, nitrogen, and a few other elements, and bingo! You’ve got a person.  This is the central organizing principle of secular fundamentalism.

What about hopes and dreams?  What about inspiring memories of great ancestors?  What about selfless love and devotion?  All of that is nothing but biological determinism.  Perhaps you mistakenly think you’re drawn to charity, compassion and altruism but it is nothing more than a few neurons firing in your brain creating illusions whose entire purpose is only biological survival.  You are no more than a cat, a cow, a kangaroo or a camel.  You are an animal.  You may be smarter than some animals. You may have less hair than some animals. You may run slower than some animals but you run faster than others.  They eat, defecate, mate and die.  So do you.  You are just another species of animal.  That, in a nutshell, is the sacred sacrament of socialism.

Naturally, if you are an animal, you need either a zookeeper or a farmer to whom you belong.  He will take care of you and you owe him all your productivity.  The center of your existence is not the ‘G’ of God but the ‘g’ of government.

Rich and poor have specific meaning in the Bible and do not define anyone’s essence.  Unlike animals, humans are touched by the finger of God and can grow.  Animals have only a present.  Unlike anteaters and zebras, we have a past and a future as well.  Was the pitiful tycoon, Howard Hughes, living a lonely and paranoid existence really rich? Is the young and underpaid medical resident working 12 hour shifts and sharing a tiny apartment with three other doctors-in-training, really poor?

A goldfish without enough food can be thought of as poor.  A mouse living in a grain warehouse can be considered rich.  But those terms do not apply to humans.  For humans those terms are relative.  No matter your finances, you can easily find someone with far less than you as you can find someone with far more.  Look one way and you can feel rich, while a glance in the other direction can make you feel poor.

As for the term ‘working class’ just who is that supposed to mean?  Almost everyone I know goes to work five or six days a week and that includes most of the super-successful people I know.  Most heirs to large fortunes as well as those bequeathed significant trust funds work hard in various enterprises.

As for the terms upper class and lower class, most politicians use them as synonyms for rich and poor respectively.  This sheer nonsense is predicated entirely on the underlying belief that humans are just like any other livestock.  Upper class horses race, lower class horses pull wagons and get turned into glue.  Upper class bovines breed while lower class buffalo pull ploughs.

The truth is that none of these terms apply to humans.  There is a very good reason why the Bible opens with the words:

In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
(Genesis 1:1)

rather than:

In the beginning God created everything.

or, if you prefer the poetic:

In the beginning God created the entire universe and all that is in it.

Ancient Jewish wisdom explains what the words ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ teach us that would not have been conveyed by ‘everything’ or by ‘the entire universe.’

Heaven means the spiritual attributes of reality while earth refers to the physical.  God is teaching us right from the very outset that the world is both a physical and a spiritual reality.  There are things you can measure in a laboratory like food and water, and there are equally important things you cannot such as love and loyalty.

We humans, created in God’s image are chiefly distinguishable from animals by our ability to know the spiritual.  Indeed, our lives would be painfully incomplete without it.  Most of the important decisions and choices confronting us every day require us to weigh spiritual implications as much as we evaluate the physical.

I delve into this informatively and entertainingly in this special episode of my new podcast.  If you have any desire to learn how to include spiritual factors in the decisions you make you should click here and listen for free now.

Oh yes, as for upper class and lower class, what do they really mean?  Upper class people, regardless of their bank balances, are people who honor their past and plan for their future.  Lower class people, regardless of their riches, live only in and for the present.  Having abandoned every vestige of self-restraint, they succumb to every momentary urge and condemn themselves and their unfortunate offspring to utter hopelessness.

Please help a few young people that you know step onto the escalator that will lift them to the upper class.  I ask you to do so by giving them a copy of Hands Off! This May Be Love. This is one of the most important books we have published and especially in the climate surrounding young adults today it provides food for thought that is indispensable for the shaping of a successful life.

I do not want Donald Trump to be president. After eight years of a self-adulating leader, I prefer someone who loves America more than he loves himself. I also do not want as president anyone, who while a candidate, apologizes for statements Donald Trump made. I am tired of timid Republicans who are fearful of proudly upholding conservative principles—both social and economic. I prefer someone who will force a discussion on issues rather than who grovels and is  embarrassed anytime anyone connected with Republicans or conservatism says something less than perfect. I certainly don’t want a candidate who insults and demeans the conservative base. 

In her weekly column for the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan said about upcoming Republican debates, “None of the candidates will want to take Mr. Trump head-on because he doesn’t play within the margins of traditional political comportment. He’s a squid: poke him and get ink all over you.”

