excellent palm sunday reading

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49649

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54955

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54970

John 17

1-5 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said: Father, it's time. Display the bright splendor of your Son So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor. You put him in charge of everything human So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge. And this is the real and eternal life: That they know you, The one and only true God, And Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I glorified you on earth By completing down to the last detail What you assigned me to do. And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor, The very splendor I had in your presence Before there was a world.
6-12 I spelled out your character in detail To the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place; Then you gave them to me, And they have now done what you said. They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, That everything you gave me is firsthand from you, For the message you gave me, I gave them; And they took it, and were convinced That I came from you. They believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world But for those you gave me, For they are yours by right. Everything mine is yours, and yours mine, And my life is on display in them. For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world; They'll continue in the world While I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life That you conferred as a gift through me, So they can be one heart and mind As we are one heart and mind. As long as I was with them, I guarded them In the pursuit of the life you gave through me; I even posted a night watch. And not one of them got away, Except for the rebel bent on destruction (the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing So my people can experience My joy completed in them. I gave them your word; The godless world hated them because of it, Because they didn't join the world's ways, Just as I didn't join the world's ways. I'm not asking that you take them out of the world But that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world Than I am defined by the world. Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I'm consecrating myself for their sakes So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
20-23 I'm praying not only for them But also for those who will believe in me Because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind— Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, So they'll be as unified and together as we are— I in them and you in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, And give the godless world evidence That you've sent me and loved them In the same way you've loved me.
24-26 Father, I want those you gave me To be with me, right where I am, So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, Having loved me Long before there ever was a world. Righteous Father, the world has never known you, But I have known you, and these disciples know That you sent me on this mission. I have made your very being known to them—Who you are and what you do— And continue to make it known, So that your love for me Might be in them Exactly as I am in them.

john 11

1-3 Aman was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick."
4 When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son."
5-7 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."
8 They said, "Rabbi, you can't do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you're going back?"
9-10 Jesus replied, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn't stumble because there's plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can't see where he's going."
11 He said these things, and then announced, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up."
12-13 The disciples said, "Master, if he's gone to sleep, he'll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine." Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap.
14-15 Then Jesus became explicit: "Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. You're about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let's go to him."
16 That's when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, "Come along. We might as well die with him."
17-20 When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.
21-22 Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you."
23 Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up."
24 Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time."
25-26 "You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?"
27 "Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world."
28 After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."
29-32 The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."
33-34 When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?"
34-35 "Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept.
36 The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him."
37 Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man."
38-39 Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone."
The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!"
40 Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
41-42 Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone."
They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."
43-44 Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.
Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."
45-48 That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. "What do we do now?" they asked. "This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have."
49-52 Then one of them—it was Caiaphas, the designated Chief Priest that year—spoke up, "Don't you know anything? Can't you see that it's to our advantage that one man dies for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed?" He didn't say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation, and not only for the nation but so that all God's exile-scattered children might be gathered together into one people.
53-54 From that day on, they plotted to kill him. So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples.
55-56 The Jewish Passover was coming up. Crowds of people were making their way from the country up to Jerusalem to get themselves ready for the Feast. They were curious about Jesus. There was a lot of talk of him among those standing around in the Temple: "What do you think? Do you think he'll show up at the Feast or not?"
57 Meanwhile, the high priests and Pharisees gave out the word that anyone getting wind of him should inform them. They were all set to arrest him.

genesis 40

1-4 As time went on, it happened that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt crossed their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the head cupbearer and the head baker, and put them in custody under the captain of the guard; it was the same jail where Joseph was held. The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to see to their needs.
4-7 After they had been in custody for a while, the king's cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning. When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low. So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, "What's wrong? Why the long faces?"
8 They said, "We dreamed dreams and there's no one to interpret them."
Joseph said, "Don't interpretations come from God? Tell me the dreams."
9-11 First the head cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: "In my dream there was a vine in front of me with three branches on it: It budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes. I was holding Pharaoh's cup; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh."
12-15 Joseph said, "Here's the meaning. The three branches are three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you'll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place. I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I've been here, I've done nothing to deserve being put in this hole."
16-17 When the head baker saw how well Joseph's interpretation turned out, he spoke up: "My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head."
18-19 Joseph said, "This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean."
20-22 And sure enough, on the third day it was Pharaoh's birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. He set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests. Then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed Pharaoh his cup just as before. And then he impaled the head baker on a post, following Joseph's interpretations exactly.
23 But the head cupbearer never gave Joseph another thought; he forgot all about him.

righteous anger, christianity and james dobson

http://christianconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/curses-and-blessings-out-of-same-mouth.html

http://christianconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/being-nice-polite-christian.html

It has always amazed me how misunderstood the emotion of anger is, especially among Christians. Far too many Christians are under the impression that it is somehow "un-Christian" to express outrage over sin and injustice. Where does that come from? The Bible certainly doesn't say that.

I am also amazed about how quick we humans are to elevate other humans to "icon" status. Celebrity worship is out of control in our culture, and it afflicts the Christian as well as the non-Christian.

This whole James Dobson thing really has me puzzled. To be specific, I am puzzled about the reaction to his comments. I am not at all puzzled about what Dobson said, because he was very clear about what he meant, and the subsequent "clarifying remarks" did nothing to alter the meaning of his original words. No, I am puzzled by the Christian reaction to his words.

Let's be very clear about what Dobson said. He said that he didn't think that Fred Thompson, a man who Dobson admitted he didn't know, was a Christian because he had never heard Thompson talk about his faith. Let's also be very clear about the circumstances surrounding that comment. Nobody called Dobson and solicited his opinion. He called U.S. News senior editor Dan Gilgoff completely out of the blue to offer his opinion about Thompson. Why would he do that? Why would he say such things about a man he admitted he didn't know? Was it a coincidence that Dobson made these unsolicited remarks so soon after deciding to support Newt Gingrich for president? Folks, God gave us a brain, and He gave us the ability to reason. Honestly ask yourself those same questions that I just asked and see what answers you come up with.

The reaction of many in the Christian community has absolutely blown me away. Several people that I know locally really tore in to me because, as they said, Dobson's contributions to the Christian conservative cause elevates him above criticism. One of those people actually said, "If Dobson said it, he must have a good reason, and who are we to question him?" Huh??

