John Yates and Os Guinness: 5 Outrages -- Why We Left the Episcopal Church

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"We believe it is time to set the record straight as to why our church and so many others around the country have severed ties with the Episcopal Church," say Rev. John Yates and author Os Guinness in the Washington Post today.

* What the Core Issue Isn't: "The core issue in why we left is not women's leadership. It is not 'Episcopalians against equality,' as the headline on a recent Post op-ed by Harold Meyerson put it. It is not a 'leftward' drift in the church. It is not even primarily ethical -- though the ordination of a practicing homosexual as bishop was the flash point that showed how far the repudiation of Christian orthodoxy had gone."

* What the Core Issue Is: "The core issue for us is theological: the intellectual integrity of faith in the modern world. It is thus a matter of faithfulness to the lordship of Jesus, whom we worship and follow." . . .

* Godless Episcopalians: "The American Episcopal Church no longer believes the historic, orthodox Christian faith common to all believers. Some leaders expressly deny the central articles of the faith -- saying that traditional theism is 'dead,' the incarnation is 'nonsense,' the resurrection of Jesus is a fiction, the understanding of the cross is 'a barbarous idea,' the Bible is 'pure propaganda' and so on." . . .

* Cultural Captivity: "Cutting itself off from the universal faith that spans the centuries and the continents, it becomes culturally captive to one culture and one time. While professing tolerance and inclusiveness, certain Episcopal attitudes toward fellow believers around the world, who make up a majority of the Anglican family, have been arrogant and even racist."

* Anglicans Yes, Episcopalians No: "We remain Anglicans but leave the Episcopal Church because the Episcopal Church first left the historic faith. Like our spiritual forebears in the Reformation, 'Here we stand. So help us God. We can do no other.'"

The entire column by Rev. John Yates and Os Guinness, including the 5 outrages they protest, is available here.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Townhall Columnist: "Most of the Racists in America Are Black"

Posted by Rick Pearcey

"Recently, I was being interviewed on radio by a black woman," writes author and Townhall columnist Burt Prelutsky. "We were discussing my new book and were getting along just fine until she decided to attack me for suggesting that most of the racists in America are black."

* Janet Jackson: "She refuted my conclusion, arguing that even the brouhaha a few years back over Janet Jackson’s bared breast proved that white America was a racist society."

* Britney and Madonna: "I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked her if she’d been unaware of the stink raised over Britney Spears smooching with Madonna. And that display took place on a music awards show that had nothing near the audience that the Super Bowl commanded." . . .

* Black-on-Black: "The fact is, most blacks who are raped, robbed and murdered, are the victims, not of white bigots or white cops, but of black thugs."

* White Society Out to Get Them: "But some people find it easier to play the race card, to pretend every time black celebrities are arrested, it’s because rotten white society is out to get them. Funny how that works, though."

* And Yet: "The same society that arrested O.J. Simpson had first given him a college education and then handed him millions of dollars to play football, make movies, and run through airports in TV commercials.

"The very same society that arrested Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson and Kobe Bryant, first made them kazillionaires.

"It’s the same society that has made icons of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Tiger Woods, Quincy Jones, Alice Walker, Beyonce Knowles, Toni Morrison, Barry Bonds, Shaquille O’Neal, Colin Powell, Will Smith, Condoleezza Rice and, most recently, Barack Obama."

* Oprah Who? "If this were a racist society, believe me, we would not know any of those names."

Burt Prelutsky's column, "It's Black and White," is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Malkin: "Utterly False" Pro-Abort Story Exposes Shameless NYT

By Rick Pearcey

* No Shame: "It's official," writes columnist Michelle Malkin. "The editors of the New York Times have no shame. Don't take my word for it. Listen to the Times' own ombudsman, Byron Calame."

* NYT Ombudsman Debunks NYT Story: "On Sunday, Mr. Calame wrote a stunning column debunking an April 9 New York Times Magazine cover story on abortion in El Salvador. The sensational piece by freelance writer Jack Hitt alleged that women there had been thrown in prison for 30-year terms for having had abortions. Mr. Hitt described his visit to one of them, inmate Carmen Climaco. 'She is now 26 years old, four years into her 30-year sentence' for aborting an 18-week-old fetus, Mr. Hitt reported."

* NYT Story Utterly False: "The magazine featured heart-rending photos of Climaco's 11-year-old daughter, eyes filled with tears as she clutched a photo of her jailed mom. Cruel. Horrible. Outrageous. And utterly, demonstrably, false. Climaco was actually convicted of murder for strangling her newborn baby [emphasis added] . . . ."

* Facts vs. Reporting: "The facts did not fit with Mr. Hitt's pro-abortion narrative. Authorities found Climaco's dead baby hidden in a box wrapped in bags under her bed. Moreover, Lifesite reported, forensic examination showed it was a full-term normal delivery. The child was breathing at birth. The official cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation. . . ."

* Infanticide for Pro-Abortion Poster Child: "The Times' pro-abortion poster child is a woman convicted of infanticide. But the Times, questioned by its own public editor, refuses to acknowledge Jack Hitt's false reporting. There is 'no reason to doubt the accuracy of the facts as reported,' the editors imperiously told Mr. Calame."

* NYT Keeps Readers in Dark: "They refuse to issue a correction, publish an Editors' Note or inform their readers of the ready availability of the court decision that exposes Jack Hitt's deception about the Climaco case."

* Slinging Bull: "Mr. Calame concluded that 'Accuracy and fairness were not pursued with the vigor Times readers have a right to expect.' That's too polite. The Times slung bull and refuse to clean it up."

