Apathy that Blows a Balloon

This is going to probably seem like I am rambling, because I have so much on my mind and so many questions. I want to write about two separate issues, but I believe they are connected to an important degree. At least they are connected in what and where our concern should be.

Tucker. Last week Tucker Carlson had a guest on his show, Jimmy Dore, who absolutely infuriated me. Now I know we all love Tucker and he has been the conservative darling for some time. He is right on most issues and we have all grown to trust him. But I have always had a few reservations about him. I have never agreed with his foreign policy beliefs and his anti-war/pacifist ideology. I believe it to be dangerous. He has espoused his views for some time now, and I mostly ignore it realizing there are always going to be those who believe as he does. Though Tucker supports Trump (and Trump sincerely tried to keep us out of wars and was indeed, successful at it,) the two of them are not of the same policy and mindset. Trump understands peace through strength and he understands there may be a time when we have a need to fight. I am not sure Tucker understands any part of that. In any case, Tucker went a step too far in allowing Jimmy Dore to spew his anti-American views on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” this past week. You can view part of that segment at the link below. https://www.facebook.com/100607412863074/videos/1247339039521139

I have been a conservative my entire adult life. I have a view that I have held to consistently. The Bible, speaking of Israel, says “I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you.” I have used this as my guideline in whom to support politically for as long as I can remember. That, and how one views the “right to life” are first and foremost my guidelines. And of course support for the 2nd Amendment and protecting our religious freedom.

Ron Paul, (an avowed libertarian - even stating “[he] only ran as a Republican because that is the only way he could win.”) Rand Paul, Tulsi Gabbard, and Col Doug Macgregor are all of the same doctrine and mind set as Tucker. Of course Tucker hasn’t had Ron Paul on as a guest in many years, but he has hosted the other three guests often. I only bring Dad Paul up, because this is when I began to get extremely concerned for conservatives. I always saw it and expected it from liberals like Jimmy Carter – calling Israeli’s “occupiers” and Israel an “apartheid state”) but this was never consistent with the Republican platform. Tucker and the others I mention here are all the same. They are all anti-Israel in respect to the degree our nation should support and defend that nation. This is where they have all lost me. And I believe their lack of understanding (and Tucker too) in what the Bible says, is their problem. Personally, I believe we can set our foreign policy (who to support and not support) simply by reading the Bible.

All of these people claim the “America First” mantra as their justification to stay out of war. We used to call that “isolationism”. They have comfortably made themselves “Isolationists”, though they don’t want to call it that. Not sure God would approve...think Holocaust where the world remained silent far too long. The truth is many of our conservative politicians of the past were “America First” too, but they were not isolationists. They knew there may be a time to go to battle exactly in order to put America first. They understood that putting America first may at some point require a fight. This is the kind of “America First” politician President Trump is.

Those who hold Tucker’s ideology (or at least Jimmy Dore’s) at one time were considered to be anti-American, anti-war/pacifists. I know we have come a long way (if that is what you want to call it) since then. But in my view their attitude and foreign policy is a threat to our nation. Tucker has become more and more vocal about using his platform to influence us in this regard, to the point he carried it far too far with giving Jimmy Dore a platform, in my view. The other night he allowed Dore to pontificate his anti-war, anti-American views calling America an "imperialist nation" (think 1619 Project) and at his worst called America “the world TERRORISTS”! In whose world is that ok??? I truly do not understand the silence over this segment on Carlson’s show. Carlson didn’t rebuke him or argue as he is known to do with others guests with whom he disagrees. He gave Dore a voice and seemingly agreed with him, offering no response! Dore was surprised himself that Carlson was willing to host him because no one else would!! Let’s be clear; Dore is not a conservative. He is and identifies himself as a “progressive”...far left progressive, in my view. He is the very epitome of where far left meets far right. And at least in regard to this, it seems Tucker has joined him there.

We are living in an era where the majority of the population has never lived through a war that was not a mostly political war. That has caused us all to be leery and wonder if war is ever necessary. Millennials especially have become war weary. We all have to some degree, but Millennials have never lived through a war that wasn’t political, and their reactions have me concerned. Those of us that lived through the Vietnam War were all disillusioned and left with a lack of understanding what that war was about and if it was ever worth it. It was, in my view, had politicians not gotten in the way. But my generation, the generation that fought in and lived through Vietnam, had parents that still understood and left an imprint on us with the understanding that as awful as war is, it is sometimes necessary. That is no longer understood. We are hearing statements now that would have our WWII vets turning in their grave. Enter what was said on Tucker Carlson last week….and we are left without one word of outrage; or even any dissent, or negative response to what Jimmy Dore said. Our WWII vets would call that treason.

Weakness invites aggression. We used to understand “peace through strength”. President Trump still does. Our nation’s President’s foremost job is protection of our citizens. Biden has failed tremendously with this in regard to the open border crisis he has created; and now he has failed us with allowing an invasion of our air space with a balloon from our greatest enemy. Yes. I call that an invasion. Even if this balloon situation is something benign, it still entered our air space which is a threat to our sovereignty and a violation of international law. It used to be considered an act of war, simply to cross that air space boundary.

