|
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY REALITY ACTION STEPS:
-
Engage the corrupt culture head-on. Don't
avoid it. Shine the light of truth on it.
-
Assume that the corruption of the culture is
negatively impacting your church members. Your
strongest members will be filled with disgust for what the
culture is doing to people. They want to know that the
church shares in that disgust, and stands with them in the
fight against it. Your weakest members may actually be
under the yoke of it. How else can we explain the high
rates of divorce, abortion, addiction to pornography, and
sexual sins being reported among members of churches
everywhere?
-
Preach and teach in such a way as to expose the
dark and sinful underbelly of evolutionary humanism.
-
Reach out to those most seriously affected by the
corruption of the culture. "Tell them of Jesus, the
mighty to save. Rescue the perishing!"
-
Provide your people with printed, digital and
Internet based resources which up-lifts, enlightens,
informs, and empowers them concerning the truth between the
hopeless dogma of humanism, and the hope-filled truth of
Christianity.
-
Live the life of which you teach and preach.
Be a living Epistle (II Corinthians 3:2).
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY EDUCATION REALITY ACTION STEPS:
-
Study, learn, explore truth, go deeper, read books,
don't presume you know or still remember. The culture
of corruption is constantly morphing. Know what it is
promising, and where it is heading.
-
Take a course in Biblical Apologetics, Theology or
Biblical Creationism.
-
Enroll in a theological degree program from a
Bible-based Christ-centered Divinity School, Seminary or
Bible College. Pay the tuition, study hard, apply what
you learn, and be better equipped to push back against the
hopeless darkness of humanism.
-
If you have dropped out of such a program, get back
in. Push back against the resistance. Ask
yourself , "why the resistance in the first place?"
Exactly who wins and loses when a Bible-based degree program
is neglected in times such as these?
-
Start a class of your own, teach a course, write
articles, write blogs, write a book, or create a web site
where you can teach others what you know, and have learned
about the difference between light and darkness.
-
If you are an alumni of a Bible-based
Christ-centered Divinity School, Seminary or Bible College,
pray for it, tell others about it, keep in touch with it,
and send even a small financial gift often enough to
encourage the school's leadership to stay in the battle.
The proponents of evolutionary humanism are vocal and active
foes of Biblically honest Christian ministry education, and
would like noting more than to see it fade away either
through irrelevancy or if necessary, through legislation
which declares it divisive. That is, because (in the
words of the Humanist Manifesto II) "They separate rather
than unite peoples."
-
We MUST push back against the culture of
corruption. That's the REALITY of it!
Christianity even when watered down is hot
enough to boil all modern society to rags. - G.K.
Chesterton
The
brothers Hophni and Phinehas may not be the best know of Old
Testament characters, but they are among its worst examples of
obsessive sexualism. When we think of degraded sexuality
in the Old Testament, usually two persons come to mind, Samson
and David. Not to excuse their sexual sins, but the sons
of Eli hold the titles of being among the most degraded and
debauched persons recorded in the Bible.
The reason that these brothers claim such a
place of dishonor is because they serve as a clear example of
the predictable consequences of knowingly rejecting the Lord
as God. Whenever and wherever the created sets himself
up against the Creator, one of the outcomes will always be a
slavish preoccupation with erotic sex. That is, obsessive
sexualism.
Consider the historical background.
“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they
did not know the LORD and the custom of the priests with the
people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's
servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a
three-pronged fork in his hand. Then he would thrust it into
the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork
brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in
Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would
come and say to the man who was sacrificing, ‘Give the priest
meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you,
only raw.’ If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the
fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would
say, ‘No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will
take it by force.’ Thus the sin of the young men was very
great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of
the LORD (I
Samuel 2:12-17 NASV).
These two scoundrels were actually stealing and
eating the offerings! But that’s not the worst of it,
and that’s not what makes them an example of obsessive
sexualism. They were engaged in something far more disgusting
and despicable. They were obsessed by a slavish
preoccupation with erotic sex.
“Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were
doing to all
Israel, and how they lay with the women who
served at the doorway of the tent of meeting”
(I Samuel 2:22 NASV). The evil brothers,
had set up their own sex slave trade among the women who were
suppose to be chaste and holy servants at the most sacred site
of worship in all Israel!
The slide from serving God to becoming the
slave of sexual passions was predictable. There is
something deep in the inner being of humanity that is bent
toward devotion. If that devotion is properly directed
toward the Creator, then human beings rise toward that which
is pure. Conversely, if the focus of devotion is toward
the created, human beings descend into that which is impure,
and obsessive sexualism is always one of the consequences.
History bears this out.
For example, during the height of the French
Revolution (which a great many humanists still idealize as a
historical watershed event), Christianity was ridiculed,
assaulted, outlawed, and the grossest forms of obsessive
sexualism paraded publicly. During this time the
most shameful sexual obscenities were encouraged. The
great Cathedral of Notre Dame was desecrated by rededicating
it to the so-called Goddess of Reason. The rededication
ceremony was enacted by a most vulgar parade winding through
the streets of Paris culminating in a naked prostitute being
placed on a throne in the sanctuary of the cathedral.
Humanists who love to point to the French Revolution as the
dawning of western enlightenment would do well to actually
read the history of what was rightly called “The Reign of
Terror.”
Does any of this have relevance to the United
States? Most assuredly it does! Like Israel of
old, and France prior to The Reign of Terror, the United
States has a rich and extensive history that is rooted in the
worship of the Creator. Shortly after the end of WWII,
America returned to its fascination with humanism which had
actually begun in the 1930s, but had been restrained as a
consequence of the II World War. During the past sixty
plus years the embrace of humanistic philosophy has served to
erode our national standards of godliness and decency.
Nowhere is this more observable than in the national attitude
toward human sexuality.
Americans have become accepting of a form of
sexuality that was only a generation ago considered indecent
at the least and criminal at worst. Consequently, it
seems that the only form of sexuality likely to be portrayed
as aberrant is that which is conducted between one man and one
woman within the confines of legal marriage. All other
forms, however disgusting and deviant, are promoted as
desirable and even constitutionally protected. The
similarities between Israel during the time of Eli, and that
of the French Revolution are not lost on the concerned
observer.
We recognize that obsessive sexualism is a
driving and significant force in American culture. What
are some of the evidences of this?
-
Ubiquitous glorification of promiscuous sex
on television and in motion pictures
-
Sensual sex themes used in almost all forms
of product advertising
-
The sexually unchaste look that is popular
among young people
-
Sexually revealing/enhancing clothing items
that drive fashion trends
-
Pornographic themes used in everything from
video games to magazines
-
Preoccupation with the look of the physical
body in ways that enhance sensuality
-
Promotion of sex as a form of recreation
-
Sexually enhancing drugs widely promoted
during primetime television
-
Sexual addictions, especially Internet based
pornography which ranges from viewing copulation, sex with
children, sodomy, sexual bondage, and bestiality
-
Shockingly low rate of virginity among
college-aged young people
-
General acceptance of oral sex among high
school students
-
Tragically high rates of teenage pregnancy
-
Holocaust levels of abortion
The result is the degrading of the beauty and
even holiness of the God-created and ordained sexual component
of human nature which is designed to protect both the future
of the human race, and the very foundation upon which all
forms of social justice and wellbeing depend. The fact
is, when human beings reject God, they always descend into
obsessive sexualism. The result of which is the
degrading of the dignity and worth of humanity. Millions
of individuals are being deeply scarred by this, including
millions of children and teenagers who have been robbed of the
innocence of childhood. No historian can point to a good
and just nation which built its greatness on obsessive
sexualism.
Christian ministry and Christian ministry
education together face the serious and growing reality that
obsessive sexualism has already made inroads into the lives of
millions of Christian families. If we ignore it or avoid
it, we strengthen it. We must neither ignore it nor
avoid it.
