Freedom Prospers When Religion Is Vibrant

There are many reasons why thriving civilizations fail, however, three examples of the failure of societies at the height of their wealth and power are: the Roman Empire, the Greek Empire and the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Although I am not a historical or biblical scholar, I believe that these prosperous civilizations were at the height of their immorality, debauchery and open homosexuality at the time of their demise.

A democracy can not sustain itself upon the view of the majority alone. It is quite obvious that views held by the majority are not necessarily proved as correct. There are countless examples, including that at one time, the vast majority of people believed that the Earth was flat. A democracy can only sustain itself if it is built upon a moral base which is founded upon universal spiritual principles, otherwise it will devolve into "mob-rule". An example would be the Palestinian democracy in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians democratically elected the terrorist group "Hamas" to lead their country. Once in power, they began to fire rockets into Israel, while ignoring their peoples needs for food, infrastructure (sewers, electricity, etc.), and productive work. This would not occur, in a democracy restrained by spiritual principles. Democracy without moral restraint, will not bring about freedom, peace and prosperity.

I often hear liberals claim that you can not legislate morality. This is preposterous. Most of our laws that our country was founded on were based on principles that are spelled out in the "Ten Commandments". We still honor most laws against lying, cheating , stealing and murdering which are moral principles that are laid out in the Ten Commandments. Up until recently we had laws against adultery, sodomy and doing business on the Sabbath. In my opinion, the decay we are seeing in morality is attributable to our society becoming more secular and less religious. Although I am not religious in the traditional sense, I do have a strong belief in God, the eternal soul and divine judgment. If these principles are removed or diminished from the American culture, I can see no other outcome than the demise of our unique American culture and the fall of our great nation.

I often hear liberals say that this country was founded in sin, due to slavery. To the contrary, the "Declaration if Independence", our Constitution and our "Bill of Rights" were based on spiritual principles and written in such a way that would eventually lead to the end of slavery. 750,000 men gave their lives in our most bloody war which resulted in the end of slavery. Please read the lyrics to all five verses of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which was a famous marching song of the Civil War. This hymn brings tears to my eyes because it puts morality and God above life itself. Years later, it was Christian leaders who started the civil rights movement which successfully removed discrimination, based on race, from our laws and our culture.

Click here for the lyrics: "Battle Hymn of the Republic"

Click here for a short article about the hymn's history.

For a real tear-jerking experience, click on the video below and listen to the the US Army Chorus perform three verses of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". This rendition was performed on the White house lawn during a ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to Washington DC on April 16, 2008.



One of the many verses that always brings tears to my eyes is:
"As he [Christ] died to make men holy, let us die to make them free"

Ronald Reagan said: "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged".

John Adams said: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Left to our own devices, we will eventually devolve to our base instincts, which will lead to anarchy (total freedom without restraints) or a totalitarian government (no freedom) will rise to power, in order to restore order. Only a secular democratic government, restrained and balanced by religious morality, can yield both maximum freedom and order. This is the unique American culture that made our nation free, prosperous and powerful. Belief in a power greater than ourselves, humbles us and gives us reason to build and maintain a just, free, prosperous and powerful nation. At times we must sacrifice our own, pleasures, wealth and even our very lives, for just and noble causes which bring us closer to God and purchase the freedom and prosperity for future generations. Our nation stands free and strong today because many of our predecessors have chosen to make such sacrifices. The extraordinary motivation for such sacrifice usually comes from desire to serve God, family and country. Today's liberals often seek to diminish the value of Judeo-Christian religions, the traditional family, and our unique American culture. These are required for the continued freedom, prosperity and very survival of America as we know it today.

Rants, Runts and Ramblings

Recently I have been noticing that many people label any opinion that they disagree with, as a "rant". To my understanding, "rant" is an emotionally charged word. I define a rant as: A wild, incoherent, emotional articulation, where emotionality supersedes rationality. Are there other common definitions that I am not aware of? The term rant implies that opposing opinions are emotional and unreasoned and should be summarily dismissed without debate. I attribute this, and many of our modern day societal problems, to the "feminizing" of our society.

Generally speaking, women rely more heavily on their right brain (emotional and artistic) and men have a stronger left brain which relies more heavily on reason and intellect. Both are needed to complement and contrast each other and form a complete human society. This is why it is so important for children to be brought up in homes that contain a loving compassionate nurturing mother and a strong, reasonable and pragmatic father. This is the way God and nature created the vast majority and this is what I consider to be normal. There is no denying this obvious truth. In today's modern society, I am seeing the feminizing of men, due to the decline of the intact nuclear family. Also emotional, half-truths and propaganda are spread by activists and amplified by the media, universities and the arts.

