Orthodox Editors

Christianity Under Fire: Why Fewer People Identify With The Faith

March 9, 2009March 9, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

CrossWalk.com | Tony Beam | March 9, 2009

The news for people of faith is not good. Since 1990, the last time the survey was conducted, the number of people who claim no religion at all has risen from 8% to 15%. In contrast, all of the mainline denominations have seen a significant decline in the number of people who describe themselves as participants. According to the survey, the number of Baptist declined from 19.3% to 15.8%. Methodists dropped from 8% to 5% and there are now approximately 2.8 million people who identify themselves with some sort of “new religious movement,” including “Wiccan, pagan, or Spiritualist.” These numbers are all the more troubling when you consider the fact that the adult population of the United States increased by “nearly 50 million” during the same 18-year period. [Read more…]

On The Road To Socialism? We’ve Arrived!

March 7, 2009March 7, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Investor’s Business Daily | Patrick J. Buchanan | March 3, 2009

In his campaign and inaugural address, Barack Obama cast himself as a moderate man seeking common ground with conservatives. Yet his budget calls for the radical restructuring of the U.S. economy, a sweeping redistribution of power and wealth to government and Democratic constituencies. It is a declaration of war on the right.

The real Obama has stood up and lived up to his ranking as the most left-wing member of the Senate. [Read more…]

Four big problems with cap-and-trade

March 6, 2009March 7, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Massive tax increases, energy regulation, high prices for electricity, and reduced econmic growth as far as the eye can see. And it’s only week six (6) of Obama’s catastrophic presidency.
DC Examiner | Irwin M. Stelzer | Mar. 6, 2009

Obama hopes to adopt a cap-and-trade system similar to Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme. The government will decide how many tons of CO2 can safely be emitted, and then auction off permits to emitters of these greenhouse gases. Expected proceeds [tax increases on all consumers] over ten years: $645 billion.

Polluters [C02 is not a polutant] who can cut their emissions at low cost will be able to do just that, and sell their permits to companies that find it cheaper to buy permits than to clean up their production processes. Not a bad idea — in theory. But here’s the rub — or more precisely, rubs. [Read more…]

United in Hate: The Left’s Romance With Tyranny and Terror

March 5, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

WorldNetDaily | Mar. 1, 2009

It’s a book that will make so-called “progressives” see red.

In “United in Hate: The Left’s Romance With Tyranny and Terror,” author Jamie Glazov says there’s an unholy alliance between jihadists and people like Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Ted Turner and Noam Chomsky, and, at the heart of the mutual admiration is a willingness to accept massive numbers of deaths to achieve their objectives.

What’s bound to be most infuriating to those Americans and many other westerners mentioned in the book is the way Glazov uses their own words to make the point. [Read more…]

Obama’s Budget, the Great Wealth Destroyers of All Time

March 5, 2009March 5, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

When a Liberal Democrat, who supported Obama before the election, is saying this in week 6 of his presidency, you know things are bad, really bad, out there.
TheStreet.com | Jim Cramer | Mar. 5, 2009

Jim Cramer: Look at the incredible decline in the stock market, in all indices, since the inauguration of the president, with the drop accelerating when the budget plan came to light because of the massive fear and indecision the document sowed: Raising taxes on the eve of what could be a second Great Depression, destroying the profits in healthcare companies (one of the few areas still robust in the economy), tinkering with the mortgage deduction at a time when U.S. house price depreciation is behind much of the world’s morass and certainly the devastation affecting our banks, and pushing an aggressive cap and trade program that could raise the price of energy for millions of people. [Read more…]

Jesus Loves Global Taxation?

March 3, 2009March 3, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

FrontPageMagazine.com | Mark D. Tooley | Mar. 3, 2009

Activists at the World Social Forum (WSF), having gathered 130,000 anti-globalization activists to Belem, Brazil across 6 days early in February, enthusiastically decided that global taxation is the solution to the economic meltdown.

Meeting annually since 2001, the WSF rallies anti-capitalist crusaders from around the world, fancying itself as the anti-imperialist alternative to the World Economic Forum that meets concurrently in Davos, Switzerland. More specifically, it professes to be an “alter-globalization” movement that resists “exploitative economic globalization” and promotes “value-based forms of social and economic organization.” [Read more…]

“Right to Die” Can Become a “Duty to Die”

March 2, 2009March 2, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

OrthodoxyToday.org | Wesley J. Smith | Mar. 1, 2009

Imagine that you have lung cancer. It has been in remission, but tests show the cancer has returned and is likely to be terminal. Still, there is some hope. Chemotherapy could extend your life, if not save it. You ask to begin treatment. But you soon receive more devastating news. A letter from the government informs you that the cost of chemotherapy is deemed an unjustified expense for the limited extra time it would provide. However, the government is not without compassion. You are informed that whenever you are ready, it will gladly pay for your assisted suicide.

Think that’s an alarmist scenario to scare you away from supporting “death with dignity”? Wrong. That is exactly what happened last year to two cancer patients in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal. [Read more…]

Soaking The Rich Means Crippling Churches, Charities, and Home Values

March 2, 2009March 2, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

Hugh Hewitt Blog | Hugh Hewitt | Feb. 27, 2009

President Obama’s budget is built on a massive tax hike on upper income families. From the Washington Post:

Individuals who earn more than $200,000 a year and families who make more than $250,000 would also lose the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration, meaning their top income tax rate would rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent, their investment income would be taxed at 20 percent rather than 15 percent and their deductions for mortgage interest, state and local taxes and charitable contributions would be reduced.

[Read more…]

Obama Declares War on Investors, Entrepreneurs, Businesses, and More

February 28, 2009February 28, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

More of the “change” that we were promised. This will push America into a deeper recession and can cause an economic catastrophe. America we told you so!
CNBC | Larry Kudlow (anchor) | Feb. 27, 2009

Let me be very clear on the economics of President Obama’s State of the Union speech and his budget. He is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds.

That is the meaning of his anti-growth tax-hike proposals, which make absolutely no sense at all — either for this recession or from the standpoint of expanding our economy’s long-run potential to grow. [Read more…]

Obama to Overturn “Conscience Rule” for Pro-life Doctors

February 28, 2009February 28, 2009 by Orthodox Editors

The Obamanations continue. The spiritual battle is intensifying. We’re only in week 5 of his presidency and the assaults on life, truth, and our freedoms are growing by the day.
Catholic Online | Randy Sly | Feb. 27, 2009

President Obama has begun quietly to begin the process of overturning regulations that protect doctors and hospitals from being forced to perform or refer abortions. The Chicago Tribune reports that President Obama is directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to begin overturning the conscience rule that protects medical providers who are pro-life.

This pullback comes only months after the Bush administration strengthened the rule by placing penalties on facilities that subject pro-life doctors, nurses, or other medical workers to discrimination over the issue of abortion. [Read more…]