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	<title>CatchKevin.com</title>
	
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		<title>“Catch Kevin” Advertising Special</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/catch-kevin-advertising-special/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:36:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Radio Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nhb]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11745</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reach a nationwide audience of &#8220;Catch Kevin&#8221; readers and radio show listeners at an introductory offer for a limited time only. This exclusive deal is on a first come / first served basis and limited to just four people or companies. Your product or service will be personally endorsed by me on my daily radio [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/NHB-BULLS-EYE-AD.jpg" alt="" title="NHB-BULLS EYE AD" width="347" height="346" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-11767" />Reach a nationwide audience of &#8220;Catch Kevin&#8221; readers and radio show listeners at an introductory offer for a limited time only.</p>
<p>This exclusive deal is on a first come / first served basis and limited to just four people or companies.</p>
<p>Your product or service will be personally endorsed by me on my daily radio show and seen on high traffic sites including but not limited to Catch Kevin, Blog Talk Radio, Facebook and Twitter. Currently that&#8217;s several hundred thousand subscribers, listeners and readers. Those numbers continue to grow exponentially. </p>
<p>Introductory advertising packages range between $500 and $2500 a month and are guaranteed through December 31st. These rates are dirt cheap compared to shows and sites with similar demographics and numbers. I don&#8217;t want to rip you off, I want to be your marketing partner and get you serious exposure to serious people who have serious money (college educated, predominantly male, conservative, 35 and over) and help you build your business and brand.</p>
<p>For details, contact me immediately via email at Kevin@CatchKevin.com or call me directly at 850-259-0541.</p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann (CatchKevin.com)</p>
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		<title>Announcing “Catch Kevin: No Holds Barred!” Internet Radio Show</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/announcing-catch-kevin-no-holds-barred-internet-radio-show/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/announcing-catch-kevin-no-holds-barred-internet-radio-show/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:12:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Radio Show]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11586</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m pleased to announce the February 19th debut of my new internet talk radio show, &#8220;Catch Kevin: No Holds Barred!&#8221; Sunday through Thursday at 9pm ET / 6pm PT. Listen to the new 1 minute promo. Due to increased listenership and demand from avid listeners, I&#8217;ll be broadcasting live five nights a week Sunday &#8211; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11589" title="Catch Kevin-No Holds Barred" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Catch-Kevin-No-Holds-Barred-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />I&#8217;m pleased to announce the February 19th debut of my new internet talk radio show, &#8220;Catch Kevin: No Holds Barred!&#8221; Sunday through Thursday at 9pm ET / 6pm PT.</p>
<p><a href="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Catch-Kevin-PROMO-version41.mp3">Listen to the new 1 minute promo.</a></p>
<p>Due to increased listenership and demand from avid listeners, I&#8217;ll be broadcasting live five nights a week Sunday &#8211; Thursday at 9pm ET and look forward to making it an interactive show where you can call in to share your perspective and opinion and even communicate with me through a realtime chat room. Podcasts of each episode will be available 24/7.</p>
<p>Like before, my topics will include everything from conservative politics and social issues, to business and breaking news.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re interested in learning how you can advertise on &#8220;Catch Kevin&#8221; media or sponsor the show and reach a rapidly growing nationwide audience at an extremely low rate, email or call me at 850-259-0541.</p>
<p>Please help me spread the word about my new show and new time by sharing it with your friends and family. Thank you.</p>
<p>Are you ready for riveting radio? Brace yourself, it&#8217;s time to Catch Kevin: No Holds Barred! next Sunday night at 9pm ET.</p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Take a moment to share your thoughts about this announcement in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">please subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Give Me Subsidies or Give Me Death!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/give-me-subsidies-or-give-me-death/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/give-me-subsidies-or-give-me-death/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:23:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[welfare]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11477</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For the first time in our nation&#8217;s history, it pays better to sit on your ass and let the government take care of you than it does to get a job. The average individual who relies on Washington can now receive benefits valued at $32,748. That&#8217;s more than the nation&#8217;s average disposable personal income of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Fat-Woman.jpg"><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Fat-Woman-300x281.jpg" alt="" title="Fat Woman" width="300" height="281" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11526" /></a>For the first time in our nation&#8217;s history, it pays better to sit on your ass and let the government take care of you than it does to get a job.</p>
<p>The average individual who relies on Washington can now receive benefits valued at $32,748. That&#8217;s more than the nation&#8217;s average disposable personal income of $32,446! Is it any wonder that so many people are leaving the workforce? </p>
<p>Of course the unemployment rate is going to tick down when you have that kind of incentive not to work.</p>
<p>Did you ever think you would live to see the day in America when it became more profitable not to work than to have a job? </p>
<p>It brings to mind my eye-opening <a href="http://catchkevin.com/homeless-man/">personal encounter</a> with a welfare plagued homeless man in Fort Myers Beach, Florida this past summer. </p>
<p>And make no mistake, that&#8217;s exactly how Barack Obama and his minions want it.</p>
<p>According to the Heritage Foundation&#8217;s <a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/02/2012-index-of-dependence-on-government">2012 Index of Dependence on Government </a>, fully 1 in 5 Americans rely on the federal government for everything from housing, healthcare and food stamps to college tuition and retirement assistance. That&#8217;s a whopping 67 million Americans &#8212; a voting block that certainly rivals Catholics against government mandated contraception. </p>
<p>In fact, government dependency jumped 8.1% in the past year alone, with the most assistance going toward housing, health and welfare, and retirement. To add insult to injury, nearly half of the US population (49.5%) does not pay any federal income taxes. Coincidence? Hardly. This is by design, starting with Wilson and Roosevelt all the way to Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Moreover, according to a recent CNN report entitled <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/07/news/economy/government_assistance/index.htm">&#8220;The New American Dream,&#8221;</a> a full one-third of all Americans get means-based assistance. So now more than one-third of Americans are dependent on the so-called &#8220;social safety net&#8221; and 20% live entirely on government subsidy. Twenty percent! </p>
<p>The federal government sent out a record $2 trillion to individuals in fiscal year 2010. That&#8217;s equal to the entire federal tax revenues collected in 2010 and a 75% jump from 2002. As of now, according to the Heritage Foundation which tracks, documents, and keeps the data: 70% of the federal government&#8217;s budget goes to individual assistance programs. </p>
<p>To say that&#8217;s unsustainable would be putting it mildly and that number is still going up. The elections are nine months away and Barack Obama wants to get as many Americans as possible dependent on Uncle Sam&#8217;s social net. And he&#8217;s doing a brilliant job.</p>
<p>With unemployment insurance extended to ninety-nine weeks, Obama knows all too well that complacency leads to dependency, dependency leads to entitlement, entitlement leads to addiction, and addiction leads to socialism.</p>
<p>In 21st century America it is no longer: &#8220;Give me liberty or give me death!&#8221; It&#8217;s . . . </p>
<p><em><strong>&#8220;Give Me &#8216;Subsidies&#8217; or Give Me Death!&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;">Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Take a moment to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">please subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you.</p>
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		<title>Christian Zionism: Biblical Fact or Fool’s Faith</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/christian-zionism-biblical-fact-fools-faith/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/christian-zionism-biblical-fact-fools-faith/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:08:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zionism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11428</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s imperative that American Christians separate their faith in Christ from the fallacy of Christian Zionism. Have no doubt, I support Israel, but as a democratic and political ally of the United States in the Middle East &#8211; Not from a Biblical mandate (Genesis 12:3), Zionist viewpoint, or because of political groups like CUFI and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11434" title="Eye-Star-David" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Eye-Star-David-300x184.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="184" />It&#8217;s imperative that American Christians separate their faith in Christ from the fallacy of <a href="http://catchkevin.com/christian-zionism/">Christian Zionism.</a></p>
<p>Have no doubt, I support Israel, but as a democratic and political ally of the United States in the Middle East &#8211; Not from a Biblical mandate (Genesis 12:3), Zionist viewpoint, or because of political groups like <a href="http://catchkevin.com/christendom-and-bible-prophecy-teachers-are-dead-wrong/">CUFI</a> and AIPAC.</p>
<p>I also support Palestine&#8217;s right to a state of their own and pray for Palestinian Christians, Coptic Christians and persecuted Christians anywhere in the world.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s no different from supporting muslims, but loathing jihad and militant Islamism. Too often Christians are wrongly labeled anti-Semites if they don&#8217;t support the modern day nation of Israel from a purely Biblical standpoint or adhere to Christian Zionism and the lobbyists who propagate it.</p>
<p>Conversely, Christians who rail against radical Islam, Sharia and jihad are often labeled fear mongers, hate mongers and bigots who have pure disdain for Muslims. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p>
<p>Christian Zionism is political propaganda pure and simple. It&#8217;s an offshoot of Dispensationalism, the progenitor of which was John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren Group in 19th century England.</p>
<p>Cyrus Scofield and the publication of the 1909 Scofield Reference Bible is what shaped the American church&#8217;s prevailing dispensational (dual covenant theology &#8211; separate plan of redemption for Jews and Christians) view of end times Bible prophecy.</p>
<p>That view is not only fallacious, it is heretical and antithetical to Christ and the New Covenant.</p>
<p>The truth is, today&#8217;s modern day nation of Israel has absolutely nothing to do with Genesis:12 or the Abrahamic Covenant. God is no respecter of persons or nations. The great equalizer, Yeshua ha Mashiac, ratified any and all covenants at the cross 2000 years ago.</p>
<p>To resolve the conflict in the Middle East, we must first resolve the eschatological <a href="http://catchkevin.com/questions-for-christians/">conflict in Christendom</a>. Sensational prophecy preachers and &#8220;end times&#8221; political propagandists need to be exposed for the heretics they are and held accountable for fleecing the sheep.</p>
<p>Until Christians are collectively on the same page of eschatology (branch of theology dealing with &#8220;end times&#8221; prophecy) &#8220;Blind Faith&#8221; amounts to little more than &#8220;Fool&#8217;s Faith.&#8221;</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;">Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Take a moment to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>Supreme Court Declares America a Christian Nation!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/america-christian-nation/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/america-christian-nation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:43:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christian nation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11395</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a day and age where there is much discussion and debate over our Christian heritage, who better to settle the argument as to whether or not the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation than the United States Supreme Court &#8212; the ultimate authority and final arbiter. What if I told [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Holy-Trinity-v.-United-States-300x200.jpg" alt="" title="Holy Trinity v. United States" width="300" height="200" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11398" />In a day and age where there is much discussion and debate over our Christian heritage, who better to settle the argument as to whether or not the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation than the United States Supreme Court &#8212; the ultimate authority and final arbiter. What if I told you the modern day argument between the secular progressives and Christian conservatives on this contentious debate was already settled by the United States Supreme Court as far back as 120 years ago!</p>
<p>That&#8217;s right. In 1892 in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, the Supreme Court examined thousands of documents concerning the founding of our great nation, including all state constitutions and compacts leading up to the time of the Revolution. After ten years of research, the court issued a unanimous decision that included the recognition that the United States of America is not only historically and culturally religious, but that the very system of government and our laws are based on a Christian worldview.</p>
<p>Regarding the mountain of documentary evidence, the high court further stated:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning. They affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual sayings, declarations of private persons. They are organic utterances. They speak the voice of the entire people. </p>
<p>This is a religious people&#8230;this is a Christian nation.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Regardless of one&#8217;s religious, agnostic or atheist persuasion, there is no doubt as evidenced by the Supreme Court&#8217;s opinion in Trinty v. United States in 1892 that founders and the citizens of young America were guided by Biblical principles and Christian ideals. Yes, the United States of America is indeed a Christian nation.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;">Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Take a moment to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">please subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you.</p>
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		<title>Romney Buys and Gingrich Belies Florida Primary</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/florida-primary/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/florida-primary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newt]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11200</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Outgunned, outnumbered and outspent 5 to 1 ($15 million to $3 million), Newt Gingrich lost a hotly contested Florida primary. Considering the avalanche of negative attacks against him (60 to 1), it&#8217;s a wonder Romney didn&#8217;t win by the same margin of victory in which he outspent Newt. It also shows that Floridians aren&#8217;t completely [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11206" title="Gingrich Romney" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Gingrich-Romney-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Outgunned, outnumbered and outspent 5 to 1 ($15 million to $3 million), Newt Gingrich lost a hotly contested Florida primary. Considering the avalanche of negative attacks against him (60 to 1), it&#8217;s a wonder Romney didn&#8217;t win by the same margin of victory in which he outspent Newt. It also shows that Floridians aren&#8217;t completely convinced that Mitt&#8217;s the man for the job. All things considered, a 14 point win could be construed as a moral victory for Newt Gingrich. But a moral victory holds little solace in war and politics.</p>
<p>Clearly the most intelligent, articulate and entertaining candidate, Gingrich is also the least disciplined. He&#8217;s the <a href="http://www.catchkevin.com/driven">&#8220;High Roller&#8221;</a> of presidential politics. He comes to the table with three things in mind: a winning strategy, bankroll management and discipline. But when the chips are down&#8212;in the heat of the action&#8212;his balls often trump his brains. Caught in a quandary between victory and defeat, in a momentary lapse of prudence and at 35 to 1 odds, he stacks all his chips on snake eyes only to see the dice come to a rest on 5 and 2&#8212;Seven out!</p>
<p>In light of the fact that Newt had the momentum coming off a huge victory in South Carolina, Romney did the only thing that an intellectually inferior but financially superior candidate could do&#8212;he took a page out of Governor Rick Scott&#8217;s playbook and bought the State of Florida with a barrage of negative attack ads. And pound Newt Gingrich he did . . . over and over again.</p>
<p>Knowing that Newt&#8217;s only defense would be a stellar performance in the last debate, Romney cleverly set a trap&#8212;a trap that would take advantage of Newt&#8217;s achilles heel . . . revenge! Like a boxer who took a beating in the previous round, Romney knew that Gingrich would want to prove that he could take a licking and keep on ticking. A battle of balls versus brains. Only the fight was between Newt and Newt&#8212;the end of which would have a national audience watch his balls deliver his brains on a silver platter garnished with ego and pride.</p>
<p>Where did Newt go wrong? He belied his &#8220;positive&#8221; platform and bit the bait. Only instead of the red meat John King gave him in a previous CNN showdown that he devoured in &#8220;Great Newt&#8221; fashion, Romney&#8217;s meat was booby trapped and Gingrich fell for it . . . hook, line and sinker.</p>
<p>What should have been a brilliant display of acute knowledge of the big problems plaguing our country and a smorgasbord of <a href="http://www.newt.org/solutions">big solutions</a> from Newt Gingrich instead became a colossal collapse of intellectual integrity and a pompous display of ego and arrogance. In a personal tit-for-tat feud to the finish, Romney won Florida by unanimous decision.</p>
<p>Newt&#8217;s greatest assets are his superior intelligence, his keen insight and both his Washington and private sector experience. His acute knowledge of the issues coupled with his conservative credentials and aggressive economic plan should have him squarely in the driver&#8217;s seat. Instead, he finds himself in the unenviable position of underdog in what&#8217;s shaping up to be a two horse race to the finish line in Tampa, Florida.</p>
<p>Can Newt pull off the upset and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Yes. But he needs to play his cards right. His bankroll took a big hit in Florida but a chip and a chair is all you need to stay in the game. That, and a tight/aggressive strategy moving forward.</p>
<p>Given the fact that Virginia and Missouri are out of play, the odds against Gingrich securing the nomination are even greater. This election boils down to one thing: &#8220;It&#8217;s the economy stupid!&#8221; Like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=316476445054546">I told Newt Gingrich</a> during his rally in Pensacola, he not only needs to draw a sharper contrast between his superior economic plan and Mitt&#8217;s, but he needs to hammer that home in the next debate.</p>
<p>Newt was right to point out that government doesn&#8217;t create jobs but writes the rules and establishes the environment in which those jobs can be created. He missed a prime opportunity to drive home the fact that as Commander-in-Chief, it would be his superior economic policy that would <a href="http://catchkevin.com/how-to-really-get-rich/">revive capitalism</a> and give rise to the next generation of Mitt Romney&#8217;s. He just needed to bring it full circle and draw the stark contrast between his radical tax reform and Romney&#8217;s plan&#8212;Obamanomics with lipstick.</p>
<p>When push comes to shove, Americans are far more concerned with dollars than defense, jobs than jihad and saving our own asses instead of everyone else&#8217;s. If Newt can make that the crux of his campaign and exploit Romney&#8217;s unconservative, liberal and dismal track record of job creation in Massachusetts, he&#8217;ll be the <a href="http://www.catchkevin.com/motivation">Rocky Balboa</a> of the GOP field . . . <em>&#8220;Yo Calissta, I did it!&#8221;</em></p>
<p><span id="more-11200"></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: large;"><!--more--><!--more--></span><br />
<span style="color: #000000; font-size: large;"> Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p><strong>P.S.</strong> View a three minute video clip of <a href="http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/pensacola/newt-gingrich-to-visit-pensacola">my interview</a> with Fox News at the Newt 2012 Rally in Pensacola, Florida.<br />
<span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><br />
<strong>P.P.S.</strong> Share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color: #eaeaea;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">please subscribe</span></a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you.</span></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Lottery Club Pays Big Money – Even For Losing!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/lottery-club-pays/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/lottery-club-pays/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:28:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LOTTO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=11055</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sixty-three million Americans play the lottery every day. In fact, they spend over $50 Billion dollars per year on it. No matter the economic climate, one thing’s for sure, some industries thrive during good times and bad. The lottery industry is no exception. I would never spend money on lottery tickets myself, but then again, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11062" title="Money Picture" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Money-Picture-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />Sixty-three million Americans play the lottery every day. In fact, they spend over $50 Billion dollars per year on it. No matter the economic climate, one thing’s for sure, some industries thrive during good times and bad. The lottery industry is no exception.</p>
<p>I would never spend money on lottery tickets myself, but then again, I don’t have to. I’m automatically playing two of the largest lotteries (Florida and Powerball) free every week (2 drawings per week for both lotteries — 16 drawings per month) and I’m making $1900 a month whether I win or lose.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Now that&#8217;s a good gig and here&#8217;s how I did it . . .</span></strong></p>
<p>A year and a half ago I started a business for a total investment of $100 and 3 hours of my time. I say business, but I actually joined a membership benefits club called Lotto Magic. Their product is . . . you guessed it, a lottery club! More specifically, the Florida and Powerball lotteries combined. You simply pay a $120 monthly membership fee (which is covered with just two referrals)) and you’re automatically assigned a set of numbers for all future lottery drawings. Although they have some killer discount travel and vacation deals that would more than pay a whole year’s membership fee by itself, that’s not why I’m in Lotto Magic. Neither am I in it to win the lottery, although that would be a welcome bonus.</p>
<p>The real reason I’m in Lotto Magic is for their incredibly lucrative referral compensation plan and the fact that there are no hyped-up or marked-up consumer products to sell. Like I said, I don’t have time for home parties, meetings, traveling or trying to push overpriced pills, potions and lotions. Besides, you can buy that stuff a lot cheaper from Wal-Mart, Costco or Amazon.</p>
<p>What I really like about Lotto Magic is that it’s a simple lottery club that just so happens to pay big money for referring other members regardless of whether you hit the lottery or not. But like I said, I don’t even have time to do that. If I did, I would be making a lot more than $1900 a month. I just let Facebook, my blog and other automatic marketing venues do it for me. It’s all about leverage—leveraging your time, your productivity and your income. Furthermore, I like the fact that Lotto Magic has been in business for 15 years and that I’ve personally known the Founder, Richard Moore, for twenty years. His marketing director, Mike Caruana, was also my VP of operations in my previous company, ProSTEP. I can’t afford to put my public reputation on the line and recommend an investment / business vehicle that isn’t rock solid and beneficial to my blog readers and radio show listeners.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Here is how you can make a small fortune on this program and treat it like an investment annuity that pays a handsome cash dividend every month.</span></strong></p>
<p>When I joined Lotto Magic 19 months ago, the monthly membership fee for what they call a Power Captain was $100. But as of January 2012, it went to $120. That’s because the Powerball Lottery Commission doubled Powerball tickets to $2 a ticket in January (I think they’re trying to be the first Billion dollar jackpot in lottery history). But Lotto Magic’s extremely lucrative referral program increased right along with it.</p>
