Quote of the day
posted at 10:30 pm on March 3, 2009 by Allahpundit
“I do not doubt the sincerity of Obama’s religious intentions. But while many social conservatives have pointed a spotlight on Obama’s socially liberal policies (repealing the Mexico City Policy, for example) few have paid attention to the likely impact his stimulus, bailout, and economic welfare programs will have. One unremarked and unintended consequence of Barack Obama’s audacious plans for the expansion of government—especially in health care, education, and the environment—is that the nanny state he is seeking to build will likely crowd out religious institutions in America. In other words, if he succeeds in passing his ambitious agenda, the Obama revolution is likely to lead the United States down the secular path already trod by Europe…
In the United States, as Alexis de Tocqueville observed, religious institutions have long provided crucial social and moral ballast to the individualistic ethos of our nation. For instance, as political scientist Arthur Brooks pointed out in his recent book, Who Really Cares , religious Americans are significantly more likely to give to charity and to volunteer their time than are secularists. In 2000, he found, for instance, that ninety-one percent of regular churchgoers (those who attend religious services nearly every week or more frequently) gave money to charities, compared to sixty-six percent of secularists (those who attend religious services a couple times a year or not at all); moreover, sixty-seven percent of churchgoers volunteered, compared to forty-four percent of secularists.
This is why, even though Obama’s audacious agenda might provide short-term relief to the economic and social challenges that now beset us, over the long term the Obama revolution is likely to erode first the religious and then the civic and moral fabric of the nation.”
Blowback
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For the longest time, I wouldn’t belive it…and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watch them liquefy the dead, so
they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing
there, facing the pure horrifying precision, I came to
realize the obviousness of the truth. What is The Matrix?
Control. The Matrix is a computer generated dream world,
built to keep us under control in order to change a human
being into this.
Morpheus holds up a battery to Neo
Neo begins to panic.
Neo : No….I don’t belive it!! It’s not possible.
Morpheus : I didn’t say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.
TheBigOldDog on March 4, 2009 at 5:01 AM
I’ll be glad to help the IRS in catching you at every step.
sethstorm on March 4, 2009 at 5:06 AM
Are charitable contributions really at risk under Obama budget?
It is the buzz of the philanthropy world, news that President Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget blueprint cuts tax deductions for charitable donations (and other items) for Americans in the top income brackets.
While some fear a falloff in donations, others are asking about motive. Would wealthy Americans really stop giving to charities if their deductions were reduced? …
Critics are already voicing concern that charities, hard hit by a decline in donations because of sinking stock prices on Wall Street, could suffer further. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said the potential loss of philanthropic giving is “clearly one of our concerns.” And CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today that the Obama blueprint comes with “such unintended consequences” and said of charitable donations, “Get ready for those to go off a cliff.”
What is the Matrix? Control.
TheBigOldDog on March 4, 2009 at 5:14 AM
I’ll be glad to help the IRS in catching you at every step.
sethstorm
No doubt you will be rewarded for your efforts. 30 pieces of silver work for you?
SKYFOX on March 4, 2009 at 5:50 AM
At least I pay the proverbial Caesar (the IRS) what they are due.
That would be akin to hiding it with the barbarians.
sethstorm on March 4, 2009 at 5:57 AM
sethstorm
Everything Entelechy suggested can be done legally. You just want to be first in line for your brown shirt with Obama patch. Good luck with that ratting out your fellow Americans thing.
SKYFOX on March 4, 2009 at 6:10 AM
It isn’t ancient Rome yet, but I feel the flames!
Easydoesit on March 4, 2009 at 6:23 AM
The current system allows people to give to the charity of their choice. Obama wants to change the system so that the government controls the choices and how much money and support each choice gets. In the end the system Obama wants becomes totally politicized and run by big government.
Which is what Obama wants – less freedom of choice by individuals, more control and decisions made by the government.
albill on March 4, 2009 at 7:00 AM
President B. H. Obama, socialist.
Zorro on March 4, 2009 at 7:04 AM
sethstorm can’t wait to shout out a mighty “Heil Obama!” as he puts on his brown (although pale blue appears to be the preferred color for the Obama SA) shirt and his Sam Browne belt and Obama armband. I will notgive this administration through my efforts and taxes any more than I legally have to–and you can bet I will be doing everything according to the letter of the law and not the spirit. This administration has no right to my labor or productivity–it has no right to tell me how much or how little I should produce to feed its ever-hungry maw and to support its dependents and I will do everything I legally can to ensure that it does not take any more of my money and time than it has to.