This feminizing has risen to the level of our political leaders, public schools, universities, media and the arts. Boys are taught to be more sensitive, that crying is natural, normal and nothing for a boy to be ashamed of. Boys are taught to run away from a fight, rather than confront an enemy who threatens them and "theirs". Boys are taught that competition is unfriendly and that good sportsmanship should rise to the level of a world where there are no winners and losers. Many schools have discontinued playground games such as dodge-ball and tag, because they are too aggressive. Some schools have stopped keeping score at sporting events, so that there are no losers. Some school plays alternate the lead part so that everyone gets a chance to play the lead, no matter how inept they are. These are all "feminine" views.

I believe my views to be mainstream, reasonable and obvious to anyone who is able to remain objective. Activists on the left, particularly feminist and homosexual activists, often alter public opinion by bullying their detractors with unfounded charges of prejudice, hatred and homophobia. I believe that these unfounded attacks are just as harmful, if not more harmful, than true prejudices, because their aim is to suppress opposing views with emotion, and manipulate public opinion with half truths and outright lies ".

One example that comes to mind occurred in San Francisco, in the early 80's. Before famous author and conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage achieved fame and notoriety, he volunteered in a San Francisco "free clinic" which was run by two homosexual doctors. Savage has earned a doctorate degree at Berkley and studied epidemiology among many other subjects pertaining to nutrition, botany, and natural healing. Savage was personal friends with these two "gay" doctors, who he often socialized with. During the early 80's, Savage noticed that many young, otherwise healthy gay men, were becoming afflicted with an unknown horrible disease that often lead to death. Savage was aware of the unsanitary conditions of the popular "gay bath houses" in San Francisco and reasoned that the activities going on in them was ripe for spreading an epidemic. Although savage had no proof that these bath houses might be spreading disease among San Francisco homosexuals, he called for closing all San Francisco bath houses in an effort to be prudent and avert a widespread epidemic among homosexuals and save many lives.

When Savage made his views public about shutting down all San Francisco bath houses he was vilified as a homophobe and a "gay basher". The gay doctors fired him from the clinic and disowned him as a friend. Gay activist's condemned Savage's ideas as hateful and anti-gay. He was only trying to avert a deadly epidemic that he reasoned was imminent based on his education, reason and common sense. Savage was dumbfounded because he had friends in the homosexual community who had now turned against him.

As it turned out, several years later it was discovered that a new virus called AIDS was responsible for the numerous illnesses and deaths in San Francisco's gay community. Later it was discovered that this disease was spread by unprotected anonymous gay sex, which was common in the bath-houses. If the gay activists would have used reason and listened to Savage, rather than using emotion to condemn him, many lives could have been saved. Eventually all of San Francisco's bath-houses were shut down because they were considered a breading ground for the deadly virus AIDS. However this truth never stopped the gay activists from labeling Savage as an homophobe and gay basher. To this day, Savage is vilified and demonized in the gay community.

Do you find any truth in my post or am I merely ranting about rants?

Black-Jack, Jacked-Up Cars and Jacking Us Around

Yesterday I was at Hollywood Florida's Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for the first time in over a year. They moved the "poker room" to a separate 2 story building in the "shopping mall" out the back door of the main casino. In the main casino, they added numerous black-jack tables located in about five clusters scattered throughout the casino. They also have three card poker and baccarat. The minimums on the new card-games are ridiculous. The cheapest black-jack tables have a 15 dollar minimum, followed by many 25, 50 and 100 dollar tables. The 25 dollar tables seem to be the most popular, but most all of the tables were filled. The parking lot was also filled, I had a hard time finding a parking spot in the parking garage.

The patrons were a curious mix of silver haired seniors and young hipsters showing off their bold tattoos, enhanced breasts, weirdly colored hair styles, pierced lips, brows, noses and navels. The most common symbol tattooed on the bodies of the youth, printed on their clothing and molded in their jewelry and belt buckles was the "skull and crossbones". I would estimate that 25% of the young hipsters sported this hideous symbol which represents poison, death, degradation and decay. Printed prominently on the wall of this magnificent casino was a quote from an idolized rock star and drug addict Todd Rundgren. It read: "I don't want to work, I just want to bang on these drums all day". While the young and the old alike were mesmerized by their hopes of thrills, fortune, good times, and euphoria, I could not help but notice how spiritually bankrupt our materially wealthy society has become.

