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Vol. 2  No.4                                                                                                                              January 13, 2005

From the Desk of Pastor Rick Scarborough

KID ROCK ON THE ROCKS – RAPPER WON’T “PERFORM” AT INAUGURAL CONCERT

After an avalanche of criticism, generated by groups like American Family Association and Traditional Values Coalition, the White House announced that the rapper Kid Rock will not perform at an inaugural concert hosted by the president’s daughters, Barbara and Jenna.

In typical bureaucratic fashion, aides won’t confirm that Kid Rock was invited to perform. They’re simply saying that he won’t perform.

As we mentioned in our last Patriot Pastor Alert, this artist (and I use the term advisedly) is notorious for the obscenity-laced lyrics of his songs. The title of his 1990 debut album, “Pimp of the Nation,” says it all.

Speaking of Kid Rock (AKA: Robert James Ritchie) earlier this week, White House spokesman Tim Goeglein disclosed, “Based on the lyrics that I have been told about . . . I can tell you that the president would never endorse such lyrics or condone them.”

I don’t doubt that for a minute. What’s sad is that someone in a “family values” administration would have had the brilliant idea of having Ritchie perform in the first place. If John Kerry had won the election, rest assured that no one in his entourage would propose having Pat Boone sing the Star-Spangled Banner at Kerry’s inauguration.

Clearly, we have much to do if we want to see revival in America. To all those who called the White House public-comment line to express their shock and outrage over Kid Rock . . . Thank you.

PRESIDENT DISCUSSES HIS FAITH

In a wide-ranging discussion with reporters and editors at The Washington Times, President Bush said he “doesn’t see how you can be president without a relationship with the Lord.”

The president, who’s a Methodist, said he understands that Americans come from many faith traditions, and he isn’t telling anyone how to pray, or suggesting that the irreligious aren’t patriotic. However, Mr. Bush observed, “I think more and more people understand the importance of faith in their lives. America is a remarkable place when it comes to religion and faith. We had people come to our rallies specifically to say: ‘I’m here to pray for you, let you know I’m praying for you.’ And I was very grateful for that.”

The president also said he would move ahead with his faith-based initiative, providing $1.2 billion in federal funding for religious organizations that work with the poor and those with substance-abuse problems.

Mr. Bush said that unlike many Christians, he does not see faith under attack in this country. The president mentioned the “backlash” over to attempts to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

But because Christians are fighting back, does not mean that Christians aren’t under attack. The secular left controls the commanding heights of our culture – the news and entertainment industries, public education, foundations, the medical and legal professions and the like.

And how can Christians fight a judiciary determined to distort the Constitution to force its values on us?

Christians have a friend in the White House. But at times friends need to be reminded of the way the world works – especially friends who reside in Washington.

PRESIDENT SAYS NO TO WOMEN IN COMBAT

With four words, the president managed to reassure Americans who are concerned about women being forced into combat roles – “No to women in combat.”

In 1991, a blue-ribbon presidential commission strongly recommended against turning women into warriors.

But when the Clintons came into office, they immediately put women on combat ships and aircraft (as well as trying to allow homosexuals to serve openly). The Clinton-istas are gone, but their mind-set lingers.

Through various devices (like assigning women to combat support units) the brass tries to get around a clear Congressional mandate – the assignment of women in the military can not be changed without its express approval.

Among other evils, allowing women in combat would subject them to the horrors from which a civilized nation tries to protect members of the gentler sex. Recall the female soldier taken prisoner in the early days of the Iraq war, who was tortured and raped by Saddam Hussein’s monsters. Does America want to see more of that?

There is also the innate and unavoidable design of God that prompts men naturally to want to protect women, which creates a greater risk for men in combat when women are fighting alongside them. (Israel discovered this in its 1948 War of Independence, the only time it’s allowed women to fight.) Sanity and centuries of tradition must prevail if American is to remain strong.

The president is right. Despite manpower shortages in the military, principles rise above pragmatic considerations. If America loses sight of its values (including the fundamental differences between men and women, and the centrality of faith and family), then what are we fight for?

INAUGURAL PRAYERS CLEARLY CONSTITUTIONAL

As we noted in the last Patriot Pastor Alert, atheist Michael Newdow is trying to get a federal court to block prayers at the January 20th Inauguration.

A memo from The Alliance Defense Fund highlights the absurdity of this move. ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence discloses, “George Washington was inaugurated our first president several months before the First Amendment became part of the Constitution, yet he talked about God in his first inaugural address, placed his hands on the Bible, added ‘so help me God’ to the presidential oath, and attended worship services as part of his inaugural activities.”

It’s a matter of historical record that three days after passing the Bill of Rights, including the much-misinterpreted First Amendment, Congress approved a salary for a chaplain who would offer a prayer for members at the opening of each session.

Judeo-Christian values are deeply embedded in America’s past. Those who seek to confine Christian worship to church buildings are historical revisionists, as well as anti-democratic.


CHILDREN’S CARTOON CHARACTERS PROMOTE HOMOSEXUALITY

The cultural elite never misses an opportunity to indoctrinate our children in its warped and twisted worldview.

The latest brainwashing device is a music video being distributed to 61,000 schools across the country and featuring cartoon characters like Sponge Bob, Barney and Dora the Explorer among other well-known characters loved by children.

The video, based on the 1970s hit song “We Are Family,” includes a lesson plan about “tolerance.” What the elite says we must tolerate, the Bible calls an abomination.

Sure enough, when you go to the website of the We Are Family Foundation – http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org (to which children are driven by the video), there’s a tolerance pledge that kids are urged to sign, which includes tolerance for those whose “sexual identity . . . (is) different from my own.” Included is a link to another site that supports “transgender and gender non-conforming students.”

The We Are Family Foundation is supported by FedEx, the Disney Channel and other corporate cultural polluters. The propaganda video will be broadcast on Nickelodeon, PBS and the Disney Channel on March 11, to celebrate a proposed National We Are Family Day.

“Tolerance” is one of those words (like gay) co-opted by the secular left. They way they use it, “tolerance” means “acceptance” and the suppression of opposing points of view. If truth in advertising applied here, the project would be called: National Acceptance of Perversion Day.


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