Bush, Baker Act and Why Scientology is Closer to Vatican Catholicism than most U.S. "Christianity" . . .

I just taught my morning section of World Religions. Although privacy laws limit what I can fully divulge, suffice it to say, my common academic critique of American Civil Religion reared its head yet again!

I was speaking about Shintoism, and in a "philosophy of religion" set of Class Discussion Questions, I posed the thesis that the hodge-podge known as U.S. Christianity, complete with an increasing patriotism following 9/11, is now this odd hybrid, syncretistic religion known as "Americanism" (or my preferred term, "American Shintoism!")

We have Memorial Day where we worship our fallen dead! We have Patriot Day where we tearfully mourn the loss of innocent lives in the horrific 9/11 attacks. But sadly, we also, still have this curious hybrid of pseudo-pscience meets totalizing world-view called modern Western Psychology.

PSYCHE = "soul" in the original Greek language, but the modern discipline of psychology, a discipline founded by an apostate Jew named Sigmund Freud (someone who renounced his Jewish heritage, and even committed suicide on Yom Kippur!) continues unabated . . .

'Mental illnesses' apparently 'plague' the U.S. Military now . . .

Whereas in the McCain-era (John McCain's grandfather that is! ;-) a soldier, U.S. Marine, sailor, airman, et al would just "shake off" the gruesome fatigue of war by rest, shore duty and just plain old getting drunk (Admiral McCain was still a sailor you know . . .), now suddenly much of our Armed Forces are "mentally ill."

GIVE ME A BREAK!

Guess what? If you 'go to war,' you will have 'flash-backs.' This is NORMAL. Whether it was the 'mythical' King Arthur legends, the medieval Crusades, the Spanish Reconquista, or WW I & WW II, to be in battle means that your soul suffered. Of course, in Catholic Europe, at one time this meant going to say your confession before a priest (for killing that was necessary in combat as part of a Just-War).

But now, thanks to listening to the pseudo-science of "modern psychology," the "great high priest" is no longer Christ Jesus, nor Christ's Church, but instead is the 'shrink!'

SIN as sin no longer exists in the modern West. Pop a pill, go to a 'shrink,' and then claim benefits due to your 'injury' of having a conscience about killing in IRAQ!

But, the strange American State Religion of Psychology-Psychiatry continues unabated, at least until now!

Whether it is the academic voice of someone like Michel Foucault (a darling of the Ivies, such as Harvard University. . .) OR the Scientologists who question the foundations, practical & epistemological of modern psychiatry, the tyrannical regime of modern psychology is coming to an end.

Thank God for the Catholic Church in this regard!

The Vatican supports holiness of life, and not supposed "mental health."

NOW if only U.S. Catholicism will listen to its own Vatican!

EX CORDE ECCLESIA, FIDES et RATIO, DOMINUS IESUS,
Rob, Catholic scholar

McCain, Black America and Why African American CHRISTIANS are 'Conservative . . .'

As the election year rumbles on, I am at a loss of how to describe what I am seeing.

As a lifelong (economic) liberal, I do have to admit that I am QUITE pleased that the 'far right' of the economic-political spectrum has all but isolated themselves from 'mainstream America.'

The War in Iraq is by now an unpopular war, and so the 'Far Right' instead wishes to also attack Iran!

The Economy is struggling under two terms of George W. Bush 'free-market' principles, yet the Republican Party still caters primarily to the rich, the elite and largely utilizes we Evangelicals and Traditional Catholics as "swing votes," promising votes and judges on issues such as the abortion debate (PRO-LIFE) and the homosexuality debate (TRADITIONAL, NATURAL LAW marriage of men and women).

Yet, 'pro-choice' and 'homosexual' Republicans have left that part of the political spectrum essentially compromised on important moral issues.

BUT, the Far Left is really no alternative either.

Perhaps the African American community, 50% of which was raised Baptist Christian and the majority of which are morally conservative, knows this best!

African American Christians, leaders such as Bernice King (daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.) bravely uphold historic Christian Teaching (teaching first passed on to the Ethiopian Church LONG before any Germans or English were made into Christians! :-). Yes, it is African American Christianity that must now decide.

Do African American Christians support a Black candidate (actually half-Kenyan, but also half-Anglo . . .)?

OR do African American Christians vote not according to the color of skin, but (to paraphrase Dr. M.L. King, Jr.!) according to the "content of character?"