Henry Martin, a good and decent man and a strong Christian, really tore in to me in his comment to my post. He accused me of vilifying a good man for expressing "honest doubts" about Thompson, he accused me of being hateful, and he even took a swipe at my relatively small audience, compared to a great man like Dr. James Dobson.

The oh-so-liberal Hee-Haw commented on my post that I was just as guilty as Dobson. I assume he is referring to my comments about people like Jimmy Carter and Thomas Ehrich.

To everybody who expressed an opinion, publically and privately, I would make the following points:

1. James Dobson is just a guy. He's a guy who I happen to agree with most of the time on most of the issues, but he is just a guy. Contrary to what is apparently Christian conservative consensus, he is nothing special and nothing divine. He is just a guy, same as you and me. This hero worship thing is quite unseemly. Get over it.
2. Although Dobson is just a guy, he is a very smart guy, and I find it hard to believe that he didn't realize what kind of reaction his remarks would provoke. I find myself back to my original questions: Why did he say what he did, why did he seek the reporter out to make those comments, and are the answers to these questions in any way connected to his apparent support for a Gingich presidential bid? Although I have very definite opinions about the answers to those questions, I can't read minds or hearts, so I won't speculate further.
3. Although I can't read minds or hearts, I do understand English (in spite of my southern Indiana upbringing) and what Dobson said was as clear as a sunny day. "Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for. [But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination. According to the Bible, a Christian is a person who believes that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected on the third day as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and who loves God with their entire being, and who asks Jesus to be the Lord and Master of their lives. I don't see anything in there about having to send a resume to Dr. James Dobson. Dr. Dobson went out of his way to question Thompson's eternal salvation, based on NOTHING. That is horrible, and all Christians should be outraged.
4. Let's play "pretend" for a minute. Let's pretend that Fred Thompson had publically questioned the authenticity of the Holy Trinity (like Jimmy Carter has). Then I could understand Dobson's criticism. Let's pretend that Thompson had supported each and every murderous, tyranical despot that has ever come down the pike (like Jimmy Carter has) and that Thompson had gone so far as to work to help these despots retain power. Then I could understand Dobson's criticism. Let's pretend that Thompson was preaching and teaching a false gospel (like Thomas Ehrich does). Then I could understand Dobson's criticism. Fred Dalton Thompson has done none of those things. Fred Thompson is a baptized member of the Church of Christ. If Fred Thompson had done any of those things, then Dobson would be absolutely justified in making his comments.
5. Read John 2:12-25 (www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%202:12-25;&version=65). The notes in my Life Application Study Bible say this about verses 15-16:

Jesus was obviously angry at the merchants who exploited those who had come to God's house to worship. There is a difference between uncontrolled rage and righteous indignation- yet both are called anger. We must be very careful about how we use the powerful emotion of anger. It is right to be angry about injustice and sin; it is wrong to be angry over trivial personal offenses.

Ask yourself this question: When Dr. Dobson called in to question Fred Thompson's eternal salvation based on NOTHING, was that a "trivial personal offense," or was that a sinful injustice? You make the call. In the meantime, I stand by everything I have said.

See also http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54963

john 10

1-5 "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it."
6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. "I'll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
11-13 "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He's only in it for the money. The sheep don't matter to him.
14-18 "I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father."
19-21 This kind of talk caused another split in the Jewish ranks. A lot of them were saying, "He's crazy, a maniac—out of his head completely. Why bother listening to him?" But others weren't so sure: "These aren't the words of a crazy man. Can a 'maniac' open blind eyes?"
22-24 They were celebrating Hanukkah just then in Jerusalem. It was winter. Jesus was strolling in the Temple across Solomon's Porch. The Jews, circling him, said, "How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you're the Messiah, tell us straight out."
25-30 Jesus answered, "I told you, but you don't believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don't believe because you're not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind."
31-32 Again the Jews picked up rocks to throw at him. Jesus said, "I have made a present to you from the Father of a great many good actions. For which of these acts do you stone me?"
33 The Jews said, "We're not stoning you for anything good you did, but for what you said—this blasphemy of calling yourself God."
34-38 Jesus said, "I'm only quoting your inspired Scriptures, where God said, 'I tell you—you are gods.' If God called your ancestors 'gods'—and Scripture doesn't lie—why do you yell, 'Blasphemer! Blasphemer!' at the unique One the Father consecrated and sent into the world, just because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I don't do the things my Father does, well and good; don't believe me. But if I am doing them, put aside for a moment what you hear me say about myself and just take the evidence of the actions that are right before your eyes. Then perhaps things will come together for you, and you'll see that not only are we doing the same thing, we are the same—Father and Son. He is in me; I am in him."
39-42 They tried yet again to arrest him, but he slipped through their fingers. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and stayed there. A lot of people followed him over. They were saying, "John did no miracles, but everything he said about this man has come true." Many believed in him then and there.

genesis 39

1 After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh's officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.
2-6 As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him. He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master. His master recognized that God was with him, saw that God was working for good in everything he did. He became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him. From that moment on, God blessed the home of the Egyptian—all because of Joseph. The blessing of God spread over everything he owned, at home and in the fields, and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day.
6-7 Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master's wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, "Sleep with me."
8-9 He wouldn't do it. He said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master doesn't give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he's put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn't turned over to me is you. You're his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?"
10 She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.
11-15 On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there. She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, "Sleep with me!" He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and run outside, she called to her house servants: "Look—this Hebrew shows up and before you know it he's trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me but I yelled as loud as I could. With all my yelling and screaming, he left his coat beside me here and ran outside."
16-18 She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, "The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use me for his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside."
19-23 When his master heard his wife's story, telling him, "These are the things your slave did to me," he was furious. Joseph's master took him and threw him into the jail where the king's prisoners were locked up. But there in jail God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer. The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners—he ended up managing the whole operation. The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best.

reagan's words still speak to america today

Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and I've got one that's been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I'm proudest of in the past 8 years: the resurgence of national pride that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good, but it won't count for much, and it won't last unless it's grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.

An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.

But now, we're about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom -- freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs production [protection].

So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important -- why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D - day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, who'd fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, ``we will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did.'' Well, let's help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we won't know who we are. I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let's start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.

And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American, let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.

And that's about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the ``shining city upon a hill.'' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free.

