Chandran and Zenas

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights, December 15, 1791.

The people of the United States can still retain their Second Amendment rights and at the same time put common-sense protocols into place.

There is no need to reiterate the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings, recent Buffalo, Uvalde, and the June 5 murders in Philadelphia. The usual drum roll of arguments and justifications on both the left and the right continue unabated. Our culture of movies, TV shows, and video games has given tacit endorsement and glorification of violence over the last 3 or 4 decades. It has unquestionably influenced our culture. However, in the short term, steps can be taken to mitigate some of this violence.

The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States notes that we will “…provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare…” Can anyone deny this overwhelming failure in light of the continual slaughter of the innocents?

In addition, the Declaration of Independence stated we have been endowed with unalienable rights – Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Can anyone deny the overwhelming failure of our government to ensure “Life”?

When the Bill of Rights was passed in 1791, the average musket had a one-round magazine capacity and could fire three rounds per minute. Fast forward to the modern era, however, AR-15-style weapons can hold up to 250 rounds and can fire 45 rounds per minute. It should be pointed out that there was no police force among the 13 colonies at that time.

The intent of the founding fathers when passing the 2^nd Amendment was for citizens to be able to protect themselves from an unjust government and those representatives – NOT for them to use weapons on one another.

Just as the founding fathers could not have anticipated the creation of automobiles (with a minimum age requirement for usage), so they could not have anticipated out-of-control citizen gun violence in 21^st century America. Just as the founding fathers could not have anticipated the need for fishing and hunting licenses, so they could not have anticipated the need for regulation of fowl and precarious animal life. The State of Maryland requires a crabbing license in order to use crab traps, net rings, seines or trotlines. How much more should lethal weapons require regulation and licensing?

Four commonsense rules are set forth below:

1. No weapons of any sold to anyone under the age of 21;
2. Assault weapons complete ban (New Zealand has already instituted this in response to the 2019 shooting);
3. Comprehensive background checks on every buyer; any gun seller who violates this will  face fines and/or imprisonment;
4. License requirement for any gun owner or purchaser with annual renewals;

The above guidelines still allow adult citizens to keep and bear arms – this right is not infringed – it is brought up and adapted to the modern era. Until this violent culture changes, these guidelines must be given a chance.

Susan Chandran is a graduate of American University’s School of International Service and is a freelance writer in Maryland.

It is so easy to try to “fix” whatever ails us and to search out root causes for illegal immigration, wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the breakdown of the traditional family. Yet God’s Word tells us over and over through the prophets bold Old and New that repentance is what is sorely needed.

The US has become a moral trainwreck with transgender and gender fluidity being taught to pre-pubescent children (sometimes without their parents knowledge!), and school shootings, houses of worship shootings, and random shootings barely raise eyebrows any longer. Do not anticipate any agreement on gun control any time soon. Do not anticipate the removal (or some common-sense censorship) of violent movies, television, and video games any time soon. Conservative estimates indicate that 50% of men are addicted to pornography. This is a nation that has ignored and abandoned its Judeo-Christian heritage. We have sown to the wind and reaped the whirlwind.

This morass did not happen overnight, and a needed culture change will not happen overnight either.

God’s Word tells us that He will heal us if we turn from our own ways, thinking our own thoughts, and share our time and finances with the truly needy. Since He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever, we can trust that He will  heal us – and our nation – if we turn to Him and rend our hearts with true repentance.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;”

 (1 Corinthians 13:12a)

Hurricane Ian pounded Florida this week as a Category 4 storm resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people including 2 people on Sanibel Island. 40 people had to be evacuated by boat to the mainland due to the break in the causeway. There is massive destruction of homes and boats running into billions of dollars which will take years to repair. The typical drumbeat of the media is that it is all due to man-made “climate change.”