Matt Helm on March 4, 2009 at 7:05 AM
Note well that the inverse relationship of statist welfare to religiosity affects the overall decline of purpose. Religiosity reflects man’s conscience, and free will charity is the hallmark of religiosity. When taxation to provide “welfare” is coerced by the state, everyone can say that they gave at the office. To the extent that taxation truly inhibits take home pay to subsistence level, the widow’s mite is about all charity gets from folks. Where charity given by free will empowers the weak to rise above catastrophe and empowers those who shared with the blessings of generosity, the coercive welfare state disempowers humanity, both the givers and the receivers. Having no more financially than the mite to give is never enough socially, and the bad reception is enough to snuff out any spark of faith, hope and charity.
The state depresses and disillusions the population sensing failure, as all the tax money goes for naught whereas donations worked miracles. But as miracles are declared dead, at least unaffordable and an unlikely gamble, the vicious cycle continues as the state usurps the church.
Yes, the irony of “liberals” dictating intolerance, endorsed by the elitist enablers who moderate “moderation” to the exclusion of tolerance.
These are not “unintended” consequences.
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 7:24 AM
Sounds like Sethstorm just volunteered for obamas Civilian National Security Force.
hawkdriver on March 4, 2009 at 7:26 AM
President B. H. Obama, socialist.President B. Hussein Obama(C)ommunist.
Just my opinion, of course…
oldleprechaun on March 4, 2009 at 7:32 AM
The civic and moral fabric of our nation has already eroded.
The religious grass roots will not disappear. But the long drought will expose the roots to every destructive abuse.
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 7:33 AM
He’ll have one helluva time here in the south where there more churches than McDonald’s and Walmarts combined. And if this happens – I hope secession becomes an option again for my fellow Southerners.
HondaV65 on March 4, 2009 at 7:36 AM
Playing Mr. Nice, the fall guy, won’t save anyone. And the time borrowed at the expense of charity won’t be pretty.
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 7:36 AM
President B. H. Obama, socialist.
Karl Marx on steroids.
apoole on March 4, 2009 at 7:37 AM
Right now the idea that the government will provide so completely for the welfare of the people that charity will be unneeded is at odds with the reality of a world that is in steep economic decline.
Even if the economy recovers–and right now the view is Obama is hurting, not helping that–there will always be abundant needs for churches to do charitable work.
dedalus on March 4, 2009 at 7:49 AM
My God Muse. What a beautifully worded thought. Musings of a statesman.
hawkdriver on March 4, 2009 at 7:51 AM
Agreed, Obamunism is an assault on religious institutions and the prevailing civic and moral fabric of the nation.
The new limits on charitable contributions are the icing on his totalitarian cake. The new limits have a very small potential for increasing tax revenues, as compared with a very large, even devastating effect on charitable/religious institutions in this country. So one can only conclude that the measures are for ideological, rather than economic purposes. They’re designed to put the gubmit in control of which charities survive and which do not.
In the Obamanation, your charity will not be funded if it’s not politically correct. In the Obamanation, if you want a gubmit grant, your grant application will be graded on how well it advances the party line.
petefrt on March 4, 2009 at 7:51 AM
ernesto, Vaclev Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, would disagree with you. Much of the global climate change alarmism is just another means for the state to quash the freedoms of humans under a new form of tyranny.
On the second point, Europe has NOT been able to sustain its economy nor its agendas with its “social democratic agendas”. During out boom years, Europe was experiencing unprecendented unemployment in comparison to ours. Its aging population is draining the resources and productivity of its youth, those that are working. Those on the dole, dispirited and alienated from any sense of personal responsibility, threaten their society’s stability. Look at who is torching the symbols of achievement, the Mercedes and BMWs, in Germany.
By rescinding the Clinton Congresses’ welfare reform, Obama has expanded the rolls of the dependents and created for them an enemy in the business/corporate world; that is, until the State, which in his worldview is superior, takes over.
onlineanalyst on March 4, 2009 at 7:57 AM
disapproval rating goes higher and higher each day. I canNOT possibly believe that Axlerod either doesn’t see that, or that he’s silent about it.
scottm on March 4, 2009 at 8:02 AM
Southerners are already the target of abuse. Going under the wheels of Obama’s bus is nothing compared to PRECEDENT Obama’s redux of Sherman’s March.
Daniel not only had the favor of the king he served but the ministry of guardian angels when thrown into the lion’s den for praying faithfully to God. David took on Goliath during his innocence of youth; his faith was the full armor of God as he refused to wear his King’s armor to champion God.
Those men of old were appreciated by their kings. Whereas, Weltkaiser Obama does not appreciate Americans and has no more allegiance to America than to any other country, though he exercises the greatest power from America to enact the New World Order.