I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.----Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address to the Nation, Jan. 11, 1989

the religion is liberalism, the high priest is algore, and we are saved by "being green"

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19996

Anyone who still doubts that liberalism is a godless religion should read this article. Most of the people of the mainstream media are as far to the left as you can get. The media is controlled by the radical left. It is also accurate to say that most members of the media are decidedly non-religious. From the above article:

Journalists don’t usually embrace religion in this way. According to a 2004 Pew Research Center for the People and the Press study, 58% of ordinary Americans said belief in God is a “prerequisite for morality." Journalists, regardless of their organization and position, take a decidedly different view. "Fully 91% of those who work at national news organizations say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral; 78% of local journalists agree,” explained the study.

It's interesting, then, that the media invariably uses such religious language when referring to Brother Algore and his Travelin' Salvation Show. It is also interesting to me that so many liberals--people who consider themselves to be so much smarter than the rest of us--could fall so hard for such an obvious con. Algore's Global Warming Caper is so provably false that a person would have to intentionally ignore the falsehoods--or have the IQ of a retarded hamster--to believe the lie.

It must be "religious faith" in the church of godless, socialist liberalism that keeps this congregation fired up.

what good is liberal power if they can't use it to restrict our civil liberties?

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20024

The above link will take you to a fascinating look inside the liberal though process. The short version of the story is that, last week the House Democrats sent a resolution to the floor that would give the District of Columbia full voting rights in Congress, just like the states. That would violate the Constitution, but the liberal Democrats didn't care because they know that D.C. is predominantly Democrat, so passing the bill into law would give them more power.

The GOP responded by adding an amendment to the bill that would eliminate the total gun ban that currently exists in D.C.

Wow! What is a good liberal to do? If they go ahead and pass the bill they stand a good chance of increasing their majority in the House. That's a good thing for liberals. They also expand the rights of D.C. residents to keep and bear arms, just as is written in the 2nd Amendment. That's a bad thing for liberals. As most people know, liberals absolutely hate to give we the people more freedom, power or choices, unless of course the "choice" happens to be to kill an unborn baby. Then they're all for more choice! Not when the 2nd Amendment is involved though. That amendment is evil!

What did the liberal Democrats do? They dropped the bill. Isn't that interesting? Congressional liberals sent a clear message to America. They don't want more power if they can't use that power to further restrict our civil liberties! Thank you for the teachable moment!

dobson should have said something about pete stark!

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54883

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54898

more global warming fascism

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54897

We must continue to educate ourselves on this ongoing attempt by the left to destroy the constitutional republic created by the Founders. If we the people don't wake up, we are going to wake up one morning and realize that the America of our ancestors is gone.

curses and blessings out of the same mouth

It has been said that the “tongue” is one of the most exercised muscles of our body. It has been estimated that in a typical week, the average person will speak enough words to fill a 500 page book! However, for the Christian, the use of the tongue must be a matter of careful forethought and discipline. The Bible warns that believers who do not bring restraint to their tongue and speech have been deceived — and without such control over their words, their religious acts are worthless and hypocritical. “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless” (James 1:26). It is a deception for any of us to think that Jesus can be Lord over our life, without also becoming Lord over our tongue.----Dr. Dale A. Robbins, found at www.victorious.org/tongue.htm

Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?---James 3:1-12

The words of wisdom I have printed above are very appropriate, I think, as I read an article from NewsMax.com concerning Dr. James Dobson and Fred Thompson. The whole article can be summed up in the first 3 sentences:

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has dealt a potentially devastating blow to Fred Thompson’s presidential aspirations, saying the former senator is not a Christian.
"Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson – considered the most politically powerful evangelical figure in the U.S. – said in a phone call to Dan Gilgoff, senior editor at U.S. News & World Report.
"[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian. At least that’s my impression.”

That is an amazingly hateful, reckless, stupid remark from a man who should know better. How dare Dobson presume to know what is in Thompson's heart? Just because Thompson doesn't publically mouth pretty prayers and make a big show of his faith? Get a load of what Dobson's mouthpiece had to say as he sought to "clarify" Dobson's remarks:

Focus on Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger sought to clarify Dobson’s statement, telling Gilgoff that while Dobson didn’t believe Thompson belonged to a non-Christian faith, he "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian – someone who openly talks about his faith.
"We use that word – Christian – to refer to people who are evangelical Christians. Dobson wasn’t expressing a personal opinion about his reaction to a Thompson candidacy.”

You have got to be kidding me! Folks, it is precisely this kind of attitude that makes people hate Christians! Why do you think so many people look at Christians and don't like what they see? It is because we have too many so-called Christians who can't control their mouths, and who are so amazingly arrogant and puffed up with false visions of their own importance that they would presume to act like God by judging others. When Jesus called the religious leaders of His day a "brood of vipers," he was speaking of people like Dobson!

And by the way, how arrogant is it for Dobson to publically proclaim that serial-adulterer Newt Gingrich is "forgiven" and "the right kind of Christian" and then proclaim that Fred Thompson is not any kind of Christian? Just who does Dobson think he is? And don't misinterpret what I'm saying about Gingrich---I'm not questioning his faith or heart or motives because I don't have the ability to look inside him. That's just the point. If Dobson can point to something that Thompson said which contradicts the Gospel, or he can point to something that Thompson did which would call into question his Christian faith, then I'm all for hearing about it. If Dobson can't do any of those things, then he needs to shut up, drop to his knees, and beg for God's forgiveness for the arrogant hatred that spewed out of his mouth! What a snake!

march 21 issue of conservative battleline online

http://www.acuf.org/issues/index.asp

This is an online publication of the American Conservative Union Foundation. It's very educational.