How can the politicians claim that we are in a recession that has caused total economic devastation if so many people are gambling (and mostly losing) at such high stakes at the casinos? Apparently the gas prices, now down to $3.70 per gallon in FL, are not stopping people from driving their huge pick-up trucks and SUVs that were clogging the roads on a Sunday, when few people needed to get to work or drive out of necessity. Many of the vehicles on the road had expensive, yet frivolous modifications such as custom wheels, some costing up to $1,000 for each wheel, custom sound systems with huge sub-woofers, also costing thousands, custom paint jobs, also costing thousands and of course, modified exhaust systems that also draw attention to their vehicles costing hundreds of dollars to install.

Of course you may argue that there is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. However, the casino hires thousands of workers and the custom auto industry is mostly run by small independent businessmen. What I see with my eyes greatly varies from what I hear on the news and from the democratic candidates. Most people I see, have plenty and are living and gambling above their means.

Politicians are also talking about the masses of people who were duped into taking out home loans that they couldn't afford and are now facing foreclosure and homelessness due to the mean, cold-hearted banking industry. They fail to tell you that all of the foreclosures that I personally know about are due to people using the real-estate market like they use the Hard Rock Casino's high priced black jack tables. Due to congressional legislation that encouraged home loans to be made available to poor people (people who have a track record of being unsuccessful at earning and managing money), many loans were issued to people who were irresponsible with their own money and their own financial future.

I personally know of several cases of people who were issued huge mortgage loans, with little or no down payment, based on documentation that was fraudulent and false income levels that went unchecked. Salesmen, who were more interested in their monthly commissions, rather than the future of their industry, were only too happy to bend the already lenient rules. Salesmen, mortgage brokers and loan officers also looked the other way by not checking accuracy of loan applications and accepting or encouraging inflated home appraisals.Of course the banks should have checked their applications for accuracy, but how can individuals blame the banks because they lied on their applications and the banks didn't bother to check. Illegal aliens were even granted home loans with fraudulent ID and social-security numbers. When they were unable to repay their loan, the bank refinanced their loans and gave them several hundred thousand dollars more, based on the increase in the appraised value of their home while the market was soaring. Instead of using this money to build their future and/or stabilize their economic future, most high risk homeowners, with few exceptions, spent this windfall on vacations, cars, trucks, custom wheels, paint jobs, sound systems and exhaust, and living living above their means. When the real estate market stopped rising, they were unable to pay their loans and blamed their misfortune on the banking industry for taking advantage of them.

The entire real estate debacle has been cause by spiritual depravity on many levels. Just like the hard Rock Casino lures in its unsuspecting customers with the promise of something for nothing; the government, the real estate industry and the banking industry dangled the same "carrot" in front of millions of spiritually bankrupt folks who thought that greed and luck would solve all of their problems. The unspoken truth is that hard work, responsibility, discipline, sacrifice, selflessness, humility, gratitude, honesty and integrity is what creates material wealth as well as spiritual growth. These principles build individual character, promote peace and prosperity, reduce crime, as well as improving our eternal souls. Why don't I ever hear this from our political leaders and activists?

Currently, our economy is based upon borrowing from our future instead of building our future. Our entire economy, including government and individuals is borrowing for luxuries instead of saving for necessities of the inevitable rainy day. Cities are building new sports arenas while bridges and other infrastructure decay in disrepair. Most Americans are living beyond their means in order to seek thrills, show off and keep up with the Joneses. Our government is in the hole for 55 trillion dollars including the unfunded liability of our Social Security and Medicare programs.For the first time in American history , personal borrowing is larger than personal savings. Chasing greed and hoping for luck will inevitably bring our economy and our high standard of living down the the level of struggling for our very survival. What has taken twenty-four decades to build up is being squandered before my eyes in only a few decades. All that is needed to reverse this alarming trend, is to return to the spiritual principles that this nation was founded upon and made us the wealthiest, freest, most powerful nation on earth.

Father-Daughter Talk

The following is a humorous little story that I read in a local newsletter,"The Chatterbox". This eloquent little story clearly exposes the folly of liberalism and the hypocrisy of what is being taught to our gullible youth on today's college campuses. I couldn't have put it better myself. This story was well written and made an excellent point.