* Textbook Media Malpractice: "The Times' Climaco-gate, like the Associated Press' Jamil Hussein-gate and Reuters' fauxtography scandal and CBS's Rathergate, will go down in mainstream history as yet another case of textbook media malpractice."

Read "All the Fibs Fit to Print," by Michelle Malkin, here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

"I Thought Creationists Were Monsters -- Until I Married One"

Newsweek -- "Before Rob, I hadn’t known any creationists," writes Tatiana Hamboyan Harrison. "I assumed that they were people who believed in the Bible more than in scientific data, probably out of stupidity."

"Whenever I imagined what a creationist might look like, he or she was always standing up on a podium, passing judgment on all evolutionists, condemning them as nonbelievers and scorning them with hateful words. I wasn’t sure where these people lived, but I figured it was probably down South somewhere, or in the Midwest.

"Surely I’d never have to interact with any of them. But falling in love with Rob changed everything."

The rest of "Loving the Enemy" is here.

Related article:
Why Intelligent Design Will Win: 5 Reasons to Keep an Open, Educated Mind, by Nancy Pearcey

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Posted by Rick Pearcey, editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Art Without Meaning: Francis Schaeffer on "The Red Virgin"

By Rick Pearcey

News outlets are reporting that an artist has portrayed actress Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary. The following analysis by philosopher-theologian Francis Schaeffer of Fouquet's The Red Virgin provides background on the worldview dimension of this use of Marian imagery and on the modern problem of art divorced from meaning.

* Masaccio: "It is crucial to notice that with Masaccio [1401-1428?] and the others up to this point," writes Schaeffer, "art could still have moved toward either a biblical or a nonbiblical concept of nature and the particulars (that is, the individual things, including the individual man). Up to this time it could have gone either way."

* Nature's Proper Place: "It was good that nature was given a proper place. And there could have continued an emphasis on real people in a real world which God has made -- with the particulars, the individual things, important because God made the whole world. Masaccio . . . pictured Adam and Eve as the Bible portrays them -- as real people in a real world. Or at this point humanism could take over, with its emphasis on things being autonomous."

* Dilemma of Humanism: "Immediately after Masaccio, the die was cast and the movement went in this direction. Man made himself increasingly independent and autonomous, and with this came an increasing loss of anything which gave meaning, either to the individual things in the world or to man. With this we see the dilemma of humanism which is still with us today."

* Fouquet's Red Virgin: "This position and its dilemma is strikingly shown in a shift in art. In France, one sees this with Fouquet (c. 1416-1480) in his painting The Red Virgin (1450?)."

* King's Mistress: "The world red refers to the overall color used in part of the picture. The girl was shown with one breast exposed, and everybody who knew the situation knew that this was a picture of the king's mistress, Anges Sorel."

* Not the Madonna: "Was this the Madonna about to feed her baby? No, the painting might be titled The Red Virgin, but the girl was the king's mistress; and when one looked at the painting one could see what the king's mistress's breast looked like."

* Mary as a Real Person: "Prior to this time, Mary was considered very high and holy. Earlier she was considered so much above normal people that she was painted as a symbol. When in the Renaissance Mary was painted as a real person, this was an advance over the representations of Mary in the earlier age, because the Bible tells us that Mary was a real girl and that the baby Jesus was a real baby."

* Where Has All the Meaning Gone? "But now not only was the king's mistress painted as Mary with all of the holiness removed, but the meaning, too, was being destroyed. As first it might have seemed that only the religious aspect was threatened. But, as we can see in retrospect, gradually the threat spread to all of knowledge and all of life."

* Beyond Meaningless Mary: "All meaning to all individual things or particulars was removed. Things were being made autonomous, and there was nothing to which to related them or to give them meaning."

-- Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, pp. 68-71; for a fuller statement on Christianity and art, see Schaeffer's Art & The Bible


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

The Bible, the Africans, and the Slave Ship

By Rick Pearcey

Church-state separationists and other secular heirs of the Enlightenment tell us that Christianity is a matter of private faith best practiced by consenting adults in the privacy of their homes, churches, and prayer closets.

The best option among these, some say, is the prayer closet, for by limiting the free exercise of religion to this spiritual Liechtenstein, innocent children will be less subject to infection by a far-from-harmless myth. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU assure us that other kinds of collateral damage will be minimized as well.

The real myth, however, is the naturalistic myth that humanity lifted itself miraculously out of absolute nothingness into somethingness into consciousness by chance, law, dumb luck, and -- well, anything but the Creator that the Declaration of Independence talks about. That's way too scary, uncomfortable, and it interferes with Spring Break.

Happily for a bunch of black African slaves on the Amistad, the secular memo proclaiming the pretended autonomy of human beings from their true Creator never boarded ship. For the benefit of these people made in the image of God and not in the image of cosmic mudslop, the Bible and its verifiable information about God, man, the cosmos, what went wrong, and how to fix it, got there first.

Thus a story in today's Boston Globe.

* 160 Years Ago: "A prominent Massachusetts politician, former President John Quincy Adams, played a role in black history by persuading the US Supreme Court to free a group of African captives who had staged a mutiny on the slave ship Amistad."

* So Tomorrow: When governor-elect "Deval Patrick takes his place in the history books as the state's first African-American governor, he will offer a symbolic nod to that storied past, taking the oath of office on a leather-bound Bible given by the freed captives to the former president."