I have three words for Peggy Noonan, whose columns I usually enjoy. “Remember Candy Crowley.” Or maybe the three words are, “Remember Ted Stevens.” Or perhaps, “Remember the I.R.S.” In other words, anyone who cannot take on Trump will not be able to win against the Democrat candidate. 

Candy Crowley was supposed to moderate the debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Instead she jumped in and lied to lend the sitting president a hand. Mitt Romney was ever the gentleman—a losing gentleman.  

Ted Stevens was a U.S. Senator from Alaska. As the longest serving Republican Senator in history, he was in a powerful position. Running for re-election in 2008, he was found guilty of a federal corruption charge a few days before the election. He lost. After the election, the indictment was dismissed when the Justice Department found evidence of unethical prosecutorial shenanigans. 

Under Lois Lerner the Internal Revenue Service has made Richard Nixon’s enemies list look like a pre-schooler’s crayoned, “U R not my frend,” missive left on his mother’s pillow after she forces him to take an unwanted bath. While hearings drone on, conservatives feel that their “leadership” is inept and clueless at reacting to this corruption with the passion and action it demands. 

I want a candidate who understands these eight words:  “There is a double standard. Triumph over it.” Liberals do not need offensive statements by Trump to call all conservatives bigoted, xenophobic, cruel, greedy, hate-filled, etc., etc, etc. If they can’t find anyone saying mean or foolish things, they will lie or reach as far as they need to support that narrative. (Remember how Mitt Romney was cruel to another boy in grade school…)

Donald Trump says provocative, offensive things. They are simplistic and one-sided, but they resonate with those Americans who have not yet lost their ability to evade groupthink and government re-education attempts. They cause those conservatives who know that the media, educational and political decks are stacked against them to cheer. Not necessarily because they support Mr. Trump or think he is a role model. But because he isn’t cowering. He is raising problems that are real and growing. 

There is a word for Republicans who think that they will get the African-American or Hispanic or Asian or single female vote by pandering to those demographics. That word is loser. Donald Trump isn’t ‘telling it like it is.’ He is exaggerating and indulging in demagoguery. That is exactly what liberals do to conservatives all the time, just from the other direction. Mr. Trump is giving Republican candidates an opportunity to show whether they can handle a fight filled with partial truths and mockery and emerge victorious. Can they understand why frustrated Americans, who are not bigots or racists, are outraged when candidates like Jeb Bush paint them as such (after all, illegal immigration is about love) when they know the immigration system is seriously broken and they are not the problem? 

Candidates who aren’t able to handle difficult adversaries can distance themselves from Donald Trump now, and then they can hand the election over to the Democrat candidate who will paint them as selfish chauvinists no matter what the reality. If they can’t handle Trump without disrespecting those who support him, they should get out of the race.

My husband is moving! To the Blaze radio where he is hosting a podcast. We are sharing  our excitement about this new opportunity by offering an additional $25+  off on our always value-packed Library Pack PLUS. Take advantage of this offer right now!

Question:

How in the world were you able to predict the eventual fall of the European Union?  It has been more than seven years since I purchased your entire library package.  Even today, I can still recall the confidence in your voice when you predicted in the “Tower of Power” audio that the EU would break apart — and you didn’t have access to the 2015 news about Greece when you recorded it years ago.

It seems like Nigel Farage, the leader of the of the UK Independence Party, has purchased your library package as well as he was just quoted as saying, “The European Union is dying before our eyes”.  In 2008, when I listened to your prediction, one US Dollar was worth 63 cents; today one US Dollar is worth 91 cents.  What is your secret?”

∼ Bobby P.

Answer:

If we thought we had a secret for predicting future events, we would set up a ‘psychic’ booth on the boardwalk. Here’s the drawback: we have no inside scoop;  when we do see the future and hear prophetic footsteps, it is only because of the laser beam of clarity that ancient Jewish wisdom shines onto human events.  What we teach is based on God’s word in the Bible.

(more…)

If you’re trying to build a business, sustain a marriage, raise children or if you’re engaged in any other long-term challenging project, there is a lesson to be found in the story of flight.

It was the fall of 1900;  Wilbur and Orville Wright were living in a tent on the barren windswept sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, about 75 miles southeast of Norfolk, Virginia and about 200 miles east of Raleigh, North Carolina.  Today you can easily drive to Kitty Hawk via the concrete Wright Memorial Bridge, but the Wright brothers had to take a hazardous two day sail in a leaky old schooner from Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River.