PUSHING BACK AGAINST THE CORRUPTION OF
OBSESSIVE SEXUALISM
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY REALITY ACTION STEPS:
-
Engage the corrupt culture head-on.
Don't avoid it. Shine the light of truth on it.
-
Assume that the corruption of obsessive
sexualism is negatively impacting your church members.
Your strongest members will be filled with disgust for what
the culture is doing to people. They want to know that
the church shares in that disgust, and stands with them in
the fight against it. Your weakest members may
actually be under the yoke of it. How else can we
explain the high rates of fornication, adultery, teen
pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality, and addiction to
pornography being reported among members of churches
everywhere?
-
Preach and teach in such a way as to expose
the dark and sinful underbelly of obsessive sexualism.
-
Reach out to those most seriously affected by
the corruption of obsessive sexualism. "Tell them of
Jesus, the mighty to save. Rescue the perishing!"
-
Provide your people with printed, digital and
Internet based resources that up-lifts, enlightens, informs,
and empowers them concerning the truth between the
devastating consequences of sexual perversity and the
long-term blessings of sexual integrity
-
Live the life of which you teach and preach.
Reject obsessive sexualism through your choice of products,
clothing, entertainments, television viewing habits,
reading, and Internet activity. Demand that the
leadership of your church dress and act in such a way as to
project the most wholesome and trustworthy image possible.
Be a living Epistle (II Corinthians 3:2).
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY EDUCATION REALITY ACTION
STEPS:
-
Study, learn, explore truth, go deeper, read
books, don't presume you know or still remember. The
culture of corruption is constantly morphing. Know
what it is doing, and where it is heading.
-
Take one or
more courses on the Biblical model for human sexuality, and
how to understand and deal with sexual addictions.
NEW -
RESTORING BIBLICAL PURITY IN THE CHURCH RBP-1500.
A new elective course. Contact Master's for more
information.
-
Enroll in a theological degree program from a
Bible-based Christ-centered Divinity School, Seminary or
Bible College. Pay the tuition, study hard, apply what
you learn, and be better equipped to push back against the
hopeless darkness of all forms of humanism.
-
If you have dropped out of such a program,
get back in. Push back against the resistance.
Ask yourself , "why the resistance in the first place?"
Exactly who wins and loses when a Bible-based degree program
is neglected in times such as these?
-
Start a class of your own, teach a course,
write articles, write blogs, write a book, or create a web
site where you can teach others what you know, and have
learned about the difference between light and darkness.
Become familiar with quality Christian organizations that
God has raised up to fight against the degrading
consequences of obsessive sexualism. Start with
Pure Life Ministries, and then become familiar with
similar ministries.
-
If you are an alumni of a Bible-based
Christ-centered Divinity School, Seminary or Bible College,
pray for it, tell others about it, keep in touch with it,
and send even a small financial gift often enough to
encourage the school's leadership to stay in the battle.
The proponents of obsessive sexualism are vocal and active
foes of Biblically honest Christian ministry education.
-
We MUST push back against the culture of
corruption where obsessive sexuality is promoted as normal
as opposed to the debasing perversion that is it.
That's the REALITY of it!
Christianity even when watered down is hot
enough to boil all modern society to rags.
- G.K. Chesterton
THE
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ABORTION
By Dennis M. Howard
© Copyright, 2010 by Dennis M. Howard,
The Movement for a Better America, Inc.,
PO Box 472, Mt. Freedom, NJ 07970-0472
| IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM DR. FREY TO HIS
READERS: I wish to express sincere
appreciation to Dennis M. Howard for his generous
permission to publish this article. Master's
position in opposition to the evil of abortion is well
documented. Our
Life-Issues programs are unique in higher education.
However, we recognize that the issue of the economic
impact of abortion has been totally ignored by the
secular press, and arguably under emphasized even within
the pro-life community. In light of the budget
crisis facing America, the time may now be right to
confront the reality that the evil of abortion has
metastasized throughout the structure of our entire
nation. Mr. Howard's sterling credentials
add a high level of credibility to this article, and
Master's is honored to endorse his organization
The Movement for a Better America. |
In 1968, Paul R. Ehrlich published The
Population Bomb, his sensational forecast of a world
doomed by a population explosion. In it he flatly predicted:
“In the 1970's and '80's hundreds of millions of people will
starve to death in spite of any crash program embarked upon
now.”
