Salt and Light

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Well, a month has gone by since I posted Part 4 to Reviving the Republicans and a lot has happened since then.  If you’ve been following my blog, my son Eddie has published two phenomenal articles with “Hope Rides Alone” getting an incredible response.  We have received over 700 responses from over 500 people to his post.  It is very encouraging because it shows that the Democrats and RINOs have seriously miscalculated on the Iraqi war stance.  We have had 17 turncoat Republicans House members vote to rebuke our president and several GOP senators vote to end cloture on the Senate’s version.  So what’s a good conservative to do?  Three immediate things and this is the antidote.

1. Find out how your US Representative and Senator voted in their respective houses in regards to the anti-surge vote.  If they voted against it; thank them.  If they voted with the Democrats, tell them to plan on being unemployed next election.  And get all your like-minded friends to do the same.
2. Join the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, NFRA for short.  Just hit that link and find out if you have a local chapter, if not, start one!  They are the Republican wing of the Republican Party and our goal is to rid the party of RINOs.  Christine Whitman can write all the “It’s My Party Too” books she wants, but real conservatives make up the base of the Republican Party and we are here to revive it.
3. You need to also join TheVanguard.org.  Rod Martin is not only kind enough to sponsor this blog, but he has assembled an incredible staff and Rod will be making more announcements about the additions shortly.  TheVanguard.org is the antidote to MoveON.org.  They are taking the fight to MoveON.org but they need your help.  That means opening up your wallets and agreeing to be counted among the rolls of “the new conservative movement” as Rod puts it.  Here is Chairman Rod Martin’s vision:

“We need to stop fracturing ourselves into special interests, and take a page out of MoveOn’s book, using technology to unite across interest lines so we can all win together. We will not just turn out voters for the same old bunch, but raise up new candidates from the conservative netroots who truly believe and who will truly fight and win.”

So do you really want a revolution?  Do you really want to show our troops that we stand behind them?  Do you really want to see our country return to its traditional conservative roots?  Then we need to revive the Republican Party and it’s going to take a serious antidote to counteract the injurious and unwanted effects of not only the Democratic Majority, but also the muddled mess the RINOs have made. We are counting on you!

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to the new feature for “Salt and Light.”  I have asked my pastor, Dr. Dennis Brunet to help shed some light on very contemporary and somewhat controversial issues.  We will be exploring why evangelicals take the stands they do.  Stay tuned!

Also, if you haven’t got yours yet, you’re going to want to get a copy of my book, “Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland.”  Just hit the link on the lower righthand column and it will take you to Amazon. 

Here is Part 2 of Bro Dennis’ stance on a Mormon President. Some readers may find these comments disturbing, especially if you are of the Mormon faith. If you would like to send comments to Bro Dennis, please email Salt and Light. Please keep you comments polite and constructive; any vulgarity or disrespectful language will result in your email being immediately deleted.

S&L: And I don’t know that that was even possible of JFK when he said that because you have to…I had a conversation with a co-worker and wondered, what does that say if he’s telling you that… “My record of 14 years of supporting public education, supporting complete separation of church and state, and resisting pressure from any source on any issue should be clear by now to everyone.” What he’s saying is then is his personal religious beliefs are compartmentalized and don’t affect his everyday decision making in the public sector. And that to me as a biblical Christian…I’m going to call myself an evangelical in the old…with the definition I used in my book…but…

Brother Dennis: (leans forward towards recorder) yeah…and his book was very good by the way…

S&L: (laughs)…that makes me wonder about his beliefs then? How do you…one thing we teach here (at Midway Baptist Church) as a Sunday school teacher…one thing I try is to get people to adapt a biblical worldview, to not compartmentalize their beliefs, without us trying to beat people over the head and say its my way or the highway. We’re trying to change hearts.

Brother Dennis: But take JFK’s statement within the context of the 50’s, okay, although he said in 1960, you can’t take it as a 60’s concept…

S&L: Right, because it was early 1960…

Brother Dennis: That’s right. The 50’s…well there’s just some things we just, hey, the man said it; the man said it. There was an amazing naiveness…it’s also part of the problems of the 60’s came out of the naiveness of the 50’s, where there were certain pressures and trends. The “happy days” of going to make out on the…

S&L: …Lookout Hill.

Brother Dennis: Yeah, okay, now that might make funny television, but it lead to the hellishness of the 60’s. You understand? So when he’s coming through, I can see the naiveness and the propriety and the climate at that day of saying, it’s not relevant that I want this stress. It’s not relevant what pressures, if any, might conceivably be brought on me. People wanted to see things in a very sweet way coming out of World War II, you know, yes, Korea’s gone. Here we are, let’s be…maybe it’s time…hey doesn’t he look good…isn’t this Camelot or whatever?

But now days, now that we’ve come through and our society is far more cynical and far less believing and trusting. For him to say, I want you to believe me… (reads from JFK statement) “And you have at the same time placed your confidence in me and my ability to render a free and fair judgment.”

We don’t do that anymore…so he couldn’t get away…I’m not saying he wouldn’t get elected, because he was very charismatic…especially against his opponent (Nixon). But today, the avenues of discussion, the intensity of scrutiny, and the lack of respect…they will cut you no slack…they will get you! And he couldn’t have had the womanizing going on without these things coming to light, big time!