Scripture reflects a storm that satan brought upon righteous Job resulting in not only the destruction of his home and loss of children but also boils covering his entire body. Yet he hung onto his faith in a faithful and loving Creator. His particular set of storms ended with the Lord prospering him with 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys and in addition to 7 sons and 3 daughters. Other parts of Scripture, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, clearly indicate judgment of sin upon the ungodly and a warning to the righteous to take heed lest they also fall. It’s not always easy to discern this side of eternity who is being tested and who is being judged. The New Testament directs us to reach out and help the poor, the disenfranchised, those in need which clearly Hurricane Ian victims need.

Even though mankind pollutes oceans, rivers, and the air, in the final analysis, the Lord controls the weather.

I learned a new word this week from one of my African American sisters – “CAUdacity” which is an apparent colloquialism to describe arrogant white people.

As our world continues to race headlong to the rejection of Biblical values (so-called “same-sex marriage”, transgender surgery, abortion on demand up to and including four weeks after birth, the “perinatal period”), the race drama in the United States continues unabated.

A recent rant on social media by the head of a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at a major federal agency said she was “exhausted at these white folx (sic) in PD [professional development] sessions.” This was an apparent response to a woman who stated that “black people can be racist too.” This chief noted that they “are not the majority… don’t have power.”

The United States can boast having had an African American President named Barack Obama and a Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff named Colin Powell (son of Jamaican immigrants). Ben Carson was formerly the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. These are powerful positions.

The obsession with race within corporate America and social media is a diversion and a distraction from what is really important and needed within our country – repentance and faith toward God. The Gospel of Christ and His life-changing message is the essential key to what can unite black, brown, and white. Meetings and demonstrations cannot transform the human heart – only Jesus Christ can do that.

We need to recall those renowned words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 NKJ)

It should come as no surprise to anyone that in the wake of the Supreme Court decision of June 24 that struck down Roe v. Wade, state and local governments have gone on the aggressive to provide this so-called health care to their constituents. The county where I reside in Maryland has decided to allocate $1 million in grants (read, that’s your tax dollars) to “qualified groups and organizations that support women’s health care providers.” Not even stopping there, they are researching specific corporations, companies and organizations that are likely considering the health and safety of their workforce.

What about the health and safety of pro-life pregnancy centers? Life Choices Pregnancy Medical Center in Longmont, Colorado was firebombed on June 25. CompassCare in Buffalo, New York was bombed on June 7 as was First Image Pregnancy Resource Center in Gresham, Oregon on June 11. Are these organizations receiving tax dollars from their local and state governments? Many individuals are sending donations, and others are volunteering to restore these organizations and the damaged infrastructure.

In the sad continuing slide to socialism, a judge in Montgomery County decided to slap down parental rights under the guise of “helping” children. Several parents filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County Board of Education that MCBE’s guidelines violated the parents’ ability to direct the care, custody, education, and control of their minor children under the 14^th amendment. MCBE’s argument was that THEY have a legitimate interest in providing a safe and supportive environment for all Montgomery County Public School students “including those who are transgender and gender nonconforming.” Who in their right mind would even consider allowing a 7- or 11-year-old boy or girl to decide to “transition” and take puberty-blocking drugs without Mom and Dad’s knowledge or permission? Even high school students do not yet have the critical thinking skills to make such a life altering decision.

Do not think that the Christian schools are safe for very long or that home-schooling will not soon become illegal. The 1982 Chinese constitution declared it illegal for parents to teach their own children anything about any religion. A recent family law enacted in January of 2022 gives the government authority over what is taught in the home. It has been reported that officials even require parents to sign documents that that they will not teach religion to their children. Does anyone out there comprehend this encroaching government control?  Do we really want to emulate China with their 24 and 7 control over their populace, their children, which extends to even the privacy of one’s own home?

It’s time for Christians to arise in this country and take a stand against this nonsense.

