What Exactly is the Religion of President Bush?

What Exactly is the Religion of Bush Who has Proclaimed Hindu Holiday Dwali, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat; Referred to 'An Almighty' and Said Christians/Muslims Worship Same God
Article from ChristiansUnite.com
Recovering Republican John Lofton, Editor of TheAmericanView.com web site and co-host of "The American View" radio show has issued the following statement:

"What, exactly, is the religion of President George W. Bush? He says he is a Christian. And numerous so-called conservative Christian leaders and organizations have said Mr. Bush is a Christian. But, is he a Christian? Is there a way to tell if a person is a Christian? Of course. None other than our Lord Himself says that we are known by our fruits, our actions (Matthew 7:15ff).
Some of Mr. Bush's "fruits" as President include these:

• Mr. Bush has contradicted God's Word by saying, repeatedly, and approvingly, that people of different faiths "are free to worship as they choose" or not worship. God, however, says, in the First Commandment that He - the God of the Bible -- is the only true God there is and He must be worshipped the way He says He is to be worshipped: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

• Mr. Bush has also said, repeatedly, that the strength of our Nation is in its diversity of religions. But, God says in His Word that it is only the nation that has Him as its God, and only Him, that is blessed (Psalm 33:12).

• Mr. Bush, in this year's "National Day Of Prayer," referred, strangely, to "an Almighty" when he expressed his hope that someday there might be an "International Day Of Prayer."

• Mr. Bush has honored by various proclamations: The Hindu holiday of Dwali which features prominently the "Goddess Lakshimi" and "Lord Ganesha;" Ramadan; Kwanzaa; The Year Of The Goat; and The Year Of The Rat (coincidentally an election year, this year.)

For an in-depth, respectful and well-researched discussion of this important topic (rulers can bless/curse a nation), please visit TheAmericanView.com web site and listen to "The American View" radio show number 155. Editor Lofton also discusses this topic with radio talk show Jan Mickelson of WHO radio in Des Moines, Iowa.

TOPIC: Family Ties Key to Happy Kids

Article from FOXNews.com

So you're between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? A worried, weary parent might imagine the answer to sound something like this: Sex, drugs, a little rock 'n' roll. Maybe some cash, or at least the car keys. Turns out the real answer is quite different.

Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey — more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people ages 13-24 — conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among America's young people.
Next was spending time with friends, followed by time with a significant other. And even better for parents: Nearly three-quarters of young people say their relationship with their parents makes them happy.

"They're my foundation," says Kristiana St. John, 17, a high-school student from Queens in New York. "My mom tells me that even if I do something stupid, she's still going to love me no matter what. Just knowing that makes me feel very happy and blessed."
Other results are more disconcerting. While most young people are happy overall with the way their lives are going, there are racial differences: the poll shows whites to be happier, across economic categories, than blacks and Hispanics. A lot of young people feel stress, particularly those from the middle class, and females more than males.
You might think money would be clearly tied to a general sense of happiness. But almost no one said "money" when asked what makes them happy, though people with the highest family incomes are generally happier with life. However, having highly educated parents is a stronger predictor of happiness than income.
And sex? Yes, we were getting to that. Being sexually active actually leads to less happiness among 13-17 year olds, according to the survey. If you're 18 to 24, sex might lead to more happiness in the moment, but not in general.
From the body to the soul: Close to half say religion and spirituality are very important. And more than half say they believe there is a higher power that has an influence over things that make them happy. Beyond religion, simply belonging to an organized religious group makes people happier.
And parents, here's some more for you: Most young people in school say it makes them happy. Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage would make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have kids. Finally, when asked to name their heroes, nearly half of respondents mentioned one or both of their parents. The winner, by a nose: Mom.

READ MORE...

TOPIC: Stop Glamorizing Guns and Their Use in Popular Culture
Article from christiansunite.com
Morality in Media President Robert Peters had the following comments in response to the many news stories pointing a finger at the availability of guns as the underlying cause of the Virginia Tech and similar senseless shootings:

• "Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in North Central Illinois I often felt left out when friends went hunting for rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, deer and more.

