An Open Letter to Atheists at Christmas Time

To the atheist in the room,

As I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your attention, the Christmas season is once again upon us, and I can’t help but notice that you and your band of misfits still find pleasure arguing for the removal of Christ from Christmas or Christ from Christmas tree and so on and blah blah. However, you who simply “want to be included,” are seemingly missing the most elementary and obvious flaw in your attempt to destroy Christianity: Christ is the reason that we celebrate Christmas! I mean, you practically incriminate yourselves when you make the redundant argument of removing Christ from everything. You clearly understand that Christ is the integral, in fact necessary, element in our celebration of Christmas, so why futilely attempt to remove Him?

We all know that, thanks to Michelle Obama, our president wants to fundamentally transform our history, so maybe the bold attempts to revise Christmas’ meaning stem from this. But if we are to believe that the atheists simply want to be included in the joyous holiday of Christmas (have you ever been told you couldn’t celebrate Christmas in your own way in America?), why don’t you just do what you want and we’ll keep doing what we want and have been doing for centuries? We’ll all retain our freedom of speech, you can continue to deny God’s existence, and Christians will continue to rejoice with celebration the day of our, and your, Savior’s birth.

But, if you can find the time when you’re not busy worshipping the universe, remind me again who exactly is attacking or denying your rights to refute God?

I’m sorry; I can’t hear your response over all the crickets. One more time please…

Notice that no one is trying to stifle the atheist point of view, but instead it is Christian beliefs being constantly harassed. Just who are the victims here again?

So as the Winter Solstice fast approaches and you’re trimming your Holiday tree… oh wait. That reminds me. You do know that a pine tree has no religious significance, right? The Christmas tree is called just that because it is used during the holiday known as Christmas. Did you catch all that? Allow me to reiterate: baby Jesus wasn’t born under a sturdy pine with multi-color lights and an angel certainly wasn’t perched atop one on that Silent Night. A Christmas tree is recognized as a secular symbol of Christmas by those both religious and not so much.

To put this in perspective for you, allow me to conclude with this:

You like presents, right?

You like Christmas Holiday carols, right?

You enjoy waiting up for Santa, right?

Well guess what? All of these traditions can trace their roots to the very first Christmas Day celebrated some two thousand years ago. Not the Winter Solstice and not some spontaneous gift giving period that just so happened to develop around December 25^th. No. While Christmas has taken a largely secular turn, it is still celebrated and exists only because Christ was born.

So please, by all means, go about your atheist ways. Last time I checked, no one is hindering your belief system, as much you like to imagine that somebody is. But don’t think you can trample all over what I or millions of others believe just so you can feel “included.” We’re all included because we’re all Americans. Be grateful you have that assurance… at least for now.

Merry Christmas

The Harder the Conflict, the More Glorious the Triumph

As we now have learned, about half of this nation went into election day with feelings of optimism and encouragement. This half was anxious to turn a page and begin down a new path to prosperity and freedom, though, knowing that the job would be far from finished. I was one of these people. Like many, I have been praying since the time the Republican primaries began that we would welcome a candidate who would stand out and be recognized as America’s next great leader. When Mitt Romney was called up, I prayed continually that God would provide him with strength and courage and that he and his family would remain safe, healthy, and focused. I also prayed that the Lord would allow His Holy Spirit to open as many hearts as possible to accept Romney’s message. While it is undeniable that my prayers were heard, I know that God answers prayers in different ways: yes, not yet, or I have something better in mind. I have no doubt that the latter is how my prayers were answered.

I don’t know about you, but I woke up today in a light mood and with a clear mind. I of course recalled what occurred last night and I had no illusions about the hard times ahead. But, I felt as if everything was in control. The Lord, in His mercy and love, was reassuring me. I knew immediately that He had a plan in place to deal with our troubles, but that I would have to play a role in this plan in order for it to succeed. The same can be said for all of us. We were placed on this earth, at this time, to witness and be a part of something great. You can feel it in the air. I can say, as I stand firm at the Altar of God that I am up to whatever challenge we confront. How about you? At this point in history, I believe, we are meant to once again discover the real, authentic significance of what it means to be truly free. And as our history teaches us, that path is a little more than difficult.

