With all its faults, America’s health care system is the finest in the world. Why else would rich people in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and elsewhere come to the US when the medical chips are really down? Socialized medicine doesn’t work for them and it won’t work for the United States.

The negative effects of Obamacare are already starting to take effect. Across the country, tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of physicians are making preparations to retire. I would be willing to predict that the vast majority of physicians who are financially able to retire will do so before 2014 (the year Obamacare officially takes full effect). And who can blame them? Not me.

Think of it: under Obamacare, physicians will be told to increase their patient load by at least one-third, or maybe even half. Imagine a physician with a government-mandated patient load of maybe 5,000 or 6,000 people (or even more than that). Imagine some federal bureaucrat demanding that the physician spend not more than, say, 4 minutes with each patient. Imagine that physician being told what he or she will not be allowed to prescribe or what they will not be allowed to treat. Imagine the health care Nazis micromanaging not only patient care and treatment, but also wages and pricing. If you think insurance companies have too much control over medical care now, just wait until government-mandated (and controlled) medical care is implemented. In other words, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! How could any self-respecting, conscientious physician practice medicine in an environment such as that? They couldn’t–and they won’t. And this will create a shortage of physicians like you won’t believe, which only serves to push the patient load per doctor and quality of care per patient to unsustainable levels. In other words, prepare for assembly-line, one-size-fits-all medical care!

And don’t expect any relief from the courts over inferior medical treatment, either. With the federal government in charge of medical care, the patient’s right to recover damages from malpractice will be substantially limited. After all, when is the last time anyone you know was able to successfully sue the federal government for anything? The feds are immune, Brother. And that means any federally-mandated and controlled health care will be largely immune from any claim of malpractice–or at least that damages will be strictly limited.

Plus, placing your medical care in the lap of the federal government allows the feds to “share” even more of your personal information with hundreds of its alphabet police agencies. Will your medical information be shared with the BATFE, for example? If so, could some of that information be used to deny your right to lawfully purchase a firearm? You can count on it! Good grief! Guess which agency has been chosen to implement and enforce Obama’s national health care program? The IRS! If that doesn’t send goose bumps up your spine, you don’t have one!

I cannot say it forcefully enough: the newly created Obamacare bills are among the most evil and most reprehensible laws ever passed in Congress, the result of which will destroy quality health care (except for the rich and powerful); create perhaps the largest federal bureaucracy (complete with ubiquitous government enforcers) ever seen; increase the size and scope of the IRS to harass, seize, and imprison; and drive up health care costs, federal spending, federal deficits, and, yes, taxes.

To make matters worse, the Obamacare bills are already being used to force US taxpayers to fund abortions. According to LifeNews.com, “The Obama administration has officially approved the first instance of taxpayer funded abortions under the new national government-run health care program. This is the kind of abortion funding the pro-life movement warned about when Congress considered the bill.”

See the report at:

http://lifenews.com/nat6531.html

So, what can we do?

First of all, we should be demanding that our State governors and legislators REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE in any national health care system. I am saying it: individual states should tell the federal government in no uncertain terms that their states will not participate in Obamacare. Period. Furthermore, the states should stubbornly withhold any and all state monies that would be used to underwrite national health care. Suing the federal government is not enough. STATES MUST REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE! Are you listening, Bill McCollum?

Furthermore, I encourage readers to immediately contact your US congressman (woman) and demand that he or she support a discharge petition introduced by Congressman Steve King of Iowa, which paves the way for Congress to repeal H.R. 3590, the first national health care bill (there were actually two separate national health care bills, which became law seven days apart). At last count, the petition already has some 133 signatures. 218 are needed.

Obviously, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doing everything she can to block the discharge petition, but if 218 votes are gathered, she would not be able to stop it. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the bill can still be overturned and repealed.

I strongly urge everyone to learn the details of how many in Congress are currently working to overturn this healthcare monstrosity by reading this report in World Net Daily:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=176077

First, look to see if your House member has yet to sign the petition. If not, do everything you can to put pressure on him or her to sign the petition. Inform your relatives, friends, neighbors, fellow churchmen, pastors, co-workers, etc., about the need to support Rep. King’s discharge petition and repeal Obamacare before it’s too late.

The other thing our congressmen should do is support Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-TX) “Private Option Health Care Act” (H.R. 5444): “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and to replace it with provisions reforming the health care system by putting patients back in charge of health care.” This bill would repeal both H.R. 3590 and H.R. 4872 (the second national health care bill). But beyond that, Paul’s bill would actually provide commonsense, freedom-friendly alternatives to Obama’s socialized medicine.

