ACNA at Risk Over Immigration

Those who have long followed this blog know how well disposed I am towards the Anglican Church in North America.  With rejoicing, I attended the Assembly at which ACNA was born back in June 2009.  I also supported the Reformed Episcopal Church joining ACNA.

So this post should be taken as an alarm call rather than an attack.  And I am alarmed that ACNA is at risk of getting out of balanced and divided over issues of immigration and refugees.  Veering beyond compassion and the Gospel into divisive politics is a particular danger at the moment.

Granted, Archbishop Foley Beach’s statement over the weekend is timely, helpful and balanced, particularly where he states:

In our province we also have lawmakers who face a different, but related set of challenging moral issues.  As public servants, they are called to carefully discern how best to respond to the global humanitarian need while also maintaining the appropriate role of government in protecting its citizens. There are no easy answers to how our nations should balance these priorities, and our leaders need your prayers.

I find needful his acknowledgement that government has an important role in protecting its citizens.  And saying “there are no easy answers” is certainly a succinct way of saying there are no easy political answers.

But, earlier, he understandably leaves something out in the statement in praising the Anglican Immigrant Initiative:

They have taken the lead in caring for those in our communities who are refugees and immigrants, showing the love of Christ to the most vulnerable.

This week, I encourage you to follow their example, and make a special effort to reach out to refugees and immigrants in your local community. 

Does that reaching out include their emphasis on legal aid to immigrants? The Anglican Immigrant Initiative site places much emphasis on legal aid.  Does that legal aid serve to make it more difficult to deport illegals who should not be here in the first place?  Is that an appropriate role for the church? Again, if Abp. Foley wishes to keep his counsel on this sensitive area private, that is understandable.

Back to the bigger picture, ACNA needs to tread carefully.  Many of us in ACNA fled denominations that had become the Democrat Party at prayer, that had habitually presumed to push Liberal/Left political policies in the name of Jesus and of his church, thereby abusing the Holy Name as well as those many in the pews who disagreed. I know I was long ago fed up with that sort of thing and am not at all of a mind ever to put up with it again.  If ACNA appears likewise to follow the primrose path of espousing liberal political policies, especially on such a volatile issue as immigration, there may be an explosion from the rank and file and division within the church.

And ACNA is perilously close to doing so.  Already, its relief arm, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF), has partnered with World Relief on immigration and refugees.  And World Relief is not shy about opposing President Trump’s policies in this area.  We already have ACNA clergy (Thankfully not any bishops that I’ve noticed.) crusading on immigration and refugees with little regard to church unity.  This post over at The Old Jamestown Church and a current perusal of the public ACNA Facebook page give a flavor of that and resulting unhappiness.

I may revisit this topic.  But I will cut this post short in part because I hesitate to speculate what could ignite this situation into more widespread and open division.  But it is safe to say ACNA and its bishops must tread carefully.

Note: I am having trouble with blogger formatting again.  My apologies for any annoyance.

Trump's probe of voter fraud is long overdue . . . Says Never Trumper

John Fund has been a rather vocal Never Trumper.  But he is also, at the very least, one of the foremost investigative journalists on the subject of election fraud.  His books Stealing Elections and Who’s Counting (co-authored by Hans Von Spakovsky) grace my library.

So it is notable that he along with Von Spakovsky has written that Trump’s call for a probe of election fraud is right, nay, overdue.

True, Trump’s claim that fraud accounts for all of Hillary’s popular vote margin may be just slightly off, but…

The real problem in our election system is that we don’t really know to what extent President Trump’s claim is true because we have an election system that is based on the honor system. 

What we do know, despite assertions to the contrary, is that voter fraud is a problem, and both sides of the political aisle should welcome a real investigation into it -- especially since the Obama administration tried so hard for eight years to obfuscate the issue and prevent a real assessment. 

Former Justice Department attorney Christian Adams testified under oath that he attended a November 2009 meeting at which then-deputy assistant attorney general Julie Fernandes told DOJ prosecutors that the administration would not be enforcing the federal law that requires local officials to purge illegitimate names from their voter rolls.

And there’s more, much more, particularly in Fund’s books (and on this blog on occasion as well).  Anyone who says election fraud is not a serious problem in this country is ignorant, delusional, or a Democrat.  The Democrat Party benefits from election fraud and has willfully enabled it, when not directly engaging in it.  It’s not for nothing that DemocRATS like Obama and Gov. Dayton of Minnesota have opposed and obstructed Voter ID, cleaning up registration rolls, and other measures to prevent fraud.

