Author Archives: Terrell Clemmons

Andrew Breitbart, 1969-2012: A Great Culture Warrior

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Andrew Breitbart I am stunned and sad today to hear of the loss of Andrew Breitbart. I interviewed Andrew last year. As it turned out, our interview, which had been scheduled weeks in advance, took place during the very week that he broke the Anthony Weiner Twittered sex pictures story. It was Andrew who coined the term “Weinergate.” Andrew was also sick that week, occasionally breaking into a hacking cough mid-sentence. Even so, in the midst of an intense week, he gave me nearly an hour of his time. He was respectful, kind, and authentic.

Andrew possessed that rare but potent blend of courage and humility, taking on a corrupt media at great personal cost because it needed to be done. He leaves behind a wife, four children, and a growing media organization dedicated to reporting the truth the mainstream outlets don’t. Click here to read our conversation.

Blessed are the Communists?

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JesusWasACommunistMatthew Modine is turning to Jesus. His new short film "Jesus Was a Communist" offers "a discussion of the New Testament's messages in the context of poverty, pollution and political unrest." The film will "also address the Occupy Wall Street movement happening throughout the world and how it relates to the Bible."

How timely. It's the new meme.

Socialism = Christianity. C'mon Christians, obey your Lord Jesus like good little boys and girls.

Or so say the atheist and agnostic secularizers.

 

 Consider:

  • Jeremy is a college student friend of mine. Today his Ethics professor told the class that Jesus was really about socialism and Marxism because under those arrangements everyone selflessly spreads the materials around to help the poor. (This same professor also suggested giving thanks to the Earth, land, and water, rather than any Creator – yes, giving thanks to your food, rather than for your food ...)

  • Bart Ehrman, a non-churchgoing, agnostic professor of religious studies who has elsewhere charged that some of the New Testament writers were liars, commented, "Jesus believed the whole system was corrupt. The people who ran things were empowered by the evil forces of the world and his followers had to work against these powers by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and caring for the sick."

And what theological perversion revision wouldn't be complete without artwork?

Jesus occupy_wall_street

This would be comical were it not so life and death serious. Matthew Modine, the occupiers, and their sympathiers may be turning to Jesus, but it's a different Jesus from the one who said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

There are two ways of interpreting the teachings of the historical Jesus. One is authentic. The other is an inversion, which makes it a perversion.

Christianity: What's mine is yours.
Socialism: What's yours is mine.

Christianity: I am my brother's keeper.
Socialism: My brother is my keeper.

These are antithetical, mutually exclusive approaches to life, both personal and societal. One is the way of grace and liberty. The other is the way of tyranny and oppression. One is the way of Jesus. The other is the way of hell.

The best thing about the "Jesus Was a Communist" film is it acknowledges that the Occupy Wall Street movements are just the sort of Marxist uprisings of which Communist  advances are made. The worst thing is that too many people may nonetheless fall for it.

Which one prevails will literally be a matter of life and death.

 

Where Do You Stand?

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ExposePlannedParenthoodBus As I write this, two buses are motoring across America. This morning, the "Women Speak Out: Defund Planned Parenthood Tour", led by former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave and Live Action President Lila Rose, set out from Des Moines, Iowa, to thank Members of Congress who supported Congressman Mike Pence’s efforts to stop subsidizing Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading abortion provider, with taxpayer dollars.

Yesterday, Planned Parenthood leaders announced a bus tour of their own. As Jill Stanek reported:

"Planned Parenthood leaders revealed yesterday that they, too, are planning a hot pink bus tour to seven of the same stops, on the same days  — a half hour before SBA List and Lila are scheduled to begin their rallies.”

PlannedparenthoodHotPinkBus Well, folks, this is democracy in action. What we have here is an excellent opportunity for both sides of this divide to make their cases and reveal who they are. It's also an opportunity for us voting, taxpaying citizens to evaluate the sides (which are utterly irreconcilable, by the way) and make a choice.

To learn more about the work of Planned Parenthood, I recommend a live webcast tonight at 9pm EST. It's called "For Such A Time As This." Christians and Jews may recognize in that name the allusion to Queen Esther, whose intervention averted the genocide of the Jewish people in ancient Persia. To register for the webcast, click here.

As you listen to the debate, keep one thing in mind. The point of contention is not whether or not Planned Parenthood should be allowed to continue doing what it does. The point of contention is whether or not the taxpayers will continue to help pay for it. As of today, Planned Parenthood as been the recipient of more than $62 million of taxpayer money in 2011. That amounts to about $6.2 million/week, or $11/second so far this year. And they have aborted nearly sixty thousand children. That amounts to about 6,000/week, or about one every 96 seconds.