And so if he (Romney) wants to pull the JFK approach, I believe he is absolutely foolish because this country is far down the river from this (points at JFK statement). And what’s going to matter to people across the board, and even among like the evangelical of you just spoke, and not whether he believes in Jesus. That’s not going to…many of them have abandoned the biblical Jesus…but on two fronts. One is he’s holding onto a religion that claims to be the only true Christian religion; whereby he has to accept…they have no personal interpretation rights in Mormonism. He can’t say I accept this and I’ll say that and be genuine.

And then, the polygamy argument that is going to cross religious line, because even those who are not biblically based are going to say, this is crazy, this country is losing it’s mind. What? One man, seven wives? How can one man support seven wives? How many of those women are on welfare? What’s happening over there? Since when have we thrown the light of scrutiny on Utah, and really went into the sacred temple of Mormonism, which demands no audits? There’s a lot more I can say, but that’s just some warming the pot.

S&L: No, that’s some good stuff there, because…I guess for a specific answer what would one teaching of the Mormon Church that would cause a concern for a Mormon president? Where it would bring that conflict, possibly, I mean you brought up the polygamy, that’s probably the biggest one.

Brother Dennis: I think that’s the easiest one for people to see; to grab onto. I still believe that there is the problem of Mormonism’s exclusiveness that controls its members; they are highly controlled. But I don’t know how much people across the land are going to be able to get ahold of that.

Although to me their view of salvation, their rejection of Scriptures as written, their view of God as a man from another planet, Jesus being the first child from God and Mother God, denying the Trinity, baptizing the dead, many of those things are of great concern to me. And if you’re asking me specifically for the biblical Christian group, those are the areas that touch, but across the board the biggest part is the polygamy; he’s not going to be able to get away from that.

S&L: So pretty much, the more light, the more scrutiny on the Mormon faith, the more he’s going to have to explain for, is what you’re is what you’re basically saying…

Brother Dennis: Yeah…

S&L: …and it’s going to be hard for him to separate the two.

Brother Dennis: Well he’s going to have to explain why Mormonism isn’t the only Christian, quote Christian, religion, okay. A great question to him is, “Hey, y’all say the Mormons, you gotta be a Mormon to go to heaven, the Catholics say you gotta be a part of the Catholic Church to go to heaven; who’s right?

S&L Note: It is expected that many readers will take issue with Bro Dennis’ statement, “the polygamy argument that is going to cross religious line.” Many will say that polygamy is no longer officially practiced in the Mormon Church and is cause for ex-communication. This is true and Gov. Romney will be addressing the polygamy issue in the May 13 episode of “60 Minutes.” Nevertheless, polygamy is still practiced today by self-proclaimed Fundamentalist Mormons. Please read Bill McKeever’s excellent article titled, “The Polygamy Dilemma - Is Plural Marriage a Dead Issue in Mormonism?” This will explain Bro Dennis’ assertion that polygamy is not dead among Mormons and that the government is indeed supporting polygamist families in the form of food stamps.

I wanted to share an email Frank Salvato of the New Media Journal sent me in reply to my thanking him for publishing Eddie’s second article, “Freedom Feels Good.”  Frank has given me permission to print this and it shows the heart and soul of this great patriot:

As I said originally, I consider facilitating the advancement of truth and reality to be a civic responsibility. While Eddie is sacrificing his heart, soul and body so that others can drink from the cup of freedom, I consider it a duty to embrace my responsibility to do what I can to make sure people know the truth.
 
When we understand that each one of us has ownership in the covenant forged between government and the people - the Constitution - we tend to want to be better caretakers, better stewards to the principles held within; it becomes apparent that we are charged with preserving the freedoms and principles so that they shall not - as Lincoln so aptly said - perish from the Earth.
 
In short, I do it because I have a duty to.
 

Please support the New Media Journal with your attention, finances, and prayers.  This is truly the alternative media, the antidote to the MSM.  Thanks!

Thanks again to Frank Salvato of The New Media Journal!  He has published Eddie’s latest article, Freedom Feels Good, an article that actually began as a reply to one of the responses he received for his first article, Hope Rides Alone.  Check it out; it is as powerful as the first.  Thanks again to Frank and to Greg Allen of The Right Balance for doing all they can to get Eddie’s writings out into the public domain.

As for Part 5 of “Reviving the Republicans” (no I didn’t forget), I was actually waiting on Congress to act on this anti-escalation/surge resolution so I could include that in part of the antidote to RINOs which is Part 5.  That’s like waiting on my grass to grow in the winter.

I think Congress’ action/inaction on this resolution(s) is worthy of post all its own, so I’ll be publishing Part 5 here in the next few days and then when/if Congress actually acts, I’ll give it the attention it will deserve. 

Thanks again for all your support to Eddie and my family.  We are very humbled and blessed by all of the attention and kindness.

In Christ,

Dave

Ps. 37:4

My son Eddie is serving his second combat tour in Iraq and he recently sent me an article after seeing all the bad press about the Iraq War.  My heartfelt thanks to Greg Allen of The Right Balance for introducing me to Frank Salvato of the New Media Journal, an online magazine with excellent and hard-hitting articles.  Frank was gracious enough to publish Eddie’s article, “Hope Rides Alone.”  Frank and I will be on Greg’s radio show tomorrow morning talking about Eddie’s article.  Please tune in at 10:15 central time.  (Just hit the link for the Right Balance)