Father Daughter Talk

A young woman was about to finish her last year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Libertarian, which she expressed openly.

One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich & the addition of more government welfare programs. Based on the lectures that she had participated in and the occasional chat with a professor she felt that for years her father had obviously harbored an evil, even selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school. She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she studied all the time, never had time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. That she was taking a more difficult curriculum.
Her father listened and then asked, "How is your good friend Mary doing?" She replied, "Mary is barely getting by." She continued, "She barely has a 2.0 GPA," adding, "and all she takes are easy classes and she never studies. But Mary is so very popular on campus, college for her is a blast, she goes to all the parties all the time and very often doesn't even show up for classes because she is too hung over."

Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0." He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter visibly shocked by her father's suggestion angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I worked really hard for mine, I did without and Mary has done little or nothing, she played while I worked real hard!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said, "Welcome to the Libertarian Party!"

This story is just another example of how liberals call on the rest of us to follow their ideology. Often, they deem themselves exempt from their own rhetoric, because they consider themselves more compassionate and intelligent. In other words, they know what is best for the rest of us. Individual responsibility based on universal spiritual principles is the basis of conservatism. Equality of outcome is what liberals are always preaching, regardless of individual behavior. They are driven by emotions that make them feel like they are doing good, when in fact, the unintended consequences of their actions, often exacerbate to problems that they are attempting to solve. Examples are:

affirmative action in education and the workforce
Affirmative action, by definition, results in minorities that are less capable, competent and motivated than their peers in universities and the workplace. This may lead to animosity directed toward less qualified minorities from their peers who have sacrificed and struggled to get better grades and hone their skills. They are often left feeling embittered when they are passed up for college admittance and jobs due to affirmative action programs which place less qualified minorities in front of them. This will actually perpetuate the myth that minorities are not as intelligent or capable as their fellow students and co-workers. Minority students and workers who are placed in universities and jobs above their capabilities are more likely to fail. They themselves will be worse off in the long run because they are placed in schools and jobs that they do not have the necessary skills, abilities and motivation to be successful at. Affirmative action sets up the people who it is supposed to help, for failure.

tax the rich and give to the poor
This policy will discourage achievement, productivity and the creation of wealth. By over-taxing wealthy, successful people, they will be less motivated to risk their capitol through business investment. It also contributes to the spiritual degradation of the "poor".

Business investment is what creates jobs for the poor and middle class. If the profits are taxed away from the rich, they simply will not be motivated to invest and create jobs. Also, high taxes leave the rich with less money to spend on luxury items, like furs, yachts, mansions, private planes, etc. Entire industries will lose their customer base. This means that millions of small businesses, contractors and middle-class employees will lose their source of income that is derived from manufacturing and servicing these luxury items.

What liberals fail to see is that poor and middle class people have the ability and opportunity to move up the economic ladder when properly motivated by profits and the chance of becoming rich. By punishing the rich, you are actually reducing the "poor" and middle-class's chances of improving their lot in life and becoming the rich themselves. Most of today's millionaires are self-made men who have worked their way up from poor and middle class backgrounds. The US does not have a class system that is set in stone. People are constantly moving up and out of lower economic situations every day. Man's natural motivation to succeed works best when not deterred by taxes on the rich and government subsidies for the "poor".

Families, Churches, and private charities are best at helping the truly needy. When people give voluntarily, it improves their character as well as efficiently filling a need. It is better to give than receive. This is a universal spiritual principle that applies to voluntarily giving. Having your wealth seized by the government, for what politicians have convinced constituents are altruistic purposes, is of no spiritual benefit to anyone. Also, the government bureaucracies that are charged with helping the poor are inefficient at best and corrupt at worse. Voluntary charity is spiritually uplifting. Forced redistribution of wealth can have a corrupting effect on all who are involved.

When people are over taxed, they feel embittered, used and unmotivated. A few weeks ago, the Internal Revenue Service released data on tax year 2003. The data shows that the top 1 percent of taxpayers, ranked by adjusted gross income, paid 34.3 percent of all federal income taxes that year. The top 5 percent paid 54.4 percent, the top 10 percent paid 65.8 percent, and the top 25 percent paid 83.9 percent. The lower 50 percent of wage earners, paid only 3 percent of federal income taxes.

