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Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

How can we change our doctrine today?

From the LA Times, I just stumbled over this article discussing the meltdown of those Protestant denominations (the "mainline churches"). Much has been written here in NH, due to the ascendancy of Gene Robinson to bishop of the NH Episcopalian church (openly gay, recently admitted to a rehap facility for alcohol abuse). As an Evangelical Baptist, I have glumly watched, sometimes in horror, as these “high” churches (for their liturgical services) have changed their doctrines to suit the times and the norms of the public culture from their original doctrines of how to worship God. This is the last place (the LA Times), that I would have expected to see these liberal churches to come under fire.

The first paragraph is a great summary:

The accelerating fragmentation of the strife-torn Episcopal Church USA, in which several parishes and even a few dioceses are opting out of the church, isn’t simply about gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions or the election of a woman as presiding bishop. It also is about the meltdown of liberal Christianity.

 

 

 

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When will we take them at their word?

Six nations have been "diplomatically engaged" for a couple of years with North Korea – with no success. The EU-3 (Britian, Germany, and France, and the US in the background) have been "diplomatically"engaged with Iran for a few years – with no success.   Frankly, Iran and N.K. have played them for fools.  When will the leaders finally wise up and admit that diplomacy, the end-all-be-all for most liberals, will not work in these cases?  Do we have to endure an "event" in order to get action? 

From Little Green Footballs, I just saw this:

At the two-day conference in Iran we noted earlier, attended by officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the Islamic world to mobilize and wipe out Israel: Iran’s Ahmadinejad calls for ‘removal of Zionist regime’.

 

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Acknowledging the right way

During lunch, I do tend to surf a bit.  A number of the blogs that I read are reporting this news (hat tip to Powerline and the article here) about the New York Supreme Court decision just handed down.  What they just ruled on was that the New York State Constitution has no inherent right … Read more

This is the Religion of Peace?

The MSM (Main Stream Media) keeps harping that Islam is harmless, that most Muslims are not terrorists. While I agree that most are not, there are sufficient numbers to make it far more than troubling. Doug has been posting a few things about it, so I figured I’d chip in here a bit more. When I read about this from that failed state of Somalia where the Islamofascists have taken over, I thought that others might want to see it:

ISLAMISTS vowed to execute Muslims who skip prayers as they tightened their religious grip on the Somali capital Mogadishu and again Thursday rejected government calls for foreign peacekeepers.

Under an edict issued by a leading Mogadishu cleric, the five-times daily prayer required by the Koran will be enforced under penalty of death, a move that appears to confirm the hardline nature of the city’s Sharia courts.

"He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel and Sharia law orders that that person be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

At the opening of a new Islamic court in a southern Mogadishu neighborhood late on Wednesday, he added that it was the duty of every Somali to implement the provisions of Sharia law.

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Spottings on 7/6/06

Gee, even the NEA thinks that "Simpler Spelling" is a bad idea (h/t Slashdot)  Wanna sleep on something different?  Gee, such a surprise!  Temperatures on Earth may be dependant on the Sun’s activity – D’oh!   Sorry, Al… Ann may be in trouble again, but not for her mouth  Although not Catholic, I’ve heard some stories … Read more

GraniteGrok FAQs and Policies

Ownership I am the sole owner of this blog. Given that, since we are doing this in order to be able to get our views out, everything you see here is retained as our intellectual (such as it is) property and we retain all rights / copyrights to all that material. We do not own any … Read more

Patriotism (or not) on 7/4/06

I read a lot of blogs pretty much most days.  This entry from Thomas Sowell caught my eye, and while it is talking mostly about the NYT and the lack of concern / the overabundance of hubris, for me the money quote is this:

Patriotism is not chic in the circles of those who assume the role of citizens of the world, whether they are discussing immigration or giving aid and comfort to the enemy in wartime.

The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was as much due to the internal disintegration of the ties that bind a society together as to the assaults of the Romans’ external enemies.

