My husband and I were blessed to see the new Ben Stein move, Expelled, this week.  The part of the movie that moved me the most was when a few professors described how they became evolutionists and how any belief in God was simultaneously extinguished in their lives.  As one professor detailed, it happened when his biology teacher turned him on to evolution and by the end of the course, he was both an atheist and evolutionist. 

I have heard this same story over and over again in the lives of everyday Christian parents.  For example, I used to tutor this very smart boy who took several honors classes – honors physics, honors English, etc.  But I told his Christian mother that I was worried that she was going to send him to a liberal ivy league college as he already had been exposed to so much secular humanism in this public school high school and he had little grasp of a Christian worldview.
 
She dismissed such thoughts, telling me he was the head of the children’s ministry in their church and was active in other church work.  Sure enough, after one semester of college biology in which the professor bulldozed Darwinism into the students, this ignorant and unprepared teen declared to his shocked parents that he was now an atheist. 

You need to homeschool to make sure your children understand Dawinism thoroughly before encountering it from the elites in academia.  And they need to study the vast evidence for God as the creator, the infinitely intelligent designer of the universe. Otherwise, a child weakened by a public school education will likely be seduced by the fantasy of evolution and overwhelmed by the peer pressure to adopt an atheist view of the world.

Proverbs 24:11 says "rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter."

If you are considering homeschooling or already educating your children at home, I want to challenge you to observe the 35th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision this week by trying to save a life of a baby.  Make it a family project – get some literature from the nearest pro-life group or pro-life pregnancy center and hand it out as a family while you stand on the sidewalk outside the local abortion clinic.

Or have your family prayer time there.  And why not practice reading out loud by reading the Word of God as a family on the sidewalk outside the local Planned Parenthood, the largest baby killing machine in the country? 

In fact, why not make it a homeschool "assignment" for your family to try to save the life of at least one unborn child in 2008?  I know that so many mothers of young children have a past – a past that includes one or more abortions.  Now that you are walking with Jesus Christ, now that He has given you a chance to instruct the next generation, why not train your children to be "life savers"?  Homeschooling them does not guarantee they won’t get an abortion; they need to know what God says about hurting the innocent and they need to be part of His life saving work. 

If you really want pro-life children, I mean children who not only will protect your future grandkids from abortion, but also vote pro-life and work to end abortion in the land, get them involved in peacefully praying, saving lives and witnessing on the sidewalk of an abortion clinic.  It was, in fact, the many homeschool families I met in pro-life that convinced me homeschooling was the way to go ( my husband was convinced a long time ago to homeschool by having gone to public school) .

Seeing the homeschooled children fearlessly standing for the least of these really touched my heart in a way I will never forget.  It is so cool to be a homeschool mom now and see my kids being part of that legacy. 

Having been a pro-life sidewalk counselor for 21 years, I can tell you sidewalk counseling is easier to do than most people think.  My husband and I have trained sidewalk counselors in the past and we can tell you that it is not really what you say that counts as much as how much you pray.  Some of the most effective sidewalk counselors quietly pray, and just politely hand out the literature to the women entering the abortion mill.

If you need information on sidewalk counseling, check out the resources at www.sidewalkcounseling.com and if you live in Southern California, they will be having a sidewalk counseling training session on March 1 with the theme "Save a Life in 2008".

The Herald Tribune is reporting that "Aqua Dots" Chinese-made children's toys contain the 'date rape' drug.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound — made from common and easily available ingredients — can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Could this Chinese toy thing get any stranger?  Lead, asbestos, gamma hydroxy butyrate... could they try any harder to make this look like a sinister communist plot to kill American children?

We have long boycotted Chinese made products -- yes, it is possible.  It takes more time shopping and sometimes we go home empty handed.  But, like most Americans, who needs more stuff?  As someone who loves toys, those three little words - Made in China - sure help us save a lot of money.  Try it; just put the stuff back on the shelf.

Our little family is like a chorus going through a toy store: "Made in China", "Made in China", "Made in China".  I believe those are the first words most of our children learned to read -- dad's homeschool of consumer awareness. 

Our little boycott started, not because of consumer safety reasons, but because the communists represent real evil in this world.  Christians are persecuted in China.  Political freedom is suppressed.  Individual expression is punished.  Information is controlled by the state.  Every industry profits from slave labor (through forced labor of political prisoners in energy and mining).  And, women are forced to have abortions.