Politicians often pit one class against another in order to secure political power. They offer programs to "help" the "poor", but the "poor" often feel resentment because government assistance is never enough. Human nature is such, that getting something for nothing, breeds laziness, apathy and resentment. This results in a permanent underclass that remains dependent on inadequate government programs. They remain beholden to the politicians that dole out the freebies. As a result much of this underclass will become unmotivated to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and remain in and endless cycle of poverty. An unmotivated underclass is a drain on our economy as well as spiritually degrading for the poor themselves.

Taxing the rich and subsidising the poor contributes to negative economic growth as well as a vicious cycle leading to spiritual depravity. Although many liberals have noble altruistic motives, the unintended consequences of their "feel good" solutions often exacerbate the problems they are trying to solve.

Top Song on the Hit Parade

I was recently upset when I learned that the number one pop song for the past 8 weeks is called "I Kissed a Girl and I liked it". The shocking part is that this song is sung by a girl. This song normalizes, celebrates and encourages experimentation with homosexuality by teenage girls. These are a few lines in the song: "I kissed a girl and I liked it, The taste of her cherry chapstick, I kissed a girl just to try it ". The entire song lyrics are copied below.

Many young people will say that this is just a song and that the lyrics don't have any significant meaning to them. Just like they say the lyrics of vile rap songs are funny, cool or just plain "art", they also consider this song so cool that they made it number one on the hit parade. But if songs have no meaning, why are so many of us emotional when we hear the national anthem? Why do Madison Avenue advertising firms use songs successfully to promote products. Why do most young people emulate popular musicians in dress, attitude and language? This song promotes experimentation with homosexuality, which is abnormal and unhealthy. As a result, today's youth are blurring the line and unable to distinguish between normal and abnormal, healthy and unhealthy and right and wrong behavior. What do you think?

Katy Perry
I Kissed A Girl

This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what, I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

No, I don't even know your name
It doesn't matter
Your my experimental game
Just human nature
It's not what, good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Gary

Chinese Chicklets, Hooter's Hotties, News Babes and Drug Dealing Dolls

For some reason, the news media is making a big deal about the young Chinese girl who sang the Chinese national anthem at the opening ceremonies at the Olympics. The voice did not belong to the girl who appeared before the crowds. She was lip-syncing the lyrics, that were actually sung by another young Chinese girl who was not as "cute" as her. (here are two articles, the first is from FOX, the second is from telgraph.co.uk)



The media has been reporting on this story non-stop. They report of the hypocrisy of this deception. They are constantly voicing their disapproval of the Chinese officials who decided to put the appearance of the young singer ahead of the feelings of the young girl who won a singing contest, but was not allowed to show her face and take credit for her vocal talent.

In my opinion, the true hypocrisy lies in the news media's reporting on this story. I have been watching FOX TV news for several years now, and I have noticed that most of their female hosts, anchors, and political analysts are young beautiful blonds (often bleached or dyed blond hair), who are only too eager to show their cleavage, sometimes surgically enhanced, their stocking clad legs and sexy high heal shoes.It is astonishing at how similar most of the female anchors look. Often they wear low cut tops and sometimes they are shown sitting, with their sexy legs crossed. Although most of them are well informed and intelligent, clearly, they would not have their visible job if it were not for their appearance and the way that they are willing to exploit their looks. The real story here is that FOX news (and other networks as well, but I am not as familiar with them) puts "sex appeal" first, when choosing their female news anchors. It is the height of hypocrisy to watch these "news babes" report on how wrong it is for the Chinese girl who was chosen to lip-sync the Chinese National anthem, because she was cute as a button, but the actual singer was hidden because she had buck-teeth. The news would be much more credible if the anchors were chosen solely for their ability, without making it so obvious that their sex appeal is equally important as their journalistic skills. Most likely, the most talented journalists in the newsroom are behind the scenes researching and writing what the so-called talent read off of a teleprompter. Not so different from what they are accusing the Chinese of doing, isn't it?


Click on video for "A Tribute to the Women of FOX News"

While I am on the topic, I would like to share with you another similar situation that I have noticed, time and time again. Recently I wrote an article about how prescription medications are being pushed on the public, like drug dealers push illegal drugs. Well, today while I was in a doctors' office, I remembered one more thing about drug companies that I experienced frequently when I lived in California, while visiting my "shrink" every two weeks.

Almost every time I visited my "shrink", I noticed a representative (sales person) from a pharmaceutical company walk in, check in at the desk and wait in the waiting room until the Doctor was available. I would usually see a different sales Rep. each time, but they all had several things in common. They all carried a large leather bag with their samples, they were all very attractive women in their twenties or early thirties and they all wore sexy business suits. That was my experience for five years in California. Today, I saw the exact same type of woman enter a doctors' office in Florida, with a large leather sample bag.