Learn about Dr. Paul’s bill here:

http://www.ronpaul.com/legislation/private-option-health-care-act/

Folks, this is not a partisan issue. The future of our children and grandchildren’s health care, our nation’s overall economic well-being, and even the freedom of our posterity is at stake. This cannot wait until the November elections, either. We must insist that Congress act NOW to repeal Obamacare. Even many Democrats now recognize that passing this abominable legislation was a very serious mistake and are willing to reconsider their support. Please contact your House member NOW! Here is a convenient web page containing the contact information for all 435 US House members:

NOTE TO THE READER:

Chuck Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and pastor dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America was founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 37 years and have 3 children and 7 grandchildren. See Chuck’s complete bio at:

For more by Chuck Baldwin, go to http://chuckbaldwinlive.com

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On one hand, these poor souls are fortunate that they have someone to feed, clothe and watch out for them. On the other hand, is this the retirement many have worked all their lives to enjoy? To be sure, most are no longer capable of living with any kind of autonomy. They could not survive on their own in the outside world. What none of them understands is that each one has a target clearly painted on his (or her) back, a large target.

The utilitarian mindset of the proposed keepers of our health care prevents them from seeing these people as human beings with intrinsic value simply because they exist. We are told that the government is capable of being the arbiter, endowed with the ability to decide who has sufficient “quality of life” to be worthy of a share of the limited resources available to preserve life.

While I would not trade place with any one in the facility, and, if the time came, I would almost prefer that my wife shoot me before committing me to such an awful place, I would not “pull the plug” on any of them. To be honest, I don’t believe our medical system would actively terminate their lives at this point. However, we have been warned that, due to increasing demands on available health care resources, little would be allocated to preserve such lives. Some one is in line to make these decisions… and they laughed with Sarah Palin spoke of death panels. Of course they won’t be called that, but they will decide who gets treatment and who does not… which means, who lives and who dies.

The whole utilitarian concept is based on the Darwinian theory that we are all just accidents of nature and have no real value save what we can contribute to the “greater good”. We are seen as slaves to our fellow human beings in general and to those who would be our masters, in particular. This is the end the academic and political figures have in mind when they march in lockstep to discredit any hint of a discussion of intelligent design, and the accompanying concept of individual value.

If each of us has unique and individual value, then it becomes the function of our government to look out for and protect the individual, rather than control him… and away goes the power the elites are so desperately seeking. It means there is a higher authority that our “leaders” must recognize and be accountable to. It means they must actually become the public servants their pose implies.

It also means that the unalienable rights our Declaration of Independence partially lists must be respected and protected. It means that representatives must actually represent rather than run roughshod over the will of their constituents. And, it means that they are, but stewards of the authority they have been granted – and they must use it wisely, for the good of all, not for personal gain.

So, while we will probably always need places to warehouse those who are unable to care for themselves, it needs to be done in a manner that respects who these people once were… and still are.

Founding Father and America’s first US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay correctly summarized the reason our new nation (and the fight for its liberty and independence) was successful. He wrote in Federalist 2, “With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people–a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence.”

In other words, a united constitutional republic can only exist within the framework of certain rather narrow and finite conditions. Remove those conditions and the framework for liberty and limited government falls apart. And the above statements by Adams and Jay succinctly summarize the conditions necessary for freedom’s framework.

“A Moral And Religious People”

At America’s founding, the principles of Christian philosophy and ideology were universally accepted. The vast majority of the colonists were churchgoing, Protestant Christians who firmly embraced and respected the sacred principles taught in the Holy Scriptures. In fact, the reason most colonists placed such a high premium on education was so that children would be able to read and study the Bible for themselves. It is more than interesting that America’s early educators all centered their curriculum upon the Bible. Include in this august list Benjamin Harris, publisher of the New England Primer; the “Father of American Education,” Noah Webster; along with one of early America’s most successful school textbook authors, William Holmes McGuffey.

Beyond that, when we talk about colonial America’s love of worship, we are not talking about what passes for “worship” in modern America. We are not talking about these Disneyland entertainment villages known as mega-churches. We are not talking about espresso Sunday Schools or glorified social clubs. We are talking about a place where preachers were bold and powerful proclaimers of truth and where people went to learn the Word of God (and how to apply it to every walk of life–including politics), not wallow in slurpy, sugary, shallow sermonettes that do nothing to prepare men for Christian warfare.

I challenge anyone to compare any of the sermons by colonial preachers such as Elisha Williams, Charles Chauncy, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel Sherwood, John Witherspoon, Jacob Cushing, Samuel Cooper, Samuel Langdon, John Leland, Samuel Miller, Enos Hitchcock, Ebenezer Baldwin, or Jonathan Edwards with anything preached by Joel Osteen or Rick Warren.

Is it any wonder, then, that one cannot really distinguish the conduct and attitudes of professing Christians from those who make no Christian profession? Is it any wonder that churchgoing “Christians” seem to be as unkind, as deceitful, as lazy, as greedy, as unthankful, and as immoral as those who make no pretense regarding their unbelief? In fact, in some cases, those with no Christian profession put professing Christians to shame in matters of basic morality, decency, and civility. Why? One reason is the fact that the Church as a whole is no longer “the pillar and ground of the truth.” Rather, it is more commonly regarded as being a Big Business enterprise that is focused more on political correctness and entertainment than it is on possessing real conviction or spiritual power.

