Happy Memorial Day

Thomas More Law Center Honors Our Fallen on this Memorial Day
Friday, May 27, 2011

Memorial Day is a time to remember the fallen heroes throughout our nation’s history “who gave the last full measure of devotion” to their nation. Mere words cannot capture the enormity of their sacrifice or the anguish of loved ones they left behind.

Let us take this time to remember and pray for our troops who have died in battle and for their loved ones who still mourn their great loss.

Let us also pray for our troops who are in harm’s way today.

I want to remember the sacrifices of Captain Michael Martino, USMC, and Major Gerald Bloomfield, USMC, who died in defense of their country. Their honorable names are memorialized at the foot of the Mt. Soledad Cross.

I close this Memorial Day message with a favorite poem by Marine Chaplain Father Dennis Edward O’Brien, which pays tribute to our courageous soldiers for their service in protecting the fundamental liberties guaranteed by our Constitution:

It is the Soldier
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.


It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.
God bless America.


Sincerely yours,

Richard Thompson
President and Chief Counsel
Thomas More Law Center

Christian prayer is allowed at Memorial Day ceremony, click here.

May 5: National Day of Prayer

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I will trust. --

Psalm 91:2

Hymn, "A Mighty Fortress," click here.




"Let us be thankful for the liberty that allows people of all faiths to worship or not worship according to the dictates of their conscience, and let us be thankful for the many other freedoms and blessings that we often take for granted."

President Obama proclaimed Thursday, May 5, 2011, to be a National Day of Prayer.
In the proclamation, he acknowledged that "Prayer has played an important role in the American story and in shaping our Nation's leaders" and that "from the earliest years of our country's history, Congress and Presidents have set aside days to recognize the role prayer has played in so many definitive moments in our history."



NationalDayofPrayer.org
White House Proclamation

Happy Easter

Crucifixion

Resurrected!

The confusing book of Revelation

According to biased research, people who refuse evolution do so because they suffer death anxiety

An article describing research by the University of British Columbia and Union College of New York starts out with saying "research examined the psychological motives underlying widespread support for intelligent design theory (IDT), a purportedly scientific theory that lacks any scientific evidence; and antagonism toward evolutionary theory (ET), a theory supported by a large body of scientific evidence."


Actually, though, there are many respected scientists who would not accept the above sentence as written. Intelligent design basically and scientifically refutes the theory of evolution with overwhelming negative evidence. With facts and scientific knowledge, common sense and logic do support Intelligent Design.


The aforementioned article is one against teaching IDT in schools; and even though there was a recent ruling in PA against teaching IDT alongside evolution, the "handwriting on the wall" (Louisiana and Texas) shows the debate is far from over. A major branch of Canada's federal research funding agency refused to fund research examining "negative effects of IDT's notoriety, on the grounds that there was not 'adequate justification for the assumption …that the theory of Evolution, and not Intelligent Design, was correct.'”


Do we believe in God because we're afraid not to? The approach of the study is to examine inner feelings of people in regard to death: those who accept evolulution as truth versus those who do not. In short, it wants to find what is wrong psychologically with those people who insist Creation explains our beginnings. What are their "psychological motives, beyond logic and reasoning."


The theory they are trying to establish is based on supposing that those with the belief in creation comes as a "terror management" strategy stemming from a heightened awareness of their own mortality. Now that is interesting: do people most aware of their mortality tend to be the same people most likely to believe in God?


In regard to politics: "A comprehensive meta-analysis found that political conservatism is at least partly rooted in the basic need to manage feelings of threat and uncertainty." They liken a conservative's need for psychological security to that of a young child or an adult with Alzheimer's.


Then they go on to say that educated people usually are evolutionists; and if someone wants to believe in Creation but doesn't want to forsake the "feeling of belongingness in the broader culture of Western science-educated individuals," they (Creationists) have to cling to the hope that there might be scientific evidence to support their childish belief.


Since ET "on its face" offers a random, negative approach to life, giving no more meaning to a human's life than to that of a cockroach, they theory that Creation-believing people cannot bear such anxiety and prefer to think there is order and meaning in life. (Sentence from the article: "ET does not confer any sense of greater meaning or purpose, instead asserting that human life is the result of the same natural forces that produce viruses and cockroaches.")


What their research concluded

With 1,674 U.S. and Canadian participants of different ages and educational, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds, one group was separated to imagine and write about their own death. A control group was set up to imagine and write about pain from dental work.


Then they were to read two selected excerpts from the writings of Michael Behe (Creation Scientist) and Richard Dawkins (Evolutionary Biologist). Both excerpts were written from a scientific standpoint with no religion involved.


Those who imagined their own death reported greater support for intelligent design and liking for Behe compared to those who imagined dental pain.