Also, a portion of every dollar that goes to China gets invested into the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army), China's military, which is engaged in a great strategic expansion in anticipation of the coming conflict with the United States.  Historically, China views the United States as an enemy.  All of their military build-up is targeted at countering the United States -- anti-satellite weapons to target our communications, blue water navy and submarines to counter our aircraft carriers, hacking to disrupt our information infrastructure, anti-surface missiles to counter our navy, short and medium range missiles to target Taiwan and US bases in Asia, ICBM's to target American cities.

Please pray that this coming conflict does not come to pass.  Pray that the communist government of China would be destroyed and freedom would come to the Chinese people.  Too long have they suffered under the suppression of totalitarian government (at key historical points reinforced by western powers). 

In 1989 brave individuals stood up for political reform in China, the result was death and prison for thousands.  The west largely ignored these tyrannical acts and expanded trade relations with China.  Trade has done little since then to give the Chinese people political freedom.  Instead, the power of the communist dictators has been reinforced and strengthened by the influx of western cash.

Please stop giving your cash to China; instead give them your prayers and determination to see them free to worship Christ as you do.  Don't you think that is a better lesson for your children then that plastic (and perhaps lead painted) toy?

I have long been suspicious of Pat Robertson.  His defense of communist China's forced abortion policy back in 2001 - which appeared to have been a quid pro quo - is just one reason (as if that is not enouph).

Now Pat Robertson has gone and endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President. 

The same Giuliani that supports abortion on demand.  The same Giuliani that has given money to Planned Parenthood to kill babies.  The same Giuliani that supports homosexual rights.  The same Giuliani that marches in gay parades.  The same Giuliani that has been married three times.  The same Giuliani... etc., etc.

Robertson has obviously calculated some sort of political gain for himself, perhaps it is just the pride of political relevancy.  He had certainly been marginalized by the news media and an endorsement of someone like Mike Huckabee might have gone unnoticed.

The good news is that I personally do not know anyone who takes Pat Robertson seriously.  Unfortunately, he has a huge media empire, so someone must be listening to him and still giving him money.  And, the mainstream media is giddy with anticipation that this endorsement will help Giuliani overcome his values voters deficiency.  The media and Republican elitists want Giuliani to win the nomination.  That way, the influence of those obnoxious Christians who just will not get over abortion can be silenced.

I will never, ever, under any circumstance (save his complete conversion to Christ and rejection of all his current values) vote for Giuliani.  I will never vote for someone who supports the murder of unborn children.

Like many conservatives, I was hopeful about Fred Thompson entering the Republican Presidential race.  Unfortunately, like many conservatives, I have been very disappointed.

I do not knock Thompson for his mellow style, although that too was disappointing.  In Thompson's defense, he appears to be a genuinely mellow person -- and being genuine is refreshing after watching Mitt Romney.  I do not knock Thompson for articulating conservative principles, although that too has been disappointing as executed.  Again, in Thompson's defense, he does at least try to articulate conservative principles from a genuine belief in conservative ideology -- and being conservative is refreshing after watching Rudy Giuliani.

Federalism is the conservative principle that Fred Thompson points to most.  He is consistent.  But, as we saw on Meet the Press this weekend (just an expression, I do not watch TV, so I read the transcript), he is too consistent -- to the point of being illogical. 

Don't get me wrong, I believe in federalism.  The Federal government has trashed the Constitution of the United States by taking upon itself improper roles and responsibilities, better left to the states or the people.  Federal intrusion into education is one example. 

But, applying federalism to the crime of abortion is illogical.  If Fred Thompson believes that human life begins at conception -- which he now claims he does -- than he should believe that the Constitution of the United States should protect unborn human life.  And, if it does not effectively do so, then the Constitution should be amended to explicitly protect unborn human life. 

He might say we shouldn't go "tinkering with the Constitution."  But, the right to life is no less important than the freedom of religion or the other rights established through constitutional amendments.  The Constitution itself would not have been adopted without these amendments that we know together as the Bill of Rights.  Federalism itself was only established by the Tenth Amendment and shouldn't trump other rights fit for Constitutional protection.

I have even heard good people say that the right to life is already protected under the Constitution and that we only need to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Well, the 49 million babies who have been legally aborted in the United Stated might disagree with those people.  Theoretical power makes a nice discussion, but if the hammer was coming down on your head, you would want something more substantive.  It is, after all, real human lives being destroyed as the political fine points are being debated.  But the functional reality that abortion is legal and effectively protected by the Constitution makes this argument irrelevant, said best by Lysander Spooner in a different context:

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain --- that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.