<p>Lotto Magic pays out a whopping 63% of every dollar it brings in back to its members. And $60 (50%) is paid on every person you personally refer! Two referrals and you&#8217;re playing for free since you&#8217;re earning $120 in commissions. Not only that, but you receive $60 every month for as long as that person remains a member of Lotto Magic! And there is no limit to the number of people you can refer. That’s what you call passive, residual income. But wait, it gets better. You also receive a $4 override commission on anyone they refer through four levels—hence the $76 (63%) payout.</p>
<p>Now unless you have some knowledge of the direct marketing industry, you may not appreciate how stout a 63% commission payout is. It’s huge! A typical direct marketing company like Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Avon, Mary Kay, Amway or Herbalife, only pay out on average 25-40%. Besides, those types of businesses require too much work, too much time and pay too little commissions for the effort. Of course some people join them for the social aspect, but as a professional investor and income opportunity analyzer, I&#8217;m only interested in the bottom line.</p>
<p>Furthermore, those types of companies often own your life and force you to sell more and more of their overpriced products just to keep the money you’ve already earned coming in every month&#8212;what&#8217;s often called &#8220;commission qualifiers.&#8221; Thanks, but no thanks. I like my money free and clear. Besides, what type of consumer product could possibly have more sizzle than winning the lottery and getting paid just to try?</p>
<p>The one thing I haven’t shared with you is what some people think is the most exciting feature of all — Extra Money! That’s right, over and above the already stout 63% commission payout. Get this, every time you or anyone in your five level group wins a jackpot of any size, you receive even more money. That happened to me in only my third month of membership. My commission check was supposed to be $150, but I received $750, a $600 bonus over and above my regular commission check! That’s because someone in my five-level group hit a $6000 jackpot for having 5 out of 6 numbers. They received 50% of the jackpot and the other 50% was shared by the five people in their upline. And it couldn’t have happened at a better time.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Here is how the extra bonus money works . . .</strong></span></p>
<p>Let’s say you hit a jackpot, you would receive 50% (whether it’s a hundred million dollars or ten thousand dollars). Now you might be thinking why only 50% and not the whole enchilada? Because it’s the other half that gives you a lot of leverage and exponentially compounds your chance to hit the lottery! See, you’re not only playing on your own two tickets for sixteen drawings a month, you’re also playing on the lottery tickets of everyone in your five-level group. Exponentially, that becomes a lot of lottery tickets. To put this in perspective for you, I currently have about a hundred people in my five-level group. Twenty-five of them are on my first level where I’m receiving $60 or $1500 of my $1900 monthly income (I love that 50% commission on personal referrals, that’s the way it should be). The rest are scattered throughout the next four levels. So in addition to my own two tickets, I’m playing on the tickets of the hundred people in my group for a total of sixteen hundred lottery drawings every single month. See what I mean? That’s exponential leverage. Not only does my income continue to grow but as my group grows, so does my chances of hitting some kind of jackpot no matter how big or small. I’ll take 10% of sixteen hundred lottery drawings every month over 100% of just sixteen drawings any day of the week!</p>
<p>Now if you’re worried about memorizing the program and trying to explain it to people, don’t be. The company has a simple 14-minute online video that does it for you. In fact, I suggest you watch it when you’re done reading this. Surely, you didn’t think I was kidding when I said I only spent 3 hours of my time on this business / investment. I used to teach tens of thousands of entrepreneurs around the world how important it was to leverage their time and productivity so that they could compound their income. I couldn’t very well do that if I had to spend my finite time personally explaining the program to everyone that inquired.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Remember, leverage is the name of the game in wealth creation, especially as a “Solopreneur.”</strong></span></p>
<p>Warren Buffet recently said the average return on equities over the next decade would be around 5% a year. To put $1900 a month of residual income into perspective, I would need half a million bucks invested in the stock market just to equal the monthly income I’m generating from Lotto Magic right now. Or put another way, I’d have to work 40 hours a week at $12 an hour to make the same amount. Instead, I&#8217;m making $1900 a month without the risk of investment or the daily rigors of a job. That&#8217;s why a 3-D (three dimensional) income stream is crucial in today&#8217;s economic environment. It allows me to stay home where I read, write, and broadcast my radio show.</p>
<p>I can’t stress enough the importance of having a monthly income independent and outside of your primary job and investment portfolio. According to some of my esteemed radio show guests (aside from Steve Forbes who’s a little more bullish) and other trusted people in the know, in spite of the recent uptick in housing and jobs, it basically amounts to a band-aid on an arterial wound. The US economy is in shambles and there are any number of cataclysmic events that could collapse it in a heartbeat.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Critical times require critical thinking . . . Be smart and be prepared.</strong></span></p>
<p>Lotto Magic, as elementary as it is, can help you receive a windfall return on a minimal outlay of cash and time. Don’t let its simplicity fool you. This is a cash cow to the most astute investor and business opportunity analyzer. We can separate the emotionalism from the analytics. The fact that it’s technically a business makes no difference to the erudite investor. It’s a maintenance-free income generator that acts like an annuity on steroids once you put it on autopilot. In fact, if you’re interested, I’ll teach you how to do that after you join.</p>
<p>If, unlike me, you have a couple of hours a week to treat Lotto Magic as a part time business, you could actually clean house and do it rather quickly. You could certainly get to $1900 a month a lot faster than I did. For example, I recently put my copywriting skills to work one day and made a creative business card that I always keep in my car. Whenever I see people buying lottery tickets at the gas station or grocery store, I simply hand them the card and say . . .</p>
<p><em>“I make $1900 a month for playing the lottery whether I win or not. And I’m playing on 1600 tickets every month. Trust me, it beats the hell out of paying for lottery tickets. Here, take this and check out the website when you get home. It’s a no brainer.”</em></p>
<p>I’ve done that twice so far and I’m two for two. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.</p>
<p>Hell, if it wasn’t for reading, writing and my radio show, I’d probably be hanging out in gas stations, grocery stores and convenience marts all day. After all, 63 million Americans spend 50 billion dollars a year playing the lottery and I see them every time I gas up or go to the store. In fact, I’m kicking myself in the butt for not having done that from the start nineteen months ago. But believe it or not, that’s chicken feed compared to a couple of other ideas I have. And I’ll share them with you once you’re in.</p>
<p>In closing, let me just say that Lotto Magic isn’t going to make you a fortune unless of course you hit the lottery. But what it will do is give you the best opportunity to supplement your current job or business and generate a passive, residual income of $500 to $5000 a month without as much as putting a dent in your day—no products, no meetings, no hassles. As a former multimillionaire, I started my road to riches through perpetual income vehicles like this. Where I lost a fortune was by putting my faith in the power of Wall Street instead of keeping it in the power of Main Street. And with Lotto Magic as my starter dough (not the main meal), it&#8217;s the catalyst that I&#8217;ll use to launch future entrepreneurial ventures that will continue to depend on Main Street and not Wall Street. To put it in macro-economic terms, I’m using this cash-cranking program as the primary engine to fund those other ventures without the need for credit or venture capital infusion.</p>
<p>So whether it’s to supplement your current income, supplant your job, pad your retirement or fund a future venture, you won’t find a more universally appealing, affordable and lucrative income generating vehicle than Lotto Magic.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.freelottomagic.com/?k5444">Click here to watch the video</a>. When you’re done, if you have any questions or want to speak directly, call me at 850-259-0541.</p>
<p>Godspeed,</p>
<p>Kevin</p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>P.S.</strong></span> If you join by the end of February, I’ll give you the access code to a special conference call I’ll be conducting. On it, I will be teaching several of those advanced marketing strategies that show you how to put Lotto Magic on autopilot. If you’re one of the very first, I’ll also give you leads of people who paid money to get information on Lotto Magic through the mail. They just haven’t joined yet.</p>
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		<title>Islam and Sharia: Deadly Facts You Should Know</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/islam-sharia/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/islam-sharia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:16:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Radical Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nhb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Q'uran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[radical islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sharia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sharia Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zionism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10858</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the presidential race focused squarely on the economy, Islam and Sharia continues to furtively creep into every aspect of American culture. And too few people are talking about it. Why? Because Americans have been conditioned by the liberal elites to be tolerant and compassionate, to embrace multiculturalism and respect each other’s beliefs, ideals and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10865" title="Islam Sharia" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Islam-Sharia.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="228" />With the presidential race focused squarely on the economy, Islam and Sharia continues to furtively creep into every aspect of American culture. And too few people are talking about it. Why? Because Americans have been conditioned by the liberal elites to be tolerant and compassionate, to embrace multiculturalism and respect each other’s beliefs, ideals and values.</p>
<p>That’s wonderful in a utopian world, but the fact is, Islam doesn’t embrace any aspect of Western civilization&#8212;much less American culture.</p>
<p>We are rapidly and methodically being dismantled as a nation, and our freedom and liberty is more fragile than at anytime since WWII. And while we fight the enemy abroad with combat troops, intelligence and drone strikes, we’re doing nothing to combat the same exact enemy that resides on our own soil in broad daylight. If we don’t defeat it politically and do it swiftly, your children and grandchildren could be engaged in a religious and ideological bloody war, the likes of which has never been seen on American soil.</p>
<p>Islam is a theocratic political terrorist regime that hides behind the mask of religion to accomplish its mission of a worldwide caliphate. What most Americans don’t understand is that it is a totalitarian “theo-political” belief system and a social doctrine (the two go hand in hand) based on the Quran, Sirah and Hadith, what Dr. Bill Warner of the Center for the Study of Political Islam aptly coins the &#8220;Trilogy of Islam.&#8221; It has mandates on every single aspect of life and those mandates are enforced and regulated by the barbaric criminal and civil code known as Sharia Law.</p>
<p>The precise definition of a Muslim becomes crystal clear when you read the trilogy of Islam. Bottom line: you are to be an Allah fearing, Quran believing and Mohammed following zealot that forces people to submit, convert, and comply with Islam and Sharia or be killed. Those are the facts. Does every Muslim follow the commands of the Quran? No, thank God. But as they assimilate themselves into communities and increase in numbers, they become more militant and less tolerant of that community&#8217;s laws and regulations.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10915" title="Genital Mutilation of Islam Girl" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ISLAM-GIRL.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="201" />Any religion whose &#8220;holy book&#8221; commands its followers to commit crimes that are antithetical to the laws of this country should not only lose its tax exempt status, but lose its 1st Amendment protection and be banned from the United States altogether. In case you are not familiar with some of the condoned atrocities of Islam and Sharia law . . . are you aware that women are stoned to death for committing adultery and that gay men are actually hung? Or that the genitals of little girls are mutilated in order to protect her virginity and that children may be murdered in the name of family honor?</p>
<p>Islam does not recognize separation of church and state. Islamic republics are dominated by spiritual leaders who oversee the strict adherence to Sharia law by its citizens. In countries where Islamic enclaves and ghettos have emerged like in France, Britain and North African countries, local mullahs enforce Sharia law regardless of its conflict with national or state laws.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10938" title="Twin Towers on 9/11" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/911-249x300.jpg" alt="" width="249" height="300" />What most Americans fail to understand is that Sharia law is the foundation of Islamic theocracy and totalitarianism. The establishment of global Sharia law is their ultimate goal. The Quran is unequivocal in its directive to Muslims to establish a global Islamic state (Caliphate) over which the Islamic messiah, or Mahdi, will rule with Sharia as the only law of the land. Make no mistake, that is the intent of influential Islamic elements in America. The problem is, too few Americans are aware of it and organizations like CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are taking full advantage of our naivety. Moreover, Islam stands in stark contrast to the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and what the First Amendment was designed to protect&#8212;our God-given unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.</p>
<p>Understand that Sharia is very complex and it’s derived from multiple Islamic sources. The Quran, considered the “uncreated word of Allah” is the primary source of Sharia law. The Hadith (sayings and actions of Muhammad) is the second most important document in Sharia. Historic rulings by jurists over the years and so-called reasoning by analogy make up the other two, less-influential sources of Sharia. Together they constitute Islam’s theological core and they result in a totalitarian way of life for Muslim followers and non-Muslims (kafirs and infidels).</p>
<p>Sharia law is in complete contradiction with American values because it enslaves people and encourages acts of violence and barbaric behavior. Sharia demands the death of those who renounce Islam. A former Muslim turned Christian pastor in Iran recently received a death sentence. Honor killings, marital rape, female genital mutilation, not to mention the severing of hands and feet are but a few of the other components of Sharia.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10918" title="ISLAM WOMAN BEATEN BY HUSBAND" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ISLAM-WOMAN-BEATEN-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />When Muslim men are directed to beat their wives for rejecting sexual advances, it&#8217;s obvious that American values are in direct conflict with what Islamic law requires of its followers.</p>
<p>I believe in the 1st Amendment right of people to worship or not worship whomever or whatever they want, but Islam hardly constitutes a religion. What “religion” would condone atrocities that are antithetical to the God-given unalienable rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution? None. Therefore, it does not deserve religious 1st Amendment <a href="http://catchkevin.com/islam-not-protected/">Constitutional protection.</a></p>
<p>The following are a sample of straight forward and unambiguous verses in the Quran that clearly show the evil and violence that, unlike in Judaism and Christianity, is mandated in route to establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate. Several verses are further clarified in bold by academic expository commentary . . .</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Islam – Clearly and Concisely Evil and Violent.</h2>
<p><strong>The Quran:</strong></p>
<p>Quran (2:191-193) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]… but if desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>There is a good case to be made that the textual context of this particular passage is defensive war, even if the historical context was not. However, there are also two worrisome pieces to this verse. The first is that the killing of others is authorized in the event of “persecution” (a qualification that is ambiguous at best). The second is that fighting may persist until “religion is for Allah.” The example set by Muhammad is not reassuring.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (2:244) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah Heareth and knoweth all things.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (2:216) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Not only does this verse establish that violence can be virtuous, but it also contradicts the myth that fighting is intended only in self-defense, since the audience was obviously not under attack at the time. From the Hadith, we know that Muhammad was actually trying to motivate his people into raiding caravans with this verse.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (3:56) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (3:151) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority”.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>This speaks directly of polytheists, yet it also includes Christians, since they believe in the Trinity (ie. what Muhammad incorrectly believed to be ‘joining companions to Allah’).</strong></p>
<p>Quran (4:74) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>The martyrs of Islam are unlike the early Christians, led meekly to the slaughter. These Muslims are killed in battle, as they attempt to inflict death and destruction for the cause of Allah. Here is the theological basis for today’s suicide bombers.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (4:76) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah . . .”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (4:89) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (4:95) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>This passage criticizes “peaceful” Muslims who do not join in the violence, letting them know that they are less worthy in Allah’s eyes. It also demolishes the modern myth that “Jihad” doesn’t mean holy war in the Quran, but rather a spiritual struggle. Not only is the Arabic word used in this passage, but it is clearly not referring to anything spiritual, since the physically disabled are given exemption. (The Hadith reveals the context of the passage to be in response to a blind man’s protest that he is unable to engage in Jihad and this is reflected in other translations of the verse).</strong></p>
<p>Quran (4:104) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain…” Is pursuing an injured and retreating enemy really an act of self-defense?</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (5:33) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (8:12) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>No reasonable person would interpret this to mean a spiritual struggle.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (8:15) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey’s end.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (8:39) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>From the historical context we know that the “persecution” spoken of here was simply the refusal by the Meccans to allow Muhammad to enter their city and perform the Haj. Other Muslims were able to travel there, just not as an armed group, since Muhammad declared war on Mecca prior to his eviction. The Meccans were also acting in defense of their religion, since it was Muhammad’s intention to destroy their idols and establish Islam by force (which he later did). Hence the critical part of this verse is to fight until “religion is only for Allah.” According to Ibn Ishaq (324), Muhammad justified the violence further by explaining that “Allah must have no rivals.”</strong></p>
<p>Quran (8:57) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (8:59-60) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah’s Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (8:65) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight . . .”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (9:5) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>According to this verse, the best way of staying safe from Muslim violence is to convert to Islam. Prayer (salat) and the poor tax (zakat) are among the religions Five Pillars.</strong></p>
<p>Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, most of the verses of violence in the Quran are open-ended, meaning that the historical context is not embedded within the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Quran. They are in the area of the Quran that is equivalent to the New Testament of the Bible.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. This proclivity toward violence (and Muhammad’s own martial legacy) has left a trail of blood and tears across world history.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10941" title="jihadist" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/jihadist-300x193.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="193" />This is what makes the verses of violence so dangerous. They are given the weight of &#8220;Divine Command.&#8221; While Muslim terrorists take them as literally as anything else in the Quran and understand that Islam is incomplete without Jihad, moderates offer little to contradict them&#8212;outside of opinion. Indeed, what do they have? Speaking of peace and love may win over the ignorant, but when every twelfth verse of Islam’s holiest book either speaks to Allah’s hatred for non-Muslims or calls for their death, forced conversion, or subjugation, it’s little wonder that sympathy for terrorism runs as deeply as it does in the broader community&#8212;even if most Muslims personally prefer not to interpret their religion in this way.</p>
<p>In fact, many Muslims are simply unaware of the Quran’s near absence of verses that preach universal non-violence. This is because their understanding of Islam comes from what they are taught by others. In the West, it is typical for Muslims to come to believe that their religion must be like Christianity&#8212;preaching the New Testament virtues of peace, love, and tolerance&#8212;because Muslims are taught that Islam is supposed to be superior in every way. They are somewhat surprised and embarrassed to learn that the evidence of the Quran and the bloody history of Islam are very much in contradiction to this . . .</p>
<p>Quran (9:14) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace . . . ”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (9:20) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah’s way are of much greater worth in Allah’s sight. These are they who are triumphant.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>The “striving” spoken of here is Jihad.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (9:29) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>“People of the Book” refers to Christians and Jews. This was one of the final “revelations” from Allah and it set in motion the tenacious military expansion in which Muhammad’s companions managed to conquer two-thirds of the Christian world in just the next 100 years. Islam is intended to dominate all other people and faiths.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (9:30) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (9:38-39) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>This is a warning to those who refuse to fight, that they will be punished with Hell.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (9:41) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew.” See also the verse that follows (9:42) – “If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed) on them”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>This contradicts the myth that Muslims are to fight only in self-defense, since the wording implies that battle will be waged a long distance from home (in another country and on Christian soil, in this case, according to the historians).</strong></p>
<p>Quran (9:73) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Dehumanizing those who reject Islam, by reminding Muslims that they are merely firewood for Hell, makes it easier to justify slaughter. It also explains why today’s devout Muslims have little regard for those outside the faith.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (9:88) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (9:111) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (9:123) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (18:65-81) –</p>
