Monthly Archives: May 2021

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Daily Broadside | Remember Their Last Full Measure

Daily Verse | Job 13:15a
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.

It’s Memorial Day 2021, a national day set aside to remember and honor those who laid down their lives to defend and to perpetuate our freedoms. Those who have died on the battlefield, as Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, “gave the last full measure of devotion.” They had no more to give.

Occasionally such sacrifice has to be made. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “[t]he tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” We too often forget that our ease has been purchased with blood and violence.

Freedom is not our natural state. It must be zealously guarded, sometimes fought for, and never be taken for granted.

I wonder if the spirit of Lincoln’s speech still resides somewhere in the hearts of Americans:

“It is for us, the living to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion.

“That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Take a moment today to remember, to be grateful, and to personally resolve that those who have died defending our freedoms have not died in vain.

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Daily Broadside | Our Media Is an Enemy of the People

Daily Verse | Job 9:15
“Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.”

Happy Friday, Broadsiders — we’re heading into Memorial Day weekend. I hope you enjoy your Monday off here in the U.S. I’m doubling my weekend by taking today off, too.

Does anybody remember Hunter Biden’s laptop? The laptop that he dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and abandoned? This one:

You could be forgiven for forgetting it, since it was memory holed by the oligarchy running the country formerly known as the United States of America. The Biden laptop with all of the incriminating information it contained about his and his father’s selling their political connections to the Ukrainians and Chinese were censored and blacklisted by social media including Twitter and Facebook in the run up to the 2020 presidential election.

Well, guess what? JOE BIDEN IS A LIAR. Just like we knew he was.

Joe Biden met with Ukrainian, Russian and Kazakhstani business associates of his son’s at a dinner in Washington, DC, while he was vice president, records on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop show.

The dinner, on April 16, 2015, was held in the private “Garden Room” at Café Milano, a Georgetown institution whose catchphrase is: “Where the world’s most powerful people go.”

The guest list included a diverse number of influential and connected individuals. It included Russian billionaire Yelena Baturina and her husband, deceased former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov. In 2014 Baturina wired $3.5 million to an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden and Devon Archer. The list also included a Mexican ambassador, a former adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, three officials from Kazakhstan, Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi and representatives of World Food Program USA.

The reps from the World Food Program USA were a ruse to obfuscate the true purpose of the dinner — to introduce Biden senior to his business associates.

Hunter told guests before the dinner that his father would be attending. In one email, he appears to use his role on the board of World Food Program USA as a cover story for the evening’s true purpose of introducing his father to his business associates.

“Ok – the reason for the dinner is ostensibly to discuss food security,” writes Hunter on March 26 to Michael Karloutsos, son of the then-head of the Greek Orthodox Church.

“Dad will be there but keep that between us for now. Thanks.”

Karloutsos replies: “Everything is between us. All good‎! … I know you mentioned your dad would probably join the dinner as well.”

On April 17, 2015—the next day—Vadym Pozharskyi emailed Hunter, thanking him for introducing him to VP Biden.

“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together,” Pozharskyi wrote on April 17, 2015. It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure.”

At the time, Burisma was paying Hunter $83,333 a month to sit on its board.

To say that the smoking gun emails raise serious questions about “what Joe Biden, who has claimed ignorance of his son’s activities, knew about Hunter’s dealings with foreign businesses and government officials,” is an understatement.

If this were Trump instead of Biden, the Left would be loudly demanding impeachment. But what do we get from Washington D.C., the White House, or the U.S. media?

Crickets.

The Leftist media conspired to keep that information away from you and me because it threatened their plans to defeat Orange Man Bad and install the corrupt idiot currently in the White House. The same media that pushed the fake Russia! Russia! Russia! collusion for four years and shrieked hysterically at everything Trump did or said kept hidden from the public vital information shining a light on the snakes Dementia Joe and his son are.

That’s the true collusion that threatens our republic.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | Is the Vaccine Turning Us Into Hot Spots?

Daily Verse | Job 4:15
“A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.”

Thursday and day 441 since President-in-Exile Trump declared the Chinese Lung Pox a national emergency on March 13, 2020. Elvis is living in Peoria with Amelia Earhart under an assumed name.

I have my doubts about the Coronavirus vaccines. Actually, it’s gone way past “doubts.” I am not going to get the vaccine and I wouldn’t encourage anyone I know to get the vaccine.