Spooner's conclusion is extreme, but true in our case.  The Constitution is deficient in its protection of unborn human life.  We can at least correct this deficiency by passing a constitutional amendment.  But for politicians that are only nominally pro-life, a constitutional amendment is a stumbling block. 

Enter stumbling Fred Thompson.  Federalism is being used as an excuse by Fred Thompson to deflect the harder questions of abortion.  You can see that clearly in all his other answers, including going all the way back to the scandal that he actually represented the abortion industry as a lobbyist, which was "private life".  Here is the ultimate testimony to Fred Thompson's real view of Federalism and abortion, that states and individuals -- not the federal government -- should be free to kill as many babies as they want.

And the land was polluted with the blood. - Psalm 106:38

Answer this question:  Would you vote for a candidate who openly, unapologetically stated that people have a right to molest children?  

No way.  To vote for someone who represented such vile evil against children would be saying that molestation is not a big deal.  And, it would be promoting to a position of power someone who obviously has Satan as their master.  This person would be in a position to influence laws and the plank of their own political party.

Then why would you vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who openly, unapologetically believes people have a right to kill unborn children, and through all nine months of pregnancy?

I believe the root of the problem is that Christians do not think Biblically about abortion – on the surface they say we are human in the womb, but they don’t really believe it.  Why are many Christians believing the world that says an unborn child’s life is just a non-important “social issue” that can be swept aside when more “important” issues like the economy are at stake?

I’m grieved that even some of the elect of the Christian community (commentators on Christian radio, for example) have capitulated to the pressure and philosophy of the unsaved Republicans and have endorsed or highly implied they endorse Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Let’s look at their reasoning:

“He is a Republican and he can win,” they say.  But as Christians we are to give our allegiance to Christ alone, and not to any party. (If Schwarzenegger were a Democrat, and indeed his radical anti-moral positions align with  the Democratic Party exactly, would you vote for him?) This is not a sports event where we just root for any side!

And win – win WHAT?  Schwarzenegger has made it clear that he will not reverse any of the radical abortion and homosexual bills that have passed. 

“He will be better economically than Bustamante.”  I believed that lie a few years ago about Pete Wilson (who runs Schwarzenegger’s campaign), and I deeply regret voting for him.  Pete Wilson was awful on the moral issues, but the mantra was that we should vote for him since he will be better than the Democrat at least on economic issues.  But, being fiscally responsible requires strong morals, and Pete Wilson engineered the largest tax increase in California history, souring Californians on Republicans and paving the way for Democrat control of the state. 

We should never waver Biblically.  There is no difference between being Biblical and being strategic. When you vote Biblically, you ARE being strategic.   If we vote in large numbers for the only morally and fiscally qualified candidate on the ballot, Tom McClintock, we make a strong impact.  How?

Even if McClintock were to lose (and if the Christian base of the party stood by him, he would win) we send a clear message to the Republicans that we reject their radically immoral Hollywood-values candidate. After every election, political consultants analyze voting trends to see what the important issues were for the voters. The liberal Republicans keep telling us that pro-abortion people won’t vote for a pro-life candidate and in the same breath they tell us that pro-lifers MUST vote for a pro-abortion candidate.  We need to show them WE WON’T VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE WHO PROUDLY REJECTS BIBLICAL VALUES.

I am not convinced Schwarzenegger is the lesser of two evils.   In fact, like Pete Wilson before him, he has the potential to wreck great damage on Christians in the Republican Party and to change the face of that party for the foreseeable future.  The end result of Republicans winning in the short run is both major political parties will be solidly pro-abortion and pro-homosexual (among other abominations).

When we look at evil men who have risen to power in countries filled with Christians, I wonder how much of is due to Christians either not getting involved in the political process, thus forsaking their Biblical obligation to be salt and light, or those Christians who ignore blaring red warning signals in order to have “the trains run on time.”

I stand back in shock at this California recall election – who would have guessed that there would come a time when Christians would vote for those who blatantly promote murder and sexual perversion?  And when there is a perfectly good, viable Christian values candidate in the race (the USA poll out this week shows that if Schwarzenegger wasn’t in the race, McClintock would beat Bustamante 56% to 37%).

May God have mercy on us and our state.