PRO-LIFE is the ONLY moral response on abortion! This has been the case from the 300's A.D. through the twentieth century in Western Christendom!

No, homosexuality has NEVER been compatible with Christianity (Paul's Letter to the Romans, chapter 1).

BUT, the 'ultra-liberal' Barack Obama, doing anything to get elected, will, of course, compromise and support baby-killing and homosexual coupling, surprisingly views that are much against the moral views of African American Christians!

There we have it.

Political compromise equals more babies left unprotected by law. What's next, communist Chinese government intrusion into parental rights?

Blessings in YHWH,
Rob J. King

Beans, Bullets & Misguided wars . . .

The 'War against Religion' is a perennial, yet especially modern invention.

Unlike Socrates, Plato & Aristotle who each sought to 'transcend' pagan Greek polytheism with 'Rationality,' the modern era, beginning with the French Revolution, has come to be known as an increasingly anti-Christian era. Sure, there were abuses of power by the Divine Right Monarchs of Europe, but it was not until regicide happened in France that the institution of the Christian Monarch itself had been attacked.

Queen Elizabeth, although somewhat pragmatic in her approach to religion, nonetheless maintained England as a Christian (Anglican) land.

The United States of America, although founded upon Natural Right principles, and reacting against British colonialism (as did India later in the 20th century . . .), nonetheless was founded by New England Puritans, Quakers, Methodists, Episcopalians (Anglican . . .) and, of course, Baptists (non-conformist toward the established State Church of England).

But the French are a different story. Not just "fight for egalitarian principles," but actually slay the King was the end result of this modern nation state's turning away from its explicitly Christian Rule!

And what was the end result of such regal overthrow?

Well, like most Revolutionary Thought, when one supposed dictatorial regime is overthrown (Versailles), the end result (whether French, Communist China, etc.) is usually just a 'new form of tyranny . . .'

And thus, in just two decades after the beginning of the French Revolution, it was Napoleon Bonaparte who was invading Europe! Really, ALL that stopped Napoleon was the Russian Winter! Napoleon invaded Russia hoping to somehow 'conquer' such a vast land, and instead, of the 500,000 troops sent to 'conquer' Russia, only 50,000 ultimately survived (I guess Frenchmen make lousy cold-winter warriors! :-)

But, the assault upon religion (usually spouting some "humanistic" philosophy such as Marxism or Democratic Socialism of the anti-religious sort . . .) is an assault upon truth itself!

The U.S. was founded as a Republic on Natural Right principles given by the Creator! Not "man's natural state" (which is usually quite brutal). Not a "proletariat" that just becomes the next class of dictators. No, we here in the GOOD old U.S. are founded (Providentially . . .) on Divine Principles!

(Now, if only Barack Obama can recognize these Natural Rights, to include PROTECTING CHILDREN who are defenseless in their mother's wombs . . . McCain recognizes such Rights!!!).

Blessings in Christ Jesus Our LORD & Savior,
Rob J. King

The U.S., Our Shared 'Ethic,' and Why We are in so much trouble . . .

The undergraduate college experience truly marks us for life. For those of us fortunate enough to attend a college or university with a strict honor code, our lives are forever 'etched' with a Higher Standard of Morality. Take for example, my undergraduate institution, Davidson College (located just north of Charlotte, N.C.).

Davidson College, founded by Presbyterians, and a top 10 Nationally-ranked Liberal Arts College (alongside of Williams, Amherst, Carleton, et al) was founded upon moral ideals that, sadly, are in 'short supply' in the U.S. In short, if a Davidson College student (or professor) is caught stealing, cheating or lying and it is proven, then this member of the College community would be asked to leave. In fact, I know of one former basketball player who was caught stealing candy from the student union, and as a result, no longer was enrolled as a student (much less a men's basketball player!).

But, sadly, in spite of our former years as a nation state (and after the Bill Clinton perjury, the lying on the part of the Bush-Cheney Administration . . .), our societal leaders are so far removed from our nation's founding moral ideals, that (dare I say . . .) our Republic is no longer even 'American.'

Army Officers lie through their teeth. Iraqi prisoners are tortured with a military brass turning a blind eye. Whistle-blowing usually results in a ruined career . . .

