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Mark Caserta: Our nation’s woes result from poor choices

17 Jan

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

  • Jan 15, 2016

Have you ever noticed how liberals respond when a Christian suggests the precepts of God’s Word as a solution to our nation’s woes?

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In fact, commentary regarding Christianity and its value in our society seems to draw the most vehement confutation from progressives. Following any such “Godly” expression, one will surely be poorly lectured on the “separation of church and state” and the edicts of the First Amendment.

 

I never cease to be amazed at how liberals are so “proficient” at ensuring “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” but so inept at protecting “the free exercise thereof ”

It isn’t difficult to correlate the plight of our nation with the decline of our acceptance of God’s will for our country. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 clearly makes the connection.

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God”

 

Each of us makes choices, directly or indirectly, based upon the values and principles we’ve adopted through our life’s learnings. But as a nation, we’ve made some devastatingly poor choices, many within our own judicial system. And as a nation, we’ve paid the price.

 

The decision by the Supreme Court in 1962 that allowing prayer in public schools amounted to government promotion of religion was a huge mistake and gave progressives the foothold they now leverage in attempting to remove any semblance of God from a public venue. It also paved the way for the 1963 decision to remove Bible reading and make the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer unconstitutional.

 

Abe Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” We are now reaping from those progressive seeds of the ’60s.

 

A decade later the court gave us the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade that protected a woman’s decision to have an abortion. The decision was meant to be balanced between protecting the women’s health and protecting the potentiality of human life and viability outside the womb.

 

Half a century later, it’s potentially easier to take the life of an innocent baby than it is to purchase cold medicine. And way too often, it’s not to protect the health of the mother – it’s simply a matter of “inconvenience.”

Our nation didn’t go astray overnight. Our country has been progressively desensitized to inhumanity. The clarity between good and evil has become blurred and it’s driven society to choose the temporal pleasures of life.

 

The Bible says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

 

Have we come too far to ever comply with this condition for restoration? I’m not optimistic.

 

But we must begin at some point. Now is a good time.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Liberals apply double standard on religious tolerance

3 Jan

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

  • Updated Jan 1, 2016

Progressives waste no time quoting the First Amendment when there’s the slightest reference to Christianity in a public venue. But where is their outrage over similar references to the Muslim religion?

 

In a September Fox News opinion column by Todd Starnes, he shares an incredulous example of what can easily be viewed as public school “indoctrination” of the Islamic religion.

 

Seventh-graders at Spring Middle School in Maury County, Tenn., spent three weeks covering Islam in a social studies class. Some parents were outraged, claiming the lesson plan not only crossed the line into indoctrination, but proselytization as well.

“I am not pleased that my 12-year-old was taught the Islamic conversion prayer,” parent Brandi Porterfield told Starnes.

 

Starnes shares that another parent, Joy Ellis, was also “fired up” about her daughter’s class work.

 

“I was very angry that my child, my Christian child, was made to profess that Allah was the only God,” she told Starnes.

 

Apparently, part of the lesson included requiring each student to write the “Shahada” – “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Starnes also writes the students learned the “Five Pillars of Islam.”

 

Porterfield told Starnes she did not have a problem with the school teaching about Islam, but was upset that other religions didn’t get equal time.”to me, that is state-sponsored prayer in schools,” said Porterfield.

 

Porterfield is exactly right. I whole-heartedly agree with Starnes when he asks, “Could you imagine the outcry from liberal activists if the students had been forced to write, ‘Jesus is Lord’? ” The ACLU, along with every other liberal-minded group, would be climbing all over this public school system. And the liberal media would be like “white on rice” with their coverage!

 

The double standard in religious tolerance by liberals in our nation is as obvious as the nose on your face and fostered, in part, by President Obama. While many quotes are available from various sources, Obama’s 2009 speech at Cairo University is very telling in his understanding of his role as “protector-in-chief” of the Muslim faith.

 

“That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

So, one may ask, where are the president’s long and eloquent speeches protecting the Christian faith? Certainly one would have to agree Christians are increasingly under attack both at home and abroad. But on this, our president’s silence is deafening.

 

Frankly, the Muslim faith, at this point, is inconsequential to the progressive movement and poses little threat. Liberals couldn’t care less if the Five Pillars of Islam were posted in front of a courthouse or if a copy of the Koran was left in your hotel room.

