I have noticed over the past year that Amazon.com's reviews had been over run by some idiots. And I found a very well writen article on the following blog site:
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006205.php
January 23, 2006
Leftists Against Free Speech And Dialogue
One of the least-welcome developments of the Internet has been the rise of e-graffiti, especially at places like Amazon.com, where the victims overwhelmingly have been conservative writers. It appears that those who oppose conservative thought have little love for free speech when practiced by those who disagree with them, and their only intellectual recourse is to deface websites that sell the books written by conservatives. Kate O'Beirn's book, Women Who Make The World Worse attracted not just the usual flood of phony reviews from Kate's detractors but also a hacked picture of the book's cover. That hack job, in all senses of the word, is not only obvious but childishly so.
One could make an argument -- a specious argument, but at least an argument -- that Kate's approach to her subject generates the ill will it received. However, Fred Barnes' book about George Bush, the newly-released Rebel In Chief, focuses on Bush himself, not his opposition. Such is the lack of intellectual heft and tolerance on the Left that the Amazon site has already been overrun by the bookburners. Michelle Malkin provides a glimpse of the faux reviews entered from the book's "readers". The picture got hacked briefly and replaced with the image at the right. Daniel Coppens of Crown Forum notes:Amazon already has contracts with Liberal newspapers and magazines that are free to post bad reviews (obviously) of Conservative books. However, they offer no such contracts to Conservative media and therefore offer no way to refute what is said in the negative Liberal reviews, other than what we are allowed to put in our own 'quotes' section. These types of business practices by Amazon are completely unacceptable; for them not to monitor these images that anyone can put up and for them not to make any effort to support their Conservative business partners is awful.
I would put it somewhat differently, and list Amazon as a victim of this as well. It offers free access to post reader reviews to assist their customers in selecting the books they want to read. Instead, the Left hijacks this system to get a free ride for their sloganeering and abuses Amazon by illegally interfering with its business. The Left doesn't want people to hear what conservatives have to say, perhaps knowing that they have been intellectually outclassed and proven disastrously wrong by history and current events. Instead, they issue mindless attacks, childish insults, and do everything possible to keep people from having access to conservative thought.
That's not the actions of people who have confidence in themselves. Those are the actions of a fearful, small-minded, vulgar group of Neanderthals who have suddenly seen Homo sapiens and realized that their days are numbered. These mouthbreathers cannot offer any new ideas, so instead of trying to compete with conservatives, they're busy with the electronic equivalent of sticking their fingers into their ears and shouting, "LA-LA-LA-LA, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU!!" as loudly as possible.
In short, the Left consists of ill-educated, ill-mannered children. That they keep going to such lengths to prove it shows that they don't have anything else to offer.
Posted by Captain Ed at January 23, 2006 12:25 PM
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
They Were There
I found this on csnews.com. And since this site is not backed by Mr. Soros I am sure some will call it fiction.
Demolishing the WMD MythBy David ThibaultCNSNews.com Editor in ChiefJanuary 30, 2006This isn't the type of commentary about weapons of mass destruction that you have seen so often over the last 18 months, from media liberals like the Washington Post's Richard Cohen, who at every turn have insisted that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs or links to al Qaeda when he was routed from office by U.S. and coalition military forces in 2003.Armed only with the conclusions of United Nations and Bush administration-appointed weapons inspectors that no significant WMD caches had been discovered in Iraq, these media misfits and the liberal apparatus in Congress has had a field day castigating President Bush for his decision to invade Iraq.Nobody states the Democrats' weak-kneed response (What would F.D.R. and Harry Truman think?) better than the Massachusetts Democratic senator that the party entrusted with its presidential nomination in 2004 - John Kerry."Let's be clear: there is no question that Americans were misled into war in Iraq. Simply put, they were told that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction when he did not," Kerry proclaimed on Nov. 14, 2005, in a speech -- and you have to give him points for audacity here -- meant to honor American veterans.The website of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House minority leader, still claims in a release dated Jan. 12, 2005, that "President Bush has refused to concede what has been obvious for months: the primary justification for the invasion of Iraq was not supported by fact."Enter Georges Sada, one of Saddam Hussein's top generals and military advisors, whose book, "Saddam's Secrets - How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein," is causing quite a stir and may or may not be giving Kerry and Pelosi heartburn.Sada is unsparing in his criticism of Republican President George H. W. Bush for failing to finish the job in the first Persian Gulf War and rid the world of Saddam. And he blasts away at Democratic President Bill Clinton for his weak responses to terrorist attacks and the Saddam threat in the 1990s.Not only does Sada praise the current President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, stating that U.S.-led coalition forces "did us a great service," he demolishes the myth that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and posed no international threat.Sada details a frightening passage in which Saddam asked for his advice about attacking Israel with chemical weapons -- the nerve gases Tabun, Sarin 1 and Sarin 2. He also explains how Saddam managed to smuggle his weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq and into Syria, following a natural disaster in northwestern Syria on June 4, 2002. "[W]hen Syrian president Bashar al-Assad asked for help from Jordan and Iraq, Saddam knew what he would do." Sada writes. "For him, the disaster in Syria was a gift, and there, posing as shipments of supplies and equipment sent from Iraq to aid the relief effort, were Iraq's WMDs." The author confirmed these details with one of the pilots of the 747 jets that were gutted on the inside in order to store the WMDs, before being flown from Iraq to Syria.Sada has much more to say in the book, the first substantive, reliable account of how Saddam made fools of the international community, U.S. liberal politicians and the media establishment who were determined to create the self-fulfilling prophecy that there were no WMDs in Iraq. We know that that these groups and individuals did it for political gain -- it hasn't worked so far -- instead of using their common sense and pointing the finger at the real enemy.Sada's book, while adding crucial details on how Saddam got rid of his WMDs, was no news flash to Cybercast News Service. Please read our own comprehensive account, reported by Scott Wheeler on Oct. 4, 2004, of Saddam's procurement of weapons of mass destruction as well as his extensive links to al Qaeda.