But God did not sacrifice his Son so that we could have a free ride through life. True Christians must still do good, avoid sin, and repent of the numberless times we falter. It is also our responsibility to spread His Word and defend His causes when called upon to do so. My fellow Christians and Americans, we have been called upon. Rarely do we have the opportunity to stand and openly defend something so divine against an oppressor so great. While we may be unsure of what tomorrow brings, we know our Lord will not forsake us and will not abandon us in our time of need. I think of the Lord’s plan like a movie reel. When we watch a movie, we see it one frame at a time at a very fast rate. But if you were to take the reel and unwind it, you could view all the frames at once. You could see the beginning and end of the movie, as well as the victories for the heroes or the crimes committed by the villain. You wouldn’t have to wait to see the best part. You could just skip to that spot. Such is the way God’s Will and Plan works in our lives. To us, we are only seeing one frame, one event at a time. But God is seeing the whole film at once. He knows of our successes and failures long before we do and, of course, he knows how the movie will end. It is our job to faithfully trust in this ability.

As I mentioned, we have been called into action and the struggles that we will meet couldn’t be more imposing. For starters, we are careening toward the “fiscal cliff” where several tax cuts will expire and sequestration will begin to hit our military. Then there is the problem with Iran, their nuclear dreams, and this administration’s failed attempt at defending our ally Israel. And we have the always menacing issue of the steady and definite climb of our national debt, which this president has recklessly added more of than any other president before him. And what truly makes this an uphill battle is that last night we were made aware that half of our nation agrees with these damning policies.

However, the good news is that half of our nation doesn’t approve of our current direction, and that is the half that I am writing to. Yes, we were thrown a curve ball, but when has that ever slowed down the American spirit? We’ve been counted out in history more times than we care to remember, and each time we come roaring back to prove the opposition wrong. Despite what he says, Barack Obama has not bet on America. He has bet against America and all that we stand for in order to forcibly fit us into his utopian dreamland. Make no mistake – a sleeping giant has been awoken and we are in for a struggle that will test our endurance and fortitude, comparable in significance to what our Founding Fathers faced. And much like those magnanimous figures, if we prevail, our reward will be great. Freedom has always been worth fighting for abroad, but now that realization has come to the home front. These are the times that try men’s souls. Let us stand as one and be shy no longer.

The “Penalty” of Progressive Leadership

Where were you when freedom died? Okay, maybe that’s taking this a little far. Maybe. I mean, there are millions of Americans, a majority I might add, who aren’t quite ready to go down without a fight. So to phrase this more accurately, then, where were you when freedom was so badly altered that we may never recognize it again? I was at work around 10:15AM awaiting the verdict on Obamacare from the U.S. Supreme Court. And it was in the minutes that followed when I realized that a piece of our liberty died. The most controversial portion, the individual mandate to purchase health insurance, of the health care law was, to the surprise of many, upheld. Granted, it was ruled unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause, meaning we can’t actually be forced to purchase something. However, the actual justification may prove to make us far worse off. Instead of forcefully imposing laws on us, Congress can now, well, forcefully impose laws on us. Except the catch is they can do it under threat of a “penalty.”

So what does this penalty actually entail? Essentially, while no one on the Left is ready to admit it, this penalty is really a tax imposed on those who choose not to comply with any given government edict. It begins with healthcare; if you don’t want to purchase a healthcare plan, fine, but you’ll pay a tax for non-compliance. But the disturbing question is where does this taxing power end? What if the government decides it’s in everyone’s best interest to install solar panels or a wind turbine on their house? Or how about, in an effort to help out union jobs and wages (or save the world?), everyone has to purchase a Chevy Volt? Or what if in an attempt to totally collapse America, the federal government decides to limit population growth with a ‘one-child-per-family’ law? And if you choose not to abide by these rules, you’re “penalized” with a tax. And make no mistake, these taxes will be designed to be so devastating to the average American family that you may have no choice but to install that solar panel, buy a Volt, or limit your family to one cute little bundle of joy. How’s that for freedom, America?

It is indeed frightening to think about, but with this Supreme Court ruling, none of these “mandates,” or any other for that matter, are truly out of the realm of possibility. That’s what you call precedent and you can thank the progressive leaning Supreme Court for this un-American turn of events (seriously, thank them right now at 202-479-3000).

So how do we combat such a ruling when it’s the supreme law of the land? The answer is simple; never allow a progressive president, Democrat or Republican, to ever come to power again. Conservatives only from this point on is the singular fix for our current national debacle. Leftist representatives have gotten us into this mess and they no longer deserve a seat at the table of Liberty. They have worn out their welcome long ago, yet somehow we still humor them every four years. We need to start rolling back the mistakes of the past with a Conservative victory this November.

Allow me to leave you with this thought, America: We will never again be as free as we were on June 27th, 2012. It is now up to us to provide new guards for our future security. There have been terrible wrongs committed against our nation, but we can be restored to the vision of our Founders. Hope is not lost, especially not for a nation whose God is the Lord. Giving up now will surely condemn us to failure. But fighting for what is right and true can only lead to triumph.