Curtis Dahlgren
Gown v. town; Frock v. flock; "Christians" v. Christians
By Curtis Dahlgren
Dear Father, Lord of sea and land,
We know that Thou art wise;
Oh, make the nations understand
That only by Thy guiding hand
Can splendid peace arise.
— John Oxenham
IT'S BECOMING OBVIOUS THAT THE BOOK BURNERS ARE ON THE LEFT, and the book-reverencers are on the "Right." Six churches in Alabama were just burned, and burned with them in the hymn books, I'll bet, were the words of John Oxenham. I suppose when your most "eloquent orators" are inquisitors in the U.S. Senate, you have to take your frustrations out on Baptist churches in the South.
I'm not one to rush to judgment, as my last week's column proved. That black mother in Milwaukee was released from jail and not arrested for "child abuse," because the initial police reports and the press got all the facts wrong on the first day or so (as I had indicated was probably the case).
As for those 6 southern churches, there isn't a snowball's chance in you-know-where that these churches were burned by "Right-wingers" (unless it was a Karl Rove plot, and I'm kidding about that, you know — I HOPE).
About a year ago, Michael Savage said that what this country needs is a "Take your brain to work day," and this would apply especially to people who work for NBC and the rest of the MSM. With all their preconceived notions and myopic slant on things, the Media miss all the great paradoxes of the week's news. For example:
Over one thousand Muslim passengers on a boat go overboard, and Egypt refuses an offer of help from the Israeli navy.
Hundreds of illegal immigrants crossed the border on Tuesday night during the President's "State of the Union" address (they do every night) — while he avoided the word "illegal."
The press refuses to print the "offensive" Danish cartoons — while they miss the real "story" — Heaven really is out of virgins (think about it — where would they come from?).
Two of the women elected to the new Palestinian parliament had sent sons on "suicide" missions (does the mother get 72 virgins in Heaven too, or how does that work?).
Iran goes ahead with its nuclear program while Mother Sheehan visits Hugo Chavez and protests for "peace" — while Academia "divests" itself of Israeli stocks (now there's a few paradoxes for you; it's time for a "Take your brain to school day")!
Canada elects a Conservative government while Academia proceeds, without missing a beat, towards legalizing polygamy (ostensibly to attract a better class of immigrant). See conclusion of preceding paragraph. Also see — www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200602030805.asp
Here are a few highlights of the Stanley Kurtz piece:
Let's try a little test. Translate the following phrases into English: 1) Canada needs to move "beyond conjugality." 2) Canada needs to "reconsider the continuing legal privileging of marriage and other conjugal relationships." 3) Once gay marriage is legalized, Canada will be able to "consider whether the legal privileges and burdens now assigned to marriage and other conjugal relationships can be justified." 4) Canada needs to question "whether conjugality is an appropriate marker for determining legal rights and obligations."
[Answers: The English translation of #1,# 2, and #4 is: "Canada should abolish marriage." The translation of #3 is: "Once we legalize gay marriage, we can move on to the task of abolishing marriage itself."]
This argument was very publicly made to Canadians in 2001, when the Law Commission of Canada published its report, "Beyond Conjugality." But nobody got it. Everyone noticed that a government commission had backed same-sex marriage. But few recognized, grasped, or could bring themselves to take seriously, the central thrust of Beyond Conjugality: that after the legalization of same-sex marriage, Canadian marriage itself ought to be abolished. (For more on this, see article "Beyond Gay Marriage") [end quote]
CD: In case you didn't get it earlier, the ostensible excuse for the legalization of polygamy and polyamory is to show "tolerance" for the "peaceful" religion of Islam, but that's just a convenient "spin" to hide the war on the sacred institution of marriage. Period.
A neighborhood junior high school student told me the other day that the social studies classes this week are learning about the Moslem religion. They're called "middle schools" now because the education that's being provided is "fair-to-middling.' I was tempted to ask if the "social" science classes had mentioned anything about the Magna Carta, John Locke, or who built the first Ivy League schools, but it would have been a waste of time.
Also last week, Stanley Kurtz wrote that instructive piece for National Review detailing the Canadian "plan" to relegate marriage to the dust bin of history, just a few days after my column in which I quoted the 1910 Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.):
"Among the antiquated institutions which had to be abolished as obstructions to real progress, were religion, family life, private property and centralized [authority]. Religion was to be replaced by the exact sciences, family life by free love, private property by collectivism, and [etc, etc]."
