Intermountain Christian News Serving Idaho, eastern Oregon, Utah and Wyoming -------->

Vote in the General Election! (Due to a high voter turnout, it is URGENT To Vote As Early As Possible before November 4th - call your local county office or court house on how to vote EARLY!)

In Matthew 5:13-14 Jesus proclaimed that Christians were the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” In other words, as Christians, we are to help provide a “preserving” influence and a light for “guidance” not just to individuals, but the larger society in which God has placed us.

One very important way for Christians in our nation to preserve and guide society is by exercising our Constitutional right and responsibility to vote. King Solomon, regarded as one of the wisest men to ever live, made this observation, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Prov 29:2)

Naturally no voter’s guide can answer the important questions about a candidate’s integrity & character. But as you examine a candidate’s position on a variety of issues, visit their website, or call them directly, you can begin to understand the philosophy a candidate will bring to public office if elected.

Friday, October 24, 2008
By Bryan Fischer, Executive Director, Idaho Values Alliance

BACK TO THE FUTURE: AMERICA IN 2012

Focus on the Family Action published a sobering but frighteningly realistic "What if" letter on Wednesday, written by a Christian in the year 2012 reflecting back on four years of American history under a far-left president and a left-leaning U.S. Senate with a filibuster-proof majority. All of the following are possible at minimum and likely at worst:

● Four appointments to the Supreme Court leave the Court with a 6-3 liberal majority for decades to come

● The Court mandates that homosexual "marriage" be recognized in all 50 states as a constitutional right

● The Boy Scouts are forced to disband rather than comply with a Supreme Court order to use homosexual employees and volunteers

● Elementary schools present compulsory education in sexual orientation and gender identity; parents are not allowed to opt their children out

● Christian adoption agencies shutter their doors when they won't comply with a Court order to adopt children into homosexual households

● The Bible is classified as "hate speech" and cannot be taught over the public airwaves, shutting down Christian radio

● Churches who refuse to allow their facilities to be used for homosexual weddings are stripped of their tax-exempt status

● Churches that refuse to hire homosexual staff members are stripped of their tax-exempt status and subjected to heavy fines

● Homosexuals are allowed to serve openly in the military, given bonuses to remedy past discrimination, and chaplains who believe in the Bible's teaching on homosexual behavior are dismissed

● The Supreme Court rules that public schools can never be used for religious activities, even during off-hours, prohibiting "See You at the Pole" events and the rental of school auditoriums by churches

● Christian groups such as Campus Crusade are prohibited from using the campus facilities of any public college or university because they promote "hate speech" and discrimination

● The Supreme Court strips "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance

● The new president signs the "Freedom of Choice Act," which overturns every pro-life law in all 50 states

● Nurses and doctors are no longer allowed to refuse to participate in abortions on conscience grounds

● All restrictions on pornography, even on television at all hours of the day, are struck down by the Court as a violation of the First Amendment

● The Court reverses its 2008 ruling upholding the Second Amendment, allowing increasing numbers of states to ban private ownership of guns for self defense

● Homeschooling is restricted to parents who are licensed by the state and use only state-approved textbooks; parents who violate this ruling are charged with truancy and in some cases have their children taken from them

● The new president prohibits tapping of alleged foreign terrorist phone calls, resulting in bombings in four American cities and widespread fear

● Iran destroys much of Tel Aviv with a nuclear bomb; America's president promises only to cooperate with a U.N. peacekeeping force, which is never formed due to opposition from Muslim nations

● Universal health care is implemented, leading to long waiting times and denial of diagnostic procedures such as MRIs since they just reveal more health problems that must be treated for "free"

● Taxes and the federal budget go up by alarming percentages, and secret union balloting is prohibited, allowing for intimidation and the takeover of many industries by unions

● Offshore drilling is prohibited, and environmental restrictions prevent nuclear or coal energy from being developed; America has less energy in 2012 than in 2008

● The Fairness Doctrine is implemented once again, driving Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and James Dobson off the air as conservative talk radio is shut down; the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine when it is challenged in court

● Several large Christian publishers go out of business as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon refuse to sell any of their books since they have published some books critical of homosexual behavior

● All 93 U.S. attorneys are fired, and are replaced by lawyers affiliated with the ACLU; the Department of Justice initiates criminal and civil prosecution of any members of the Bush administration who had anything to do with the Iraq war, leaving dozens of them in prison or bankrupt.

Christians who allowed themselves - out of weakness, folly or ignorance - into voting for those who did this to their nation are left hoping wanly for the best and clinging to Bible verses which promise them that all things will work out in the end and regretting their missed opportunity to choose wisely at the ballot box.