If we think they are not gathering information over our military bases, we are extremely foolish. The Balloon has been over Montana Nuclear Plants and Weapons Facility, It has traveled over at least three Air Force Bases; over Kansas where our nuclear generating plant is as well as McConnell Air Force Base; and Missouri where there are critical plants. Now the balloon is over South Carolina and probably going to end up over Georgia where 2 more Air Force bases are, as well as two Nuclear plants. General Keith Kellogg predicted this is where it would end up, calling it a “trifecta of success” in their spying agenda. It appears he is correct, because it is now over the Carolinas.

Biden is a compromised President. China’s President, Xi Jinping holds something over him...and that involves Hunter Biden. The President is afraid to act; certainly restrained. That is all for another discussion. I know this missive is getting wayyyyy too long.

But this is where my two rambling thoughts come together. Where is the outrage? Where is the lack of demand to cause Joe Biden to act. Personally I hope impeachment proceedings are brought against him for endangering our nation. We laugh and we make jokes and we spread our memes. And that is all OK, even fun. At times like this laughter is necessary. But at the same time we need to understand the importance and danger of the situation we find ourselves. Sometimes we need to put “America First” by taking action for aggression against our nation.

On this there should be no disagreement. This is a violation of international law and it needs to be taken seriously. That balloon needs to be brought down, so that we know what was on there and what information it gathered. And by the way, Russia is making aggressive moves right now too. There is a Russian spy ship sailing around Hawaii while we are focused on the China Spy balloon. The Russian ship is in international waters, but neither can this be ignored.

Tucker Carlson is an influencer and he knows it. But without placing too much blame on Tucker, it mostly belongs with the left. I just think Tucker Carlson is in part, responsible for the apathy gaining ground across our nation right now. We see that apathy in the form of a balloon traveling from base to base, and nuclear site to nuclear site across our nation with nothing being done for days. Jimmy Dore’s belief and now apparently Tucker’s is where the right joins the left, in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how he covers this story on Monday.

“This is beyond a test. This is pushing the limit.” ~ General Keith Kellogg

Missions and Politics

“We spend too much time protecting the culture of those that join our country, and far too little defending the culture they have chosen to join." ~ Anonymous

Whether we like to admit it or not, radical Islam is invading our country. Read Erick Stakelbeck; Col. Alan West; Jay Sekulow; they have mountains of proof and examples. We cannot hide our heads in the sand and pretend it isn’t so.

Along with many that choose to ignore this enemy, there is a segment of “the church” that continues to ignore or even attack all things political. This is an extremely dangerous precedent which encourages others to simply ignore what is taking place. It seems they have created a thought that politics is somehow ungodly and a solution for nothing - that the world can only be helped by “changing one heart at a time”. I’m afraid that simply isn’t so. At least, it isn’t the complete truth.

We will never do away with radical Islam by missions alone. We will never win Islam simply by witnessing.  That doesn’t mean we are not to try.  But there must be a desire to tell the truth about the evilness of this “religion” – which isn’t really a religion at all, but rather a political ideology.  Because it is a political ideology that is aggressive in a violent agenda, we must use a strategy that involves governments not afraid to use an equally aggressive foreign policy.

Picture this: You are in the forest on an afternoon stroll to enjoy the beauty of nature, when you come across an injured bear cub.  The innocent little cub is bleeding badly and you know time is short.  But before you can get to the cub to save its life, Mama Grizzly appears from behind a small knoll.  She is intent on your destruction.  She is not about to let you come near her cub.  But more than that, she views you from a completely different perspective that may not even involve her cub. You are there for her to rip your heart out…simply because that is what she does.

There is no way you are going to get to that cub without subduing that mama. But more importantly, your very life is in danger now.  As long as that mama is staring you down, you don’t stand a chance for anything without some kind of protection.  A 30.06 would be handy about now and would probably be your only defense.

This scenario is the same way of radical Islam. Islam is the mama grizzly and more than she is intent on saving her cub/her people, she is intent on your destruction.

This is exactly why simply witnessing to the Muslim people will never work, just in itself.  This evil ideology will never come to an end without subduing its power; government intervention with national defense is needed. An outcry from the people is mandatory.

We cannot continue to wink at Islam and pretend it is something other than what it really is.  We must call it out.  We must strike vigorously and effectively against it. It is time Americans speak up and let their voices be heard. We must change laws; we must have passport control; revoke citizenship when necessary; deport those that have broken our laws. We must secure our borders. We must call the enemy, the enemy.

It is extremely foolish for people to think we are not at war with Islam. Radical Islam has said time and time again that they are at war with us.  It is simple-minded to believe that we need only share the love of God to be effective against this evil. Attempting to change one heart at a time is a wonderful thing for individuals. But it is only a band-aid at best. We cannot change the heart of a centuries old people that have only learned to hate because they follow a false god.  We will never be effective to end this evil, “only one heart at a time”. It is irrational to believe politics should not be involved.  We are seeing a trend in some mission fields that love to put down our government, as well as anyone that has a desire to put an end to this evil enemy.  This is extremely dangerous, as we are losing the will to pay attention politically and what is going on with our foreign policy and national defense. Those that might be opposed to an aggressive solution are merely swatting down flies, only for more to appear. It is only causing more lives to be lost.