That’s not to say that if you want to get the vaccine I’d stand in your way. It’s your choice. But I’ve heard enough just in my circles of relationships to raise my suspicions about the vaccine.

Nationally and internationally, there are thousands of reports of women experiencing menstrual irregularities and reproductive dysfunction. They are experiencing unusual bleeding, even in those who are menopausal, women are experiencing vaginal hemorrhaging, men and women are getting blood clots or bloody noses, and swelling in the genitalia.

Here’s a report from Life Site News in which they list the conditions people are experiencing:

The U.K. Yellow Card program reports 1,465 reactions involving reproductive systems as well as 19 “spontaneous abortions” (miscarriages), five premature labors, and two stillbirths in association with the AstraZeneca vaccine as of April 5.

The reports include:
۰ 255 cases of abnormal uterine bleeding
۰ 242 reports of unusual breast pain and swelling
۰ 182 women who experienced absent or delayed menstruation
۰ 175 cases of heavy menstrual bleeding
۰ 165 cases of vaginal hemorrhaging
۰ 55 reports of genital swelling, lesions, rashes or ulcerations
۰ 19 cases of postmenopausal hemorrhaging
۰ 12 cases of premature or “artificial” menopause

Another 768 reports of “reproductive and breast disorders” have been reported for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine in the U.K., as well as 42 “spontaneous abortions,” five premature labor onsets, and two stillbirths.

These include:
۰ 265 reports of breast changes, including 22 reports of breast cancer and 177 reports of breast pain
۰ 134 cases of irregular menstrual bleeding
۰ 127 reports of absent or light menstruation
۰ 92 cases of heavy bleeding
۰ 73 cases of vaginal hemorrhaging
۰ 5 reports of postmenopausal hemorrhaging
۰ 5 cases of premature or ‘artificial’ menopause

Male reproductive disorders are fewer, but 75 Yellow Card reports on AstraZeneca’s vaccine include 63 erectile dysfunction reactions, 50 cases of testicular pain, 11 cases of scrotal pain and swelling, and three reports of haematospermia, or blood in sperm.

Pfizer’s Yellow Card includes 22 reports of testicular and scrotal pain and 21 counts of sexual dysfunction.

Lovely, isn’t it? It gets worse.

People who have not been vaccinated but who are in contact with those who have been vaccinated are beginning to exhibit the same symptoms. We’re not talking about intimate contact—just being around people who have been vaccinated is affecting the unvaccinated.

The theory is that the vaccination is “shedding,” a term that means a vaccinated person is passing the vaccine to others in their daily interactions. Another article on Life Site News explains, “the genetic material and particles of the shots inside the body of the vaccinated person can be transmitted to anyone through several ways, including breathing and sweating. Ardis backs up his statements with a 146-page document from Pfizer, which he says admits this information” (my emphasis).

Got it? You can inhale vaccine particles and your health can be compromised just by being around someone who is vaccinated.

Five medical doctors are suspicious that the Covid vaccine is actually a weaponized drug, a bio-weapon. You can watch their discussion here. One of the doctors, Dr. Carrie Madej, has concerns about one of the ingredients in two of the vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer).

“One of the key components is the nano-lipid particles, which are brand new technology on humanity. They’re using a nano-technology which is pretty much little tiny computer bits. They actually can be nanobots, or another word is hydrogel. There’s all different kinds of terms and names for the very same structure, but inside of those two vaccines is this sci-fi kind of substance.” (16:10)

She goes on to explain how the “computer bits” have the ability to act through wi-fi, meaning they can transmit and receive energy. Then she says, “that issue has never been addressed by these companies. What does that do to the human?”

Indeed. What are they doing to us?

We have no idea what the government is encouraging us to inject into our bodies. And because of that, and because I no longer trust the government or our “top” scientists like Fauxci, or our drug manufacturers, I will stay far away from the vaccines for a virus that has a 99.8 percent survivability rate.

And because the vaccines shed, putting the rest of us at risk, I may end up having to wear a mask to prevent being infected by the vaccine.

The irony isn’t lost on me.

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Daily Broadside | It’s Time to Think About a New Declaration

Daily Verse | Job 2:10
“Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

It’s the final Wednesday of May 2021, never to be repeated, ever again, as time unrolls day after day, like a carpet in perpetuity. I feel fortunate that I don’t have abibliophobia.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he affirmed that, “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” While most of us know the most famous words of the Declaration—”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”—how many of us know that about ⅓ of the document is a list of grievances the thirteen States held against the British Crown? These were the “causes which impel them to the separation.”