Demolishing the WMD MythBy David ThibaultCNSNews.com Editor in ChiefJanuary 30, 2006This isn't the type of commentary about weapons of mass destruction that you have seen so often over the last 18 months, from media liberals like the Washington Post's Richard Cohen, who at every turn have insisted that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs or links to al Qaeda when he was routed from office by U.S. and coalition military forces in 2003.Armed only with the conclusions of United Nations and Bush administration-appointed weapons inspectors that no significant WMD caches had been discovered in Iraq, these media misfits and the liberal apparatus in Congress has had a field day castigating President Bush for his decision to invade Iraq.Nobody states the Democrats' weak-kneed response (What would F.D.R. and Harry Truman think?) better than the Massachusetts Democratic senator that the party entrusted with its presidential nomination in 2004 - John Kerry."Let's be clear: there is no question that Americans were misled into war in Iraq. Simply put, they were told that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction when he did not," Kerry proclaimed on Nov. 14, 2005, in a speech -- and you have to give him points for audacity here -- meant to honor American veterans.The website of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House minority leader, still claims in a release dated Jan. 12, 2005, that "President Bush has refused to concede what has been obvious for months: the primary justification for the invasion of Iraq was not supported by fact."Enter Georges Sada, one of Saddam Hussein's top generals and military advisors, whose book, "Saddam's Secrets - How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein," is causing quite a stir and may or may not be giving Kerry and Pelosi heartburn.Sada is unsparing in his criticism of Republican President George H. W. Bush for failing to finish the job in the first Persian Gulf War and rid the world of Saddam. And he blasts away at Democratic President Bill Clinton for his weak responses to terrorist attacks and the Saddam threat in the 1990s.Not only does Sada praise the current President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, stating that U.S.-led coalition forces "did us a great service," he demolishes the myth that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and posed no international threat.Sada details a frightening passage in which Saddam asked for his advice about attacking Israel with chemical weapons -- the nerve gases Tabun, Sarin 1 and Sarin 2. He also explains how Saddam managed to smuggle his weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq and into Syria, following a natural disaster in northwestern Syria on June 4, 2002. "[W]hen Syrian president Bashar al-Assad asked for help from Jordan and Iraq, Saddam knew what he would do." Sada writes. "For him, the disaster in Syria was a gift, and there, posing as shipments of supplies and equipment sent from Iraq to aid the relief effort, were Iraq's WMDs." The author confirmed these details with one of the pilots of the 747 jets that were gutted on the inside in order to store the WMDs, before being flown from Iraq to Syria.Sada has much more to say in the book, the first substantive, reliable account of how Saddam made fools of the international community, U.S. liberal politicians and the media establishment who were determined to create the self-fulfilling prophecy that there were no WMDs in Iraq. We know that that these groups and individuals did it for political gain -- it hasn't worked so far -- instead of using their common sense and pointing the finger at the real enemy.Sada's book, while adding crucial details on how Saddam got rid of his WMDs, was no news flash to Cybercast News Service. Please read our own comprehensive account, reported by Scott Wheeler on Oct. 4, 2004, of Saddam's procurement of weapons of mass destruction as well as his extensive links to al Qaeda.
It Is A Hate Crime
Why isn't this guy being charged with a hate crime. He attacked these students with a SUV. He attempted to kill them because they are Americans. And I love the part of allah being the co counsel! Hope allah has time in between locating virgins and booz.
CHAPEL HILL -- The UNC-Chapel Hill graduate charged with injuring nine people when he drove an SUV down a crowded campus walkway politely told a judge Monday he plans to represent himself, with the help of Allah.
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, was taken into Orange County District Court chained and in an orange jumpsuit and flanked by sheriff's deputies. Calm and with a constant closed-lip smile, he answered Judge Pat DeVine's questions of whether he understood the day's proceedings with "Yes, Ma'am"s.
"I'm thankful you're here to give me this trial and to learn more about the will of Allah," he told the judge in court.
District Attorney Jim Woodall read off each of the 18 charges, naming the nine people hit by the rented 2006 Jeep Cherokee on Friday. Six of them were treated for minor injuries at UNC Hospitals, and three refused treatment, according to university officials.
When asked by reporters outside the courthouse whether he intended to kill his targets, Taheri-azar said, "Yes."
A U.S. citizen born in Iran, Taheri-azar faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury for each of the nine people hit. DeVine kept bail at $5.5 million and asked the public defender's office to work with Taheri-azar until the court felt comfortable that he was competent enough to represent himself.
Taheri-azar will stay at Raleigh's Central Prison for safekeeping, DeVine said, after court officials determined he was unstable and a danger to himself and others. Court documents said Taheri-azar told a UNC-CH police detective that "people all over the world are being killed in war and now it is the people in the United States['] turn to be killed." Police say he also told them he intended to kill people when he drove into The Pit, a campus gathering spot.
Taheri-azar grew up in the Charlotte area, attending public school for 13 years until he graduated from South Mecklenburg High School in 2001.
UNC-CH senior Dave Van Atta, who shared a dormitory suite his freshman year with Taheri-azar, described him as a serious student, a hospital volunteer and a Muslim who became deeply committed to his religion relatively recently.
The two met up again for lunch in Durham last spring and talked about religion for two hours after Van Atta expressed his own atheism. "He was pretty devout," Van Atta recalled.
"It was as if he had just found religion," Van Atta said. Taheri-azar had studied the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and knew it well. "He was really at peace with himself when I talked with him last."
Taheri-azar graduated in December with a double major in psychology and philosophy and had recently started working at Jimmy John's, a Franklin Street sub shop.
Recording of 911 call
On Monday, UNC-CH released a recording of the 911 call Taheri-azar made after he left campus Friday.
"I just hit several people with a vehicle," he told the dispatcher. "I don't have any weapons or anything on me; you can come and arrest me now."
Taheri-azar said he left the Jeep running but didn't want to get back in because he didn't want police to think he was trying to run away.
In his call, Taheri-azar said he left an explanation for his actions in a one-page letter on his bed.
"Really, it's to punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world," he told the dispatcher.
After his arrest, police evacuated Taheri-azar's Carrboro apartment building before searching it with the State Bureau of Investigation's bomb squad, but no explosives were found.
Inside the unlocked and empty apartment Saturday, a GoArmy packet with enlistment information lay on the bed in a front bedroom thought to be Taheri-azar's. A packet, "Questionnaire for National Security Positions," had been marked with a highlighter and included questions such as, "What is your nationality?"
A blank photocopy of a "Reference Form" for a handgun permit with the Orange County Sheriff's Office was in the trash.
Among the books lined up against the wall on the floor were the Quran, books by Nelson Mandela and Cornel West and "Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror."
CHAPEL HILL -- The UNC-Chapel Hill graduate charged with injuring nine people when he drove an SUV down a crowded campus walkway politely told a judge Monday he plans to represent himself, with the help of Allah.
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, was taken into Orange County District Court chained and in an orange jumpsuit and flanked by sheriff's deputies. Calm and with a constant closed-lip smile, he answered Judge Pat DeVine's questions of whether he understood the day's proceedings with "Yes, Ma'am"s.
"I'm thankful you're here to give me this trial and to learn more about the will of Allah," he told the judge in court.
District Attorney Jim Woodall read off each of the 18 charges, naming the nine people hit by the rented 2006 Jeep Cherokee on Friday. Six of them were treated for minor injuries at UNC Hospitals, and three refused treatment, according to university officials.
When asked by reporters outside the courthouse whether he intended to kill his targets, Taheri-azar said, "Yes."
A U.S. citizen born in Iran, Taheri-azar faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury for each of the nine people hit. DeVine kept bail at $5.5 million and asked the public defender's office to work with Taheri-azar until the court felt comfortable that he was competent enough to represent himself.
Taheri-azar will stay at Raleigh's Central Prison for safekeeping, DeVine said, after court officials determined he was unstable and a danger to himself and others. Court documents said Taheri-azar told a UNC-CH police detective that "people all over the world are being killed in war and now it is the people in the United States['] turn to be killed." Police say he also told them he intended to kill people when he drove into The Pit, a campus gathering spot.
Taheri-azar grew up in the Charlotte area, attending public school for 13 years until he graduated from South Mecklenburg High School in 2001.
