The American Spectator

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Toughen Up

6.10.09 @ 6:01AM

GET TOUGH NOW OR GET OWNED LATER
Re: Andrew Cline's Reality Awaits Obama:

Your analysis is absolutely on the mark, with one exception. If the US were to abandon Israel, there would be no material difference in the Muslim view of America. As is the case with all enemies of Islamism, the US would not be respected. By the tenets of its own world view or Qu'ran, only brute force is deserving of respect.
-- P.A. Melita
Charlottesville, Virginia

Bravo! This was a terrific essay! I have always observed that the problem with liberals and socialists (as if there were any real distinction) was the ignorance of human nature. Ignoring human nature is the mistake of liberal socialist "sheeple" to whom liberal socialist leaders owe their leadership. Liberals for some reason think their enlightened leaders are immune to the corruptibility of socialist leaders of the past. They think they must surely have evolved beyond greed and self interest because they articulate utopian visions of how much better the world will be if they give up their own free will and force the rest of us to also. We are headed towards a future that will test the gullibility of liberals and the civility of freedom-loving Americans. Let's hope it doesn't go too far, or there will be a disastrous end for liberals in the US.
-- Dan
Atlanta, Georgia

When a man of principle takes a stand, he does not need worry who will approve and who can be counted on as a friend. He takes his stand because it is right.  

In High Noon, Sheriff Will Cain (Gary Cooper) never asks to be popular or appreciated. He certainly makes no apology for making his stand: what is right is right. He lives his life by this principle and he is willing to die for it. Atticus Finch's (To Kill a Mockingbird) popularity takes a nose dive when he defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape in a small Southern town during The Great Depression. Mr. Finch does what is right for the sake of doing right, knowing full well that he will pay a dear price for his principles. Some people come to appreciate these quality men, but this appreciation is never the motivation of such men. 

Mr. Obama, apologize for your own choices and character, but please feel free to refrain from apologizing for the actions of America's history and military. We have always acted honorably under the command of our civilian and elected Commander in Chief. Our military has made mistakes, but we have always placed our honor above our lives. Mr. President, can you make the same statement?
-- I.M. Kessel

A SAINT FOR THE AGE
Re: Patrick O'Hannigan's Pruning the Narrative of Murder:

Within Lutheranism, the faith of slain Dr. Tiller, a "saint" is different from what most folks assume -- certainly unlike what Roman Catholicism and many other Christian denominations believe. Every Christian is a saint by God's grace. This is one in the same as the Kingdom of God is now and is yet to come. What is not commonly understood is Lutherans describe the Christian as being at the same time both sinner and saint. This has nothing to do with a radical egalitarianism in which trophies are awarded to everyone. It is the Biblical recognition that even as God's redeemed we still are unable to escape the bonds of original sin and the deceit of our own hearts. (See Paul's dilemma of "new man" and "old man." Romans 7:18-20)

Could Dr. Tiller have been a saint as Lutherans understand saints? Yes. Dr. Tiller, as profoundly misguided and evil in his actions as he was, could be covered by Christ in His own righteousness and made welcome in the kingdom of heaven. Christ's mercy knows no bounds; but, as for Dr. Tiller, only He knows. It is forbidden to judge other men's souls. We can, however, proclaim the Gospel and hope.

But this is not what Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, pundits and "fellow travelers" are about. Nor was it what the "supporters" who stood outside Reformation Lutheran Church this past Sunday handing out white flowers to one and all were about either. None were about taking the petitions of Lutheran Christianity seriously. They were more interested in cloaking the macabre barbarism of abortion. To this effect, they were constructing Dr. Tiller as a secular saint for the edification of all peoples. When they say "if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament" their conscience speaks against them. For them, abortion is one high sacrament to their ideal: the self-made/self-chosen individual unfettered by any duties he did not select for himself. Any suggestion that one and all have an inherited obligation to protect and nourish the unborn is the antithesis of the ideal.

In a few short months, Dr. Tiller will be forgotten. No one will hand out flowers in front of Reformation Lutheran Church and the foyer will be scrubbed clean. But the war between life and death among us will go on. Unfortunately, it is a war where even churches are not safe.
-- Mike Dooley

TOO MUCH OF A CUTIE FOR HIS OWN GOOD
Re: Mark Tooley's Florida's Kissing Priest Ignites Catholic-Episcopal Row:

I'm sure my reaction to this "comic opera" is shared by many real Christians. Pox on both the Roman Catholic Church and the Episcopalian Church (if you can call this bunch of heretics a church). How in the world did this clown ever rise so far in the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the first place? Although I suppose one should be glad he prefers women to boys slightly past puberty. But as one reflects, it is not surprising at all that this poor substitute for the church of John Wesley and other great men would embrace this popinjay as it seems to have embraced every political and social fad and exhibitionist that comes down the pike. Lord help us all in this time of complete idiocy.
-- Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan

WAS IT EVER A CRISIS?
Re: Betsy McCaughey's Downgrading American Medical Care:

Rahm Emanuel, of the famous (or infamous) statement, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," is not one to be intimidated by facts and figures. Health care is not in a crisis situation, but that does not mean he can't create one at the behest of The One.  

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