Vice President JD Vance was interviewed recently by Bishop Robert Barron. It was a “must see” for those of us pushing for active Christian citizenship. Vance said:
 
“Jesus really cares about how you treat your wife and how you treat your kids, but He also cares about everything else, too… You can’t just confine your faith to these narrow little slices of society or culture or your own life.”
 
In other words, our faith isn’t meant to be “trapped” only inside the walls of our church and home. Our faith should inform every aspect of life, including how we judge issues that impact our lives and affect our families, how we evaluate candidates who seek to govern us and how we vote.
 
Vance also rejected the idea, held by far too many pastors, that “churches should just be about churches.” Some pastors avoid discussing moral issues from the pulpit because they’re afraid of offending someone. “That’s a political issue, and I stay away from politics,” they say. Well, we are told that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is going to offend some people.
 
But many issues in politics, including abortion, are moral issues. It’s a life-and-death issue, and the Bible is very clear about the sanctity of life. The sterilization and mutilation of children is a moral issue. Parental rights in education and healthcare is a moral issue. Protecting American citizens from criminal illegal aliens is a moral issue.
 
Even the most basic question about the purpose of government—whether our rights come from God or the state—is a moral issue.
 
Vice President Vance suggested that these issues are too important to just “leave politics to the politicians.” That kind of thinking is actually the devil deceiving Christians into giving up their influence and hiding their light in this world while the culture is being ripped apart around them.
 
The vice president’s remarks are especially timely as there is growing evidence that Christian voter turnout in this year’s election may drop sharply.
 
I’ll guarantee you that Muslims in Little Mogadishu and in Dearborn, Michigan, will crawl to the polls if they have to. That is one reason why they are already beginning to dominate some elections when they are a relatively small percentage of the population.
 
 
  
Not Progressive Enough
 
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) is retiring this year. Cohen is hardly a conservative or even moderate. Despite representing Tennessee, Cohen has long been a far-left progressive and was a member of the House Progressive Caucus. Note “was.”
 
Cohen left the Progressive Caucus last year because it has been hijacked by anti-Israel socialists. That’s what “progressive” means in today’s Democrat Party. There’s no place for pro-Israel candidates in the Democrats’ “big tent.”
 
If he had run for reelection, Cohen predicted he would have been the target of vicious antisemitic attacks. In fact, Cohen was already facing a primary challenge for the Ninth Congressional District from state Rep. Justin Pearson, another anti-Israel far-left extremist. (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just embarrassed herself at a campaign rally for Pearson.)
 
While Pearson drove Cohen out of the race, he is unlikely to be in Congress next year. The Tennessee legislature redrew the Ninth District from one that voted 70% for Kamala Harris to one that would have voted 60% for Donald Trump.
 
 
 
A Muslim Makeover
 
Rabid antisemite Linda Sarsour is pushing for a Muslim makeover of America. While we were celebrating America’s 250th birthday, Sarsour suggested it is time to “build a document that is our values and our principles.” She’s talking about tearing up the Declaration of Independence because that’s what we were celebrating!
 
I have always felt that the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” do not reflect Sarsour’s “values” and “principles.”
 
It should come as no surprise that Sarsour is one of the Democrat Socialists of America’s (DSA) most prominent members and online influencers. The DSA wants to destroy America, too.
 
 
 
New York vs. Nuns
 
New York’s radical leftists are once again trampling on religious liberty. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) recently signed an assisted suicide bill into law that could force religious medical providers to violate their deeply held religious beliefs regarding the sanctity of life.
 
Multiple Catholic organizations, including several orders of nuns, filed a federal lawsuit last week against the state’s new euthanasia law. The nuns operate several hospice facilities and fear the law will force them to promote physician-assisted suicide to their patients.
 
It could also force them to provide referrals to pro-euthanasia doctors and, even worse, perform assisted suicides in their facilities.
 
This is another reminder of how the Marxist Left operates. It will never be “live and let live.” It’s never just tolerance. It’s always coercion with Marxists. They intend to make us kneel and force us to do their dirty work, even if it violates the most fundamental tenets of our faith.
 
 
 
Business Is Booming
 
For all the gloom and anxiety about the economy, the Trump economy is showing tremendous signs of strength and resilience!
 
According to a recent analysis, the United States is creating new businesses at a record pace. Nearly 3.5 million new businesses were created in the first six months of the year. Last month alone, more than 548,000 new businesses were formed, and business creation was up 12% compared to last year.
 
Moreover, 73% of owners said their businesses were stronger (43%) or the same (30%) compared to last year. And 57% of owners said they were “very optimistic” about their business’s success over the next year.
 
That is not the picture of an economy in decline. It is a picture of people still betting that better days are still ahead of us.