So bring on the investigation!  And if it results in perps in prison, so much the better!

Fixed Liturgy an Aid to Meditation and Prayer

In writing my paper for the recent Anglicanism class, I spent some time on the advantages of liturgical worship.  But one advantage that did not occur to me is that a fixed liturgy aids meditation and prayerful reflection.  This thoughtful essay over at the New Liturgical Movement brought this advantage to mind this morning.  (By the way, I am glad to see that blog still at it!)

Note that this advantage comes from a fixed liturgy.  Where there are constant alternative services and changes (as in the 1979 so-called Book of Common Prayer), there is a disadvantage shared with non-liturgical worship – one is distracted from worship and reflection by trying to figure out just what is going on.  Also, the words do not sink in as well from week to week and year to year.  In fixed liturgy, one knows what is going on already.  And one has already through the years had the words of the liturgy sink in.  Therefore, one is in a better position to reflect, meditate and pray, and not only in a particular service but from service to service.

The aforementioned essay by Peter Kwasniewski discusses this in a more erudite manner, albeit in a Roman Catholic context.  But most of what he writes applies to Anglican liturgy as well and thereby argues for the traditional Book of Common Prayer in my humble but correct opinion.

Islamonazi Leader Behind Women’s March

There is so much I could say about the Lamentation of the Womyn that occurred on Saturday.  I guess that is an expected ritual of victory…

But the participants in Leftist protest and their actions continue to be disturbing.  Let there be misunderstanding, peaceful protest should be and is protected in America.  But we should be aware of what protesters say and do, and protest and protect ourselves when appropriate.

A particularly disturbing aspect of the Women’s March was their partnership with Islamonazis, who are hardly pro-woman and are definitely anti-freedom among other things.  Organizer Linda Sarsour is a case in point (And it should be said she was one of the organizers.  The headline at the link is not currently well written.):

An outspoken critic of Israel, Sarsour avvidly supports the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement, a Hamas-inspired initiative that uses various forms of public protest, economic pressure, and lawsuits to advance the Hamas agenda of permanently destroying Israel as a Jewish nation-state. 

Vis-a-vis the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, Sarsour favors a one-state solution where an Arab majority and a Jewish minority would live together within the borders of a single country. She made clear her opposition to Israel's existence as a Jewish state when she tweeted in October 2012 that “nothing is creepier than Zionism.”

In 2004, Sarsour acknowledged that a friend of hers as well as a cousin were both serving long sentences in Israeli jails because of their efforts to recruit jihadists to murder Jews. Moreover, she revealed that her brother-in-law was serving a 12-year prison term because of his affiliation with Hamas.

Trust me, there is more.

And, trust me – no, heck, look for yourselves – there is far more danger, violence, and, yes, bigotry from the Left in America than from the Right.  To protect ourselves, we must defeat the Left again and again and again.

“The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.”

If you heard a roar from the direction of Texas during President Trump’s Inaugural Address, that was probably me voicing my approval.  And as I reflect upon his address, I admire it even more.  For, with the Washington Establishment sitting all around him, he called out the Washington Establishment for their enormities against America.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

Indeed, the counties around Washington D. C. have prospered with our tax dollars while the rest of the nation has struggled with economic stagnation and while some industry, particularly coal mining, has been willfully destroyed by Obama.  Further, those counties have voted to keep looting the Treasury for their own benefit – meaning they voted Democrat, of course – and have gravely corrupted the politics of what once was the great state of Virginia along with national politics and governance.

But Establishment RINO Republicans are little better.  I suspect Trump targeted them when he said:

We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.

The time for empty talk is over.

Now arrives the hour of action.

And hasn’t the Failure Theatre of “all talk and no action” been the modus operandi of “Republican” Leaders in Congress?

Enough!

The Washington/New York/California Establishment must be defeated again and again and again until they are made to bow down to the American people and to their Constitution.

It sounds like President Donald Trump is more than willing to do his part.

It is Morning in America.

It is morning in America.

Yes, the new President will not be a perfect man, far from it.  And remember he was far, far from my first choice.