In the Declaration Jefferson writes, “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.” He then goes on to list 27 “Facts,” most of which start with “He has …,” referring to King George III.

Here are the first two, for instance:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

Another one:

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

So George III bribed public officials? Another one:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

Gee, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I seem to recall that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent precisely because of lawlessness such as independent administrators making new election laws just in time for the election, bypassing the Legislators who alone have the power to make new laws.

I’m beginning to think that it may be time for a new Declaration.

As I’ve been pondering our situation in the U.S., it seems to me that Thomas Jefferson gave us permission to start over. He writes, “–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Are we not now living in a time when our “Form of Government” has become “destructive of these ends”?

Seems to me that we could draw up a new and very long list of grievances against our ruling class, starting with the double standards in the application of our laws, the threats that senior officials are making against half the country, and the lawless illegal immigration of foreigners into our country allowed by our own government, the weaponization of the alphabet agencies (and the existence of the agencies themselves), the hatred and insidious doctrine of Critical Race Theory and Cultural Marxism that has been allowed to fester in our public institutions, the rules that force Christian institutions to violate their consciences, such as boys who think they’re girls being allowed in girls’ changing rooms or restrooms, and how “freedom of the press” has become a shield to protect the press from accountability when they are no longer publishing news but acting like an extension of the government.

There are probably hundreds of examples. How about it? Drop your ideas in the comment section.

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Daily Broadside | The Constitution is the Only Permission You Need to Carry a Gun

Daily Verse | Esther 9:28b
And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants.

Happy Tuesday my friends. Some of you can’t carry a tune unless it’s dead and slung over your shoulder.

Speaking of dead and slung over your shoulder … Texas is this close to adopting a constitutional carry law. Constitutional carry means that a person can carry a handgun concealed or openly without a license or permit. In other words, Texas is ready to acknowledge that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only regulation we need to “keep and bear arms.”

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

— Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution

I’ve often thought that any regulation of “arms” is an infringement, and therefore a violation of, my second amendment rights.

I have to take a class in order to carry a gun? Infringement.

I have to pay a fee and get fingerprinted to own a gun? Infringement.

I have to leave my gun outside when I come into your establishment? Infringement.

I can only use magazines that hold ten bullets or less? Infringement.

The Second Amendment does not say that I can have gun if I have a permit. Or if I pass a test. All it says is that I have a right to keep (own) and bear (carry and use) Arms.

Texas, along with 20 other states, is simply removing all of the obstacles and red tape that government bureaucracy has layered onto gun ownership. It wasn’t always like this.

We were visiting my aunt this weekend and while I was at her house, I saw that she had a .22 caliber rifle. When I asked her about it, she told the story of her and her fiancé stopping by a gun shop on the way home from the wedding rehearsal dinner. They went in, looked at different guns, and chose that one. No background checks. No ID necessary. No registration with the government. Just picking out a gun in a local store like you would vegetables for dinner.

Then, they brought it home and took it out back, where they fired it into a slope. No gun range, no laws prohibiting shooting in a local neighborhood, no “eyes and ears” required; just a fun hobby they did together.

Something similar is happening in South Carolina, where “Gov. Henry McMaster will soon sign legislation that will allow South Carolinians with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns openly in public.” A step in the right direction, for sure, with the main goal being to some day strip the permit requirement altogether.

That’s the Constitution in its purest form, and we need to be willing to fight for and support legislation like this, especially as the country falls farther down the rabbit hole.

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Daily Broadside | This New Toy Wants You to Feel Included

Daily Broadside | Esther 4:14
“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

It’s Monday and we’re off into another week which happens to be the last one in May. “Turtle dove” sounds like the best combination of chocolate in the world.

Next month is June, which is the first month of the summer season and the month in which the longest day of the year occurs. It’s also the month now celebrated as Pride Month. Just in time to celebrate, toymaker LEGO has announced a brand new box set called “Everyone is Awesome.” The 346-piece set offers 11 figures with each assigned a color of the rainbow.