<blockquote><p>This parable lays the theological groundwork for honor killings, in which a family member is murdered because they brought shame to the family, either through apostasy or perceived moral indiscretion. The story, which is not found in any Jewish or Christian source, tells of Moses encountering a man with “special knowledge” who does things which don’t seem to make sense on the surface, but are then justified according to later explanation. One such action is to murder a youth for no apparent reason (74). However, the wise man later explains that it was feared that the boy would “grieve” his parents by “disobedience and ingratitude.” He was killed so that Allah could provide them a ‘better’ son.</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (21:44) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (25:52) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness . . .”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>“Strive against” is Jihad&#8212;obviously not in the personal context. It’s also significant to point out that this is a Meccan verse.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (33:60-62) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbors in it but a little while. Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10935" title="Islamic Bloody Jihad" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Islam-Bloody-Feet-300x202.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="202" />This passage sanctions the slaughter (rendered “merciless” and “horrible murder” in other translations) against three groups: Hypocrites (Muslims who refuse to “fight in the way of Allah” (3:167) and hence don’t act as Muslims should), those with “diseased hearts” (which include Jews and Christians 5:51-52), and “alarmists” or “agitators&#8221; who include those who merely speak out against Islam, according to Muhammad’s biographers. It is worth noting that the victims are to be sought out by Muslims, which is what today’s terrorists do. If this passage is meant merely to apply to the city of Medina, then it is unclear why it is included in Allah’s eternal word to Muslim generations.<br />
</strong></p>
<p>Quran (47:3-4) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who believe follow the truth from their lord. Thus does Allah set forth form men their lessons by similtudes. Therefore when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners,” Those who reject Allah are to be subdued in battle. The verse goes on to say the only reason Allah doesn’t do the dirty work himself is in order to to test the faithfulness of Muslims. Those who kill pass the test. “But if it had been Allah’s Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (47:35) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost (Shakir: “have the upper hand”) for Allah is with you.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>This very important verse asserts that the Religion of Peace is not to grant peace to the broader society until Islamic rule has been established.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (48:17) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong><br />
Contemporary apologists sometimes claim that Jihad means ‘spiritual struggle.’ If so, then why are the blind, lame and sick exempted?</strong></p>
<p>Quran (48:29) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Islam is not about treating everyone equally. There are two very distinct standards that are applied based on religious status.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (61:4) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way” Religion of Peace, indeed! This is followed by (61:9): “He it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammed) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Quran (61:10-12) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous Penalty?- That ye believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah, with your property and your persons: That will be best for you, if ye but knew! He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in Gardens of Eternity.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>This verse was given in battle. It uses the Arabic word, Jihad.</strong></p>
<p>Quran (66:9) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey’s end.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>The root word of “Jihad” is used again here. The context is clearly holy war, and the scope of violence is broadened to include “hypocrites” &#8212;those who call themselves Muslims but do not act as such.</strong></p>
<p><strong>From the Hadith:</strong></p>
<p>Bukhari (52:177) –</p>
<blockquote><p>Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. “O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Bukhari (52:256) –</p>
<blockquote><p>The Prophet… was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, “They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans).”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>In this command, Muhammad establishes that it is permissible to kill non-combatants in the process of killing a perceived enemy. This provides justification for the many Islamic terror bombings.</strong></p>
<p>Bukhari (52:220) –</p>
<blockquote><p>Allah’s Apostle said… ‘I have been made victorious with terror’</p></blockquote>
<p>Abu Dawud (14:2526) –</p>
<blockquote><p>The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, “There is no god but Allah” and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist)</p></blockquote>
<p>Abu Dawud (14:2527) –</p>
<blockquote><p>The Prophet said: &#8220;Striving in the path of Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Muslim (1:33) –</p>
<blockquote><p>The Messenger of Allah said: &#8220;I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Bukhari (8:387) –</p>
<blockquote><p>Allah’s Apostle said, “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Muslim (1:149) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and Jihad in His cause . . . ”</p></blockquote>
<p>Muslim (20:4645) –</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;. . . He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said:<br />
&#8220;There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa’id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!”</p></blockquote>
<p>Muslim (20:4696) –</p>
<blockquote><p>“The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:<br />
‘One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihid died the death of a hypocrite.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Muslim (19:4321-4323) –</p>
<blockquote><p>Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against unbelievers. His response:<br />
“They are of them (meaning the enemy).”</p></blockquote>
<p>Tabari 7:97 -</p>
<blockquote><p>The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared,<br />
“Kill any Jew who falls under your power.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad’s men because he insulted Islam. Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his orders to kill. An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.</strong></p>
<p>Tabari 9:69 -</p>
<blockquote><p>“Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us” The words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.</p></blockquote>
<p>Ibn Ishaq: 327 –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Ibn Ishaq: 990 –</p>
<blockquote><p>Lest anyone think that cutting off someone’s head while screaming ‘Allah Akbar!’ is a modern custom, here is an account of that very practice under Muhammad, who seems to approve.</p></blockquote>
<p>Ibn Ishaq: 992 –</p>
<blockquote><p>“Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Muhammad’s instructions to his men prior to a military raid.</strong></p>
<p>In closing, not all Muslims wage Jihad. Their benevolence however, is a mark of individual moral character and knowing the difference between right and wrong&#8212;not by following Muhammad&#8217;s life example or the directives of the Quran, Sirah and Hadith. However, as we&#8217;ve witnessed in Europe, Britain and the Arab Spring in the Middle East and in many African countries, when they gain strength in numbers, they often usher in Sharia Law and usurp local laws and ordinances.</p>
<p>It brings to mind the words of the Son of God who walked in Palestine six hundred years before Muhammad &#8211; <em>&#8220;Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep&#8217;s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.&#8221;</em> (Matthew 7:15)</p>
<p>Learn the truth about Islam / Sharia and the clear and present danger it presents to the US. Read unbiased and academic websites like <a href="http://www.politicalislam.com">Political Islam </a>, <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/">Jihad Watch</a>, <a href="http://www.actforamerica.com">Act for America</a>, <a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/"> Atlas Shrugs</a>, and <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org">Daniel Pipes.</a></p>
<p>End Note: Commentary on Quran provided by Dr. Bill Warner of <a href="http://www.politicalislam.com">The Center for the Study of Political Islam</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;">Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Take a moment to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>America’s 2-T Moment—The Case for Newt Gingrich!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/2-t-moment/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:01:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Despite the fact that . . . 1. Our debt has now surpassed our entire GDP 2. Congress is about to increase the debt again to 16.4 trillion dollars 3. We are now borrowing forty-two cents of every dollar we spend 4. We continue to deficit spend 5. China owns a significant chunk of our [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><a href="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Newt-Gingrich-2-T1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10777" title="Newt Gingrich 2-T" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Newt-Gingrich-2-T1.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="424" /></a>Despite the fact that . . .</h1>
<p><strong>1</strong>. Our debt has now surpassed our entire GDP</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> Congress is about to increase the debt again to 16.4 trillion dollars</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> We are now borrowing forty-two cents of every dollar we spend</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> We continue to deficit spend</p>
<p><strong>5.</strong> China owns a significant chunk of our debt</p>
<p><strong>6.</strong> The Senate hasn&#8217;t passed a budget in three years</p>
<p><strong>7.</strong> America is drowning under big government bureaucracy and regulation</p>
<p><strong>8.</strong> We are witnessing statism before our very eyes</p>
<p><strong>9.</strong> We are rapidly relinquishing our individual freedoms</p>
<p><strong>10.</strong> Corporatism trumps capitalism</p>
<p><strong>11.</strong> We are now a nation of oligarchies</p>
<p><strong>12.</strong> We are becoming an egalitarian society</p>
<p><strong>13.</strong> Forty-six million Americans are on food stamps</p>
<p><strong>14.</strong> 1 in 6 Americans are poor</p>
<p><strong>15.</strong> Nearly half of all Americans pay no income tax</p>
<p><strong>16.</strong> America has the highest corporate tax rate</p>
<p><strong>17.</strong> We have a Muslim president who has not produced a valid birth certificate</p>
<p><strong>18.</strong> Radical Islam is sweeping across the European and African continents</p>
<p><strong>19.</strong> More Islamic mosques are being built in America than Christian churches</p>
<p><strong>20.</strong> Sharia is infiltrating every aspect of American culture including the judiciary</p>
<p><strong>21.</strong> There are twelve million (closer to 20 million) illegal aliens in the US</p>
<p><strong>22.</strong> We have wide open and unsecured borders</p>
<p><strong>23.</strong> Mexico&#8217;s drug wars are spilling over into the Southwestern United States</p>
<p><strong>24.</strong> The State Department has teamed up with foreign nations to sue states who enforce federal laws</p>
<p><strong>25.</strong> The Justice Department armed Mexican drug cartels in a furtive assault on the 2nd Amendment</p>
<p><strong>26.</strong> The nation&#8217;s defense budget has been slashed in half</p>
<p><strong>27.</strong> Iran is on the cusp of securing a nuclear bomb</p>
<p><strong>28.</strong> We have transitioned from a manufacturing and producing nation to a consumer and debtor nation</p>
<p><strong>29.</strong> We spend more on education yet rank near the bottom of industrialized nations</p>
<p><strong>30.</strong> The leftist media dictates the outcome of wars and elections while it influences the minds of our children . . .</p>
<p><strong>Americans are NOT protesting the road to serfdom, we&#8217;re paving it!</strong></p>
<p>Regardless of how we got here, e.g., collective stupidity, addiction to entitlements, a castration of our cojones or mass media mind control, one thing is for sure: Those of us who recognize it need to stand united and fight it!</p>
<p>If we don&#8217;t, tyranny and totalitarianism is all that awaits us.</p>
<p>In his seminal book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226320553/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=catkev-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0226320553">The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents&#8211;The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Volume 2)</a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=catkev-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0226320553" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><br />
Hayek demonstrates how socialist governments (Obama Administration) are motivated by illogical ideology and political posturing. They inevitably tamper with free market principles. In so doing, it usually results in suboptimal economic performance, financial crisis, and even greater intervention. Hayek would argue for solutions based on individual freedoms while limiting government&#8217;s ability to intervene in markets, but socialist/marxists see it differently. Instead, they demand greater and greater powers, claiming that only greater intervention can fix the problems that their actions have caused. To the extent that people buy into this thinking and vote to grant governments ever more power, economic and personal liberties are surrendered, eventually resulting in tyranny and totalitarianism.</p>
<p>Hayek also points to the fact that socialism and it&#8217;s characteristic &#8220;centrally planned&#8221; economies tends to concentrate power in a small band of political elites (Obama and his endless appointment of czars). In this type of system, only the most corrupt and politically ruthless tend to advance, and over time it gets to be increasingly difficult to oppose them. Leaders, unable to offer real growth and prosperity, turn to things like thought control, group think (media) and other dubious and nefarious means to stay in power and advance their socialist agendas.</p>
<p>Although construction of the progressive highway to a socialist / communist America began at the end of the Reagan Administration, the one fly in the ointment that they could not foresee was the birth of the internet&#8212;the great equalizer, the peoples platform, a conduit of coalescence and the ultimate arbiter of the very definition of free speech. At no time in our country&#8217;s young and fragile republic has there ever been a more effective enforcer of our 1st Amendment right.</p>
<p><strong>By the same token, not since the Civil War has America found herself at such a monumental crossroads. We have two choices that lie before us:</strong></p>
<p><strong>A.</strong> Fight to preserve our blood-bought freedom and liberty</p>
<p><strong>B.</strong> Surrender that freedom and liberty and continue to pave the road to serfdom</p>
<p>This presidential election is America&#8217;s 2-T (<em>Titanium Testicles</em>) moment. And from what we&#8217;ve witnessed in the race for the GOP nomination, only one candidate has the balls to match his brains and that&#8217;s&#8212;Newt Gingrich!</p>
<p>To say that Gingrich is not a conservative is tantamount to saying that Obama is not an egalitarian.</p>
<p>In fact, according to the Freedom Index&#8212;a congressional scorecard based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements&#8212;Newt Gingrich scored an 84 out of a perfect 100, more than double that of his congressional peers. To put that in perspective, the average score for the past two congresses averaged 59.</p>
<p>When Newt Gingrich was confronted on a recent talk show about his being a labeled a <em>&#8220;big government progressive,&#8221;</em> he replied by saying . . .</p>
<blockquote><p>“Well, I don’t know, I mean, depends on what standard you’re using. You know, the fact is that I balanced the budget for four consecutive years. And we did so well cutting taxes and increasing employment. So people went back to work; they left welfare; they left food stamps; they left unemployment; and they left Medicaid. Who else has a record of that level of achievement?”</p></blockquote>
<p>He continued . . .</p>
<blockquote><p>“I worked with Reagan in ’79 &amp; ’80. I worked with Reagan for eight years in defeating the Soviet empire. I think those are relatively conservative credentials.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Where does Newt Gingrich stand on the issues? Let&#8217;s hear it directly from the horse&#8217;s mouth . . .</strong></p>
<p><strong>1. Fiscal Policy</strong>: Gingrich claims he would be able to balance the national budget within five years of taking office using a five-point plan: Eliminate the NLRB, replacing the EPA and repealing ObamaCare; cutting regulations on financial institutions; employing a fiscal policy based on Reaganomics; providing a one-year tax moratorium, coupled with the elimination of capital gains tax and reducing corporate tax rate to 12.5%; and limit unemployment benefits to a maximum of four weeks.</p>
<p><strong>2. Tax Reform:</strong> Gingrich Favors lower, flatter tax rates, and has a pro-growth instinct toward reforms that lower rates and broadens the base. He favors broader fundamental tax reform; in 2008 enthusiastically praised the idea of an optional, single-rate income tax reform proposal. He said an optional flat tax would save taxpayers more than $100 billion per year and reduce compliance costs by over 90 percent. He has advocated a near flat tax proposal that would lower the current 25 percent income tax rate to 15 percent, affecting close to 90% of American workers. Either option would not only bolster our economy, they would send it through the roof.</p>
<p><strong>3. Free Market Principles:</strong> Gingrich believes that workers have basic human rights but unions have outlived their purpose. Unions discourage competition and are overly concerned with politics, spending millions of dollars on influencing government policies while their pension funds are in the red. Unions have made the cost of producing goods in the U.S. prohibitive. In 1994, William F. Buckley, Jr. called Gingrich a “profoundly committed free trader,” and his record and rhetoric over the years bears that out. He is strongly opposed to Sarbanes-Oxley which regulates small businesses in this country; the Dodd-Frank mortgage bill that restricts lending money for mortgages; and opposes the “Employee Free Choice Act,” or “card check,” especially its binding arbitration provision.</p>
<p><strong>4. Personal Responsibility:</strong> Gingrich stated the revolutionary idea contained in the Declaration of Independence is that certain fundamental human rights, including the right to life, are gifts from God and cannot be given nor taken away by government. Yet, secular radicals are trying to remove “our Creator”&#8212;the source of our rights&#8212;from public life. He has an aggressive strategy to defend life and religious liberty in America.</p>
<p><strong>5. National Sovereignty:</strong> Gingrich went on record August 14, ’11 stating, “the United Nations and other international bureaucracies are seeking to create an extra constitutional control over us and he rejects the model totally. The United States is a sovereign country; the United Nations has not authorized anything to the United States; the United Nations does not have any control over the United States; and we want to make sure that it remains our core values as we go forward. At the Values Voter Summit in DC, September, 2010, Gingrich told the crowd that it&#8217;s time to take federal action to prevent Sharia Law from infiltrating courtrooms in the US; and we should have a federal law that says sharia law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States and that &#8220;no judge will remain in office that tried to use Sharia law.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>6. Constitutionally Limited Government:</strong> There’s a long list of big government regulations that Gingrich has opposed. Commendably, he advocates full repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley. He fought Obama’s cap-and-trade scheme and wants to abolish the EPA. He also opposes the Obama EPA’s controversial plan to regulate carbon emissions via the Clean Air Act, and has urged Congress to prevent its implementation. However, in ‘08, he starred in a TV ad with Nancy Pelosi urging a bipartisan solution to climate change. In a debate with Kerry in ‘07, like so many Americans that were duped by fabricated science, he said, “the evidence is sufficient that we should move towards the most effective possible steps to reduce carbon loading in the atmosphere.&#8221; While he insisted that government regulation wasn’t the answer, he said, “I would agree you would get more change more rapidly with an incentivized market rather than a laissez-faire approach. ”</p>
<p><strong>7. National Defense:</strong> Gingrich believes that the greatest danger to the nation is the rise of radical Islam inside this country. He said Sharia law is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the US. He would call for a federal law barring courts from using Sharia law and endorse efforts already under way to exclude Sharia as well as other non-American law codes from being applied in America&#8217;s courts. He thought withdrawal from Iraq without a decisive win was a blow to national security. He also believes it&#8217;s dangerous not to compete with India and China stating that losing our economic advantage will cause us to compromise national security. He thinks our secular-socialist system is another danger. Homeland security is willfully hiding from reality, reacting instead of being proactive, and twisting the language instead of targeting the real enemies.</p>
<p><strong>8. Energy:</strong> Gingrich supports lifting restrictions on energy production; offshore drilling; drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; nuclear plant construction; and removing bureaucratic and legal obstacles to responsible oil and natural gas development in the United States, offshore and on land; ending the ban on oil shale development and giving coastal states federal royalty revenue sharing as an incentive to allow offshore development. He has long endorsed a federal role in supporting renewable energy projects and the development of clean energy technologies including cleaner energy research and projects with new oil and gas royalties. Replacing the EPA with an Environmental Solutions Agency that would use incentives and work cooperatively with local government and industry to achieve better environmental outcomes while considering the impact of federal environmental policies on job creation and the cost of energy.</p>
<p><strong>9. Heath Care:</strong> Gingrich opposes ObamaCare and favors repeal, and more recently has supported tort reform in the context of health care reform and cost-containment. In ‘09, he criticized Obama’s health care overhaul for skirting the issue of lawsuit abuse reform which ignores more than $200 billion in potential savings annually in health care. In his ‘08 book Real Change, he advocated an individual mandate for health insurance (a similar mandate central to ObamaCare and being challenged by 26 states in court as being unconstitutional). However, he also wrote “Individuals are expected to help pay for their care. Everyone should be required to have coverage. Those with very low incomes should receive vouchers or tax credits to help them buy insurance. Those who oppose the concept of insurance should be required to post a bond to cover costs.”</p>
<p><strong>10. Entitlements:</strong> Gingrich has been consistently pro-growth and pro-reform on Social Security, favoring personal Social Security savings accounts owned by individual taxpayers and off limits to congressional spendthrifts. He supported the effort in ‘05 to reform Social Security with personal accounts, and a ‘04 plan that would have done much the same. He favors comprehensive reform of the notoriously inefficient Medicaid program and originally proposed the idea of block-granting the program back to the states in ‘95, giving them more flexibility to administer it. He has long advocated expanded health savings accounts, tax free accounts coupled with high-deductible catastrophic coverage to allow people to build a medical nest egg, like a health care 401(k) plan. He played a high profile advocacy role on behalf of Bush’s Medicare prescription drug benefit bill in ’03 by urging House Republicans to pass what was billed at the time to be a $400 billion expansion of the federal government.</p>
<p><strong>11. Education:</strong> Gingrich is for empowering parents to pick the right school for their child. He would institute a Pell Grant-style system for Kindergarten through 12th Grade and require transparency and accountability about achievement. He advocates implementing a “no limits” charter system and establishing a pay for performance approach. He would also restore American history and values into the classroom as well as protect the rights of home-schooled children. He would shrink the Department of Education to a bare bones administrator and encourage states to think outside the outdated boundaries of education.</p>
<p><strong>12.</strong> <strong>Immigration:</strong> Gingrich believes that our open borders are a direct threat to our security. He thinks the terrorists can cross our borders at will with little deterrence. He supports a guest worker program that allows a worker to stay here for a certain time then go home. He thinks we should make it easier to come here legally, work, obey the law and prosper. Requirements for any worker visa program must be tough and strict. He thinks everyone here illegally must go home and apply for legal status.</p>
<p>As for Newt Gingrich&#8217;s personal shortcomings, let he who hasn&#8217;t sinned cast the first stone. I&#8217;m not voting for a priest, I&#8217;m voting for a president.</p>
<p><strong>Fight for the man who will fight for America . . . <a href="http://www.newt.org">Vote for Newt Gingrich!</a> </strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;">Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Feel &#8220;free&#8221; to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>Incomprehensibly Stupid Army Regulation Killing Americans in Afghanistan</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/army-regulation-killing-americans/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/army-regulation-killing-americans/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:39:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Radical Islam]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[It is bad enough that the Obama administration has imposed deadly rules of engagement to reflect its leftist worldview. The U.S. Army has been racking up its own body count due to nothing more than bureaucratic intransigence.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Dead-American-Soldier.jpg"><span id="more-10637"></span><!--more--><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10644" title="Dead American Soldier" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Dead-American-Soldier-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>The U.S. military has developed the best system in the world for dealing with combat casualties. As medical technology has advanced over the last century, new methods of treatment have been developed, and the speed and efficiency of transport from the battlefield to essential medical services has greatly increased chances for combat wounded to survive. So it is particularly galling that with all these improvements, the U.S. Army has not similarly adjusted its regulations regarding deployment of medical evacuation (medevac) helicopters in combat zones to compensate for the realities of modern warfare. It is bad enough that the Obama administration has imposed deadly rules of engagement to reflect its leftist worldview. The U.S. Army has been racking up its own body count due to nothing more than bureaucratic intransigence.</p>