Yes, the problems we face cannot be solved in a day or a Hundred Days or four years.  Yes, the Washington Establishment of both parties will try to thwart needed change.  Further, they will try to destroy Trump in order to put the rest of us under their thumbs again.  Trump clearly even has his enemies in the intelligence agencies.

Yes, Democrats and Leftists will not suddenly begin respecting the Constitution and the Rule of Law.  Many of them are already doubling down on doing just the opposite.

Yes, there is no guarantee even a hopeful dawn as this will lead to good day and a good future.

But this morning, we can know that at the end of the day, we will have a President who loves this country.  And, for the first time since Reagan, we will have a President who is willing, nay, eager to say “NO” to the Washington/New York/California Establishment on behalf of the American people.

This morning, for the first time since 1989, we can know that at noon, we will have a President who is not named, Bush, Clinton, or Obama.

This morning, we have few guarantees as to what the future will bring.  But we can know this is a new morning to a new day.

It is morning in America.  And with this morning comes hope. 

Only by God’s good providence can this morning lead to bright days for this country.  But God is good and gracious beyond what we can imagine. So let us pray for President Donald Trump and for America.

*Apologies, of course, to the iconic Reagan 1984 campaign ad.

Continuing Anglican Jurisdictions to Hold Joint Synod

Good news for orthodox Anglican unity:

The leaders of four Continuing Anglican Churches have announced plans for Joint Synods to meet in Atlanta, Georgia, the week of October 2nd to 6th.  At the conclusion of the week it is the intention of the Churches to sign an agreement establishing full communion (communio in sacris) among the four bodies as well as a pledge to pursue in a determined and deliberate fashion increasingly full unity.  The Churches also will discuss common plans for mission and evangelism.  Each Church will hold its own mandatory business meetings and Synods, but the four will join together throughout for common worship and social occasions.

The four Churches and their episcopal leaders are the Anglican Church in American (Brian Marsh), the Anglican Catholic Church (Mark Haverland), the Anglican Province of America (Walter Grundorf), and the Diocese of the Holy Cross (Paul Hewett). 

This is indeed good news, and I do hope this works out.  But a joint synod is no guarantee of future unity.  With high hopes, I attended a joint meeting between the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) and the Anglican Province of America in June 2005.  It was an excellent time and an eventual merger was expected.

It never happened for reasons that have left my memory.

I also hope Abp. Haverland proves himself more interested in unity than he seemed to be at the Anglican Congress in 2015.  He preached a sermon there that, based on the content, could have been titled “Why I can’t be in unity in you.”  It was not especially winsome.  To be fair, he obviously does have some interest in unity; otherwise, this meeting would not be planned.

In any case, I do wish these jurisdictions the best, including Haverland’s ACC.  The more unified orthodox Anglicanism is, the better.

An Open Letter to National Geographic

Dear Nat Geo,

This is a letter to cancel my subscription to National Geographic.  I do this with some reluctance as I have long shelves filled with past Nat Geos and have long loved your photography.

But you have joined other institutions, individuals and publications in departing from what you are good at in order to push radical socio-political agendas.

Granted, your magazine has never been perfect.  I’ve long found cloying your habit of proclaiming almost every monkey skull you come across a new discovery of Early Man.  But I’m tolerant and forbearing on my good days, so I overlooked that.

But your Gender Revolution special issue . . . well, despite the cover, I opened the issue with an open mind.  Perhaps, it would be a somewhat even-handed look at different views and practices concerning gender today.  That hope was immediately dashed when the first piece was from Gloria Steinem.  And the rest of the issue hardly got better.

Look, if I wanted to be immersed in Leftist propaganda, I would subscribe to the New York Times, watch MSNBC or enroll at the University of Michigan.  That is not why I received Nat Geo nor why a lovely couple gave me a subscription in recent years. (They concur with my cancelling it, by the way.)

Actually, it is hard to breathe without being bombarded with Leftist madness nowadays – and a lot of the “Gender Revolution” is pretty much just that, the enabling and promotion of mental illness, the exploitation of unfortunate people, even children, in order to push a radical socio-political agenda (of which the cover of your issue is a despicable example).  With so much of such madness about, why should I want to receive more madness from you? “Do I lack madmen?”

So do cancel my subscription.  Should the editors receive the firing they so richly deserve, I will reconsider. 

No, I am not holding my breath on that.

Sincerely,

etc.