* You Must Be Kidding: On the contrary, "This Bible is a quintessential American symbol, one of democracy, and the inner workings of freedom, and our system of laws, and the abolitionist movement, and it represents a real victory for Africans who stood up for themselves." -- Beverly A. Morgan-Welch, Executive Director, Museum of African American History, and a "cochair of Patrick's inauguration committee"

* The Bible & Freedom: "The Bible was given to Adams by these freed African men because they so appreciated that Adams was not just their legal advocate, but he believed in their freedom."

* Precious Book: "On an inside page, the Mendi men wrote a note of thanks to Adams, saying the Bible 'has been a precious book to us in prison, and we love to read it now we are free.'

* Out of the Prayer Closet, Out of Slavery: "Adams sent the men a letter back, saying, 'It was from that book that I learnt to espouse your cause when you were in trouble.'"

Final note: It's also from that book that the Founders learned their major lessons on how to start a country. And when -- very sadly -- the Founding generation inconsistently failed to allow all people, regardless of skin color, to express their birthright of freedom under Heaven, history judged them.

This is what happens when people walk away from the Creator's "DNA for human freedom," as it were. Clearly, it could happen again. It could happen if politicians regard that "precious" book as merely a symbol, a religious prop on the political stage. A text by which to be inspired, to move an audience, a constituency, raise funds, but also a content to be ignored at vital points.

Materialists may differ, racists may protest, and co-opted religionists may squirm. But Man is not a piece of meat to be manipulated and bought and sold and stuck in closets. The Bible unbound confirms what human beings experience moment by moment: We live in a moral universe.

"Bible With Ties to Slave Ship Will Be Used for Oath" appears here in the Boston Globe.

Related Article:
America Was Meant to Be Free, Not Secular


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

What Did James Brown Want?

By Rick Pearcey

"Last week we experienced the passing of three men -- former President Gerald R. Ford, singing legend James Brown and the sadistic madman Saddam Hussein." . . .

"Of the three, James Brown will be the most misrepresented. Brown's impact on music and the music culture cannot be applauded enough. His social relevance in the late 1960s is also undeniable."

* Message Co-opted: "But Brown's message, as is the case with many of his contemporaries, has been co-opted, truncated and obfuscated in ways that prevent the true relevance of his message from being applied in the lives of those who gleefully tapped their feet to the beat of his music, but are blissfully deaf to the message it proclaimed.

"For instance, every black from 'back in the day' can recall the raw empowerment exuded in his power anthem 'I'm Black and I'm Proud.' However, very few realized then, and even fewer realize today, exactly what Brown was advocating.

* Empowerment for All: "His message was co-opted to be a cry for black militancy -- truncated to be 'afros' and afro-centric attire -- and obfuscated to cloud the truth. His lyrics were simple truth -- 'We demand a chance to do things for [ourselves] . . . we're tired of . . . workin' for someone else.' What greater cry of empowerment for all people, but especially for those crippled by the Great Society initiatives.

"His lyric 'We'd rather die on our feet, than be livin' on our knees' is a clarion reminder of a people's life spent waiting for the government to give them their next stipend. Brown's message was 'I'm black and I'm proud' -- get out of my way, I can do it myself. OOH-RAH belongs at the end of that refrain.

"Brown penned: 'I don't want nobody to give me nothing -- open the door I'll get it myself . . . don't give me no animation, give me true communication . . . don't give me no sorrow . . . give me equal opportunity to live tomorrow -- give me schools and give me . . . books -- so I can read . . . and gain my truly looks . . . we don't want no sympathy. . . .'

"The message was one of self-motivation and meritocracy, but vampiristic ghouls who gain presence by corrupting the message of life that men like Brown proclaim will pompously pontificate his message into that which leads to the very subjugation he challenged blacks to overcome."

-- Mychal Masssie, columnist, talk radio host. Mychal Massie's entire column "2 Men and a Butcher" can be found here.

Related post:
"Godfather of Soul" James Brown, Dead at 73 -- "From Augusta, GA"

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Saddam Hussein -- Dec. 30, 2006

By Rick Pearcey

This snapshot is taken from a video image released by Iraqi state-run television Iraqiya.

The image is from moments before the execution of Saddam Hussein Dec. 30, 2006.

Video images released by Biladi TV are here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Iraqi-Americans Cheers Reports of Saddam Execution

By Rick Pearcey

Dearborn, Mich. -- "A crowd of Iraqi-Americans cheered and cried late Friday outside a mosque as some Arab media reported that Saddam Hussein was executed," reports AP.

"The crowd of more than 150 had gathered earlier in anticipation of Saddam's execution, praying for the death of the former Iraqi dictator as people honked car horns, sang and danced in celebration.

"Chants of 'Now there's peace, Saddam is dead' in English and Arabic rang into the night in this Detroit suburb."

The entire report is here.


Related Story:
The Humanity of Hanging Saddam


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Rick Warren Debate Forum on Fire

By Rick Pearcey

WorldNetDaily has set up a forum to discuss Saddleback's Rick Warren, asking, "What Do You Think of America's Pastor"?

Here's the introduction to the Warren Debate Forum:

"Rick Warren, the best-selling author, pastor of the Saddleback Church, international traveler, has been everywhere lately -- television, magazines, and in the middle of a controversy with WND Editor Joseph Farah over his recent trip to Syria. This forum is the place to debate Warren's actions and Farah's criticisms. What do you think of the man quickly becoming known as 'America's pastor'?"

The earliest forum entry is by "Drummerboy" and dated Dec. 27, 2006, at 10:30 am. There now are 27 pages of postings, with the most recent entry by "Gabriel," dated Dec. 29, 2006, at 1:17 pm.

Total number of posts thus far: 265. Go here to see the debate for yourself.