In another part of the study, participants read an excerpt from science writer Carl Sagan which argued natural forces in the world could also provide a sense of meaning. Those participants who read the excerpts showed reduced belief in intelligent design compared to those who had not read the excerpt. Jessica L. Tracy, who helped conduct the study, concluded:


"These findings suggest that individuals can come to see evolution as a meaningful solution to existential concerns, but may need to be explicitly taught that taking a naturalistic approach to understanding life can be highly meaningful."


"Natural science students have been taught to view evolutionary theory as compatible with the desire to find a greater sense of meaning in life. Presumably, they already attain a sense of existential meaning from evolution."


So the study suggests that, for some of us, if we believe life has existential meaning without God, then we'll have no need for God. We would then be more inclined to accept evolution and ignore with faith all its scientific flaws. This is a switch: instead of believing evolution to rid God from our consciousness, we now rid God from our consciousness in order to believe evolution.

For original article, references, and brief discussion, click here.

Bobby Ghosh explains why muslims are violent over abuse of Koran while Christians are not violent over abuse of the Holy Bible, the "Word of God"

MSNBC "Hardball" with Chuck Todd
According to MSNBC guest and Time Magazine world editor Bobby Ghosh, the Koran is from God while the Bible was transcribed by man.  That is why each individual Koran is, according to him, more sacred than any Bible.

"The Bible is a book written by men. It is acknowledged by Christians that it is written by men. It`s the story of Jesus.
But the Koran, if you are a believer, if you`re a Muslim, the Koran is directly the word of God, not written by man. It is transcribed, is directly the word of God.
That makes it sacred in a way that it`s hard to understand if you’re not Muslim."

Original article and video, click here.

Re-affirming our National Motto: "In God We Trust"

In 2006, San Francisco's 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against atheist Michael Newdow's complaint about our motto "In God We Trust" being unconstitutional and infringing on his beliefs.

He tried to get the phrase which was first put on U.S. coins in the 1860s and on paper money in 1957 to be removed permanently from our currency. He claims it "excludes people who don't believe in God" and that it violated his First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell, Jr., said the phrase did not trample on Newdow's avowed religious views. The court found "In God We Trust" to be patriotic, not religious, writing it "has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion."

Newdow appealed to the U.S. Supreme court, but last week it refused to hear him.

A New Resolution
In response to several attempts to strip God from America's heritage, a resolution re-affirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee and is now headed for a full House vote.

H. CON. RES. 274
Reaffirming 'In God We Trust' as the official motto of the United States and supporting and encouraging the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Reaffirming 'In God We Trust' as the official motto of the United States and supporting and encouraging the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.
-Whereas 'In God We Trust' is the official motto of the United States;
-Whereas the sentiment, 'In God We Trust', has been an integral part of United States society since its founding;
-Whereas in times of national challenge or tragedy, the people of the United States have turned to God as their source for sustenance, protection, wisdom, strength, and direction;
-Whereas the Declaration of Independence recognizes God, our Creator, as the source of our rights, '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.';
-Whereas the national anthem of the United States says 'praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation . . . and this be our motto: in God is our trust.';
-Whereas the words 'In God We Trust' appear over the entrance to the Senate Chamber and above the Speaker's rostrum in the House Chamber;
-Whereas the oath taken by all Federal employees, except the President, states 'I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.';
-Whereas John Adams said, 'Statesmen may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.';
-Whereas if religion and morality are taken out of the marketplace of ideas, the very freedom on which the United States was founded cannot be secured;
-Whereas as President Eisenhower said and President Ford later repeated, 'Without God, there could be no American form of government, nor, an American way of life.'; and
-Whereas President John F. Kennedy said, 'The guiding principle and prayer of this Nation has been, is now, and ever shall be 'In God We Trust.': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress--
(1) recognizes that trust in God is embedded into the fabric of society and history of the United States and rejects the notion that the laws and Constitution of the United States require the exclusion of God from matters of government and public life; and
(2) reaffirms 'In God We Trust' as the official motto of the United States and supports and encourages the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.

Rep. Randy Forbes and two dozen other members are sponsoring the resolution. Forbes reasons, "We will give inspiration that our people across the country need. If we can succeed in getting ‘In God We Trust’ engraved in the United States Capitol Visitor Center, I believe we can succeed in engraving that motto on the hearts of Americans once again."

Several Republicans agree with Forbes, saying God had a hand in founding the United States and is responsible for the nation's success. U.S. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said the "hand of providence" has guided America. He continued that God "rewards those, including nations, who earnestly seek Him."

U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa echoes the same sentiment, "I believe the Founding Fathers were moved around like men on a chessboard put in place at that time so the world could have America." If references to God are discouraged in public buildings, "in the end, it wouldn't be an agnostic nation, it would be an atheistic nation imposed by the minds of people who revert to the hard-core left."

Once the measure passes the House, it still is subject to approval by the Senate.

Video
See original article and references: Bedrock upon which our nation is built: "In God We Trust"--National Motto