It all boils down to our Constitution, whether it stands or goes by the wayside. Our legal defense rests within our Constitution. Our moral convictions are protected within our Constitution. Those authoring men of our more recent old era realized the fruition of the greatest inspiration, the ruling gift that God would have granted his Chosen who instead preferred a King. WE THE PEOPLE, in order to preserve a more perfect union, will not permit Socialist Authoritarianism to usurp our Constitutional Government, nor will we permit a politician to presume godhood.
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 8:06 AM
much appreciated
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 8:09 AM
…utilizing mass hysteria to get the people to enact their own death sentence.
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.
The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived!
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Good point. Trinity is as much (or more) about ideology as religion. Obama’s membership at Trinity could reflect either his ideological or religious belief, or both. We know Obama was a leftist before he connected with Trinity. I wonder if he was religious before then too.
petefrt on March 4, 2009 at 8:17 AM
It’s all about control. Obama will kick charities to the curb (he’s already proposed reducing the tax deduction for charitable contributions) and he will prop up government social services to take their place. It’s transparent. But see how well that approach worked out in Europe?
DrStock on March 4, 2009 at 8:27 AM
I’m going Galt, too. And I am encouraging everyone I meet to do the same.
DrStock on March 4, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Every solicitation for charitable contributions should be saved and sent to your rep’s in congress. Since they know best, they should start adding an earmark for these organizations in your name as part of their wealth distribution.
hillbilly on March 4, 2009 at 8:33 AM
When Joe the plummer asked BO if he was socialist, BO denied it. He did not lie.
BO is a communist – 100%.
stenwin77 on March 4, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Me too.
petefrt on March 4, 2009 at 8:45 AM
As an ideal, that’s just great.
/
maverick muse on March 4, 2009 at 8:49 AM
More Great News!!! Way to go Barry!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504365,00.html
marklmail on March 4, 2009 at 8:49 AM
you misunderstand me. i meant that europe has been able to sustain social democratic agendas without then delving into true marxism as so many here assume Obama will. to say so misrepresents actual marxism, which involves politboro control of ALL means of production. if all means of production arent controlled by the party in power, then its not marxism
ernesto on March 4, 2009 at 8:52 AM
We are getting there:
10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equal distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form.
neuquenguy on March 4, 2009 at 9:00 AM
PARTIAL LIST OF DOCUMENTS THAT BARACK OBAMA REFUSES TO RELEASE -. OBAMA’S SECRECY AND “CLOSED RECORDS” POLICY
Indonesian Passport – Not released
Application for U.S. Citizenship (as former citizen of Indonesia) – Not released
Immigration Records – Not released
Original Vault Copy Birth Certificate – Not released
Certificate of Live Birth – Counterfeit Version on Obama Web Site
Obama / Dunham Marriage License – Not released
Soetoro / Dunham Marriage License – Not released
Soetoro Adoption Records – Not Released
Fransiskus Assisi School Application – Not released
Punahou School Records – Not released
Selective Service Registration – Counterfeit version generated
Occidental College records – Not released
Columbia College Records – Not released
Columbia Thesis – Not released
Harvard College Records – Not released
Baptism Certificate – None
Medical Records – Not released
Illinois State Senate Records – Not released
Law Practice Client List – Not released
University of Chicago Scholarly Articles – None
searcher484 on March 4, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Obama is not a true Christian. Jesus told us to look for fruits. Those vines that did not produce would be cut from the one vine (Christ) and tossed into a pile to be burned.
How much did Obama give to charity over the last few years? Consider that giving to your church is a charitable donation, and that Christians are commanded by God to tithe 10% to support the church.
Has Obama produced any fruit?
dominigan on March 4, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Ernesto, we are only looking at a snapshot in time of Europe’s socialist tendencies. The march to socialism is gradual and sometimes slow. What FDR started 75 years ago, Obama is reinvigorating with this “economic crisis”. Obama may not see it come to fruition during his term, but the socialist saplings are being fertilized.
mdenis39 on March 4, 2009 at 10:38 AM
My wife works for a very worthy non-profit, they are doing so-so. We make an effort to give as much back to other worthy non-profits of our choosing. Problem is, we can’t give what we don’t have. Also keep in mind, our rights are God given, when Obama marginalizes God in our country what do you think will happen to our rights?
Badbrucskie on March 4, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Good for you. Every totalitarian fascist state needs some people to be snitches.
Good to see you’ve finally found a job you might be qualified for; we worried that you’d never find something you could do and accept as your calling.
A snitch for a totalitarian fascist state is really about your métier.
gekkobear on March 4, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Which has worked out oh so well for them.
Grafted on March 4, 2009 at 2:35 PM
This coming from a self-proclaimed “agnostic”.
apacalyps on March 4, 2009 at 4:20 PM
You cannot tax what I refuse to produce.
Brownshirt.
trigon on March 4, 2009 at 5:26 PM
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