Is Science Backing Traditional Christianity on Fasting?

In recent years, I’ve been fasting more frequently because I’ve become more traditional in my faith - and because my metabolism has slowed down in my age.  So I’ve given more weight (No pun intended.) to both the spiritual and physical health of fasting.

I should say I do not fast for very long because I sometimes have issues with energy and low blood sugar.  Also, I’m just not that fat (although the pious youth of my church seem convinced I am fat and old).  I do very much like being in good shape, and it affects me when I’m not.  Anyway, my typical fast is skipping lunch.

Well, lo and behold, science (SCIENCE!)* is discovering that intermittent fasting is good for you.  It sounds not that dissimilar from what the traditional church Calendar prescribes.  I will not go into detail here, but the benefits of fasting go beyond weight loss.

Among the study participants, markers of cell regeneration increased, while risk factors for diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and aging all dropped, he says.

Funny how God and His Holy Church is usually wise about most things.

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By the way, I found the above article through the eclectic Ace of Spaces blog.  Ace has been telling of his efforts to improve his health through fasting and other means under the GAINZZZ label.  Here is one example.

I’ve picked up a thing or two myself from him.  I’ve begun drinking water with BCAA powder (Alpha Amino powder to be exact) when I work out and find that helpful with some extra energy for one thing.

While on the subject of health, yes, my knee and I are doing quite well.  Don’t stop praying though. :)

*Apologies to Thomas Dolby.

Remember This Week

After DemocRATS and other Leftists once again and in numerous ways show their contempt for American Constitutional democracy by protesting against the inauguration of a freely and fairly elected President – let that sink in: they are protesting against the result of a free and fair election – after Democrats again really show what they think about Constitutional democracy, remember this week. 

I’ve said it before, but I will repeat it and will keep repeating it because it must be remembered: Leftists and the Democrat Party they now control only respect Constitutional democracy when they win.

And that is why our political disagreements are at a different level and of a greater importance than decades ago.  But I will let that subject pass for a later time.

Lame Duck Presidents Should Be Made More Lame

A follow-up to last night’s post: Mark Levin, prompted by how Obama and his stooges have conducted themselves since the election, last night proposed a Constitutional Amendment sharply limiting the power of an outgoing President between an election and the Inauguration of the next POTUS.

I concur although I’m not sure of the best form of such an amendment.  Levin’s proposal of a shorter lame duck period has problems.  For one thing, what if there is a lengthy election dispute as in 2000?  But the UK seems to do just fine with an immediate transition. 

I do think a provision that no new executive orders or regulations can be issued without 2/3s approval of both houses of Congress would be good.  I also reluctantly see the need to limit pardon power in the lame duck period.  Ideally, an ethical POTUS would make just but unpopular pardons as he departs.  But a corrupt and unaccountable POTUS can do too much damage . . . which is what I expect from Obama this coming week.

We can thank Bill Clinton especially for the need for a Constitutional Amendment.  The manner in which he and Hillary left the White House in 2001, particularly his pardons, was beyond despicable.  Yet, thanks to the Democrat “News” Media and predominantly Democrat faux historians as well as Establishment Republican cowards helping the rest of us to forget (Well, curmudgeons like me never forget.), the two suffered no lasting political consequence.  She was elected Senator and came too close to being elected President.

Thus, the Clintons showed that a DemocRAT POTUS can do pretty much whatever he wants as he leaves with little if any lasting harm to his reputation and standing.  (We would never be allowed to forget if a Republican POTUS so departed scandalously, of course.)

Which is one reason never to elect a DemocRAT as President ever again.  But we are not that rational of a country.  So a Constitutional Amendment is needful to protect us from outgoing DemocRATS and from ourselves.

The Last Vomit of Obama

I never was one of those who expected Obama to leave with class.  His conduct towards political opponents has rarely exhibited class.  Why would he change that now?

With just over a week to go, he left a nasty rotten egg for Cubans, who tend to be Republican, and Trump by ending long standing U. S. policy towards refugees from Cuba.  And that without any concessions from Cuba and without any assurances that those returned to Cuba would not be thrown into the gulag with other numerous political prisoners.

I guess Obama likes the idea of Republicans and future Republicans in political prison.  Contrast this with his almost as cynical immigration policies on the Mexican border flooding this country with future Democrats.

