LEADING ATHEIST PROFESSOR CHANGES HIS MIND ABOUT GOD      NEW YORK Dec 9, 2004  AP/ABC NEWS  “A British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century has changed his mind. He now believes in God more or less based on scientific evidence, and says so on a video released Thursday. At age 81, after decades of insisting that theistic belief is a mistake, Antony Flew has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature, Flew said in a telephone interview from England. …”

  Pray that Professor Flew will become a Christian while he has breath and not miss out on Heaven or real peace here, and that then he will have a greater  influence for God and Jesus on others.    

CHRISTIANS ARE BEING FURTHER RESTRICTED,  DESPISED,  HARASSED, AND IN SOME CASES PERSECUTED  IN THE USA ALSO.  Note the above and for persecution world wide,  see  http://www.persecution.com/    Please pray for all.

On October 10, 2004, four Christians were arrested in Philadelphia, as videod and reported through http://www.afa.org/. The four are part of Repent America. Along with founder Michael Marcavage, members of Repent America—with police approval--were preaching near Outfest, a homosexual event, handing out Gospel literature and carrying banners with Biblical messages.

When they tried to speak, they were surrounded by a group of radical homosexual activists dubbed the Pink Angels. A videotape of the incident shows the Pink Angels interfering with the Christians’ movement on the street, holding up large pink symbols of angels to cover up the Christians’ messages and blowing high pitched whistles to drown out their preaching.

Rather than arrest the homosexual activists and allow the Christians to exercise their First Amendment rights, the Philadelphia police arrested and jailed the Christians!

They were charged with eight crimes, including three felonies: possession of instruments of crime (a bullhorn), ethnic intimidation (saying that homosexuality is a sin), and inciting a riot (reading from the Bible some passages relating to homosexuality) despite the fact that no riot occurred.

The following came through the Chicago Tribune site, Dec 28, 2004

The CLA,  following the favorable Supreme Court decision re the Boy Scouts and a Ban reversal by the Ohio State University,  believes that freedom to have a chapter at ASU  will happen.  But we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to provide  “wisdom from Heaven  which is ...¦pure, peace loving,... (James 3:17-18).  

  LOVE MUSLIMS  Pray and encourage them to see Christianity and its truth.   Muslims associating the USA and EU with Christianity would get a  greatly distorted picture.  For the most part, Hollywood and  the persons representing the USA and EU to Muslims are not Christians.  Thus Muslims who usually live a more dedicated life to their tradition, teachings, and the Quran/Koran  often see us as hypocrites, greedy, infidels, or foolish.    Jesus is only portrayed as a good prophet and not the Son of God   in the Koran.        Therefore, Christ’s life and teachings are not the central message to Muslims,  nor do they have His “power at work within” them (cf. Eph. 3:20).   RAND Corporation reports reveal that since 9/11,  Muslims feel more connected with other Muslims.  It is estimated that 100-150 million Muslims are now militant fundamentalists and potential terrorists.  See also books by  E.Caner(s) and Mike. Evans.   And Steve Simon in his book  The Age  of Sacred Terror reveals that their aggression is more diversified.  It is crucial that Christians pray, represent Christ well, love all, and take a larger posture on the world scene.

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 FRAUD is rampant in the USA.  While we are very grateful and amazed of His grace that allows the USA and the world to continue and  progress in some areas as well as it has, we need to improve our morals, manners, and mores.  Because God has been “removed” from the public mindset through materialism, greed, and Supreme Court decisions, we often try to get away with what we can. The IRS admits that it loses well over billion a year in undeclared taxables.    Relatively few persons consider that God is always looking –and judging-- not only what we do but also what we think;  “…Thou shalt not steal, lie, covet…” (Exodus 20).     We just finished a very “dirty” presidential campaign; both sides misrepresented.  Lord forgive and help us.   The lack of justice pursuit and some deregulation by past and recent  Administrations has allowed unethical and illegal conduct to increase.   At least five companies within major  corporate sectors such as   accounting firms,  finance,  manufacturing, communication, insurance, and stock trading firms have been fined over million each-- for penalties and (limited) restitution.    Five  NYSE stock  trading firms were just fined a combined   million.     Many of the scams of  Enron,  Tyco,  World Com,  Boeing,  and Sunbeam are very well known.  Our FDA has been remiss in allowing  PhenFen,  Relenza,  Baycol,  and other drugs, which have since been removed from the market,   and in the mislabeling of many other drugs.        NY AttyGen Spitzer and/or the CA Insurance Commissioner are suing Marsh and McLennan Insurance brokers, Cigna, MetLife, Universal Life Resources and others.   In that I am a state Licensed Counselor in Insurance, I have special concerns for its improvement.  We are grateful for some of the recent attempts to enforce needful regulations --and prosecute.    Some companies have already made practice changes.  The Church also should speak more against greed  and materialism.