** Update: The number of posts is now 273 and growing.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

"Christian" TV vs. Christian Thinking

By Rick Pearcey

Steve Turner is a British author and journalist. His book Imagine was published in 2001, and his latest work, The Gospel According to the Beatles, was published in August. The following is from an interview with Infuze magazine.

* Why Worldview? "Christians often develop a Christian view of, say, prayer and scripture but don't think of having a Christian view of the normal stuff of everyday life. If they do not have a Christian worldview, they will inevitably just take the dominant view of the culture they live in. In the West, this tends to be some form of humanistic materialism."

* Beyonce: "If you take an artist like Beyonce, she appears to have a Christian view of Bible reading, church and prayer (from what I've read), and yet her performance, rather than challenging the predominant culture, is a reflection of its current demands."

* Britney Spears: "There was a program about Britney Spears on TV, and writer Chuck Klosterman was saying that when he interviewed her some years ago, he asked her whether she thought her (then) defense of chastity before marriage was at odds with her stage shows and videos where she tended to dress in school girl uniforms and act the temptress. He said that it was one of the strangest moments he'd ever experienced in an interview because she was just dumbfounded. He said it was as if the thought had never occurred to her."

* "Christian" TV: "American 'Christian' TV is a huge enemy of [Christian] worldview thinking, and possibly a huge enemy of Christianity."

* Humans First: "We have to remember that God made us as humans, not Christians. He created the human race and the environment of the world and was pleased with what he had created. He imagined us enjoying our lives in this space He had created."

* Chariots of Fire: "The actor playing the athlete Eric Liddell in the film Chariots of Fire is made to say, 'When I run, I feel God's pleasure.' That is a good doctrine of creation. When we do human things in the world God made for us, God gets pleasure. The need to be Christian entered with the fall. We needed to be redeemed. But, far from wiping out God's orininal intentions, it confirms them. To be Christian is to be on our way to being fully human."

* Evermore Prayer Meetings? "Hank Rookmaaker the Dutch art historian used to say, 'Christ didn't die in order that we could go to more prayer meetings.' People would gasp at this. Then he would add, 'Christ died to make us fully human.'"

* Why Christ Died: "He didn't die to make us religious, but to make us human. In our fallen state, we lack the completeness of our humanity. The monastic tradition makes the mistake of thinking that God is best pleased with us when we cut ourselves off from the world, deny ourselves pleasure, refrain from marriage and devote ourselves totally to religious activities. This almost assumes that God made a mistake in putting us in a world of pleasure, culture, art, nature, work, companionship, etc."

* Love: "Christians have so often 'used' an art form simply to put over a 'message,' but have had no love for the art form. They haven't wanted to leave film or the novel in a better state because they were there. But because these things are good and are pleasing to God, we should make sure that we tend and look after them. The arts help to preserve and invigorate language. They sharpen our vision. They make us notice things. They bring greater understanding between people. We have to respect them."

The entire Steve Turner interview at Infuze magazine can be read here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Breaking News From Iraq -- Top Enemy Adviser Killed, Enemy Gets Mad

By Rick Pearcey

* First, the good news: According to a headline in the Washington Post, "Close Adviser to Sadr Dies in U.S.-Iraqi Raid."

* Now, the bad news: According to the lead paragraph, "A top deputy of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was killed Wednesday during a raid by U.S. and Iraqi troops in the southern holy city of Najaf, sparking protests from Sadr's followers and complicating an already tense relationship with the powerful anti-American leader."

Comment: For the doubters, we now have evidence direct from Iraq -- War is complicated, war is tense. And the enemy doesn't like it when they take casualties.

Bonus Comment: For the believers, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is a fine art. Only top-level journalists need apply.

The rest of the story is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

"Godfather of Soul" James Brown, Dead at 73 -- "From Augusta, GA"

By Rick Pearcey

From AP -- "James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured 'Godfather of Soul,' whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.

"Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.

"Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. 'We really don't know at this point what he died of,' he said.

"Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's 'Fame,' Prince's 'Kiss,' George Clinton's 'Atomic Dog' and Sly and the Family Stone's 'Sing a Simple Song' were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style."

A few James Brown memories:

* Christmas -- During Christmas season, we would sometimes drive by the home of James Brown to see the Christmas decorations. We would always look for the black Santa Claus.

* Toronto -- A man and a woman on a date stop me on a street in Toronto. It's the mid-1980s. The guy is trying to convince the girl to go to a James Brown concert that evening. He asks my opinon. I tell them I'm from Augusta, Ga., as was James Brown, and that whatever else they're thinking about doing, the only real option is to go see James Brown perform.

* Augusta, Ga. -- My dad retired from the Army at Ft. Gordon, near Augusta, Ga. I graduated from Butler High in 1969 and did my undergraduate work at Augusta College (now "State University"). So Augusta is about as close to a "hometown" as this "Army brat" will ever get (born in Aschaffenburg, Germany).

Sometime around 1968-69 on the highway into town, I remember first hearing the refrain on the radio, "I'm black and I'm proud." Musically, I was not impressed. But over time, I came to enjoy not only that song (both the sentiment and the music) but also such James Brown hits as "It Is a Man's World" and "Living in America."

* A Favorite Episode -- My memory tells me that James Brown tried to get out of traffic violations by claiming "diplomatic immunity" because he was the "Ambassador of Soul." Checking the web today indicates it may have been his wife claiming immunity because of the dignitary she was married to. I look forward to an honest, fact-based biography of this man and his times.

If you read the news reports, you'll see that James Brown had a difficult life, a tough upbringing, and he made unfortunate choices as an adult. Today, his friends mourn the passing of a brother, his fans celebrate the gift of his creativity and music.