Once there, everything was a challenge.  They constantly worried about their business and their father and sister back in Dayton, Ohio.  Drinking water, food, and supplies were hard to come by. The wind repeatedly demolished their tent.  But of course the wind was why they were there in the first place.  Each time their primitive gliding machines were damaged, they meticulously rebuilt them.

At that time, it was positively assumed that flying was impossible. Even the Washington Post categorically declared that, “man cannot fly”.  That was all there was to it.  The Wright brothers were surely engaged in a fool’s errand.  Traveling backwards and forwards between Kitty Hawk where they tried to fly and Dayton where their bicycle business needed attention, they struggled with failure after failure for three long years until they finally flew a heavier-than-air machine for the first time in human history on December 17^th, 1903.

One can but imagine the countless disappointments, frustrations, doubts, and worries that must have plagued Orville and Wilbur year after grueling year.  They were alone, neither brother having married. They didn’t even have a coach, let alone a therapist.  They were mocked for their dreams and for their determination.  Yet there is no record of the brothers having suffered from depression or even from periods of melancholy.

Let’s see if we can understand the Wright brothers’ emotional equilibrium by traveling further back than a mere 110 years ago.  The first person who suffered from sadness was Cain.

…and Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
(Genesis 4:5)

Cain was the first person in history to think of bringing God a present.

…and Cain brought a gift to God from the fruit of the earth.
(Genesis 4:3)

He was quickly imitated by Abel who did the same, bringing his gift from among his sheep.  God approved of Abel’s gift but rebuffed Cain’s.  Consequently, Cain was very upset.

God immediately asked Cain what was bothering him.

And God said to Cain, ‘Why are you upset and why is your face so down?’ 

(Genesis 4:6)

Now that is a very strange question for God to have asked Cain.

Cain surely should have responded: “You ask why I’m upset?  You ask why I’m feeling down?  Isn’t it obvious to you, Lord?  I’m miserable because you rejected my gift even though I was the first to think of bringing You an offering!  That’s why I’m upset.”

With such an obvious answer, it is a strange question for God to have asked.  Even stranger is that Cain does not supply that obvious answer.  In fact, Cain says absolutely nothing in response to God’s question.  So God continues talking to Cain who seems to ignore Him and heads off to do away with his brother.

Ancient Jewish wisdom explains God’s question by explaining that the only time God permits us the indulgence of despair and sorrow is if there is nothing at all we can do to change our circumstances.  Under all other conditions, God prefers that we set about solving the problem causing the gloom.

…the Israelites lifted their eyes and saw the Egyptians chasing after them and they were frightened and cried out to God.
(Exodus 14:10)

And God’s response?

And God said to Moses, why do you cry to me, order the Children of Israel to march forward.

(Exodus 14:15)

The Israelites were scared and dispirited as they stood impotently on the shores of the Red Sea watching their foes draw nearer.  God permits them no emotional weakness or passive hand-wringing.  Instead, God directs them to take action to solve their problem.  This they do.  They start marching into the Red Sea and in response, God splits it.

One might have thought that one occasion when unmitigated sadness is allowed is during mourning. Yet ancient Jewish wisdom stresses that even then, after a short period, we should focus more on extolling the memory of the deceased than on immersing ourselves in sorrow.

The Hebrew word for ‘mourner’ AVeL is the same as the Hebrew word for ‘but’ AVaL.

                                                                                                                        אבל              אבל

mourning           but

Even mourning has a time limit and an intensity limit.  We might be in mourning, BUT the memories are good.  This is the end of everything, BUT life continues.  How can I continue living without that person?  BUT you can.  Even in the sorrow of mourning, after an appropriate interval, we are expected to reintegrate ourselves back into what is now the new normal of life.

It all becomes clearer now.  God asked why Cain was miserable because He expected Cain to do something about it.  God expected Cain to look into his heart and understand why his gift was rejected.  Cain should have taken the necessary steps to right his relationship with God and all would have been well.  God even gave him hints of how to accomplish this.

…if you behave better, you’ll be accepted…

(Genesis 4:7)

Like so many of us, Cain was immersed in his feelings. Rather than changing himself, he disastrously struck out at his brother.

The Wright Brothers succeeded by responding differently than Cain. They reacted to each setback, not with anguish but with action.  Each failure propelled them not to heartache but to exertion and effort.  So whatever grand life challenge we find ourselves engaged in, our response to setback and failure should not be a retreat to passive and self-indulgent sadness.  Positive action is the antidote.