Have you ever noticed this phenomenon when waiting in doctors' offices? Do you think that it is discriminatory to only hire young sexy women as pharmaceutical sales Reps.? Do you think that this stereotype and generalization is true in a majority of cases? I am sure that if you search hard enough, you will be able to find pharmaceutical sales Reps. who are not young sexy women, but in my personal experience, I have never seen any other type of person selling pharmaceutical products to doctors.

I understand the justification for "Hooters" bar and restaurants, to hire young attractive, busty women. I even understand the reason why Fox News highlights sexy, women as news anchors, commentators and panelists. I understand why the Chinese Olympic officials chose to display an attractive young singer, rather than one with imperfect teeth; But how can pharmaceutical companies justify limiting their pool of sales Reps. to young sexy women?

Character and Candidates

John Edwards is often touted as a brilliant trial lawyer. Hillary Clinton has been called the smartest woman in the world. I often hear Obama supporters touting his Harvard education and high level of intelligence as one of the main reasons for their support. While it is true that education and intelligence are desirable qualities, they only play a minor role in my voting decision. Intelligence is not, in and of itself, a virtue. Intelligence, knowledge, and education can be used for either good or evil. While education, knowledge, and intelligence can help a good man make more informed decisions, they can also be used by an evil man to carry out diabolical plans. What is most important to me is the character of a presidential candidate. Character is what separates good men from bad men, bad men from evil men, corrupt men from honest men, loyal men from traitorous men, selfless men from selfish men, faithful men from philanderers, humble men from conceited "show-offs", modesty from vanity, and ethical men from scoundrels.

Today's society places much emphasis on improving our bodies and our minds. Most people admire people of great intelligence, beauty, strength, and coordination. For the purpose of "full disclosure", I am compelled to admit that I have none of these characteristics, so I may be suffering from a case of "sour grapes". However, I believe that these physical and mental assets are nice, but in my mind, they are trivial when compared with good character. I do not admire talented singers, dancers, actors, athletes, Nobel laureates, engineers, doctors, scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals for those accomplishments in and of themselves. However, I am very impressed with a humble man who knows right from wrong and strives to improve his character and instill good character in his children. To do so without expecting reward, popularity, or recognition, shows the kind of character and humility that I greatly admire. Humility is a character asset. Our character is the essence of who we are. Character is a window into our soul. If you believe in an eternal soul like I do, our character, the essence of our soul, is the only thing that we will take with us when our spirit leaves this world upon our death. In the grand scheme of things, there is nothing more important than character.

Last week I read about an elite government microbiologist, Bruce E. Ivins, who committed suicide after an investigation implicated him in the 2001 anthrax terror attacks. Ivins apparently mailed anthrax laced envelopes, which threatened US senators and dozens of other innocent people with that deadly disease. Ivins received undergraduate and graduate degrees, including a doctorate in microbiology, from the University of Cincinnati. Ivins was a highly educated and intelligent scientist, but this did not stop him from carrying out an evil plan that led to the death of 5 people. It is believed that Ivins' altruistic motive for this horrific crime was to aid in the development of a vaccine against anthrax. Often diabolical crimes are carried out with an "ends justifies the means" altruistic motive. Ivins suffered from a defect in character that led him to perpetrate this horrific act, not a lack of education or intelligence.

In 1975 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , the president of Iran, took his entrance exams placing 132nd out of 400,000 at Iran University of Science and Technology. He earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and returned for his masters and earned a doctorate in traffic and transport engineering and planning. Despite these intellectual accomplishments, Ahmadinejad denies the Jewish holocaust in Germany, calls for the destruction of Israel, and seeks world domination through Islamic Jihad, in which he intends to kill or convert all non-Muslims. Ahmadinejad has twisted altruistic motives because he believes that this scenario will bring about everlasting world peace. Again, this "ends justifies the means" scenario is not compatible with our American cultural values based on Judeo-Christian ethics.

The Christian minister and civil rights leader, Reverend Martin Luther King, said: "Judge not by the color of one's skin, but by the content of one's character". Reverend King did not ask us us to judge people by their education, intelligence, looks, physical fitness, or other physical or mental characteristics. King directed us to judge people by the content of their character. Reverend King acknowledged the importance of judging of one's character.