The pride of being a Roman citizen was destroyed by cheapening that citizenship by giving it to too many other people. The sense of duty and loyalty eroded among both the elites and the masses.

Without such things, there could be no Roman Empire. Ultimately, without such things, there can be no United States of America. In neither case have tangible wealth and power been enough to save a country or a civilization, for the tangibles do not work without the intangibles.

In my mind’s eye, true Patriotism is putting your country ahead of any other.  Patriotism is fully believing in the ideals and potential of your country to the exclusion of others, and willing to make a stand for those beliefs even when unpopular. And Patriotism is willing, when and if necessary, to put your country ahead of your needs.

That is not to say that the ills of your country are swept under the rug; nay, one works to correct those ills.  However, while doing so, one advances, publicizing and dissemimates the positives. 

 

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Party Pooper

From Treehugger – I have a couple of "environmental" blogs that I read.  Why?  I do believe that we should and can be able to use other technologies utilizing alternative energy sources.  For instance, my former house had "active" solar hot water and space heating to conserve and cut my energy bill.  My current house … Read more

What would you expect – loonies acting looney

North Korea is trying to join in the fireworks displays for the 4th.  Sad to say, however, this is no joyous occasion but very serious.  Now we have a certifiable mad man lighting off rockets that can potentially hit both Japan and the US’s West Coast. I wish I could just leave it at that.  … Read more

Yup, I would consider this unpatriotic

There are those Americans out there on the ‘Net that REALLY don’t like this country. For them, instead of being in celebratory mood (as it is Independence Day – 1), this just gives them another rant for the day. What an unhappy way to go through life….never seeing the positive for the negative.  Hat tip: … Read more

A need for Patriotism

Independence Day

This past Saturday, I attended the One Voice (www.onevoiceministries.org) Celebrate America! concert – an old fashioned patriotic celebration whose theme was “America – my home” and standing with our Founders on the premise that it is God who has so blessed our Nation. Seeing the flags and listening to the songs, I was stirred to put away my “working” column for this instead. I realized, once again, how fortunate we are to live in this great country, warts and all. There is no perfect place; even America has its bad with the good. Yet because some constantly dwell only on the negative, they believe it overwhelms that goodness. And I am tired of taking it on the chin because of it!

Nativist, xenophobe, bigot, unsophisticated – pejoratives used by those who consider outward displays of affection for our country as beneath them (especially those that besmirch it)

 

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Under God – The Tyranny of the Minority

This was first published (by me) on the John Stark Review blog a little while ago….being reminded of it, I decided that you folks may find it interesting.  In the time that this was first posted, Mr. Newdow has tried again to have "Under God" removed, and was rebuffed by the courts…..

A self-avowed atheist, Michael Newdow achieved notoriety a while ago by bringing suit to ave the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. The Ninth Circuit District Court agreed with him, but was overturned by the US Supreme Court. The Supremes ruled that Mr. Newdow was unable to bring suit due to “lack of standing” – a legal term that says “you have to have a dog in this fight”. Since he did not have custody of his daughter, he could not sue in her name. Sounds like a valid reason to me: one cannot come through the door unless you have the key to the lock.
 

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Benefits, Taxes, and Demographics – Pick two and call me back

What goes around, comes around.  When President Bush first started to talk about reforming Social Security, his ideas included the personal savings component (like many Federal employees already have) and the indexing of COLAs from the wage price inflation rate to the consumer price index.  As expected, there was a lot of blowback.  The opposition came from two different groups.  From the Left was the hysterical outpouring of angst over people not being able to figure out how to invest their  personal savings accounts, the role of the private market, and (I feel) the loss of power of not being in charge of all that money.

The other came from those who were either already on Social Security or about to partake of its benefits.  In the local paper, I saw numerous articles and Letters to the Editor complaining about "cutting benefits", that people paid their money and demanded to get it back in benefits, and that Social Security was needed to "live a normal retirement".