Not one of Ehrlich's predictions came to pass. Instead, the
Supreme Court declared abortion on demand to be the law of the
land in 1973, and launched the slaughter of more than 52.3
million American babies --not by famine and starvation, but by
deliberate execution at the hands of a greedy abortion
industry.
Worldwide, an estimated 1.5 billion babies have been aborted.
And the social and economic cost has been as devastating as
anything Ehrlich predicted based on his paranoid fears of a
population explosion that never happened.
How
Abortion is Destroying America
52.3 million abortions equal the population of 65
largest US cities!
Download
the latest version of "The Abortion Bomb" flyer including a
map of America's 60 largest cities.
That's the
toll abortion has already reached at the current rate of
1,250,000 abortions a year. It’s equal to or greater than the
human loss we would have experienced from an all-out nuclear
war. Yet we are told to sit passively by and endure it by the
pro-abortion ideologues of the left who dominate our culture,
our media, our politics and our courts.
It adds up to a 31.5% loss in the younger generation under
age 40. The toll includes some 17 million African-American
babies and nearly 36 million others. That's about 11,000 times
as many African-Americans as were lynched since 1900. It
amounts to a holocaust against blacks and against the young.
It is the greatest loss ever inflicted on any generation in
history. How can anyone with a conscience stand silent in the
face of it?
Abortion has major social
and economic costs as well. The estimated loss in
U.S. GDP already exceeds $38 trillion -- more than twice our
current national debt. That's why, even if abortion ends
tomorrow, it will still take more than a generation to
recover.
Nothing else has ever had a more depressing
effect on the U.S. and the world economy. Meanwhile, it is
being compounded by a dramatic decline in births in
France, Germany, Italy,
England, Spain, Japan and even China. Only the Muslim world
continues to grow at a rapid clip. As a result, much of Europe
will become predominantly Muslim within a generation. If we
want a better world for ourselves and our children, we must
raise a great hue and cry right now.
No kids, no future. It's as simple as that.
Abortion is also driving the greatest health care and
education crisis in history. As baby boom nurses and
teachers retire, we face a looming shortage of 1 million
nurses and 2 million teachers. We also face critical shortages
in key professions such as science, medicine, and higher
education. Abortion and more efficient birth control together
have wiped out about half of our future human resources. With
a growing number of elderly baby boomers in need of critical
care, the only way to ease this crisis is to end abortion or
drastically reduce health care for the elderly. Liberal
politicians would rather do the latter.
Politicians promise to
remedy these shortages with their usual shell games.
They promise aggressive new
training programs for nurses and teachers, but never bother to
explain where they are going to get the people to fill them.
Such programs can’t restore the vast human resources that have
been poured down the population control rat hole over the last
35 to 40 years. Besides, such programs have a long
history of being nothing but a sham.
When former
President Carter was Governor of Georgia, he signed a deal
promising to train 2,000 workers for a new smoke detector
factory as long as the manufacturer promised to hire just half
of them. In less than three years, the company was wiped out
by cheap imports and never hired more than 800 people even at
its peak. Not much later, it sold the factory. All the
promised jobs disappeared.
"Training
programs" like that are a dime a dozen, but they rarely work.
Besides, you can't bring back the millions of lives that have
already been sacrificed to the idol of abortion. The next time
we see them will be at the Last Judgment when they show up to
accuse those who stood by silently while they were
slaughtered. Some folks are in for a big surprise.
Another consequence of
abortion is a disastrous shift in the supply-demand equation
that underlies our economy. Kids contribute to
demand even before they are born, but they don’t compete in
the work force for 20 years. That’s why 52.3 million abortions
represent a huge loss in consumer demand. If those babies had
been born, our fast-paced economy would still be going strong.
