The Sky Isn't Falling! The Sky Isn't Falling!

On C-SPAN this morning, Slate Magazine's Dahlia Lithwick listed several expansive Commerce Clause decisions since FDR, and observed that the Republic has not yet crumbled under the weight of Federal mandates. Yes, America has groaned for 75 years under the spreading girth of that power—without total collapse.

Liberal law professors now use this same ratchet-effect principle to justify FDRs breathtaking expansion of Federal power as a natural "progressive" trend. But FDR only got his way by bullying the court (ever heard of "the switch in time that saved nine"?) and then flooding them with a torrent of regulatory legislation, only some of which they could stop. Honestly, if a typical American today were told that the Federal government has the power to stop her from growing beans or carrots on her own land for her own use, she would deem that un-American. But such power has lodged with the Feds since Wickard v Filburn in 1942.


Listening to proponents of Obamacare describe the magical effects of increased government power—besides prompting me to mention LBJ's failed-and-costly war-on-poverty—reminds me of the old saying "what one generation tolerates, the next adopts as its standard". The US Supreme Court today will hear oral argument about the constitutionality of Obamacare's individual mandate, which the government is justifying under...the Commerce Clause.


The court has been friendlier and friendlier to expanding government power for several generations now. But in recent decades the fruit of that power has begun to be harvested, and Americans don't like its taste.


If the individual mandate in PPACA (see why I call it Obamacare?) is held to be constitutional by five black-robed progressives, the sky may once again not fall. But does anyone doubt there's a limit to the number of straws a camel can carry? That there's a water temperature above which a frog will explode? That there's a slope too slippery to stand on?


America has been heading in the wrong direction since Woodrow Wilson: we are not Europe or even Canada. We do not want to be like the other nations. So here's my prayer for the week: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court!"

Who's Lookin' Out For You At The Pump?

Bill O'Reilly, host of his own top-rated nightly news analysis and commentary show on Fox News, is arguably America's leading spokesman for Non-Partisan Populism. His signature claim is to be a non-ideologue lookin' out for The Folks. His targets for outrage have varied from states not passing Jessica's Law, to judges soft-on-pedophiles to dishonest/dangerous politicians like Barney Frank. In the face of recent spikes in fuel prices, O'Reilly is again outraged by oil company profits, blaming American energy firms and "speculators" for the high cost. 

He has recently enlisted former CNN Business reporter Lou Dobbs as an ally, who points out that prices are rising in America, even as we have surpluses of certain fuel blends—proof, he says, that oil isn't operating on a free-market, supply-and-demand basis. The pair only give short shrift to the fact that crude oil is traded as a worldwide commodity priced in U.S. dollars, never even hint that Fed Chairman Bernanke's printing-press inflates prices, and then they gloss over OPEC's manipulation of global supply. They do criticize Obama's failure to approve the Keystone pipeline from my native Alberta, but save their ammo for big U.S. oil companies like Exxon/Mobil and Chevron, and the ever-nameless Speculators.

This villainizing impulse works for Bill when there's a human face, like a George Soros, a Paul Krugman or a Sean Penn. He's even made hay against the corrupt SEIU, but mostly by keying in on certain high-ranking individuals. O'Reilly will name Exxon/Mobil and disclose their quarterly profits, but has never once named a Speculator. He should start with Southwest Airlines, famous for their savvy use of oil futures contracts to control the single-greatest cost-driver. But he won't name any Speculators, because they are people who you and I can identify with—people who must have fuel to operate their businesses and pay their employees and supply America's needs.

Oil, alas, is too big for any individual, or even a handful of companies, to affect its price. Exploration and refining companies act rationally, are publicly-traded and make no bones about wanting to find and sell more oil. That gooey black stuff is the single most significant energy source to growing middle-classes in emerging nations, and to sustaining prosperity in established ones. As goes oil, so goes the world. (Your humble scribe, by the way, believes oil is abiotic—not a fossil-fuel—and its ubiquity "proof God loves us". But that's a whole 'nother article.)

So, who are the real oil villains? Those who can-and-do affect the supply and price. These controllers are always, ever and only... 

1. Governments. The letter "C" in OPEC stands for Countries. Exxon/Mobil is powerless to drill in the ANWAR, or on any other U.S. Federal Lands, without Obama's permission. Royal Dutch Shell can't take any oil out of Nigeria without government approval. And these companies pay huge tribute (royalties) to host nations (or provinces, or states). And, of course, my Blue-state friends pay almost double the taxes at their pump compared to us Red-staters. And don't forget Saudi Arabia, who can turn the spigot on at will, literally flooding the market with crude—or turning it off to drive up the price.

2. The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. This privately-owned bank (with government-appointed governors) controls the the U.S. dollar—the exclusive currency for oil. (Anybody notice food prices lately?)

