Horror of Horrors! Its a Chapel Service

From the Idaho Statesman we have an editorial on Saturday concerned about the potential of the Boise Rescue Mission taking over Community House:

Homeless people would be encouraged to accept Christ under a plan taking shape to solve the Community House problem.

City officials are negotiating with the Boise Rescue Mission to rent and operate the Community House homeless shelter at 13th and River streets as a shelter for men.

This would blur the line between church and state. If you don’t mind that, speak up. If you do, speak up. A decision will be made soon.

Ooh, scary stuff.

The mission works without government funds because it wants to protect its religious purpose. “We are a church,” says the Rev. Bill Roscoe, executive director, who met Friday with Mayor Dave Bieter. “Our mission is to promote the gospel. We do that by providing the services we provide.”

That ministry would remain intact if the mission takes over Community House. Homeless men could get out of nightly worship services only if they subscribe to another faith — and prove it by taking a short quiz. “I feel comfortable with that offer,” City Councilwoman Elaine Clegg said.

So, here they are willing to take this off the city’s hands, raise the money, and take care of the homeless. The Statesman’s concerned clearly that some non-Christian might be required to attend a chapel service. How awful!

I mean this is fact that a lot of the homeless are there because they have no purpose, no direction, and are just aimlessly drifiting. The Rescue Missions across this country bring people out of that to relationship with God, into good relation with their fellow men and it changes their lives.

The idea that you just give people some food and a bed and let them drift around and think that you’re doing something great is absurd. All you’re doing is giving a man a fish. What the Rescue Mission does is teach them how to fish by giving them a purpose in life. Its still up to them as to whether they’re going to listen to them.

The same people who complain about the Boise Rescue Mission teaching the gospel are the same people who have no problem with college professors pushing their views in the classroom, speech codes on campus, and all the garbage that Christian and Conservative colleage students need to put up with.

Heroes: People Can Make a Difference

Tonight’s podcast is on ordinary people being the key to change in America. Enjoy:

Part One
Part Two

Part Three

Poor Research at the AP

From that AP story, the guy at the AP got it wrong. He referred to Palmerio as “the Baltimore Orioles star outfielder.” Are they just grabbing people off the streets now?

Palmerio has not played outfield since 1988 . Since then he’s been a first baseman/DH exclusively.

The Baseball Fascists Strike Again!

Rafeal Palmerio tested positive for steroids and received a 10 day suspension which cost him $162,000. This however has not satisfied Congress. According to ESPN. Congress wants the records which Raffy’s willingly handing over.

Now Congress is using the Palmeiro issue as another excuse to insert itself in baseball’s steroid policiies. ESPN again reports:

RALEIGH, N.C. — A member of the House committee that held hearings on steroid use in March says Congress may feel compelled to get involved in testing major league players for banned substances.

“At this point I think [the chances are] getting better and better because of baseball’s inability to police their own players,” Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said Saturday on the ESPN program “Outside the Lines.”

Congressman, I don’t see base as “unable” to police its own players. What are you talking about? Raffy got suspended for 10 days. Everyone’s been punished who has gotten caught.

This is beyond the pale. Its out of line and its an attempt by the federal government to take over control of the Major League’s player relations. Why aren’t Conservatives speaking up? Congress is running a steamroller through the US Constitution and the Free Enterprise system and is now going to tell players and owners how its going to be!

Of all the mismanagement, corruption, and waste in Washingtion, what gives these people the audacity to think they can run Major League Baseball or that there’s some national interest in this? This is about grandstanding and Congressmen wanting to act like defenders of virtue by using government coercion to force the private sector to do their will.

Waiting for the Double Cross

Conservatives have been betrayed so many times by Republican Presidents in regards to the Supreme Court, that many are anticipating a double cross. In the lack of clear evidence showing whether the John Roberts nomination constitutes another Souter or Kennedy, some are assuming that to be the case.

Thus when last week it came out that that Judge Roberts did a few hours of Pro Bono work through his law firm to help attorneys for Gay Rights advocates prepare for oral arguments before the Supreme Court, many were declaring that Conservatives had once again been betrayed. There have been numerous defenses of Judge Roberts. As Jay Sekulow of the Americans Center for Law and Justice pointed out, the Supreme Court bar is collegial and lawyers often help one another. In addition, lawyers are generally required to do several hours of Pro Bono work per year and this was the work assigned by his firm and he didn’t feel a strong compulsion against doing it.

Thus, we see that the greatest failure of Judge Roberts in the eyes of some Conservatives is that he’s a lawyer. He’s not Sekulow or John Whitehead, a Conservative crusader whose going to use the legal system to fight for Conservative causes. He’s a traditional lawyer in the style of Fyvush Finkel’s character Douglas Waumbaugh from Picket Fences. The Waumbaugh character stole the show as a skilled litigator who would take the case of anyone who paid him and some who didn’t. You never knew where he stood on issues because he represented people on both sides of the culture war at various times, always believing it was not his job to choose his clients, but rather to do the best job he could for those he represented so that the American legal system would work. Its not my morality, but it was that of Waumbaugh and to a lesser degree, its that of Judge Roberts.

What type of judge will he’ll be? We don’t know for sure. Indeed, his judicial philosophy has come out in bits and pieces and for every encouraging word, there’s something troubling. While he writes a lot about judicial restraint and even advocated for judicial term limits during his career, he also speaks of the need to respect precedent and the need for stability. Those Conservatives who are hesitant about supporting his nomination read that to mean, “I’ll affirm Roe v. Wade.” Others will read it in light of Supreme Court decisions to overturn their own recent rulings on anti-Sodomy laws and the juvenile death penalty and will look at that as more what Roberts is talking about.

What’s happening is that many Conservatives are going out and criticizing Roberts because they expect him to be another Souter and want to be able to say, “See, I told you so.” I can think of little other purpose for this premature attack on the President’s nominee. With almost the entirety of the Conservative Christian movement’s leadership on board, and many Democrats in the Senate supporting Judge Roberts, how are a few editorials going to hurt him before the Senate?

The onus for this appointment will be on the President and the Republican establishment. If Roberts turn into another Souter or Kennedy, the consequences will be severe. You might see a real third party capable of garnering double digits or the Presidential nomination could go to a true Conservative/Barry Goldwater figure as the grassroots would strike back against the GOP establishment. Many conservative leaders like Jay Sekulow could very well see their careers end if Roberts turns out to be the wrong type of judge.

Before passing judgment on the President for betraying us, lets wait until we’ve seen Judge Roberts in action. Why are so many Conservatives, who’ve worked so hard to put the President in a position to make this appointment, second guessing his choice?