Conservative Soup - food for thought

I very much pride myself on being open-minded. I feel that I listen to opposing arguments, dissect the information and then formulate my thoughts based upon my own analytical abilities. Leftists would claim to have a corner on this thought process. Their claim is that they are the enlightened, intellectually superior, and most open to new ideas. Leftists are actually quite aggressive toward conservative thinkers - usually focusing on the latter's supposed lack of tolerance.

The left claims to have a lock on the tolerance ideal too. They will often say that the right is closed to new thinking, stuck in the past or subject to some prejudged thought process. Why do so many leftists refuse to enter into honest debate over the issues? My experience into these exchanges have been frequently met with anger and hostility. That is if you are able to enter the disagreement at all i.e. some liberals are introspective enough to realize that they own tolerance for the other opinion is incredibly low.

But, the problem lies in the lack of debate doesn't it? The arena of ideas in the U.S. has been destroyed. The left has labeled every opposing argument with a moniker of hate, phobia or extremist tag. This is truly their means of avoiding the arena. If they label the opposition, the opposition can thus be categorized as narrow in their intellectual capacities. The conservative thinker can be put in a category in which their argument is predictable and of no substance.

The fact is that most conservatives DO care. Further, they do not want to be thought of as hateful or intolerant. Often, the fear tactics of the Left cause conservatives to fear revealing who they truly are. Nowhere is this more evident in the Republican Congress.

Congressional Republicans have fallen prey to the Leftists across the aisle, special-interest groups and the liberal media. They have failed to uphold their principals - regardless of the fact that we relied upon those principals as we moved them into office. Republicans and other Conservatives need to know how they came to their conclusions, hold fast to their convictions, and carry the banner they painted - no matter what the others may say.

Will

Listen to Sen. Charles Schumer discussing the War on Terrorism and you might not even believe that the U.S. has an enemy to fight. Along with a whole host of other democrats, he has used this war as a political saber against President Bush (and any other supporting our efforts in the Middle-East). Again, the Self-Serving Senator from New York is showing his true colors with the rampage against the administration over whether Dubai Ports World - a United Arab Emirates company - should be allowed to control U.S. ports (replacing another foreign company, I might add).

Schumer, and other Dems who are constantly wanting the U.S. to take a sensitive approach to the Middle East, are being doing an about-face when seeing the President support the UAE in this move! Merely because this country is an Arab nation, I assume! This seems to either uncover Dems motivations in politicizing the war - or their OWN innate mistrust of Arabs.

Will

Because his faith was deep, Ronald Reagan was able to envision the fall of the Evil Empire. This article about the book "God and Ronald Reagan" outlines what faith meant to President Reagan.

Will

After eleven days Saddam gave up his hunger strike for "health reasons". Saddam practiced this form of contempt against the Iraqi judge, "to protest the way they brought us to court." A news report indicated that the U.S. prison officials intervened with defense lawyers to end his strike to "prevent any adverse health impact."

Wait a minute, aren't Saddam's crimes against humanity punishable by death? Why are we so worried about his health, when this is his decision. I will personally buy him a couple packs of non-filter menthols if he wants them. I'll even throw in a couple cigars. I say let the man starve himself like he did thousands of Kurdish refugees.

-Milt-

March 1st - International Death Penalty Abolition Day. This is a tough issue for me. On one hand, I am for the death penalty. But as a Christian, it is hard for me to support the idea of snuffing a human life (except in self-defense or war, of course) - as a child of Christ, the criminal can still be forgiven by God. As a man, I have no capacity to forgive the murderers, rapists, and child-abusers. Do I feel bad when they feel the pain and death of execution? No, I really don't. But, the fact that they are children of God is my concern. I don't stay up at night worrying though.

MY big problem are those that make this a keystone issue while millions of INNOCENT men, women, and children suffer through death and torture in numbers a thousandfold to those killed by lethal injection in the U.S. Where should our concerns lie? Should we be defending these criminals BEFORE doing all that we can to eliminate the greater horrors in the world? It is hard for me to imagine that this should be the case.

It is estimated that Saddam Hussein had executed over 60,000 men! While I understand the Left response to this fact would be "there were no weapons of mass destruction!" (as if we haven't heard enough of that!). But, my question is: "where was the outrage of the Left?". Were those that demonstrate against the death penalty equally outraged against about the heathen Saddam's murders and tortures? No, they were waiting for relatively minor offenses carried out at Gitmo to get angry. Please! The typical response above only underscores another Leftist hypocrisy.

Chairman Mao - 40 million deaths, Hitler - 34 million, Stalin - 20 million. The outrage has pretty much always been pointed at America - not to the greater atrocities.

Will

Pastor Bill gave a very inspiring message during our meeting today (nice picture, eh Bill?). He even gave Conservative Soup a plug to the congregation (this shouldn't be construed as Bill's endorsement of the content by any means!)

I know these posts do not exactly line up with some Quaker points of view - but, inclusion does and we have a wonderful meeting that welcomes all of God's children regardless of their political views!

Will

"The honest man, though ever so poor, Is king of men for all that". Those are the words of Scottish Poet Robert Burns in his sonnet: Is There For Honest Poverty. His words ring true to Christians that live the word of simplicity.

