Samson's Jawbone

By David L. Miner and Glenn A. Griffis Recently, we have been hearing reports of conservative Christians and even evangelical leaders, implying that patriotism, and especially the nationalism advocate by President Trump, is a polite and cleaned up version of idolatry. In other words the question seems to be, can a Christian be loyal to his country, and support the countries dominance in world affairs without being idolatrous? Should we honor a government whose leaders may be corrupt, secular or with whom we disagree. Is loyalty to a secular, godless leader or country the equivalent of worship of that leader or country?  After laughing a bit, and after realizing that these people are actually serious, we have decided to  rant about such a sincere but misled doctrinal viewpoint. So, to sincerely rebut this sincere position, we need to see what Scripture has to say about this. First, in our view, is the command to submit to and support our political leaders is ...

Following my last Elisha's Ax Head post  "The Growing Pandemic of Foot-and-Mouth Disease"  I stated this post would emphasize how we actually avoid the malady. Unfortunately, it has taken me more time than I expected to prepare the second post, and with all that has happened in the month since I last posted I have decide to delay my post for one month. I apologize for the delay but after this post I will return to Elisha's Ax Head Can anyone explain why for 6+ years under President George W Bush (43) we went without any terrorist attack on US soil, or on our interests overseas, while after 71/2 years of Obama we have had either a terrorist attack, a mass shooting, or riots weekly? Sometimes Obama says availability of guns is the problem. Other time s, he says its because of a racist judicial system . Were guns not as readily available from 2003-­2009? Do we spend too much money on military spending , o r have we failed to use our military to create diversit...

In the Nathanael Hawthorne's  novel  Scarlett Letter  set  in June 1642 in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman found guilty of adultery. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulteress) on her dress to  shame  her. The persistent victories of Donald Trump in the early primaries reveal a new mark of shame. Now any politician that has the letter (R)  next to his name is marked as an adulterer, one who has broken the most sacred bond of trust with their family.  Few pundits and even fewer politicians understand Trump's popularity is a result of adultery, a betrayal of trust, a broken relationship. The Republican party has over the last two decades treated its base like the people of Boston treated Hester Prynn e. Over and over again from the passage of the Medicare Prescription drug act to several attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform the party leade...

After two debates and the exit of Governor Scott Walker the Republican 2016 field appears to be narrowing. Donald Trump and Ben Carson are tied, Fiorina is next followed by Marco Rubio. Rubio and Carson appear to have gained the most from Walker's exit. I was  a Walker supporter. I liked Governor Walker and appreciated his accomplishments in Wisconsin. Walker seemed to blame his demise at least partially on Trump. Walker's problem was Walker. His campaign was not organized for a sustained national effort. Although Walker effectively defended his gubernatorial record, he was unable to connect his accomplishment to national issues. Additionally Walker's campaign was top heavy with little grass roots organization. I have worked in several campaigns over the years and tried to contact Walker's team to offer my support. All I got was a request for money. Walker is young and he may yet be a viable candidate in future cycles. As he left the field many pundits suggested that R...

Samson's Jawbone: Outsider Candidates are GOP's Last Best Hope : I am not a Trump supporter, at least not yet. If the decision were mine alone I would give the nomination to another candidate; on the othe...

Samson's Jawbone: GOP Can Learn from Trump : Earlier in the week Presidential candidate Donald Trump made some statements some interpreted as disparaging to Senator John Mc Cain. Many ...

Earlier in the week Presidential candidate Donald Trump made some statements some interpreted as disparaging to Senator John Mc Cain. Many pundits predicted that his groundswell of support would vanish, that he had taken his bellicosity too far. Instead, his popularity seems to have increased. The next day, in the home state of fellow Presidential Candidate Lindsey Graham, Trump called him an "idiot," decried that he was "zero" in the poles, then red aloud his personal cell phone number. Graham's home state audience seemed to love it. Now today the Republican establishment is meeting to see how they can ameliorate the damage Trump has supposedly done to the party. There hasn't been any votes casts, and yet some Republicans see Trump as a danger to the party. What some Republicans fail to understand is that Trump has not damaged the party at all, rather the party has wounded the constituency to whom Trump appeals. I am not a Trump supporter. I am a