Caffeinated Thoughts |
- NH Governor Vetoes Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
- Don’t Grab the Glory
- Rick Santorum Endorses Dan Liljenquist for U.S. Senate in Utah
- Steve King: Obama’s Dream Act Executive Order Violates Constitution
| NH Governor Vetoes Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Posted: 15 Jun 2012 10:09 PM PDT On June 15, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch announced his veto of a bill to ban partial-birth abortion. The House and Senate will consider overrides to this and other vetoes on June 27. After becoming the longest-serving New Hampshire governor in nearly two centuries, and after building a reputation as a moderate politician, he has chosen to end his tenure by defending the indefensible. John Lynch is pleasant, intelligent, cheerful, savvy, and friendly. But moderate? No politician who keeps the way clear for this kind of carnage is “moderate.” The New Hampshire bill, HB 1679, was originally introduced by Rep. Ross Terrio (R-Manchester) as a ban on the partial-birth procedure and a ban on all late-term abortions. Soon after introduction, Terrio agreed to amend the bill so that it addressed only partial-birth. This put the bill in line with similar legislation in force in other states. The bill was drafted to complement federal law and to withstand court challenges. In a spirit of compromise and cooperation, supporters of the bill agreed to amendments that helped to build strong majorities for passage in House and Senate. None of this figured into Governor Lynch’s veto. While beginning his statement with the assurance “I am not a proponent of so-called partial birth abortion”, he went on to reject the bill because he found it unnecessary and dangerous, in that order. The federal ban means none is needed at the state level, according to the governor. He overlooked or ignored the fact that the federal law is only triggered if the partial-birth procedure is committed by a federal employee, or by someone on federal property, or by someone engaged in interstate commerce. He also made no mention of the fact that federal officials may choose not to enforce the federal law, leaving states without their own partial-birth bans helpless to stop the procedure. Governor Lynch expressed fear that HB 1679 would jeopardize the life of a woman in emergency circumstances. He was critical of the bill’s requirement that two physicians agree that life-threatening conditions exist before a partial-birth procedure can be done. Getting that second opinion could cost a woman her life, he fears. But how? The partial-birth ban would apply only to a particular procedure, not to all abortion methods. Any physician declaring an emergency could terminate a pregnancy without a second opinion, presumably with the pregnant woman’s consent, using any method other than the one that pulls the live child/fetus partway out of the woman’s body before “termination.” The governor’s objection sounds as though he means that women are at risk if that procedure is ruled out. (If the governor had true concern for women’s health and safety, he would direct the state department of public health to collect statistics on abortion in New Hampshire, so that he would have hard data to buttress any assertion that abortion is safe for women.) Roe v. Wade established a woman’s right to choose abortion. According to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Gonzales case, Roe did not establish a provider’s right to kill a child after assisting a woman in a vaginal delivery of a portion of the child’s body. Or should I say fetus’s? Tough call, when the child/fetus is half-in and half-out of the mother. In any case, the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on the partial-birth procedure. The Court decided that while the ban prevented the performance of one particularly gruesome and inhumane procedure, it did not amount to a denial of a woman’s choice since alternative abortion methods are available. Note that the federal law and New Hampshire bill apply to abortion providers, not to women seeking termination of pregnancy. Having issued the veto, John Lynch is beyond persuasion. Representatives and state senators are not. Link to this post!        |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2012 09:24 PM PDT Let's start with an excerpt from a blog by Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. _____________________________________ I am saddened when the very pack of people that God has unconditionally saved and continues to sustain by his free grace are the very ones who push back most violently against it. Some professing Christians sound like ungrateful children who can't stop biting the very hand that feeds them. It amazes me that you will hear great concern from inside the church about "too much grace" but rarely will you ever hear great concern from inside the church about "too many rules." Why? Because we are by nature glory-hoarding, self-centered control freaks. That's why. It's high time for the church to honor God by embracing sola gratia anew–the "high-octane grace that takes our conscience by the scruff of the neck and breathes new life into us with a pardon so scandalous that we cannot help