Simplicity isn't merely outward lifestyle choices (although Christian simplicity, in itself, can result in outward simplicity). To the contrary, Christian simplicity means inward simplicity. Quaker author Richard Foster called this having a single-eye toward God. Keeping our sight on God with all of our thoughts and actions - being in a constant state of prayer. By minimizing distractions that keep us from God, we grow to be more Christ-like.

Many things can keep us from simplicity. The least of which are not pride, greed, envy, etc. It is easy to see how each of these can keep us distracted. Jesus spoke of the sin of pride often during his teachings. He also spoke of the fact that it is most difficult for the wealthy to get into heaven. This wasn't because of God's dislike for the wealthy! It is because of their material wealth that they often have difficulty separating earthly and heavenly treasure. Too many distractions - more difficult to find simplicity! The honest man, though ever so poor, Is king of men for all that.

Will Eastman

Three questions: Who elected Hamas? Why is there little outcry from the left regarding this group taking power in the Gaza Strip? What does Hamas stand for? Interesting questions to ponder! Let’s start with what they stand for. The question is best summarized within their own Covenant of Hamas (published in 1988) in the statement “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it”.

Hamas is newly elected power within the Palestinian territory. The leaders of Hamas are a long-known terrorist organization that has played a very large role in terrorist attacks that have plagued Israel for decades. Israel has had a total of over 22,000 terrorist attacks either on its home-front, the West Bank, or Gaza since September 2000. In these attacks, 677 Israeli civilians have been murdered (17 by lynching!). Hamas is not responsible for all of these. But, they sure have played their part through multiple suicide bus bombings and the like. Hamas – these are the nuts that appear in the crowds of Palestinians with automatic weapons firing in the air - hooded so that their identities can be kept under-cover. They have sent mothers, daughters, fathers and sons to their deaths in the name of Islam. Hamas has left murdered women and children in their wake.

Again, I wish the “peace-loving” liberals of our nation would speak up. Rather than denounce the new murderous leadership representing the Palestinians, many feel it more appropriate to politicize the war in Iraq and lambaste President Bush. The reason they don’t speak up? Ask them!

Will Eastman

I published this story shortly after the death of President Reagan. I think it supports the stance of many that feel Reagan’s “peace through strength” philosophy benefited many!

My son Sashuka is a living legacy of Ronald Wilson Reagan. Born parentless in a small and poverty-stricken city, Sashuka spent his first four months in a dilapidated hospital. He was then placed in a cold, decaying orphanage with other malnourished and disease-stricken children. My wife and I went to Ukraine three years ago and returned with Sashuka, an underfed and scabies-ridden baby.

Today, Sashuka is a happy, healthy, energetic American citizen. Without President Reagan’s stand against the tyrannical government of the Soviet Union, Sashuka would likely be living in those same deplorable conditions. Reagan had to make his stand, not only against the Soviet government, but also against the media and left-leaning people that called him a “War-Monger” (coincidentally, these are the same groups that are against the War on Terrorism). Further, some criticized him for a budget-deficit that was only partly the result of this stand and mostly due to a tax-and-spend, liberal congress bent on socializing our economy.

My family is enjoying the benefits of Ronald Reagan's stance against communism and so are the families of more than 400,000 other former Eastern-European orphans!

Will Eastman

I find it very ironic that the very same people who are calling for an investigation into the accidental shooting involving Vice President Cheney are the same people that told all of us that we need to stay out of Clinton's personal life. I remember comments about "leave him alone", "it should only be an issue between Bill and Hillary". What does Ted Kennedy have to say about this? Do our office holders have a right to privacy or the right to have an accident?

-Milt Crawford-

In two days of violence, 111 are killed in Iraq. The violence was sparked after a Shiite shrine was bombed. Just today, 45 civilians were murdered in the streets of Iraq by radical gunmen. The acts of violence against Muslims should raise the eyebrows of liberals around the world! If we hear the same cry of the liberals after 9/11, it will sound like this: "what did those Shiites do to make those gunmen so disenfranchised?" Surely, they were only acting only in their own self-defense, right? The cries of liberals, that sought to understand the motivation behind the 9/11 hijackers, will not be heard this day.

The despicable act of murder that was displayed on the streets of Iraq today was condemned by President Bush (as was the bombing of the Shiite shrine). He condemned it as an evil act - as he did the murder of those in the Twin Towers. This should tell you of the man's convictions - especially as they compare to the convictions of the Blame America First crowd.

Will Eastman

As a life long resident of Indiana, I must applaud our Governor for the Major Moves initiative. Never before has a Republican leader in this state been able to grab the support from several of the larger labor unions throughout the state. Indiana's employment picture has been left with a crater of lost jobs in the manufacturing industry over the past 15+ years. Finally, we have been able to produce a piece of legislation and solicit and offer to bring real investment into our state. We need to move forward into a new Indiana. We cannot count on GM "Generous Mother", Ford, and Chrysler to provide our citizens a safety net of wealth. Let's keep moving on! Look at what the Interstate Transportation Act did for our nation. Hooray!!!!! for our man Mitch.

-Milt Crawford-

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