 NBC TV Primetime of Dec 16, 2004 related that about 400 charity/tax exempt hospitals in the USA appear to be misusing their charters and are being sued.   Many are grossly overcharging the poor and then confiscating their meager assets.   Two hospitals were portrayed,  both were paying their CEOs over ,000 per year plus sizeable questionable travel accounts. 

Please pray for justice.

Even our HOMELAND SECURITY/HS has laxity, gross waste, conflicts of interest, and “fraud”  according to the  20/20 TV report of Dec 17, 2004.    HS held an overly elaborate convention/party in Hawaii, even though most of the attendees frequented Washington D.C.!   Taxpayer cost estimate: ,000.   ABC TV videotaped Tom Ridge lounging around the pool during   conference sessions;  the camera could have been a machine gun.  Where is security?   According to  http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/    who is a bold and somewhat brash Strategic Planner for our military and his Power Point presentation (on C-Span) and his book  The Pentagon’s New Map,    the USA is making some wrong moves toward world peace.    The 911 Commission makes some fine recommendations,  but unless we  1) publicly announce demotion of the FBI and CIA Washington officers who refused to take action that they were urged to do by field agents and translators, and 2) enact the laws AND provisions  to close the security net,  we will remain in jeopardy.  We need to pray, examine what is happening, and/or email/write our congresspersons and the Administration.   More on writing leaders is under our Key Government Issues button.            DRAFT     1/5/05     AJB

   CHRISTIAN ZIONISM /CZ  is a segment of faith that Christ is still especially concerned for the Jews and Israel: “…salvation for every one who believes, to the Jew first, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16) and the land that He gave them “And the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land...” (Gen. 12:7).     The land is for the Jews, but should be available to visit by all and  born-again Believers in Christ (and they should want to visit!).  These Believer are those who are adopted/grafted into the Family of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob;:“ …a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, …circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit” (Rms. 2:29);  they want to visit their earthly homeland and see where  their Lord and  spiritual grandparents  walked and worked!   It makes the Bible become more a part of them; after all   cities and regions are regularly pointed out in the Scriptures,  even in the NTestament.  Israel should be about the highest on the list of places the Christian wants to visit,  even though circumstances of life may not allow it to happen. 

Jesus went to Jerusalem/Zion often for its feasts and is going to return again there at Mt  Olivet (Zech 14).    God told us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,  may they prosper who love you”   (Ps 122:6).   Israel is important to God.  But CZ  is  often misunderstood to mean--  that Christians  endorse and support all that Israel does.  But we know there are serious opinion differences within even the parties of the  Knesset.   Pray that American Churches will at least spiritually support the Jews and Israel, and pray for them and justice for all nation.        Draft 2/05

 THE MORAL DECLINE OF COLLEGES is  a major concern.    New books out such as Dr Jim Black’s   Freefall Of The American University: How Our Colleges Are Corrupting The Minds And Morals Of The Next Generation  (Thomas Nelson, 2004),  research,  and the revealing of morals on some of USA’s campuses in a book by the popular Tom Wolfe concerning a Ms “Simmons”   illustrate that about 2/3rds. of the students live rather promiscuously/“hookup” and many of those have STDs.   Colleges provide a major influence toward godlessness, hedonism,  and socialism.  Some college courses include “Rock and Roll” (U of Mass.)  and “Hip-Hop…” (Geo Mason Univ.)   Many other examples are at  http://www.academia.org/     Major fault lies with deficient ideology of the administration, professors, and teaching  in most colleges.  A leftist bias prevails.  In a survey of 1,678 profs.   to appear in Academic Questions,  Democrate profs outnumber Republicans  28 to 1 in sociology and 30 to 1 in anthropology.    And the learning ethic has deteriorated.  The National Association of Scholars found from a battery of sample questions that “Contemporary college senior scored on the average little or no higher than the high-school graduates of  50 years ago.”    Professor Walter Williams wrote in a column Dec 8, 2004:  “ Given our universities’ gross betrayal of trust, American should rethink their generosity as well as rethink who serves on the boards…that permit universities to become hotbeds of political activism and academic fraud.”   Some colleges are complicitous in encouraging damaging activity.  One University that I taught at, SMU,  now offers a program in the art and science of video game development which can includes the game of Doom 3, struggling for hell with humans on Mars.  That according to Vic Godinez of the Dallas Morning News, Jan 05.    For a relatively few colleges that promote wholesomeness,  check  also  Young America’s Foundation   http://www.yaf.org/ 

