Thought Quotient

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to call a vote the week of July 12 on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Senate Republican sources say Frist will have trouble mustering a simple majority, much less the two-thirds needed to pass the amendment.

It appears that the Senate doesn’t seem interested in this one. So that means they must not be hearing much from their constituents in favor of passing the amendment.

Also, it looks like some senators are actively trying to pull people away from getting involved…

Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee tells TIME he has begun organizing G.O.P. moderates who oppose the amendment — and even some conservatives who object to tinkering with the Constitution — to “send a message” to Frist that it’s a losing cause.

The most telling piece of this whole story follows…

“We have so many more important issues to grapple with,” says Chafee. “This is just a distraction.”

(more…)

Atheist Plans New Lawsuit Over Phrase ‘Under God’

Undeterred by the U.S. Supreme Court throwing out his legal challenge to the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, atheist Michael Newdow said on Saturday he would file another federal lawsuit to remove the words from the pledge.

I wonder what has happened in Mr. Newdow’s life to make him so hostile toward God? He may not admit that…he probably would say that he is ‘proud to be a free-thinker’ and all of that…but deep down he knows his heart.

Notice how he was not struck dead by a mysterious ‘lightning bolt’ as he walked up the Supreme Court steps to begin the proceedings. He was not stricken with an inability to speak as he made his arguments before the court. After making his case, he safely traveled back home where he now contemplates his next move.

What is amazing is that even though Newdow wants nothing to do with God…God wants to have a relationship with him. So every day that goes by, that is one more day - one more gracious opportunity for Newdow to change his mind, and come to the realization that there is a God that cares for him, loves him, and wants to be the Lord of his life. Athough Michael Newdow is living a life now that he hopes will make him happy, God has the desires of his heart in store for him…if he would just come to Him (instead of trying to prosecute Him).

I’m reminded of a Rich Mullins song lyric…
Sometimes we’d rather fight God for something we don’t really want, than to take what He gives that we need.

Currently, Bibles are being printed inside Iraq and distributed to the Iraqi people. This is a rare privilege in the Middle East and no one is sure how long it will be allowed to go on…but we can be sure that this is a great opportunity for us, as believers, to help spread the truth to a country that has been oppressed and in the dark for too long.

Click here for info on how you can help.

A nice photo gallery can be found here.

Jesus asks in Mark 8:36 …

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Can we gain the whole world? Of course not…but what if we could? Would it still be worth it if the cost was losing our soul?

I looked this verse up in the Message translation …

What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?

That got me to thinking…are we defined by what we have in this life? Are we defined by our possessions? What is the real me? What is the real you?

Why is this not a surprise?

We get a steady stream of bad news from the media, and very little of anything but that. It’s not surprising that public opinion is going from the positive to the negative. So the media can flash this headline around with pride as if their mission is now accomplished. But now what?

Does the fact that we now have a majority of the public against having troops in Iraq mean that it is now the wrong thing to do? When the public was below 50% and not the majority, was it then the right thing to do? This is why polls shouldn’t be used to determine what’s right and wrong. Either sending troops into Iraq was the right thing to do or it was not. Whether there are polls that show shifting opinions on this, that doesn’t change the events that led up the administration’s decision to go into Iraq. Politicians that point to these kinds of polls to make their case are not leaders. Leading means doing what you believe to be right in the face of difficulty. Pandering to populist views is predictable and the easy way out.

Words of wisdom from the outgoing Solicitor General, Ted Olson, who lost his wife on the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon…

He has said that the struggle against terrorism “will be long and arduous”, but an unrelenting fight against terrorism is the best way to honor the attack victims.

“Their suffering and deaths must fuel our dedication to stamp out this cancer”

What is our alternative?
If cancer isn’t treated when it can be, it eventually kills.

That is something that 100% of us can agree on. So let’s get focused and fight the real enemy.

Hint to Michael Moore: It’s not President Bush!

The news stories are starting to be more numerous - here’s another…

Democrats Screen ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ in D.C.

Now usually when conservatives point out the power of the media and how they influence people’s views culturally and politically…liberals and media outlets blow it off as nonsense. Yet…

Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said he thought the film would play an important role in this election year.

Isn’t that supposed to be his job? Why are they letting Moore and this movie do the talking for them?

Interesting….there’s more….

“This movie raises a lot of the issues that Americans are talking about, that George Bush has been asleep at the switch since he’s been president,” McAuliffe said as he walked the red carpet into the premiere.

Hmmm, ‘asleep at the switch’…is that a fiscal issue or a moral issue?

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa implored all Americans to see the film: “It’s important for the American people to understand what has gone on before, what led us to this point, and to see it sort of in its unvarnished presentation, which Michael Moore has done.”

No specifics from Harkin either, just vague soundbites.

I thought the 9/11 panel/committee was supposed to give us answers and specifics. Why are elected officials who have access and power resorting to a film for answers? Was Michael Moore given access to material that the 9/11 panel didn’t see? What’s going on here?

The DNC should just scrap John Kerry and nominate Michael Moore, it looks as though they are more enthuastic about what he is saying.