http://news.mobile.msn.com/en-us/articles.aspx?afid=1&aid=28573204

http://www.remnantofgod.org/nl0603.htm

http://www.remnantofgod.org/image.htm

http://watch.pair.com/rain.html

Survival Strategy for Apostate Times, Part 2 :: Grace to You

Survival Strategy for Apostate Times, Part 3 :: Grace to You

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20081209.html

Many conservatives are up in arms regarding the charge that President-elect
Barack Obama may not have been born in the United States and is, therefore,
not qualified under the U.S. Constitution to be President of the United
States.

Article. II. Section. 1. of the U.S. Constitution states, "No Person except
a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of
the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of
President . . . ." Some accuse Mr. Obama of not being born in the State of
Hawaii as claimed, but in Kenya, Africa. Several people have filed various
lawsuits challenging Mr. Obama’s U.S. citizenship.

Historically, "natural born Citizen" has always been understood to mean
someone born in the United States of America. If Barack Obama was not born
in the United States, he is absolutely unqualified to be President. Hawaii’s
secretary of state says Obama was indeed born in that state. However, to
date, Obama’s actual birth certificate has not been publicly released, which
only serves to add fuel to the accusations that he was not born in Hawaii.

Many conservatives seem to be obsessed with this controversy, calling it a
"constitutional crisis." The fact is, however, we have been in a
"constitutional crisis" for years! The problem is, most conservatives only
get worked up over a potential abridgement of constitutional government when
it serves their partisan political purposes. In other words, when a Democrat
appears guilty of constitutional conflict, conservatives "go ballistic," but
when Republicans are equally culpable of constitutional conflict, they yawn
with utter indifference.

For example, the one man who has the notoriety and political clout to
actually bring about some meaningful investigation and resolution to the
Obama citizenship brouhaha is none other than Senator John McCain. After
all, he was Obama’s principal opponent in the race for the White House.
Plus, as the standard-bearer for the only other major political party, he
has the attention of the national media, as well as the national legislative
and judicial branches of government. So, why is John McCain not at all
interested in the Obama citizenship issue?

Perhaps one reason that John McCain is so uninterested in where Barack Obama
was born is because he, John McCain, was not born in the United States. He
was born in the country of Panama. So, let me ask readers a question: Does
anyone believe if John McCain had been elected President instead of Barack
Obama that any notable conservative would have been distressed about a
"constitutional crisis"? Get real!

Yes, I know McCain was born to a naval officer serving in Panama at the
time. That fact changes nothing. John McCain was still born in a foreign
country, and under a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, is not
qualified to be President of the United States. Even our current State
Department policy (7 FAM 1100) reads: "Despite widespread popular belief,
U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular
facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th
Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship
by reason of birth."

Does anyone not remember the controversy surrounding the potential
Presidential campaign of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Born in
Austria, Schwarzenegger is a naturalized citizen of the United States and is
now Governor of California. However, since Schwarzenegger is a naturalized
citizen, but not a natural born citizen, he is considered unqualified to run
for President.

But, again, most conservatives care little about the Constitution’s
requirement that a President be a "natural born Citizen." Like liberals,
most conservatives are afflicted with a very debilitating disease that I
call Selective Constitutionalism. They only want to apply constitutional
government when it helps Republicans or hurts Democrats. Most of them really
could not care less about adherence to the Constitution. If they did, they
would have been up in arms for the last eight years as President George W.
Bush repeatedly ignored–and even trampled–the U.S. Constitution.

Where were these "constitutional" conservatives when George W. Bush was
assuming dictatorial-style powers and contravening Fourth Amendment
prohibitions against warrantless searches and seizures? Where were they when
Bush was ordering our emails, letters, and phone calls to be intercepted by
federal police agencies without court oversight? Where were they when Bush
was obliterating the Fifth and Eighth Amendments? Where were they when Bush
overturned Posse Comitatus by Executive Order? Where were they when Bush
dismantled the constitutional right of Habeas Corpus? Where were they when
Bush lied to the American people about the invasion of Iraq and took the
United States to war without a Declaration of War from Congress? Where were
conservatives when Bush turned nine U.S. military installations over to the
United Arab Emirates? Where were they when Bush ordered his Department of
Transportation to open up America’s airlines to foreign ownership? Where
were they when President Bush nullified (using "signing statements") over
1,100 statutes he did not like? Where were they as President Bush and his
fellow Republicans reauthorized one of the most egregiously unconstitutional
pieces of legislation in modern memory: the USA Patriot Act? Where were they
when Bush signed the blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold Act? I could
go on and on.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican Party has been just as culpable in
violating constitutional government as the Democrat Party has–maybe more
so! If the Republican and Democrat parties had any allegiance to the U.S.
Constitution, neither John McCain nor Barack Obama would have been chosen as
their respective Presidential nominees.