Add to the collapse of spirituality in America’s churches the collapse of morality in America’s culture. We’re talking about old-fashioned, basic morality. How is it that so many Americans seem to be so ignorant about the simplest moral principles? When did greed and ambition replace a desire for honest character? When did comfort and ease replace conviction for (and understanding of) good government? How is it that even “conservatives” have come to look to Washington, D.C., for answers to State or even personal problems? How is it that the fear of God is no longer relevant when choosing our civil magistrates? How can businessmen continue to sacrifice the sacred principles of liberty on the altar of financial profits? Are money and wealth really more important than liberty and peace? How can politicians blatantly disregard their oaths to the Constitution? How can they continue to grovel before special interest groups–and even foreign interests? How can they–so willingly and easily–violate the liberty principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence?

Without an understanding of (and an appreciation for) basic morality, America will collapse. Money and military might cannot and will not replace the time-tested foundations of morality and fidelity. The collapse of basic morality portends the collapse of America itself.

“One United People”

Contrary to what one hears from the politically correct crowd today, unity–not diversity–is the key to America’s greatness. Jay said that early America was united with the same ancestors, language, religion, and principles of government, manners, and customs. And he was right.

By and large, America was a Christian nation, speaking the same language, reading the same Bible, worshipping the same God, understanding (and respecting) the same form of government (a constitutional confederation of free, self-governing states), and embracing the same concepts of culture (law, nature, manners, etc.).

No more!

Thanks to decades of federal dictation, public school indoctrination, and media and entertainment propaganda, the principles that once united us now divide us. And divided we are! I would even argue that America is hopelessly and helplessly divided. We are no longer united in our understanding of (or appreciation for) Christianity; we are no longer united in our English language; we are no longer united in our respect for our ancestors; we are no longer united in our respect for God’s Word; we are no longer united in our respect for the principles of federalism or constitutional government; and we are no longer united in our appreciation for the fundamental principles of self reliance, morality, and freedom.

In other words, it is “crystal clear” that America is in the midst of a complete and total spiritual, societal, cultural, moral, and political meltdown. And what is also abundantly obvious is that as long as Washington, D.C., continues to lord it over us (and who or what is going to stop it?), it is only a matter of time before the final collapse occurs. And at that point, freedom lovers will be fighting against their own countrymen for their very lives and liberty.

Accordingly, I think all this talk about “saving America” is largely a complete waste of time and energy. Instead, we need to be talking about saving our individual states (and the truth is, probably at least half of the states are beyond repair), saving our families, saving our communities, and saving our individual freedoms. To continue to focus on “saving America” or “changing Washington, D.C.,” etc., is utter foolishness! Washington, D.C., is not going to change; it is beyond redemption. Forget it! Circle the wagons around your State; cement your convictions; prepare your family; ready your resolve; and start planning for life after death–the death of liberty and law in America–because the meltdown of American society and culture has already begun.

For more by Chuck Baldwin, go to http://chuckbaldwinlive.com

And how have many reacted to this Chicago thug giving jobs to cheap labor coming into this country illegally or taking their money and giving to all sorts of people and purposes unacceptable to the American value system? He has turned the normally happy and charitable citizens into angry subjects, distrustful of the government that is supposed to be looking after their welfare. The people understand that they are nothing but resources for his grand scheme of social reorganization.

The incensed population no longer has the happiness and optimism that once typified America. Some leaders have the ability to take people in difficult situations and buck them up to restore their confidence and ability to beat their circumstances and lack of confidence. This “leader” has taken another tack. He is telling us that we should not have had our prosperity at the expense of the rest of the world and the under performers in our own society. To the Obamessiah, economic justice is sufficient cause to bring this hardship on the American people… to the point where he is taking no steps to correct the situation.

Not only is he not looking out for the average American, he is making it quite clear that he is looking out for unions, financial institutions, illegal immigrants and the like. All the average American sees is the bill, to himself and to his children and grandchildren. His confidence in our country and in his own ability to keep what he has earned is pretty much at an all time low. At the time of this writing, the Dow just closed under 10,000 again, dropping over 268 points due to what many analysts called “lack of confidence”.

This, perhaps, is Barack Hussein Obama’s greatest crime, the destruction of the American spirit. Without confidence in the future, there is little incentive to produce, innovate and create the jobs we need. Many people have lost their dreams and are angry at those who have stolen them. This is a very precarious situation for our country.

Edmund Burke tells us, “People crushed by law, have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those who have much to hope and nothing to lose, will always be dangerous.” The American people are losing respect for law and the government. This is not the way it should be.

