Christianity in China

It appears that I am not the only one who has picked up on the idea that the only real “weapon” to use in countering China is Christianity. Someone forwarded me an email from a website called "To the point news" written by Jack Wheeler. Don’t be distracted by his ridiculous autobiography but focus on the essential truth of his observations about China. Wheeler makes the point that China is suffering from the three no’s: “No water, no wives, no banks.” That little ditty sums up China and makes the point I have amplified in other places.

Wheeler writes in his article on Christianity in China that in 10 to 20 years, China will be the largest Christian nation, and they will be an evangelical Christian nation, seeking to proselytize not only to the Muslim world through the “Back to Jerusalem” project, but also proselytizing Europe to reinvigorate the flaccid Christians there.

It is heartening that President Bush seems to have internalized this idea of Christianizing China. Although virtually unreported, the President went to services at a Christian Church in Beijing and made the following statement:

Pastor, Laura and I thank you very much for your hospitality. Our friend, Luis Palau, from America, is here, as well. You gave a great sermon. The spirit of the Lord is very strong inside your church. We thank you for carrying a message of love, like you did.

You know, it wasn't all that long ago that people were not allowed to worship openly in this society. My hope is that the government of China will not fear Christians who gather to worship openly. A healthy society is a society that welcomes all faiths and gives people a chance to express themselves through worship with the Almighty. So we welcome -- we really thank you for letting us come by, and we ask for God's blessing.

Thank you all.

The President picked up the ball, and advanced it for the sake of Christianity in China. The spirit of the Lord is strong, and will get stronger since we have a courageous President and 100+ Chinese Christians praying that freedom, and not the geriatic kleptocrats will reign. A Christian China is good for the Chinese people, good for America and good for the world. We are fortunate to have a President who recognizes this.

Mirthess Murtha

What can you say about the addled representative from Pennsylvania, John Murtha? How pathetic to see this former warrior trotted out in the presence of two of the dimmest bulbs in Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and call for what would be a disastrous policy, a precipitous withdrawal of forces from Iraq. You have to respect his 37 years in the Corps but even the sharpest sword will go dull if all it is used for is to stir the swill.

He is just wrong on the facts when he says: “"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," The vast majority of deaths caused by these terrorists are among the Iraqis themselves. How can our troops be the primary target when the “insurgents” have taken to driving car bombs into mosques. How many US troops are in the Iraq mosques during prayers? The answer for the benefit of the Honorable Mr Murtha, is zero. The terrorists know this, if the learned Murtha does not. The terrorists are desperately trying to attack the will of the Iraqis in the hopes the Iraqis themselves will sue for peace and expel the Americans. Should such a event occur, it would not be long before the terrorists set up a regime that would make the Taliban look like picture of tolerance.

God bless my representative, a true hero who still has all his faculties: Sam Johnson of Texas. He is a former POW and Air Force flier (and yes, I have forgiven him for this single lapse in judgement). This is what he said when he heard of Murtha’s blather:

Pulling our troops out of Iraq now is unconscionable and irresponsible.

“We’ve got to support our troops to the hilt and see this mission through.

“I bet Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is high-fiving his buddies and praising Allah after hearing these news reports. Immediate withdrawal- and the conflict sparked by this debate - is just what al-Zarqawi wants.

“I was just in Iraq and our troops told me that they are motivated to spread democracy. They’re fighting for freedom and they mean business.

“We need to get the job done in support of freedom and to eliminate Al-Qaeda terrorists around the world.

“In case people have forgotten, this is the same thing that happened in Vietnam. Peaceniks and people in Congress – and America - started saying bad things about what was going on over there. Let me tell you what it did for troop morale. It’s a real downer.

“I just pray our troops and their families can block this noise out and know that I will fight like mad to make sure our troops have everything they need - for as long as they need - to win the global war on terrorism.”

Murtha should shut up, retire, then go lay down.

NASCAR needs a new system

So NASCAR has a new playoff system, the “Chase for the Cup.” The top 10 racers after 26 races qualify for the “Chase,” which is a series of 10 races to finish the season. The racer with the most points at the end of the playoffs is the champion. Sounds great, except that the field is not truly level at the start of the “Chase” so we are faced with the dire situation of having a Nextel Cup champion, the punk Tony Stewart, who could not manage to win a race during the “playoffs.” Meanwhile, a truly inspirational racer, he of the broad smile and backflip, Carl Edwards, has won two races and can’t manage to rise higher than 4th in the standings. This is an abomination! Champions should win races, not stagger across the finish line like a drunk Marine trying to get back to the ship after liberty.

NASCAR should institute a playoff whereby the top 10 start with zero points and truly race to the finish. Further, NASCAR should make it so that whoever among the final 10 wins the most races during the “Chase” is the champion. Points would serve only as a tie breaker.

Run Tom Run!

Have you noticed that Tom Cruise, in every one of his movies, has a scene in which he is running someplace? In “All the Right Moves,” the running scene fits with his character because, well, his character is playing high school football. In the Mission Impossible movies, I guess it makes sense for a secret agent to literally run around, but what is up with the gratuitous running in “Collateral?” One second, Tom is cautiously stalking the cab driver, the next, he is running full speed, in his slick suit, across a pedestrian bridge. Running makes sense if you are in the military (Few Good Men, Top Gun, Last Samurai) but what is up with the footrace with Robert Duvall at the end of “Days of Thunder?” And what is he doing running across rooftops during “Vanilla Sky?” What is up with the running during “Jerry Maquire?” He is the agent, not the athlete. I do suppose one must run from murderous aliens like in “War of the Worlds,” or when you are being chased by cops gone bad in the future like “Minority Report.” Where was he going in “Magnolia?” Or “Eyes Wide Shut?”

Not that this should be construed as criticism, because I think Tom Cruise is cool. Ever since he ran around in “Losing It” costarring Shelly Long, and in “Risky Business.” And since we know he is not firing blanks, I am all the more impressed!

Nonetheless, this topic requires closer study.