 

Any you’ll never hear a liberal question “Allah’s word.”

 

Liberals attack Christianity in America because it denies the “free-form” tenets of the progressive movement; hence the double-standard.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Christians lacking in fight for religious freedom

27 Aug

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

Where are they?

Recently, a Georgia high school football program was attacked by the American Humanist Association (AHA), a group of atheists, for quoting scripture to the players and leading them in prayer. Football coaches at Chestatee High School in Gainesville are accused of quoting scripture on team documents and pre-game banners and regularly leading the War Eagles in prayer. The AHA sent a letter in early August demanding that coaches cut team-sanctioned prayers and remove all Bible verses and other religious messages from team documents and materials.

So, where are the Christians?

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Last year, an Ohio public high school principle in Marion City Schools ordered a copy of the Ten Commandments to be taken down. For years the plaque hung in the Harding High School hallway next to the preamble of the Constitution after it had been gifted to the school by their class of 1953. The school system said it acted to avoid legal challenges that had been prompted by similar Ten Commandment displays in other Ohio public school districts.

But, where are the Christians?

In 2003, an Alabama judicial ethics panel removed Chief Justice Roy Moore from office for defying a federal judge’s order to move a Ten Commandments monument from the state Supreme Court building, claiming it was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The panel stated Moore put himself above the law by “willfully and publicly” flouting the order to remove the monument from the state’s judicial building’s rotunda.

Again, where were the Christians?

But wait! Where are the atheists regarding the Muslim religion?

In February of this year, students at Seminole County High School system in Florida were required to recite an Islamic prayer as part of a world history class lesson at Lyman High School. The students also had to make an Islamic prayer rug as a homework assignment. Controversy ensued as some parents feared school-sponsored indoctrination of the Muslim religion.

So where were the atheists?

In January 2015, students in the Revere, Massachusetts, public school system were forced to learn about the principles and core tenets of Islam, as well as being forced to learn the Islam conversion prayer. An article published by the website “American Overlook” shared that while some parents were completely outraged, most of the liberal parents were “one hundred percent okay with it” and did not mind it at all.

But, where are the atheists?

In January of this year, the Douglas County School District in Colorado announced a world religions field trip to a nearby Denver Mosque. In the announcement they said that any school girl choosing to attend the Rocky Middle School trip would be expected to follow the Muslim dress code for woman required by Shariah Law.

Again, where are the atheists?

Atheists and liberals aren’t focused on denying our right to express all religious beliefs only Christianity.

And Christians are lacking in the fight.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Islamic terrorism looms on our American soil

14 May

ISIS IS HERE

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Mark Caserta, Free State Patriot Editor

May. 14, 2015 @ 12:01 AM

Last September, the Islamic group of terrorists known as ISIS called for a wave of random attacks to begin in the United States. Emboldened by a “weak at the knees” Obama administration, it was now time to advance their threat of terror into the most powerful nation in the West. There would be no greater victory than to die advancing the cause of the caliphate in America.

At the time, a spokesperson for the group specifically called for lone-wolf attacks and provided instructions on how to attack U.S. citizens. “Rig the roads with explosives for them. Attack their bases. Raid their homes. Cut off their heads. Do not let them feel secure. Hunt them wherever they may be. Turn their worldly life into fear and fire. Remove their families from their homes and thereafter blow up their homes.”

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Since then, ISIS has leveraged social media for the recruitment and training of individuals willing and able to carry out these attacks in the name of “Allah.” ISIS’ morbidly alluring propaganda has included “shock and awe” videos of beheadings and victims being burned alive.

And up until now, the U.S. had yet to experience the fruition of such threats on our soil.

But earlier this month, outside a “Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest” sponsored by a free speech movement in Garland, Texas, two ISIS soldiers opened fire on a group of participants. Armed with assault rifles and body armor, the gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, wounded a security guard before a policeman, armed with only a handgun, shot and killed them.

In a broadcast on its official radio channel, ISIS claimed the gunmen were affiliated with their terror organization. Calling the men “Al Khilafa soldiers,” the ISIS radio announcer also referred to Simpson and Soofi as the group’s “brothers.” The announcement included this warning to infidels:

“We say to the defenders of the cross, the U.S., that future attacks are going to be harsher and worse. The Islamic State soldiers will inflict harm on you with the grace of God. The future is just around the corner.”