<p>A new article in Soldier of Fortune magazine, (yes that Soldier of Fortune, still kicking after 35 years), by Dalton Fury, former Delta Force Commander and best-selling author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312547412/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=catkev-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0312547412">Kill Bin Laden</a></em>, has explained the problem. Army regulations require that medevac helicopters follow the Geneva Convention, which specifies that they must be unarmed and display prominent Red Cross markings.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Army regulation forbids medevac choppers from entering a combat zone without armed helicopter escort. If armed escort is not immediately available, medevac helicopters remain grounded, regardless the emergency. Once they do go in, they become a conspicuous target for enemy forces, most of whom have never read the Geneva Convention, and would laugh it out of existence if they had.</p>
<p>A recent tragedy in Afghanistan highlights the high cost of these restrictions. As reported by veteran combat reporter, Michael Yon, <a href="http://militarytimes.com/valor/army-spc-chazray-c-clark/6567983">Army Specialist Chazray Clark</a> was severely wounded on a night mission after stepping on an IED:</p>
<p><a href="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Chazray-Clark.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10647" title="Army Specialist Chazray Clark " src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Chazray-Clark-220x300.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="300" /></a>Chazray was facedown. One arm and both his legs were gone, and yet this man had the strength and presence to call out from the dust and darkness. Chazray answered, ‘I’m okay’… Although Chazray had answered that he was okay, everyone here knows that when someone calls out ‘I’m okay,’ the sound of their voice only means they are still alive. Fellow Soldiers located Chazray in the dark, and quickly put on tourniquets and unfolded a stretcher.</p>
<p>“The medevac was very late. It took us about 20 minutes to get back to the Landing Zone (LZ). Based on my significant experience down here in southern Afghanistan, I know that the helicopter could and should have already been on orbit waiting for us. Chazray was dying but fully conscious and talking the entire time. We waited, and waited. Finally a radio call came that the medevac was ‘wheels up’ from KAF. It was unbelievable to us that the medevac was just taking off from Kandahar Airfield, twenty-five miles away.”</p>
<p>The helicopter could not leave the ground until escorted, and since no Apache helicopter gunships were immediately available, it sat on the tarmac while Chazray bled out. Even more outrageous, there were Air Force helicopters at that same airbase that could have come immediately. These choppers are heavily armed and need no escort, or could have served as escort. But Army regulations forbid their use.</p>
<p>All these protocols must be followed. According to Army field commanders, they have zero discretion. They have been complaining about it for years, to no effect.</p>
<p>In the Soldier of Fortune article, Fury (a pseudonym) traces the development of Army protocols regarding medevacs in the field. The US Army manual on medical evacuation quotes Geneva Convention regulations regarding Medical Aircraft (emphases mine):</p>
<p><strong>Geneval Convention Regarding Medical Aircraft</strong></p>
<p><strong>A-6.</strong> Medical aircraft exclusively employed for the removal of wounded and sick and for the transport of medical personnel and equipment shall not be attacked, but shall be respected by the belligerents, while flying at heights, times, and on routes specifically agreed upon between the belligerents concerned.</p>
<p><strong>A-7.</strong> The medical aircraft shall bear, clearly marked, the distinctive emblem together with their national colors on their lower, upper, and lateral surfaces.</p>
<p><strong>A-8.</strong> Unless agreed otherwise, flights over enemy or enemy-occupied territory are prohibited.</p>
<p><strong>A-9.</strong> Medical aircraft shall obey every summons to land. In the event that a landing is thus imposed, the aircraft with its occupants may continue its flight after examination, if any.</p>
<p><strong>A-10.</strong> In the event of involuntary landing in enemy or enemy-occupied territory, the wounded and sick, as well as the crew of the aircraft, shall be prisoners of war; medical personnel will be treated as prescribed in these Conventions.</p>
<p><strong>Self-Defense And Defense Of Patients</strong></p>
<p><strong>A-11.</strong> When engaging in medical evacuation operations, medical personnel are entitled to defend themselves and their patients. They are only permitted to use individual small arms.</p>
<p><strong>A-12.</strong> The mounting or use of offensive weapons on dedicated medical evacuation vehicles and aircraft jeopardizes the protections afforded by the Geneva Conventions. These offensive weapons may include, but are not limited to machine guns, grenade launchers, hand grenades, and light antitank weapons.</p>
<p><strong>A-13.</strong> Medical personnel are only permitted to fire in their personal defense and for the protection of the wounded and sick in their charge against marauders and other persons violating the Law of War.</p>
<p>This is simply stunning. With al Qaeda and the Taliban, we are fighting an enemy who mass-murders school children, beheads people with medieval lust, engages in real torture and every imaginable form of barbarity, while camouflaged as civilians to capitalize on our restrictive rules of engagement designed to minimize civilian casualties.</p>
<p>Yet, sections A-6 through A-10 assume that the enemy will not attack properly marked medical aircraft, dictate that our forces coordinate all aspects of medevac flights with the enemy, avoid enemy airspace and even obey their orders to land! Finally, aircraft must be emblazoned with the distinctive “shoot here” Red Cross that turns medevac helicopters into clay pigeons.</p>
<p>Section A-12 makes the heroic assumption that the Geneva Convention affords protections for unarmed medevac helicopters. The message seems to be “Arm your chopper at your own risk!” Here we see the consequences of mindless PC philosophies worked out to deadly effect in the real world where stupidity kills people!</p>
<p>Furthermore, none of this is necessary. The Geneva Convention applies only to organized militaries of identifiable governments who have signed the Convention or have otherwise formally agreed to follow its tenets. Guerilla groups like the Taliban, al Qaeda, Hezbollah and others have no standing.</p>
<p>There is no requirement for a signatory nation to follow the Convention when opposing forces do not respect it. To do so is suicide, yet to placate the denizens of PC, the Army goes right ahead. Perhaps the bureaucrats and politicians who design these policies should first be required to personally oversee their employment in the field. One suspects the regulations would change overnight. But safely ensconced flying a desk in the Pentagon, they are much more fearful of a Congressional hearing or a derogatory editorial in the Washington Post.</p>
<p>U.S. troops are paying for that cowardice with their lives.</p>
<p>The US Army is the only branch that follows this unnecessary protocol. Air Force, Navy and Marine rescue choppers have dispensed with the Red Cross and come armed to the teeth, usually with multiple miniguns. Enemy forces vanish at their approach rather than risk a murderous fusillade of return fire if they reveal their position by taking a shot. The result: fewer casualties on both sides, just what the PC clowns claim to want.</p>
<p>Finally, since the Army requires that unarmed medevac helicopters be escorted by helicopter gunships, the Army is really just wasting assets while putting medevac passengers and aircrews in unnecessary danger.</p>
<p>This one is the best:</p>
<p><strong>Perception Of Impropriety</strong></p>
<p><strong>A-18.</strong> Because even the perception of impropriety can be detrimental to the mission and US interests, HSS commanders [HSS = Health Service Support, ed.] must ensure they do not give the impression of impropriety in the conduct of medical evacuation operations.</p>
<p>This is the catch-all excuse when the others are found wanting. Even if we know we don’t have to follow the Convention in this case; even if we know it is moronic and potentially fatal to do so, this regulation argues we should still risk the lives of combat troops and aircrews so that people too stupid or careless to know the facts do not become alarmed when we create the “perception of impropriety” by properly arming medevac helicopters against almost certain attack! Such conspicuously self-conscious, gutless attitudes have no place in military policy. The military exists to protect our country at the least cost in U.S. blood and treasure possible. Period.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sofmag.com/">Soldier of Fortune </a>magazine has a long-established record of bringing these kinds of issues to light. Their storied history in doing so is recorded in a three-part history here, here and here. Most who read this series will be surprised to learn the many things this magazine has done behind the scenes to assist our military efforts across the globe. And like anyone who stands up for America, they have been vilified in the press for doing so.</p>
<p>Thanks to Soldier of Fortune and Michael Yon, the tragic consequences of this policy have seen the light of day. With enough publicity, perhaps the Army will finally be persuaded to change its irresponsible and stupid policy. If so, the death of Chazray Clark may not have been entirely in vain. Please spread this message far and wide, and hold your representative and senators to account for the result. It goes without saying that this President and his criminal gang of leftist agitators need to be shown the door in November, for if past is precedent, one suspects that the Army may be prevented by this pointedly anti-American, anti-military administration from making necessary changes.</p>
<p>SOURCE: James Simpson, <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/incomprehensibly_stupid_army_regulation_killing_americans_in_afghanistan.html">American Thinker</a>: Incomprehensibly Stupid Army Regulation Killing Americans in Afghanistan, January 7, 2012</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-10641" title="James Simpson American Thinker" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/James-Simpson-American-Thinker-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />James Simpson is a freelance journalist, businessman and former White House budget analyst. His writings have also been published on Right Side News, Big Government, Big Peace, Emerging Corruption, American Thinker, Washington Times, WorldNetDaily, FrontPage Magazine, Soldier of Fortune and others. His blog is Truth &amp; Consequences.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;">Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></span></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Feel &#8220;free&#8221; to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, please <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you.</p>
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		<title>The Nasty Truth Behind Ron Paul’s Appeal</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/nasty-truth-ron-paul/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/nasty-truth-ron-paul/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:34:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10566</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since publishing my previous article, Ron Paul: Radical, Rogue &#38; Wrong! I received an avalanche of vitriolic comments, many of which were too vile to publish, from none other than Ron Paul supporters. By all accounts, Ron Paul is the apostate of the GOP field. His radical views on foreign policy, including the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, coupled [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10577" title="Ron Paul Yuck" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Ron-Paul-Yuck-300x237.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="237" />Since publishing my previous article, <a href="http://catchkevin.com/ron-paul-radical-rogue-wrong/">Ron Paul: Radical, Rogue &amp; Wrong!</a> I received an avalanche of vitriolic comments, many of which were too vile to publish, from none other than Ron Paul supporters.</p>
<p>By all accounts, Ron Paul is the apostate of the GOP field. His radical views on foreign policy, including the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, coupled with his desire to revert back to the antiquated &#8220;gold standard&#8221; for the dollar, and his zealous promotion of the Tenth Amendment have made him a rock star amongst America&#8217;s nihilistic insurgents. But is it Ron Paul&#8217;s &#8220;Constitutional&#8221; principles that resonate with his militant supporters or does this new breed of American anarchists see Paul as the straw man for their more sinister ideology?</p>
<p>In writing my follow up piece, I came across Daniel Greenfield&#8217;s recent article, <em><a href="http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/12/paul-pot-and-paulestinians.html">The Paul Pot and the Paulestinians</a></em>, on his blog, Sultan Knish, that captures the essence of Ron Paul&#8217;s appeal and the profile of his more militant supporters in brilliant journalistic fashion . . .</p>
<blockquote><p>The masses weeping over the death of Kim Jong Il and the frantic online defenders of Ron Paul have something in common, it isn&#8217;t the man they care about. It&#8217;s what he represents.</p>
<p>The course of events that took a cranky Texas congressman and turned him into the made man of a motley crew of online gambling entrepreneurs, racists, conspiracy theorists and the whole big circus tent filled with offshore accounts, UFO landing sites and copies of the Turner Diaries is an odd one, but not a completely unusual one.</p>
<p>Cults of personality are not about the man, but about the need that he fills in his followers. There is a point at which every dictator, rock star and celebrity realizes that it is the people who adore him that are in charge and all he can do is ride the wave of adulation. The men don&#8217;t matter, the reasons why people seize on them do matter.</p>
<p>Why Ron Paul? Because like so many at the center of a cult of personality, he is everything to everyone. The big tent he presides over is full of people who don&#8217;t agree on very much. They are a nexus of opposition to &#8216;everything&#8217;, but they&#8217;re also a collection of groups that splinter faster than old wood in a thunderstorm.</p>
<p>Ron Paul&#8217;s program which is big on ambitious assaults on the government, but short on the details, finesses many of those disagreements. Gay rights? Abortion? Immigration? If you squint and only pay attention to the right statements, then Ron Paul is for you. Like Santa&#8217;s little elves, his followers spread his selective word by focusing in on target demographics and barraging them with talking points that make it seem like Ron Paul is on their side. Whose side is Ron Paul on? Most likely his own.</p>
<p>The simplest reason why Ron Paul has become the perennial candidate of the Ringling Bros circus is a combination of two things. A past in which he marketed himself heavily to conspiracy theorists as a former member of Congress and a present in which he is a member of Congress.</p>
<p>The left has no shortage of Ron Pauls in Congress, cranks and loons like Shirley Jackson Lee and Pete Stark. When they want to run the chief loon of their side who thinks that the government is beaming radio waves into their brain at the behest of the military industrial complex, they have Cynthia McKinney, the presidential candidate for the Green Party in 2008, who was endorsed by Ron Paul. But their pickings on the Republican side are slimmer. It&#8217;s Ron Paul or it&#8217;s nobody.</p>
<p>When Ted Rall was recently dreaming of a left-right revolution against the government, the Paul Pot have been openly talking about it. Rand Paul discussed a left-right coalition for rolling back the &#8220;American Empire&#8221;. That sort of crossover is what makes Ron Paul valuable. The media championed him as an Anti-War Republican because he offered a left-right coalition against the War on Terror.</p>
<p>For all that the wonks insist on viewing America as a red and blue state lineup, there are a lot of other colors in the mix. More than the libertarians, most of whom have a limited comfort level with Paul, there are various flavors of anarchists, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and people who are even further off the map. They are a politically underserved demographic and while they won&#8217;t win elections, they have the obsessive nature and the time to make a difference.</p>
<p>Ron Paul&#8217;s broad appeal is that he promises to reduce the power of government and American power in general, and that&#8217;s something everyone from Communists to Nazis, anarchists to monarchists can get behind. Revolutions begin with a broad front assault on the system and Ron Paul has ended up as the symbol of a broad front of those who see some political, financial or other benefit from taking down the system.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s why Ron Paul&#8217;s generic policy positions, which aside from drabs of paranoia are not all that distinguishable from many of his opponents, are not really the issue. His pet obsessions even less so except that they allow him to speak the language of his supporters and they make him completely irrelevant on most other issues.</p>
<p>Ron Paul can&#8217;t speak intelligently on immigration because he&#8217;s too busy preparing for the day when Americans start seeking refuge in Mexico. Addressing Islamic terrorism is out of the question for the same reason. The knee jerk reflex to weaken even legitimate areas of government responsibility isn&#8217;t just destructive, it puts Paul in the position of denying that the problems even exist in order to justify resistance to government solutions.</p>
<p>If there&#8217;s a problem that might require a government solution, then it&#8217;s easier for Paul to claim that the problem only exists as part of a conspiracy to give the government more powers. This has been the standard response on the fringe to September 11 and is one reason why 9/11 Denial is so popular among the already paranoid.</p>
<p>Liberals decided that rather than dealing with the fact that a left-wing radical shot and killed JFK, they would build up elaborate conspiracy theories blaming the killing on the right. Everyone who found the idea of Muslim terrorists massacring thousands of Americans to be an uncomfortable fit with their ideology began finding ways to blame it on America. That&#8217;s where Paul&#8217;s left-right coalition against the war comes from. The New Left and Paleoconservatives came together to deny reality and found a common cause in maintaining a delusional worldview.</p>
<p>The marked difference between the European far right and the American far right is that the former have come face to face with the cold hard facts, while the latter are still acting as if the 21st century is an outgrowth of the early 20th and 19th centuries and must be fought on the same terms. That is another asset for Ron Paul who is in some ways a 19th century candidate still busy refighting the political wars of the past. A man who is too busy rebutting Alexander Hamilton doesn&#8217;t have much to talk about anything truly dangerous.</p>
<p>Like a broken clock, Ron Paul is right about the unrestricted growth of Federal power, but for the wrong reasons. The United States isn&#8217;t on a path to becoming the Fourth Reich, the time when that was at all possible is long gone. It is on a path to national dissolution, which happens to be Paul&#8217;s program and makes his candidacy irrelevant. Centralization and spending aren&#8217;t the problem, they&#8217;re the symptoms of the problem which is a corrupt technocratic political culture that he is completely unequipped to address, not least because his own nose has been caught in the trough, but mostly because he isn&#8217;t a leader.</p>
<p>Ron Paul is an ideologue who has made a career out of his ideology, whether it was in Congress or through his newsletters. Ideologues don&#8217;t have a history of fixing systems, they have a history of breaking them in a different way. For all his talk of the Founders, they were men who weren&#8217;t rooted to a single way of doing things. Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison had their fundamental differences, but none of them were so rooted in their way of thinking that they were unable to deal with reality. The closest period analogue to Paul is Thomas Paine, an English radical who was unable to accept the practical outcome of the American Revolution, and instead went seeking new revolutions in England and France. Ironically common sense is the one thing that Paine didn&#8217;t have. It&#8217;s the one thing that Paul badly lacks.</p>
<p>If there was a time for Ron Paul it would be now, in an election against a Democratic administration that has dramatically extended Federal power and created its own mini-tyranny. The problem is that Paul is just as unqualified and broken as Obama. Both men are products of rigid ideology who insist that applying it will fix all problems. They are both surrounded by cults of personality that elevate ordinary mediocre men into the avatars of hope and change.</p>
<p>No sooner does Ron Paul mumble a sentence in a debate then his followers plaster a dozen clips of it on YouTube under titles asserting that he &#8220;0WNED&#8221; Romney, Gingrich, Santorum or the solar system. The sad truth is that Ron Paul has never won a debate or made an articulate argument for anything. He&#8217;s a shambling ideologue who has shot up only because every other Republican candidate except Huntsman and Santorum have had their moment in the sun. Paul isn&#8217;t anyone&#8217;s first choice, he&#8217;s the fifth choice who isn&#8217;t likely to win Iowa, let alone the nomination.</p>
<p>Paul&#8217;s supporters have bought his son a senate seat and given papa a proper sendoff as the bugbear of the Republican Party. The level of devotion is completely detached from any actual accomplishment in the field of politics. But the same was true of Obama.</p>
<p>The chief beneficiaries of Obama&#8217;s cult of personality were not the young people or minorities who streamed out to vote for him. As always they were the Obama clan and their close supporters. The same is true of Ron Paul who has sucked up a great deal of money that could have been better spent on a more articulate and promising spokesman for their cause. But just as the nature of what Obama really stood for began to disintegrate the moment he took office, so too the question of what Paul really stands for remains open.</p>
<p>The newsletters, which were an open book in the last election but which few of the panicked outlets now reporting on them as if they were fresh news chose to focus on, are the least of it. They represent one aspect of Ron Paul, the one that won him some of his hard core following, and his disavowal of them represents another, that of the politician who knows how to play different constituencies and show a difference face to different groups.</p>
<p>Who is the real Ron Paul? Like the real Obama it doesn&#8217;t really matter. It&#8217;s the people who have gathered behind him that are interesting. Their politics are primarily negative. They share a common paranoia and ruthlessness with Obama&#8217;s supporters, but while Obama&#8217;s supporters wanted power, they claim not to want it. And yet their campaigns have been exercises in seizing power, in media manipulation, intimidation and deception. There is no real difference between their tactics and those of their far-left, but we are to believe that there is a difference in goals.</p>
<p>That may be true, and yet the purpose of power is power. Those who seize power ultimately use it and revolutionaries who promise that their tactics will change once they are no longer insurgents are not to be believed. The most troubling thing about the Ron Paul campaign is not Ron Paul, but his supporters. It is they who define him more than he defines them. Their collective bum rush isn&#8217;t just violent, it&#8217;s simmering with a familiar paranoid cunning laced with bigotry, manipulation and lies. It&#8217;s the behavior of people who believe they are entitled to power and will do anything to get it.</p>
<p>That is what defines the Ron Paul campaign more than the slight mumbling figure at the center of it. They are Ron Paul more than he is. In a sense Ron Paul is telling the truth when he says that he didn&#8217;t write the newsletters. Even if he did write them in part or in whole, which is entirely possible, they were the ones that he was writing them for. That angry mass on the side eager to believe the worst and send out money to anyone who affirms their views. They are the same people with their crazy-quilt patchwork of ideologies that he is speaking to now. Their views may be internally irreconcilable, but as long as they have a common enemy in the system, they can overlook the differences and the inconsistencies and push forward without ever realizing that they are going nowhere because there is nowhere to go.</p></blockquote>
<p>Although I don&#8217;t always agree with Mr. Greenfield&#8217;s position on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, he hit the nail on the head when it comes to the political crackpot known as Ron Paul. The longtime cranky establishment candidate has become the sounding board, not for republicans and conservatives, but for anarchist ideologues that hide their nihilist desires under the cloak and dagger of constitutional freedoms. </p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Feel &#8220;free&#8221; to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, please <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you.</p>