john 9

1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?"
3-5 Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light."
6-7 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes, and said, "Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "Sent"). The man went and washed—and saw.
8 Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, "Why, isn't this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?"
9 Others said, "It's him all right!"
But others objected, "It's not the same man at all. It just looks like him."
He said, "It's me, the very one."
10 They said, "How did your eyes get opened?"
11 "A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' I did what he said. When I washed, I saw."
12 "So where is he?"
"I don't know."
13-15 They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, "He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see."
16 Some of the Pharisees said, "Obviously, this man can't be from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath."
Others countered, "How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?" There was a split in their ranks.
17 They came back at the blind man, "You're the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?"
He said, "He is a prophet."
18-19 The Jews didn't believe it, didn't believe the man was blind to begin with. So they called the parents of the man now bright-eyed with sight. They asked them, "Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he now sees?"
20-23 His parents said, "We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don't know how he came to see—haven't a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don't you ask him? He's a grown man and can speak for himself." (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That's why his parents said, "Ask him. He's a grown man.")
24 They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind— and told him, "Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor."
25 He replied, "I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see."
26 They said, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
27 "I've told you over and over and you haven't listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?"
28-29 With that they jumped all over him. "You might be a disciple of that man, but we're disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from."
30-33 The man replied, "This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It's well known that God isn't at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn't come from God, he wouldn't be able to do anything."
34 They said, "You're nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!" Then they threw him out in the street.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36 The man said, "Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him."
37 Jesus said, "You're looking right at him. Don't you recognize my voice?"
38 "Master, I believe," the man said, and worshiped him.
39 Jesus then said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind."
40 Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?"
41 Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."

genesis 38

1-5 About that time, Judah separated from his brothers and hooked up with a man in Adullam named Hirah. While there, Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua. He married her, they went to bed, she became pregnant and had a son named Er. She got pregnant again and had a son named Onan. She had still another son; she named this one Shelah. They were living at Kezib when she had him.
6-7 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn. Her name was Tamar. But Judah's firstborn, Er, grievously offended God and God took his life.
8-10 So Judah told Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow; it's the duty of a brother-in-law to keep your brother's line alive." But Onan knew that the child wouldn't be his, so whenever he slept with his brother's widow he spilled his semen on the ground so he wouldn't produce a child for his brother. God was much offended by what he did and also took his life.
11 So Judah stepped in and told his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow at home with your father until my son Shelah grows up." He was worried that Shelah would also end up dead, just like his brothers. So Tamar went to live with her father.
12 Time passed. Judah's wife, Shua's daughter, died. When the time of mourning was over, Judah with his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah for the sheep shearing.
13-14 Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law has gone to Timnah to shear his sheep." She took off her widow's clothes, put on a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the road to Timnah. She realized by now that even though Shelah was grown up, she wasn't going to be married to him.
15 Judah saw her and assumed she was a prostitute since she had veiled her face. He left the road and went over to her. He said, "Let me sleep with you." He had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law.
16 She said, "What will you pay me?"
17 "I'll send you," he said, "a kid goat from the flock."
She said, "Not unless you give me a pledge until you send it."
18 "So what would you want in the way of a pledge?"
She said, "Your personal seal-and-cord and the staff you carry."
He handed them over to her and slept with her. And she got pregnant.
19 She then left and went home. She removed her veil and put her widow's clothes back on.
20-21 Judah sent the kid goat by his friend from Adullam to recover the pledge from the woman. But he couldn't find her. He asked the men of that place, "Where's the prostitute that used to sit by the road here near Enaim?"
They said, "There's never been a prostitute here."
22 He went back to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. The men there said there never has been a prostitute there."
23 Judah said, "Let her have it then. If we keep looking, everyone will be poking fun at us. I kept my part of the bargain—I sent the kid goat but you couldn't find her."
24 Three months or so later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law has been playing the whore—and now she's a pregnant whore."
Judah yelled, "Get her out here. Burn her up!"
25 As they brought her out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, "I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things. Identify them, please. Who's the owner of the seal-and-cord and the staff?"
26 Judah saw they were his. He said, "She's in the right; I'm in the wrong— I wouldn't let her marry my son Shelah." He never slept with her again.
27-30 When her time came to give birth, it turned out that there were twins in her womb. As she was giving birth, one put his hand out; the midwife tied a red thread on his hand, saying, "This one came first." But then he pulled it back and his brother came out. She said, "Oh! A breakout!" So she named him Perez (Breakout). Then his brother came out with the red thread on his hand. They named him Zerah (Bright).

islam--the religion of peace?

Read this article concerning a "60 Minutes" interview with a former Islamic terrorist: http://www.declaration.net/news.asp?docID=5635

Next, read this article about the most popular liberal myths about radical Islam: townhall.com/Columnists/DineshDSouza/2007/03/26/
liberal_myths_about_radical_islam

Next, look at the numbers on this link: www.thereligionofpeace.com/index.html#Attacks

As you look at these links, ask yourself some important questions:

1. How many people, worldwide, have been murdered by terrorists acting in the name of Jesus Christ during the last 3 months? (the correct answer is zero)
2. Where in the Bible does it say, "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them."? (answer: It doesn't. Those words come from the Qur'an.)
3. Why do most liberals hate Christianity so much, yet sympathize so much with Islamofascist terrorists? (I don't know the answer to this question. You're on your own.)

Take a look at all of the great information on www.thereligionofpeace.com/ and ask yourself one final question---How can anybody in America still be blind to the threat posed to all of civilization by radical Islam?

this is a planetary emergency?

www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/21/110458.shtml

www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/27/154817.shtml

"There is a sense of hope in this country that this United States Congress will rise to the occasion and present meaningful solutions to this crisis," Gore said. "Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination."

Well, well, well! A true planetary emergency, he says! What a load of bull! You can read for yourself the information in the above links and see how everything algore has ever said about global warming has turned out to be a big old godless, socialist, liberal lie. That phrase that he used, though--"true planetary emergency"--got me to thinking. Let's look at a few statistics, shall we?