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A recent grim internet warning from a self-described American jihadist warned of ISIS having scores of “trained soldiers” positioned in 15 states, awaiting orders to carry out more operations like the one in Garland.

“Out of the 71 trained soldiers, 23 have signed up for missions like Sunday, we are increasing in number,” read the warning. “Of the 15 states, 5 we will name: Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, California, and Michigan.”

Due to the escalating number of threats on the U.S., security at all U.S. military bases was raised this past weekend, according to CBS News.

To date, the Islamic State has given us no reason to question their resolve or barbarism, and have made it clear they intend to follow through with their mission. And they will gladly die for their cause.

But even with the enemy threat now on American soil, President Obama still hasn’t displayed the will or courage to defeat them.

How many will die before he takes action?

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Christians targeted in modern-day holocaust

9 Apr

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Free State Patriot Editor, Mark Caserta

Apr. 09, 2015 @ 12:01 AM

Sadly, church history is replete with examples of evil perpetrated in the name of Christianity. Far too often, those espousing the Christian faith have transgressed the examples and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the most relevant example would be the Crusades of the Middle Ages, when those professing Christianity engaged in a “holy war” and brutally murdered thousands of Muslims to regain holy territory.

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Some would like to compare the tragedy of that time with the modern-day war Islamic extremists are waging on Christianity. But there’s a stark contrast between the teachings of Muhammad and the teachings of Jesus.

Muhammad rode into Mecca on a stallion with a sword in hand to conquer by force. From the beginning, Islam has condoned the use of the sword to forcibly advance its religious beliefs. But Jesus rode humbly into Jerusalem on a donkey, not to conquer, but to overcome with love. He took up only the “sword of the spirit” and offered God’s grace and eternal life as a choice for mankind.

One can hardly make a modern-day comparison.

Additionally, the Islamic faith puts a strong emphasis on salvation by works, while Christianity is based on accepting salvation by faith. While having no assurance of heaven, Muslim extremists believe if they die while engaging in jihad, they’re assured of entering heaven and receiving “rich heavenly rewards.”

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And in tumultuous pursuit of those rewards, the world is now witnessing a modern-day holocaust, as Christians are being targeted by radical Islamists simply because of their faith.

In February 2014, in the Christian village of Izghe in northeastern Nigeria, Islamic extremists from Boko Haram gathered at least 121 Christians and summarily slaughtered them. The rebels, seeking to impose Sharia law throughout Nigeria, reportedly shot some people and slit the throats of others while shouting, “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater).

In November 2014, members of the radical Islamic group Al-Shabab attacked a bus in northern Kenya, singling out and killing 28 passengers who could not recite an Islamic creed and were assumed to be non-Muslims. Those who could not say the “Shahada,” a tenet of the Muslim faith, were shot at close range.

In January 2015, Boko Haram Islamic militants randomly opened fire on northern Nigerian villages, leaving bodies scattered everywhere. Reportedly, as many as 2,000 men, women and children were murdered. Some were burned alive.

And last Thursday, Al-Shabab gunmen rampaged through a university in northeastern Kenya killing 147 people in the group’s deadliest attack in the East African country. The masked attackers, strapped with explosives and armed with AK-47s, singled out non-Muslim students and gunned them down mercilessly.

This attempted “cleansing” of Christianity by the followers of the Muslim “religion of peace” simply follows the edicts of the Koran. And we simply aren’t witnessing attacks of this magnitude from any other religion.

The truth is, “anti-Muslim” bigotry in the world pales in comparison to the “anti-Christian” bigotry we are now witnessing. And it’s time we face this reality.

Christians are indeed targets of a modern-day holocaust.

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Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: God’s infallibility cannot be reasoned

12 Mar

Yet, progressive are still trying to convince us that God makes mistakes!

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FSP EDITOR: MARK CASERTA

Mar. 12, 2015 @ 01:01 AM
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Self-proclaimed theologians have been attempting to prove the fallibility of God since Jesus’ ministry on earth. The Sadducees and Pharisees, two “religious” sects of the time, were constantly trying to entrap Jesus by asking him loaded questions about the scriptures and life in general.

Understand, the progressive mantra is to perpetually propagate the message that having absolute faith in God is not something for the “thinking man.”

