ConservativeChristianRepublican-Report - 20090106

"Daily Motivations"

Leadership must be earned by mastering a defined set of skills and by working with others to achieve common goals. -- David Cottrell



"The Patriot Post"

"I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." -- George Washington, letter to the General Committee of the United Baptist Churches in Virginia, May 1789

"[R]eligion, or the duty which we owe to our creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and this is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other." -- Virginia Bill of Rights, Article 16



"The Web"

“I am busily engaged in the study of the Bible. I believe it is God’s word because it finds me where I am.” -- Abraham Lincoln

“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good of the Savior of the world is communicated to us through the Book.” -- Abraham Lincoln

"Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." -- Ronald Reagan



"ADF"

The Courts, Natural Rights, and Religious Claims as Knowledge
Francis J. Beckwith, 49 Santa Clara L. Rev. 429 (2008)

The American Founders understood that the government they put in place presupposed a cluster of rights that citizens have by nature and that the government is obligated to recognize. This is clearly spelled out in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Or, in the words of Alexander Hamilton, “[t]he Sacred Rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”

But these rights imply a deeper understanding about the nature of human beings and the goods that are required for their flourishing. For example, if a human being possesses by nature a right to life, this means that other members of the community are morally obligated to not violate that right to life. But this seems to imply something about human beings and their nature that is moral in quality, a sacredness that requires that we treat each other with a certain dignity and respect that creatures of this sort ought to be treated. Thus, natural rights seem to imply a natural moral law.

There are, of course, many complicated and important issues concerning the relationship between natural rights and natural law, such as the differences between Hobbsean natural rights, Lockean natural rights, and Thomistic natural law, as well as the disputes between the new and traditional natural law theorists. In fact, some natural lawyers have suggested that we ought to chuck the idea of natural rights altogether because of their Enlightenment patrimony. Although these and other issues are certainly worthy of serious assessment, in this article I will set them aside and focus on the more modest question of whether it is reasonable to believe that the natural moral law requires the existence of God, as the American Founders believed.

What I mean by “reasonable” is not that reason requires that one must believe it. Rather, what I am suggesting is something less ambitious, namely, that a citizen who believes that natural rights and natural law require the existence of God embraces a philosophically defensible position that he or she may legitimately claim is an item of knowledge. Non-believing citizens who disagree, therefore, are not ipso facto irrational.

In order to make my case, this paper covers three overlapping topics. In Part I (“Faith, Reason, and the Courts”), I critically discuss how some federal court opinions imply or affirm that religious claims are by their nature irrational, and thus cannot ever in principle be the grounds of any public policy, which would apparently include natural rights and their theistic paternity that the Founders embraced and many citizens believe is the ground on which all policy must rest. As part of my discussion, I critically assess some comments by the well-known atheist and legal theorist, Stephen Gey, who has claimed that religious beliefs are by their nature irrational and thus cannot be items of knowledge. I then show how the courts seem to assume in their opinions that theological claims can never rise to the level of knowledge that may serve as defeaters to the deliverances of so-called “secular” reasons. I argue that this view is deeply flawed. My reason for doing this is to show that if theological claims, including the claim that natural rights and natural law have their grounding in God, can be items of knowledge, then there is no a priori reason to exclude theologically informed public policy proposals from the public square on the grounds that they can never be items of knowledge.

In Part II (“Natural Moral Law and Contemporary Atheism”), I show how some contemporary atheists, seem to presuppose a natural moral law and thus natural rights. I conclude in Part III (“Why the Natural Moral Law Suggests God”) by offering an argument as to why I believe that natural moral law seems to require the existence of God. Part of my case includes a critical assessment of a Darwinian account of the natural moral law offered by several contemporary legal and political theorists.



"Freedom Works"

Dear Friend,

Just three weeks from today, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the next President of the United States. Joining him will be larger, more emboldened liberal Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.

The most liberal member of the U.S. Senate has just been elected president and his party controls the rest of government… who is going to stop them?

No longer can we hope for a presidential veto to stop anti-freedom legislation, obviously. Even our hope for Senate filibusters from a principled minority to stall laws that would raise our taxes, grow the government, and steal our freedoms is nearly gone, given the Democratic caucus has grown to just short of a filibuster-proof majority.

The only check on liberal Democratic power in Washington will be loud grassroots opposition.

However our only hope to mount an effective challenge depends on your continued support today. That’s why, with time so short, I write to ask you to please send – as fast as you can – the most generous special, year-end donation to FreedomWorks you can afford.

Make no mistake: we are at a precipice, a critical juncture in American history.

But in the midst of this darkness, we have an opportunity to make the case for free markets and limited government like never before. What you and I do right now, today, could very well save capitalism next year and lead to a resurgence of liberty in two years.

But I have to tell you in full honesty, we could crumble in a socialist ash heap – especially if we don’t make our stand together now.

Today, it is unclear which path history will follow tomorrow, or which fate the cause of liberty will realize.

I don’t need to remind you what will be at the top of President Obama’s, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s agendas come Inauguration Day on January 20: Higher taxes. More government. Less freedom.

I believe that we are closer than ever to when the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission!

In these uncertain times, I am certain there is more need now for FreedomWorks than there has been since our founding 24 years ago.

I remain convinced that Sam Adams was right when he said, “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”

We are that tireless minority.

You and I and others like us are the only remaining check on the ambitions of those burning for ever-more government control. And we must fight harder than ever for the ideals on which our country was founded, which have brought unprecedented freedom and prosperity to every American.

Will you join me by sending a special, year-end gift of $25, $50, $75 or even $100 to FreedomWorks today?

We must prepare now if we are to have any hope in the battles ahead. That’s why your most general support now – through a special, year-end donation – is so desperately needed. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President



"Simple Truths"

http://www.appreciationmovie.com/



"The email Bag"

One Day At A Time

http://www.frontiernet.net:80/~jimdandy/specials/onedayatatime/onedayatatime.htm