The president is pitting one group against another. People are looking at each other with distrust and suspicion. Where once we had a sense of unity, now we have only our group worried about what another clique will do to them. Our country has never been so fragmented.

This is Obama’s biggest crime, his assault on the psyche of the American people. He has taken away the people’s hope, their confidence and their happiness. In place of all this, many are feeling fear, anger and pain. He has twisted the American government and turned it against the people.

“It is up to us who have a sense of optimism and genuine hope to help channel these disaffected feelings into constructive action that will actually lead us back in the direction of the America we once knew.” Burke continues to tell us. Just as II Chronicles 7:14 tells us that it is the Christian’s job to to set up the conditions to heal their land, it is also up to us to stand in the gap for these disaffected Americans and show them the way to real peace and happiness… in spite of the current economic conditions.

We are to be the salt and light in our society, which is we are the target of our progressive masters. The founding fathers were men of faith, and now it’s time for a new generation to lead the way to prosperity and freedom.

As everyone universally acknowledges, there are more children being raised by single mothers today than at any time in our nation’s history. Obviously, divorce is far and away the biggest contributor to this unfortunate phenomenon. But another factor is that many women are choosing to have children out of wedlock. And, of course, a small percentage of single mothers became this way due to the premature deaths of their husbands. But it is safe to say that the vast majority of fatherless families are the result of choice, not circumstance.

The ramifications of raising children without a father are taking a toll, not only on children, but also on society itself. According to published reports, 63% of teen suicides come from fatherless homes, 90% of all runaways and homeless children come from fatherless homes, 80% of rapists come from fatherless homes, 85% of children with behavioral problems come from fatherless homes, 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes, 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes, and 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes. See the following sources for these (and related) stats:

http://www.fathermag.com/news/1780-stats.shtml

http://fathersforlife.org/divorce/chldrndiv.htm

Before militant feminists assail me as a sexist and male chauvinist, I most certainly understand that there are many examples of women who have overcome the most adverse circumstances in order to raise fine, upstanding children. I not only understand it theoretically, but I also understand it practically, as a single mother raised my wife, and she turned out marvelously (as did her older sister and younger brother). My mother-in-law is among the outstanding success stories of single women who have overcome some of the most adverse circumstances possible to successfully raise three young children. All three children are living prosperous, productive lives, and not one of them is dysfunctional or criminal. So, to all the Betty Friedans out there, please spare me your jaded knee-jerk reactions and mindless accusations!

That there are wonderful exceptions to the rule doesn’t change the fact that the overwhelming majority of evidence conclusively proves that a family is much better off when Dad is in it. Boys, especially, require the firm hand of masculine leadership. And that is a fact! And this brings to mind another problem: many fathers are either chronically away from home due to work schedules or are deliberately taking a passive, non-leadership role in the home. Either way, the result is the same: too many families are experiencing a dearth of masculine leadership. Let’s say it another way: masculine leadership is needed now more than ever!

Black families have been hit especially hard. According to the Pew Research Center (PRC), 72% of all black babies born in 2008 were out of wedlock. For all intents and purposes, the black community is now overwhelmingly a matriarchal society. Is it any wonder that the crime rate is so high among young black males?

PRC also reported that 53% of all Hispanic babies born in 2008 were out of wedlock, 29% of white babies born in 2008 were out of wedlock, and 17% of Asian babies born in 2008 were out of wedlock. Nationwide, 41% of all babies born in 2008 were out of wedlock.

The lack of masculine discipline and leadership in America’s homes is easily visible everywhere you go. Stroll down the aisle of most any shopping center, eat out at just about any restaurant, and attend practically any movie theater or church service and one is inundated with unruly, disrespectful, disobedient, bratty kids. And in almost every instance, there is either no father anywhere to be found, or if he is present, he is completely unattached and devoid of leadership skills.

I recently witnessed one of these out-of-control brats take almost total control of a restaurant with his incessant temper tantrums, while the mother hid her face in her hands (literally) and the father buried his head in a newspaper. Meanwhile, the entire restaurant (customers and staff) was forced to endure an hour of non-stop belligerence and blood-curdling screaming. In the meantime, I am still anxiously waiting for the first restaurant that provides a “brat-free” section, similar to the way they often provide a “smoke-free” section: I want to be its first customer! (Commercial airplanes need such a section, too.)

There are many contributing factors to the decline of masculine leadership, of course. Society, itself, has mostly feminized our entire culture by ridiculing and lampooning manhood. Note the television commercials and programs that denigrate fatherhood. In most of these commercials and shows, the dad is caricatured as being the resident nincompoop, a bungling buffoon who barely has enough sense to walk and chew gum at the same time. Hollywood is no better. Think about it: when was the last movie you saw that extolled genuine masculinity? I’m not talking about bulging muscles, either. I’m talking about moral strength along with the inner character of virtue and integrity. As far as the social acceptance of masculinity is concerned, it seems that manhood died out with the black and white westerns.

