Leadership
The Meaning of the the Arizona Veto
With Vladimir Putin taking control of Crimea–he was mad at the Ukrainian people for forcing out their pro-Russian tyrannical leader– came the temptation to write on the beginning of a new Cold War.
But that can come later. We have yet to see whether President Obama will act weakly like Jimmy Carter in the 1970s or strongly as Ronald Reagan did in the 1980s.
But we do know what happened in America last week when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed SB 1062. Religious liberty died and propaganda won.
Here’s the real meaning of the Arizona veto.
I will let some other voices set the stage. Gary Randall of the Faith and Freedom Network tells us the facts about SB 1062:
“It was simply an amendment to the 1999 state Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a state law similar to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act [RFRA] signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.
“Senate Bill 1062, was designed to merely clarify the protection already offered in the state RFRA. It would have clarified that protections extend to any “state action” and would apply to “any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, religious assembly or institution or other business organization. It protected all citizens and the associations they can form from undue burdens by the government on their religious liberty or from private lawsuits that would have the same results.”
It seems like an eternity ago when a Democratic president, House and Senate passed a bill that was good for America. But the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, sponsored by then-Congressman Chuck Schumer-NY, passed on a unanimous voice vote in the House and a whopping 97-3 margin in the Senate.
Bill Clinton signed it. Good law–good leadership.
As Randall points out above, the Arizona bill was a mirror of the RFRA that clarified two minor points. You can read read its 680 words here. (It’s not 2000 pages long like Obamacare.)
What did it strengthen?
Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation explains:
“When the government starts forcing people to do things that violate their deeply held beliefs, we have a problem. Unless the government proves that there is a compelling government interest in doing so (and that there was not another, less restrictive means possible), citizens should be left free. We need legislation protecting religious liberty for all, because in a growing number of cases, government coercion and penalties have violated religious freedom.”
Arizona’s SB 1062 took a good law passed by Democrats eleven years ago and added two tweaks: 1) Government can’t force anyone to do anything unless it has a compelling interest to do so, and 2) That there is not another less restricted way to accomplish the same result.
If you took the time to the read SB 1062, you might be surprised that it was a generic bill that applied to all people, races, issues, situations, and circumstances.
It never mentioned gay rights or gay marriage.
So why did the vast majority of media outlets (including Fox News) trumpet headlines that the Arizona bill was “anti-gay” or “anti-gay marriage?”
Ryan Anderson explains in the following Q&A:
Q: How did people’s beliefs about same-sex marriage become an issue?
A: “In New Mexico, a photographer declined to use her artistic talents to promote a same-sex ceremony because of her religious beliefs. The couple complained and the New Mexico Human Rights Commission ordered her to pay a fine of nearly $7,000. Christian adoption and foster-care agencies in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., have been forced to stop providing those services because they believe that the best place for kids is with a married mom and dad. Other cases include a baker, a florist, a bed-and-breakfast, a student counselor, the Salvation Army, and more.”
Q: Why is this a religious liberty issue?
A: “Many religions teach that marriage is the union of a man and woman, and the religious liberty concern in these recent cases is that people are being coerced into violating that belief. While Americans are legally free to live and love as they choose, no one should demand that government coerce others into participating in activities that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Q: But isn’t government supposed to guarantee equal treatment for all?
A: “These are cases of private individuals offering (or not offering) their services, not government officially recognizing same-sex relationships—which is another case altogether. There is no need for government to try to force every photographer and every florist to service every marriage-related event.”
Q: Would laws like these open the door to lots of businesses discriminating against gays and lesbians?
A: “Claims that proposals like Arizona’s encourage refusing service to gays and lesbians are simply nonsensical. Arizona’s proposed legislation never even mentioned same-sex couples or sexuality; it simply clarified and improved existing state protections for religious liberty.”
“Some people have claimed, for example, that it meant a pharmacy could refuse to serve gays and lesbians. But I know of no sincere religious belief that says you can’t sell penicillin to someone because they are gay or lesbian. Ensuring that all citizens have access to crucial medical care is a compelling government interest. And requiring every pharmacy to sell penicillin might very well be the least restrictive means possible of ensuring access.”
Q: What about people whose religions say different things, or Americans who choose not to practice a religion?
“These types of freedom protections are important for all Americans. As Cato’s Ilya Shapiro put it, ‘For that matter, gay photographers and bakers shouldn’t be forced to work religious celebrations…and environmentalists shouldn’t be forced to work job fairs in logging communities.’ When it comes to this particular issue, all Americans should remain free to believe and act in the public square based on their beliefs about marriage without fear of government penalty.”