CNN quotes creator Matthew Ashton, who says, “I wanted to create a model that symbolizes inclusivity and celebrates everyone, no matter how they identify or who they love.” Mind you, this has nothing to do with building things with plastic bricks; it has everything to do with making people feel like they belong. When you don’t feel like you belong, you feel left out or alienated from others.

People (especially kids) feeling alienated or left out is a common experience. Listen to Ashton describe his experience:

“Growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid – being told what I should play with, how I should walk, how I should talk, what I should wear – the message I always got was that somehow I was ‘wrong’,” he said. “Trying to be someone I wasn’t was exhausting. I wish, as a kid, I had looked at the world and thought: ‘This is going to be OK, there’s a place for me’. I wish I’d seen an inclusive statement that said ‘everyone is awesome’.”

The alienation is real, so the problem he’s trying to resolve is real. But, as Albert Mohler observes, the alienation is misplaced — “the primary alienation is the alienation of the creature from the Creator.” And that can’t be fixed with a model toy that tells you, “you’re awesome.”

(Somewhat inexplicably, the Lego set is targeted at the eighteen-plus crowed. If you believe that it won’t be bought for children at much younger ages, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.)

The other thing to note here is the title of the set: Everyone is Awesome. Returning to Mohler, he says,

What exactly does “awesome” mean? Even if you understand how the word has been devalued in our society, is everyone awesome? Is everyone awesome all the time? Are you going to speak of everyone is equally awesome? Does it have anything to do with sexual identity? And as everything is awesome, everything really is awesome. I don’t think so. It’s a branding message but it’s also a branding message that fits into the model confusion of our time. We don’t actually believe that everyone is awesome as defined by character, as defined by behavior, as defined by any number of things. We do believe that everyone is equally made in the image of God and every single human being bears equal dignity and thus infinite worth. The statement, “Everyone is awesome,” basically sounds like the understanding that everyone must have a trophy.

For those who long to be affirmed as having “worth,” the message “you’re awesome” is very appealing. But relationships and circumstances and cultural norms change. What happens when the people who tell you you’re awesome aren’t around any more? When the job tells you to start looking for other opportunities? When what you ‘identify as’ becomes “the norm”?

Where do you find lasting affirmation?

Who you are is the core issue, and the Bible tells us we are all made in the image of God, but that image has been marred by sin in everyone of us. That’s the issue that we have to address, and we can’t do it by looking to others to provide the affirmation we need. In fact, sometimes rather than affirming someone based on their sexuality, we need to affirm them based on their dignity in the eyes of an all-loving God.

The “Everyone Is Awesome” Lego model is just a continuation of the moral degeneracy that we’re suffering as a nation. It’s one more burr hooked into the lining of our national moral framework. True affirmation comes not from those around us, but from the One who made us.

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Daily Broadside | More Violence Between Palestinians and Jews, This Time in New York

Daily Verse | Esther 2:12
Before a girl’s turn came to go into King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.

Happy Friday my friends. Are we still allowed to say “Black Swan event”?

I posted yesterday on the hostilities in LA the other night, as a pro-Palestinian gang hunted for Jews to beat up. Turns out that open confrontation on the streets of a major city is also happening clear across the country in New York City. There are a number of videos here documenting the incidents, and I embed a couple of them below just to give you a flavor of what’s going on.

The first is of a rather large firework that is thrown at Jews in Manhattan by, as they say, “Palestinian protestors.”

Surely that has to be illegal, doesn’t it? I didn’t find any mention of charges being filed against anyone.

Over in Times Square, pro-Palestinian marchers and Jewish demonstrators clashed in counter-demonstrations.

The open hostility—the hatred, if we’re being honest—really bothers me. It’s been a little challenging for me to put my finger on why, but here’s a few thoughts.

First, I feel like I’m watching something that could easily have been filmed on the streets of Jerusalem. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been there a few times, and I’ve seen the uneasy tensions between the Jews and the Palestinians in the streets. I never saw it devolve into fisticuffs, but the impression I got was that a fight was always just under the surface.

Second, this isn’t an “American” problem, like the “Hatfields and the McCoys” are an American problem. These people, whoever they are, have just lifted and shifted their national identities from the Middle East to Middle America. The Hatfields and the McCoys were Americans; these people aren’t “Americans” in the true sense of the word, but foreigners who have brought their tribal feuds to the streets of our nation.