If I may be personal for a minute, it was quite a blow when KSFO cancelled my top-ranking radio show in exchange for paid programming. I quickly researched alternatives and began broadcasting at WC4Y.com, adjusting to a very different type of show. I appreciate more than you can know, those of you who followed and stayed with me through technical and other difficulties. Having made my own efforts, God has now blessed me with a new opportunity, a podcast on the Blaze radio. I hope you will enjoy my new podcasts.

When I wrote last week’s Musing a week in advance and declared that whatever was happening, I was not going to pay much attention, I had no idea that my Musing would run right after one of the most momentous weeks in American history. Two major Supreme Court decisions came down, each of which, in its own way reshaped this country. (As for my week, it was wonderful and you can see some pictures below.) 

The Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling did not happen in a vacuum. It is, in many ways, the logical conclusion of the 1962 and 1963 Supreme Court decisions removing prayer and Bible reading from government schools. A featured player in those endeavors was Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who, according to her son, openly stated her goal of bringing down the United States. These rulings effectively began the powerful process dedicated to replacing the idea from our Declaration of Independence that our rights come from our Creator, with the concept that rights emanate from government. 

The overwhelming majority of those who supported Madalyn Murray O’Hair, including I daresay, the Supreme Court Justices who signed on to the ruling, did not share her adoration of the Soviet Union or her hatred for America. They weren’t even the Americans and other Soviet apologists around the world who were known as ‘useful idiots’. Those people believed the propaganda put out by the Communists and, depending on their level of influence, helped suppress any facts that contradicted the false, rosy picture those in control painted. Their passionate defense of what they wanted to believe rather than reality made them the unwitting supporters of misery and bloodshed. 

However, the average American of good will who felt sympathy for the atheist child in school, or Heaven have mercy, the way too many misguided Jews who saw these rulings as a victory, were mostly good and virtuous people. Those who supported taking prayer and Bibles out of schools were often highly schooled themselves, articulate and accomplished. However, they lacked a Godly moral compass and the historical wisdom that would have told them that their efforts would lead to the dangerous and ineffective school system that exists today. They scoffed at those who claimed that education institutions would be harmed, thereby trapping children of all and no faiths in wretchedness and effectively ending America being a land of opportunity for so many. Many would still argue that those Supreme Court decisions have no bearing on the decline of education, rather they simply happened to coincide. I disagree. 

The majority of people supporting homosexual marriage today are neither evil nor stupid. In many cases, they are the result of an education that left them historically ignorant, stripped of a Biblical moral code,  and open to manipulation. They are well-meaning, kind and intelligent. Nonetheless, they are being used to advance an agenda that already is leading to suppression of free speech, association and religion—in other words, the end of America as we know it. They sincerely believe the replacement will be better; I sincerely believe it will be a tragedy leading to greater poverty, increased inhumanity and more barriers to opportunity— all results that will dismay these useful idealists.

We are seeing the results of almost sixty years of a societal take-over. Too many in our country, let alone immigrants who are kept from learning what ‘American culture’ traditionally meant, are highly schooled though poorly educated; highly indoctrinated with underdeveloped powers of independent thought; technologically advanced but deprived of the gift of insightful contemplation, highly emotional  and poorly equipped to handle thoughts that differ from their own. They pride themselves on ‘inclusiveness’ while exhibiting breath-taking bigotry. 

Are there enough Americans willing to still fight for the country of our Founders? It will require individuals who, struggling to feed their families in a moribund economy, will still take the time to educate themselves in history (both ours and of other countries), in politics, in logic and in elocution among other fields. It will require courage, stamina and firmness of character to withstand ad hominem attacks. It will require determination not to be dissuaded by setbacks. It will require faith in God, despite economic and social punishment for that belief. I personally hope I am up to the battle—I will pray for strength and strive to be. 

Here are two places to begin. In World War I, especially in Britain, white feathers were distributed to those men who didn’t enlist. It is time to shame those who profess love for this country and God but do not vote, whether in a presidential, senatorial or school board election. There should be 100% turnout among those appalled at the direction this country is taking.  

Secondly, we all must fight for the next generation. That means taking charge of our children and grandchildren’s education, protecting them from the culture and presenting loving, coherent and intelligent counter-forces. It will be a full time job, but like the man who planted a tree knowing that it would never grow quickly enough for him to enjoy its shade in his lifetime, it is our obligation to take a page from secular fundamentalists and plan for decades down the road even as we try to fight the onslaught currently heading our way.