• "My dad never took us hunting, even though his father had hunted and even though we had a rifle in the home that he taught us how to use when I was in grade school. After my grandfather passed away when I was in college, we also had a shotgun and handgun in the home.

• "Fist fighting among kids was common, but never once did any of us (or our parents) use a gun to shoot someone else. To my knowledge, the community I grew up in was not atypical.

• "Not surprising, my own growing up experience makes me wary of those that point a finger at the availability of guns as the underlying cause of the dramatic increase in gun-related murders.

• "The depiction of guns back then in films and TV also had an impact on us. I still have a picture of my older brother and I with our cowboy six guns and holsters; and I still have fond memories of playing war in the woods with our toy rifles and my favorite gun, a plastic carbine.
  

• "But I think I am on safe ground in saying that we didn't grow up fantasizing about shooting other human beings in real life just for the sake of shooting them or for exacting revenge.
  

• "How then do we explain why so many young people today use guns unlawfully?
  

• "One obvious part of the explanation is the decline of religion and, along with that, the decline of morality. There is nothing more basic to morality than, 'You shall not kill.'
  

• "I think another part of the explanation was the abandonment in the 1960s of the Hays Code that governed the film industry for three decades. Among the Code provisions was one that regulated the depiction of murder. Murder was to be presented in a way that would not inspire imitation. Brutal killings were not to be presented in detail. Revenge was not to be justified.
  

• "Broadcast television helped further desensitize youth to criminal violence; and the advent of cable TV and home videos brought the unedited, amoral deadly violence of Hollywood directly into home. Hardcore rap lyrics also extol criminal violence, including use of guns.
  

• "And today, video games provide youth with on-hands instruction in how to kill.
  

• "Without question, the increased availability of weapons designed to take human life has contributed to the increase in mayhem, but typically supply follows demand, and what has helped create the demand for such weapons is a popular culture that glamorizes their use.
  

• "All this is not to say that society shouldn't restrict the sale of guns and perhaps prohibit the sale of some guns altogether. Even assuming that the 2nd Amendment protects the right of citizens to keep weapons (as I believe it does), reasonable regulation should still be permissible.
  

• "It is to say that we would have much less to fear from the availability of guns, if we would stop glamorizing their use in popular culture. On the latter point, I recall seeing a statistic that less than 5% of New York City police officers ever fire their guns. You'd never know that from popular culture depictions of life as a major city law enforcement officer."

Based in New York City, Morality in Media works to promote standards of decency in media.

TOPIC: Burma 'orders Christians to be wiped out'
By Peter Pattisson in Kayin State, southern Burma, Sunday Telegraph
The military regime in Burma is intent on wiping out Christianity in the country, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry. Entitled "Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma", the incendiary memo contains point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state. The text, which opens with the line "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised", calls for anyone caught evangelising to be imprisoned. It advises: "The Christian religion is very gentle – identify and utilise its weakness."
Its discovery follows widespread reports of religious persecution, with churches burnt to the ground, Christians forced to convert to the state religion, Buddhism, and their children barred from school.
Human rights groups claim that the treatment meted out to Christians, who make up six per cent of the population, is part of a wider campaign by the regime, also targeted at ethnic minority tribes, to create a uniform society in which the race and language is Burmese and the only accepted religion is Buddhism. In the past year, an estimated 27,000 members of the predominantly Christian Karen tribe were driven from their homes in eastern Burma. In Koh Kyi village, in Arakan State, a monk backed by the military burnt down the local church. In another state, 300 monks were allegedly sent by the regime to forcibly convert the populace, all of whom belonged to the Chin ethnic group, which is mostly Christian.
The document, shown to The Sunday Telegraph by human rights groups, may have been produced by a state-sponsored Buddhist group, but with the tacit approval of the military junta. The regime has denied authorship of the document – which also calls for teenagers to be prevented from wearing Western clothes – but has made no public attempt to refute or repudiate its contents.
The dictatorship has long been accused of large-scale human rights abuses. In power since 1988, the generals annulled the National League for Democracy's sweeping 1990 election victory and jailed its leader, the Nobel peace prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi. She remains under house arrest. Last week she was accused of tax evasion for failing to hand over any of her Nobel prize winnings to the authorities. Eha Hsar Paw, a Karen Christian, who fled her village while heavily pregnant to a refugee camp near the border with Thailand, said: "The journey here was very difficult. It was hard to leave our village, but if we had stayed there we would all be dead."