Is that too hard to understand? Arizona’s reasonable law protected all people from being forced, in a myriad of situations, to violate their religious beliefs.
Forcing violations of conscience–in any area–is bad. Freedom is good. If government is going to force us to go against our strongly held religious beliefs (be they Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or Atheistic), then they better have:
- A very compelling reason to do it,
- In the least restrictive way possible.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council put it this way:
“All SB 1062 did was ensure the government couldn’t force business owners to violate their religious beliefs. If that’s controversial, then so is the First Amendment…As Americans, we have a proud tradition of respecting each other’s differences — a tradition that was never threatened by this bill. On the contrary, it would have extended to Christians, who have suffered the loss of jobs, security, and money at the hands of the liberal agenda, the same courtesy of tolerance.”
Here are two other sane explanations of the Arizona bill.
Rich Lowry, writing in Politico, “The question isn’t whether businesses run by people opposed to gay marriage should provide their services for gay weddings; it is whether they should be compelled to by government. The critics of the much-maligned Arizona bill pride themselves on their live-and-let-live open-mindedness, but they are highly moralistic in their support of gay marriage, judgmental of those who oppose it and tolerant of only one point of view — their own.”
On last weekend’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) hit back at the massive misinformation regarding SB 1062:
“The notion that someone because they are gay would be denied service at a restaurant is something that Americans don’t support. The other side of the equation is imagine if you’re a Southern Baptist or a Catholic or even evangelical photographer, who does not believe, because of your faith, in gay marriage. And because of that, you don’t want to provide photographic services to a gay marriage. Should you be punished by the state for refusing to do so?”
The answer to that question should be a resounding NO.
So why did Governor Jan Brewer veto SB 1062? What is the meaning of the Arizona veto?
1. The current US Administration–and those who cowtow to it–are determined to enshrine secular values by force. These values include forcing us to pay for abortions through the Affordable Care Care, removing the Judeo-Christian heritage from American life, and demanding that we support the re-definition of marriage.
Because government is all about force–the only sphere of society thus designed–it is crucial that this power is used minimally–and never to trample human rights to life, liberty and conscience.
2. We are becoming a banana republic where propaganda is more powerful than thoughtful argument and debate. The Brewer veto of a good law–one that would have helped all Arizonans–came about because the media, some businesses (like the NFL), and government elites distorted a good law. The propaganda pressure over a politically correct issue (gay marriage) was too much for Governor Jan Brewer to resist.
She wilted–and freedom died.
Waves of propaganda are common in totalitarian countries–such as Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, China and Russia. But they are now finding their way into the West because of our ignorance, sin, and rejection of godly values. This is a troubling trend that sets the stage for Hitler-like deception and evil under the right circumstances.
3. Christians must be prepared to suffer for their faith if present trends continue. The success of propaganda is the first step toward alienation and suffering by the “offensive” social group. Ask the Jews about that one–and followers of Christ in other eras. If authoritarian governments, in sync with media boosters and duped masses, can silence those who disagree with their objectives, then those “traitors” to the new order can be rounded up and a “final solution” served.
I believe the Western World is closer to Christian persecution than at any time in the past five hundred years.
4. Only a tidal wave of godly renewal–and fearless leaders who will call for it! (think 21st century Martin Luther Kings)–can defeat the propaganda and its secular goals.
We are standing at a watershed moment in history. Russia, Iran, and China form formidable foes from without–and apathy, ignorance, and sin are destroying us from within.
May the Church rise up and pray, and may a new generation of leaders call God’s people to a rebirth of faith, morality and religious liberty.
May that be the result of the Arizona veto.
What We Can Learn from the World Champion Seattle Seahawks
Allow me to to bask a few moments in the afterglow of Seattle’s first men’s professional sports championship in thirty-eight years.
Seattle Seahawks 43 – Denver Broncos 8.
I’ve gone full circle in sports enthusiasm in my lifetime. In my younger years, sports was an idol that I lived, slept, dreamt and loved far too much. After I became a disciple of Jesus, I ran to the other extreme and threw away all my athletic trophies and scrapbooks in a burst of religious zeal.
A few years back, God brought me to a place of wiser moderation. Jesus is the supreme love of my life and nothing takes His place in time, thought, commitment and passion. I can also enjoy watching the occasional sports contest with interest and enjoyment.
Superbowl 48–the most watched TV broadcast in American history–stimulated that kind of interest and joy. But it goes much deeper for me.
What can we learn from the World Champion Seattle Seahawks?
What We Can Learn from the Seahawks
1. Don’t believe the doubters. Seattle was recognized as a good team in 2013, and for much of the year stood at the top of the NFL Power Rankings. In December, their offense struggled and some analysts began to doubt their ability to go the distance.