These days, "judgment" seems to be a dirty word. We are told not to be judgmental, however, good judgment is essential to our health, happiness, prosperity, and safety. We all must use good judgment when choosing our friends, our spouse, our doctor, our pastor, our associates, and our president. We must use good judgment when purchasing a house, car, and investments to ensure that we do not get swindled. We rely on judgment to determine if we are safe and make the appropriate corrections to minimize our risks. Often we rely on generalizations and stereotypes to steer us away from danger or trouble. Generalizations and stereotypes are often true and a valuable tool in making judgments that we make every day. For example, we may not walk through a ghetto alone at three A.M. We may not purchase a major investment from a shabbily dressed person. We teach our children not to talk to strangers. We may not seek marriage counseling from a divorced counselor. We may not ask a convicted felon to "house sit" for us. We may not choose to date a known drug addict or alcoholic. We may not hire a known prostitute as our babysitter. In most cases, judging the character of the people that we deal with is more important than judging their intelligence and/or education. We all constantly make judgments based on people's personal appearance, past behavior, family background, criminal record, and other generalizations and stereotypes. Generalizations and stereotypes are often true because past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior and family background and associations has a great deal to do with our character.

Character assets, sometimes called spiritual principles, that I admire include: humility, self discipline, love, forgiveness, patience, faith in God, faithfulness to family, loyalty to country, friends, and associates, self-sacrifice, selflessness, honesty, and integrity. These spiritual principles are taken from the Judeo-Christian values that our American culture was founded upon. These are the principles that inspired our Declaration of Independence that is based on our self evident, inalienable rights granted to us by God, not government. These are the same principles that inspired civil rights leaders in the '60's to end segregation and pressure the government to pass civil rights legislation. These are the traits that I look for in friends, associates, and presidential candidates. Character is usually instilled in children by their parents, family, teachers, and spiritual leaders. Children who are born and raised by a loving mother and father and who have a strong faith in a loving God, are more likely to be instilled with good character.

Although Barack Obama is highly educated and intelligent, I believe that he lacks good values, character, and good judgment. Barack Obama is the product of an alcoholic polygamist father who abandoned his family when Barack was only two years old. Barack's mother left him to chase her dreams, traveling the world while Barack attended high school, leaving him with only his grandmother to look after him. Of course it is only a stereotype and generalization but children who are abandoned by their parents often have resentments which lead to lifelong psychological and spiritual problems. Knowing a person's family and upbringing is often helpful in judging that person's character. Obama's parents were both college educated. His mother was considered an intellectual and traveled the world as an anthropologist. His father left the family to study at Harvard and later on went back to Kenya where he died in an auto accident, when he was driving drunk. Both parents were highly educated, however, they both put their ambitions and pleasures ahead of their child. Although Barack Obama himself is highly intelligent and educated, did his spiritually vacuous parents leave him with a character deficit?

Also, Obama chose to join the Trinity Church in Chicago which is based on radical "Black Liberation Theology" . Black liberation theology is based on Marxism and Black Theology cannot accept a view of God which does not represent God as being for oppressed blacks and thus against white oppressors. Obama was married in Trinity Church by Reverend Wright. He had his children baptized at Trinity and has attended Trinity with his wife and young children for sixteen years. Obama has called Reverend Wright of Trinity Church his friend and mentor. Reverend Wright is a highly educated man with two masters degrees and a doctorate degree. How can it be that Reverend Wright preaches that the US government purposely infected black Americans with the AIDS virus, that the US government plays a role in illicit drug use in the black ghettos, that the US is responsible for the 9/11 terror attack, and he preaches the words "God Damn America" from his pulpit at Trinity Church of Chicago? Could it be that this highly educated spiritual leader is himself suffering from moral and spiritual deficit?

Obama donated $25,000 to Trinity Church prior to his bid for the presidency. I think that Obama used Trinity Church and Reverend Wright to make political connections to further his political career. Obama has recently disowned Trinity Church and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright after Wright's racist and Anti-American statements from the pulpit became widely publicized. I think that Obama's longstanding relationship with Trinity Church and Reverend Wright reflects on his character and judgment. Obama's sudden disowning of his friend and mentor, Reverend Wright, who he had a twenty year relationship with, speaks for his lack of loyalty.