One day a generation will look back at history and say: "Why did the world allow this to happen?" "Why did America remain silent?" "Why didn't the greatest nation in all of history not do something?" Yes, they will say this! Just as my generation looked back and pondered the Holocaust wondering how it could ever have happened and why the world remained silent! I am not going to be a part of those who remain silent.

It is my belief this is exactly why recently we have seen a rise in those who deny the Holocaust. "Holocaust deniers" started within a foreign enemy, but the idea has made it to the fringe of America, with a threat to be incorporated even to those in the mainstream. There is an agenda! If history can deny the Holocaust ever took  place, then there is nothing to point back to and say, "See!!  This very thing is happening, today!" "We must not be silent as the nations were in the Holocaust generation!" "We should learn from our past and do something different, today."

Those are the very words we should be hearing on the world scene in regard to Islamic Terrorism. Why are we allowing this to take place? Why does no one do anything? Why are we so afraid to speak out?

I grow weary of those who claim we as individual citizens can do nothing. When was the last time you wrote a letter to the editor?  When was the last time we called a Senator or Representative? When did you dare ever make an unpopular Facebook post, to call attention to an atrocity and evil so great that it makes Hitler and the Holocaust look humane? If we haven't acted, then in a sense, we too, are a "Holocaust denier". We too, then, are responsible for the rise of the evil that is taking place in the world.

Some wonder about "the church's" lack of support for Israel. We see some in "the church" mock this Christian doctrine and long held belief with regard to Israel's place in history. Whom do you suppose benefits from this change in Christian support? The truth is, "the church" has joined the left in their lack of support for God's chosen people. That belief has manifested itself into citizens who refuse to call radical Islam for what it really is. Because of that radical Islam is growing.

We pride ourselves on bringing the Gospel while remaining silent in any movements, or political endeavors against such evil. We chastise our brothers and sisters in Christ, for not supporting missions, when we actually have no idea what they may have done financially, or otherwise. We simply don't like their political endeavors. It threatens us. It makes us look bad, because in actuality when it comes to the political world, we have no understanding of what to do or how to do it. We blame someone for not supporting us in our missions, but fail to see that we give no credit or support to those who are fighting the battle in the political world. "I know better than you", we arrogantly surmise, but the truth is our pride is a stench to those who come in contact with us. It appears as the height of hypocrisy to those who have fought the battle in a war zone, - those who lost their lives; those severely wounded -  and received no voice of support for what needs to be done and the battle that rages.

Yes, the blood of the martyrs is the birth of the saints! Yes, God turns it all to His glory. But we are very foolish indeed, if we believe that gives us an "out" to do nothing and speak nothing about the atrocities that are occurring around the world. We sit safely in our comfort zone and say "Praise God! See what has happened! God is saving souls!" But we have no regard to the actual growth of this radical Islam in America and elsewhere, because so many will do nothing to stop it!!

And we pretend we have such a greater understanding than anyone else. The truth is, in our silence, we continue to bolster those that bring such cruelty to the world. I will NOT face God for that silence. I am a missionary, too!! ISIS is evil and they are coming for you! Hear that message!!! God never intended for us to placate evil, to not stand against atrocities. God is a Warrior, too - the First and the Last; the Beginning and the End.

Yes, even one soul is worth salvation; and we desire for everyone to have an occasion to hear the Gospel.  But until the politics of this invasion is dealt with, there are more that are raised for death than ever will have a chance at salvation.  Until Islam is dealt with by our government, more and more souls die without an opportunity to ever hear the Gospel.  They die through war; they die by suicide; they die by abuse; they die because of who they are.  They continue to die without ever hearing a Christian message. We are dealing with a culture of death.

We must subdue the mama that continues to breed and grow the Islamic “religion”. And that effort needs our attention, now!! Just because we have a God that can turn evil to good, gives us no right to ignore the evil and try not to fight it. We don't get to just sit back and say "Look what God has done." God is a God of actions, and he expects his people to act against evil; not placate it, or ignore it. Shame on us as the atrocities continue!!!

Again, we cannot continue to wink at this; to offer grace; to pretend it is something it is not. We must fight. And we must not condemn those that see their mission as a mission that is just as important as the one that brings the Gospel to the “baby cub” by evangelism. It must be someone’s mission to subdue Mama Grizzly. May God eternally bless those warriors! May their blood count for something, too! I, for one, am tired of seeing "the church" ignore it, pretending they know something more.

We are at war. It is past time we act like it. We must defend our culture; we must defend our title as a Christian nation; we must defeat the enemy that is now aggressively within. The truth is, we must defend the fight in order that the Gospel be allowed to continue.