Bookmakers made them underdogs in the Superbowl against the Broncos and their legendary quarterback, Peyton Manning. Most of the lead-up to the game appeared to be a coronation of the highly respected quarterback. Certainly Manning would cruise to victory and be hailed as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time.
Instead, the Seahawks defense refused to believe the headlines and shut him and the Broncos down.
We need to learn from them and suppress the satanic and human voices around us that tell us we’re not good enough. Don’t accept the doubts. Do your very best and leave the results to God, whether you’re a student, secretary, soldier, factory worker, CEO, or NFL quarterback. Put your trust in the One Who Can.
2. Faith has its rewards and blessings. Many of the Seahawks players profess faith in Christ and have put their trust in God to save them from their sins. That’s why you hear them “thank God” when they’re interviewed and point their hands toward heaven after touchdowns.
The Making of a Champion shares the faith-stories of a number of Seahawk players and coaches and openly invites the audience to get involved in a local church. Jesus is Bigger Than The Superbowl is an interview with Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll that reveals some Seahawks player’s supreme priority.
Faith in Jesus not only restores us to relationship with God, but brings many blessings to our lives. In fact, when you hear various Seahawks say to the cameras that they are “blessed” by what they’re doing, you’re listening to a code word that means that Jesus has given them strength, talents, and gifts in life that they know come from Him.
Every good gift comes from God (James 1:17). Faith brings inner hope, confidence, strong friendships, better marriages, comfort in sorrow and many other “blessings.”
Let the Seahawks’ players inspire you to live by faith.
3. Defense wins. It is an axiom in sports–that great defenses beat great offenses. The Seahawks/Broncos matchup was a test of this theory as Seattle possessed the number one defense in the NFL and the Broncos sported a record-setting number one offense.
Yet, many pundits chose the Broncos. Then the game began and the Seattle defense absolutely dominated up the Bronco Express. It wasn’t even close. After a couple quarters, it looked like the Bronco players were “hearing footsteps” every time they went for a catch. The defense won the day.
Defense is important in our lives too. God is our Rock–we must take shelter in Him. We need to put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness and take up the shield of faith daily against the attacks of the demonic world (Ephesians 6:13-17).
We, too, will conquer if we play good defense.
4. Character counts. This year’s Seattle Seahawks (with the exermption of the Richard Sherman rant) exemplified great character on and off the field.
Character is the sum total of your moral traits and include the attributes of love (1 Corinthians 13), the nine fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23), and many other godly qualities. 2 Peter 1:5-7 lists seven character traits including virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love.
Athletes who exhibit many of these qualities make tremendous role models for kids and people of all ages because of their notoriety. Let’s pray for professional athletes in all the fields of sport that they would be people whose lives are worthy of imitation.
5. Work hard. Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson, at the ripe old age of 25, has already become famous for the saying “The separation is in the preparation.” Translation? Those who work diligently to be their best will distinguish themselves from those around them. Hard work is one of the primary tickets to success in a fallen world where we’re all competing for survival.
If you work hard like the Seahawks at what God has called you to do, you will also experience many triumphs. The Bible encourages us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving ” (Colossians 3:23,24).
Let’s work hard for Jesus.
6. Use the talent God has given you. Sometimes when elite athletes talk about their skills (as when speaking to an audience of young people), they emphasize “going for your dreams, aiming for the top.” There’s nothing wrong with aiming high, but it comes with a caveat: it must be within the framework of the talent or gifts God has given you.
A wise and honest athlete once said, “You can’t put in what God has left out.” We must have a sober assessment of our talents, both athletically and professionally and then strive to do the best with what God has given us.
We all have special talents, aptitudes, motivations and desires. Find your own, be realistic about God has given you, and use those talents to the best of your ability. When you do, your successes will be just as satisfying as athletes winning the Superbowl.
7. Give God the glory. I loved it on Sunday night when numerous Seahawk players began their after-game interviews with a quick and hearty nod to God. The same thing took place at the NFL Honors banquet the night before. Almost every player chosen for a prestigious award began his acceptance speech with a heart-felt “I thank to God” before going on to mention parents, coaches, and others.
That little phrase tells you alot about a person. They know who their source is. They are grateful to the Person who really gets credit for their ability.
In the famous Chariots of Fire movie, American sprinter Jackson Schultz hands Eric Liddell (The Flying Scot) a folded note before he runs one of the biggest races of his life. It reads, “He who honors Me, him will I honor” (1 Samuel 2:30).
When we give glory to God, He turns around and honors us in multitudes of ways. Be sure to give God the glory for the accomplishments and blessings of your own life.