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		<title>Motivation: What We Can Learn From Rocky Balboa</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/motivation/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/motivation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:48:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[What is motivation? Simply put, motivation is an inner drive, an impulse, an intention that causes us to do something or to act in a certain way. Why do we get motivated? To achieve an objective. Why do we want to achieve the objective? Because there’s an incentive associated with reaching it. But is it really the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10503" title="Rocky IV" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Rocky-IV1-300x235.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="235" />What is motivation? Simply put, motivation is an inner drive, an impulse, an intention that causes us to do something or to act in a certain way. Why do we get motivated? To achieve an objective. Why do we want to achieve the objective? Because there’s an incentive associated with reaching it. But is it really the incentive itself (achieving our goal) that we are truly after? Is it hoisting the Lombardi trophy at the end of the Superbowl? Living in the waterfront mansion? Driving the Ferrari? Becoming a doctor? Winning the governor’s race? Accumulating a million dollars? Is the accomplishment itself the real reward?</p>
<p>In a word . . . No.</p>
<p>The real reward is the <em>feeling</em> that comes from achieving the goal. For example, when a man attempts to date a beautiful woman, is it because he has her best interest at heart or fills a void in her life that she desperately yearns for? Is it because she needs him to feel complete, but just doesn’t know it yet? No.</p>
<p>So then, what is his motivating factor? <em>His</em> feelings! It’s not about her, at least not during the initial courtship. It’s about him and how she makes him <em>feel</em>.</p>
<p><strong>I categorize motivation into five types:</strong></p>
<p><strong>1. </strong> Desire for Gain</p>
<p><strong>2. </strong> Avoidance of Pain</p>
<p><strong>3. </strong> Fear of Loss</p>
<p><strong>4</strong>.  Anger</p>
<p><strong>5.</strong>  Inspiration.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s dissect all five . . .</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Desire for Gain: </strong></span>While it may be the most popular form of motivation, it is also the weakest. It’s not nearly as strong a motivator as Avoidance of Pain. Why? Because achieving one’s goals well into the future has no bearing on one&#8217;s  current needs. The desired outcome won’t be achieved immediately and because our values, ideals, principles, priorities, and beliefs assiduously evolve, the perceived feeling upon accomplishing the original goal either wanes, dies, or yields to a new or more rewarding achievement.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Avoidance of Pain: </strong></span>When a man hurts badly enough (physically, emotionally, mentally, or financially) he will do whatever it takes to avoid that pain. The intensity of the motivation is a lot stronger than the motivation that&#8217;s birthed from desire for gain because the pain has an immediate and adverse effect on his life.</p>
<p>Take a premier NFL running back, for example. Let’s say he happens to be an addicted gambler who&#8217;s into a loan shark for big money. In lieu of paying him back, he tells the loan shark to bet the farm on his team based on inside information. If his team wins, his debt is paid. But if his team loses, not only will he still be on the hook, but he gets his knee caps busted to boot. Do you think he&#8217;d be motivated to run his absolute hardest? You bet he would.</p>
<p>Avoidance of Pain is a powerful motivator. If you’re an entrepreneur, there is a 90% chance that you’re only operating in first gear (Desire for Gain). What happens when you&#8217;re in first gear and you stomp on the gas? The motor revs, but the car only crawls. If your destination is in the far distance, you’re going to run out of gas long before you get there. That’s exactly what happens to the overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs and people in general who set goals for themselves. They only operate in first gear and run out of gas long before they get there.</p>
<p>Sometimes you need to shift to another gear and put yourself in a position of pain if that’s what it takes to sufficiently motivate yourself to accomplish your goal. Do you remember Rocky 4? Drago beat Apollo to a pulp and killed him with a final blow to the head. What did Rocky do in preparation to fight Drago? He shifted gears! He removed himself from the luxuries of life and did what? He went to a log cabin in Russia and trained in extremely cold and harsh conditions. He psychologically shifted gears from desire for gain to avoidance of pain. He knew his current level of motivation was not strong enough to achieve his objective and he consciously shifted gears and put himself in a position of pain. No matter your goal, you must be acutely aware of what gear you are in at all times and more importantly, when it&#8217;s time to shift into another gear.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Fear of Loss:</strong></span> Fear of loss is a very powerful motivator. It’s extremely effective in a variety of situations, e.g., pulling drug addicts and alcoholics from the deepest pits of despair. In those cases it often only takes a loving spouse to issue the ultimatum . . .</p>
<p>“It’s me or the bottle.&#8221; &#8220;It’s me or the drugs.&#8221; &#8220;It’s me or the gambling.&#8221;</p>
<p>Remember Michael Douglas in the movie, The Game, with Sean Penn who played his little brother? He was the wealthy guy with everything in the world and his brother signed him up for the game as his his birthday gift and his life is thrown into utter chaos. When his comfortable world started to crumble, what happened? He shifted gears from complacency to what? Fear of loss. He got motivated to keep what he had in a hurry, didn&#8217;t he?</p>
<p>How about you? Are you complacent? What do you fear losing? What in your life do you value so much that you are scared to death to lose it? There is your new gear! Now let&#8217;s look at anger.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Anger: </strong></span>Contrary to conventional wisdom, pain and anger are the driving forces that affect <em>real </em>and <em>everlasting </em>change. Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I’m all for a positive attitude and positive expectations, but not at the expense of achieving my goals.</p>
<p>Prior to becoming financially successful in my previous business venture, I used to maintain a positive attitude the entire time that I was poor. The more I listened to my motivational mentors: Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, Jim Rohn, Dennis Waitley, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, and Earl Nightingale, the poorer I became. In fact, it wasn&#8217;t until I became angry that things began to turn around for me, and in a big way.</p>
<p>Is anger really as destructive as it&#8217;s purported to be?  If so, why would God endow us with such an allegedly self-defeating and negative emotion? Are negative emotions in general counterproductive? It depends on how they&#8217;re used. Our moral compass, values, principles, ideals and motives determine its use.</p>
<p>Were the greatest game changers in the history of the world happy and positive?</p>
<p><em></em>Was Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, a happy and positive man when he posted his 95 theses on the castle door in Wittenberg, Germany?</p>
<p>Was Martin Luther King Jr, the civil rights activist and icon, driven by joy or positive feelings? Hardly. He was driven by anger and rage over inequality, injustice, and racial prejudice in the United States of America.</p>
<p>Art Williams, the Founder of A.L. Williams (now Primerica), Glenn Beck, Norma Rae, John Walsh and Candy Lightner, the Founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), are all people who used the &#8220;negative&#8221; emotion of anger to effect &#8220;positive&#8221; change.</p>
<p>Negative emotions can produce positive results.</p>
<p>Look at the people who make up the Tea Party. Are they happy and positive, or are they angry and enraged at the extreme left liberals and the direction the Obama Administration is steering this country? Do they stand in the streets singing Cumbaya? Are they depending on their &#8220;Positive Attitudes,&#8221; the &#8220;Law of Intention,&#8221; or the &#8220;Law of Attraction&#8221; to bring about change? Hardly. How about the Occupy Wall Street crowd? Are they happy and positive? Of course not. They&#8217;re enraged at what they perceive as injustice and inequality on the part of Wall Street and the elitist bankers.</p>
<p>Anger that&#8217;s harnessed, transmuted, and channeled properly can be very effective at creating the change we seek. And I’m not talking just politically, socially, or theologically, I’m talking personally as well.</p>
<p>Anger is what drove me to overcome the physical and sexual abuse I endured as a child. Anger is what drove me to find <a href="http://catchkevin.com/driven/volare606/">creative solutions</a> to go from rags to riches as a struggling entrepreneur. Anger drove me to study the doctrine of Jehovah&#8217;s Witnesses and other pseudo-Christian cults. Anger is what drove me to learn direct marketing and network marketing. Anger is what drove me to start my previous multi-million dollar company, ProSTEP, from a $10,000 credit card advance to level the playing field and even the odds for home-based business entrepreneurs. Anger is what drove me to study eschatology (doctrine of &#8220;end times&#8221; theology) at an academic level. Anger, in part, helps drive me now. I’m angry with our government and I’m angry at our Justice system. I’m angry at the IRS and the unchecked power they wield to destroy peoples lives.</p>
<p>If you really want to get motivated, get angry! As an entrepreneur, and I can’t stress this enough, you must be acutely aware of the motivational gear that you are in at all times and more importantly when it’s time to shift. Just realize that it requires introspection and the conscious willingness to put yourself in perilous positions at times.</p>
<p>There is a time in everyone&#8217;s journey when they come face to face with their &#8220;2-T&#8221; moment. And it’s in those times that you will discover whether you’re made of nickel-plated nuts, brass balls, or pure &#8220;Titanium Testicles.&#8221; Fear and faith can’t both occupy your nervous system at the same time, so have faith and take the plunge. Trust me, you’ll swim, even with your Herculean hardware.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Inspiration: </strong></span>The final gear is the transition from motivation to inspiration. You’ve heard the old adage: You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Such is the parallel between motivation and inspiration—Motivate a man and excite him for a day; inspire a man and excite him for a lifetime! What happens when the motivation station runs out of gas? There is nothing left to be desired, no pain to be alleviated, nothing feared to lose, nothing to be angry about? It begs the question—Then what? That’s when you shift into overdrive—transformational inspiration!</p>
<p>What in many cases is mistaken for a lack of direction, a loss of purpose, or a shortage of chutzpa for many entrepreneurs and people in general is in fact their <a href="http://catchkevin.com/how-to-really-get-rich/">eureka moment</a>—a crystallizing clarity of identity and a surrendering to a higher calling that puts principle over profit, purpose over power, and prayer over pride.</p>
<p>The ego (Edging God Out) or what I often refer to as (Education Gone Obsolete) is a formidable foe that can keep a man inextricably entangled in a web of deceit, deception, and delusion. Driven by his carnal cravings and one-dimensional (success-attraction) mindset, he is often too blinded to see the illuminated transcendental path that lies before him. Choosing complacency over completeness and success over significance, man most often fails to attain the pinnacle of his divine purpose.</p>
<p>During this time of New Years resolutions and goal setting, be honest with yourself. How badly do you really want it? What motivational gear are you in? Do you need to shift? If so, into what gear? Desire for gain or avoidance of pain? Fear of loss, or flat out anger? Has your motivation station run out of gas? Are you beating your head against a wall time and time again only to get the same result? Perhaps you&#8217;re in a tug-of-war between your flesh and spirit? Take the leap of faith; let go and let God drive for a while.</p>
<p>Godspeed,</p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Feel &#8220;free&#8221; to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>Christians Crucify Freedom of Speech!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/christians-crucify-freedom-of-speech/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/christians-crucify-freedom-of-speech/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:58:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Wow! It never ceases to amaze me, the venom, the hatred, the vitriol and the judgment I receive from of all people&#8212;Christians. I recently published my article entitled &#8220;Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?&#8221; a thoroughly documented and painstakingly researched historical account of the non-biblical origins of the tradition of &#8220;Christmas.&#8221; The varied responses I have received [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Free-Speech-is-Hate-Speech-231x300.jpg" alt="" title="Free Speech is Hate Speech" width="231" height="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10414" />Wow! It never ceases to amaze me, the venom, the hatred, the vitriol and the judgment I receive from of all people&#8212;Christians.  I recently published my article entitled <a href="http://catchkevin.com/should-christians-celebrate-christmas-2/">&#8220;Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?&#8221;</a> a thoroughly documented and painstakingly researched historical account of the non-biblical origins of the tradition of &#8220;Christmas.&#8221; </p>
<p>The varied responses I have received are an interesting study in psychology to say the least. Ironically, the ugliest and most vile comments came from people that call themselves &#8220;Christians.&#8221; It was easier to demonize the messenger than to refute the message. In fairness, a few of the kindest, heartfelt comments of gratitude came from &#8220;Christians&#8221; as well. Some believers however, felt the need to send me multiple e-mails in all caps that said . . . </p>
<p>&#8220;MERRY CHRISTMAS &#8230; MERRY CHRISTMAS &#8230; MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!&#8221; Or, &#8220;YOU&#8217;RE A HEATHEN&#8221; &#8230; &#8220;YOU&#8217;RE AN INFIDEL&#8221; and even &#8230; &#8220;YOU CHRIST HATING JEW!&#8221;&#8212;I&#8217;m still baffled by that one. </p>
<p>I presume they thought I would find assaulting me through their keyboard offensive. Either that, or strong-arm me back into the commercial celebration of the season. Seriously? I deal with freedom-hating uber-liberals every day. Surely my Christian brethren could have come up with something more offensive? </p>
<p>I doubt they ever read Matthew 22:39, the second of Christ&#8217;s two Commandments: &#8220;Love thy neighbor as thy self,&#8221; much less cracked open a Bible. But if making me a whipping post for having published an irrefutable, thought-provoking article about the origins of Christmas made you feel better about your &#8220;Christianity,&#8221; consider it my &#8220;Christmas&#8221; gift to you. </p>
<p>If there is one thing I&#8217;ve discovered, it&#8217;s that most Christians will defend &#8220;tradition&#8221; to the death. But not truth! Truth makes us uncomfortable. It makes us accountable. And who wants to be held accountable? At times it forces us to make a life-altering decision based on new knowledge and facts. And most of us would rather live in a bubble, so long as it&#8217;s never pierced by the light of truth. Speaking of truth, if you found my article at enmity with your &#8220;beliefs,&#8221; don&#8217;t read <a href="http://www.shockedbythebible.com/">Shocked by the Bible </a> from Joe Kovacs. It&#8217;s littered with truth as well.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s most disturbing about my Christmas article though is the fact that the overwhelming majority of people e-mailed me privately instead of commenting on the article itself. It speaks volumes for just how afraid and politically correct we have become as a nation. <a href="http://catchkevin.com/freedom-of-speech/">Freedom of Speech </a>in this country has long been supplanted by &#8220;Political Correctness&#8221; and &#8220;Fear of Retribution.&#8221; That&#8217;s the real story here. People are deathly afraid to express their views in public because Free Speech is now branded as the new &#8220;Hate Speech.&#8221; </p>
<p>It begs the question: Just how convicted are we about our beliefs?  </p>
<p>Freedom of Speech comes at a cost so high today, that few people are willing to pay it. I will continue to pay it however, even at the expense of having been disowned by most of my immediate family and a few friends. It&#8217;s a small price to pay compared to those who paid with their lives. I owe it to 3000 people who died at the hands of our staunchest enemy. I owe it to Todd Beamer. I owe it to WW II victims and the greatest generation. I owe it to James Knipple (Semper Fi, brother). I owe it to our Founding Fathers. I owe it to my own father. And most of all, I owe it to the men and women who serve to preserve the freedom and liberties of our great nation every single day.</p>
<p>Christ has my soul; the Marine Corps has my back. That&#8217;s family enough for me.</p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Feel &#8220;free&#8221; to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, please <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you. </p>
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		<title>Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/should-christians-celebrate-christmas-2/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/should-christians-celebrate-christmas-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Dec 2011 03:49:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Where did Christmas originate? From the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa Claus—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—December 25th, and the custom of exchanging gifts? Some declare that we need to put “Christ back into Christmas.” I ask if he was ever there to begin with? The following facts may startle you, in fact, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4960" title="CK-IMAGES-POPE-CHRISTMAS" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-POPE-CHRISTMAS-230x300.jpg" alt="" width="230" height="300" />Where did Christmas originate? From the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa Claus—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—December 25th, and the custom of exchanging gifts? Some declare that we need to put “Christ back into Christmas.” I ask if he was ever there to begin with? The following facts may startle you, in fact, they may even disturb you. If nothing else, I hope to provoke you to dig a little deeper and ask if celebrating Christmas is a Biblical festivity. Before we get to the heart of the matter, I think it&#8217;s prudent to highlight the various mindsets believers generally fall into.</p>
<p>Professing Christians usually fall into three categories: <strong>1)</strong> Few will take the time to ask the tough questions and really dig for the truth. These diligent Christians often say,&#8221; previously I believed thus; but after additional study of the subject, I no longer hold to that particular view.&#8221; <strong>2) </strong>The majority of Christians are highly prejudiced and unwilling to investigate evidence contrary to their belief. The influence of preconceived opinion is so intense that it brings darkness over the mind, even in the clearest of light. <strong>3)</strong> Some believers are sincere but misguided. They hold to certain traditions, which they cannot prove; nevertheless, they sincerely desire to know the will of God.</p>
<p>Since Christmas seems so near and dear to the hearts of the majority of people around the world, it behooves every believer to embrace the art of controversy. Usually, if one is established in truth, one does not become offended over disagreement. Controversy and disputation is not always a bad thing. That said, unity should be the goal within the ecclesia (body of Christ), and never confusion. Easier said than done.</p>
<p>Polemics, the art of controversy, would be endless without a sound, evident principle to determine the side upon which the burden of proof lies. In every question, the burden of proof lies on the side of the affirmer. An affirmation is not authoritative without proof. If a person says, &#8220;I believe in Christmas,&#8221; and he cannot prove that it is Biblical, his proposition fails for lack of proof. Evidence must be given before it can be refuted. That which has no proof needs no refutation. However, if an affirmer can prove his point, the objector must prove his. Every man must seek to prove that which his cause requires.</p>
<p>Every person&#8217;s attitude toward the rite of Christmas should be, Does it harmonize with the Word of God? Scripture is the only standard for truth; all else will be destroyed. &#8221; . . . Every plant which my Heavenly father hath not planted, shall be rooted up&#8221; (Matt 15:13). Anything not found in the scriptures cannot be proved by them. A  Christian mindset is one that&#8217;s constantly being renewed by the sovereign spirit. Thus, it is made responsive to the mind of God (Phil 2:5).</p>
<p>Although Christians cannot be deluded to the point of destruction, Scripture proves they can be deceived. The Lord Jesus Christ warned His disciples against those who pervert truth. &#8221; . . . Take heed that no man deceive you (Matt 24:4). The Roman, Ephesian, and Thessalonian saints were cautioned about the same evil (Rom 16:18, Eph 4:14, 5:6, and II Thess 2:3). The Ephesian Christians were doctrinally sound, nevertheless, they were advised against Satan&#8217;s strategies. Consequently, we should likewise be cognizant of our need for Biblical instruction so that our attitude toward Christmas may be determined by scripture.</p>
<p>Every year after Thanksgiving, most people’s thoughts turn to Christmas. It is the time when professing Christians are supposed to focus on Jesus Christ. After all, it is the “Christ-mass” season! Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, holly wreaths, decorated trees, mistletoe, season’s greetings, seasonal music, “Jingle Bells” and Santa Claus are all associated with this holiday. These all bring warm feelings to those who celebrate it.</p>
<p>Christmas is thought by most to be a wonderful time, focusing the participants on giving, family togetherness, beautiful music and decorations, feasting on special foods and in some places, singing Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood. All of this is supposedly centered around the worship of Christ. Surely the Bible instructs us to do all this—right? Wrong! Why do people think that Christmas is wonderful? Most never reflect on why they believe what they believe or do what they do. We live in a world filled with customs, but few ever seek to understand their origin. We generally accept them without question. Most people basically do what everyone else does—because it is easy and natural!</p>
<p>Let’s carefully examine the roots of Christmas. Let’s look at why people follow the customs associated with it. Why is it kept on December 25th? Did the early New Testament Church keep it? This article is filled with facts from history that, when placed together, paint a complete picture of Christmas. Let’s avoid all assumptions and only accept what can be proven!</p>
<h2>Pagan Origins</h2>
<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-PAGAN-WORSHIP-300x224.jpg" alt="" title="CK-IMAGES-PAGAN-WORSHIP" width="300" height="224" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4980" />Nearly all aspects of Christmas observance have their roots in Roman custom and religion. Consider the following admission from a large American newspaper (The Buffalo News, Nov. 22, 1984): “The earliest reference to Christmas being marked on Dec. 25 comes from the second century after Jesus’ birth. It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia, a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. Saturnalia was a rowdy time, much opposed by the more austere leaders among the still-minority Christian sect. Christmas developed, one scholar says, as a means of replacing worship of the sun with worship of the Son. By 529 A.D., after Christianity had become the official state religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. The celebration of Christmas reached its peak—some would say its worst moments—in the medieval period when it became a time for conspicuous consumption and unequaled revelry.”</p>
<p>Look at these quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centring round the January calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday.</p>
<p>The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”</p>
<p>There is no mistaking the origin of the modern Christmas celebration. Many additional sources could be cited and we will return to this later. Let’s tie in some other facts.<br />
It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring “Christ.”</p>
<h2>Can Christ be Honored by Christmas?</h2>
<p>The most common justification that one will hear regarding Christmas is that people have replaced old pagan customs and intents by asserting that they are now “focusing on Christ.” Many say that they are “honoring Christ” in their Christmas-keeping. The problem is that God does not say this is acceptable to Him! Actually, He plainly commands against it! Keeping Christmas dishonors Christ! He considers everything about it to be an abomination!<br />
Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. Christ continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions of people do just that!<br />
God plainly commands, “Follow not the way of the heathen.” But most people do not fear God, and He allows them to make their own decisions.</p>
<h2>Was Christ Born on December 25th?</h2>
<p>Christ was born in the fall of the year. Many have mistakenly believed He was born around the beginning of winter—December 25th! They are wrong! Notice the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition: “It was custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain.” The first rains began in early-to-mid fall. Continuing with this same quote: “During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the first rain began early in the month of March-esvan, which answers to part of our October and November [begins sometime in October], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact…See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.”<br />
Luke 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Note that they were “abiding” in the field. This never happened in December. Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night.<br />
Numerous encyclopedias plainly state that Christ was not born on December 25th! The Catholic Encyclopedia directly confirms this. In all likelihood, Christ was born in the fall! A lengthy technical explanation would prove this point. Refer to Leviticus 23.<br />