Number of people killed in America by effects of global warming----0
Number of babies killed in America by abortion since 1973----over 40 million
Number of Americans killed each year by illegal immigrants----2000
Radical Islamic jihad casualties in Feb. 2007---1700 killed, 2800 critically injured
Number of deadly terrorist attacks carried out worldwide by Islamofascists since 9/11--7800
Number of people ever killed by effects of global warming----ZERO

If you can't recognize how completely absurd algore's claims are, then you are beyond help. The "Chicken Little" crowd--the environmental wackos-- have been screaming for decades that the sky is falling and that it is imperative that we the people immediately surrender our unalienable rights to a godless, socialist, liberal central authority in order to save ourselves. Don't believe the lies! We have "true planetary emergencies" but global warming isn't one of them.

genesis 37

1 Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them.
3-4 Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.
5-7 Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, "Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."
8 His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?" And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.
9 He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: "I dreamed another dream—the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!"
10-11 When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: "What's with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?" Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business.
12-13 His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father's flocks. Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them."
Joseph said, "I'm ready."
14 He said, "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report." He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.
15 A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"
16 "I'm trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?"
17 The man said, "They've left here, but I overheard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.
18-20 They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, "Here comes that dreamer. Let's kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We'll see what his dreams amount to."
21-22 Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, "We're not going to kill him. No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don't hurt him." Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.
23-24 When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn't any water in it.
25-27 Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. Judah said, "Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.
28 By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.
29-30 Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern—no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair. Beside himself, he went to his brothers. "The boy's gone! What am I going to do!"
31-32 They took Joseph's coat, butchered a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. They took the fancy coat back to their father and said, "We found this. Look it over—do you think this is your son's coat?"
33 He recognized it at once. "My son's coat—a wild animal has eaten him. Joseph torn limb from limb!"
34-35 Jacob tore his clothes in grief, dressed in rough burlap, and mourned his son a long, long time. His sons and daughters tried to comfort him but he refused their comfort. "I'll go to the grave mourning my son." Oh, how his father wept for him.
36 In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, manager of his household affairs.

john 9

1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?"
3-5 Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light."
6-7 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes, and said, "Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "Sent"). The man went and washed—and saw.
8 Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, "Why, isn't this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?"
9 Others said, "It's him all right!"
But others objected, "It's not the same man at all. It just looks like him."
He said, "It's me, the very one."
10 They said, "How did your eyes get opened?"
11 "A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' I did what he said. When I washed, I saw."
12 "So where is he?"
"I don't know."
13-15 They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, "He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see."
16 Some of the Pharisees said, "Obviously, this man can't be from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath."
Others countered, "How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?" There was a split in their ranks.
17 They came back at the blind man, "You're the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?"
He said, "He is a prophet."
18-19 The Jews didn't believe it, didn't believe the man was blind to begin with. So they called the parents of the man now bright-eyed with sight. They asked them, "Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he now sees?"
20-23 His parents said, "We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don't know how he came to see—haven't a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don't you ask him? He's a grown man and can speak for himself." (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That's why his parents said, "Ask him. He's a grown man.")
24 They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind— and told him, "Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor."
25 He replied, "I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see."
26 They said, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
27 "I've told you over and over and you haven't listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?"
28-29 With that they jumped all over him. "You might be a disciple of that man, but we're disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from."
30-33 The man replied, "This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It's well known that God isn't at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn't come from God, he wouldn't be able to do anything."
34 They said, "You're nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!" Then they threw him out in the street.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36 The man said, "Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him."
37 Jesus said, "You're looking right at him. Don't you recognize my voice?"
38 "Master, I believe," the man said, and worshiped him.
39 Jesus then said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind."
40 Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?"
41 Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."

textbook example of liberal strategy

A high school student in Woodlan, Indiana wrote a column for her school newspaper about homosexuality. You can read the column at www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703260346

The teacher advisor of the school newspaper did not seek prior approval for the column from the school principal, as has been required school corporation policy for the last 6 years. She didn't think that the column was controversial enough to warrant prior approval from the principal. She thought wrong. The advisor has been suspended pending a termination hearing. The school board has revised the existing policy. It reiterates that the principal has final approval of all newspaper content, and says that students on the newspaper staff can't appeal his decisions if they wish to continue working on the staff.

Now, read the following:
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703270326

This is an op-ed written by a man named John Krull. Mr. Krull is president of the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and director of Franklin College's Pulliam School of Journalism. He is also the former president of the Indiana chapter of the ACLU. Mr. Krull, as you might expect, opposes the decision of the Woodlan school system. That's OK--he has that right. What he doesn't have the right to do is to use lies and intimidation in an attempt to change the school's decision. Let's look at his column, and you can see for yourself what kinds of tactics the modern liberal uses to advance their cockamamie agenda. I'll use his own words to indict him.

Two months ago, a sophomore student journalist at Woodlan Junior-Senior High School just outside Fort Wayne advanced a disturbing message in an opinion piece in The Tomahawk, the student newspaper. She said it was a good idea to be nice to people, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Actually, what she said was that homosexuality is purely genetic, just like a person's race, and that this "fact" precludes any judgement on our part since it isn't a choice. Well, I don't know of any scientific proof of that "fact." She is welcome to hold that opinion, if she wants to. She is welcome to speak out with that opinion, if she wants to. She does not have the absolute right to use taxpayer supported school equipment to advance that opinion. If the principal believes that her opinion goes against the values of the school and the community, he can censor that opinion. Censorship is not unconstitutional.

Then the school system adopted a newspaper policy that gave the principal the right to censor anything with which he might disagree and denied students, teachers and parents the right to contact a lawyer if they disagreed with him.

Wrong! The principal has had this right for at least 6 years, and the Supreme Court case Hazlewood v. Kuhlmeier was decided a long time before that. The principal is not "creating" some brand new power that didn't exist before. The existing policy is simply being reaffirmed. Mr. Krull is being dishonest.

As to the part about contacting a lawyer, the truth is a little different from the Krull version. The principal and the school board know full well that the Student Press Law Center has been conducting a program of harassment against all school administrators who utilize the powers granted to them by the Hazlewood case. The way it works is, the principal censors an article from the school newspaper, knowing that judicial precedent supports him. The Student Press Law Center, on behalf of the students on the newspaper staff, sues in an attempt to harass the administrator. They know that they will lose in court, but they don't care. The school will be forced to fight the frivolous suit and to spend money on legal fees. The hope of the godless, socialist liberal law center is that schools will just give up and let students print whatever they want. New policy in Woodlan says that, if the student wants to sue, they have to quit the newspaper staff. There is absolutely nothing illegal or unconstitutional about that.

On March 19, the district placed the newspaper adviser on paid leave and started the process of firing her. When the principal visited the classroom to tell the students that the newspaper was to reflect his thoughts exactly, at least three students quit in protest.
At its meeting the next night, the school board refused to allow discussion about the situation. When a parent asked under what part of Indiana law the board could refuse to let citizens talk about a public policy at an open public meeting, the board president said the question was out of order.