Think, too, about how our children are being raised. The vast majority of them are being raised in a home devoid of strong, masculine leadership. In our schools (public, private, parochial, or Christian) the vast majority of teachers are women. The same is true for most churches. Think about it: unless a young man plays sports, he may grow from childhood to adulthood without hardly ever being exposed to real masculine leadership. No wonder more and more boys seem to be confused about their sexuality.

In addition, our laws increasingly discriminate against fatherhood. Let a father discipline his children according to Biblical instruction and there is a very good chance that he will be charged with some sort of criminal abuse, and have his children taken from his home by the authorities. Even an unfounded or unsubstantiated accusation against a father can result in State agencies removing his children from his home. Furthermore, the father may be subjected to a lifetime of government harassment by being permanently declared some sort of child abuser; he may also be forced to forfeit his freedom to purchase a firearm or to live where he chooses.

I can tell you this: if a bruised butt is evidence of child abuse, I was abused BIG TIME! My dad took seriously that maxim, “Spare the rod; spoil the child.” I can say this, however: I never got a spanking that I did not deserve; and looking back on it, I thank God for every spanking I got, because Dad’s correction gave me the sense of security, love, and direction that I desperately needed to make the right choices in life. I shudder to think where (or what) I would be today had my father not disciplined me. I also thank God that I was raised in a better time, when the culture had not ditched the laws of God and Nature in favor of this stupid, senseless, asinine political correctness that is rampant today!

I tell you the truth: there are not too many problems that could not be solved today with an old-fashioned, honest, morally upright, courageous disciplinarian-father who would lovingly bring up his children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And let’s all remember that it is extremely difficult for a man to be this kind of father without the love and support of his wife. In this regard, the feminist movement is largely responsible for destroying both the femininity of our women and the masculinity of our men.

So, while we are rightly concerned and focused on the myriad problems facing us today, let’s remember that America has no greater need than the need of families to be led and strengthened by good, Godly fathers. Furthermore, that is something each of us men should aspire to do beyond anything else. To paraphrase the words of our Lord, “What shall it profit a father if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own children?”

Therefore, to all of America’s outstanding fathers out there who quietly go about the business of being an example to their children; who consistently and humbly discipline their children; who instill the time-tested principles of honor, integrity, and devotion in the hearts of their children; who bravely accept the responsibility of fatherhood without grumbling and complaining; and who are willing to put the security and well-being of their families above their own personal pursuits: HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

For more by Chuck Baldwin, go to http://chuckbaldwinlive.com

“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions–everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”

I submit that a good many in America are, like Rome of old, carelessly frittering away their God-given liberties, foolishly clamoring for nothing more than government handouts and never-ending entertainment. Millions and millions of Americans (especially males) are literally intoxicated with sports. Sports are no longer a great American pastime; they are now a great American obsession.

Mind you, this writer has been a sports fan all of his life. I began playing organized basketball in the fifth grade; I was on the high school wrestling team; I played football in high school and college; and I ran track. Still today, I enjoy watching a good NFL game (yes, I’m still a Green Bay Packers fan), a good college game when the Gators are playing, a good NCAA men’s basketball game (especially during the tournament–even more so when the Hoosiers are in it), and any NBA championship series between the Celtics and Lakers (I root for Boston). And I even like to watch a round of professional golf once in a while (it helps me go to sleep when I’m trying to take a nap). But none of the above will interfere with anything that is important, and I am not going to plan my whole universe around any of it. If it is convenient, I will watch. If it’s not, I will read about it in the sports section of the newspaper. And I’m certainly not going to spend my hard-earned money following any sports team (even those I like) all over the country like some rock band groupie.

I am not talking about sports in general; I am talking about the way many American men have allowed sports to control and dominate their lives. With many, sports are not just a hobby; they are a religion. I cannot count the number of conversations between men that I overhear in restaurants, airplanes, boardrooms, and, yes, even church houses, in which every man in the circle is literally consumed with all sorts of sports facts, information, and opinions. In many such discussions, these men will talk about nothing else. To these men, there is absolutely nothing in the world more important than the latest sports score, announcement, or trade. NOTHING!

And there is also a very real psychological pitfall associated with a man’s intoxication with sports. I submit that an obsession with sports gives men a false sense of masculinity and actually serves to steal true manhood from them.

For example, it used to be when men stripped their shirts off and painted their faces, they were heading to the battlefield to kill the tyrant’s troops. Now they are headed off to the sports coliseum to watch a football game. A man’s ego and machismo was once used to protect his family and freedom; now it’s used to tout batting averages and box scores. The fact is, if we could get the average American male to get as exercised and energized about defending the historic principles upon which liberty and Western Civilization are built as he is in defending his favorite quarterback or NASCAR driver, our country would not be in the shape it is in today.