8. Aim, high and shoot long. Russell Wilson told many audiences this week that he went to last year’s Superbowl as a spectator to learn about how to get there. Then he and the other Seahawks set their bar high to aim at winning the pinnacle prize of American football.
Over our lifetime we need to set goals for how God wants to use our lives. We need to “aim high” (don’t settle for the mediocre) and then “shoot long”–in other words, have the tenacity to look long range and never give up.
Are you aiming high in your life goals? Are you willing to pursue them for years to the glory of your Creator?
9. Be humble and give others the credit. This was one of the clearest testimonies of the Seahawk triumph. Player after player deflected the attention off of themselves to their other teammates. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was especially good at this–giving praise to all of his players and lifting up the value of “team” above individuals.
It was hard to choose the Superbowl 48 MVP. Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor, Percy Harvin, or the entire Legion of Boom all qualified! The award went to unsung hero Malcolm Smith who quietly accepted the thanks–and then immediately gave credit to his teammates.
That’s the power of humility–team–thinking of others. It’s a beautiful thing to behold, and also gives glory to God.
10. Don’t give up–persevere to the end. The Seahawks played a very steady game in Superbowl 48 which proved they were the best football team in the NFL. But to get there, they had to survive many epic battles, close shaves–even a rally from twenty-one points behind in one game.
Life is lived best by those who endure and don’t give up. They get knocked down, they look like they’re out, but somehow they muster the strength (in God and his grace) to trudge to the finish line.
It’s one thing to persevere in an athletic contest. It’s even more important to do so in your marriage, family, spiritual and business life.
In summary, I’m grateful to the Seahawks for bringing Seattle a championship after nearly a forty year drought. But I’m even more excited about the faith, humility, teamwork, and other character qualities that allowed this team to reach the top of their trade.
Let’s learn from the Seahawks and do likewise. That will make each of us champions in the ultimate game of life.
The Obama Scandals: Character is Destiny
It has been stunning how the growing scandals within the Obama administration have multiplied and widened over the past few weeks. It’s true that second term presidencies are often tainted by scandal during the final four years. Think Ronald Reagan and Iran-Contra in the late eighties and Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky in the nineties.
But those scandals were relatively minor and confined to one area of either policy or personal conduct. In the case of the Obama scandals, they seem to be popping up everywhere in numerous area of foreign and domestic policy.
I was tempted to title this column “The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost” (to use the infamous phrase of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright). But that would overlook the central truth of it all.
In all of our lives, character is destiny.
I’ve thought a lot about the subject of character over the past few decades because I came to realize many years ago that I needed a lot more of it in my own life.
This coming week I’ll be in Texas speaking at an Hispanic Discipleship School. One of the subjects that they asked me to share on is the development of godly character. I wrote a book on that subject in 1992 with a provocative title–If God Has A Plan for My Life, Why Can’t I Find It? You Have a Destiny. The book is a study in 2 Peter 1:2-11 where the apostle describes seven building blocks of good character:
- Moral Excellence or Virtue
- Knowledge
- Self-Control
- Perseverance
- Godliness
- Kindness
- Love
Peter says that if we possess these qualities and they are growing in our lives, then we will be fruitful and successful both in this life and the next.
Good character produces a good destiny (and reputation).
There are many other character qualities mentioned in the Bible that emanate from the being of God Himself. In Galatians chapter five, Paul first lists a grouping of bad character traits: (5:19-21)
- sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness and orgies.
Then he turns around and gives the famous “fruit of Spirit” listing of great character attributes: (5:22,23)
- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
In the first list, a person chooses to develop bad character by not imitating the character of God but rather spiraling down into a self-centered world of narcissistic choices.
Paul’s second group is the opposite. A person recognizes their need for God in their life and invites the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to produce good character in them. They are being born again and cooperate with God’s amazing grace.
Good character is the totality of moral traits that we find in the Godhead. We human beings aren’t known for growing it in great abundance. It takes the invasion of God into our lives to soften and humble proud, selfish hearts and re-make them into the image of the Holy.
Character growth–being full of the Spirit of God–should be a supreme goal of our lives.
Paul follows up his teaching on character in Galatians 6:7, 8 where he soberly brings in the destiny part:
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever you sow, you will reap. The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
This is the original context of the chickens coming home to roost comment. You reap what you sow. If you have good character then good consequences will ultimately come to you (though not always immediately). On the other hand, if you have bad character (i.e. do shady, selfish, or evil things) then bad consequences (though not always immediately) will be visited upon you.
And so we come to the Obama scandals. Some things have been “sown” in this present administration. For a time they were hidden or beneath the surface. But now they have come to light and the consequences are beginning to set in.