The newspaper advisor was placed on paid administrative leave because she failed to follow the long-standing school policy of running controversial story ideas by the principal. When she failed to show any contrition for her insubordination, and when she told the principal that she didn't want to follow the policy, he started termination proceedings. He has that right, and he did nothing illegal. The school board will make the final decision on her termination, so they are prohibited by law from publically discussing a pending personnel matter. Mr. Krull knows this, but is being intentionally dishonest. Ain't that just the way with liberals!

Two months into this disturbing episode, at least two things have become clear.
The first is that this dispute is not only about student journalists' rights. When the school board refused to let parents discuss a school policy at an open meeting, the school system's leaders made it clear that they like no part of the First Amendment. They have just as much disdain for the constitutional guarantees of the rights to speak freely and to petition government as they do for freedom of the press.

Wrong again! The case is not about student journalists' "rights." Hazlewood makes clear that the freedom of the press protections in the 1st Amendment don't apply to student "journalists." (These students are not journalists, but that's a subject for a different post.) The case is also not about the 1st Amendment rights of parents. The law prohibited the school board from allowing discussion. You can bet your last dollar that, if the school board had allowed discussion, the advisor's lawyers would have used that against the school.

The second is that these folks haven't thought things through. They have focused on the privileges of being a student newspaper's publisher and not the responsibilities. By asserting that he is the publisher, Woodlan's principal, Ed Yoder, has made himself personally responsible for what appears in the newspaper. This means that, should the paper libel someone on his watch, that person could lay claim to Yoder's house, his retirement funds and any of his other assets. Similarly, now that he has publicly disavowed the "be nice to people even if they are gay" column, he and the school could bear some liability if a gay student is harassed.

Well, there you have it sports fans! I think this is what's known as a "troop surge!" Mr. Krull is making it as plain as the nose on your face. If school principals want to carry out their responsibilities as permitted by judicial precedent, they can expect the armies (trial lawyers) of the godless religion of liberalism to come after their homes, their savings, and all that they possess. You can expect a rash of "harassment" suits to suddenly pop up, too. If conservatives won't get with the program and "get right" with liberalism, then they will just have to endure relentless legal terrorism and intimidation until they cave!

I will repeat a question that I have asked many times before:

Who's the fascist?

why hasn't algore thought of this?

townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2007/03/23/
turning_up_the_heat_on_gore

This is a very insightful column by Jonah Goldberg concerning the Algore Travelin' Salvation Show, and it brings up a number of very good points about how transparently false his new-fangled theology is. After I finished reading it, I began to look at this global warming scam in a whole new way. Read the following quote from Goldberg:

Gore says global warming is "a crisis that threatens the survival of our civilization and the habitability of the Earth." It's graver than any war. He compares it to the asteroid that allegedly killed the dinosaurs.
But here's the thing. If there were an asteroid barreling toward earth, we wouldn't be talking about changing our lifestyles, nor would we be preaching about reducing, reusing and recycling. We would be building giant wicked-cool lasers and bomb-carrying spaceships to go out and destroy the thing. But Gore doesn't want to explore geo-engineering (whereby, for example, we'd add sulfate aerosols or other substances to the atmosphere to mitigate global warming). Why? Because solving the problem isn't really the point. As Gore makes it clear in his book, "Earth in the Balance," he wants to change attitudes more than he wants to solve problems.

This whole global warming thing really gives us the opportunity to examine the stark differences between conservatives and liberals, and why godless, socialist liberalism is so horribly damaging to America.

Let's pretend for a moment that global warming was true, and that Earth really was in danger of a major catastrophe because of it. The conservative would certainly look to private entities for technological solutions to the warming. I don't know about the sulfate aeresol example that Goldberg used, but certainly, America's scientific and technological communities could come up with a solution. That solution would be worth billions of dollars to whoever pioneered it, and all the world would benefit. That's capitalism, entrepreneurialism, and conservatism all rolled into one. If you disagree, that's OK. You don't have to participate, but the opportunity is there for those who do.

Liberalism, however, takes a different approach. Godless, socialist liberalism first lies about the severity of global warming, in order to scare everybody. Scared people are easier to manipulate. Next, representatives of godless, socialist liberalism step forward to tell "we the people" that the whole problem is our fault. We are too selfish, too wasteful, and uncompassionate. Next, the liberal commentators tell us that, if we do just exactly as they command, we can redeem ourselves and become better, more compassionate, less guilty people. All we have to do is to complete change our way of life and give more of our money to the liberal cause so that real change can happen. We stop using so much energy and we switch light bulbs and we buy "carbon offsets" and we agree to give up our national sovereignty to the United Nations in order to be better stewards of the earth. Anyone who disagrees is threatened and bullied and, eventually, beaten into submission by liberal government mandates. Resistance is not an option.

Do you see the difference? The conservative approach actually works, it gives we the people more power and more opportunities, and it helps the economy. The liberal approach strips us of our unalienable rights and our hard earned money, it's fascist in nature, and, on top of all that, it has no shot at being successful. I can think of no greater reason to reject the insanity of the left.

iran's act of war

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19969

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19968

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19972

Question: Why do the radical Islamic fascists continue to commit acts of war against Western countries with stronger militaries?

Two Answers: Because the hate us, and because they can.

This brazen act of war committed by Iran must be met with the most brutal response possible. Until we meet force with catastrophic force, Islamofascism will continue to attack. Don't hold your breath, though. I don't see anyone in D.C. today with the courage to do that which is necessary.