The sad reality is that much of today’s masculinity is experienced only vicariously through a variety of sports teams and personalities. Instead of personally flexing our muscles for God and country, freedom and liberty, or home and hearth, we punch the air and beat our chests over touchdowns and home runs (even though we had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with them ourselves). Instead of getting in the face of these would-be tyrants in Washington, D.C., who are doing everything they can to steal the American dream, we get in the face of the poor umpire who makes a bad call or the Little League coach who doesn’t play my son enough. Our happiness, well-being, and mood are not determined by anything personally achieved (or lost), but by what others accomplished (or didn’t accomplish) at the ball park. Whether our children inherit a land of liberty and freedom does not seem nearly as important as whether they make the starting lineup on the football team.

Add to an epidemic obsession with sports the demand for more and more handouts from Big Brother and the outlook for liberty is not good. Everywhere we turn, we seem to hear people clamoring for government to give them more and more. They expect government to supply their every need and meet their every demand. They then have the gall to turn around and say, “God bless America: land of the free”?

Ladies and gentlemen, one cannot have it both ways. If we expect government to be our supplier, we cannot expect that it will not become our master. Always remember this: government has nothing to give except that it first takes it from someone else. Every dollar and every job that government gives is first taken from someone else. Furthermore, every job given to government is another freedom–and another dollar–taken from the citizenry. Every government job brings with it a restriction, a prohibition, a regulation, an inspection, a fee, a tax, an assessment, etc. As government grows, freedom shrinks. As government spends, wealth shrinks. And as government hires, opportunity shrinks.

Most historians agree with Juvenal that the mighty Roman Empire collapsed from within due to a morally reckless, selfish, pleasure-crazed, sports-obsessed, bread and circus society that willingly surrendered the principles of self-government to an insatiable central government that, through perpetual wars and incessant handouts, destroyed a once-great republic.

By all appearances, the bread and circus society has reared its ugly head in America. And make no mistake about it: if the people of the United States do not quickly repent of this madness, the consequences will be just as destructive for our once-great republic as it was for Rome.

For more by Chuck Baldwin, go to http://chuckbaldwinlive.com

But then, that should be the point for each of us. Most every one reading this has a pretty good understanding of what is going on in our country and in the world. The key, then, is what do we do about it? It’s easy to sit around and complain about how bad things are, how bad the government, how bad the kids are… but that doesn’t do a whole lot to make the world a better place. If that’s not one of your goals, there is not much to say.

Watching TV news, listening to talk radio, reading books, even reading blogs will fill your head with so much information that your head will explode. Many have taken this to heart and thrown themselves into tea parties, tax payer associations, and political party involvement. This is the best way we need to reverse the disastrous course Barack Hussein Obama is leading us down before peaceful means become impossible.

Those making the news reports and absorbing the slings and arrows of outrageous formerly mainstream media appear to be the tip of the iceberg. So many have commented to me that they would really like to be more involved, but have work commitments, family commitments and all sorts of other demands on their time. I’m sure every reader has many such friends and acquaintances. They are with us mentally, but have not reached the point action beyond going to the polls.

There are two sets of responsibilities operating here. Before we discuss the responsibilities of others who could be doing more… we need to look at responsibilities of the guy (or girl) in the mirror. Over the past year or so, many of us have become more aware of our shrinking freedoms, of corruption in high places and the truth about our founding fathers. We have been sharing it amongst ourselves and affinity groups like Facebook.

We need to break out of our cocoons. We are, in some ways, in as much of an echo chamber as the folks inside the beltway. We have seen some successes like the recent victory by Rand Paul, and the defeat of Bob Bennett. However, to keep the ball rolling and send DC’s resident evil packing, we need to get our sleeping friends out of their own little worlds to insure their children and grandchildren still have our wonderful country to enjoy.

Each of us may well be the one our friends turn to for insights into the events of the day. We now need to take it one step further… and get them involved in rising up to defend the land of the free and home of the brave. We need to get the point across that if we don’t get this socialist/global warming fraud/anti-Christian administration behind us, the rest of our day to day concerns won’t amount to a hill of beans.

Help us, help your country by encouraging these well meaning, but short sighted friends to join the fray. Polls tell us our issues are ringing true with the American people. They just need to be mobilized. The sleeping giant needs to be awakened. On the other hand, if you have been cheering from the sidelines, come on out get involved, the thrill of victory will be so much greater if you’ve played a part.

They claim that pastors, by doing so, are in violation of what has become known as “separation of church and state.” Typically this is done whenever someone does not want a person who professes Christ as their Lord and Savior to use the doctrine of the faith as foundation for their choosing between competing points of view or candidates.