NOTE: This term "free love" was used nearly 100 years ago to describe the Nihilist movement in Russia nearly 150 years ago! So we know now what the model was for the "sixties" movement in our beloved land — it came right out of the play book of the pre-Bolshevist movement in Russia (although the hippies thought it was "the latest thing" in human evolution)! While it was simply "campus policy" in the 60s, today free love is the policy being pushed for the whole North American continent (through the courts, of course).
The trouble with columns is that they are usually too abstract and lack color and descriptiveness, so I suggest you picture the biggest, smelliest feedlot you've ever seen, and then picture the average campus of Higher Education. The similarities are striking — although instead of B.S. the smell is coming from neutered steer dung!
So much for "Gown v. town." What about "Frock v. flock"?
While the Episcopal Church, USA prepares to vote on four candidates for a new archbishop, one of whom is a woman (and all of whom are "tolerant" of gay priests), former Senator John Danforth stood up and spoke out. He spoke out against Christians who happen to be conservative and are exercising rights that go all the way back to the Magna Carta and English Common Law (even back to the Apostle Paul's appeal to his Roman citizenship).
The Episcopal priest Danforth says that evangelical conservative Christians need to get out of the public arena before they ruin the Republican party. "I'm counting on nausea," he said. WELL — as my mother used to say, "EXCUSE ME FOR LIVING."
Rush Limbaugh devoted a lot of time to analyzing Danforth's comments. If you're a member of 24/7 at his website, you can get the transcript of his commentary here: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_020206/content/rush_is_right.LogIn.html
Rush recalls GOP dinner parties he has attended over the years, where Blue-blood Republicans would corner him and say, "We've got to do something about these Christians."
"What do you mean," Rush would ask.
"Abortion!" they would say. "Abortion is killing us!" [not realizing the irony of their own words] www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/030928
Rush says he would take them aside and ask them if they really "cared" about the issue, and they would usually say, "It's my wife! She won't vote Republican."
Rush would remind them of the 20 to 30 million pro-life votes that are cast, but these hen-pecked guys never seemed to get it. And Danforth evidently doesn't notice that his mainline denominations are steadily losing members while other churches are growing rapidly. These peckees want to return to the days of the Whig party that milked the voters for anti-slavery votes for decades, but which had no intention of actually doing anything about slavery. BTW, the Whig party died and was replaced by Railsplitters, in case the Blue-bloods still don't "get" it!
While the Anglo-Saxon "blueblood" churches are all dying, the Bible Belt "mongrels" with Hybrid Vigor seem to be less malnourished and are "making a difference." Michael Savage said last week that "The descendants of Vikings are awakening in Europe," and the same is true in America.
Danforth says that he worships "a more humble God." Is he reading King James' Bible or some other Bible? What chapter and verse can he quote that links the words GOD and HUMBLE? Danforth is right about one thing: He worships "another" God! I think it's the "Middle-of-the-Road" God.
"Drivers and pedestrians both know that the middle of a busy road is a very dangerous place. Politicians, on the other hand, often boast that they are 'middle of the road.' Somehow, it sounds more statesman-like than being a 'fence straddler' or a mugwump' . . .
"There is a struggle going on in the world for the minds and loyalties of all mankind. This struggle is no longer an academic argument in the United States. The world is choosing up sides and we cannot afford the dangerous maneuver of wandering around in the middle." — Charles B. Shuman, American Farm Bureau President ("Nation's Agriculture"; March 1961).
Time marches on, but some things are timeless. Personally, Mr. Danforth, I prefer the God referred to by Elijah: "Let the power of my Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken."
Which part of "How Great Thou Art" does Danforth not understand? If he can't "get it" from the King James, he ought to read the Fenton Bible. Ferrar Fenton stated, in his introduction, that the ultimate purpose of his life's work was to restore the "manly" tone of the prophets, as conveyed by the original language of the authors.
One thing we can say for sure is, God is NOT afraid of His "wife." In the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the line goes, "God's Truth is marching on." and it is supposed to be carried by His wife, the 'Churches of God' (as the New Testament labels them). When "Christians" ridicule the concept of a Great God, "look up." It's not going to take Him 10 years to get here like that puny mission to Pluto!