While we are on the subject, if anyone cared about constitutional
government, Hillary Clinton (or any other U.S. Senator or House Member)
would obviously be determined as ineligible to be given any appointment in
the Obama administration under Article. I. Section. 6. of the U.S.
Constitution. Why? Because the Constitution prohibits House or Senate
members taking Presidential posts if the salary of the job they would take
was raised while they were in Congress.

However, several past Presidents have skirted this constitutional
prohibition (including Presidents Taft, Nixon, and Carter) by lowering the
salary of the job back to what it was so the nominee could accept the job
without receiving the pay increase that was approved while the appointee was
in Congress. In fact, this sleight of hand actually has a political name. It
is called "the Saxbe fix," after Nixon’s appointment of Senator William
Saxbe to be attorney general.

Do we have a "constitutional crisis"? You bet we do; but it is not limited
to Barack Obama or the Democrat Party. The real constitutional crisis is the
manner in which the American people have, for years, allowed civil
magistrates from both major parties to routinely violate their oaths to
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. God
help us!

*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these
editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by
credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php

(c) Chuck Baldwin

NOTE TO THE READER:

This email editorial cannot be considered Spam as long as the sender
includes contact information and a method of removal.

To subscribe, click on this link and follow the instructions:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/subscribe.php

To unsubscribe, click on this link and follow the instructions:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/unsubscribe.php

Chuck Baldwin’s commentaries are copyrighted and may be republished,
reposted, or emailed providing the person or organization doing so does not
charge for subscriptions or advertising and that the column is copied intact
and that full credit is given and that Chuck’s web site address is included.

Editors or Publishers of publications charging for subscriptions or
advertising who want to run these columns must contact Chuck Baldwin for
permission. Radio or television Talk Show Hosts interested in scheduling an
interview with Chuck should contact chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com

Readers may also respond to this column via snail mail. The postal address
is P.O. Box 37070, Pensacola, Florida. When responding, please include your
name, city and state. And, unless otherwise requested, all respondents will
be added to the Chuck Wagon address list.

Please visit Chuck’s web site at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20081212.html

I ask my non-Christian friends to bear with me on this column. As one will
quickly see, this column is addressed to my fellow Christian conservatives.

Regular readers of this column know that one of my chief frustrations is the
way Christian conservatives (otherwise known as the "Religious Right") are
so easily deceived by Republican politicians. The all-time classic
illustration of this foible is the way the Religious Right was (and is) so
enamored with President George W. Bush. No matter what Bush did: no matter
how egregiously unconstitutional, no matter how utterly stupid, no matter
how blatantly evil his actions were, Christian conservatives (almost
universally) either robotically accepted and approved what he did, or
blindly looked the other way. It was maddening!

It was as if Christian conservatives lost all ability to reason; it was as
if they lost all discernment and discretion. Because George W. Bush claimed
to be a Christian, and because he was a Republican, he could do no wrong. To
this very day, the only group of people who yet approves of Bush’s
Presidency is the Religious Right. Everyone else on the planet realizes that
George W. Bush’s Presidency will go down in history has one of the all-time
worst.

George Bush took a prosperous and robust economy, and led America to the
verge of a second Great Depression. He has taken a (relatively) free and
independent republic to the brink of becoming a globalist Police State. He
has pushed the envelope of executive power; he has trampled individual
liberty; he has made a mockery of justice; and he has made America the
laughingstock of the world. In addition, Bush has misused and abused our
nation’s bravest and finest by his illegal and inexcusable invasion of Iraq.
No matter. The Religious Right still loves him. Why? Because he is a
"Christian" Republican.

Since 2000, James Dobson, Pensacola Christian College (PCC), and their peers
around the country have had an eight-year lovefest with George W. Bush.
Life-size cardboard posters of Bush have stood in their bookstores for eight
long, laborious years. Grade school children in their Christian schools have
been subjected to Bush propaganda for eight tedious, tiresome years. To
them, G.W. Bush ranks somewhere between Moses and the Almighty. And nothing
Bush said or did seemed to matter.

I said all of that to call attention to a recent interview Cynthia McFadden
had with President Bush on ABC’s Nightline this past Monday. During the
interview, McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.

Now, acceptance of the Bible’s literalness is one of conservative
Christianity’s most sacred doctrines. There is not a professor at PCC (or
any other conservative Christian college or university) that would keep his
or her job for a nano-second, if he or she even questioned the veracity of
the Scriptures. Right? You know it’s true! Most conservative Christians
would even go so far as to say that one cannot be a born-again Christian who
does not believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God.

