Our Books

If you enjoy this site, please consider purchasing one of our books (as low as $2.99). Click here to visit our Amazon page.

Our Books

Our Books
Books by Trevor Grant Thomas and Michelle Fitzpatrick Thomas

E-Mail Me:

NOTE: MY EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED! Trevor's new email address: trevorgrantthomas@gmail.com

Latest News/Commentary

Latest News/Commentary:

News/Commentary Archives:

News/Commentary Archives (for the current year; links to previous years archives at the bottom of each page)---PLUS: Trevor's Columns Archived (page linked at the bottom of the table below):

Friday, November 20, 2009

“Poisoned By These Fairy Tales”

John Adams once wrote, “A constitution of government, once changed from freedom, can never be restored; liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” Of course, this is the real danger with Obamacare (or any other such massive government program). As I pointed out in a July column ("Govern The Least"), once the government gets itself established in an additional part of our lives, another piece of our liberty goes out the window—perhaps never to return.

Those in favor of Obamacare, consider this. If government takes over healthcare, what recourse will there be when decisions are made with which you don’t agree? What happens when those in power suddenly turn against you? How can one stand against an institution that has the power of the police, the courts, the military, the Federal Reserve, and so on? As Gerald Ford said, “a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

President Obama was swept into office under the banner of “hope and change.” However, as Don Henley sang, “armchair warriors often fail and we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales.” Sadly, far too many Americans bought into the fairy tale that is Barack Hussein Obama.

The hope for America should never rest upon those who sit in government. Hope in government, of course, seems to be part of the DNA of liberals. However, this is a trap that many conservatives, and even Christian conservatives, have fallen into as well. As I pointed out just prior to President Obama’s election victory, in The Light and the Glory, Peter Marshall and David Manuel note that in seeking to put America on the right path many Christians have “hoped that electing a Christian President would do the job. But as Dwight Eisenhower once said, ‘Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America.’”

In other words, replacing Obama with a conservative Christian, however desirable that may be, will not solve all of America’s problems. Certainly there would be benefits to this scenario, the greatest of which would (hopefully) be a retreat of government and an advancement of liberty.

For where liberty is greatest is where humanity is most resplendent. Granted, excessive liberty also can bring out the worst of humanity, but the tyranny of Big Government is far worse than the sins of free men.

God endowed humans with the great gift of free will. Of course this means that people can go right or wrong; they can do good or bad. If people are free, then they must be free to do good or evil. Liberty, therefore, as noted by our founders, is an inalienable right given by our Creator.

From time immemorial people have pondered the problem of evil in the world. The question often goes: If God is good, why must bad things happen? As C.S. Lewis points out, “Free will, though it makes evil possible, is the only thing that makes any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free.”

Good government allows for this freedom. The problem with government overreaching is not that liberty is taken from all people, but that it is concentrated within a small group of people who are just as fallible as any other human. And when they have that kind of power, they generally want more, and the flow of liberty is slowly squeezed off. Finally, when things go wrong, and they will eventually go wrong, they will likely go terribly wrong and millions will suffer and perish.

It is understandable why liberals seek solace in their government. It is very comforting to know that someone bigger than ourselves is looking out for us. However, there is only One who can truly fulfill that role and there is no king, congress, president, or parliament who can take His place.

Copyright 2009, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Friday, November 6, 2009

Same-Sex "Marriage" Meets Defeat Again

31 for 31. Now that Maine voters have rejected gay marriage, every state that has put gay marriage before its electorate—31 states now—has seen it rejected. At an average rate of 67.5%, voters in the 31 states have, at the very least, banned same-sex marriage. (Nineteen states have banned not only same-sex marriage, but also civil unions.)

The rejection of gay marriage has occurred not only in conservative states, but in some very liberal ones as well, such as MaineCaliforniaOregon, and Hawaii. Purple states such as OhioColorado, and Nevada have also soundly rejected gay marriage. Across the U.S., from the Deep South to the Northeast to the Midwest to the West coast, Americans have united behind biblical marriage.

All across the political spectrum, from Democrats (yes, a few) to Republicans to Independents, Americans have said a resounding “No!” to what is the number one item on the homosexual agenda.

With this type of sweeping plurality against gay marriage, it is hard to fathom how liberals can maintain any sense that the United States, in any significant way, is headed toward recognition of homosexuals marrying.

Yet, they persist. According to Gallup recently, 75% of self-identified liberals support same-sex marriage. Liberals control the White House, the U.S. House and Senate, and most of the mainstream-media. After their latest defeat, the L.A. Times lamentably asked, “If not in Maine, then where?” Declaring it a solid victory for those opposed to same-sex marriage, with false piety the Times boldly stated that “despite the moral right on its side, the fight for equality for gays and lesbians will be more difficult, more complicated and probably will take a good while longer than it should.”

Writing for the left-leaning website The Daily Beast, Linda Hirshman writes that it is time to “get gay marriage off the ballot.” Isn’t this something for the “life-tenured federal judiciary to decide?” Hirshman asks. Liberals are coming full circle. Defeat after defeat, it seems, have them yearning for their favorite battle ground: the courts. Why worry with legislatures and the ballot box when one, or a handful, of appointed liberal judges can give you what you want.

It is interesting to note that Maine’s rejection of gay marriage was not a rejection of their courts, but of their legislature and governor. It just goes to show that, politically speaking, even in liberal states the conservative position on social issues is (or at least can be) a winning one.

The Maine vote should further embolden conservative politicians all over the nation. The social issues of marriage, abortion, etc. are ones that many conservative politicians think they need to avoid or, at least, tip-toe around, especially if they are in “bluish” regions of the country. Maine’s voters have made it even more clear that, for a significant majority of Americans, biblical marriage is a winning issue.

Copyright 2009, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com