Today is Christmas. We recall how, in utter contradiction to religio-political authorities then and materialistic authorities now, the true source of human creativity entered the world by choice. A hard world in which to live an unforgettable life. An imperfect world in which to demonstrate the triumph of good over evil, creativity over chaos, redemption over indifference, science over materialism, and the humanity of God over the inhumanity of man.

The rest of the AP story is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

By Rick Pearcey

As no doubt millions of readers have noticed, The Pearcey Report is currently not up and running.

This is because a) The Pearcey Report elves are otherwise occupied this evening, b) the editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report has been naughty, or c) The Pearcey Report has exceeded its bandwidth.

Top Pearcey Report scientists, technicians, elf negotiators, and Condoleeza Rice are working around the clock to restore order. Good cheer, of course, remains.

Meanwhile, have a Merry Christmas!

Cheers to all,

Rick

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Christmas in Brazil

By Rick Pearcey

To our friends in Brazil. You know who you are.

And to all who enjoy the land, the beauty, the samba, the soccer, and the sensitive engagement of people and culture on the basis of truth.

Obrigado!

Merry Christmas!

Rick, Nancy, Michael


Of Interest:
"Easter and Other Four-Letter Words," by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Zawahiri Christmas Message

By Rick Pearcey

News satire site ScrappleFace offers a bit of Christmas cheer with "Al Qaeda's No. 2 Releases Christmas Video."

According to Scott Ott at ScrappleFace, "Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second-in-command, today released his Christmas video through Al Jazeera TV." Date of release: Dec. 20, 2006.

ScrappleFace's mission: "News Fairly Unbalanced. We report. You Decipher."

To view "Seasonal Greeting from Ayman al-Zawahiri," click here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Banned in Pakistan

By Rick Pearcey

"Robert Spencer's latest book, The Truth About Muhammad, has been banned in Pakistan," writes Ivy Sellars in Human Events," the Capitol Hill weekly newspaper where I once was employed as managing editor.

Spencer's book, "published by Regnery (a Human Events sister company), was pulled off shelves after it was found to contain 'objectionable material' about Islam's founder, according to a notification obtained by the Kuwait National News Agency.

"The Pakistani government has confiscated all copies and translations of the book."

The rest of the article is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Bush Falling Down: Is Homosexual Adoption a Benign Reality?

By Rick Pearcey

WPost Attacks: "Deliberately bringing a child into the world without a father and exposing that child's moral formation to an atmosphere of homosexuality is a "benign reality," according to Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post," writes George Neumayr today in American Thinker.

"Marcus was writing in praise of 'Mary Cheney's pregnancy,' only regretting that it hadn't occurred during the 2004 election cycle, when a 'hugely pregnant' Cheney could have illustrated the clanging disconnect between the Republican Party's outmoded intolerance and the benign reality of gay families today.'"

Bush Concedes: "Unfortunately, the Republican Party isn't as reactionary as Marcus supposes. Hasn't she noticed that it is happy to make mindless concessions to social liberals like her? After all, George Bush evidently considers gay adoption a benign reality too.

"Quickly crying uncle to his glib questioners at People magazine, he predicted Mary Cheney will be a very good mother and 'loving soul' to her child."

Children Lose: "Bush's interest in the domestic culture war at this point is almost nil and his handling of it is certainly as questionable as his conduct of the Iraqi one.

"The rhetoric grows more and more depressingly empty: White House spokesmen rattle on about the danger foreign radicals pose to our 'way of life' even as they watch, with fashionable passivity, domestic liberals damage it. Is there nobody at the White House who can bring themselves to say that gay adoption is bad for children?"

The rest of George Neumayr's article is here.

Related Article:
"Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat: Imposing "Private" Homosexual Values on Everyone," by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Bestselling Guide to the Mideast?

By Rick Pearcey

In an L.A. Times column titled "Hitler's Mideast Helpers," Max Boot notes that "while Europe has disowned its terrible history, the Nazis continue to be glorified in the Middle East."

Then, a couple of additional points about the Mideast:

1) "Nowhere else in the world is Holocaust denial so prevalent."

2) "Mein Kampf is a perennial bestseller in the region."

The Max Boot column is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Sam Harris on the Colbert Report

By Rick Pearcey

The End of Faith author Sam Harris discusses "faith" and religion with Stephen Colbert.

Harris seems not to know that the concept of "faith" he attacks bears little relationship to the Biblical information.

The video is from YouTube (the Colbert program aired April 26, 2006).

Related articles:
* On Faith, see "Secularism Takes Hit at British Airways," by Rick Pearcey
* On Christianity and science, see "Christianity a Science-Starter, Not a Science-Stopper," by Nancy Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Former Bush Speechwriter Gerson Attacks "Fundamentalist" Republicans

By Rick Pearcey

"My low point with the Republican Party came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," writes former Bush speechwriter and now Newsweek contributor Michael Gerson.

"The response of many Republicans was to use the disaster as an excuse for cutting government spending." . . .

Fundamentalist Republicans: "This reaction previews a broader, high-stakes Republican debate as we head toward the 2008 election. One Republican Party -- the Republican Party of movement conservatives on Capitol Hill and in the think-tank world -- will argue that the 'big government Republicanism' of the Bush era has been a reason for recent defeats.

"Like all fundamentalists, the antigovernment conservatives preach that greater influence requires a return to purity -- the purity of Reaganism.

"But the golden age of austerity under Reagan is a myth.". . .

"As antigovernment conservatives seek to purify the Republican Party, it is reasonable to ask if the purest among them are conservatives at all." . . .