Since we now know that December 25th was nowhere near Christ’s actual birthdate, where did the festival associated with this date come from?<br />
Now read this quote under “Christmas”: “In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edit. Vol. II, p. 903).<br />
A final quote about the selection of December 25th as the birthdate of Christ is necessary. Note an article in The Toronto Star, December 1984, by Alan Edmonds, entitled, “We owe a lot to Druids, Dutch”: “The Reformation cast a blight on Christmas. By then, of course, clever ecclesiastical politicians had adopted the Pagan mid-winter festival as the alleged birthdate of Jesus, of Nazareth, and thrown in a few other Pagan goodies to make their takeover more palatable.”<br />
December 25th was not selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It was selected because it coincided with the idolatrous pagan festival Saturnalia—and this celebration must be carefully examined. In any event, we do not know the exact date of Christ’s birth. While God certainly could have made it known, He chose to hide it from the world’s eyes!</p>
<h2>Who Was Saturn?</h2>
<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-SATURNALIA-300x177.jpg" alt="" title="CK-IMAGES-SATURNALIA" width="300" height="177" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4975" />Previous quotes introduced the subject of the Saturnalia. Let’s carefully study just exactly who Saturn was. Consider the following quote from another large American newspaper, The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, December 1984: “The Roman festival of Saturnalia, Dec. 17-24, moved citizens to decorate their homes with greens and lights and give gifts to children and the poor. The Dec. 25 festival of natalis solis invicti, the birth of the unconquered sun, was decreed by the emperor Aurelian in A.D. 274 as a Winter Solstice celebration, and sometime (later)…was Christianized as a date to celebrate the birth of the Son of Light.”<br />
Dr. William Gutsch, chairman of the American Museum of Natural History—Hayden Planetarium, further confirmed the original name of Christmas with this quote on December 18, 1989, in a Westchester, New York, newspaper, The Reporter Dispatch:<br />
“The early Romans were not celebrating Christmas but rather a pagan feast called the Saturnalia. It occurred each year around the beginning of winter, or the winter solstice. This was the time when the sun had taken its lowest path across the sky and the days were beginning to lengthen, thus assuring another season of growth. If many of the trappings of the Saturnalia, however, seem to parallel what so many of us do today, we can see where we borrowed…our holiday traditions. And indeed, it has been suggested that while Christ was most likely not born in late December, the early Christians—then still an outlawed sect—moved Christmas to the time of the Saturnalia to draw as little attention as possible to themselves while they celebrated their own holiday.”</p>
<p>The Saturnalia, of course, celebrated Saturn—the fire god. Saturn was the god of sowing (planting) because heat from the sun was required to allow for planting and growth of crops. He was also worshipped in this dead-of-winter festival so that he would come back (he was the “sun”) and warm the earth again so that spring planting could occur. The planet Saturn was later named after him because, among all of the planets, with its rings and bright red color, it best represented the god of fire!</p>
<p>Virtually every civilization has a fire/sun god. The Egyptians (and sometimes Romans) called him Vulcan. The Greeks named him Kronos, as did the Phoenicians—but they also called him Saturn. The Babylonians called him Tammuz (as Nimrod, resurrected in the person of his son), Molech or Baal (as did the Druids). These were all simply the various names for Nimrod. Nimrod was considered the father of all the Babylonian gods. Remember the tower of Babylon?</p>
<h2>Child Sacrifice</h2>
<p>Notice this horrible practice associated with the worship of the fire god (Nimrod, Saturn, Kronos, Molech and Baal) in the following quote from The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 231:<br />
“Now, this is in exact accordance with the character of the Great Head of the system of fire-worship. Nimrod, as the representative of the devouring fire to which human victims, and especially children, were offered in sacrifice, was regarded as the great child-devourer…he was, of course, the actual father of all the Babylonian gods; and, therefore, in that character he was afterwards universally regarded. As the Father of the gods, he was, as we have seen, called Kronos; and every one knows that the classical story of Kronos was just this, that, ‘he devoured his sons as soon as they were born.’ (Lempriere Classical Dictionary, ‘Saturn.’)…This legend has a further and deeper meaning; but, as applied to Nimrod, or ‘The Horned One,’ it just refers to the fact, that, as the representative of Moloch or Baal, infants were the most acceptable offerings at his altar. We have ample and melancholy evidence on this subject from the records of antiquity. ‘The Phoenicians,’ says Eusebius, ‘every year sacrificed their beloved and only-begotten children to Kronos or Saturn.’”</p>
<p>But why was human sacrifice such a key to the worship of this terrible god? What possible good could human beings think they saw in slaughtering their own children? Continuing: “…he who approached the fire would receive a light from divinity” and “through divine fire all the stains produced by generations could be purged away.” Therefore, “children were made to pass through the fire unto Molech” (Jer. 32:35).</p>
<p>Believe it or not, deceived human beings actually believed they were pleasing their “god” by sacrificing their own innocent little children to him. They believed fire purified them from original sin. The pagan doctrine of spending time in purgatory to purge the soul from all sin derives from this belief!</p>
<h2>Who Was Nimrod?</h2>
<p>We have already seen him as one of history’s original false gods, but what else can be learned?<br />
Genesis 10:9 says of Nimrod, “He was a mighty hunter before [in place of] the Lord.” He actually tried to replace God.</p>
<p>The famous Jewish historian, Josephus, records in Josephus Antiquities important evidence of Nimrod’s role in the post-flood world. Notice: “He also gradually changed the government into tyranny…He [Nimrod] also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach…Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God” (Bk. I, Ch. IV, sec. 2, 3).</p>
<p>Under many names, mankind’s earliest and perhaps greatest rebel has been worshipped throughout false religion. Ancient Israel kept falling into serving the many false gods that Nimrod represented.<br />
Ezekiel 8:13-14 records a picture of the women of Israel “weeping for Tammuz.” This Tammuz (the god of fire) was considered to be Nimrod and the etymology of the word itself is fascinating. Tam means “to make perfect” and muz “fire.” The meaning is clear in light of what we have already learned. Incidentally, in the Iraqi-Kuwaiti Desert Storm War, Saddam Hussein even named one of his missiles the “Tammuz.” He certainly understood that its meaning included fire.</p>
<h2>Burned to Molech</h2>
<p>Let’s see how God’s people, Israel, worshipped Baal/Molech once they had departed from the true God: “And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into My mind, that they should do this abomination…” (Jer. 32:35).</p>
<p>Notice that God Himself says that such horrible abominations never even entered His mind: “They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter” (Jer. 19:5). Verse 6 ties the valley of Tophet or Hinnom to this practice. Jeremiah 7:31 connects Tophet and Hinnom to child sacrifice. Tophet means “the drum.” Drums were played to drown the screams of victims in the flames.</p>
<p>Note this quote from Paradise Lost, by John Milton, about the terrible god Molech: “First Moloch, horrid king besmear’d with blood of human sacrifice, and parents tears, Though, for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud Their children’s cries unheard, that passed through fire To his grim Idol.” Of course, everyone will say that they do not sacrifice their children to Molech today, but read on.<br />
In the New Testament, the martyr Stephen was stoned to death, at least partly, because he indicted his listeners for the worship of this evil idol (Acts 7:43).</p>
<p>When righteous King Josiah came to the throne, as king of Judah, he destroyed the altars in the Valley of Tophet (or Hinnom—the very same valley Christ likened to “gehenna” fire in Mark 9:43-49) soon after coming to power. He realized the great evil of the practices taking place there.</p>
<h2>The Druids and Human Sacrifice</h2>
<p>Many people have heard of the Druids. Few know who and what they were. We will refer to them later and tie them to other well-known Christmas practices. But first we have to establish their historic role in human sacrifice.<br />
Julius Caesar is the best-known source of information about the Druids. This comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica. This quote, under “Druids,” clearly explains who they were: “Druids, the learned class among the ancient Celts, whose name means Knowing (or Finding) the Oak Tree. They seem to have frequented Oak forests and acted as priests, teachers and judges. The earliest known records of the Druids come from the 3rd century [B.C.]…Druids took charge of public and private sacrifices, and many young men went to them for instruction. They judged all public and private quarrels and decreed the penalty…The Druids principle doctrine was that the soul was immortal…(they) offered human victims for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids chose criminals by preference, they sacrificed innocent victims if necessary.”</p>
<p>The Old Testament is filled with God’s condemnation of Israel for practicing the customs of the nations around them—and we are gathering important facts revealing a shocking picture.</p>
<h2>The Role of Cannibalism</h2>
<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-CANNIBALISM-300x218.jpg" alt="" title="CK-IMAGES-CANNIBALISM" width="300" height="218" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4968" />Another truth about the origin of Christmas springs from the modern word cannibal. This practice has its roots in a prime function of all priests of Baal. Keep in mind that the Hebrew word for priest is Cahn.<br />
Consider the following quote from The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, page 232: “And it was a principle of the Mosaic law, a principle no doubt derived from the patriarchal faith, that the priest must partake of whatever was offered as a sin-offering (Numbers xviii. 9, 10). Hence, the priests of Nimrod or Baal were necessarily required to eat of the human sacrifices; and thus it has come to pass that ‘Cahna-Bal,’ the ‘Priest of Baal,’ is the established word in our own tongue for a devourer of human flesh.”<br />
The reality of this can be lost on no one! It is also true that most civilizations have a tradition that has involved cannibalism. Notice this statement from The New York Times, “What Is the Meaning of Cannibalism?” by Erik Eckholm: “Cannibalism has once fascinated and repelled virtually every known society, including those said to have practiced it.”<br />
This same article went on to show that most civilizations also attached divine significance to its practice.</p>
<h2>Let&#8217;s look at the Santa Myth</h2>
<p>Have you considered that you could also be burning, even sacrificing, your children today (though in a different way) in your practice of Christmas, while you may be trying to sincerely “focus on Christ”?<br />
Parents reason that they owe the whole Christmas myth to their children! Christmas traditions are focused primarily on kids, and they are certainly the center of most of what happens.<br />
Some years ago, a priest in New Jersey told his Sunday school class that Santa was a myth. The outrage from parents and his supervisors was swift. He had “killed Santa!” He had “destroyed family tradition!” He had “usurped family authority,” the article continued. He was officially censored by his superiors for being “overzealous and insensitive.” His crime? He told the truth!</p>
<p>According to Langer’s Encyclopedia of World History, (article “Santa”), “Santa” was a common name for Nimrod throughout Asia Minor. This was also the same fire god who came down the chimneys of the ancient pagans and the same fire god to whom infants were burned and eaten in human sacrifice among those who were once God’s people.<br />
Today Santa Claus comes from “Saint Nicholas.” Washington Irving, in 1809, is responsible for remaking the original old, stern bishop of this same name into the new “jolly St. Nick” in his Knickerbocker History of New York. (Most of the rest of America’s Christmas traditions are even more recent than this.) “Old Nick” has long been recognized as a term for the devil.<br />
In Revelation 2:6 and 15, we read about a “doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,” which Christ twice tells His Church “[He] hates.” Let’s analyze the word Nicolaitane. It means “follower of Nicholas.” Nikos means “conqueror, destroyer.” Laos means, “people.” Nicolaitanes, then, are people who follow the conqueror or destroyer—Nimrod. If you have believed that following Christmas is an innocent Christian custom, think again!</p>
<h2>Is It Scriptural to Exchange Gifts?</h2>
<p>Merchants regularly report that over 60% of their annual retail sales occur during the Christmas shopping season. This represents a tremendous amount of gift buying. Most today believe that gift-giving comes from the Bible example of the “three wise men” presenting gifts to Christ. Is this true? Where did exchanging gifts come from, and what does God’s Word say about it?<br />
The Bibliotheca Sacra states, “The interchange of presents between friends is a like characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows” (Vol. 12, pp. 153-155).<br />
Like every other aspect of Christmas, the shocking truth is that even this supposed Christian custom does not come from the Bible. It is an irony that people love to believe they are following the custom of the wise men giving to Christ, when actually they are giving almost exclusively to each other! What hypocrisy! Christ is merely an afterthought.<br />
What if you went to a birthday party that had been prepared for you and everybody gave gifts to each other and you were left out? The idea is ridiculous! If this happened, you would say that people were being selfish and forgetting you. In fact, most people give to others on Christmas merely because they expect to receive gifts themselves!<br />
Let’s briefly return to the “wise men” who gave gifts to Christ. The scripture describing this is Matthew 2:1-11: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?…And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”<br />
It is commonly supposed that these were birthday presents for “baby Jesus.” But is this what the Bible actually says? Absolutely not! First, it is important to note that they did give the gifts to Jesus. They did not stand in His presence and exchange gifts among themselves or give them to others. The gifts were “presented unto Him.” Also, they arrived well after His “birthday.” This is another reason these could not have been “birthday presents.”</p>
<p>A long-standing, ancient custom of the East was to present gifts when coming before a king. These men understood they were in the presence of the “King of the Jews.” The Bible carries many examples of people sending gifts to kings or presenting them upon arrival into their presence. This custom is common today when ambassadors or others come into the presence of a world leader.<br />
Finally, notice what the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 46, states about what really happened on this occasion: “Verse 11. They presented unto him gifts. The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Seas Islands.” Gifts were customarily presented to kings. What could be more plain?</p>
<h2>Let&#8217;s Look at the Origin of the Christmas Tree</h2>
<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-SANTA.jpg" alt="" title="CK-IMAGES-SANTA" width="370" height="273" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4969" />We have touched on it without directly focusing on it. The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the Babylonians and the Egyptians.<br />
The following demonstrates what the Babylonians believe about the origin of the Christmas tree: “An old Babylonish fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz! Among the Druids the oak was sacred, among the Egyptians it was the palm, and in Rome it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia!” (Walsh, Curiosities of Popular Customs, p. 242).<br />
Frederick J. Haskin’s Answers to Questions states, “The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christian Era.” Did you know this—that the Christmas tree long preceded Christianity?<br />
Most aspects of Christmas are not referred to in the Bible. Of course, the reason is that they are not from God—they are not part of the way He wants people to worship Him. The Christmas tree, however, is directly mentioned in the Bible! Jeremiah 10:2-5, “Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”<br />
This plain description of the modern Christmas tree is clear. God directly refers to it as “the way of the heathen.” Just as directly, He commands His people to “learn not the way of the heathen,” calling these customs “vain.” Verse 23 adds a remarkable and powerful statement: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his [own] steps.” God must teach people how to live. Man simply cannot figure out God’s ways for himself.<br />
There is no room in Jeremiah 10 to believe, as some have tried to suggest, that because these trees are powerless of themselves, it is not really forbidden to have a Christmas tree. God condemns the putting up of pagan (Christmas) trees with this plain Bible command!</p>
<h2>What is the Source of Holly Wreaths, Yule Logs and Mistletoe?</h2>
<p>The Encyclopedia Americana states, “The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log…are relics of pre-Christian times.” In other words, paganism! The Yule log was commonly used in a rite of Teutonic nature worship.<br />
Frederick Haskin further states, “The use of the Christmas wreath is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan custom of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as our Christmas.”<br />
The Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Celastrales,” exposes the origin of the holly wreath: “European pagans brought holly sprays into their homes, offering them to the fairy people of the forests as refuges from the harsh winter weather. During the Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival, branches of holly were exchanged as tokens of friendship. The earliest Roman Christians apparently used holly as a decoration at the Christmas season.”<br />
There are dozens of different types of holly. Virtually all of them come in male and female varieties—such as “Blue Prince and Blue Princess” or “Blue Boy and Blue Girl” or “China Boy and China Girl.” Female holly plants cannot have berries unless a nearby male plant pollinates them. It is easy to see why the holly wreath found its way into pagan rituals as a token of friendship and fertility!<br />
Christmas is incomplete to many unless it involves “kissing under the mistletoe.” This pagan custom was natural on a night that involved much revelry done in the spirit of drunken orgies.<br />
The Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Santalales,” states, “The European mistletoe is thought to have had special ritual significance in Druidical ceremonies and lives in folklore today, its special status as the Christmas mistletoe having come from Anglo-Saxon times.” Mistletoe is a parasite that lives on oak trees. (Recall that the Druids worshipped in oak tree groves.) The ancient Celtics (associated with the Druids) used to give mistletoe as an herbal remedy to barren animals to make them fertile. It is still referred to as “all healer” in Celtic.</p>
<p>Like mistletoe, holly berries were also thought to be sacred to the sun god. The original “sun log” came to be called the yule log. “Yule” simply means “wheel,” which has long been a pagan representation of the sun. No wonder people today commonly speak of the “sacred yule-tide season.”</p>
<h2>Worship of the True God (Yahweh) Mixed with False Practices</h2>
<p>The modern term for merging false pagan customs with the worship of the true God is called syncretism. Anyone who did this in ancient Israel was put to death (Lev. 18:21, 29)! It was that serious!<br />
A fascinating look into how Israel thought and believed, in their own minds, that they were worshipping God as an entire nation, comes from II Kings 17:33: “They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there.”<br />
Did you grasp that? Yes, they feared the true God while serving other gods. No wonder the very next verse (34) states that they really “fear NOT the Lord” according to the way God commanded. This is how God views what people are doing today—no matter what these people copying ancient pagan practices might think of their own actions!<br />
Verse 30 says that all this had been learned from contact with “the men of Babylon” (among others), whose chief god, we will recall, was Nimrod (Baal or Molech)—who we now know were one and the same.<br />
Notice how specific was God’s warning to Israel in Deuteronomy 12:29-31, and why He warned them! “When the Lord your God shall cut off the nations from before you…and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto the Lord your God: for every abomination to the Lord, which He hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.”<br />
Many verses, similar to Deuteronomy 12, should be carefully studied. (See Exodus 34:10-17; 23:23-33; Leviticus 20:22-26; Deuteronomy 20:13-18, etc.) The true God knew that serving other gods always led to sacrificing children to them!<br />
Deuteronomy 12:32 made clear that God does not want us to mix His ways with any false ways: “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”<br />
These are God’s plain words to all who say that they can mix the horrible customs of outright paganism with a supposed “focus on Christ.”</p>
<h2>Ancient Israel’s Pagan Practices in Modern Customs</h2>
<p>Deuteronomy 12:2-4 establishes an important context. God plainly says, “You shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And you shall overthrow their altars…and burn their groves with fire…you shall not do so unto the Lord your God.”<br />
Notice God’s references to “every green tree” and “their groves.” There are at least ten similar verses throughout the Old Testament referring to “green trees” and their association with idolatry. Historians hold that the reference to the term “green” refers to green year-round—evergreen trees!<br />
Once again, let’s more closely examine the actual history and origins of some of the Saturnalia customs still practiced today. Notice the following chilling quote from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, “Oscilla” 3rd edition, volume II: “…all ranks devoted themselves to feasting and mirth, presents were exchanged among friends, and crowds thronged the streets, shouting ‘Lo Saturnalia.’ An offering was made beneath a decorated evergreen tree, according to the pagan poet, Virgil. Figurines and masks—called ‘oscilla’—were hung on the tree, as are Christmas decorations today. History admits…there can be no doubt that we have in these ‘oscilla’ a relic of human sacrifice…”<br />
Doesn’t all of this sound familiar? Presents, singing in the streets, evergreen trees, decorations, offerings under the tree, merrymaking, feasting? They may sound wonderful, but they represent things that are truly abominable in the God&#8217;s eyes.</p>
<h2>Outright Paganism Blended into Commercial Churchianity</h2>
<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-Christmas-church-300x168.jpg" alt="" title="CK-IMAGES-Christmas-church" width="300" height="168" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4977" />One additional source demonstrates how this all came to be a heritage practiced so “innocently” by millions—yet far from innocent in God’s sight. Now read the following quote from Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume 10, pages 1062-3: “Christianity…by a complex and gradual process…became the official religion of the [Roman] empire.<br />
“For a time, coins and other monuments continued to link Christian doctrines with worship of the sun, to which Constantine had been addicted previously. But even when this phase came to an end, Roman paganism continued to exert other, permanent influences, great and small…The ecclesiastical calendar retains numerous remnants of pre-Christian festivals, notably Christmas, which blends elements including both the feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra. But, most of all, the mainstream of Western Christianity owed ancient Rome the firm discipline that gave it stability and shape.”<br />
An authority as reputable as the Encyclopedia Britannica actually acknowledges, for any willing to see, that the Saturnalia and ancient Rome are what defined the “discipline…stability and shape” of Western Christianity! This is a truly stunning admission!<br />
The next powerful quote reveals how this idolatrous, pagan festival slipped into the “Christian” world. It is from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, under “Christmas”:<br />
“How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the ‘new sun’…cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence…The pagan festival with its riot and merry-making was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival.”<br />
One additional source reveals how the Roman church absorbed Christmas into an official celebration. The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, states, “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church…Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6th to December 25, which was then a Mithraic feast…or birthday of the unconquered SUN…The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending…that the feast of December 25th, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus…”<br />
Thus, a pagan festival, celebrated long before Christ’s birth, found its way into modern day Christianity.<br />
Did you know that even the seventeenth century Puritans of New England understood how wrong Christmas was? They actually banned its observance by law, in 1659, throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Fines and imprisonment could result from being found keeping it. It was almost 200 years (1856) before people stopped working on Christmas in Boston. The Puritans knew its roots and labeled it “heathen, papist idolatry.”</p>
<h2>Those Who “Change Times and Laws”</h2>
<p>The prophet Daniel (7:8) speaks of a “little horn,” which (7:25) “shall speak great words against the Most High…and think to change times and laws.” This little horn is a great religious authority that attempts to superimpose its own view of dates and celebrations, on an unsuspecting world, in place of God’s plain instruction.<br />