UNC-CH senior Dave Van Atta, who shared a dormitory suite his freshman year with Taheri-azar, described him as a serious student, a hospital volunteer and a Muslim who became deeply committed to his religion relatively recently.
The two met up again for lunch in Durham last spring and talked about religion for two hours after Van Atta expressed his own atheism. "He was pretty devout," Van Atta recalled.
"It was as if he had just found religion," Van Atta said. Taheri-azar had studied the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and knew it well. "He was really at peace with himself when I talked with him last."
Taheri-azar graduated in December with a double major in psychology and philosophy and had recently started working at Jimmy John's, a Franklin Street sub shop.
Recording of 911 call
On Monday, UNC-CH released a recording of the 911 call Taheri-azar made after he left campus Friday.
"I just hit several people with a vehicle," he told the dispatcher. "I don't have any weapons or anything on me; you can come and arrest me now."
Taheri-azar said he left the Jeep running but didn't want to get back in because he didn't want police to think he was trying to run away.
In his call, Taheri-azar said he left an explanation for his actions in a one-page letter on his bed.
"Really, it's to punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world," he told the dispatcher.
After his arrest, police evacuated Taheri-azar's Carrboro apartment building before searching it with the State Bureau of Investigation's bomb squad, but no explosives were found.
Inside the unlocked and empty apartment Saturday, a GoArmy packet with enlistment information lay on the bed in a front bedroom thought to be Taheri-azar's. A packet, "Questionnaire for National Security Positions," had been marked with a highlighter and included questions such as, "What is your nationality?"
A blank photocopy of a "Reference Form" for a handgun permit with the Orange County Sheriff's Office was in the trash.
Among the books lined up against the wall on the floor were the Quran, books by Nelson Mandela and Cornel West and "Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror."
There Goes Our Dollar
When reading this article I would advise one to be seated next to a cooler full of beer. The financial burden of this problem is infinite and the potential health risk are deadly. And many politicians, no matter what their part membership refuse to step up.
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Cristobal Silverio emigrated illegally from Mexico to Stockton, Calif., in 1997 to work as a fruit picker.
He brought with him his wife, Felipa, and three children, 19, 12 and 8 – all illegals. When Felipa gave birth to her fourth child, daughter Flor, the family had what is referred to as an "anchor baby" – an American citizen by birth who provided the entire Silverio clan a ticket to remain in the U.S. permanently.
But Flor was born premature, spent three months in the neonatal incubator and cost the San Joaquin Hospital more than $300,000. Meanwhile, oldest daughter Lourdes married an illegal alien gave birth to a daughter, too. Her name is Esmeralda. And Felipa had yet another child, Cristian.
The two Silverio anchor babies generate $1,000 per month in public welfare funding for the family. Flor gets $600 a month for asthma. Healthy Cristian gets $400. While the Silverios earned $18,000 last year picking fruit, they picked up another $12,000 for their two "anchor babies."
While President Bush says the U.S. needs more "cheap labor" from south of the border to do jobs Americans aren't willing to do, the case of the Silverios shows there are indeed uncalculated costs involved in the importation of such labor – public support and uninsured medical costs.
In fact, the increasing number of illegal aliens coming into the United States is forcing the closure of hospitals, spreading previously vanquished diseases and threatening to destroy America's prized health-care system, says a report in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.
"The influx of illegal aliens has serious hidden medical consequences," writes Madeleine Pelner Cosman, author of the report. "We judge reality primarily by what we see. But what we do not see can be more dangerous, more expensive, and more deadly than what is seen."
According to her study, 84 California hospitals are closing their doors as a direct result of the rising number of illegal aliens and their non-reimbursed tax on the system.
"Anchor babies," the author writes, "born to illegal aliens instantly qualify as citizens for welfare benefits and have caused enormous rises in Medicaid costs and stipends under Supplemental Security Income and Disability Income."
In addition, the report says, "many illegal aliens harbor fatal diseases that American medicine fought and vanquished long ago, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, plague, polio, dengue, and Chagas disease."
While politicians often mention there are 43 million without health insurance in this country, the report estimates that at least 25 percent of those are illegal immigrants. The figure could be as high as 50 percent.
Not being insured does not mean they don't get medical care.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985, hospitals are obligated to treat the uninsured without reimbursement.
"Government imposes viciously stiff fines and penalties on any physician and any hospital refusing to treat any patient that a zealous prosecutor deems an emergency patient, even though the hospital or physician screened and declared the patient's illness or injury non-emergency," says the report. "But government pays neither hospital nor physician for treatments. In addition to the fiscal attack on medical facilities and personnel, EMTALA is a handy truncheon with which to pummel politically unpopular physicians by falsely accusing them of violating EMTALA."
According to the report, between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because half their services became unpaid. Another 24 California hospitals verge on closure, the author writes.
"American hospitals welcome 'anchor babies,'" says the report. "Illegal alien women come to the hospital in labor and drop their little anchors, each of whom pulls its illegal alien mother, father, and siblings into permanent residency simply by being born within our borders. Anchor babies are citizens, and instantly qualify for public welfare aid: Between 300,000 and 350,000 anchor babies annually become citizens because of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside."
Among the organizations directing illegal aliens into America's medical systems, according to the report, are the Ford Foundation-funded Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration Policy, Practice, and Pro Bono, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the National Council of La Raza, George Soros's Open Society Institute, the Migration Policy Institute, the National Network for Immigration and Refugee Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Because drug addiction and alcoholism are classified as diseases and disabilities, the fiscal toll on the health-care system rises.
When Linda Torres was arrested in Bakersfield, Calif., with about $8,500 in small bills in a sack, the police originally thought it was stolen money, explained the report. It was her Social Security lump sum for her disability -- heroin addiction.
"Today, legal immigrants must demonstrate that they are free of communicable diseases and drug addiction to qualify for lawful permanent residency green cards," writes Cosman, a medical lawyer, who formerly taught medical students at the City University of New York. "Illegal aliens simply cross our borders medically unexamined, hiding in their bodies any number of communicable diseases."
Many illegals entering this country have tuberculosis, according to the report.
"That disease had largely disappeared from America, thanks to excellent hygiene and powerful modern drugs such as isoniazid and rifampin," says the report. "TB's swift, deadly return now is lethal for about 60 percent of those infected because of new Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. Until recently MDR-TB was endemic to Mexico. This Mycobacterium tuberculosis is resistant to at least two major anti-tubercular drugs. Ordinary TB usually is cured in six months with four drugs that cost about $2,000. MDR-TB takes 24 months with many expensive drugs that cost around $250,000 with toxic side effects. Each illegal with MDR-TB coughs and infects 10 to 30 people, who will not show symptoms immediately. Latent disease explodes later.
TB was virtually absent in Virginia until in 2002, when it spiked a 17 percent increase, but Prince William County, just south of Washington, D.C., had a much larger rise of 188 percent. Public health officials blamed immigrants. In 2001 the Indiana School of Medicine studied an outbreak of MDR-TB, and traced it to Mexican illegal aliens. The Queens, New York, health department attributed 81 percent of new TB cases in 2001 to immigrants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ascribed 42 percent of all new TB cases to 'foreign born' people who have up to eight times higher incidences apparently, 66 percent of all TB cases coming to America originate in Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam."