Letter from 2012 in Obama's America: Focus on the Family Action

Obama spells 'persecution,' warns Focus on the Family

McCain Chooses Gov. Palin of Alaska
By Bryan Fischer, Executive Director, Idaho Values Alliance

[Photo by: ROMAIN BLANQUART/Detroit Free Press. Reprinted with permission. Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin talk to the crowd at Freedom Hill auditorium in Sterling Heights on Friday September 5, 2008.]

Sen. McCain’s VP choice is Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.

The 44-year-old Palin, by the way, was born in Idaho and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1987.

Palin said on her 2006 campaign website, "I am pro-life." She gave birth to a baby this year who had been diagnosed while in her womb with Down's syndrome. Abortion, she said, was never an option for her and her husband Todd.

"We've both been very vocal about being pro-life," she told the AP. "We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential." One day after his birth, she said, "[W]e feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has the potential to make this world a better place."

The choice may well be an inspired one on McCain's part. The contrast between Gov. Palin and Sen. Obama on the sanctity of life could not be more stark.

Sen. Obama supported infanticide while an Illinois state senator, and in effect said that an unwanted child deserves to die. Meanwhile, Gov. Palin believes that every child in the womb, birth defect or no, has been made in the image of God and deserves to live.

The choice for American voters on Nov. 4 could not be clearer on the fundamental moral issue of our time.

Abortion is our national sin, as slavery was 150 years ago. One presidential ticket will defend this sin and call it a virtue. The other ticket will resist this sin and call it a moral blight, and lead us toward national righteousness and true virtue.

As columnist Nat Hentoff wrote, "[H]er presence (as McCain's VP pick) could highlight Mr. Obama's extremist abortion views on whether certain lives are worth living - even a child born after a botched abortion."

A pro-abortion website refers to her as "anti-choice" and "a heroine of the 'pro-life' movement.'" The American Spectator describes her as "strongly pro-life," and adds, "She is the perfect antidote to Sen. Obama's cheap thrills, and would help rejuvenate conservatism."

On other matters, she stated, again on her 2006 campaign website, "I believe that marriage should only be between (a) man and a woman." (Alaska passed the first marriage amendment in the nation in 1988.)

Regarding the death penalty, she said, "If the legislature passed a death penalty law, I would sign it. We have a right to know that someone who rapes and murders a child or kills an innocent person in a drive by shooting will never be able to do that again."

She is a supporter of the Second Amendment and is a lifelong member of the NRA.

She differs with McCain on drilling in ANWR, referring repeatedly to the need to "getting ANWR open," and adding, "[W]e're trying to convince the rest of the nation to open ANWR." Perhaps she can begin with the man at the top of the ticket.

She supports "flexibility in government regulations that allow competition in health care" which "will drive down health care costs and reduce the need for government subsidies."

Bottom line: social conservatives will find much to like in Gov. Palin. She would not bring only strong convictions on social issues, but youth, beauty, charm and pizzazz to McCain's campaign, and make it even more difficult for Obama to attract the female vote, where he lags behind previous Democratic presidential candidates. On the whole, a boffo choice.

BONUS BYTES:

● ABC News edited out key parts of Charlie Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin, in ways that made her seem more aggressive toward Russia than she is and less knowledgeable about foreign affairs than she is. Other similarly distorting edits were made, on top of Charlie Gibson's misquote of Palin's own words when the interview was conducted. A number of commentators have observed that the supposed "gotcha" question on the "Bush doctrine" actually revealed that Gibson knew less about it than Palin.

● Much has been made by her political opponents of Gov. Palin's lack of experience, particularly in foreign policy. Such critics ignore the reality that no governor comes into the presidency with experience in foreign policy - it's simply not a part of a governor's portfolio whether that governor is Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton. Such critics also ignore facts of presidential history. When Calvin Coolidge was named to the ticket in 1920, he has been governor of Massachusetts for less than two years. Teddy Roosevelt had been a governor for a year and a half before being nominated for the vice-presidency, although he had served as a former assistant secretary of the Navy. Harry Truman came from beginnings as humble as Gov. Palin's, and even FDR said "I hardly know Truman" when he was put on the ticket in 1944. Writes historian David McCullough, "Truman had no experience in relations with Britain or Russia, no firsthand knowledge of Churchill or Stalin. He didn't now his own Secretary of State, more than to say hello."( Reference.:http://online.wsj.com)

● Gov. Palin is also being widely ridiculed for her faith and for her references to prayer in the much-played video that shows her speaking to her former home church. Yet JFK prayed at St. Matthew's Cathedral during the Cuban missile crisis, and LBJ repeatedly called for national days of prayer as well as praying a dozen times a day himself.

● There is nothing to the so-called "Troopergate" scandal, in which Gov. Palin is accused of firing her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, supposedly because he wouldn't fire Palin's former brother-in-law. But the public safety commissioner is an at-will employee, meaning the governor can fire him for virtually any reason whatsoever. In addition, recently released emails make it clear that he was fired over budget disagreements, not family personnel matters.

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