There are two problems with this so called doctrine:

1. Pastors have a God-given right and responsibility to preach and teach “thus sayeth the Lord” from the pulpit and parishioners have a corresponding right to “choose ye this day who you will serve” relative to moral issues.

2. The term, “separation of church and state,” is a misnomer. It implies that a Christian’s faith is somehow outside of or otherwise “attached” to the follower of Christ rather than it being from within as the Holy Bible tells us, because our “body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]” + the place where God resides within us — and “… ye are not our own.”. (1 Cor. 6:19)

Christianity therefore is the essence of a Christian’s being. It is his or her character. It is the foundation for their decision making, and as such, is who Christians are. And since they cannot be separated from themselves, the idea that they should not bring to the table who they are is ridiculous.

I believe that the intent of this effort to separate church from state has two purposes:

1. To remove the God who judges both behavior and persons from the discourse even in the house dedicated to his honor and glory.

2. To curtail the influence (especially in the political arena) of those who profess to be Christians so as to move an agenda forward that is contrary to God’s revealed word.

To understand what follows, I first must provide you with my definitions of two terms: position and opinion.

1. Position: taken where the proof is inviolate and a conclusion can be made

2. Opinion: given when there exists the ability to have more than one conclusion.

Why are these definitions important? Because candidates for office who stridently cite scientific studies, poll data, etc., as authority for their position on secular issues, even though the so called “experts” they cite may disagree among themselves, must similarly be made to cite their authority for their position on moral issues.

I believe that there are two main reasons candidates might profess agreement with a bible-based position but not cite the bible as their source:

1. Their position was derived at by happenstance and represents only the opinion they have arrived at without the use of an absolute standard.

2. Their position truly is taken from God’s Word, but they are ashamed of the author of the truth they speak because they fear man more than they fear God.

Scripture, however, admonishes us against this. We are to fear God and not man (Mt. 10:28) and to “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord . . . but be though partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.” (2 Timothy 1:8)

Christians therefore need to be wary of those who merely present an opinion that, in truth, just happens to agree with the biblical principle that applies, but that may only be a matter of expedient personal choice or preference and not necessarily a position someone is committed to as we would be as non-ashamed persons indwelled with the Holy Spirit.

The fact that there is no standard against which a candidate may come to a conclusion other than what is in his or her own mind is even more egregious with regard to moral issues than it is were the issue to be a secular one. And both are inconsistent with representing the public interests.

And even worse, if some who truly are Christians are fearful of or ashamed to publicly acknowledge such and therefore withhold boldly speaking about what they know to be true; they thereby cause other Christians to struggle to identify them.

As for me, I take positions on moral issues based upon my understanding of God’s Word and am not ashamed. (Please note that this does not imply that I received a unique revelation from God, merely a revelation that is consistent with that received by others who know and love the Lord as do I, and who then have studied His Word to show themselves” approved.”)

Predictably, mainstream Republican spokesmen are lamenting Bennett’s ouster, saying Bennett was a true conservative, touting an 80% ranking in the American Conservative Union (ACU) index. However, the ACU index is completely irrelevant to the true measure of a congressman’s fidelity to constitutional government. The index that people should pay attention to is the Freedom Index (formerly called the Conservative Index) at The New American magazine. This index is far and away more accurate in determining a congressman or senator’s fidelity to limited government. In this index, Bennett’s latest rating was a pathetic 50.

Bennett needed to go; the good people of Utah did America a great favor by showing him the door. I trust and pray that this is an indication of how the November elections will fare. I would have been extremely optimistic that this might be the case, except for the miserable election results recorded in Indiana. Dan Coats is merely another establishment neocon in the similitude of Bob Bennett.

In the 105th Congress, Coats’ final rating was a dismal 55 in The New American’s index. On the other hand, John Hostettler’s last ranking stood at 85. Hostettler deserved the enthusiastic support of Tea Partiers throughout Indiana. It is tragic that he lost to someone such as the neocon, Dan Coats. Therefore, what was gained in Utah was lost in Indiana.

And this is going to be the danger for the Tea Party movement this year: If Tea Party activists do not truly understand the issues of limited government, or if they are fooled by establishment politicians, or if they fail to materialize at the polls on election day, all that will happen is one Big Government neocon will be replaced with another Big Government neocon. And, as Sonny and Cher used to sing, “The Beat Goes On.”

Proponents of limited government already had a setback in Texas when establishment neocon Rick Perry defeated Debra Medina. Obviously, Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin campaigned hard for Perry, and another Tea Party “leader,” Glenn Beck, did a hatchet job on Medina on his TV show, characterizing her has a “Truther” (with the associated vitriolic condemnation that such a person must be awful). Now, Texas is stuck with the same old same old establishment neocon.

This is why I again warn Tea Partiers to be very cautious of Palin and Beck. They promote limited government on one hand and then turn around and promote Big Government candidates on the other hand. If Tea Partiers do not grow a large head of discernment quickly, Washington insiders will quickly neuter both their voices and their votes.