Other health threats from illegals include, according to the report:
Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis or "kissing bug disease," is transmitted by the reduviid bug, which prefers to bite the lips and face. The protozoan parasite that it carries, Trypanosoma cruzi, infects 18 million people annually in Latin America and causes 50,000 deaths. The disease also infiltrates America's blood supply. Chagas affects blood transfusions and transplanted organs. No cure exists. Hundreds of blood recipients may be silently infected.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, was so rare in America that in 40 years only 900 people were afflicted. Suddenly, in the past three years America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy. Leprosy now is endemic to northeastern states because illegal aliens and other immigrants brought leprosy from India, Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico.
Dengue fever is exceptionally rare in America, though common in Ecuador, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Mexico. Recently, according to the report, there was a virulent outbreak of dengue fever in Webb County, Texas, which borders Mexico. Though dengue is usually not a fatal disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever routinely kills.
Polio was eradicated from America, but now reappears in illegal immigrants as do intestinal parasites, says the report.
Malaria was obliterated, but now is re-emerging in Texas.
The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons report includes a strong prescription for protecting the health of Americans:
Closing America's borders with fences, high-tech security devices and troops.
Rescinding the U.S. citizenship of "anchor babies."
Punishing the aiding and abetting of illegal aliens as a crime.
An end to amnesty programs.
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Cristobal Silverio emigrated illegally from Mexico to Stockton, Calif., in 1997 to work as a fruit picker.
He brought with him his wife, Felipa, and three children, 19, 12 and 8 – all illegals. When Felipa gave birth to her fourth child, daughter Flor, the family had what is referred to as an "anchor baby" – an American citizen by birth who provided the entire Silverio clan a ticket to remain in the U.S. permanently.
But Flor was born premature, spent three months in the neonatal incubator and cost the San Joaquin Hospital more than $300,000. Meanwhile, oldest daughter Lourdes married an illegal alien gave birth to a daughter, too. Her name is Esmeralda. And Felipa had yet another child, Cristian.
The two Silverio anchor babies generate $1,000 per month in public welfare funding for the family. Flor gets $600 a month for asthma. Healthy Cristian gets $400. While the Silverios earned $18,000 last year picking fruit, they picked up another $12,000 for their two "anchor babies."
While President Bush says the U.S. needs more "cheap labor" from south of the border to do jobs Americans aren't willing to do, the case of the Silverios shows there are indeed uncalculated costs involved in the importation of such labor – public support and uninsured medical costs.
In fact, the increasing number of illegal aliens coming into the United States is forcing the closure of hospitals, spreading previously vanquished diseases and threatening to destroy America's prized health-care system, says a report in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.
"The influx of illegal aliens has serious hidden medical consequences," writes Madeleine Pelner Cosman, author of the report. "We judge reality primarily by what we see. But what we do not see can be more dangerous, more expensive, and more deadly than what is seen."
According to her study, 84 California hospitals are closing their doors as a direct result of the rising number of illegal aliens and their non-reimbursed tax on the system.
"Anchor babies," the author writes, "born to illegal aliens instantly qualify as citizens for welfare benefits and have caused enormous rises in Medicaid costs and stipends under Supplemental Security Income and Disability Income."
In addition, the report says, "many illegal aliens harbor fatal diseases that American medicine fought and vanquished long ago, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, plague, polio, dengue, and Chagas disease."
While politicians often mention there are 43 million without health insurance in this country, the report estimates that at least 25 percent of those are illegal immigrants. The figure could be as high as 50 percent.
Not being insured does not mean they don't get medical care.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985, hospitals are obligated to treat the uninsured without reimbursement.
"Government imposes viciously stiff fines and penalties on any physician and any hospital refusing to treat any patient that a zealous prosecutor deems an emergency patient, even though the hospital or physician screened and declared the patient's illness or injury non-emergency," says the report. "But government pays neither hospital nor physician for treatments. In addition to the fiscal attack on medical facilities and personnel, EMTALA is a handy truncheon with which to pummel politically unpopular physicians by falsely accusing them of violating EMTALA."
According to the report, between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because half their services became unpaid. Another 24 California hospitals verge on closure, the author writes.
"American hospitals welcome 'anchor babies,'" says the report. "Illegal alien women come to the hospital in labor and drop their little anchors, each of whom pulls its illegal alien mother, father, and siblings into permanent residency simply by being born within our borders. Anchor babies are citizens, and instantly qualify for public welfare aid: Between 300,000 and 350,000 anchor babies annually become citizens because of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside."
Among the organizations directing illegal aliens into America's medical systems, according to the report, are the Ford Foundation-funded Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration Policy, Practice, and Pro Bono, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the National Council of La Raza, George Soros's Open Society Institute, the Migration Policy Institute, the National Network for Immigration and Refugee Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Because drug addiction and alcoholism are classified as diseases and disabilities, the fiscal toll on the health-care system rises.
When Linda Torres was arrested in Bakersfield, Calif., with about $8,500 in small bills in a sack, the police originally thought it was stolen money, explained the report. It was her Social Security lump sum for her disability -- heroin addiction.
"Today, legal immigrants must demonstrate that they are free of communicable diseases and drug addiction to qualify for lawful permanent residency green cards," writes Cosman, a medical lawyer, who formerly taught medical students at the City University of New York. "Illegal aliens simply cross our borders medically unexamined, hiding in their bodies any number of communicable diseases."
Many illegals entering this country have tuberculosis, according to the report.
"That disease had largely disappeared from America, thanks to excellent hygiene and powerful modern drugs such as isoniazid and rifampin," says the report. "TB's swift, deadly return now is lethal for about 60 percent of those infected because of new Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. Until recently MDR-TB was endemic to Mexico. This Mycobacterium tuberculosis is resistant to at least two major anti-tubercular drugs. Ordinary TB usually is cured in six months with four drugs that cost about $2,000. MDR-TB takes 24 months with many expensive drugs that cost around $250,000 with toxic side effects. Each illegal with MDR-TB coughs and infects 10 to 30 people, who will not show symptoms immediately. Latent disease explodes later.
TB was virtually absent in Virginia until in 2002, when it spiked a 17 percent increase, but Prince William County, just south of Washington, D.C., had a much larger rise of 188 percent. Public health officials blamed immigrants. In 2001 the Indiana School of Medicine studied an outbreak of MDR-TB, and traced it to Mexican illegal aliens. The Queens, New York, health department attributed 81 percent of new TB cases in 2001 to immigrants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ascribed 42 percent of all new TB cases to 'foreign born' people who have up to eight times higher incidences apparently, 66 percent of all TB cases coming to America originate in Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam."
Other health threats from illegals include, according to the report:
Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis or "kissing bug disease," is transmitted by the reduviid bug, which prefers to bite the lips and face. The protozoan parasite that it carries, Trypanosoma cruzi, infects 18 million people annually in Latin America and causes 50,000 deaths. The disease also infiltrates America's blood supply. Chagas affects blood transfusions and transplanted organs. No cure exists. Hundreds of blood recipients may be silently infected.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, was so rare in America that in 40 years only 900 people were afflicted. Suddenly, in the past three years America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy. Leprosy now is endemic to northeastern states because illegal aliens and other immigrants brought leprosy from India, Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico.