Those we aborted were the future consumers, producers, parents
and taxpayers we needed keep to keep our economy growing.
The 4-2-1-0
family model is a dead end. Four grandparents who have two
children, who then marry and have one child represent a huge
loss in future growth. That's why China is already starting
relent on its 1 child per family policy. Pursued, it means the
end of China within 100 years. Russia already faces the same
debacle, They no longer have enough younger women to raise a
new generation -- and their population is forecast to decline
by 33% by 2050.
If the U.S. doesn’t change
direction, we could face the same fate. Unless we end abortion
soon, the U.S. faces a long term economic decline that could
prove far worse than the Great Depression.
As early as
1994, I began predicting the collapse of the stock market that
finally came in 2000. In 1997, we published a special report
and a video titled, “The Abortion Bomb.” In 1998, I repeated
the warning in an exchange with Gene Epstein, economics editor
of Barron's. He predicted that the rally going on then
would continue for another decade. I warned that a whole long
list of stocks would soon take a tumble. It was a collapse
that was inevitable based on the demographics. The collapse
began soon after the market top in March, 2000, and was
followed by the one of the biggest market setbacks in history.
A major
factor in the 2000-2009 crisis was the inability of the Baby
Bust generation to absorb the inflated real estate and other
investments of the high-flying Baby Boomers as they approached
retirement. The decline in the rate of growth of personal
incomes going on since the ‘70’s, combined with outsourcing
and the shipment of manufacturing jobs overseas, and a 50%
reduction in birth rates since 1970 all combined to bring
about the crisis. Compounding things, of course, was
everything going on in Washington and Wall Street to keep the
bubble going. In the end, they failed.
Still another
factor is the downstream loss in future tax revenues caused by
high abortion rates and more efficient birth control. That
loss already amounts to an estimated $19 or $20 trillion. With
growth in government revenues, the ability of government to
bail things out is itself compromised. The problem with
socialist solutions is that the government itself won’t be
able to afford them.
The abortion
boom is also behind the coming crisis in Social Security and
Medicare. In 1940, we had 145 people in the workforce for
every person on Social Security. That's when it looked like a
great idea! By 1952, the ratio had dropped to 16 to 1. It is
now 3.1 to 1. In less than 20 years, it will be only 2 to 1.
That's when the government Ponzi scheme will be all over.
To save these
programs from bankruptcy, the Congressional Budget Office has
estimated that tax rates will have to rise as high as 82%. And
guess who will pay the bill? You and your children and
grandchildren, that's who!
What can you
do to help?
The answer is
not hiding from the controversy about abortion or from the
even more polarizing political debate. This is not a
Democratic or a Republican issue. It is a profoundly moral and
human issue.
The solution is for we, the
people, to speak up. We need more honest, open discussion
in our homes, our churches, and our communities -- not
continued censorship and suppression of the discussion by the
politically correct media and the courts. Churches that remain
silent will only have themselves to blame when the full crisis
hits their congregations and their collection plates.
We urgently
need to build a new pro-life majority by changing hearts and
opening minds. Unless economic and social conservatives can
unite on this common ground, chances for reversing the current
direction in Washington are dim.
That can only
achieved by talking more honestly and compassionately about
the problem in our families, our communities and in our
churches, and by educating young people about what is really
at stake for their futures. We need to tell them that there is
no rosy glow at the end of the abortion road.
Talk to your pastors and youth ministers. Write
letters to the editor. Make calls to call-in talk shows. Send
emails and write blogs. Reach out compassionately to those
whose lives have been adversely affected by abortion. And by
all means, spread the word about our website:
http://www.movementforabetteramerica.org.
Remember, if all of those who
believe in life could help change just one other person’s mind
and heart today, we would have a pro-life majority tomorrow.
Nothing else will
end abortion.
Join your voice with ours. Share your thoughts with us by
emailing us at:
info@movementforabetteramerica.org
Most
people laugh at it, make jokes about it, and treat it as if it
were great fun. What is it? It is being drunk and
acting silly. It's the stuff of countless jokes and
humorous stories. But in reality, even in a culture of
corruption, it is in point of fact, no laughing matter.