The Hebrew word translated “change” means to “transform, alter or set.” The word translated “times” means “appointed occasions, seasons or times.” The Hebrew word translated “laws” means “decrees or laws of God.” When put together, this phrase refers to an authority that attempts to “transform appointed occasions and seasons within the Law of God.” Certainly, Christmas is a great example of how this has been done. God’s instructions have been replaced with religious traditions of men.<br />
The following quote reveals how this has happened. It also comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Christianity”: “Thus, the Easter liturgy has been developed more highly in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Christmas liturgy more highly in the Roman Catholic Church…The Christian calendar is the most widely disseminated Christian institution. The seven-day week and the rhythm of the Christian festivals have been accepted even by most of the non-Christian countries. Despite energetic attempts at the introduction of a sliding work week, the seven-day week with work-free Sunday could not be eliminated even in Communist states with an Atheist world view. Even in Atheistic circles and organizations throughout the world, Christian holidays enjoy an undisputed popularity as work-free days…especially Christmas.”<br />
Truly, it has been the “ecclesiastical politicians,” referred to earlier, who have sought to impose the modern “Christian” calendar on an unknowing world. It is these leaders who have “thought to change times and laws.”</p>
<h2>The Dangerous Power of Lies</h2>
<p>One of Satan’s names is Destroyer (Rev. 9:11). Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal, like Satan, is the fire god who destroys and devours little children.<br />
The real Jesus Christ was never in and never will be in Christmas! He cannot be put back into where He has never been. But, metaphorically speaking, the “god of this world,” Satan (II Cor. 4:4), has always been in Christmas. He is its author!<br />
The true God commands that we “must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). This does not mesh with the great Christmas and Santa Claus lies that all children so willingly believe.<br />
I Timothy 4:2 warns of those “speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” Parents can “burn” their own children, to the point of searing them, with the Christmas deception and lie!<br />
There is no “safety in numbers” in this world for those who keep Christmas, because Satan, who is called “the father of lies” and “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), has “deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9)! Read the verse and recognize that Christmas is certainly a testimony to that great deception.</p>
<h2>Another  Jesus</h2>
<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CK-IMAGES-JESUS-CHRIST-277x300.jpg" alt="" title="CK-IMAGES-JESUS-CHRIST" width="277" height="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4971" />There is another problem with the idea of “putting Christ back in Christmas”—and it&#8217;s a biggie! The “Jesus” that is the focus of this season is not the true Jesus Christ of the Bible!<br />
Most have been taught that there is only one Jesus Christ. But God’s Word speaks of a counterfeit, and this substitute Christ is identifiable in history. The proof? The apostle Paul warned of “another Jesus.”<br />
Grasp what is at stake here!<br />
First, consider Paul’s entire introduction as he sets the stage for the warning that follows: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3).<br />
Now for the actual warning in the next verse: “For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him” (II Cor. 11:4). The Corinthians seemed to “bear with this” without much  resistance.<br />
Paul, under inspiration of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible, was moved to record the peril of unwittingly following “another Jesus.” Consider. Most have probably never remotely considered the idea of a false Jesus for even a  moment—that  there is such a thing as a wrong, different and “false Christ” (Matt. 24:23-24)—  called “another Jesus.” In the past, this “Jesus” has even corrupted the thinking of true Christians. This much is plain. But the “subtilty” of how this can happen, and how it has occurred in history, is so  deceptive—so seductive&#8211;that even true Christians can unknowingly slip into worshipping this  so-called Jesus. This is what was happening to the Corinthians.<br />
People can worship in ways that represent things that are far different than what they sincerely believe or intend. Bible “believers” today can think that they are worshipping the true Savior when they are really worshipping a false savior— another Jesus! The entirety of traditional Christianity is actually worshipping Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal. The modern mother/child “Mary/Jesus” emphasis, including the worshipful adoration of Mary by millions, is a parallel with Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis, that cannot be  missed.<br />
Here is my point. Many speak of “putting Christ back into Christmas.” This is heard every year from thousands of pulpits and elsewhere. But the true Jesus Christ (Yeshua ha Mashiac) was never there to begin with! Just as a person cannot go back into a room that he had never entered, Jesus Christ cannot be “put back” into an event that He has never been in, and that He in fact hates! (Again, see Mark 7:7.) The Jesus that these pastors and preachers have in mind is another Christ, one with another gospel, another spirit—the Christmas spirit!—bringing totally different doctrines and teachings. Are you starting to see the connection?</p>
<h2>What Should Bible Believing Christians Do?</h2>
<p>Let’s examine what God told His people they should do and the way they ought to teach their children.<br />
Recall Jeremiah 7:31, where God condemned Israel for burning their children in the Valley of Tophet. Eight verses earlier (vs. 23-24), God had made plain what He requires: “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not…but walked…in the imagination of their evil heart…”<br />
Human beings do not want to obey God (Rom. 8:7). I know, I don&#8217;t. The tug of war between my flesh and my spirit usually results in my flesh winning the battle. I can only hope that the Holy Spirit will eventually win the war on my behalf. People would rather follow their own “imagination.” They do not understand that God wants their lives to go “well.” He wants happiness, joy and blessings to flow into our lives. All these are the results of obeying Him.<br />
God inspired Moses to warn parents of the grave responsibility that they have in what and how they teach their children. Notice His instruction in Deuteronomy 6:1, 6-7, 20-21, 25: “Now these are the commandments…which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it…And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up…And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say unto your son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand…And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.”<br />
God took Israel out of Egypt—from slavery—out of the customs of the world around them and revealed His Law to them. He does not want His people going back to the traditions, customs and ways from which He has called them.<br />
When all of the interconnected traditions, filled with the symbolism of worshipping an ancient pagan, humanly devised god, are taught, this is not worshipping the true Creator.</p>
<h2>We Have not Known that Christmas is of Babylon</h2>
<p>Jesus said twice, in Matthew 7:16 and 20, that “you shall know them by their fruits.” Everything that people say or do, good or bad, has fruits, and the fruits of Christmas are pretty telling. This festive season leads the entire year in adultery, loneliness, jealousy, drunkenness, family arguments (and worse), and accumulation of debt that often lasts until well past March. This problem is so significant that almost all commercial churches typically report that their incomes—how ironic—drop during this period as people “recover” from all their spending!</p>
<h2>The Real “Christmas Spirit”</h2>
<p>The prophet Isaiah was inspired to write, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression” (58:1). Now that you have read the plain truth about the true origin of Christmas, what will you do? Will you continue to follow Commercial Christendom and man-made traditions, or take an apologetic and Berean like approach to studying the scriptures, turn from the pagan inspired tradition, and show yourself approved? Tough call, I know. Either way, God still loves you and sent his only son to die for you. That&#8217;s a truth we can all hang our hat, I mean&#8212;sins on!</p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>I invite you to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>Ron Paul: Radical, Rogue &amp; Wrong!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/ron-paul-radical-rogue-wrong/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/ron-paul-radical-rogue-wrong/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:44:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10353</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A polarizing figure in the GOP race, no other candidate evokes more emotion than Ron Paul. What makes him so fascinating is how he can be so right on certain domestic policy issues and so wrong on foreign policy. This article seeks to focus primarily on Ron Paul&#8217;s dangerous foreign policy views and the hypocrisy [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Ron-Paul-300x199.jpg" alt="" title="Conservative Political Action Conference Draws Major Leaders From The Right" width="300" height="199" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10361" />A polarizing figure in the GOP race, no other candidate evokes more emotion than Ron Paul. What makes him so fascinating is how he can be so right on certain domestic policy issues and so wrong on foreign policy. This article seeks to focus primarily on Ron Paul&#8217;s dangerous foreign policy views and the hypocrisy that plagues his candidacy.</p>
<p>Billed as an isolationist by most political pundits, Paul supporters prefer the more politically correct term&#8212;<em>non-interventionist</em>. Whatever your preference, it&#8217;s still rife with a conundrum of problems, not the least of which is how he would deal with Islam and their Jihadist war against the West.</p>
<p>During the last GOP debate, Ron Paul was asked why the Islamists are attacking us and not Sweden or Switzerland. If he was familiar with the Koran, he would have known the answer. They only attack people who resist. Stockholm is 20 percent Muslim. Muslim terrorists operate out of Sweden, including a top Al-Qaeda leader, but they don&#8217;t need to attack a territory that they&#8217;re already on the way to ruling through <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAf8-oq37yg&#038;feature=fvsr">demographics</a>. </p>
<p>Nearly half of Europe&#8217;s population is over 45. A third are under 30. Meanwhile half of European Muslims are under 30. The only countries that need to be targeted by Muslim terrorists are those which have a high enough birth rate that demographics alone won&#8217;t accomplish their mission of a worldwide caliphate. Israel, America, France and the United Kingdom top the list.</p>
<p>Asked if, as president, he would still be for the removal of sanctions against Iran if he had reliable intelligence that Iran had a nuclear weapon, Paul&#8217;s answer was yes; Iran&#8217;s desire for nukes, he argued, is understandable in light of its feeling &#8220;surrounded&#8221; in the region&#8212;an argument that amounts to moral equivalence. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s pretty evident why Iran wants a nuclear weapon. They make no bones about the fact that they want to wipe America (Big Satan) and Israel (Little Satan) off the face of the map. At issue then is whether it should be acceptable to the US, Israel and the rest of the free world that a rogue despotism that is hellbent on establishing a global theocracy achieved by provoking an apocalyptic doomsday should acquire nuclear weapons. Santorum on rebuttal sternly reminded him of Ahmadinejad&#8217;s claim that &#8220;martyrdom&#8221; is the chief Iranian virtue, directly opposing Paul&#8217;s suggestion that a Cold War threat of &#8220;mutual assured destruction&#8221; would be effective against Iran.</p>
<p>Bachmann went further, declaring, &#8220;I have never heard a more dangerous answer for American security than the one we just heard from Ron Paul.&#8221; She reminded us of the Iranian constitution, which states unequivocally that their mission is to extend jihad across the world and establish a world-wide caliphate. We would have to be fools and knaves to ignore their purpose and plan.</p>
<p>Answering Bachmann&#8217;s criticism, he began by saying that he would like to reduce nuclear weapons in general followed by this outright lie and mischaracterization:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;But to declare war on 1.2 billion Muslims, and say all Muslims are the same, this is dangerous talk. Yeah, there are some radicals. But they don&#8217;t come here to kill us because we&#8217;re free and prosperous. Do they go to Switzerland and Sweden? I mean, that&#8217;s absurd.  If you think that is the reason, we have no chance of winning this. They come here and explicitly explain it to us. CIA has explained it to us; it said they come here and they want to do us harm because we&#8217;re bombing them.&#8221; </p></blockquote>
<p>What Paul conveniently failed to clarify is just who we are bombing and more importantly why we are bombing them?&#8221; He is an expert at &#8220;transference,&#8221; and twisting the narrative to make the United States look like the big, bad, bully. And to the conspiracy-minded, uneducated and average American, it&#8217;s effective. </p>
<p>But here is where Paul appears more liberal than libertarian. He takes a page right out of the liberal handbook and distorts the argument by claiming critics of Islam and it&#8217;s biblical mandate to establish a worldwide caliphate want to eradicate 1.2 billion Muslims. That is patently false. It is no less inflammatory and incendiary than the bogus claims of &#8220;fear mongering,&#8221; &#8220;bigotry,&#8221; and &#8220;racist&#8221; that were hurled at me as a result of my popular article <a href="http://catchkevin.com/islam-not-protected/">Why Islam Should Not be Protected by the US Constitution</a>. It may be good political propaganda for Paul, but it&#8217;s pure poppycock.</p>
<p>When Obama declined to help the freedom-seeking insurgency in Iran two years ago, he missed a golden opportunity to cement his presidential legacy by reversing a rogue regime&#8217;s oppressive government and stem the tide of the Arab Spring across the Middle East. Moreover, it would have relieved tensions between Iran, Israel and that entire region, and he could have gone down as one of America&#8217;s greatest presidents&#8212;giving rise to liberty and freedom in the most improbable country in all of the Middle East. It spoke volumes for where Obama&#8217;s religious allegiance really lies. As an isolationist, Paul would have simply blown off the opportunity to help an oppressed people crying out for help, and strengthen the prospect for lasting peace in the Middle East.</p>
<p>An isolationist approach to foreign policy is not exactly out of the realm of possibilities. But there&#8217;s a fundamental difference between a responsible and an irresponsible isolationist policy. </p>
<p>A responsible isolationist policy recognizes that we have enemies who will act regardless of what we do and prepares against the possibility of war without actively seeking it out. An irresponsible isolationist foreign policy however acts as if we have no enemies and that any talk that we have enemies is a conspiracy to bring us into a war. It accepts every bit of enemy propaganda as the gospel truth and assumes that if we just &#8220;stop bothering them&#8221;, they&#8217;ll &#8220;stop bothering us&#8221;. It also assumes that the enemy is entirely motivated by our actions and that any conflict we are in is the result of our foreign policy and that isolationism will avert any such conflicts.</p>
<p>Daniel Greenfield described it best when he recently wrote that . . .</p>
<blockquote><p>Islamic attacks against the United States may emerge from various micro-events, but the macro-event from which they originate is the shared history of the Western world and the ongoing conflict between the Muslim world and the West. Some isolationists may act as if the United States can break with European history through assertion alone. It cannot. Like it or not it shares a common history and a common culture. America derives from Europe, and whether Americans recognize it or not, the rest of the world does. To Islam, America is not an island, it is another outpost of an enemy civilization that must be subdued so that the way of Mohammed will triumph around the world.</p>
<p>Ron Paul type isolationists fail to distinguish between the proximate causes of war and the ultimate causes of war. A proximate cause of war may be a ship that has wandered into the wrong area which may have been caused by a trade dispute which may have been caused by debts which may have been caused by growing militarism and greed for land. But none of those are truly the ultimate cause of war. The ultimate cause of war is the incompatibility of two systems and two civilizations within the same space.</p>
<p>Technological development means that the old boundaries are all but gone. Immigration means that the enemy population is already here. The rise of Islam means that war is inevitable, all that remains are the details, which battle, on what terms and in what form, and the larger detail of who will win.</p>
<p>Rational isolationism accepts that war may be inevitable but chooses to meet it on our terms. Irrational isolationism, which often carries with it defeatist and treasonous overtones, accepts the enemy&#8217;s justifications for the conflicts and assumes that if we modify our behavior accordingly that there will be no need for war. </p>
<p>&#8220;Si vis pacem, para bellum,&#8221; was a rule that the old Romans knew. If you would have peace, prepare for war. The emblem of the Strategic Air Command was an olive branch and thunderbolt held in a mailed fist. Its motto was &#8220;Peace is Our Profession&#8221;. The SAC kept the peace through the threat of war. Only an isolationism that understands the meaning of that motto can be successful. </p></blockquote>
<p>Ron Paul&#8217;s approach to foreign policy would be akin to an ostrich who keeps his head buried in the ground until the mortar rounds get too close for comfort or makes it a permanent resting place altogether.</p>
<p>Paul has recently been bombarding the airwaves in Iowa with attack ads against Newt Gingrich&#8212;calling into question among other things, his personal character and written record. However, when Ron Paul was recently pressed about his multiple <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-12-21/ron-paul-racist-newsletters/52147878/1">racist, bigoted and Anti-semitic comments </a>in his published newsletters during the eighties and nineties, he was quick to invoke his Fifth Amendment right claiming he&#8217;d answered those allegations in the past. If only it worked that way for Romney, Gingrich and Perry. Apparently, in Ron Paul&#8217;s world, what&#8217;s good for the goose is not good for the gander.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most disparaging weapon in Paul&#8217;s campaign is a repulsive video he believes will endear more Americans to him. In fact, it does quite the opposite for those people and veterans like myself astute enough to see through the political propaganda. At first glance it looks impressive having received far more campaign contributions from active military personnel than any other candidate. What it fails to tell the viewer however, is that Paul&#8217;s anti-war rhetoric to a war-weary force is obviously effective. </p>
<p>Furthermore, it fails to mention that Paul is far more aggressive in courting the military vote than the other candidates and that he also led that category four years ago. In the video he exploits young, naive and politically bereft veterans who disgustingly claim that Americans only support our troops in a cursory manner. Sorry, but in the words of Herman Cain, &#8220;That dog won&#8217;t hunt!&#8221; This is 2011, not the Vietnam era of 1971. </p>
<p>To add insult to injury, they blame America for 9/11 and portray us as a blood-thirsty nation looking for somebody&#8217;s ass to kick. Excuse me but, as a Marine Corps veteran myself, I knew exactly what I was signing up for. As far as I know, we still have an all voluntary force. And sadly, not all active duty personnel are patriotic. Some guys were chomping at the bit to go back home right from the git-go. The military for them was just a convenient way to get three square meals and a cot since they couldn&#8217;t hack it in civilian life. </p>
<p>Even more revolting are the taken-out-of-context sound bites of various media personalities, including Judge Andrew Napolitano and a former CIA agent, implying that the United States is always the provocateur and that what looks like an unprovoked attack on us is really the result of &#8220;blowback&#8221; from previous provocations on foreign soil unbeknownst to the American public. While he&#8217;s on a roll, why doesn&#8217;t Ron Paul just take a piss on the graves of the 9/11 victims and all 6300 military heroes we&#8217;ve lost in Iraq and Afghanistan since then? It would be a hell of a lot less offensive. View video here.</p>
<p>Unlike the other GOP candidates, media scrutiny of Ron Paul seems nonexistent only because they believe he is not a serious candidate. However, winning the Iowa caucuses would change that instantly. </p>
<p>The cult-like followers of Paul are not even familiar with the race-baiting he engaged in two decades ago. Young people from college campuses aren&#8217;t lining up to hear him speak because of what appeared in those newsletters about the 1992 Rodney King riots in L.A. </p>
<p>But the questions remain. If Ron Paul is so libertarian that he won&#8217;t even police people who use his name, if his campaign is filled with incompetents and opportunists, then what kind of a president would he make? An absentee president much like the one we have now? A more frightening question might be who would he appoint to Cabinet positions?</p>
<p>On the major social/moral issues that under-gird any society’s economy (life and marriage), Ron Paul is as far from being an authentic pro-lifer and pro-family conservative as you can get.</p>
<p>Ron Paul claims to be pro-life but believes that individual states may allow the killing of pre-born babies if the majority of voters say it’s okay even though inalienable rights may never be alienated. He also claims to be pro-traditional marriage but is on record numerous times in support of same-sex “marriage.” </p>
<p>Just in case you&#8217;re not aware of it, Ron Paul . . .</p>
<p>1. Denies that God says homosexuality is a sin.</p>
<p>2. Supports open homosexuals in the military and repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”</p>
<p>3. Supports the “freedom philosophy” of legalizing marijuana (which I actually agree with) but also legalizing cocaine, heroin, and all other hard drugs (which I disagree with). He stated “Government has no role or authority in regulating drugs.”</p>
<p>4. Supports legalization of pornography and prostitution.</p>
<p>5. Supports right of homosexuals to marry one another. i.e. “gay marriage.” (“Gay couples can do whatever they want.”)</p>
<p>6. Is “pro-choice for states” on abortion. Individual states should be able to legalize abortion if they so choose. Shouldn&#8217;t all pre-born babies possess a God-given right to their own lives without a state determining whether they should live or be murdered? </p>
<p>7. Supported abortion legislation regulations which have resulted in 7.4 million chemical and surgical abortions since his congressional seat in 1997.</p>
<p>8. Doesn’t believe it’s government’s role to “legislate morality” even though all laws are based on morality.</p>
<p>If that&#8217;s not enough reason not to vote for Ron Paul, consider this . . .</p>
<p>A vote for Ron Paul might as well be a vote for Barack Obama. Only instead of an American apology tour, Ron Paul would go on an American capitulation tour. Sorry Paul, but this patriotic Marine Corps veteran isn&#8217;t waving the white flag for anyone, save God himself.</p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>Feel free to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, please <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share my blog and radio show with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant talk radio. Thank you. </p>
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		<title>Congress Screwed Us Again!</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/congress-screwed-us-again/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/congress-screwed-us-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:47:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[welfare]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10324</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Spend more and pass the bill, or force the government to shut down once again. That was the choice Democrats gave the Republicans. And now Congress has rammed through a 1,000-page, trillion-dollar omnibus spending bill that lumped 9 different appropriations bills into a single package. Unbelievable! They used the exact same tactic when Barry Soetero [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Harry-Reid-300x204.jpg" alt="" title="Harry Reid" width="300" height="204" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10326" />Spend more and pass the bill, or force the government to shut down once again. That was the choice Democrats gave the Republicans. And now Congress has rammed through a 1,000-page, trillion-dollar omnibus spending bill that lumped 9 different appropriations bills into a single package. Unbelievable! They used the exact same tactic when Barry Soetero insisted on a $2 trillion increase to the debt ceiling just this past summer. Remember that? Only to be followed by S&#038;P’s downgrade of our credit outlook. </p>
<p>What the hell are these people smoking? Republicans vowed to cut spending and quit passing legislation no one had read, yet that’s exactly what members of Congress did before leaving for their Christmas vacations. And are you ready for this? The 2012 budget increased spending by more than $18 billion over 2011 levels. That’s right. Once the bill is signed into law by Obama, the total tab will be more than $1.8 trillion dollars, a $21 billion increase over 2011 spending.  </p>
<p>How crazy do you have to get before you’re finally declared insane? What don&#8217;t they understand about a 15 trillion dollar debt? What this Congress needs is an intervention&#8212;a people led revolt. Our representative government is leaving us no choice. It’s almost like they’re baiting us to do it. The only way that I can remotely rationalize what must be going through their heads is that a future default is already a foregone conclusion. Either that, or they’re banking on the Fed to keep printing fiat money out of thin air. Either way, we’re screwed. Default on our bonds and give China the impetus to point their nuclear missiles towards D.C. or pay $50 for a loaf of bread. Pick your poison.  </p>