Dengue fever is exceptionally rare in America, though common in Ecuador, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Mexico. Recently, according to the report, there was a virulent outbreak of dengue fever in Webb County, Texas, which borders Mexico. Though dengue is usually not a fatal disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever routinely kills.
Polio was eradicated from America, but now reappears in illegal immigrants as do intestinal parasites, says the report.
Malaria was obliterated, but now is re-emerging in Texas.
The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons report includes a strong prescription for protecting the health of Americans:
Closing America's borders with fences, high-tech security devices and troops.
Rescinding the U.S. citizenship of "anchor babies."
Punishing the aiding and abetting of illegal aliens as a crime.
An end to amnesty programs.
Monday, March 6, 2006
Seal Both Borders
What border can we control. If my name was Mohammed I would tunnel through the Canadian border. Better fishing!
Third border tunnel defendant pleads guilty
By GENE JOHNSONAP LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER
SEATTLE -- The last of three men charged with digging a sophisticated drug-smuggling tunnel under the U.S.-Canadian border pleaded guilty on Friday, two days after a Senate bill was introduced to make cross-border tunneling punishable by 20 years in prison.
Timothy Woo faces at least five years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million when he is sentenced for conspiracy to smuggle marijuana, as do Francis Devandra Raj and Jonathan Valenzuela, who previously entered guilty pleas.
All three are from Surrey, British Columbia. They were arrested last July, shortly after they finished the 360-foot tunnel just north of Lynden - the first tunnel discovered along the U.S.-Canadian border. It ran from the living room of a home on the U.S. side to a boarded-up Quonset hut on the Canadian side.
Border guards noticed construction materials being brought into the hut, and loads of dirt coming out, and investigators used the Patriot Act's provision for "sneak-and-peek" search warrants to examine the tunnel and set up cameras to monitor it.
The investigators allowed three marijuana-running trips to take place in the tunnel in hopes of learning more about the suspects and whether they were involved in a wider drug ring. In each case the defendants were tailed as they left the tunnel.
On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash; Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced a bill that would make financing or building a cross-border tunnel punishable by 20 years in prison. Though it is illegal now to avoid examination at the border, tunneling is not specifically a crime.
"This is an issue of national security," Cantwell said. "We need to keep drugs out of our communities and terrorists out of our country."
Since Sept. 11, 2001, 35 border tunnels have been discovered in the United States - all but one on the Mexican border, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"There's always a concern that this is a harbinger of future events," U.S. Attorney John McKay said Friday. "We have to stay vigilant."
McKay said he could not comment specifically on the proposed legislation.
However, he said creating harsh penalties for tunnel financing and construction could actually hinder the efforts of law enforcement. Canadian authorities were extremely reluctant to allow the drug smugglers to make runs through the tunnel for fear that they might get away. U.S. investigators shared that concern, but convinced the Canadians it was essential for building the case against the three suspects and for conducting a broader investigation.
If tunnel-building itself carries a 20-year sentence, Canadian authorities could argue that American prosecutors don't so much need to verify what suspects are using the tunnel for, McKay suggested.
Cantwell spokeswoman Charla Neuman said the legislation is designed to give investigators more options.
"You can still convince the Canadians that monitoring is necessary," Neuman said. "And say the Canadians don't agree. At least you can still go after the criminals for something."
The investigators have not determined who financed the tunnel's construction, estimated to have cost more than $20,000.
---
Gene Johnson has covered courts and legal affairs for the AP since 2000
Third border tunnel defendant pleads guilty
By GENE JOHNSONAP LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER
SEATTLE -- The last of three men charged with digging a sophisticated drug-smuggling tunnel under the U.S.-Canadian border pleaded guilty on Friday, two days after a Senate bill was introduced to make cross-border tunneling punishable by 20 years in prison.
Timothy Woo faces at least five years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million when he is sentenced for conspiracy to smuggle marijuana, as do Francis Devandra Raj and Jonathan Valenzuela, who previously entered guilty pleas.
All three are from Surrey, British Columbia. They were arrested last July, shortly after they finished the 360-foot tunnel just north of Lynden - the first tunnel discovered along the U.S.-Canadian border. It ran from the living room of a home on the U.S. side to a boarded-up Quonset hut on the Canadian side.
Border guards noticed construction materials being brought into the hut, and loads of dirt coming out, and investigators used the Patriot Act's provision for "sneak-and-peek" search warrants to examine the tunnel and set up cameras to monitor it.
The investigators allowed three marijuana-running trips to take place in the tunnel in hopes of learning more about the suspects and whether they were involved in a wider drug ring. In each case the defendants were tailed as they left the tunnel.
On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash; Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced a bill that would make financing or building a cross-border tunnel punishable by 20 years in prison. Though it is illegal now to avoid examination at the border, tunneling is not specifically a crime.
"This is an issue of national security," Cantwell said. "We need to keep drugs out of our communities and terrorists out of our country."
Since Sept. 11, 2001, 35 border tunnels have been discovered in the United States - all but one on the Mexican border, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"There's always a concern that this is a harbinger of future events," U.S. Attorney John McKay said Friday. "We have to stay vigilant."
McKay said he could not comment specifically on the proposed legislation.
However, he said creating harsh penalties for tunnel financing and construction could actually hinder the efforts of law enforcement. Canadian authorities were extremely reluctant to allow the drug smugglers to make runs through the tunnel for fear that they might get away. U.S. investigators shared that concern, but convinced the Canadians it was essential for building the case against the three suspects and for conducting a broader investigation.
If tunnel-building itself carries a 20-year sentence, Canadian authorities could argue that American prosecutors don't so much need to verify what suspects are using the tunnel for, McKay suggested.
Cantwell spokeswoman Charla Neuman said the legislation is designed to give investigators more options.
"You can still convince the Canadians that monitoring is necessary," Neuman said. "And say the Canadians don't agree. At least you can still go after the criminals for something."
The investigators have not determined who financed the tunnel's construction, estimated to have cost more than $20,000.
---
Gene Johnson has covered courts and legal affairs for the AP since 2000
Keep Them Out
Since we know where most of our enimies originate from, we should not accept students from those places. Case in point:
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. -- A suspect who is accused of hitting students with a sport utility vehicle at the University of North Carolina made his first court appearance Monday.
Mohammad Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, smiled and waved before his hearing Monday. Taheri-azar told the courtroom that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."
As he left court, Taheri-Azar told reporters, "the truth is my lawyer." When asked if he was trying to kill people, he said yes.
Taheri-Azar was appointed a public defender in court. A young woman believed to be Taheri-Azar's sister did not comment on the case as she left to get into her car.
In court, Taheri-azar did not deny driving a rented silver Jeep Grand Cherokee into The Pit, a central area on the UNC-CH campus around noon Friday. Six people were taken to UNC Hospitals with non-critical injuries, and three people were treated at the scene.