In the words of Oxenham's hymn:
Dear Father, King of love and peace,
We know that Thou art strong . . .
CONCLUSION: a word to the "Choir"
I intend to say more in my next column about those "descendants of the Vikings" (Denmark, etc) who are awakening to the sound of alarm, who are speaking the Truth about gay-marriage-in-the-name-of-Allah (Canada today, America tomorrow) and about the feminization of society: www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/060129 . Suffice it to say here that it's time to get "mad" (passionate, not Laodecian). www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/031003
Dr. Arthur Voobus, a long time ago, wrote: "[T]he consciousness of Western culture has become something like a ghost-ship on troubled waves. It has been without master or compass. Now we speak of Christians in particular. With this question we look into the innermost layer in the conscience of the West.
"How often have we heard among Christians the talk that the present situation is a demonstration of how far secularism can lead us. Secularism only is made responsible and Christian conversation washes its hands over this sinner. Certainly life without God has revealed its true nature and has shown where it can lead.
"But it is not only secularism that has been in action in the formation of the present chaos, but the Christians also have been present and belong to the picture. Therefore, it would be wrong if the Christians should try to acquit themselves by throwing all the blame for the development upon the secularized world . . .
"Future historians will not fail to see that the church in the West has not fulfilled its holy obligations toward its Christian brethren and has had no serious interest in all these tremendously burning issues. It did not care at all when the Soviet Union was being built up. It did not care about the fate of nations which were delivered over to Bolshevism. . .
"This is the titanic sin of our age. It may be that this is too great. It means that something strange has taken place in Christianity . . .
"It is not my place as an historian to play the part of a prophet. Nevertheless, I am convinced that if we are not willing and ready to live up to the facts, we shall perish in our incurable ignorance and stupidity. We have little, very little time to awaken the minds and hearts of people to the present fateful reality. In confronting perilous times, we must do all we can to take the Christian responsibility more seriously than ever before; we must do all we can, we must try with all our energy, devotion and determination."
The words still apply to the perilous times of 2006, and we need to get serious, even if this is the week of "Super Sunday."
Your homework assignment for this week:
© Curtis Dahlgren
Dear Father, Lord of sea and land,
We know that Thou art wise;
Oh, make the nations understand
That only by Thy guiding hand
Can splendid peace arise.
— John Oxenham
IT'S BECOMING OBVIOUS THAT THE BOOK BURNERS ARE ON THE LEFT, and the book-reverencers are on the "Right." Six churches in Alabama were just burned, and burned with them in the hymn books, I'll bet, were the words of John Oxenham. I suppose when your most "eloquent orators" are inquisitors in the U.S. Senate, you have to take your frustrations out on Baptist churches in the South.
I'm not one to rush to judgment, as my last week's column proved. That black mother in Milwaukee was released from jail and not arrested for "child abuse," because the initial police reports and the press got all the facts wrong on the first day or so (as I had indicated was probably the case).
As for those 6 southern churches, there isn't a snowball's chance in you-know-where that these churches were burned by "Right-wingers" (unless it was a Karl Rove plot, and I'm kidding about that, you know — I HOPE).
About a year ago, Michael Savage said that what this country needs is a "Take your brain to work day," and this would apply especially to people who work for NBC and the rest of the MSM. With all their preconceived notions and myopic slant on things, the Media miss all the great paradoxes of the week's news. For example:
Over one thousand Muslim passengers on a boat go overboard, and Egypt refuses an offer of help from the Israeli navy.
Hundreds of illegal immigrants crossed the border on Tuesday night during the President's "State of the Union" address (they do every night) — while he avoided the word "illegal."
The press refuses to print the "offensive" Danish cartoons — while they miss the real "story" — Heaven really is out of virgins (think about it — where would they come from?).
Two of the women elected to the new Palestinian parliament had sent sons on "suicide" missions (does the mother get 72 virgins in Heaven too, or how does that work?).
Iran goes ahead with its nuclear program while Mother Sheehan visits Hugo Chavez and protests for "peace" — while Academia "divests" itself of Israeli stocks (now there's a few paradoxes for you; it's time for a "Take your brain to school day")!