Our Pentagon is in the midst of turmoil as a culture of deception runs the reigns of our national defense. Pretty sad, actually, that many military personnel I know of would not have been able to attend the College I graduated from. Lying is part of the military culture, and yet no one can stand up to this culture of deceit any longer . . .

But, we as a people of the United States of America, a generation raised after 1973, a generation that has seen 'baby-killing' (abortion!) made legal, a nation in which the Chair of the Democratic Party tries to 'mandate' that homosexuals be given the status of 'married,' a nation that has spurned the name Jesus, is now a nation with little to no moral compass.

My Dad, the lifelong Democrat, was a man of honor. John McCain's father and grandfather were similarly men of honor, albeit Republican.

But now with Democrats still supporting infanticide-on-demand, still lobbying for homosexual practice to be imposed upon the rest of us (a violation of U.C.M.J.), and with Republicans similarly opening wide the borders to gay-rights and abortion-rights candidates, is it any wonder that our nation is suffering?

Kill a generation in the womb, and yes, the wrath of God will be upon you.

Support homosexual coupling, and yes, like Sodom and Gomorrah, we too will be destroyed.

Pretty scary actually. The wrath of God set against us, and no not in the way that Barack Obama's ultra-liberal pastor has portrayed.

We lie as a nation. We steal as a nation. We abort our young ones as a nation. We declare unjust wars (IRAQ!) as a nation. Is it any wonder that we are no longer prosperous?

And so, when you grumble at $4/gallon for gasoline and when you can no longer afford to pay for your rent/mortgage and still put food on the table, only blame ourselves.

WE DID THIS and now the Wrath of God is upon us.

LORD God, I humbly repent of my own war-like spirit that sought answers by donning an A.C.U. uniform. I seek only Thee, O LORD.

Forgive me LORD Christ for ever seeking an 'easy solution' politically. Like Barack Obama, I think unjust wars must cease. Unlike Mr. Obama, I do not see how killing babies can or should promote his political cause (abortion on demand). Like Senator McCain, I seek to live honorably, but not at the expense of TRUTH. FORGIVE me for not taking a STRONGER stand against homosexual practice, an act that is an abomination in your sight!

LORD GOD, forgive us as a People.

This I ask in Jesus Christ's Name! Amen & Amen, Rob J. King

Religion, Psychology and Human Abuse-Potential

Lately, I have become increasingly fearful about the abuse of power being perpetrated by the so-called modern psychological/psychiatric establishment.

In Communist China, from Falun Gong to political dissenters, anyone deemed a threat by that evil communist regime is rounded up, labelled delusional and placed in psychiatric wards.

Similarly, in the State of Florida, in the so-called "Baker Act," people are often rounded up and involuntarily thrown in psych wards for up to 72 hours of so-called 'evaluation.'

In case after case, modern psychology as a discipline shows its true colors.

BUT, did you know that the birth of modern psychology (Freud, Jung) was founded upon anti-religious, and indeed anti-Semitic principles?

Sigmund Freud, a secular Jew, sought to 'disprove Judaism,' but the end result was his own suicide on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement!

Carl Jung, a quite prominent early modern psychological theorist, was also an Aryan supremacist who thought that "Aryan psychological identity was superior to Jewish," and indeed Carl Jung was even sympathetic of the Nazi take-over of Germany (First Things, April 2008, p. 64).

BUT, in seeking to oppose modern psychology, it is important to notice how modern psychology largely arose as Christian (& Jewish) belief and practice wavered. When Evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Jews, et al begin "losing their religious faith," in the Western world, it is usually that evil amalgam called modern psychology that takes its place.

Friends, this is state-supported religion!

Psychology claims to "re-unite" one's "true self" with the mind, yet how can this be achieved outside of a specifically RELIGIOUS MATRIX? Finally, as a Christian, and indeed normative for ALL HUMAN BEINGS, it is only the TRUE PSYCHE of JESUS of Nazareth, Who through being FULLY GOD and FULLY MAN, can re-unite the human being to his/her 'true self.'

So, sorry Freud, religious belief is not a "human projection of child-like needs."

Sorry Carl Jung, the Universal Metaphors that you so ardently sought could not be found in racial supremacy (Arianism!), but instead are found in that Semitic, Aramaic-speaking GOD-MAN named Jesus Christ, the Jew Who is GOD-in-flesh . . .

Blessings in Yeshua CHRIST, Rob (St. Petersburg College, Religion Instructor . . .)