 TAX REFORM AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE    Our nation is practically bankrupt,  morally and financially.     Pete Peterson, former USA Secy of Commerce and former CEO of Bell-Howell   portrays the catastrophe we are heading into in his book  Running on Empty.    Our total USA debt and and unfunded future obligations are over $45 Trillion and perhaps as high as $60T.   But our depreciated  assets are only worth about $40 trillion.   Peterson and   Robert Rubin,  Secy of Treasury under Clinton  agree along with many others, that the GW Bush Tax Cuts were a mistake.   The cuts favored the rich who did not need them for USA economic purposes.   According to Jason Furman,  Director of the Brookings Institutions division  http://www.hamiltonproject.org/  ,  corporations get a tax benefit  of about 6% when they finance ops from debt vs. equity capital.   Our stated National Debt is now at about $6 trillion, and out of control.  Our former Fed Chairman Greenspan has warned us that foreign nations may limit their buying of our debt/bonds when they discern USA weakness.  We should be very grateful for most of what reasonable government gives us in the USA,  and not complain  much about the amount of tax we pay.   And we should not begrudge a fair amount of tax (nor cheat).   We perhaps may think like one of the most famous comedians  Bob Hope: "I am happy to pay my taxes,  but I could be twice as happy if I paid half as much."   However,  we are linking our children with an outlandish national debt,   in addition to the $2T of personal parental consumer debts (in addition to mortgages)..   Our low  morals have fed our spending desires of both Democrats and Republicans.  Pray for God to raise up more Statesmen/statespersons. 

USA NEEDS   MORE  PROGRESSIVE TAXES TO CORRECT INJUSTICES AND PAY DOWN OUR $45+ TRILLION OF FEDERAL DEBT

In an article by Matt Miller, Fortune columnist  June 11 2007    for the Fortune Magazine  group it was stated that the "New Census data show that the top 1 percent of U.S. earners now take home a greater share of national income than at any time since the height of the go-go 1920s. The top 300,000 earners together receive almost as much income as the bottom 150 million"  --that is,  over half of the wage earners in the USA!     "GOP presidential wannabes ... genuflect before the altar of tax reduction, despite that creed's growing fiscal, moral, and mathematical indefensibility. Mitt Romney wants more marginal and corporate rate cuts. Rudy Giuliani touts the endorsement of Steve "Flat Tax" Forbes. Even John McCain, the "straight talker" who opposed Bush's original tax cuts, now insists on their extension." 

     We need to restore our progressive federal income tax (FIT) rate back to 90%+ on the last millions  of  high incomes as when Eisenhower was President.  The tax rate cuts by JFK in 1963 and Reagan in 1981, in viewing relevant factors,  did not increase our economy.  Also, during Truman-Eisenhower,  when marginal upper FIT rates  were above 80%,  the DJIA more than doubled.    And the Clinton tax increases of 1993 did not hurt the economy.       It is demoralizing for their workers when public corp CEOs often retain 400 times what their laborers do.  Are they worth that?  Some would cite the great increase in corporate worth under CEOs like Jack Welch  or even Bill Gates.   But did they do it even primarily?  And was not the monopolistic and illegal restraint of competition  by/under them a  great reason their companies prospered?    Do they need to retain that much income?  Dan Gross, writing in a TIAA publication  (and TIAA as a mammoth pension fund should do more to influence corporations for the good)   said "...many public companies are run by CEOs who view their companies as their personal fiefdoms, or by boards of directors who don't believe their role is to act in the shareholder's best interests."   Hired CEOs are usually running the companies for their personal benefit  and  contriving income from  manipulation or abilities given them by God  while they are overly using the government services (lobbying access, airports, airways, roadways (blocked while buildings go up),  eminent domain (Donald Trump; and GM v Poletown until recently), highways, waterways, public resources of federal land and water rights, courts, government facilities and grants, library research,  river locks for yachts...) much more than the average.  Steven Greenhut as reprinted  in the  Panama City  News Herald  Mar 2, 2005  wrote " The government can pick winner and losers for virtually any reason, and it invariably favors the wealthy...."   It is unwise of Corp Boards to pay much more than $5mil/year to a CEO, to pay great amounts to entertainers/spokespersons/ad copy of such as Elton John whose lifestyle and  public utterances offends a large segment of their customers.  Pray for corporate wisdom. 