<p>What don’t these people get about the will of the American people to stop spending money and start making serious cuts? Real cuts! Cuts along the Simpson Bowles Commission’s recommendations, Paul Ryan’s, or even Ron Paul’s pledge to cut over a trillion dollars his first year in office. </p>
<p>I swear if I didn’t know better, I’d say I was in one of Rod Sterling’s episodes of the Twilight Zone. Only to snap out of it once the THC wore off and share the trip I was on about how Congress went on a profligate spending rampage and drove America into oblivion as the Islamists stood idly by waiting for the right moment to unleash their coordinated cell groups to enact Sharia Law. </p>
<p>Does anyone remember that after the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans promised to cut $100 billion from the federal budget. Now to their credit, House Republicans did pass several appropriations bills to cut spending, but they died in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Not only that, but spending went up! How in the world is that a cut? Somebody explain that to me. </p>
<p>And what the hell happened to the promise to post all legislation online at least 72 hours before a vote? This 1,000-page spending bill was posted online Thursday morning without an official CBO Score showing what it would cost. And when was the vote? Friday afternoon. That sound like three days to you? But wait. It gets better. This wasn’t the only bill members of Congress voted on without knowing how much it would cost. The Senate also voted on a package to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for another two months on Saturday morning. The CBO hadn’t scored that one either. Not only that, but it did nothing to defund ObamaCare, which has been rejected by everyone but the most fringe of progressives. Besides a two month extension on the payroll tax cuts amounts to nothing more than a political ploy to dupe stupid Americans into thinking they&#8217;re actually getting something. Yeah, you&#8217;re getting something&#8212;temporary table scraps at the expense of a solvent social security trust fund down the road. Talk about a ponzi scheme? Bernie Madoff is a saint compared to the crooks in Congress. </p>
<p>The 2012 Omnibus Spending Bill continues to pay for the massive bureaucratic machinery that will ultimately takeover the healthcare system in 2014 if it’s not overturned by the Supreme Court next summer. Think <a href="http://catchkevin.com/elena-kagan/">Elena Kagan</a> will recuse herself? Fat chance! The bill funds abortion in America and around the world, a practice Republicans pledged to stop. It appropriates $35 million to the United Nations Population Fund, $575 million for international family planning, and $297 million for Title X family planning. That is a direct funding source for America’s largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood. At one time, the bill defunded Planned Parenthood and reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits U.S. tax dollars from funding abortion overseas, but those provisions were removed from the final version of the bill. </p>
<p>An earlier version of the bill also contained protections for health care professionals who don’t wish to participate in abortions. But those too were removed from the final version of the bill. People, this is not what Americans voted for in the 2010 elections. Washington cannot continue to spend with impunity! Just how far into the ground do they want to drive us? Why put good men, caring men, intelligent men like Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles through the rigorous demands of creating a comprehensive solution if we lack the will to implement it? This country will be finished! We need permanent tax reform that eliminates special interest carve-outs and lowers the income tax rates for everyone. And we will never balance the budget by passing bloated appropriations bills that keep spending more money than the year before. At this rate, I&#8217;m willing to pass a Constitutional Amendment to allow a dictator one term in office if that&#8217;s what it took to restore common sense on Capitol Hill.</p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>I invite you to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>Newt Gingrich: Why He is a True Conservative</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/newt-gingrich/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/newt-gingrich/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10225</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If all you watched were TV shows like Morning Joe and the Republican pundits on mainstream media, you would swear on your mother&#8217;s life that Newt Gingrich is not only a conservative apostate, but a crook, a con, and a crony&#8212;The prodigal son on a profligate journey who has yet to return to the sheepfold. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Newt-Gingrich.png" alt="" title="Newt Gingrich" width="240" height="306" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10271" />If all you watched were TV shows like <em>Morning Joe</em> and the Republican pundits on mainstream media, you would swear on your mother&#8217;s life that Newt Gingrich is not only a conservative apostate, but a crook, a con, and a crony&#8212;The prodigal son on a profligate journey who has yet to return to the sheepfold. </p>
<p>Worse yet, you&#8217;d be convinced he&#8217;s committed the unpardonable sin and become a progressive liberal. With friends for enemies, who needs Barry? He&#8217;s a cakewalk compared to the RINO&#8217;s of &#8220;right wing&#8221; punditry.</p>
<p>Barry and Company can breathe a sigh of relief and save their billion dollar war chest. It&#8217;s barely chicken feed compared to the power of his bought-and-paid-for media minions. </p>
<p>Better yet, Obama could stimulate the economy with that billion bucks and dole out a Benjamin or two to all the OWS protestors. You know, in the interest of fairness as he said in the 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft on Sunday. What&#8217;s the old adage, &#8220;Three times a charm?&#8221; What do you got to lose, Barry? What&#8217;s another billion bucks?  </p>
<p>As soon as Newt Gingrich emerged as a front-runner, a consortium of conservative critics were on him like white on rice. And what surprised me most is their claim that he&#8217;s not a true conservative. Excuse me, but . . . What are they smoking?  </p>
<p>Unlike a few of the others, Newt has a long track record of walking the walk, not just talking the talk. In many ways, he deserves credit for helping to restore American conservatism in the 20th century. </p>
<p>Lest we forget that during the Reagan era, he co-founded the Conservative Opportunity Society (COS) with Jack Kemp, Bob Walker, Vin Weber, Connie Mack, and Duncan Hunter&#8212;the Reagan Revolution’s core nucleus in the House of Representatives.</p>
<p>By 1984, COS members were creating the most intense battle of ideas among conservatives since Abraham Lincoln and anti-slavery activists gave birth to the Republican Party in 1854. </p>
<p>Inspired by the conservatism of Ronald Reagan, they devoured the economic philosophies of Jude Wanniski and Art Laffer (who recently approved of Herman Cain&#8217;s 999 plan). </p>
<p>Newt was also a staunch proponent of the 1981 Kemp-Roth tax cuts which laid the groundwork for the greatest economic boom in the nation&#8217;s history. When he later became speaker of the House, it was Gingrich who was the last man standing that persuaded President Bill Clinton to sign the most sweeping welfare reform law&#8212;abolishing the program as it had been known. </p>
<p>It was Gingrich who through his 1994 &#8220;Contract with America,&#8221; confronted the status quo of Washington. He coerced the Clinton administration to restrain spending and slash taxes. By the end of the decade, the economy was flourishing and federal coffers were swelling to the point of budget surpluses.</p>
<p>In his post government life, he continued to champion the conservative cause. He campaigned to end the crippling moratorium on offshore drilling at his American Solutions think tank. Moreover, he testified against cap and trade and opposed the Kennedy-Bush illegal immigrant amnesty plan, even running a commercial against the measure.</p>
<p>At his Center for Health Transformation, he developed a solid, clear, concise, and conservative argument against Obamacare.</p>
<p>Today, the former speaker talks of balancing the budget by controlling spending, growing the economy, and implementing money-saving reforms. He is a true believer in the core principles of conservatism: He believes that the private sector is superior to the public sector and that big government needs to be shrunk.</p>
<p>He wants to eliminate the capital gains tax altogether and reduce the corporate income tax to 12.5 percent. Moreover, he wants to end the death tax and has promised to cancel the 2013 tax hikes set to take place when the Bush tax cuts expire and offer Americans a 15 percent flat-tax option. And mainstream media political pundits want to tell me he&#8217;s not conservative . . . huh?</p>
<p>The speaker also proposes a national energy system, with America’s “long war” in the Middle East as a driving factor. He’ll move immediately for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that will transport 700,000 barrels of American oil a day to Gulf Coast refineries to lower energy prices and create tens of thousands of American jobs.</p>
<p>His campaign’s “21st Century Contract with America” contains a growing list of executive orders from &#8220;Day One&#8221; that would reverse the socialist course of the Obama regime. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s public knowledge that Newt has had a checkered personal life, who hasn&#8217;t? Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. America loves a second act, and Gingrich&#8217;s return to the national stage could result in the ultimate curtain call:</p>
<p>The 45th President of the United States.</p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>I invite you to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
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		<title>Questions for Christians</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/questions-for-christians/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/questions-for-christians/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:25:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin's Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zionism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are you still drinking the Kool-Aid of commercial Christianity! Did Christ not say &#8220;Destroy this temple and I will raise it up again in three days?&#8221; He is the temple! Do you believe Christ or Christianity? Don&#8217;t be afraid to question what you hear? Christian clergy don&#8217;t have the corner on truth. If your pastor [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10238" title="Woman Thinking" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Woman-Thinking-300x206.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="206" />Are you still drinking the Kool-Aid of commercial Christianity! Did Christ not say &#8220;Destroy this temple and I will raise it up again in three days?&#8221; He is the temple! Do you believe Christ or Christianity? Don&#8217;t be afraid to question what you hear? Christian clergy don&#8217;t have the corner on truth.</p>
<p>If your pastor claims that the heavens and earth will pass away, ask him why then you&#8217;re not under the law and acknowledging the weekly and annual sabbaths? Remember what Christ said &#8220;For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.&#8221; Between the food laws, weekly sacrifices and annual sabbaths alone, there is a lot of law to be fufilled. Does he have you practicing all 613 mitvahs too?</p>
<p>Is a 10% tithe of your income to the &#8220;church&#8221; part of the law? Moreover, is it anywhere to be found in the New Testament?</p>
<p>Is Daniel&#8217;s last week of his 70 weeks prophecy (last 7 years of the 490 years prophecy) really not fulfilled? Why would the first 69 weeks (483 years) be fulfilled, but suddenly have a 2000 year gap (and counting) between the 69th and 70th week? Had the 70th week been sequentially fulfilled like the first 69 weeks, in what event would it have culminated?</p>
<p>Does he or she believe that Hell is an everlasting place of punishment for trillions of centuries and longer? Does he know the origin of the word &#8220;Hell? How does he distinguish it from Sheol and Hades? How about Gehenna or the Lake of Fire? Is it a literal, eternal flame where unbelievers will cook for eternity? Does he understand symbolic and allegorical language?</p>
<p>Ask him why Christ would lie to his own people at the Olivet Discourse about the impending destruction of Israel and the temple system. Or the timing of the parousia (his second coming)? Why would Christ rebuke Peter for asking him why John would be alive upon his second coming, and not Peter himself? Is John actually a 2000 year old man wandering around the island of Patmos today?</p>
<p>Ask him why C.S. Lewis was perplexed over Christ making just one mistake&#8212;the specific timing of his second advent? As a believer, do you really think Christ made a mistake?</p>
<p>Ask him if Isaiah 11 is referring to literal lions, lambs, children and cobras. Will children literally play near a literal Viper&#8217;s nest? Is there a future utopian thousand year kingdom on earth where all animals will peacefully coexist as Christ reigns in temporal form from a newly rebuilt temple atop Mt. Zion in Jerusalem?</p>
<p>Ask him if he&#8217;s studied Hebraic and Greek figures of speech, biblical hermeneutics and exegesis? Does he know the fundamental rules of hermeneutical and exegetical interpretation?</p>
<p>Of the more than 100 English translations of the Bible, ask him which one is correct. How about the Apocrypha? Why is it cannonized in only the Catholic Bible and not the Protestant Bible? Why do some Protestant Bibles have 1 John 5:7, but some don&#8217;t? Should we read King James (Textus Receptus) or more modern translations like the NIV and 1995 NASB (Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece)? Which scrolls are more accurate&#8212;Alexandrian or Byzantine era?</p>
<p>Ask him if Luke 16 is proof positive of literal people (Lazarus and the rich man) and a literal fiery furnace or if it&#8217;s a parable. How about the immediate preceding and proceeding chapters&#8212;Parables or not?</p>
<p>Ask him if the plagues of Revelation have yet to unfold. Are they in our immediate future? Are we really the terminal generation as some prominent evangelical leaders are proclaiming? Will you be literally &#8220;raptured&#8221; off the face of the earth? If so, where does he find that in the Bible?</p>
<p>Ask him if 2 Peter:3 speaks to the literal destruction of the physical earth? If so, how does he reconcile Ecclesiastes claim that the earth will abide forever? Or Christ&#8217;s claim that his words would abide forever. Why would his words need to abide forever if the heavens and earth are gone? Is a singular Anti-christ really in our future? Ask him where the Anti-christ or Anti-christ spirits is mentioned in Revelation? In what specific years did John write Revelation?</p>
<p>Ask him if today&#8217;s Jews are God&#8217;s chosen people. Are Christians under the Abrahamic covenant and a biblical mandate to support them and today&#8217;s modern day nation of Israel? If so, do todays Jews and the country of Israel fit the biblical litmus test for ratification? Is Dual Covenant theology (dispensationalism) biblical? Does God really have a separate plan of redemption for Jews and the so-called church?</p>
<p>When you draw your last breath, will you go directly to Heaven? Hades? Sheol or Gehenna?</p>
<p>Those are just a few of the questions church-going Christians should ask. There are many more. Since Christendom&#8212;in addition to shaping many aspects of our culture&#8212;heavily influences politics and foreign policy, truth about these and other questions is more vital than ever.</p>
<p>Demand truth over tradition and facts over fiction!</p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>I invite you to share your thoughts about this article in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my blog posts and op-eds, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, please <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">e-mail opt-in to CatchKevin.com. </a></p>
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		<title>One Hell of a $100 Investment!</title>
		<link>http://www.catchkevin.com/lottery-club-pays</link>
		<comments>http://www.catchkevin.com/lottery-club-pays#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:57:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10161</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re hurting for extra income every month and you have a hundred bucks to invest, screw sticking it in the stock market. In fact, screw the bond market, commodities market, futures market and even the precious metals market. And no, don&#8217;t go putting it in a bank. Hell, you&#8217;ll spend that much in bogus [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10164" title="Residual Income" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Residual-Income.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="400" />If you&#8217;re hurting for extra income every month and you have a hundred bucks to invest, screw sticking it in the stock market. In fact, screw the bond market, commodities market, futures market and even the precious metals market.</p>
<p>And no, don&#8217;t go putting it in a bank. Hell, you&#8217;ll spend that much in bogus overdraft and ATM fees every month. Banks are a rip off and they suck at giving you a return on your money.</p>
<p>You could take your chances on gold and silver, but I wouldn&#8217;t. They&#8217;ve had their day in the sun. Besides, why take the risk? If I&#8217;ve learned anything from the millions of dollars I&#8217;ve lost in variable investments from stocks and real estate to options and commodities (yes, I was a high-risk multi-million dollar investor at one time), it&#8217;s that I&#8217;ll never feed those blood-sucking leeches again.</p>
<p>Eighteen months ago, I made a hundred dollar investment in a monthly income generating vehicle that&#8217;s now returning me <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:45:04+00:00">$1500 </del> $1925 a month! That&#8217;s right, <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:45:04+00:00">$1500</del> $1925 a month. . . and it&#8217;s increasing every month! It started giving me a return the very first month and has been on a steady climb ever since. It&#8217;s like having a hundred dollar annuity on steroids.</p>
<p>But here&#8217;s the kicker . . .</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not illegal. It&#8217;s not some bogus offshore deal. And it&#8217;s not an investment&#8212;at least not in the traditional sense of the word. It&#8217;s actually a genuine, bona fide, capital-producing business. Moreover, it&#8217;s a product free and labor free business. Between my radio show and blog, I don&#8217;t want to build a traditional home-based or brick and mortar business that deals in tangible products.</p>
<p>And are you ready for this . . .</p>
<p>I spent all of three hours on my $100 business, and that was 18 months ago when I first got it started. So it&#8217;s a time free business as well. Hell, even Warren Buffet would have to admit that that&#8217;s a hell of a monthly return on an initial investment of $100. Try getting that kind of return from Apple, Microsoft and Google . . . even if you were in on the ground floor.</p>
<p>Given the choice between investing a hundred bucks in a hands-off business that&#8217;s yielded me fifteen thousand in only eighteen months and growing, versus plopping down a hundred grand on a franchise where you work your ass off for 40 or more hours a week in hopes of just breaking even by the seventh year . . . You can have the franchise and whatever prestige comes with it.</p>
<p>Me&#8212;I&#8217;ll take the <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:52:26+00:00">$1500</del> $1925 and my freedom. Besides, <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:46:24+00:00">$1500</del> $1925 a month is <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:46:24+00:00">$18,000</del> $23,100 a year. According to Warren Buffet, the return on stocks over the next decade will only average 5%. Hell, it would take <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:50:14+00:00">$360,000</del> $462,000 invested in the stock market to get a steady return of <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:50:14+00:00">$1500</del> $1925 a month. Only I saved myself <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:50:14+00:00">$359,900</del> $461,900 to accomplish the same thing.</p>
<p>My only regret is that I didn&#8217;t pay closer attention and see the explosive potential with this gemstone early on. I can&#8217;t imagine the money I&#8217;d be making by now had I actually paid it some mind. But frankly, that&#8217;s also the beauty of it. I&#8217;m pretty busy with my national radio show and blog&#8212;both entitled &#8220;Catch Kevin.&#8221; In fact, if it wasn&#8217;t for this stout little stipend every month, I wouldn&#8217;t have the time to write my various op-eds and articles, much less produce my weekly show.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re thinking this is too good to be true, you&#8217;re not thinking. I have esteemed guests like Steve Forbes, Ret. General Paul Vallely and constitutional scholar, Michael Connelly, just to name a few, on my talk show. I can ill afford to put my public reputation on the line and recommend a shady income opportunity, much less something I don&#8217;t believe in.</p>
<p>I know that many of you are hurting financially. I also know that there are no jobs to be found and that a lot of you have lost all or a significant portion of your retirement and savings. You&#8217;re not alone. Shit happens. Hell, I was worth ten million bucks ten years ago before I had to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy without a nickel left to my name. The Feds made sure of that. Since then, I&#8217;ve been a traveling vagabond&#8212;a white-collar gypsy of sorts. But truth be told, I didn&#8217;t need most of the crap I had. And there&#8217;s something to be said for my new-found freedom and flexibility.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I&#8217;m still an entrepreneur at heart and plan to make another fortune. Only now, it&#8217;s a new dawn in a different dimension. The old paradigm is out and the new paradigm is still being shaped. The job market and economy will remain in dire straits through 2012. Take control of your own future. Be smart. Learn to leverage your time, talent and resources.</p>
<p>The fortunes of the future will be made by the 99% ers, not the 1% ers. And like the first time, I&#8217;ll build my new fortune by helping other people make some serious jack along the way.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d like to learn how to turn a $100 investment into a <del datetime="2012-01-07T17:53:22+00:00">$1500</del> $1925 monthly income that acts like a cash producing annuity on steroids, e-mail me at Kevin@CatchKevin.com and give me a phone number to speak with you personally, or call me directly at 850-259-0541.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s your future, have it pay you before you arrive.</p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann (Catch Kevin)</p>
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		<title>Podcast of Catch Kevin Radio Show 12/5/11: Dr. Tom’s War</title>
		<link>http://catchkevin.com/dr-toms-war/</link>
		<comments>http://catchkevin.com/dr-toms-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin A. Lehmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Radio Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[military]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://catchkevin.com/?p=10122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Listen here for an amazing show with the author of Dr. Tom&#8217;s War: A Daughter&#8217;s Journey&#8212;Lucia Viti&#8212;and two decorated Marine officers who served with her heroic father. Learn about her incredible seven-year journey as she posthumously meets with the Marines who both commanded and served under Dr. Tom Viti&#8212;a Battalion Surgeon for the Second Battalion [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-10125" title="Dr. Tom" src="http://catchkevin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Dr.-Tom.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" /><a href="http://tunein.com/radio/Catch-Kevin-Unscripted--Uncensored-p279901/">Listen here</a> for an amazing show with the author of Dr. Tom&#8217;s War: A Daughter&#8217;s Journey&#8212;Lucia Viti&#8212;and two decorated Marine officers who served with her heroic father. Learn about her incredible seven-year journey as she posthumously meets with the Marines who both commanded and served under Dr. Tom Viti&#8212;a Battalion Surgeon for the Second Battalion Fifth Marine Regiment in An Hoa, South Vietnam.</p>
<p>This is a heartwarming show that captures the incredible heroism of Dr. Tom who won as many hearts and lives as he saved&#8212;both his comrades and his enemies, the Viet Cong.</p>
<p>Listen to this show and view a controversial war through the lenses of a loving and compassionate hero as told by not only my guests, but by the anecdotal stories of the men who had the honor and the privilege to serve with this unsung hero. It was my honor and privilege to read this very personal book, and hear the testimony of the decorated officers who served with Dr. Tom Viti. Be blessed, listen to this show and read this book.</p>
<p>Until next time . . . <em>Wake Up America!</em></p>
<p>Kevin A. Lehmann</p>
<p>I invite you to share your thoughts about this show in the comment box below.</p>
<p>If you are a facebook friend and like my articles, op-eds and radio shows, due to time constraints and a rapidly growing list of readers, please <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/catchkevin">subscribe</a> to CatchKevin.com and share them with friends and family who value real, raw and relevant radio. Thank you.</p>
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<p>&#8220;One fateful day, Lucia Viti stumbled upon an ancient Harry &amp; David fruit box while cleaning the attic. The box was filled with Vietnam memorabilia-the remnants of her father&#8217;s tour of duty in 1967 as a Battalion Surgeon in An Hoa. Lucia became obsessed with a need to reconnect with the memories of her father and spent four years traveling across America, gathering stories from the Marines of the Second Battalion Fifth Marine Regiment, First Marine Division who served alongside her father. This quest to learn about a Dr. Tom she never knew turned into a unique journey of discovery through the eyes of a very special brotherhood of young men. A journey that weaves the Marine esprit de corps with the horrors and humor of war with a first-hand, no-holds-barred perspective on combat life in Vietnam in 1967.&#8221;</p>
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