"Jeb Bush" Republicans: "There is another Republican Party -- what might be called the party of the governors. It is the party of Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. . . ."

"The future of the Republican Party depends on which party it wants to be -- the party of purity, or the party of the governors. In that decision, Republicans should consider: any political movement that elevates abstract antigovernment ideology above human needs is hardly conservative, and unlikely to win."

The rest of Michael Gerson's column, titled "The Republican Identity Crisis," is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Many Who Condemn Holocaust-Denial Helped Pave the Way

By Rick Pearcey

Bret Stephens, writing in OpinionJournal, traces the path from "polite society" in the West to Holocaust-denial in Tehran.

"'Not acceptable,' says Ban Ki Moon, new Secretary-General of the United Nations. 'Repulsive,' say the editors of Britain's Guardian newspaper. 'An insult . . . to the memory of millions of Jews,' says Hillary Rodham Clinton. Global polite society is in an uproar over the Holocaust conference organized this week in Tehran under the auspices of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Moral denunciation is what reasonable people do -- what they must do -- when a regime that avows the future extermination of six million Jews in Israel denies the past extermination of six million Jews in Europe," says Stephens.

"But let's be frank: Global polite society has been blazing its own merry trail toward this occasion for decades."

See the rest of "The Road to Tehran" here.

For a look at why Fascism "refuses to go away," see "Fascism Is Back."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

WND Editor Blasts Rick Warren, World Magazine

By Rick Pearcey

WorldNetDaily Editor Joseph Farah has best-selling author and mega-church pastor Rick Warren in his sights. And World magazine, too.

* Rick Warren-in-Syria Controversy: "I'm ready to let go of the Rick Warren-in-Syria controversy – just as soon as Rick Warren stops deceiving people about what he did and said in that anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, totalitarian police state last month."

The WND editor "first criticized [Warren] for his trip to Syria back on Nov. 16." According to Farah, Warren emailed him "from Rwanda to question why we had not sought his comment, which we had. No one from his church deigned to respond to us after repeated attempts to reach any spokesman."

Farah also says Warren "suggested statements he made in Syria had been twisted by the official Syrian news agency. When I asked him for transcripts or any recordings that were made in Syria, Warren told me flatly that no recordings were made in Syria or any other country he visited on his swing through the Middle East and Africa." (emphasis added)

Then, says Farah, "I e-mailed him with a link to a YouTube video, posted by his own church, in which he made statements describing Syria as a 'moderate' country that doesn't permit 'any extremism of any kind." The upshot, writes Farah, is that the "video was quickly pulled from YouTube without further explanation. " (emphasis added)

* World Magazine Reporting: "Rick Warren recently spun his official yarn for a reporter at World magazine," says Farah, "who dutifully reported what he had to say, despite the existence of the recording."

Farah quotes World reporter Ed Plowman: "Some reporters even placed in [Warren's] mouth pro-Syria words he did not say, as at least one tape-recorded interview showed. . . . Some U.S. conservatives criticized Warren for going at all to a country that supports terrorism. Although the Associated Press avoided the inaccuracies in the government-run Syrian media, internet bloggers widely publicized the flawed Syrian accounts."

The World magazine story concludes with a quote from Warren: "Does it seem ironic to you that some believers trust Syrian press releases without even checking with the Christian pastor they criticize?"

* On the Other Hand: "The record speaks for itself," Farah counters. "Rick Warren's condoning of Syria, his praise for its moderation, his ignoring of the plight of the persecuted church there and official anti-Semitism in Damascus is now a matter of public record.

"We don't need the Syrian press releases. We have Rick Warren's own words, recorded by his own team and posted – at least momentarily – on YouTube. "

"What's truly ironic," says Farah, "is that at least one Christian media outlet has bought all the lies – hook, line and sinker."

The entire WND commentary by Joseph Farah is here.

The World magazine news report by Ed Plowman is here, at the bottom of the page.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Judgment-Free Hurts People

By Rick Pearcey

"The young women described in Unprotected have fallen victim to one of the few personal troubles that our caring professions refuse to treat or even acknowledge: They have been made miserable by their 'sexual choices.' And on that subject, few modern doctors dare express a word of judgment." . . .

Friends With Benefits With Side Effects: "Heather, for instance, has succumbed to an intense bout of depression. The doctor presses her to think of possible causes. She can't think of anything. Then she says: 'Well, I can think of one thing: since Thanksgiving, I've had a "friend with benefits." And actually I'm kind of confused about that' . . . .

"I'm confused, because it seems like I don't get the 'friend' part, but he still gets the 'benefits.' It finally dawns on her: 'I'm really unhappy about that.'

"Heather is not an unrepresentative case" . . . .

Depression, Suicide: These girls "are following the best advice that modern psychology can offer. They are enjoying their sexual freedom, experimenting, discovering themselves. They can't understand what might be wrong. And yet something is wrong. . . .

"Surveys have found that 'sexually active teenage girls were more than three times as likely to be depressed, and nearly three times as likely to have had a suicide attempt, than girls who were not sexually active.' . . .

Anonymous: "The author of this vivid and urgent book has published it anonymously precisely because she fears that if her employers and colleagues heard her unwelcome views, they would judge her negatively -- and punish her, personally and professionally. The anonymity, however understandable, is a shame: Her cause could use a visible and vocal crusader."

The entire OpinionJournal column by Danielle Crittenden is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Plagiarizing Judge Not Talking About "His" "Masterpiece" ID Ruling

By Rick Pearcey

"A historic judicial ruling against intelligent design theory hailed as a 'broad, stinging rebuke' and a 'masterpiece of wit, scholarship and clear thinking' actually was 'cut and pasted' from a brief by ACLU lawyers and includes many of their provable errors, contends the Seattle-based Discovery Institute," reports WorldNetDaily.