     And it is unwise for the government to allow  immoral entertainers and rock stars, and overpaid sport stars, etc. to retain the major portion of their salaries,  even though the "public" is willing to give them their monies.  Color TV makes wealth look so attractive that many are willing to do almost anything for wealth, even rob.   The disparity causes those without good moral foundation  to find ways to cheat and beat the system to get at those monies.  Those without the wealth often think their crimes to get at the monies are not any worse than the crimes the rich used to get their  monies. (And they usually are not but when the little guy gets caught, he often pays with a longer prison sentence!)  Only a better regulated market would restrain more of the big business illegalities.  It took a NY State Atty Genl,  E. Spitzer, to bring momentous enforcement of the law and regulations on large business.   And most who have immense weath "store" most of it until they can make a big investment for more.  That is one reason why a national Sales or Consumption Tax recently touted yet again,  this time by Alan Greenspan,  would not be fair   Greenspan, because he is a "free market" economist leaning toward libertarian, tends to move as though government should have a very limited responsibility in bringing about justice in wealth accumulation.    When the very rich do spend/invest,  consumption and sales taxes would not likely impact.   In the last few years we have even lowered the tax rates on yachts, airplanes, and luxury cars!  

  And it is immoral that the states have  and even promote multi million dollar gambling Lotteries,  which get its money mostly from the poor, to enrich outrageously and unnecessarily  the few big winners,  and wasting much time, resources, and efforts additionally.    Most persons who retain more than $5mil/year of income seem to use the bulk of their money on themselves, frivolous ventures, or hoard it.  All prominent billionaires give far less for the public good compared to their  incomes than does the average person; nevertheless,  a few of the more mature ones    Warren Buffet,  Wm Gates Sr, and George Soros came out against the reduction in the Estate Taxes.  They see through the recent mask of the renaming FEstateTas as   Death Tax,-- for we are not taxing death but the transfer of great wealth to those who did not earn it.   See    http://www.responsiblewealth.org   

     By allowing the rich to retain so much, our present government is indirectly making it harder "for the rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven"  (Mt19:23).   A fair diversion of  taxing them 90% on earnings over $5mil   would be to allow the high income persons to gift that tax money to a bonafide 501(c3) charity if  the majority of its Directors is independent.      If  "high rollers" and their companies were taxed a higher progressive tax,  they would see that earnings (greed) have a greatly diminishing returns so they might spend more creative time on the business rather than their personal financial gain.   And they would be less inclined to criminal activity-for the risk/reward ratio of 10::1 would not be in their favor with a 90% tax rate.   The Flat Tax  would increase their greed.    CEOs  or their lobbyists often plead for tax relief.   In a study of the Fortune 500, half of the companies reduced their State income taxes to about 2.3%,  14% paid no tax while earning $86 billion.  Part of this is due to the federal IRS overlooking   that half of the 500   reported  only half of their income to the IRS!   This administration's  "tax deform" program is making the situation worse.   In addition to States, municipalities often give tax relief to companies.  According to Robert McIntryre,  Director of Citizens for Tax Justice,  Dell, SBC, Kohl are big abusers of loophole leaping.   When companies and execs can arrange to retain most of their high earnings,  that becomes the major occupation  of their execs instead of their running businesses.  (As does tax saving  for many investors.)   Further, the companies would become less attractive for takeover by foreign firms if our high profit firms and overpaid executives were taxed at the previous higher and fairer rates.

A  mid 2006 study showed that the gap between the wealthiest in the USA and the others increased by 50% since the early ‘60s.  In a CNNMoney.com internet report on Aug 29, 2006:

" ... according EPI economist Jared Bernstein. That puts more of a squeeze on middle- and lower-income workers, who will have a harder time accumulating assets.

Factors such as technology are likely to keep the gap wide going forward, says [Cornell economist] Frank, coauthor of the book "Winner Take All Society." In today's mass markets, even small innovations can reward the talented few much more greatly than the majority. For example, the vision and aptitude of Bill Gates or other entrepreneurs can't be trained, and the rewards of their talents are magnified by globalization.

One of the ways to narrow the gap a bit, Bernstein and Frank suggest, is to raise tax rates on upper-income tax payers. That, they argue, would raise more tax revenue and help to stem budget cuts to programs that benefit middle and low income groups as well as public services...."