Well, what was George Bush’s response to McFadden’s question? He said, "You
know. Probably not. . . . No, I’m not a literalist." Notice, Bush twice
denied the veracity of the Scriptures.

Now, Bush has no reason to "fudge" his answers, right? He has no more
elections to face. No more, "He’s got to say this to get elected," which was
the flippant explanation given by the Religious Right to excuse Bush’s
numerous apostate positions during the past eight years.

So, George W. Bush clearly stated that he does not believe the Bible is
God’s Holy, inspired Word. Will Dobson and PCC still say that Bush is "one
of us"?

Then, as Bush attempted to give a Christian testimony, he told McFadden, "It
is hard for me to justify or prove the mystery of the Almighty in my life.
All I can just tell you is that I got back into religion and I quit drinking
shortly thereafter . . . ."

What kind of Christian testimony is this: "I got back into religion"? I
doubt that this kind of testimony would grant membership in the Campus
Church (which is not even a genuine New Testament church, you understand) at
PCC or in virtually any conservative Christian church.

I am confident, however, that Bush’s statements will do nothing to diminish
his god-like status with James Dobson and the rest of the Religious Right in
America. For eight long and bloody years, Christian conservatives have been
selling their convictions, doctrines, and even their consciences to George
W. Bush. I will even go so far as to say that, in many respects, millions of
Christians have turned President Bush into an idol. Many of them would
forsake their pastor, their friends, and even their own family before they
would forsake George W. Bush and the Republican Party.

Of course, none of this would have happened had Christians–and especially
Christian pastors–not lost touch with their American heritage. Had they
maintained a studied understanding of constitutional government, and of the
principles of Natural Law upon which it rests, they would not have become
dupes for Bush and his fellow neocons.

I doubt very much whether Thomas Jefferson was a born-again Christian (after
all, he, like Bush, expressed doubt regarding the Bible’s literalness), but
he fully understood–and embraced–the "Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God"
and was more than willing to inculcate those principles into our country’s
most sacred document: our Declaration of Independence. As such, Jefferson
will be forever regarded as one of America’s greatest Founding Fathers and
Presidents. Believe me, America was far better off with Thomas Jefferson
than with George W. Bush!

So, where are Dobson and PCC now? Will any of them utter a word of rebuke to
their "Christian" President for his apostasy? No, they won’t. (As a
comparison, contemporary pastors most certainly did rebuke Jefferson for his
public statements questioning Christ’s divinity, even though he was a
Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence.) Of course,
Barack Obama will not escape the public repudiation of Dobson and Company.
Why? He is a Democrat. You see, it’s not principle; it’s partisan politics
that matters, after all.

While we are asking questions, when will our fellow Christians and pastors
finally open their history books? When will they read the U.S. Constitution,
Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence? And when will they open
their minds and hearts–even a crack–to the possibility that they might
have been duped, and that there is more to being elected to the office of
President besides being a "Christian" Republican? Probably never.

In four more years, there will doubtless be another "Christian" Republican
for the Religious Right to fawn over. Where he or she stands on the
Constitution won’t matter; neither will it matter whether this newest
"Christian" Republican has any commitment to national sovereignty, the Bill
of Rights, or to fundamental freedoms. All that will matter is that he or
she professes to be a Christian, and has an "R" behind their name. And,
quite frankly, this last election proved that even a Christian profession is
not necessary. All that is required is the "R" behind the name.

*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these
editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by
credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php

(c) Chuck Baldwin

NOTE TO THE READER:

This email editorial cannot be considered Spam as long as the sender
includes contact information and a method of removal.

To subscribe, click on this link and follow the instructions:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/subscribe.php

To unsubscribe, click on this link and follow the instructions:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/unsubscribe.php

Chuck Baldwin’s commentaries are copyrighted and may be republished,
reposted, or emailed providing the person or organization doing so does not
charge for subscriptions or advertising and that the column is copied intact
and that full credit is given and that Chuck’s web site address is included.

Editors or Publishers of publications charging for subscriptions or
advertising who want to run these columns must contact Chuck Baldwin for
permission. Radio or television Talk Show Hosts interested in scheduling an
interview with Chuck should contact chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com

Readers may also respond to this column via snail mail. The postal address
is P.O. Box 37070, Pensacola, Florida. When responding, please include your
name, city and state. And, unless otherwise requested, all respondents will
be added to the Chuck Wagon address list.

Please visit Chuck’s web site at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com

http://www.biblebb.com/files/REVIVALS.HTM