Another negative association of Barack Obama is the admitted domestic terrorist Bill Ayres. Bill Ayres is an anti-American radical who has admitted to bombing police stations and government offices. There were no casualties, only property damage in those attacks. He and his wife performed these terrorist acts as members of a radical group called the Weather Underground during the '60's and '70's as protests against the Vietnam War. They avoided conviction because their case was dismissed on the technicality of an improper search and the evidence was not allowed in court. As recently as 2001, Ayres has been recorded as saying that he had no remorse for his role in the bombings in the '60s' and 70's, he only regrets that he did not do more, because they were ineffective. Obama has recently admitted to being friendly with Bill Ayres. He said that their children went to school and played together. They spoke at several panels together. Also, William Ayres held fundraisers for Obama that helped launch his political career and Obama has been a guest in the Ayres' home. Ayers is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education. Although Ayres is currently a respected professor at a prestigious Chicago university, clearly Bill Ayres is a man of high intelligence but low on character. Obama's association with him gives us a window into Obama's character.

Another shady associate of Obama is convicted racketeer Tony Rezko. Rezko has been recently convicted of giving cash and campaign contributions to several Illinois politicians in exchange for lucrative contracts for low income housing projects. Rezko contributed a quarter million dollars to Obama's political campaigns. Obama has since donated some of that money to charity, after Rezko was indicted. Rezko was also involved a in a real estate deal with Obama. Obama bought land adjacent to his newly purchased home from Rezko's wife, at three hundred thousand dollars below market value. Obama did nothing illegal, but he had to have known that Rezko would expect political favors in the future in exchange for the land deal and campaign contributions. This is exactly what Rezko got convicted of, getting lucrative housing contracts from politicians that he helped install in office with contributions, bribes, money laundering, and racketeering. Obama was selling his political soul to the devil by accepting contributions and favors from Tony Rezko. This too speaks to Obama's character and judgment.

In today's day and age, much value is placed on popularity, good looks, youth, education, wealth, diversity, and physical and mental talents. Also, I am seeing parents, schools, universities, the media, the arts, the medical community, and even churches endorsing a philosophy that says feelings, self esteem, fitting in, and being cool are paramount. Today's culture is teaching that any form of judgment and moral restraint is wrong, oppressive, and prejudicial. All forms of diversity are celebrated, especially if they are in conflict with traditional American values. On the other hand, little attention is payed to the universal spiritual principles that our great country was founded on, and that define us in the eyes of our Creator.

The separation of church and state is vital to our society. Just as we have a separation of powers within government (executive, judicial, and legislative), both government and our Judeo-Christian values are needed to keep one another in check. Judeo-Christian ethics, separated from and balanced by a secular government, is how our unique American culture is defined. The "Ten Commandments" are the root of our secular laws. Mitt Romney best describes this in his "Faith in America" speech.

All forms of diversity are not necessarily compatible with American culture. Islamic "Sharia law" is not compatible with American law due to its lack of women's' rights, punishment by amputation, lashing, and stoning. Sharia law also considers the act of homosexuality a capital crime. Atheistic values are also not necessarily compatible with our unique American culture. If atheism, Sharia law, and/or a hodgepodge of random spiritual beliefs become the majority, we will lose our unique American culture and the freedom, wealth, strength, and civil equality that it has brought to our nation.

Nearly one third of Muslim students in England believe it can be acceptable to kill in the name of religion, according to a survey published yesterday. It also found that 40 per cent want to see the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in Britain, 40 per cent think it wrong for Muslim men and women to mix freely together, and 33 per cent want to see a worldwide Islamic government based on Sharia law. Clearly this culture is not compatible with western culture. If this trend continues to grow, western culture in Britain will be threatened as a result of encouraging this form of diversity.

If we are to survive as a free, wealthy, and strong nation, we must return to the the principles that our nation was founded on. These values are what keeps our people free, prosperous, and strong. If our individual and collective character decays, we will become apathetic about choosing men of character to lead us. In fact, we will choose leaders based on how cool and popular they appear. If this happens, it will lead to deceit, manipulation, corruption, anarchy, and decay of the once great American democratic republic. Freedom without moral restraint is unsustainable and will lead to anarchy. Sanctuary cities and selective enforcement of immigration laws are glaring examples of the beginning of anarchy in America. When anarchy becomes widespread, it will lead to widespread violence and poverty. In an effort to squelch the violence and poverty that anarchy breeds, a totalitarian government may rise to power. Character and spiritual principles must trump education and intelligence when choosing our leaders if we are to preserve our unique American culture and survive as a great, free, and prosperous nation.