Late
Summer Musings …
Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 8/26/18
About our Catholic friends. No, the
Catholic Church is not down and out because of the recent accounts about
priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals who have allegedly committed
dreadful sins. Radio talk show host Hugh
Hewitt, a devout Catholic and a conservative commentator, and Mark Thiessen,
former speech writer for President George W. Bush, are being too dire in regard
to what the sexual abuse scandal is doing to the church at large. They foresee a weakened church.
What percentage of Catholic priests do you
suppose has engaged in sexual misconduct?
What percentage of the Cardinals has overlooked it? I believe I could guarantee that the
percentage of misbehaving protestant pastors is much higher, yet nobody is
declaring that Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, etc. are finished.
In
the seven Baptist churches of which I have been a member, three of the pastors
are strong, faithful men who finished well and are in heaven. Four are still serving God and practicing
what they preach. I’ve no doubt that
they too will finish well. Protestant ministers, because of sexual sins, have
been falling like flies all of my life.
This says nothing about the seven pastors I’ve had, and others I know
from other denominations. It is,
however, a serious reminder of how ministers and everybody else had better
guard their hearts.
Catholics and I disagree on many things, but
not on the deity of Christ. I bristle at
how the media are pointing their fingers at Catholics. Catholics have been at the front of the
pro-life movement. Like evangelicals, they
build schools, hospitals, orphanages, and prison ministries. They are the largest religious group in
America. Expect the media to beat up on
them for another three weeks or so until something else negative pops up.
About the Governor’s race. Knowing Brian Kemp, I suspect his campaign
handlers had to persuade him to do those television gun commercials, not because
of the gun or the message, but because he knows the whole thing was hokey
politicking. Kemp’s not into hokey,
contrived things. He’s a slow talking,
serious guy who thinks before he speaks and prefers straightforward
communication. But hokey sometimes wins
the day and did in the Republican primary as it did when Sonny Purdue’s
campaign dubbed Governor Roy Barnes “King Roy,” the giant rat. Watch, though,
as the former state senator and secretary of state sets forth his vision for
the state in the next two months. It
will not be hokey.
Knowing
Stacey Abrams, I still say Mr. Kemp needs to be at his best. The nice, well spoken Ms. Abrams can
formulate and deliver a clear, unambiguous compound sentence before a debate
opponent can clear his throat. Never has
there been a better display of red versus blue than in this race, but never has
there been a larger band of purple that can be swayed either way. Yes, in Georgia. Remember that Cobb County, Newt country, went
for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Probably
never before have the philosophical lines been more clearly drawn than in this
race. Abrams is an unapologetic
Clintonista; Kemp, an equally unapologetic Trumpster. This race is George Orwell’s Big Brother
versus Calvin Coolidge’s limited government.
It is socialism versus federalism.
If, during debates, there is any degree of backing away from the
candidate’s base in order to woo purple voters, it will be Abrams who does
so. Kemp will not budge.
About the President and the media. I’m sorry, but President Trump’s fighting
back with the media is doing my heart good.
Anyone old enough to look back and survey the media’s recent history
knows that Presidents Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama were the media’s darlings,
all Democrats. Not so with Democrats
Johnson and Carter. Hmmm, was Johnson
too much barbeque and Carter too much peanuts?
Probably. But Nixon, Reagan, and
both Bushes, all Republicans, were nipped at constantly by the networks and the
nation’s largest newspapers.
Except
for sending out his vice-president to label the media “nattering nabobs of
negativism,” Nixon did little other than fume.
Reagan resisted, successfully, with his humor. The Bushes, gentlemen both, endured it. But Trump isn’t willing to take it. Little wonder. Nipping has been turned into resistance and
outright attack, with such verbal lobs as “treasonous,” “mentally
disabled,” “traitorous,” “racist,” and
much more.
The
media has hidden behind the 1st Amendment long enough. “Free press” doesn’t mean that the press
cannot be criticized. Objective
journalism and commentary have turned into carping. May the President’s bold response to it
continue.
Roger Hines
8/21/18
No comments:
Post a Comment