The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Credit Where It's Due

9.12.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 5)

In one culture, marriage, however belated, precedes birth. In an earlier American society this was often mandatory...the shotgun-wedding syndrome came from that...and especially if one wished to continue living as a member of "polite" society. Counting the number of months between marriage and birth used to be a big, if quiet, tee-hee joke, but the baby was still "legal" even if the marriage took place only the day before birth. The healthy society then did, in fact, consist of two-parent families.

The huge difference today is as much about the decline of marriage as a requirement for admission to polite society as it is to any increase or decrease in abortions or teen-age pregnancies. And this was, when it boiled right down to it, the actual "Murphy Brown" issue. It wasn't about her unmarried motherhood but about her deliberate choice NOT to get married and to bring the child up in a one-parent, ah, family.

That was the social difference that Dan Quayle was talking about. One wonders how Jacob Weisberg would comment about that television show today.
-- Gregg Calkins

I think the author misunderstood the principles of Conservative Christians. We oppose sin, but we love the sinner. We still believe out of wedlock sexual relationship is sin. But if the person who sinned had repented, chose the right action while facing the consequences of his or her mistake, we encourage them. We would still oppose Bristle or any other person having sex out of wedlock. But once the mistake has been made, we would not condemn them, but rather help them to face it and encourage them to avoid another mistake. We do not condemn women who had abortion, but condemn the practice and policies that entice women to kill their babies.

Jesus loves the sinner, condemns sin and condemns the ultimate tempter, Satan. Without a proper understanding of the grace of the Gospel, one would mistake the current reaction of Christians toward the Palin family as being partisan, because they do not understand how a true Christian thinks and loves. No sin is so great that the grace of God can not cover, In the Palin case Christians are just following the example of their Lord Jesus.

The liberals have no understanding of the Gospel, that is why you see them encourage the sin but condemn the sinner. There is no love in their heart when they see a young girl in Bristle's situation. Only the love toward their own agenda. The heart condition of the Conservatives and liberals displayed here are at such a contrast. One gives life, the other gives death, to both the sinner and the baby in the womb.

Love in Jesus,
-- Amy of Virginia

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s The Economy Is Sound:

To buttress Mr. Tyrrell's point, check the employment numbers at the website of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of August 2008, the U.S. Civilian Labor Force is 154.9 million and total employment is 145.5 million. In June of 2000, the U.S. Civilian Labor Force was 140.8 million and total employment was 135.2 million. So during the Bush years, about 14 million new people (net) were included as employable and 10 million (net) new jobs were created. Instead of ignoring the Bush years, McCain would be wise to trumpet the 10 million new jobs, while making appropriate condolences for the current and temporary unemployment rate. He could also point out that the current financial setbacks are not economy-wide, but are primarily the popping of the real estate bubble, which cannot be blamed on politicians, and the run-up in oil prices, which can be blamed on timid politicians of both parties, but which John and Sarah will immediately (Jan. 21, 2009) start to remedy.
-- Michael G. Novak
Ellicott City, Maryland

If looked at from a academic definition and prospective the assessment that the economy is growing is correct. Pencil neck geeks from Ivy League schools are neither trusted nor influential right now. Three big points that should lead in current discussion of the economy:

First, the census department last week announced the observation that only lawyers, doctors, and engineers have increased wages since 2000. The census bureau found that the average wages of Americans are down three percent since 2000. Of course the census bureau counts only wages and does not recognize other kinds of compensation but they also use the ridiculous CPI as their inflation index so they are pretty close to right after discounting their insensitivity to shifting professional populations. This leads to the second point that the total number of high tech employees has declined in the United States every year sin 1998 except 2006. Good wage jobs have not been growing. Stock options and other non-wage has effectively gone up since the better engineers have been the only ones retained. Third the tax structures of most states have caused corporations in the United States to under capitalize American Jobs for decades. When companies will not spend as much capital on the employees' job as the employees spend on their cars you can not expect those employees to be confident in the economy.
-- Gregory Franke

At least they could complain about the minimum wage law lowering the participation of teens in the economy. It is a slight dip that adds to the overall unemployment numbers but a dip. I guess if you are not a teen, it is not a big problem.
-- Danny L. Newton
Cookeville, Tennessee

How can there be 120 months of expansion under the Clinton Administration? Or did I miss the joke?
-- Martha Francois
Portland, Oregon

THE KENYAN HALF-BROTHER
Re: Mark Hyman's If Only Sam Kinison Met Barack Obama:

I have mixed feelings about criticizing Senator Obama about his alleged lack of charity with his half-brother in Kenya.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Trade, John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton, Mainstream Media, Television, Business, Islam, Abortion, Hollywood, Law, Military, Iraq, Russia, NATO, Africa, Alaska, Oil