Campus police said Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, admitted to them Friday that he acted to "avenge the death of Muslims around the world." The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the incident from Friday.
Investigators believe he acted alone and they don't know of any groups in which he associates. Search warrants showing what investigators found inside his apartment have not yet been released.
The Raleigh Islamic Center and UNC's Muslim Student Association condemn Taheri-azar's actions.
Taheri-azar spent most of his life in the Charlotte area. Officials with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system confirmed that he graduated from South Mecklenburg High School in 2001.
On Friday, authorities searched the SUV that Taheri-azar rented as well as his apartment and his personal vehicle.
Taheri-azar remains in Central Prison under a $5.5 million bond. He is charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill.
Reporter: Kelcey Carlson Photographer: Richard Adkins OnLine Producer: Kamal Wallace
Copyright 2006 by WRAL.com.
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. -- A suspect who is accused of hitting students with a sport utility vehicle at the University of North Carolina made his first court appearance Monday.
Mohammad Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, smiled and waved before his hearing Monday. Taheri-azar told the courtroom that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."
As he left court, Taheri-Azar told reporters, "the truth is my lawyer." When asked if he was trying to kill people, he said yes.
Taheri-Azar was appointed a public defender in court. A young woman believed to be Taheri-Azar's sister did not comment on the case as she left to get into her car.
In court, Taheri-azar did not deny driving a rented silver Jeep Grand Cherokee into The Pit, a central area on the UNC-CH campus around noon Friday. Six people were taken to UNC Hospitals with non-critical injuries, and three people were treated at the scene.
Campus police said Taheri-azar, a 2005 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, admitted to them Friday that he acted to "avenge the death of Muslims around the world." The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the incident from Friday.
Investigators believe he acted alone and they don't know of any groups in which he associates. Search warrants showing what investigators found inside his apartment have not yet been released.
The Raleigh Islamic Center and UNC's Muslim Student Association condemn Taheri-azar's actions.
Taheri-azar spent most of his life in the Charlotte area. Officials with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system confirmed that he graduated from South Mecklenburg High School in 2001.
On Friday, authorities searched the SUV that Taheri-azar rented as well as his apartment and his personal vehicle.
Taheri-azar remains in Central Prison under a $5.5 million bond. He is charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill.
Reporter: Kelcey Carlson Photographer: Richard Adkins OnLine Producer: Kamal Wallace
Copyright 2006 by WRAL.com.
Monday, January 2, 2006
Truth Hurts
I found this at http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c040.html
The issue of homosexual behavior has had a lot of publicity of late. Homosexuals say that the slaves have been freed and women have been liberated, so gay rights are long overdue. Society does seem to be moving in that direction. Many homosexuals are "coming out" and openly declaring their homosexuality. In many parts of the western world, homosexual couples receive the same recognition as heterosexual couples with regard to social security benefits. Some church leaders are giving their blessing to homosexual relationships, homosexual church members and even homosexual ministers.
Many homosexuals' claim that...
They are made that way.
Homosexuality is of no harm to the participants or to anyone else.
If it feels right to those involved, it is nobody else's business.
Homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships are equally valid. (Some even claim that the Bible condones homosexual relationships.)
Made that way?
Since other groups who have been discriminated against (such as women, blacks and the disabled) have been given equal opportunity, homosexuals claim that they, too, should be liberated. However, as one Christian expert has said...
"Gender, race and impairment all relate to what a person is, whereas homosexuality relates to what a person does."1
In contrast, homosexuals claim that scientific studies have shown that there is a biological basis for homosexuality.
Three main studies are cited by "gay rights" activists in support of their argument2—Hamer's X-chromosome research,3 LeVay's study of the hypothalamus,4 and Bailey and Pillard's study of identical twins who were homosexuals.5
In all three cases, the researchers had a vested interest in obtaining a certain outcome because they were homosexuals themselves. More importantly, their studies did not stand up to scientific scrutiny by other researchers. Also, "the media typically do not explain the methodological flaws in these studies, and they typically oversimplify the results".6 There is no reliable evidence to date that homosexual behavior is determined by a person's genes.
To the extent that biological or social factors may contribute to a person's bent toward homosexual behavior, this does not excuse it. Some people have a strong bent towards stealing or abuse of alcohol, but they still choose to engage or not engage in this behavior—the law rightly holds them accountable.
The final report of the Baptist Union of Western Australia (BUWA) Task Force on Human Sexuality states 'that a person becomes a homosexual ultimately by choosing to be involved in same-sex activity... This is in contrast to innate characteristics such as gender and ethnicity.'7 The report affirms that 'the Bible is clear that sin involves choice, and it unequivocally condemns homosexual behavior as sin'.7
The foundational teaching on marriage and sexual issues is found in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. When Jesus was questioned about marriage, He referred to these 2 chapters (Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12). Genesis teaches us that 'male and female He created them' (Genesis 1:27). We were created to a plan—male and female complementing each other. That is, God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, nor Madam and Eve.
Genesis also teaches that God instituted and designed marriage between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:18-25). There are a number of reasons why He did so.
The complementary structure of the male and female anatomy is obviously designed for the normal husband-wife relationships. Clearly, design in human biology supports heterosexuality and contradicts homosexuality.
The combination of male and female enables man (and the animals) to produce and nurture offspring as commanded in Genesis 1:28—'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth'. This command is repeated to Noah after the Flood (Genesis 8:15-17). But procreation is not the only reason God made humans as sexual beings. The BUWA report affirms 'that sexual intimacy between husband and wife is good, and is intended by God for bonding, pleasure and procreation.'7
Thirdly, God gave man and woman complementary roles in order to strengthen the family unit. Woman was to be the helper that man needed (Genesis 2:18). However, the woman's role as the helpmate is certainly not an inferior one. The enterprising God-fearing woman in Proverbs 31:10-31 is an inspiring role model.
No harm?
Andrew Lansdown points out that 'homosexual activity is notoriously disease-prone. In addition to diseases associated with heterosexual promiscuity, homosexual actions facilitate the transmission of anal herpes, hepatitis B, intestinal parasites, Kaposi's Sarcoma and AIDS.'1 Research on the life expectancy of a group of homosexual men in Canada in the early 1990s indicated that they could expect 8-21 years less lifespan than other men.8
Effect on others
Secular psychologists assure us that 'children raised in lesbian and gay households are similar to children raised in heterosexual households on characteristics such as intelligence, development, moral judgments, self-concepts, social competence and gender identity'.6 The humanists have, however, forgotten one important ingredient.
'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it' (Proverbs 22:6).
You cannot faithfully teach God's Word to your children while living a lifestyle specifically condemned by God's Word. All Christians are sinners forgiven by God's grace, but living in a homosexual relationship constitutes habitual, unrepented sin.
Nobody else's business?
Gay activists claim that homosexual activity is nobody's business other than those involved in the relationship. However, this is not true. God, our Designer and Creator, has authority over all aspects of our lives. He makes the rules, and He quite specifically forbids homosexual behavior.
'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination' (Leviticus 18:22; see also Leviticus 20:13).
Disobedience of such a clear command indicates rejection of God's authority.