Handsfeet Planned Parenthood has created a website where supporters can state that they "Stand With Planned Parenthood." I made my choice clear last week in this forum in A Matter of Trust.

Where do you stand?

A Matter of Trust

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Baby5mos When I became pregnant with my first child in 1988, I had to find an obstetrician. So I asked friends for recommendations and began making calls. When the receptionist answered the phone, I asked, "Does your practice provide abortion services?"

If the answer was, "Yes," I said, "Thank you very much," and went to the next name on the list.

One answer was, "No we don't, but we can refer you to someone who does." I said, "Thank you very much," and went to the next name on the list.

When one receptionist said, "No Dr. B doesn't do abortions because he objects to them on moral grounds," I knew had found my obstetrician. Dr. B took good care of me – and my children – through my first two pregnancies. My daughters are now twenty-one and twenty years old, respectively.

I knew, even at that young age, that I did not want to support with my dollars anyone who did abortions. Also, something within me felt very uncomfortable at the thought of entrusting the life of my child to someone who would be equally at home preserving or terminating it.

Blood-money This OB search came to mind recently, as America's legislators debate whether to allocate public funds to Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading abortion provider.

Exceptional

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Unstoppable Last night my husband downloaded "Unstoppable." He's a train buff, and this film has been on his wanna-see list since it came out. I was not particularly interested in a testosterone laden bang 'em up, watch 'em crash and burn thriller, but with it being a Friday night and with snow on the ground outside, I poured a glass of my favorite drink and sat down with him to a flick.

It was not at all what I expected.

It was a good, clean, all American movie. Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) and Will Colson (Chris Pine) are working men. They're both family men, though each has his relational challenges at home. Frank is an old union guy. He's been an engineer for more than two decades. Will is the fresh-out-of-training conductor. The two are assigned to a routine freight run in rural Pennsylvania, and as they set out neither one is sure what to make of the other.

A few hours into their run, they are informed that, careening headlong toward them is an unmanned, runaway train carrying hazardous material. What follows is an hour and a half of edge-of-your-seat suspense as the corporate big guys, the dispatch middle manager, and Frank, Will, and a few other salt-of-the-earth people on the ground give all they've got to avert the environmental and human disaster sure to ensue if the train were to derail.

FredsTrain I was on the edge of my seat pulling for the heroes. And I do mean heroes. Not superheroes, but ordinary men who call up from some unseen place inside the courage and wherewithal to do what needs to be done, even when it could cost them their lives.

It's a quintessentially American story, too. This nation has its flaws, but I still see deep in the soul of America a high view of human life. We care about saving other people, even strangers. We value honor and sacrifice. We respect smart minds that think up creative solutions to problems when the pressure's on.

Frank&Will "Unstoppable" shows what's exceptional about America. That it's based on a true story makes it all the better. That it contains nothing unsavory whatsoever makes it genuinely exceptional.

Confused in Kentucky

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Dear Mick,

Angry soldier I'm genuinely confused. You've drawn my attention to this article, If He Can Fight for His Country, Why Should He Have to Fight for a Job in Kentucky?. Despite the title, though, the article has nothing to do with anyone fighting for his country. It has to do with attitudes about homosexuality in Kentucky. It begins,

Yes, yes, yes! You might not immediately think of gay rights when you think of Kentucky, but a recent survey found that over 83% of Kentuckians favor anti-discrimination laws protecting gays and lesbians in the workplace. Booya!

The poll, conducted by the Fairness Coalition – composed of groups like the ACLU, the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, and The Fairness Campaign – polled 600 Kentucky residents.

The author of the post, identified as "KFarrell in Politiko," quotes the Courier-Journal, which reports,

Coalition leaders said they hoped the results would prod state lawmakers to approve — or at least debate — two General Assembly bills that would add legal protections for gay and transgender people by amending the state’s civil rights laws.

and concludes,

Wow! We’re completely surprised by these statistics. The Blue Grass State has flown under the radar as a bastion of gay rights, as far as the voting public is concerned. It’s time for the state legislature to reflect what Kentuckians already know – Gays and lesbians deserve the very same rights as their straight peers.

It appears from the results of the poll that, despite vitriolic rhetoric to the contrary, Kentuckians don't hate gays. A large majority of them actually agree with KFarrell – Gays and lesbians deserve the very same rights as their straight peers.

So here's what puzzles me. If 83% of Kentuckians look upon discrimination against gays with disfavor, can't it be reasonably assumed that they won't discriminate against gays? What then, is the purpose of the push for legislation requiring them to do what they're willing to do voluntarily?

Sincerely,

Confused in Kentucky