“He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house…” (Proverbs 15:27a NKJ)

Earlier this week, the former prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, went to prison to commence a 12-year sentence for criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and seven counts of abuse of power. He illegally received $9.8 million from SRC International and is still facing other charges and trials, along with his wife, Rosmah, for looting a development fund to the tune of $4.5 billion which “disappeared”. Much of this was eventually traced to the purchase of mansions, a yacht, million-dollar art, and the financing of a Hollywood blockbuster film (“The Wolf of Wall Street”).

It appears to be a victory for the rule of law in Malaysia where the 65 percent Malay Muslim majority (so-called “sons of the soil”) still hold sway for preferences in employment, education, and housing over Chinese and Indian citizens. This outdated and cruel affirmative action program has rightly given Malaysia the reputation that talent remains their largest export.

However, even among this majority, ill will has been brewing for years with demands for a “bersih” (“clean” in Malay) government. Not wanting to give up, Mr. Razak tried to remove the chief justice the day before the verdict and stated that her husband had criticized him on social media and that it could lead to bias. His final appeal was a prayer to “Allah” protesting his innocence.

Some Malaysians caution that it’s too early for celebrations. Mr. Razak is still very popular in certain circles, and it’s likely he has bribed numerous officials who will seek his release. In the meantime, it’s reported that he has a private room in the prison with air conditioning and a television – likely working on a plea deal. I can think of several – negotiation of what really became of Pastor Raymond Koh, who was captured by a Malaysian police swat team in 2017 and has never been heard from again. Another unresolved issue is who really ordered the murder and mutilation of the Mongolian model, Altantuya Shaariibuu, (in order to save her $500,000 commission from the submarine deal with France)?

If elections are called in the fall, he might receive a reduced sentence or even a complete pardon. Still, on the surface, it’s encouraging that a developing country in Southeast Asia is allowing their highest court, with their first female chief justice no less, to force a former prime minister to face his judgment day. No doubt other dictators are watching.

It would have behooved Mr. Razak to have followed the advice of the psalmist, “Blessed are those who keep justice, and who do righteousness at all times.” (Psalm 106:3 NKJ)

An opinion piece in the New York Times last week unfairly thrashed Americans of the Christian faith who support the belief that life begins at conception.

First – an inaccuracy. The Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade did not “rescind the reproductive rights that American women have enjoyed (emphasis mine) over the past half-century…”  The Supreme Court returned this decision where it belongs – to the people and to the states. Whatever one’s opinion is on when life begins (conception or birth), the Supreme Court made the right decision in since there is zero mention of abortion in the Constitution – it cannot be defended on a legal basis.

The opinion piece argues for the “individual rights,” but nowhere does it address the rights of the baby- the unborn! Scientific advances allow surgery in vitro, and heartbeats are detected at 6 weeks of pregnancy.

If one believes life begins at birth, the shocking legislation proposed in California to also allow parents to decide the baby’s life or death during the “perinatal period” (4 weeks post birth), should give even the hardest heart a chill. If this bill passes, what is next? Will the limit be raised to a toddler, and then a kindergartener?

To opine that Christians are trying to break American democracy is beyond absurd – they are trying to retain it. Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other Big Tech platforms have been “deplatforming” any views THEY do not agree with, which are usually traditional, yes, what used to be known as Judeo-Christian values. Access to public airwaves, public communications are much like access to a train – a public good that all must be able to enter its doors.

It is a tenet of our democracy to “non-discriminate.” This was recently upheld in Maine whereby funding for school choice cannot EXCLUDE religious schools. The Supreme Court correctly ruled that the exclusion of schools that provide religious instruction violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee freedom OF religion and not FROM religion.

The author of the opinion piece is sadly ignorant or unbelieving of the Bible. Psalm 139, verse 11 (MEV): “You brought my inner parts into being;   You wove me in my mother’s womb.” (Emphasis mine).

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1:41a notes that “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb (Emphasis mine). Chapter 1:44b notes that “…the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Emphasis mine).

What the author labels as “Christian nationalism” refers to men and women who are seeking a return to godly, and yes, Christian values with regard, reverence, and respect for our loving Creator and His ways. Hopefully one day the author will find it.