Some people argue that the Old Testament law (including Leviticus 18 and 20) was superseded with the coming of Christ. However, we should at least consider as binding those aspects of the law that are renewed in the New Testament. The teaching of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 was certainly reaffirmed in the New Testament.
Equally valid?
Some people claim that homosexual behavior was only condemned in the Bible because it was associated with idolatry (e.g. 1 Kings 14:24). However, it is clearly condemned apart from idolatry as well (e.g. Leviticus 18:22). It is described in Scripture as an unnatural, immoral perversion.
'For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another...' (Romans 1:26-27).
The Greek word arsenokoitai used in 1 Timothy 1:10 literally means 'men who sleep with men'. It is the same Greek word used for 'homosexual offender' in 1 Corinthians 6:9, variously translated as 'abusers of themselves with mankind' (KJV), homosexuals (NASB) or homosexual offender (NIV).
Some people claim that the sin involved in Sodom was rejecting hospitality customs or selfishness rather than homosexual behaviour. Certainly, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great and their reported sin was grievous to God (Genesis 18:20). God sent angels to Sodom and...
'Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have sex with them”' (Genesis 19:4-5).
"While it is true that the Hebrew word yadha does not necessarily mean 'to have sex with,' nonetheless in the context of Sodom and Gommorah, it clearly had this meaning. ...It means 'to know sexually' in this very chapter when Lot refers to his two daughters not having 'known' a man (19:8)."9 You would not offer virgins to appease a mob if their sin was lack of hospitality, but only if their desire was sexual.
Although Ezekiel 16:49 condemns Sodom for its selfishness with regard to poverty etc., this does not contradict its condemnation for homosexual practices. "The very next verse of Ezekiel (v. 50) calls their sin an "abomination". This is the same Hebrew word used to describe homosexual sins in Leviticus 18:22."10
It is also used in Scripture to describe such things like the practice of offering children to Moloch, but never such things as mere selfishness or lack of hospitality. Even in legal parlance, the word used to refer to one aspect of homosexual practice is 'sodomy'.
Another argument is that Jonathon and David were homosexuals as 'Jonathan “loved” David (1 Sam. 18:3), that Jonathan stripped in David's presence (18:4), [and] that they kissed each other (20:41)'.11
However, 'David's “love” for Jonathan was not sexual (erotic) but a friendship (philic) love. And Jonathan did not strip himself of all his clothes, but only of his armor and royal robe (1 Sam. 18:4).'12 Also, a kiss was a normal greeting in that day, such as when Judas kissed Jesus. In several cultures today, men normally greet each other with a kiss, too. Further, David's love for his wives, especially Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), clearly reveals his heterosexual orientation.
Isaiah 56:3 states that eunuchs will not be excluded from God's presence ('my temple'), but practising homosexuals are not eunuchs. Eunuchs have no sexual relations at all.
Other scriptural arguments for homosexuality can similarly be easily refuted. It is clear that heterosexual marriage is the only form of marriage sanctioned in the Bible and that homosexual practice is always condemned.
Punishment
The Bible not only describes homosexual behavior as detestable, but it also calls for the punishment of those involved (Leviticus 20:13). Their unrepentant attitude caused God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25).
Just as homosexual conduct has been punished in the past, so it will also be punished by God in the future.
"...Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Hope
However, there is hope for the homosexual. God forgives and cleanses a person who repents and turns from their sin, including the sin of homosexual behavior (1 Corinthians 6:11). As well as forgiveness, God's grace brings with it the power to live a life that is pleasing to God (Romans 6:6-7). If repentance and reform are genuine, prior homosexual actions should not be a bar to church membership or ministry, as all Christians are reformed sinners.
'Liberal' churches espouse tolerance of homosexual behavior in the name of 'love'. They plug for the acceptance of homosexual conduct as normal, 'because they can't help it'. They are not only wrong about the latter, but they are actually not being at all loving towards homosexuals, because, contrary to the Bible, they reduce the homosexual person to the level of an animal, driven by instinct. In removing moral responsibility from the person, they dehumanize them, whereas the Bible says we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), with the power of moral choice.
Furthermore, the gospel proclaims liberation from the bondage of sin, including homosexual sin, whereas the 'liberals' tell the homosexual that they cannot help it, and they can't help them either, so they will accept them as they are! However, many a person has been gloriously rescued from the bondage of homosexual sin (and other sin) by the power of the Holy Spirit, but only Bible-believing Christians can offer such hope.13
Conclusion
As with all moral issues, our beliefs about our origin determine our attitude. If we believe that we arose from slime by a combination of random chance events and the struggle for survival, it is understandable to say that there is no higher authority, and we can make our own rules. However, if there is a loving God who planned us and gave commands for us to follow, then we must do so. God has set forth His standards in the Bible, beginning with the foundational teaching in the book of Genesis.
The issue of homosexual behavior has had a lot of publicity of late. Homosexuals say that the slaves have been freed and women have been liberated, so gay rights are long overdue. Society does seem to be moving in that direction. Many homosexuals are "coming out" and openly declaring their homosexuality. In many parts of the western world, homosexual couples receive the same recognition as heterosexual couples with regard to social security benefits. Some church leaders are giving their blessing to homosexual relationships, homosexual church members and even homosexual ministers.
Many homosexuals' claim that...
They are made that way.
Homosexuality is of no harm to the participants or to anyone else.
If it feels right to those involved, it is nobody else's business.
Homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships are equally valid. (Some even claim that the Bible condones homosexual relationships.)
Made that way?
Since other groups who have been discriminated against (such as women, blacks and the disabled) have been given equal opportunity, homosexuals claim that they, too, should be liberated. However, as one Christian expert has said...
"Gender, race and impairment all relate to what a person is, whereas homosexuality relates to what a person does."1
In contrast, homosexuals claim that scientific studies have shown that there is a biological basis for homosexuality.
Three main studies are cited by "gay rights" activists in support of their argument2—Hamer's X-chromosome research,3 LeVay's study of the hypothalamus,4 and Bailey and Pillard's study of identical twins who were homosexuals.5
In all three cases, the researchers had a vested interest in obtaining a certain outcome because they were homosexuals themselves. More importantly, their studies did not stand up to scientific scrutiny by other researchers. Also, "the media typically do not explain the methodological flaws in these studies, and they typically oversimplify the results".6 There is no reliable evidence to date that homosexual behavior is determined by a person's genes.
To the extent that biological or social factors may contribute to a person's bent toward homosexual behavior, this does not excuse it. Some people have a strong bent towards stealing or abuse of alcohol, but they still choose to engage or not engage in this behavior—the law rightly holds them accountable.
The final report of the Baptist Union of Western Australia (BUWA) Task Force on Human Sexuality states 'that a person becomes a homosexual ultimately by choosing to be involved in same-sex activity... This is in contrast to innate characteristics such as gender and ethnicity.'7 The report affirms that 'the Bible is clear that sin involves choice, and it unequivocally condemns homosexual behavior as sin'.7
The foundational teaching on marriage and sexual issues is found in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. When Jesus was questioned about marriage, He referred to these 2 chapters (Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12). Genesis teaches us that 'male and female He created them' (Genesis 1:27). We were created to a plan—male and female complementing each other. That is, God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, nor Madam and Eve.