One Year Ago: "U.S. District Judge John E. Jones' 139-page ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover declared unconstitutional a school board policy that required students of a ninth-grade biology class in the Dover Area School District to hear a one-minute statement that said evolution is a theory and intelligent design 'is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view.'"

Praise: "University of Chicago geophysicist Raymond Pierrehumbert called Jones' ruling a 'masterpiece of wit, scholarship and clear thinking' while lawyer Ed Darrell said the judge 'wrote a masterful decision, a model for law students on how to decide a case based on the evidence presented.' Time magazine said the ruling made Jones one of 'the world's most influential people' in the category of 'scientists and thinkers.'"

But: "An analysis by the Discovery Institute, the leading promoter of intelligent design, concludes about 90.9 percent -- 5,458 words of his 6,004-word section on intelligent design as science -- was taken virtually verbatim from the ACLU's proposed 'Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law' submitted to Jones nearly a month before his ruling.

"Judge Jones' decision wasn't a masterpiece of scholarship. It was a masterpiece of cut-and-paste," said the Discovery Institute's John West in a phone conference with reporters yesterday," reports WND.

In Other Words: The judge's decision is a 90.9% masterpiece of plagiarism, according to the figure released by the Discovery Institute.

Is plagiarism an unfair assessment? Apparently not, according to Princeton University's Wordnet, which defines plagiarism as a "piece of writing that has been copied from someone else" and "presented as [his] own work."

Questions of character are raised as well, for we appear to have in Judge Jones a person who is willing to take credit for work done by others. This kind of willingness to deceive does not engender confidence in the federal bench.

This critiques obtains even if the ACLU is a willing participant, an enabler, as it were, in the struggle for Darwinian survival. Most people understand that two wrongs -- two parties willing to deceive -- don't make a right. Not even if they are consenting adults. Not even if they have contracts. Not even if they are all "team players."

Note the parallel: Darwinism as a worldview tries to give credit to impersonal nature (or nothingness) for work done by the true Creator. On the other hand, a Darwinian judge tries to give credit to himself for work done by the true creators of "his" "masterpiece" of a ruling.

In both cases, truth is suppressed and the public is misled. It wouldn't be the first time a so-called "masterpiece" was not written by a so-called "master." These things matter much, of course, whether we are talking about the real authors of books and articles, or about the real author of life and of the human drama lived out by choice each day on this stage we call the universe.

WND says it "reached Jones' deputy, Liz O'Donnell, at the judge's chambers in Williamsport, Pa. But she said Jones would not comment. 'He appreciates being given a chance to comment; however, other than advising anyone to read his opinion, he will not comment on any Discovery Institute release,' she said."

Given the judge's previous performance in certain aspects of this case, one might wonder whether he is waiting for the ACLU to show him what to do.

Additional Articles:
* Darwinian Meltdown Reaches England, by Rick Pearcey
* Why Intelligent Design Will Win, by Nancy Pearcey
* Christianity a Science-Starter, Not a Science-Stopper, by Nancy Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Editor Revolts Against "Christmas" Cards

By Rick Pearcey

* From a column by Jeff Jacoby: "If Christian belief and practice weren't vanishing from the British scene, Christian-themed cards wouldn't be, either. But some Britons, not all of them devout, are resisting the tide.

"Writing in the Telegraph, editor-at-large Jeff Randall -- who describes himself as 'somewhere between an agnostic and a mild believer' -- announces that any Christmas card he receives that doesn't at least mention the word 'Christmas' goes straight into the trash."

Randall writes: "Jettisoning Christmas-less cards is my tiny, almost certainly futile, gesture against the dark forces of political correctness . . . . It's a swipe at those who would prefer to abolish Christmas altogether, in case it offends 'minorities.' Someone should tell them that, with only one in 15 Britons going to church on Sundays, Christians are a minority."

* Opening lines from Randall's column: "My rubbish bin is full of Christmas cards. I threw them there." The rest of the column.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Stallone on Faith: Down, Out, Up

By Rick Pearcey

What Gives Rocky Strength: "As a young person you tend to think that the world somewhat revolves around you, that you can recover from anything, that you tend to have this kind of vim and vigor and energy to take on the world on your own shoulders. Well, after you've been knocked down a few times and the world has shown you it's dark side, you realize that you need guidance, you need God's word, you need spiritual help and that's when your journey will begin.

"So I, as I get older, I realize how -- very much -- I rely upon Jesus, the word of God, and his support. . . . Rocky, in the last -- in Rocky Balboa -- has lost everything. And, we see him triumph, and the last thing that he hears before he enters the ring is Scripture and that's what gives him the strength.

"And people realize that he doesn't fight for money, he doesn't fight for glory. It's fighting for a purpose and fighting for a divine reason to show that through him, through the ability, the God-given ability that he has that he can show other people the way to be an example.

"You don't have to be the biggest, or the strongest or the fastest. But if you believe -- truly believe - you will find a way to win." . . .

What Hollywood Understands: "Hollywood is somewhat of an isolated community, and it is a money-driven community, and I wouldn't say faith is right up there at the forefront. . .

"[P]eople need to drive home that fact, and though it may sound mercenary and self-serving, if we are to continue to do films like Rocky, like The Passion, like films that you can take your family to it, and by the way you can show year after year after year because the theme never goes away, then we have to go out and support it.

