From Citizen to consumer....

3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;

4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. [a]

6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.

8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,

9 lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,

10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man's house. Prov. 5: 3-10

Are we being beguiled by the honey of sweet words? In the first post, I am focusing on lines 3 - 5 of Proverbs 5.

It appears that words like "bipartisanship" and "listening" and "understanding" and "respect" are being redefined. The forces for the coup de culture of death, as Wesley Smith puts it on his blog Secondhand Smoke, are beguiling the masses with flowery words. It all sounds so nice and pretty compared to the harsh words of partisanship. Pres. Obama acknowledges that the abortion issue is "divisive". But just what does that mean? Many take it to mean that he understands there are legitimate concerns about abortion. But is that what he is really saying? He also says he supports unrestricted abortion, repeal of the partial birth abortion ban, he is against the Born Alive Infant Act. He overturns the Mexico City Policy and lifts all restrictions on Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR). These are not positions that can claim to be understanding of the concerns of the pro-life side of the debate. Against the Born Alive Infant Act? Can this possibly be the position of someone who gives weight to ANY pro-life concern?

But this strategy is just that, a strategy. And one with, to me, terrifying implications. According to Ed Kilgore, Pres. Obama is successfully using "values based messaging" which seeks to build support for an idea by using vague language about shared values, while hiding the true details. Yes, the "larger audience may begin to shrink once bold policy goals and detailed programs are advanced. But it definitely helps, and just as importantly, roots progressive programs in values and goals the public understands," and that tactic of deliberately misleading the public is fine by Kilgore as long as the method "represents a sensible approach to the preeminently appropriate task of tearing down the old partisan paradigm and rebuilding a new one that can command an enduring majority in support of a progressive agenda." http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/obama_and_valuesbased_messagin.htm

And lest we forget, the progressive agenda being promoted is one of unlimited abortion, embryo destroying research, gay marriage, anti-conscience rights for medical professional, pro "assisted suicide" (euthanasia), and in practice very anti-christian in particular and anti-religion in general as seen by the elimination of all public recognition of religion and the persecution of the Boy Scouts of America for holding to their founding beliefs.

Forget thirty pieces of silver, our leaders are being bought with dinner, nice words, and the approval of the "right" sort of people. At least Judas got cold hard cash for his betrayal, remember that Judas protested the "waste" of oil on Jesus when it "could be sold and given to the poor". And like Judas, both are heading down the same road which can only end in death. When we give ourselves over to temptation, we often try to make the wide road look like the right one. We are not envious, no, we are "concerned for the poor". We are not forsaking the fight for life from conception to natural death, we are just "finding common ground". We are not dissenting from the teachings of the Church, we are just "moving past judgmentalism" and moving "more toward loving all our neighbors". We are not greedy, we just think that "the unregulated market best serves the interests of the poor".

Our founding fathers knew that only an educated and engaged populace could withstand demagoguery. Does anyone still think our populace is educated? Do we weigh the words in light of the action? I don't think so. Our desire to give ourselves a free pass on the sacrifice that acting on our words would entail leads us to give our leaders and pundits (at least those on "our" side) a free pass as well. So we find ourselves in the strange position of defending actions we don't like by pointing to the fact that the person's words are the opposite so therefore their actual behavior somehow becomes ok because it is not the same as their words. We used to call this being "two-faced" but the standard of character as Rev. King saw it seems to have fallen out of favor and so have the terms used to distinguish the corresponding lack of character.

Character counts. We can't persevere on the road to heaven without it. But the virtues that hopefully form our character must be exercised and built up. The reverse is when our character reflects poorly on us because we fail to correct our vices through practice of their corresponding virtues. I bring this up because it seems to me that many of us fail to use the brains God gave us...literally. God gave us the use of reason to keep us from being mislead by empty promise or blown around with the winds of the current zeitgeist. But do we use our reason? Do we "test the spirits" as instructed in I John 4?