But God’s wisdom has always prevailed against those who would challenge His power and authority. And for anyone to espouse an understanding of His Word, and yet, spend more time attempting to prove God’s fallacy than spreading the Gospel, is the epitome of hypocrisy.

It’s my belief that those having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ are empowered with a spirit of discernment that enables them to identify false prophets and steer clear of their promulgation.

But let me be clear. God did not call His people to silence! It’s been the church’s silence that’s allowed the progressive movement to become a formidable faction! So I choose to use my pen and this piece to share what I believe to be the theology of a “true believer.”

Liberals know that to move forward “progressively” they must cause believers to question their faith in God, essentially opening the door to “reason.” But God’s Word isn’t dependent on man’s wisdom, but rather man’s faith.

Faith, as the Bible tells us, is the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Depending on the translation, the word “faith” was used nearly 300 times in the Bible and is prerequisite to accepting God as being omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. That is, He is unrestricted, all-seeing and everywhere!

In two of the Gospels, the Pharisees sought to repudiate Jesus’ good works and diminish Him before the people. So they plotted to entangle Him before His followers by asking him a question regarding paying taxes to Rome, a topic sure to create division.

“Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” they asked. But Jesus “perceived their wickedness,” according to the scriptures, and said, “Why tempt me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money.” After handing Him a penny, he asked them, “Whose is this image and superscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s”. Then, with the wisdom of His Father, Jesus said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

The Bible says “they marveled, left him and went their way”.

Yet, today, men still seek to diminish God.

I have never seen the face of God, nor have I touched the nail-scarred hands of my savior, Jesus Christ. And I certainly can’t “reason” His grace.

But faith isn’t driven by the ability to reason with one’s mind, but by the ability to believe with one’s heart. And if we are to believe that there is even an “ounce” of fallibility in God’s Word, true faith would be impossible.

So for me and my house, we will continue to serve the Lord, by faith.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Progressives never cry ‘Christianophobia’

15 Jan

Islamophobia is a myth…

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FSP editorial
Jan. 15, 2015 @ 12:01 AM

Last week, in the editorial offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, Islamic terrorists echoed President Obama’s 2012 message to the United Nations that, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”

The drama, which played out on live TV and social media, began with brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi methodically massacring 12 individuals before stopping to shoot an unarmed, wounded police officer in the head and then escaping by car. And while these deviants have now been located and killed, their mission was a success.

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In fairness to the president’s remarks, Obama went on to say, “Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.”

But that simply isn’t the case in America. The progressive voices propagating the bigotry of “Islamophobia” as slander against Allah are the same voices championing the blasphemous “art” of such artists as Andres Serrano, whose 1987 photo depicted a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist’s urine. The piece received a visual art award in a National Endowment of the Arts competition sponsored in part by your tax dollars.

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While there may be some who’ve become “Islamophobic” due to the reality of Islamic extremism, the bigotry of “Christianophobia” is widely accepted as part of the progressive movement to remove God from our society. And it’s the epitome of hypocrisy for liberals to rise after such attacks as the one in Paris to wave a banner protecting the Muslim religion while charging the complexion of Christianity violates their First Amendment Rights.

It would seem liberals are selective with their bigotry.

Even before the bodies of the dead French cartoonists had been removed from the scene of the slaughter, Muslim apologists were proactively taking to their cameras and keyboards to ensure political correctness with regard to Americans associating such Islamic terrorist attacks with the “peaceful” Muslim religion.

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But facts are facts. A website called “The Religion of Peace,” a non-partisan site concerned with Islam’s true political and religious teachings according to the Quran, reveals that somewhere around the world a Muslim is carrying out a fatal jihadist attack every five hours. The website documents more than 20,000 religion-oriented attacks since 9/11 in which someone has died at the hand of a member of the “religion of peace.”

The site explains the Quran has at least 109 verses that “call Muslims to war with non-believers for the sake of Islamic rule.” Many of these are quite graphic, with commands to “chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding.”

When was the last time you heard of a terrorist attack in the name of Hinduism, Buddhism or Christianity? Have you ever heard a liberal cry “Christianophobia”?

Americans are cognizant of radical Islam not because they have a phobia of the Muslim faith. Some are simply wise enough to understand which faith values their belief over the lives of those who don’t.

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Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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