To take all of the grins and hee-haws out of it, consider the
following dose of reality.
From the National Institutes of Health:
-
Alcohol is involved in 40% of traffic deaths.
-
70% of people in crashes caused by alcohol
met alcohol dependence criteria, but most have never been
arrested or received treatment.
-
Young people who began drinking before age
15 are seven times more likely to report having been in a
traffic crash because of drinking during adolescence and
adulthood.
Source:
http://www.nih.gov/about/researchresultsforthepublic/AlcoholRelatedTrafficDeaths.pdf
From the Centers for Disease Control:
Prevalence of Alcohol Use in 2007
-
Percent of
adults who were current regular drinkers (at least 12 drinks
in the past year): 50%
-
Percent of
adults who were current infrequent drinkers (1-11 drinks in
the past year): 14%
Mortality from Alcohol Use in 2007
-
Number of
alcoholic liver disease deaths: 14,406
-
Number of
alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides:
23,199
Source:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm
Alcohol-induced mortality
In 2007, a total of 23,199 persons died of
alcohol-induced causes in the United States, 1,126 more deaths
than in 2006. This category includes not only deaths from
dependent and nondependent use of alcohol, but also accidental
poisoning by alcohol. It excludes unintentional
injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to
alcohol use, as well as deaths due to fetal alcohol syndrome.
Source:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf
From the
National
Center for Statistics Analysis:
Total Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Traffic
Crashes, Alcohol-Related Fatalities, Fatalities in Crashes
Involving at Least One Driver/Motorcycle Operator With BAC=.08+,
= 42,642.
Source:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pubs/810821.pdf
These statistics place the
annual number of alcohol related deaths in the U.S. near
65,000, and that figure only accounts for what has been
reported.
Framed in a more shocking statistic, consider that
a teenager is killed in an alcohol-related car
accident on weekends in the U.S. every 2 hours. Source:
http://whynotdrink.org/dnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=vsMRQlor2mE%3d&tabid=156
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and
whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
Proverbs 20:1 KJV
Why do so many drink alcoholic beverages? There are many
reasons, but these three are the most common:
-
Our culture is saturated with it. It's abundance
and ease of access are powerful inducements, especially to
those eager to "fit in" with a culture of corruption.
-
To get high, drunk, buzzed, and to feel the effects
of the drug (alcohol is the most commonly abused drug).
-
It's legal. The U.S. Government profits
hugely from the regulation and taxation of it.
The fact that it is legal is an odd thing. Yes, taxes
bring in staggering amounts of revenue, but the destructive
cost to the nation as a whole seems a contradiction. But
is it? Not when a culture values money-kind over
mankind. Consider the following excerpt from a book
written by W.S. Harris.
| Once
upon a time the Saloon Devil looked up into the face of
Uncle Sam and asked for employment.
"What kind
of work do you want?" said Uncle Sam as he bent
his tall form to catch the answer of the low Devil.
"To
create and satisfy the appetite for strong drink."
"Very
well," answered Uncle Sam, "you may go to work at once
in any manner you choose."
So the
Saloon Devil went to work with high hand. He
sold to the rising generation and those of riper years
all manner of intoxicating beverages. The result
of his work was very disastrous. He made such
things as ruined souls, broken hearts, broken homes and
all manner of woe, want, wretchedness, and death, to say
nothing of the asylums and penitentiaries that he helped
to fill.
Now it
happened that Uncle Sam noticed the nature of the work
done by this Saloon Devil, who in turn well knew that
Uncle Sam was watching him, but the Devil did not know
how to cover his evil work. Sometime afterward the
two met again and the following conversations took
place:
"You
remember, Mr. Saloon Devil, that I gave you permission
to do a certain kind of work, but I never dreamed that
your work would be so horrible. Now be honest and
tell me what you have accomplished."