but be changed…For many of us the time has come to abandon once and for all our play-it-safe, toe-dabbling Christianity and dive in" (Dane Ortlund). It is time, as Robert Farrar Capon put it, to get drunk on grace. Two hundred-proof, defiant grace. It's scandalous and scary, unnatural and undomesticated…but it's the only thing that can set us free and light the church on fire.” Tullian T. _____________________________________ It’s high time we admit that our best works fall miserably short of the standards of a holy God. It’s time to stop trying to earn what has already been paid for. Jesus paid it all. That means He gets all the glory, for both our justification (changing our status from sinner to saint) and our sanctification (becoming more like Him). We are mistaken when we think that resting in grace is lazy or unholy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually not resting in grace makes me a glory-grabber. We really want to share in the work, so that we can share in the glory. If it’s not all of Him, then I get some of the credit. I know that it is difficult for us to believe that the Good News of the gospel of grace is enough to move our hearts to do His will, but it is; and it's the only thing that will. Knowing that I am securely loved and accepted frees me to face the depth of my sin (however horrific it may be), because Jesus took my shame. If we are in self-sanctification (self-improvement) mode, we will naturally start dealing with the surface bad behaviors (immorality, drunkenness, vulgar language), and perfecting our good behaviors (church attendance, Bible study, acts of service), all the while never dealing with the root sins (idolatry, unbelief, pride). Anyone who has ever pulled weeds knows, if you don't pull the roots, it only takes a good rain and the weeds are back. These outward works (stopping our bad deeds and doing good ones instead), allow us to appear as mature Christians and live in good standing within the church, without plummeting the depths of our depraved hearts. But sometimes these are simply the effects of fleshly self-discipline motivated by man-pleasing. The fruit of the Spirit featured in Galatians 5 are not behaviors; they are attitudes of a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit. Fruit is not a work. This fruit grows from a heart that has seen the holy law of God, is wrecked by its inability to keep it (the spirit or letter), then realizes that Jesus fulfilled it perfectly – and freely offers us the benefits. That heart will not only have a transformed attitude, but will be motivated toward good works too. Focusing on what has been done for us rather than what we need to do, projects our vision outward toward Jesus as our only hope. It causes us to focus on "the founder and perfecter of our faith," rather than ourselves and our efforts. As long as my works are done as a means to earn something (either avoiding punishment or gaining blessings) from God, my works have no value; because I'm not really doing them for God. I'm doing them for me (idolatry). When I realized that good works are not required to be ravished by God's amazing gracious love, but I do them anyway as an act of worship, they actually begin to have value. "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Col 3:2-3. It really is ALL about Jesus. Solus Christus. Link to this post!      |
| Rick Santorum Endorses Dan Liljenquist for U.S. Senate in Utah Posted: 15 Jun 2012 01:10 PM PDT
The email read, in part: "Dan Liljenquist is the stronger conservative in this race. I’ve known Orrin Hatch for years and believe he is a very good man, but in a deeply conservative state like Utah, we must elect authentic conservatives. I believe Dan Liljenquist is that candidate.
"What also makes Dan such a strong candidate deserving of our support is his record of taking on the tough fights and delivering results. As a freshman state senator in Utah, on the issue of pension reform, he got legislation passed with bipartisan support. The following year, he would take on the pension system and save the program from bankrupting the state. It is that type of leader and reformer we need in the U.S. Senate!" Link to this post!      |
| Steve King: Obama’s Dream Act Executive Order Violates Constitution Posted: 15 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT
"Americans should be outraged that President Obama is planning to usurp the Constitutional authority of the United States Congress and grant amnesty by edict to 1 million illegal aliens," said King. "There is no ambiguity in Congress about whether the DREAM Act’s amnesty program should be the law of the land. It has been rejected by Congress, and yet President Obama has decided that he will move forward with it anyway. President Obama, an ex constitutional law professor, whose favorite word is audacity, is prepared to violate the principles of Constitutional Law that he taught.
"The American people have rejected amnesty because it will erode the Rule of Law. In much the same way, I believe the American people will reject President Obama for his repeated efforts to violate the Constitutional separation of powers." Link to this post!      |
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