Canada elects a Conservative government while Academia proceeds, without missing a beat, towards legalizing polygamy (ostensibly to attract a better class of immigrant). See conclusion of preceding paragraph. Also see — www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200602030805.asp
Here are a few highlights of the Stanley Kurtz piece:
Let's try a little test. Translate the following phrases into English: 1) Canada needs to move "beyond conjugality." 2) Canada needs to "reconsider the continuing legal privileging of marriage and other conjugal relationships." 3) Once gay marriage is legalized, Canada will be able to "consider whether the legal privileges and burdens now assigned to marriage and other conjugal relationships can be justified." 4) Canada needs to question "whether conjugality is an appropriate marker for determining legal rights and obligations."
[Answers: The English translation of #1,# 2, and #4 is: "Canada should abolish marriage." The translation of #3 is: "Once we legalize gay marriage, we can move on to the task of abolishing marriage itself."]
This argument was very publicly made to Canadians in 2001, when the Law Commission of Canada published its report, "Beyond Conjugality." But nobody got it. Everyone noticed that a government commission had backed same-sex marriage. But few recognized, grasped, or could bring themselves to take seriously, the central thrust of Beyond Conjugality: that after the legalization of same-sex marriage, Canadian marriage itself ought to be abolished. (For more on this, see article "Beyond Gay Marriage") [end quote]
CD: In case you didn't get it earlier, the ostensible excuse for the legalization of polygamy and polyamory is to show "tolerance" for the "peaceful" religion of Islam, but that's just a convenient "spin" to hide the war on the sacred institution of marriage. Period.
A neighborhood junior high school student told me the other day that the social studies classes this week are learning about the Moslem religion. They're called "middle schools" now because the education that's being provided is "fair-to-middling.' I was tempted to ask if the "social" science classes had mentioned anything about the Magna Carta, John Locke, or who built the first Ivy League schools, but it would have been a waste of time.
Also last week, Stanley Kurtz wrote that instructive piece for National Review detailing the Canadian "plan" to relegate marriage to the dust bin of history, just a few days after my column in which I quoted the 1910 Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.):
"Among the antiquated institutions which had to be abolished as obstructions to real progress, were religion, family life, private property and centralized [authority]. Religion was to be replaced by the exact sciences, family life by free love, private property by collectivism, and [etc, etc]."
NOTE: This term "free love" was used nearly 100 years ago to describe the Nihilist movement in Russia nearly 150 years ago! So we know now what the model was for the "sixties" movement in our beloved land — it came right out of the play book of the pre-Bolshevist movement in Russia (although the hippies thought it was "the latest thing" in human evolution)! While it was simply "campus policy" in the 60s, today free love is the policy being pushed for the whole North American continent (through the courts, of course).
The trouble with columns is that they are usually too abstract and lack color and descriptiveness, so I suggest you picture the biggest, smelliest feedlot you've ever seen, and then picture the average campus of Higher Education. The similarities are striking — although instead of B.S. the smell is coming from neutered steer dung!
So much for "Gown v. town." What about "Frock v. flock"?
While the Episcopal Church, USA prepares to vote on four candidates for a new archbishop, one of whom is a woman (and all of whom are "tolerant" of gay priests), former Senator John Danforth stood up and spoke out. He spoke out against Christians who happen to be conservative and are exercising rights that go all the way back to the Magna Carta and English Common Law (even back to the Apostle Paul's appeal to his Roman citizenship).
The Episcopal priest Danforth says that evangelical conservative Christians need to get out of the public arena before they ruin the Republican party. "I'm counting on nausea," he said. WELL — as my mother used to say, "EXCUSE ME FOR LIVING."
Rush Limbaugh devoted a lot of time to analyzing Danforth's comments. If you're a member of 24/7 at his website, you can get the transcript of his commentary here: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/
Rush recalls GOP dinner parties he has attended over the years, where Blue-blood Republicans would corner him and say, "We've got to do something about these Christians."
"What do you mean," Rush would ask.
"Abortion!" they would say. "Abortion is killing us!" [not realizing the irony of their own words] www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/030928
Rush says he would take them aside and ask them if they really "cared" about the issue, and they would usually say, "It's my wife! She won't vote Republican."
Rush would remind them of the 20 to 30 million pro-life votes that are cast, but these hen-pecked guys never seemed to get it. And Danforth evidently doesn't notice that his mainline denominations are steadily losing members while other churches are growing rapidly. These peckees want to return to the days of the Whig party that milked the voters for anti-slavery votes for decades, but which had no intention of actually doing anything about slavery. BTW, the Whig party died and was replaced by Railsplitters, in case the Blue-bloods still don't "get" it!