It’s clear that they identify first as Jews and as Palestinians; otherwise, why the flags for each people? This also underscores the problem of non-assimilation, as each group rages against the other over ancient hatreds and land that lies 6,000 miles away from here.

Politically, I unequivocally support Israel’s right to not only exist, but to defend itself from any and all enemies and acts of war. When the Palestinians get violent and begin firing missiles indiscriminately into civilian areas of Israel, they have not only the right, but the duty to counter with overwhelming force to neutralize the threat.

This is true for any nation, but especially a nation that was set up by legal authorities in the wake of World War II to be a place of safety and security for one of the most brutalized people groups in all of history.

Finally, both the Palestinians and the Jews need to come to Jesus Christ. That’s where unity will ultimately be found. Both sides in this conflict need our prayers, including the innocent men, women and children who are victims of the violence.

I just wish that they left their existential struggle overseas, where it belongs.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | If I Wanted to Live in the Middle East I’d Move There

Daily Verse | Nehemiah 12:27
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

It’s already Thursday, my friends, and I’m glad you are able to join me this morning. I think we’ve yet to tap the full potential of the Fluba.

As if the good ship America hasn’t taken enough of a pounding on the progressive seas, we learned yesterday that pro-Palestinian thugs in Los Angeles were out hunting the night before for Jews to beat up.

According to The Hill:

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a Tuesday night incident in which diners at a California restaurant were attacked as a possible Jewish hate crime.

According to a local CBS affiliate news outlet, a group of Jewish men who were dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles’ Beverly Grove neighborhood when they were allegedly attacked by multiple people waving pro-Palestinian flags.

The attackers reportedly arrived at the restaurant in a car and began to yell racial slurs at the men and throw bottles at them as they exited the vehicle.

One man, who was dining with the Jewish group, but is not Jewish, told CBSLA that he is a photographer who had met the group that night to plan a wedding.

Super. It’s like the United States has an inferiority complex and wants to look more like the rest of the world. Let’s just keep importing more of these third world barbarians and their tribal hatreds to America because “diversity” or something.

This is the kind of behavior you’d expect in the Middle East or in Europe, not North America. But our so-called “leaders” prioritize other peoples over Americans and think they’re doing something noble by allowing terrorist sympathizers to live here.

It will get worse — much worse — before it gets better.

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Daily Broadside | The Government is Not “We the People”

Daily Verse | Nehemiah 9:35
“Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.”

It’s Wednesday my Daily Broadside friends. The last accurate forecast was when God told Noah it was going to rain for forty days and forty nights.

It’s not what I know that Resident Biden and his illegal junta are doing to America that bothers me (although it does). It’s what I don’t know that they’re doing to America—out of sight, behind the scenes and on the weekends in the alphabet agencies and the war rooms and in their offices in the White House—that bothers me. And if what we do know is any indication about their intentions, what they aren’t showing us is probably 100 times worse.

Take, for instance, what many consider to be the most dangerous portion of Biden’s so-called “State of the Union” address on April 28. Watch:

Our Constitution opens with the words, as trite as it sounds, “We the People.” It’s time to remember that We the People are the government. You and I. Not some force in a distant capital. Not some powerful force we have no control over. It’s us! It’s “We the people.”

This is, without hyperbole, one of the most shocking statements any leader of our country has ever said. It’s possible that, in his foggy brain, he meant, “those of us in government are made up of the people” and, in that way, the government is “the people.” But he didn’t say that and the words he did use are unqualified: “We the People are the government.”

It is true that “We the People” are supposed to be the ultimate authority. We live in a nation that has a government “of the people, by the people and for the people,” as Abraham Lincoln said. But when Biden went on to say, “You and I” and “It’s us!” he inexcusably fused the two — the “government” and We the People — as one.

No.

Joe Biden and those who write his speeches clearly don’t understand the U.S. Constitution or the intentions of our Founding Fathers. Or, if they do, they’re intentionally conflating the boundaries of government and “the people” as the tip of the wedge to start prying the original meaning out of the preamble to the Constitution. (I addressed this tactic in an earlier post, here.)

Our constitutional republic (not democracy) is a model of self-government, meaning the people are sovereign and the government is the servant of the people. The Declaration of Independence says,

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”

The only task of government is to secure our rights with the consent of the governed. There are two entities, not one. The governed or We the People, and the government, who operates only with our consent and with only one purpose.

“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.”