Genesis also teaches that God instituted and designed marriage between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:18-25). There are a number of reasons why He did so.
The complementary structure of the male and female anatomy is obviously designed for the normal husband-wife relationships. Clearly, design in human biology supports heterosexuality and contradicts homosexuality.
The combination of male and female enables man (and the animals) to produce and nurture offspring as commanded in Genesis 1:28—'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth'. This command is repeated to Noah after the Flood (Genesis 8:15-17). But procreation is not the only reason God made humans as sexual beings. The BUWA report affirms 'that sexual intimacy between husband and wife is good, and is intended by God for bonding, pleasure and procreation.'7
Thirdly, God gave man and woman complementary roles in order to strengthen the family unit. Woman was to be the helper that man needed (Genesis 2:18). However, the woman's role as the helpmate is certainly not an inferior one. The enterprising God-fearing woman in Proverbs 31:10-31 is an inspiring role model.
No harm?
Andrew Lansdown points out that 'homosexual activity is notoriously disease-prone. In addition to diseases associated with heterosexual promiscuity, homosexual actions facilitate the transmission of anal herpes, hepatitis B, intestinal parasites, Kaposi's Sarcoma and AIDS.'1 Research on the life expectancy of a group of homosexual men in Canada in the early 1990s indicated that they could expect 8-21 years less lifespan than other men.8
Effect on others
Secular psychologists assure us that 'children raised in lesbian and gay households are similar to children raised in heterosexual households on characteristics such as intelligence, development, moral judgments, self-concepts, social competence and gender identity'.6 The humanists have, however, forgotten one important ingredient.
'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it' (Proverbs 22:6).
You cannot faithfully teach God's Word to your children while living a lifestyle specifically condemned by God's Word. All Christians are sinners forgiven by God's grace, but living in a homosexual relationship constitutes habitual, unrepented sin.
Nobody else's business?
Gay activists claim that homosexual activity is nobody's business other than those involved in the relationship. However, this is not true. God, our Designer and Creator, has authority over all aspects of our lives. He makes the rules, and He quite specifically forbids homosexual behavior.
'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination' (Leviticus 18:22; see also Leviticus 20:13).
Disobedience of such a clear command indicates rejection of God's authority.
Some people argue that the Old Testament law (including Leviticus 18 and 20) was superseded with the coming of Christ. However, we should at least consider as binding those aspects of the law that are renewed in the New Testament. The teaching of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 was certainly reaffirmed in the New Testament.
Equally valid?
Some people claim that homosexual behavior was only condemned in the Bible because it was associated with idolatry (e.g. 1 Kings 14:24). However, it is clearly condemned apart from idolatry as well (e.g. Leviticus 18:22). It is described in Scripture as an unnatural, immoral perversion.
'For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another...' (Romans 1:26-27).
The Greek word arsenokoitai used in 1 Timothy 1:10 literally means 'men who sleep with men'. It is the same Greek word used for 'homosexual offender' in 1 Corinthians 6:9, variously translated as 'abusers of themselves with mankind' (KJV), homosexuals (NASB) or homosexual offender (NIV).
Some people claim that the sin involved in Sodom was rejecting hospitality customs or selfishness rather than homosexual behaviour. Certainly, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great and their reported sin was grievous to God (Genesis 18:20). God sent angels to Sodom and...
'Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have sex with them”' (Genesis 19:4-5).
"While it is true that the Hebrew word yadha does not necessarily mean 'to have sex with,' nonetheless in the context of Sodom and Gommorah, it clearly had this meaning. ...It means 'to know sexually' in this very chapter when Lot refers to his two daughters not having 'known' a man (19:8)."9 You would not offer virgins to appease a mob if their sin was lack of hospitality, but only if their desire was sexual.
Although Ezekiel 16:49 condemns Sodom for its selfishness with regard to poverty etc., this does not contradict its condemnation for homosexual practices. "The very next verse of Ezekiel (v. 50) calls their sin an "abomination". This is the same Hebrew word used to describe homosexual sins in Leviticus 18:22."10
It is also used in Scripture to describe such things like the practice of offering children to Moloch, but never such things as mere selfishness or lack of hospitality. Even in legal parlance, the word used to refer to one aspect of homosexual practice is 'sodomy'.
Another argument is that Jonathon and David were homosexuals as 'Jonathan “loved” David (1 Sam. 18:3), that Jonathan stripped in David's presence (18:4), [and] that they kissed each other (20:41)'.11
However, 'David's “love” for Jonathan was not sexual (erotic) but a friendship (philic) love. And Jonathan did not strip himself of all his clothes, but only of his armor and royal robe (1 Sam. 18:4).'12 Also, a kiss was a normal greeting in that day, such as when Judas kissed Jesus. In several cultures today, men normally greet each other with a kiss, too. Further, David's love for his wives, especially Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), clearly reveals his heterosexual orientation.
Isaiah 56:3 states that eunuchs will not be excluded from God's presence ('my temple'), but practising homosexuals are not eunuchs. Eunuchs have no sexual relations at all.
Other scriptural arguments for homosexuality can similarly be easily refuted. It is clear that heterosexual marriage is the only form of marriage sanctioned in the Bible and that homosexual practice is always condemned.
Punishment
The Bible not only describes homosexual behavior as detestable, but it also calls for the punishment of those involved (Leviticus 20:13). Their unrepentant attitude caused God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25).
Just as homosexual conduct has been punished in the past, so it will also be punished by God in the future.
"...Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Hope
However, there is hope for the homosexual. God forgives and cleanses a person who repents and turns from their sin, including the sin of homosexual behavior (1 Corinthians 6:11). As well as forgiveness, God's grace brings with it the power to live a life that is pleasing to God (Romans 6:6-7). If repentance and reform are genuine, prior homosexual actions should not be a bar to church membership or ministry, as all Christians are reformed sinners.
'Liberal' churches espouse tolerance of homosexual behavior in the name of 'love'. They plug for the acceptance of homosexual conduct as normal, 'because they can't help it'. They are not only wrong about the latter, but they are actually not being at all loving towards homosexuals, because, contrary to the Bible, they reduce the homosexual person to the level of an animal, driven by instinct. In removing moral responsibility from the person, they dehumanize them, whereas the Bible says we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), with the power of moral choice.
Furthermore, the gospel proclaims liberation from the bondage of sin, including homosexual sin, whereas the 'liberals' tell the homosexual that they cannot help it, and they can't help them either, so they will accept them as they are! However, many a person has been gloriously rescued from the bondage of homosexual sin (and other sin) by the power of the Holy Spirit, but only Bible-believing Christians can offer such hope.13
Conclusion
As with all moral issues, our beliefs about our origin determine our attitude. If we believe that we arose from slime by a combination of random chance events and the struggle for survival, it is understandable to say that there is no higher authority, and we can make our own rules. However, if there is a loving God who planned us and gave commands for us to follow, then we must do so. God has set forth His standards in the Bible, beginning with the foundational teaching in the book of Genesis.
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