Extra! Read all about it!

Important news flash:

I just finished sewing a wedding dress. 

(You may need to reread the previous sentence.) Yes, that's right, a wedding dress. No, I'm not getting married (at least not any time soon), and no, no one in my family is either, but all 19 buttons are on, and the 18 inch long zipper is in (and it works). I am so glad it's all over. Actually it wasn't that big of a deal, the dress is pretty simple and the one on one coaching is the only reason it ever happened (my older sisters should get all the credit). I just dropped it off at the County Youth Fair (4-H, FFA, and local schools all compete in one pretty good sized fair) with a lot of apprehension (lets hope it doesn't get ruined, oh, and I wouldn't mind if it placed well!). 

This means I have more time to upgrade the blog a little and hopefully get back to regular posting (I hear those groans!).

New Attractions:

A Blog Roll with the bloggers (all post on politics, at least a little) I know.  

And... 

The article Sister Constitutionalist? will be out probably this weekend so... 

See ya' next time!

Trent

Coming Soon: Sister Constitutionalist?

From the author that brought you a condemnation of Libertarianism comes....

An article on what it means to be a Constitutionalist and why he ain't one.

Stay tuned for it's release sometime after Febuary 9th! 

Conservatives and Pharisees

What do conservatives have to do with Pharisees?

Back in the time of Jesus there were three political ideologies. These major streams of thought have continued to this day.

1. The Sadducees 

Sadducees didn't believe in the people rising from the dead, spirits, or angels. They had a hard time with the supernatural. These were the modernists, the left wingers. 

2. The Essenes 

The monks of that era. The Essenes believed that the world was pretty much completely evil and to live a righteous life you needed to live as far away from the world as possible.  This ideology still exists. Proponets probably don't vote or try to influence politics as they are "worldy" insitituions. 

3. The Pharisees

Last, but not least, were the law abiding Pharisees, these were the Conservatives. The Pharisees were all about getting back to the right principles.

Conclusion: 

Just like the Conservatives today the Pharisees had all the right ideas and principles. Unfortunately just like the Conservatives of this day they went about doing the right thing the wrong way. 

Editors note: This may be the only post for the month of January due to the fact that this month has proven to be more than "very busy". 

UPDATE:

Please read the comments they are really, really good this time (as opposed to being just really good most of the time)! 

Welcome to Jarrell!

Here is something unique I saw in my travels through the great state of Texas. This billboard acts as a welcome sign in Jarell Texas:

Welcome to Jarell

This is God's country

Please don't drive through it like hell.

This hasn't much to do with the holiday's, but hey, remeber, whether you live in Alaska or Florida, this is God's country. We get to live in His country as we celebrate His Son's birth; that's extremely special.  

Enjoy the holiday's and have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

Trent 

Brother Libertarian?

What do Tom Selleck, Kurt Russell, and Clint Eastwood have in common? Number one, they are all movie actors (and the roles they have played weren't always the best), number two, they're self professed libertarians. That, in and of itself, is scary, very, very scary.

According to one libertarian website the definition of libertarianism is this:

Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and

economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one
that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.

Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose

government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate

diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

Notice the wording: "tolerate diverse lifestyles". Libertarians don't believe in legislating anything that comes close to morality. For example, they don't believe that goverment should make laws about "prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs". Now look at their definition of conservatives:

Conservatives tend to favor economic freedom, but frequently

support laws to restrict personal behavior that violates "traditional
values." They oppose excessive government control of business,

while endorsing government action to defend morality and the

traditional family structure. Conservatives usually support a strong

military, oppose bureaucracy and high taxes, favor a free-market

economy, and endorse strong law enforcement.

Notice that “tolerating diverse lifestyles” is not included.

Want to find out what you are? Check out this ten question (yep, just ten) online quiz to see! This quiz is not only quick it is also very interesting. When you get the results (right there on the website - no wait-for-an e-mail deal.) you will see how you were graded, 0% up to 100%. Zero percent means that you don’t agree with libertarians at all, 100% you are one of the strictest libertarians out there. The way it is presented it almost seems that getting zero percent on the test means that you got all of the answers wrong, whereas getting one hundred percent means that you were dead right.

Right or Wrong?

The question is who decides what is right and wrong? To the libertarian this is a hard question. A conservative, like me, says: "God decided what's wrong and what's right". Notice I said God decided; truth is always truth, two plus two makes four, not five, not some of the time, all of the time. It's all fun and games until someone looses an eye. Should we all be like the guys in judges, where: "every man did that which was right in his own eyes"? If you think this is the way to it should be, read the rest of the book of Judges in the Bible

Conclusion:

When you get to the core principles of libertarianism it’s pretty shocking. This group calls for self government, and yet, they don't seem to realize that human beings have never been able to govern themselves by themselves, at least not correctly. Living in a homosexual lifestyle is wrong because it spreads terrible diseases. Can we make laws to try and stop this? The libertarian I think would say no, I, on the other hand, say yes. Tolerating other people’s lifestyles is great, but limiting government to a point where it no longer protects people from other’s harmful lifestyles is not. Remember, we do have the right to life.

The Evangelism Connection

With any election you need the majority in order to win. The "religious right" (religious being used as a broad term including many religions) has been a sought after commodity for any election throughout the history of our nation. McCain didn't get it - the religious right that is. Statistics from a Pew Research poll show that...

Jewish

78% voted for Obama

Catholic

54% voted for Obama (45% for McCain)

Other Faiths 

73% voted for Obama (Strange... but the change to voting Democrat from 2004 to 2008 is -1. That means that those in the "Other Faiths" group voted for McCain more than they did for Bush!)

Unafilliated

75% for Obama

Whereas...

Protestant/Other Christian

55% for McCain

45% for Obama (Wow! Truly more Pastors need to preach some patriotic -  political - sermon.)

Evangelical/Born Again

73% for McCain 

23% for Obama (Somebody needs to explain things to these "Born Again Christians", that or they need to change there name. The change, from 2004, to voting democrat is +5!)

Non Evangelical

55% for McCain 

44% for Obama (Actually there is no change between democrat voting this year - it's is the same as '04). 

Conclusion:

More Christians need to take the time to research who they vote for. Also, we should never assume that anybody is "in the tank" for whichever candidate we support. This poll also shows that evangelism is an indirect key to winning elections!