Well, I’ve seen a few peices again over the last few months yet again on Social Security.  Although it has been in reference to the new Senate bill extending Social Security benefits to illegal aliens (at terms better than I can get!!), I figured it was time to say something once again about a couple of the basic issues.
 

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Three Questions Posed and Answered

A Liberal once wrote a piece that was obviously against the war.  In it, the writer asked three questions:

Where in our constitution does it say that the purpose of our military is to invade sovereign nations for the purpose of deposing their leaders and changing their political system?

Truthfully, would you have supported this invasion if you had been told back in 2002 that the mission was to bring democracy to the Iraqi people, even though we had not been invited to do so?

Finally, if you believe in this mission, whatever it really is, are you willing to die or send your children to die for it?

Good questions; very thoughtful questions as they get to the heart of how one feels about their political system and especially about the mission and purpose of this country and how it applies to someone at the personal level.  I was compelled to think when I read it (although, to be sure, some of it was a bit in anger given how the questions were phrased) and in formulating my answers.

 

The way I responded was….

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An Income tax is just Giving? You mean it is voluntary?

We are lucky in that in the Lakes Region, we have two daily papers for the Lakes Region and one weekly specifically for our town. It has given me ample opportunity to write, as there are quite few Liberals that write in with ideas that they wish to champion. Like the old days in bowling when there were real humans resetting the pins, they set ’em up and I knock them down. Even though some of the Letters may be old, the topics are still relevant almost all the time.

As in this case way back in 2002, the idea of an income tax here in New Hampshire was again being flogged. The background is that we have no sales or income tax here and the race for the next Governor has already already begun. Thus, it is also time for the years old argument for and against implementing an income tax.

This Liberal, however, put a REAL different spin on it, using the word GIVE…..

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What he said….

Doug’s posting about the mosque in Manchester, in and of itself, may not be too worrisome…BUT (and there is always a BUT) combined with this bit of news by Licia Corbella of the  Calgary Sun Dr. Mahfooz Kanwar recently attended Calgary’s largest mosque for a funeral. At one point in the proceedings, a man Kanwar … Read more

Giving away Free Speech?

What is the connection between Ann Coulter (a conservative not well liked by prickly Liberals everywhere) and with what are known as the Mohammad Cartoons (REALLY not liked by prickly Muslims everywhere)?

The Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" created a controversy last year. The Editor felt that a curtain of silence was descending upon Danish society in discussing Islamic / immigration topics, especially when an author could not find illustrators for his book about Mohammad. In this democratic society where free speech is a given, he commissioned artists to comment on this trend of self censorship and begin an open debate. Knowing that it is important for society to be able to openly and honestly discuss any topic even if offensive to some, he wanted to get past the retort of “You are insulting Islam” that was silencing discussions. After all, who wishes to offend (buried by pejoratives), or die (like Theo Van Gogh, killed over his film that is critical over how Islamic women are treated)? Their work resulted in the “Mohammad Cartoons”.

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Pretty much sums it up….

 I just saw this at www.lucianne.com – it pretty much sums up how I feel today.  More on that later when I get my thoughts in order. Hat Tip to Lucienne.com! (and once I learn a little bit more, will set up the proper linkage I know that I should be doing).      Only … Read more

Not just on Memorial Day….

So what the heck was I doing at Bangor International Airport at 1:30am on a very cold January monring after driving 6 hours across the dreary, frozen backwoods of Maine? 

Simple – my son had called from Kuwait – the first step  of coming home from Iraqi where he had been stationed at Al Asad air base for the previous 6 months.  "Hey Dad, I’ll be arriving sometime early Saturday morning somewhere in Maine!"

"That’s great!  We’ll be there…..er, which one?" I asked…..his response was typical – "How should I know?  They don’t tell me that!".  My response – Thank GOD for the Internet.  I had remembered a story about some group that met troops at an airport – the Maine Troop Greeters.

 

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