"That's the only message they understand. And though they supposedly, you know, are very liberal, what rules here, unfortunately, is success and it doesn't matter in what form. Well, I think it does matter."

Beyond Rock Bottom: "It was right after, around 1980, and I -- my marriage was not good and I felt myself being seduced by all the temptations that Hollywood has to offer. And it's a very, very morally weakening situation because you are given the keys to the candy store, people will say yes when you're wrong, before you know it your morals and you're outlook on life is corrupted. . . .

"My career spiraled down,and every time when it was at its very bottom, I would end up writing a Rocky, and somehow the moral compass of Rocky tends to give me new life. But then again I would not find love, not find anything I can really hang my hat on, and I would just give myself in to the, again, to the kind of like lackadaisical, irresponsible, immature lifestyle that a lot of stars live. . . .

"I hit rock bottom after my second marriage, and I realized my career also was stagnant . . . I said this is where I really have to take a moral compass and point it in the right direction. And I started to bring Jesus into my life and I said, you came here, you made it by writing passionately, you made it by living in a sense 'in the moment,' and not worrying about money, and not worrying about what people thought of you and just writing what came from your heart or what was driven through your heart by a greater power, meaning God.

"And as soon as I did that and I started to really take into account what I had given away and what I could get if I just started to live the right life -- right away I met my wife, who is the greatest person on the planet, who's given me three kids, who I would die for in a second.

"And everything just fell into place once I stopped trying to do it my way and did it the right way, and asked for help and God gave me help. I can think of no other reason how it would turn around because it sure didn't come from lawyers, and it sure didn't come from agents, and it sure didn't come from friends."

The entire Sylvester Stallone interview with Infuze magazine is here.

Related Story:

Dr. Phil: Jesus Christ "The Foundation"

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Download Study: "Masterful" Anti-ID Fed Ruling Copied From ACLU

By Rick Pearcey

Press Release from Discovery Institute: "The key section of the widely-noted court decision on intelligent design issued a year ago on December 20 was copied nearly verbatim from a document written by ACLU lawyers, according to a study released today by scholars affiliated with the Discovery Institute.

"Judge John Jones copied verbatim or virtually verbatim 90.9% of his 6,004-word section on whether intelligent design is science from the ACLU's proposed 'Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law' submitted to him nearly a month before his ruling," said Dr. John West, Vice President for Public Policy and Legal Affairs at Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture" . . . . More

The study can be downloaded here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Fascism Is Back

By Rick Pearcey

"Fascism is back," Gene Edward Veith tell us in Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview. But the daily news makes this clear as well, with among other items, reports of a Holocaust-denying conference held under the auspices of an anti-Semitic government that says Israel should cease to exist.

Fascism "refuses to go away," says Veith. "Fifty years after World War II, it keeps intruding upon our attention in odd facts and disturbing news. . . .

"The lunatic fringe, of course, is always with us, but we are also being confronted by signs of fascism as a larger social movement. . . .

"The implosion of communism was a great victory for democracy, but the vacuum has been filled by an intense, violent ethnic nationalism and the revival of overt fascist movements that had been suppressed since World War II but are still very much alive. . . .

"Unsettling cultural trends are intensifying throughout the West: cynicism about democracy; a yearning for charismatic leadership; economic disaffection; moral skepticism; a cultural irrationalism that breaks out in acts of inexplicable violence."

Fascism Back in . . .
* Academic Circles: "Fascism is back in academia. A recent biography of the existentialist sage Martin Heidegger has uncovered his extensive involvement in the Nazi party. . .

"Far more disturbing . . . is the ideology that is coalescing . . . in today's intellectual establishment. Cultural determinism; the reduction of all social relationships to issues of sheer power; the idea the one's identity is centered in one's ethnicity or race; the rejection of the concept of the individual -- such ideas have become academic commonplaces.

"The project in contemporary thought of dismantling Western civilization and critiquing 'humanistic values' (such as liberty, reason, and objective moral principles) is not new. All of the ideas are direct echoes of the fascist theories of the 1930s."

* Pop Culture: "The popular culture is the most fertile breeding ground for fascism."

* Mass Politics: "Instead of rational analysis of issues and reasoned debate, our political discourse turns on image manipulation through or mass media. . . . This was Goebbels' dream."

* Morality: "Moral issues are today almost impossible to discuss in objective terms. . . . Morality is reduced to social utility or the assertion of the will. This was precisely the Nazi ethic."

What Is Fascism?
"Only five decades ago, the world was in the nightmare of war and Holocaust. We seem to have forgotten everything. Putting aside images of goose-stepping villains from the movies, does anyone remember exactly what the fascists believed?"

"We must know what fascism is so that we can recognize it when we see it. . . . Racism alone cannot explain the virulence of Nazi anti-Semitism. . . .

"The fascists aligned themselves not only against the Jews but against what the Jews contributed to Western civilization. A transcendent God, who reveals a transcendent moral law, was anathema to fascists. . . .

"Fascism was essentially a spiritual movement. It was a revolt against the Judeo-Christian tradition, that is to say, against the Bible.

"Some fascists believe that Christianity could be purged of its Jewish elements; other believed it should be completely replaced. Some advocated a syncretistic Christianity, revising the faith to make it accord with the new culture. . . .

"The fascist rebellion against transcendence restored the ancient pagan consciousness. With it came barbarism, a barbarism armed with modern technology and intellectual sophistication.

"The liquidation of the transcendent moral law and 'Jewish' conscience allowed the resurgence of the most primitive and destructive emotions."

Veith's book is as relevant today as when it was first published, in 1993.

-- Gene Edward Veith, Preface, Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.