Perhaps the biggest threat to the Tea Party movement is Newt Gingrich. Be alert, Tea Partiers: Gingrich is not a friend to limited government. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He proved that in 1995 when he (almost single-handedly) destroyed the Conservative Revolution of 1994. He will do the same to the Tea Party movement in 2010, if he is given the opportunity. Avoid him like the plague!

There are scores (probably hundreds) of great constitutionalist candidates running for State and federal offices this year. It is critical that Tea Partiers learn who they are and turn out in force to support them in the various primary elections. If we wait until the general elections in November, most of the good candidates will already have been defeated, and we will be left with the same old choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. That was a big problem in Indiana: voter turnout was anemic.

Believe me, Big Government pariahs are watching the elections of 2010 intently. By electing solid constitutionalists en masse (at both the State and federal levels) this year, Tea Partiers could literally ignite a modern revolution–a revolution of freedom and constitutional government rivaling the Tea Party of 1773–that could continue right on through the 2012 elections.

On the other hand, if establishment types such as Gingrich, Coats, Perry, McCain, etc., are allowed to beguile Tea Partiers, the revolution for limited government will be dead by midnight on November 2. Furthermore, it is extremely important that Tea Partiers not be conned by the major media into neglecting their State elections. Electing principled constitutionalists to State office is probably more important than who we elect to federal office. State sovereignty and freedom issues are mushrooming all over America, and truly our liberties will ultimately be won or lost at the State level.

The elections in Utah and Indiana send mixed signals. While Utah heralds great hope, Indiana portends more Big Government–all the Tea Party hype notwithstanding. Which Tea Party will show up next time? It’s anyone’s guess. All I know is, the stakes could not be higher. Whichever way the elections go in 2010 will probably determine the rise or fall of freedom in America.

I pray the Tea Party of 2010 is worthy of the Tea Party of 1773.

For more from Chuck Baldwin, go to http://chuckbaldwinlive.com.

The same people who permit us to keep minors out of “gentleman’s clubs” and encourages the movie rating system that keeps the young’uns out of R rated movies, fight tooth and nail our efforts to keep these same children from “adult” web sites. As a computer geek who more or less lives on the internet, I was mildly aware of the traps that could lead viewers unintentionally into web sites depicting all sorts of things the younger generation should not see. To be perfectly honest, it isn’t really the best for the older folks either. However we still recognize free speech even if we don’t agree with it… a lesson the left could take to heart.

This vague awareness was brought into focus this past week when I attended a conference organized by The Family Foundation, the Virginia affiliate of Focus On The Family. The main speaker was Donna Rice Hughes of Enough is Enough. Since 1994 she has dedicated herself to internet safety. She has seen things and heard stories that will curl your toes.

Her Internet Safety 101 program covers the gamut of internet dangers, but, being the grandfather of seven fine young men, the one that concerned me most was her study of predators and the way they use current technology to locate and seduce their victims. In the past, the child molester was thought to be the odd looking guy in a trench coat hanging around the neighborhood playground. Such is no longer the case.

When Alfred Hitchcock brought us his film, Psycho, he scared the daylights out of us because the vicious killer was not ugly, deformed or obviously evil. He looked like the guy sitting next to you in the theater… in fact, the guy sitting next to you could, just as easily, be just as depraved a murderer. You couldn’t tell by looking at him. Well the same is true with a man or woman who preys on our young treasures. They could be doctors, lawyers, social workers or even school teachers.

Today’s technology not only provides perverts with an anonymous environment to seek out their prey, but it even provides them with a community of others holding the same deviant idea of fun and games, thus reaffirming the normalcy of their focus in life, and the ability to refine their skills to be even more effective at leading our children astray. To make matters worse, although illegal, the ready availability of kiddie porn online does not satiate their desires, but keeps them going and spiraling downward looking for more and more stimulation – driving many to act on their impulses than if they were isolated in their own little worlds.

So many parents believe their children are too smart or too well behaved… or just too lucky to get involved in such sordid activity. Unfortunately, statistics show that one in seven of our children will be solicited by one of these sneaky snakes. These people are not just older, graying lechers, almost half are under 18… so it’s like I said earlier, you can’t tell who is after your children.

These people are as smart as they are devious. They are not just a danger to their prey, but to the family as well. By skillful manipulation, they drive a wedge between the child and parents. They meet needs of socially awkward teenagers, fulfilling dreams for romance and excitement. They promise the world, but deliver heart break and, at worst, death.

What you can do investigate the dangers to your children and grandchildren. The program is available from Enough is Enough. While you are at it, you might want to check out who is in your neighborhood. Unless you are living in an unusually pure area, this information will scare the living daylights out of you. You can find out all about it at FamilyWatchdog.us. Do it for the children.