john 8

1-2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. 3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
11 "No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."
12 Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in."
13 The Pharisees objected, "All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on."
14-18 Jesus replied, "You're right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I've come from and where I go next. You don't know where I'm from or where I'm headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don't make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn't make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfills the conditions set down in God's Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me."
19 They said, "Where is this so-called Father of yours?"
Jesus said, "You're looking right at me and you don't see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father."
20 He gave this speech in the Treasury while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him because his time wasn't yet up.
21 Then he went over the same ground again. "I'm leaving and you are going to look for me, but you're missing God in this and are headed for a dead end. There is no way you can come with me."
22 The Jews said, "So, is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by 'You can't come with me'?"
23-24 Jesus said, "You're tied down to the mundane; I'm in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I'm living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You're at a dead end. If you won't believe I am who I say I am, you're at the dead end of sins. You're missing God in your lives."
25-26 They said to him, "Just who are you anyway?"
Jesus said, "What I've said from the start. I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you, but if you don't accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is who you are questioning—not me but the One who sent me."
27-29 They still didn't get it, didn't realize that he was referring to the Father. So Jesus tried again. "When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am—that I'm not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me. The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn't abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him."
30 When he put it in these terms, many people decided to believe.
31-32 Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you."
33 Surprised, they said, "But we're descendants of Abraham. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, 'The truth will free you'?"
34-38 Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. I know you are Abraham's descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn't yet penetrated your thick skulls. I'm talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father, and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father."
39-41 They were indignant. "Our father is Abraham!"
Jesus said, "If you were Abraham's children, you would have been doing the things Abraham did. And yet here you are trying to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth he got straight from God! Abraham never did that sort of thing. You persist in repeating the works of your father."
They said, "We're not bastards. We have a legitimate father: the one and only God."
42-47 "If God were your father," said Jesus, "you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn't come on my own. He sent me. Why can't you understand one word I say? Here's why: You can't handle it. You're from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn't stand the truth because there wasn't a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Anyone on God's side listens to God's words. This is why you're not listening—because you're not on God's side."
48 The Jews then said, "That clinches it. We were right all along when we called you a Samaritan and said you were crazy—demon-possessed!"
49-51 Jesus said, "I'm not crazy. I simply honor my Father, while you dishonor me. I am not trying to get anything for myself. God intends something gloriously grand here and is making the decisions that will bring it about. I say this with absolute confidence. If you practice what I'm telling you, you'll never have to look death in the face."
52-53 At this point the Jews said, "Now we know you're crazy. Abraham died. The prophets died. And you show up saying, 'If you practice what I'm telling you, you'll never have to face death, not even a taste.' Are you greater than Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you think you are!"
54-56 Jesus said, "If I turned the spotlight on myself, it wouldn't amount to anything. But my Father, the same One you say is your Father, put me here at this time and place of splendor. You haven't recognized him in this. But I have. If I, in false modesty, said I didn't know what was going on, I would be as much of a liar as you are. But I do know, and I am doing what he says. Abraham—your 'father'—with jubilant faith looked down the corridors of history and saw my day coming. He saw it and cheered."
57 The Jews said, "You're not even fifty years old—and Abraham saw you?"
58 "Believe me," said Jesus, "I am who I am long before Abraham was anything."
59 That did it—pushed them over the edge. They picked up rocks to throw at him. But Jesus slipped away, getting out of the Temple.

genesis 35

1 God spoke to Jacob: "Go back to Bethel. Stay there and build an altar to the God who revealed himself to you when you were running for your life from your brother Esau."
2-3 Jacob told his family and all those who lived with him, "Throw out all the alien gods which you have, take a good bath and put on clean clothes, we're going to Bethel. I'm going to build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and has stuck with me everywhere I've gone since."
4-5 They turned over to Jacob all the alien gods they'd been holding on to, along with their lucky-charm earrings. Jacob buried them under the oak tree in Shechem. Then they set out. A paralyzing fear descended on all the surrounding villages so that they were unable to pursue the sons of Jacob.
6-7 Jacob and his company arrived at Luz, that is, Bethel, in the land of Canaan. He built an altar there and named it El-Bethel (God-of-Bethel) because that's where God revealed himself to him when he was running from his brother.
8 And that's when Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried just below Bethel under the oak tree. It was named Allon-Bacuth (Weeping-Oak).
9-10 God revealed himself once again to Jacob, after he had come back from Paddan Aram and blessed him: "Your name is Jacob (Heel); but that's your name no longer. From now on your name is Israel (God-Wrestler)."
11-12 God continued, I am The Strong God. Have children! Flourish! A nation—a whole company of nations!— will come from you. Kings will come from your loins; the land I gave Abraham and Isaac I now give to you, and pass it on to your descendants.
13 And then God was gone, ascended from the place where he had spoken with him.
14-15 Jacob set up a stone pillar on the spot where God had spoken with him. He poured a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. Jacob dedicated the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (God's-House).
16-17 They left Bethel. They were still quite a ways from Ephrath when Rachel went into labor—hard, hard labor. When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid—you have another boy."
18 With her last breath, for she was now dying, she named him Ben-oni (Son-of-My-Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son-of-Good-Fortune).
19-20 Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar to mark her grave. It is still there today, "Rachel's Grave Stone."
21-22 Israel kept on his way and set up camp at Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went and slept with his father's concubine, Bilhah. And Israel heard of what he did.
22-26 There were twelve sons of Jacob.The sons by Leah:
Reuben, Jacob's firstborn
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun.The sons by Rachel:
Joseph
Benjamin.The sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid:
Dan
Naphtali.The sons by Zilpah, Leah's maid:
Gad
Asher.These were Jacob's sons, born to him in Paddan Aram.
27-29 Finally, Jacob made it back home to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba, present-day Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived. Isaac was now 180 years old. Isaac breathed his last and died—an old man full of years. He was buried with his family by his sons Esau and Jacob.

national reconciliation? how about we just kill the bad guys!

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070326/OPINION/703260312/1002/OPINION

Lee Hamilton is a good and decent man, but he is so naive it's painful! His latest op-ed talks about a "national reconciliation" among the warring factions in Iraq. Read this one paragraph from the column to see an example of what I mean:

Just what is meant by national reconciliation? For the Sunni insurgency to end, Iraq's Sunni Arabs must believe they can get a fair deal through the political process. For Shiite militias to stop killing Sunnis and attacking each another, Shiite factions must accept a view of democracy in which political power is not absolute. For Iraq to avoid partition, Iraq's Kurds must balance a desire for greater autonomy with the benefits of a unified Iraq. The violence underscores the difficulty of the task, but there is wide agreement on what benchmarks need to be met to advance national reconciliation.

Are you kidding me? The violence in Iraq is being fueled by outside agitators who just so happen to be radical Islamic terrorists. Islamofascists are not interested in "getting a fair deal through the political process." Jihadists don't give two hoots about a "view of democracy in which political power is not absolute." Radical Islam has no desire to "balance a desire for greater autonomy with the benefits of a unified Iraq." Let me make this as simple as I can. Islamofascist jihadists want to kill everybody who won't bow down to Islam. They despise America's freedom. They want to utterly destroy America and Israel. They want to murder every man, woman and child in America who they can't convert and enslave within their dysfunctional religious worldview. Is that clear enough? Do you get it? The terrorists don't want to make peace. The terrorists want us dead.

