Life's Inanities and Ironies

Norman Mattoon Thomas was born in 1884 and died in 1968.  He was a leading American Socialist, pacifist and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. In 1944, Norman Thomas, as a candidate for president said in a speech,   " The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism,’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." He went on to say,  " I no longer need to run as a presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform." I agree with Mr. Thomas, but I would also include many in the Republican Party who have strayed from their conservative roots. I would most certainly include Sen. Richard Lugar in this group of Republicans. The next national election may be the most important in the history of this country. We must elect individuals who will put our country, and ...

It seems that Christians have started to eye favorably the devil’s infamous offer to Christ: I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world if you fall down and worship me. Just give me what I want, and no one gets hurt. It is easy for us to shun the condition of Satan’s offer; of course we never consent to worship our greatest enemy. But we often overlook the fact that here Satan is tempting Jesus in two ways: he is saying first, “the way to fulfilling your mission is to worship me,” but he is also saying, “the way to fulfilling your mission is through political power.” Of course, Jesus sees straight through this deception; and well He should, for He repeatedly reminds people that His mission is not one of political conquest (e.g. John 18:36 , Luke 22:49-51 ). This spirit carries through the entire New Testament, where we do not find a single mention of any policy of the Roman Empire, nor any command for believers concerning government, except to “be in subjection” ( Romans 13:5 ) and t...