Actually, I’ve written more than twenty books of one type of another, but so far only one with a religious theme, a commentary on the book of Daniel, which was published under the title Daniel Unsealed (and will be republished next year under the title Lifting the Veil on the Book of Daniel). Now I have taken the appendix from that Daniel book, the appendix that deals with the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah, and expanded it into my second book, Sacred Chronology of the Hebrew Kings, which is the book that I finished writing this morning.

This latest book came rather effortlessly compared to my Daniel book. That book took me three years to write, and more than 30 years of prayer, meditation, and Bible study before even beginning to write it. With this book, much of the work was done while I was preparing the Daniel book, so it was just a matter of reorganizing and expanding what I had already done into book format. The new book will have 160 pages. 

If you have ever tried to write anything of length, such as a long essay or article, or a book, you can understand the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction and relief that I feel now that the book is written. For the next three or four months, I will go back over the “finished” book, editing and correcting, and hopefully it will be ready to go to press early next year.

Today, though, congratulations to me!

The recent move by Republican legislatures (like the one here in Georgia) to require voter IDs is nothing more than a move to disenfranchise poor, young, and usually African-American voters. There is no more un-American movement going on in America. Anyone who associates with the modern Republican Party should be ashamed of this move by the Republican leadership. It’s as shameful as Nixon’s “Southern strategy” that used racism to grab national power in the late 1960s. As a Christian, I more and more find the Republican Party to be dedicated to power and money at all costs. That’s why I don’t knowingly associate with Republicans any more.

“These are the goals of today’s Republican Party – think hard before you vote:

1) Dismantle Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
2) Reinstate the “Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell” law
3) Ban all state same-sex marriage laws
4) Reduce taxes on the rich and corporations
5) Shrink programs that help the poor
6) Cut off federal medical assistance for people without insurance
7) Eliminate programs that provide international aid and assistance
8) Abolish the SEC and other federal programs that regulate the securities and banking industries
9) Abolish the EPA and all environmental regulations
10) Abolish the Department of Education
11) Make all abortions illegal
12) Eliminate support for Planned Parenthood and other women’s rights groups
13) Ban the birth control pill
14) Weaken child labor laws, allowing younger teens to work longer hours
15) Destroy public labor unions
16) Weaken all unions
17) Create laws to make voting and registering to vote more difficult
18) Regulate speech and Internet communications
19) Destroy PBS and National Public Radio
20) Eliminate all public funding for the arts
21) Reduce spending on infrastructure
22) Establish Christianity as the national religion for the USA
23) Ban all Muslims from entering the US or becoming citizens
24) Ban all mosque construction”

The above is excerpted from a comment made by someone named “Brett P” of Albany, New York, on a New York Times discussion board, and, although I do not agree with every single point being made, I think that overall the comment is worth repeating verbatim on the slight chance that some voters may actually read it and think before they vote in 2012.

Of all the items mentioned, I would most hate to see Christianity made the national religion of the United States. That would guarantee the ruin of both our democracy and Christianity, as we can already see happening after the marriage of the two in the Republican Party that has corrupted political discourse in recent years. 

As a Bible-believing Christian, I prefer to follow the example of Jesus, who never once tried to accomplish spiritual goals through political means. We Christians would do well to heed Jesus’ example. On the contrary, though, our people seem to be caught up in a pseudo-religious frenzy, with the same kind of zeal, denial of reality, and undirected anger that was characteristic of early 1930s Germany.

I hope we are not headed in the same direction by opting for a political messiah with easy answers, but I fear we are. Not enough people are thinking with their head before they vote!

I find the media handling of the Rep. Anthony Weiner “sex scandal” to be the height of hypocrisy. Now, before I explain, let me disclaim that nothing I say should excuse the Congressman’s bad behavior. What he did was unacceptable for a public official. However, the media frenzy (and this includes the Internet) surrounding his misdeeds shows just how warped our American society has become.

Think about it. Weiner sent a few women photos of his torso and various private parts. During the same period, American television networks and cable channels broadcast hundreds of movies and programs far more revealing of sex-oriented flesh and with far less wholesome attitudes toward sexual conduct. Add to that the music videos, digital games, and other “entertainment” based on lurid and explicit sexual activity. And what about advertising? It features sexual innuendo and visually-suggestive content without restraint. The sum total of all of this sexual focus is 24-hour depravity being shoveled out to the American public by the very people who are acting so holier-than-thou about Weiner.

“Respected” American companies … companies like Time Warner, Hilton, Marriott, News Corp (the parent of Fox News) and many others … makes billions of dollars in profits by streaming X-rated and other pornographic materials to hotel customers and American homes. For more on this hypocrisy, see Porn Profits: Corporate America’s Secret.

I’m afraid that the Weiner brouhaha  is just another diversion by Corporate America. The movers and shakers that provide our news and entertainment (can anyone tell the difference any more?) would rather have you outraged about Weiner’s comparitively small transgressions than risk having you zero in on the monumental barage of filth that it feeds the public hour-by-hour each day of the year, year after year.