Can we make peace with these people by being nice? Absolutely not. We make peace by killing the terrorists. We must devote 100% of our resources to killing as many terrorists as we can, as quickly as we can. We must put the world on notice. Anyone who encourages or enables Islamic terrorism is just as guilty as the terrorists themselves, and we will kill them too. Kill the bad guys who have declared war on us, who have brought a jihad against us that we didn't ask for and don't deserve, and then we will have peace.

hurricaneharry.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-negotiate-with-terrorists.html

hurricaneharry.blogspot.com/2006/08/controlling-termites-wasps-terrorists.html

Maybe it would be worthwhile to review these outstanding words of wisdom from Hurricane Harry. It really is just that simple.

the great global warming swindle

www.conservative.org/pressroom/2007/070323.htm

The truth is out there, and you don't even have to work very hard to find it. Examine this for yourself.

john 7

1-2 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn't want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.
3-5 His brothers said, "Why don't you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you're serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world." His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn't believe in him either.
6-8 Jesus came back at them, "Don't crowd me. This isn't my time. It's your time—it's always your time; you have nothing to lose. The world has nothing against you, but it's up in arms against me. It's against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don't wait for me. I'm not ready. It's not the right time for me."
9-11 He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, "Where is that man?"
12-13 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, "He's a good man." But others said, "Not so. He's selling snake oil." This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.
14-15 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching. The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: "How does he know so much without being schooled?"
16-19 Jesus said, "I didn't make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn't it, who gave you God's Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?"
20 The crowd said, "You're crazy! Who's trying to kill you? You're demon-possessed."
21-24 Jesus said, "I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you're still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I'm up to. Moses prescribed circumcision—originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors—and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it's the Sabbath. You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man's whole body well on the Sabbath? Don't be nitpickers; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right."
25-27 That's when some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Isn't this the one they were out to kill? And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah? And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from."
28-29 That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, "Yes, you think you know me and where I'm from, but that's not where I'm from. I didn't set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don't know him at all. I come from him—that's how I know him. He sent me here."
30-31 They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn't yet God's time. Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, "Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?"
32-34 The Pharisees, alarmed at this seditious undertow going through the crowd, teamed up with the high priests and sent their police to arrest him. Jesus rebuffed them: "I am with you only a short time. Then I go on to the One who sent me. You will look for me, but you won't find me. Where I am, you can't come."
35-36 The Jews put their heads together. "Where do you think he is going that we won't be able to find him? Do you think he is about to travel to the Greek world to teach the Jews? What is he talking about, anyway: 'You will look for me, but you won't find me,' and 'Where I am, you can't come'?"
37-39 On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says." (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
40-44 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, "This has to be the Prophet." Others said, "He is the Messiah!" But others were saying, "The Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he? Don't the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David's line and from Bethlehem, David's village?" So there was a split in the crowd over him. Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 That's when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, "Why didn't you bring him with you?"
46 The police answered, "Have you heard the way he talks? We've never heard anyone speak like this man."
47-49 The Pharisees said, "Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? You don't see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees? It's only this crowd, ignorant of God's Law, that is taken in by him—and damned."
50-51 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up. "Does our Law decide about a man's guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?"
52-53 But they cut him off. "Are you also campaigning for the Galilean? Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee."
Then they all went home.

genesis 34

1-4 One day Dinah, the daughter Leah had given Jacob, went to visit some of the women in that country. Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was chieftain there, saw her and raped her. Then he felt a strong attraction to Dinah, Jacob's daughter, fell in love with her, and wooed her. Shechem went to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl for my wife."
5-7 Jacob heard that Shechem had raped his daughter Dinah, but his sons were out in the fields with the livestock so he didn't say anything until they got home. Hamor, Shechem's father, went to Jacob to work out marriage arrangements. Meanwhile Jacob's sons on their way back from the fields heard what had happened. They were outraged, explosive with anger. Shechem's rape of Jacob's daughter was intolerable in Israel and not to be put up with.
8-10 Hamor spoke with Jacob and his sons, "My son Shechem is head over heels in love with your daughter—give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and we'll give our daughters to you. Live together with us as one family. Settle down among us and make yourselves at home. Prosper among us."
11-12 Shechem then spoke for himself, addressing Dinah's father and brothers: "Please, say yes. I'll pay anything. Set the bridal price as high as you will—the sky's the limit! Only give me this girl for my wife."
13-17 Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father with cunning. Their sister, after all, had been raped. They said, "This is impossible. We could never give our sister to a man who was uncircumcised. Why, we'd be disgraced. The only condition on which we can talk business is if all your men become circumcised like us. Then we will freely exchange daughters in marriage and make ourselves at home among you and become one big, happy family. But if this is not an acceptable condition, we will take our sister and leave."
18 That seemed fair enough to Hamor and his son Shechem.
19 The young man was so smitten with Jacob's daughter that he proceeded to do what had been asked. He was also the most admired son in his father's family.
20-23 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the public square and spoke to the town council: "These men like us; they are our friends. Let them settle down here and make themselves at home; there's plenty of room in the country for them. And, just think, we can even exchange our daughters in marriage. But these men will only accept our invitation to live with us and become one big family on one condition, that all our males become circumcised just as they themselves are. This is a very good deal for us—these people are very wealthy with great herds of livestock and we're going to get our hands on it. So let's do what they ask and have them settle down with us."
24 Everyone who was anyone in the city agreed with Hamor and his son, Shechem; every male was circumcised.
25-29 Three days after the circumcision, while all the men were still very sore, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each with his sword in hand, walked into the city as if they owned the place and murdered every man there. They also killed Hamor and his son Shechem, rescued Dinah from Shechem's house, and left. When the rest of Jacob's sons came on the scene of slaughter, they looted the entire city in retaliation for Dinah's rape. Flocks, herds, donkeys, belongings—everything, whether in the city or the fields—they took. And then they took all the wives and children captive and ransacked their homes for anything valuable.
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You've made my name stink to high heaven among the people here, these Canaanites and Perizzites. If they decided to gang up on us and attack, as few as we are we wouldn't stand a chance; they'd wipe me and my people right off the map."
31 They said, "Nobody is going to treat our sister like a whore and get by with it."