Benghazi
Many people on the street are still not aware that this small Libyan outpost was the scene of a brutal terrorist attack on September 11, 2012 when four brave Americans, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were viciously murdered.
Why has half of America never heard of Benghazi? Because during the 2012 election, the mainstream media in America chose to not cover this story to quietly aid in President Obama’s re-election.
That’s bad enough, but the greater story is that, from the very beginning, the Administration did not choose the necessary character quality of honesty to report the tragic Libyan events. We now know that the White House and State department circulated a bogus story about the deaths being attributed to a spontaneous uprising or related to an anti-Muslim video.
Benghazi is now a burgeoning scandal, similar to Watergate, in that there was a failure of leadership coupled with an orchestrated cover-up to limit damage to the president. In Nixon’s case, documents were stolen. In Obama’s case, security was neglected and four people died.
Time and many hearings will tell how close this gets to the president himself. But there is no doubt that the administration is now reaping the results of a well choreographed lie.
Truth or honesty is vital in all of our lives. Don’t get too high and mighty pointing your fingers at Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. What about your own life? Any cover-ups, misstatements of the truth, or episodes of dishonesty? Do you always tell the truth or do you embellish it at times for personal gain?
We all have a Benghazi-type incident in our closet. The present administration needs to come clean on theirs. How about you?
The IRS
Benghazi is the most lethal of the various scandals because it led to the death of four people. But the biggest scandal now being uncovered in Washington, D.C. is the monstrous perversion of the IRS to intimidate and harass faith-based and conservative movements in this country to silence their voice.
This took place through the non-profit division of the Internal Revenue Service where a different set of principles and tactics were used to suppress conservative voices over the past two years. I’m sure you’re aware of the story by now and it should send tingles up every American spine.
The IRS is the second largest and probably the most feared agency of the US government. It can destroy lives through both taking away our time and confiscating our resources.
The IRS must possess the character qualities of justice or fairness. It must treat all American equally with respect before the law.
To read just one example of IRS intimidation, click hear to hear Dr, James Dobson’s story.
The IRS scandal could bring down the present administration because the IRS touches the lives of nearly every American. If one group can be abused, so that another. That should trouble all of us.
But this scandal should also be a wake-up call of character for us individually. Do you treat all people and groups fairly, or do you carry a self-oriented bias? Are you fair with everybody or do you show favoritism to some?
Let’s clean up our act and be fair and just. Good things follow the sincere pursuit of justice.
The Associated Press and Fox News
The third major scandal swirling in Washington, D.C. involves the Justice Department collecting the phone records of hundreds of AP reporters supposedly to suppress the leakage of government secrets. But by nearly admission, the DOJ went way too far in snooping on reporters, and not focusing on the government leakers themselves.
In the case of James Rosen of Fox News, the Department obtained warrants for e-mails, phone records, and even monitored the phones of Rosen’s parents because they suspected Rosen of being a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act. Even the Washington Post condemned this blatant abuse of the government spying on “its enemies.”
The bad character traits here are prejudice and concealment. The opposite good character trait is transparency–something that President Obama pledged his administration to when he first took office.
Again, all of us can relate. Got any secret sins that you’ve tried to conceal from others or a Holy God? While we’re rightly pointing the finger at some of our government officials, we’d better be pointing them simultaneously at ourselves.
SUMMARY
A major reason for the current Obama scandals–and there appear to be more than the three mentioned here–is the cancerous growth of government beyond accountability and control. Lord Acton was right when he said that “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Erick Erickson of Redstate puts it this way: “The more power any government has, the more power it will abuse. The more money it spends, the more money it will mis-spend. Dysfunction and corruption grow on government like mold on otherwise perfectly good bread. It has nothing to do with party or ideology – it has to do with human nature.”
The Obama Scandals are revealing character flaws within the Administration that will affect its future, its destiny. You reap what you sow. The chickens do come home to roost. Even if it is overlooked or suppressed in this life, it will be fully exposed in the next because the God of the Universe operates by perfect honesty, justice, fairness and transparency.
If the president wants a good personal and public legacy, then he needs to clean up the scandals surrounding him through the practice of godly character. Proverbs 28: 15, 17 tell us, “You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.” And “Among leaders who lack insight, abuse abounds, but for one who hates corruption, the future is bright.”
If he tries to sweep them under the carpet or run out the clock on them, he may dodge a bullet temporarily, but not altogether.
1 Timothy 5:24 tells us, “The sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later.”
Character is destiny. You can no more escape that truth than you can escape death itself.
So choose wisely to develop godly character. And choose leaders who will do the same.