— U.S. President John Adams (1797–1801)

Our government under Dementia Joe is not one of “the common good.” The government should never be in a position of telling us what we should do or imposing unnecessary restrictions on our freedom to pursue happiness. It has become what Adams said it shouldn’t be: for the profit, honor and private interest of a class of men.

If you don’t believe that, just look at how rich politicians become. See how Hunter Biden and the Big Guy have made millions off of their power and political cronyism. Note that we do not have domestic tranquility under this administration. We have asymmetrical justice and this administration is desperately trying to restrict our inalienable rights as Resident Biden divides the nation by race, sex and political beliefs.

Most of all, listen to how Joe Biden talks to you and me.

Is this not the statement of a dictator? He doesn’t have the “just power” to rule by fiat in our Constitutional republic — ever. That’s not how this works. But Resident Biden clearly isn’t bothered by the constraints that the U.S. Constitution puts on the government.

This is a prime example of the things we can see of the current administration.

It makes me wonder what we can’t see.

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Daily Broadside | When the Bubonic Plague Arrived, Christians Responded Fearlessly

Daily Verse | Nehemiah 4:14
“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

Welcome to Tuesday, my friends. Why does everything good for you taste like it isn’t?

To say that the Coronavirus pandemic has been a preoccupation for our nation and for countries around the world is to understate the case. Wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands, shutting down businesses, closing schools, quarantining everybody (not just those who are sick) and getting the vaccine (or not) have been at the center of our social lives for the last 14 months since “two weeks to flatten the curve.”

The pandemic has also proven to be very divisive, with people opposing each other over mask mandates and generally making life more difficult for everyone over concerns of “safety.” Those who see masks as useless are thought to be inconsiderate and potentially lethal threats to those who believe masks and social distancing will keep them safe, while people like me consider demands to wear a mask to protect others to be a misplaced responsibility.

The chaos and division in society spurred by the pandemic has even, perhaps unsurprisingly, affected the Christian Church. Churches initially cooperated with government orders to quarantine to help stop the spread of the virus. When government began choosing which businesses or services were “essential” and which weren’t, churches were surprised to learn that they weren’t considered essential, provoking legal confrontations between them and the state.

Even worse, the virus caused church members to divide over those who wore masks and those who didn’t, and those who wanted to keep meeting and those who trusted the “reopening plans” of their state government.

As I’ve been reflecting on all of this recently, it occurred to me that the Church’s response to this pandemic has been very different from how it responded in the past. For instance, one of the earliest plagues was The Plague of Cyprian (249–262 AD) that, at its height, caused 5,000 deaths a day in Rome. Yet Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, wrote:

Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead.

He then contrasted that with how the pagans reacted:

But with the heathen everything was quite otherwise. They deserted those who began to be sick, and fled from their dearest friends. They shunned any participation or fellowship with death; which yet, with all their precautions, it was not easy for them to escape. (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 7.22.7–10)

It was similar with the Bubonic Plague (or Black Death) in Europe where it wiped out half the population in just five years. Martin Luther wrote about it, saying “We must respect the word of Christ, ‘I was sick and you did not visit me.’ According to this passage we are bound to each other in such a way that no one may forsake the other in his distress but is obliged to assist and help him as he himself would like to be helped.”

In every case, we see that Christians moved toward the sick and the dying, even being willing to die themselves to obey the commands of Jesus to love one another, to carry one another’s burdens and to care for the sick.

The Peking Lung Pox is not the bubonic plague. Not only is it not the bubonic plague, but it’s a virus that has a 99% survival rate that mostly affects those with comorbidities. In other words, not only is the Covid Pandemic not the Bubonic Plague, but many of us have actually fled from it in fear rather than leaning into it as believers to minister to others. We’re masking up and isolating ourselves in an effort to save our own lives.

My question is, how will Christianity be seen in the wake of Covid-19? Were we known for our willingness to serve those who needed it most? Or were we indistinguishable from the rest of the population?

How “loving our neighbor” manifests itself may look different in different eras, but we can take encouragement from the example left by Christians who preceded us. We remember that we are to have sacrificial love, which may from time to time expose us to dangers to our health or safety. But we don’t fear; we act with courage to be obedient to the scriptural guidance to care for the sick.

Christianity grew exponentially during the plagues of the earlier centuries because they impressed Caesar and the local populations with their sacrificial love toward those who needed it most.

Can the same be said to be true today?