This was a truly cynical spiteful evil act.  It demonstrated an ugliness beyond what even I expected.

And there is yet still a week to go until Inauguration Day.

Therefore, I give my first prediction of 2017 – one I hope does not come true:  Obama will uncork some over the top spiteful ugliness in this last week beyond anything a past outgoing president has dared to do.

It could come in the form of pardons.  Presidents usually offer a number of pardons as they leave office.  Bill Clinton offered some awful ones, including the infamous pardon of Marc Rich.  I expect Obama to outdo the cynical evil of Clinton in his pardons.  But I expect more than pardons.

I think there is even a change that Obama’s last week, the last vomit of Obama, will be so outrageous that Trump will publicly disinvite him to the Inauguration.

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On a lighter note, the title of this post is inspired by the phrase “the last vomit of Satan” said some years back.  Trivia question:  What Texas preacher said that, and what was he describing?

My Favorite Moment from the Sessions Confirmation Hearings

My favorite ten minutes, actually.  During the Jeff Sessions confirmation hearings, I kept shouting at the television asking myself where were these oh-so concerned Democrats when Obama and his stooge Eric Holder were tearing up the Rule of Law again and again for years?  Finally, Ted Cruz pointed out the herd of elephants in the room:

These screaming Leftist protesters who interrupted Cruz just gave punctuation to the fact that Democrats and other Leftists ignored the truth about the Obama Regime for eight years.  They don’t want to hear the truth, much less act upon it, and don’t want you to hear the truth either.

For those who don’t want to watch the video or who just want to bask in Cruz’s truth-telling, here’s the text of the core of Cruz’s speech:

For eight years we have seen a Department of Justice consistently disregarding the rule of law. When Eric Holder's Department of Justice allowed illegal gun transactions, illegally sold guns to Mexican gun traffickers as part of Fast and Furious, guns that were later used to murder border patrol agent Brian Terry, the Democratic members of this committee were silent. When Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with Congress' investigation into Fast and Furious, once again, the Democratic members of this committee were silent. When the IRS illegally targeted United States citizens for exercising their First Amendment views, for exercising their roles in the political process, Democratic members of this committee were silent. When the Department of Justice refused to fairly investigate the IRS targeting citizens and indeed assigned the investigation to a liberal partisan Democrat who had given over $6,000 to President Obama and Democrats, Democrats on this committee were silent.

When numerous members of this committee called on the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to ensure that justice was done in the IRS case, Democrats on this committee were silent. When the Department of Justice used Operation Choke Point to target legal businesses because they disagreed politically with those businesses, the Democrats on this committee were silent. When the Obama Justice Department sent millions of dollars of taxpayer money to sanctuary cities that were defying federal immigration law, the Democrats on this committee were silent. When the Obama administration refused to enforce federal immigration laws and unilaterally rewrote those laws, the Democrats on this committee were silent. When the Obama administration released tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens, including rapists and murderers into the general population, Democrats on this committee were silent. When the Department of Justice signed off on the Obama administration paying a nearly $2 billion ransom to Iran contrary to federal law, the Democrats on this committee were silent.

When the Obama administration ignored and rewrote provision after provision of Obamacare, contrary to the text of the law, the Democrats on this committee were silent. When the Obama administration signed off on illegal recess appointments that the Supreme Court had to strike down unanimously, the Democrats on this committee were silent. And when the Obama administration released five Guantanamo terrorists without the prior notification of Congress, the Democrats on this committee were silent.

Cruz went on to take Al Franken especially to task.

I think we need more of this.  Having apparently learned nothing from the past two elections, Democrats are already doubling down on their double standards and their lies.  We need to double down on telling the truth about them.

Happy Epiphany

I hope all my readers have a blessed Epiphany.

I had something more profound to say.  But I lack the energy to do that and get my paper done.

But I haven’t forgotten you all.  The paper should be finished next week.  Then I hope to blog more . . . at least until my next course.

As if I don’t hate the 49ers enough already . . .

. . . My contempt for the San Francisco 49ers is even greater now.

The San Francisco 49ers have bestowed upon Colin Kaepernick the highly prestigious Len Eshmont Award.

The award, which the team presents to the 49er who “best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont, an original member of the 1946 49ers team,” is given annually and voted on by the players.

Kaepernick’s season-long protest against alleged racial inequality in America apparently “inspired” teammates to name him for the award.