America is Going John Galt

America is Going John Galtby James McAlister –
Many of us are numb today. Numb with the implications of what happened last night. Numb with dread.

Endless days and countless lines of print will be expended in the post mortem of the election, from a conservative perspective. Romney’s failures and shortcomings will be examined with electron microscopes. Why didn’t he do this? Shouldn’t he have done that? “For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these…”

But these things don’t really amount to much. Because the real reason for our election results were neatly summarized by Bill O’Reilly at about 7:00 last night, as the faint shape of events to come began to emerge. [Read more…]

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This Year’s Elections and Moral Choices

Voting and Moral Choicesby Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon –
This year’s elections involve an attempt to usurp an authority that belongs properly to God. Vote wisely, therefore, and in the fear of God. This year—more than any time in my memory—our votes in the election are going to be recorded in eternity.

Since political elections normally deal with matters of policy, I do not normally make them the subject of pastoral concern. This year, however, the national elections in our country are not concerned simply with policies but with principles.

My first comment, I suppose, should address that difference.

About policies—most questions of political concern—we may expect some legitimate disagreements among Christians. Among these we should include questions about the application of civil punishments, the funding of public education, the tax code, the authority of federal agencies, this or that social program, and so forth. These matters, properly governed by prudence, leave much room for legitimate disagreements among Christians. [Read more…]

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Obama’s Communist Cooperation Campaign Proceeds Apace

Useful Idiots Communism Obama Marxist Radicalby Daren Jonescu –
America’s most prominent, dedicated communists support Barack Obama and are actively campaigning on his behalf. If that sentence makes you uncomfortable, then you have two choices: continue reading and face your fear, or stop reading and get back to whatever activities you normally use to drown out disturbing thoughts.

In an age of mass media disinformation and distraction, one expects the politically neutered majority to find the legitimate vocabulary of open political discussion — freedom, communism, socialism, oppression — uncomfortable and strange. These words disturb their moral tranquility — that sense of “no big deal” normalcy that allows them to carry on with everyday activities, unperturbed by the kinds of questions that [Read more…]

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Going to Heaven, Piece by Piece

Jesus Christ Healing Icon Peters Mother-in-Law by Fr. Steven Belonick –
Over the course of thirty-four years as an Orthodox priest, I have visited countless people with varying degrees of sickness—some with curable ailments and others with grave diseases. Each visit presented me with an opportunity to witness not only human anxiety and frailty but also heroic and steadfast faith. Each visit, as well, magnified my own fear and revealed my own paltry belief in God, teaching me valuable lessons. Two such visits still stand out in my memory: my first trip to a nursing home, and going to see a diabetic named “Alex.”

Impressions of my first visit to local nursing home as a newly assigned pastor in Binghamton, New York, remain fresh. Infirm and abandoned, their own names lost amid their decaying neuro-pathways, the “residents” would continually call out for help—but would receive no response. Confined to wheelchairs and beds, they hungrily sought acknowledgement of their presence, searching for someone to talk to within their shrinking world. [Read more…]

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Democrats Go All In for Abortion Rights

Democrats Pro Abortionby David Nather –
This was supposed to be an election in which the economy dominated the debate, social issues took a backseat and the culture wars were put on hold.

Yet in the homestretch of the 2012 campaign, abortion politics is coloring races up and down the ticket.

And it’s by design.

Democrats have gone all in for abortion rights, with none of the hedging or defensiveness they’ve shown in recent years — a subtle but striking repositioning with political consequences that extend far beyond Nov. 6.

The evidence of it is impossible to miss. The airwaves are choked with messaging about women’s reproductive health. Abortion rights advocates had prime speaking roles at the Democratic convention. Contraception advocate Sandra Fluke is a prominent campaign trail surrogate. Cecile Richards, head of Planned Parenthood, recently introduced President Barack Obama at a Virginia campaign rally. [Read more…]

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Big Business Is Not Conservative

Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager
by Dennis Prager –
Big business has often been at ideological odds with conservatism.

For example, many big businesses did business with the Soviet Union. A well-known example was Occidental Petroleum’s Armand Hammer — a major donor to the Republican Party, no less — who did business whenever possible with Soviet dictators. And Pepsi-Cola began selling its product in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

How is one to explain the lack of conservative principles among big businessmen? There are two things at work here.

One is an absence of thought.

Whenever I read about multi-millionaire and billionaire businessmen advocating and financially supporting left-wing causes, I am reinforced in my belief that most businessmen are proficient at one thing: making money. [Read more…]

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Freedom To Succeed by Thomas Peterffy

Freedom to Succeedby Thomas Peterffy –
I grew up in a socialist country, and I have seen what that does to people. There is no hope, no freedom, no pride in achievement. The nation became poorer and poorer, and that’s what I see happening here. As a young boy I was fantasizing about one day going to America, making a success of myself, the American dream.

America’s wealth comes from the efforts of people striving for success. Take away their incentive with bad-mouthing success and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the needy. [Read more…]

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On Consecrating the Entire Economic Order

Consecrating the Entire Economic Order by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon –
St. Luke’s account of Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree (19:1-10) is a story rich in spiritual reflection; preachers and Bible-readers, coming from a variety of backgrounds, have explored the narrative unto great profit for the education of the soul.

A certain liturgical use of the text is particularly instructive; namely, the story of Zacchaeus has long been read in the dedicatory service of a new church building. This liturgical custom—warranted by Jesus’ assertion, “Today, I must stay at your house” indicates a symbolism: The home of Zacchaeus represents the consecrated places where Christians gather to meet, worship, and commune with Jesus.

There is an irony here: Even as we insist that Jesus preached the Gospel to the poor, he sometimes did so in the homes of wealthy. The reason was very simple: the wealthy had larger homes; a greater number of people could actually assemble there. (Some folks, doubtless, will be offended by this consideration, but let me mention that the first complaint [Read more…]

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The Alienator-in-Chief

Obama Alienator-in-Chief by J.T. Hatter –
It is impossible to be the leader of any large enterprise and not alienate someone, but Barack Obama has managed to alienate virtually everyone who has had anything to do with him. Who has Barack Hussein Obama not alienated in the last four years?

Barack Obama has alienated Great Britain, our closest military ally, both with insults and official actions. He betrayed the Brits by failing to support them over the Falklands and by revealing their nuclear military secrets to the Russians. Obama has singlehandedly destroyed our “special relationship” with the UK.

The United States had been Israel’s staunchest ally since the founding of that nation in 1948. No more. Obama sides with the Palestinians and openly supports the Muslim Brotherhood. He sent two and a half billion dollars to the new Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt just this year. Obama has repeatedly snubbed and insulted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has vetoed a preemptive attack on Iran to halt their clandestine nuclear weapons program. The Israelis no longer trust the Americans. Who can blame them? [Read more…]

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