The Sope-Bocks: If you think being a Christian is easy or "pleasant" in some countries, think again. The Nightly News won't tell you the real reason the Burmese military and radical groups are killing or imprisoning citizens. Heck, they aren't even telling the truth about Darfur and the rest of the problems in Sudan (which are the same as Burma -- the express extermination of Christians). If you are a Believer, pray for your Christian brothers and sisters in Burma, Sudan, China, Malaysia and other areas of persecution. If you are not a Believer, but consider yourself one of the activists for "tolerance", then you owe it to your beliefs to put effort into helping the persecuted Christians in these countries. Otherwise, your cry of tolerance is really a LIE. THINK it over -- and ACT!

TOPIC: Evolution vs. Creation
The problem with the religion of evolution is that it takes TOO MUCH faith to believe it. The laws of evolution are NOT even kept BY evolution. It takes more will power and faith in "nothing" to believe evolutionary theory than it does to SEE the creation and design in the ordered -- and created -- world. Evolutionary poster boy Huxley admitted that evolution was latched on to by it protagonists mainly to prop up sexual mores. He was so right -- people delude themselves with the religion of evolution for the purpose of not being responsible for their moral choices (including, but not limited to, sexual behavior).
Lastly, science is continually evolving and making claims that were once thought incorrect. How can anyone believe that science has proven evolution when science is continually changing its mind on the answers to basic questions?
A discussion on the topic of Evolution vs. Creation (or rather religion) is currently happening on ScienceBlogs. The original post states, in part, "... let's assume that by "anti-evolution movement", Brayton is thinking of some conglomeration of organizations like the Discovery Institute, Answers in Genesis, and the Institute for Creation Research (forgetting for a moment that not all of these organizations share the same goals, and that some of them, like the DI and AiG, have actually criticized each other)..."
One reader replied,

"Of course, the main thing they have in common is that they dislike evolutionary theory and spend most of their time, money and effort trying to undermine it. Which is why Ed used the term "anti-evolution movement".

My reply, though somewhat curt, emphasizes my point of view:

"OF COURSE the organizations mentioned spend "most of their time, money and effort" showing the false doctrine of evolution. That IS one of their purposes! They don't simply dislike evolutionary dogma, they offer proof of its fallacies- in the face of a scientific community too deeply invested in the lie to change directions and tell the truth now. AiG, ICR, DI, Behe, Strobel, Morris and Ham are breaths of fresh air in the smoggy world of nonsense put forth by the 'anti-creation movement'.
IF you are a true thinker, you _must_ see the insurmountable problems with faith in evolution. To simply believe, without irreducible proof, is to be a fool. Evolution cannot offer such proof. Creation already has."

There is MUCH MORE on this topic -- currently being discussed on the Internet. I strongly encourage you to join the conversation -- no matter which side you're on.
Beyond Belief 2006
NY Times "Free for All"
The New Atheism
Albert Mohler's podcast -- the one that inspired me to write on this topic (again)

QOTD: The New Atheists will not let us off the hook simply because we are not doctrinaire believers. They condemn not just belief in God but respect for belief in God. Religion is not only wrong; it's evil. -- Gary Wolf, WIRED magazine

Mr. Wolf hits the nail on the head with that quote. The so-called tolerance crowd is vehemently intolerant when it comes to religion -- especially Christianity. This new atheism is less a lack of belief in God than it is a hateful religion of disdain for anything to do with a Holy God.