While the Anglo-Saxon "blueblood" churches are all dying, the Bible Belt "mongrels" with Hybrid Vigor seem to be less malnourished and are "making a difference." Michael Savage said last week that "The descendants of Vikings are awakening in Europe," and the same is true in America.
Danforth says that he worships "a more humble God." Is he reading King James' Bible or some other Bible? What chapter and verse can he quote that links the words GOD and HUMBLE? Danforth is right about one thing: He worships "another" God! I think it's the "Middle-of-the-Road" God.
"Drivers and pedestrians both know that the middle of a busy road is a very dangerous place. Politicians, on the other hand, often boast that they are 'middle of the road.' Somehow, it sounds more statesman-like than being a 'fence straddler' or a mugwump' . . .
"There is a struggle going on in the world for the minds and loyalties of all mankind. This struggle is no longer an academic argument in the United States. The world is choosing up sides and we cannot afford the dangerous maneuver of wandering around in the middle." — Charles B. Shuman, American Farm Bureau President ("Nation's Agriculture"; March 1961).
Time marches on, but some things are timeless. Personally, Mr. Danforth, I prefer the God referred to by Elijah: "Let the power of my Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken."
Which part of "How Great Thou Art" does Danforth not understand? If he can't "get it" from the King James, he ought to read the Fenton Bible. Ferrar Fenton stated, in his introduction, that the ultimate purpose of his life's work was to restore the "manly" tone of the prophets, as conveyed by the original language of the authors.
One thing we can say for sure is, God is NOT afraid of His "wife." In the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the line goes, "God's Truth is marching on." and it is supposed to be carried by His wife, the 'Churches of God' (as the New Testament labels them). When "Christians" ridicule the concept of a Great God, "look up." It's not going to take Him 10 years to get here like that puny mission to Pluto!
In the words of Oxenham's hymn:
Dear Father, King of love and peace,
We know that Thou art strong . . .
CONCLUSION: a word to the "Choir"
I intend to say more in my next column about those "descendants of the Vikings" (Denmark, etc) who are awakening to the sound of alarm, who are speaking the Truth about gay-marriage-in-the-name-of-Allah (Canada today, America tomorrow) and about the feminization of society: www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/060129 . Suffice it to say here that it's time to get "mad" (passionate, not Laodecian). www.renewamerica.com/columns/dahlgren/031003
Dr. Arthur Voobus, a long time ago, wrote: "[T]he consciousness of Western culture has become something like a ghost-ship on troubled waves. It has been without master or compass. Now we speak of Christians in particular. With this question we look into the innermost layer in the conscience of the West.
"How often have we heard among Christians the talk that the present situation is a demonstration of how far secularism can lead us. Secularism only is made responsible and Christian conversation washes its hands over this sinner. Certainly life without God has revealed its true nature and has shown where it can lead.
"But it is not only secularism that has been in action in the formation of the present chaos, but the Christians also have been present and belong to the picture. Therefore, it would be wrong if the Christians should try to acquit themselves by throwing all the blame for the development upon the secularized world . . .
"Future historians will not fail to see that the church in the West has not fulfilled its holy obligations toward its Christian brethren and has had no serious interest in all these tremendously burning issues. It did not care at all when the Soviet Union was being built up. It did not care about the fate of nations which were delivered over to Bolshevism. . .
"This is the titanic sin of our age. It may be that this is too great. It means that something strange has taken place in Christianity . . .
"It is not my place as an historian to play the part of a prophet. Nevertheless, I am convinced that if we are not willing and ready to live up to the facts, we shall perish in our incurable ignorance and stupidity. We have little, very little time to awaken the minds and hearts of people to the present fateful reality. In confronting perilous times, we must do all we can to take the Christian responsibility more seriously than ever before; we must do all we can, we must try with all our energy, devotion and determination."
The words still apply to the perilous times of 2006, and we need to get serious, even if this is the week of "Super Sunday."
Your homework assignment for this week:
- "The Death of the West," by Patrick Buchanan
- "America's Right Turn," by Richard Viguerie
- "The Marketing of Evil," by David Kupelian
- "The Return of Anti-Semitism," by Gabriel Schoenfeld
© Curtis Dahlgren
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