"I
admit," confessed the Saloon Devil, "that my work is
looked upon as being disrespectable, and I pray that you
will this day make me appear more decent in the eyes of
the public. By reason of your great strength and
influence you have the power to place upon me a new robe
of respectability."
"And
how can I do that?" asked Uncle Sam in a friendly
manner.
"You
can adopt license laws to regulate the liquor business,
and by complying with these laws, I can do an honorable
business under the sanction and authority of my great
Uncle Sam."
"But
that will be putting my approval upon it," said Uncle
Sam suspiciously.
"You
can easily do that with profit to yourself by charging
me a nice sum for the license. The money you get
through the granting of licenses alone will be more than
sufficient to run the public schools, so if there is a
little harm done by the business on one side, there will
be untold blessings poured out upon your children on the
other side."
Uncle
Sam chuckled in an odd fashion as this ingenious scheme
was unfolded to him. "You are indeed a clever old
Devil, and I have a mind to comply with your request.
If you pay the amount of money I fix, I will protect you
in your business by making it legal. The if anyone
forcibly interferes with you, I will fight him off, even
if I must use the whole army and navy of the United
States to accomplish it."
The
Saloon Devil was highly elated over his fortunate deal.
He knew that he could not live long under natural
freedom unless he won some kind of public endorsement.
He was perfectly willing to pay any price that Uncle Sam
might demand, knowing that he could produce a cheaper
grade of liquor or sell it at a higher figure, or in
some way conduct the business, so that the extra cost of
license would fall upon the consumers instead of the
saloon-keepers.
A short
time after this, one could see the powerful hand of
Uncle Sam placed in protection over the Saloon Devil,
and the people stood wondering at the situation.
The
Saloon Devil, although robed in a respectable garment,
continued to do the same horrible and dirty work as
before. It seemed that nothing satisfied his greed
but the most terrible outrages resulting from the use
and abuse of intoxicating drinks.
He
always put a screen between the outside and the inside
sign of his business. He rejoiced a the thousands
of delirium tremens patients that were carried to
hospitals, or madly tore their way through the open door
of Hell, reeking, foaming and screaming as they went
down. The Saloon Devil loved crape, and rejoiced
time after time as he saw it hanging form the doors of
homes, wherein a son lay dead who had fallen down early
under the Juggernaut wheels of Alcohol.
Whenever jails and penitentiaries were too small this
same Demon laughed in ghoulish glee, and when fresh
idiots were pushed into crowded asylums, he grinned with
a satisfaction that was sickening and revolting to
contemplate. Whenever a frenzied brain directed a
murderer's hand to plunge a fatal knife or discharge a
deadly weapon in the Saloon quarrel, this Saloon Devil
would cry out as he saw the crimson heart's blood
flowing in spurts: "That's my favorite color now,
hurrah for blood red."
Such
common spectacles as suffering and starving orphans and
widows served to whet the appetite of this Demon as
seasoning does in the food of mortals. If it ever
happened that any one told him to stop his hellish
business he would point with pride to his license neatly
framed, and declare that he was doing an honorable
business under the sanction of Uncle Sam. Just as
honorable as the grocery or dry goods business.
From
Sermons by The Devil, Rev. W.S. Harris, published by
The Minter Company, Harrisburg, PA, 1904. |
Harris wrote
this 106 years ago. Doubtless, he would not be surprised
by the statistics quoted earlier. What he would most
probably point out would be the fact that statistics can only
provide the raw data; whereas the immeasurable sorrow they
represent can only be known by those whose lives have been
scarred by falling victim to the liquor lie acceptable only in
a culture of corruption.
How then
should a Christian deal personally with the reality of
this issue? Let the Scripture speak:
| "And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not
drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with
thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the
congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for
ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put
difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean
and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel
all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by
the hand of Moses" (Leviticus 10:8-11 KJV).
"Know ye
not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is
holy, which temple ye are" (I Corinthians 3:16-17 KJV).
"Wine
is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise." Proverbs 20:1 KJV |
Christianity even when watered
down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags.
G.K. Chesterton
|
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