The good news is that we elect the person who can affect, more than any other individual, the price of oil. The President of the United States appoints the Fed Chairman and controls drilling on Federal Lands.

But Obama protests that he can't affect the price of oil. Really? How does Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz manage to pull off the trick? Easy: he has the oil. Turns out it actually is supply-and-demand after all. Trouble is, you need supply in order to demand. America has voluntarily surrendered to the Saudis by refusing to drill, frack or explore...despite U.S. Geologic Survey reports showing that we have more recoverable reserves than Saudi Arabia (who guard the true measure of their reserves as a State Secret).

Newt Gingrich makes a compelling case for getting back to $2.50/gallon gasoline...without even touching the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, Obama sits on his hands whining and complaining and blaming others for high prices. And yesterday U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pleaded to the Saudis for increased production.

Mr. O'Reilly, these are your many tax dollars at work, willfully preventing us from accessing our own oil at home. How about aiming your impressive bloviation at the real villains?

I Walked A Mile With Pleasure

I walked a mile with Pleasure; she chatted all the way;

But left me none the wiser for all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow, and never a word said she;

But, oh the things I learned from her when Sorrow walked with me.

— Robert Browning Hamilton

Back in the 1970s my friend Barry McGuire sang a song based on Hamilton's poem...this was after his Eve Of Destruction days. Contrary to the gist of these particular lyrics, Barry had become one of the most upbeat and joyful people I've ever met. Along these lines, A. A. Milne's Eeyore is probably the most beloved pessimist in the world.  Who else responds to a cheery morning greeting by saying: "If it is a good morning... which I doubt." Or upon being acknowledged at a gathering, replies: "Thanks for noticing me." Or would offer this gem on his own birthday: "What are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow."  

Eeyore isn't alarmed by problems. In fact, when things really do go bad, he's usually the first to see the bright side: "However, we haven't had an earthquake lately." Or: "The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually." Eeyore doesn't have more problems than anybody else—Rabbit seems always in a pickle, Tigger is a walking disaster zone and Pooh's appetite causes more trouble by lunchtime than most folks experience in a year— while Eeyore really only has two major issues: his tail keeps falling off and his house keeps falling down. Neither situation upsets him all that much.  

We don't love Eeyore because he's gloomy, we love him because of his steady persistence in the face of trouble. The little stuffed donkey must have read his bible at some point along the way, especially the part where Jesus' favorite problem-maker, Peter, wrote the following:  "Friends, don't be surprised when life gets really difficult, as if something strange were happening to you." We know from history that the troubles faced by those early believers were not trivial. In Hebrews we learn they were "...tortured, their backs cut open with whips... chained in dungeons... died by stoning... sawed in half... killed with the sword."  Kind of puts my problems into perspective. And what was the silver lining to be found in those situations? "They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life."

When we want our kids to learn math, we give them... problems. Like their dad, our daughters struggled to learn arithmetic—sometimes to the point of tears. This is not pleasant, of course, but when the light finally goes on over their head and a problem is solved, that big smile is a well-earned triumph. If our highest goal for our kids was that they never experience anguish or frustration, we wouldn't insist they learn to tie their own shoes.  

Believers in Jesus have, among all people, reason to smile in the face of our troubles. For one thing, God does take care of us. Our problems do not completely swallow us up when we walk with him. And ultimately, we can be joyful because we know the end result—Christ-like character and everlasting good times in heaven. St. Peter concludes: "Be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. Take it in stride. Trust God. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it." 

A TEXT

Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 

— Hebrews 5:8

I Would Love To Be A Universalist

If it's true that everybody will one day make it to heaven—which would be very good news for very bad people—it would solve some knotty issues that have long vexed me. 

The hardest one, with the least-satisfying Biblical answers, is about people who lived in the years BC. Though Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain, and is said to have acted in faith, we know nothing about the system of worship that prompted the brothers to offer sacrifices in the first place. Despite meeting righteous individuals like Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek and Abraham, we have no record of God providing any comprehensive revelation for the first 10,000 years of human existence. Why leave people in ignorance so long before sending the law? And even longer to send Jesus? 

The years AD, when God finally poured out his Spirit and spread the gospel quickly around the world are less problematic for me. At last the Creator was propelling salvation to all people. But even here God did not permit the missionary Paul to take the gospel east into Asia. That doesn't seem fair.

These awkward matters have largely remained behind the academic and clerical curtain, with preachers only rarely bringing them to the pulpit. In a possibly-related story, George Barna reported earlier this year that exactly one-quarter of self-described born again Americans believe everyone will eventually be saved. Apparently benign neglect bears unexpected fruit. 


Enter Rob Bell and his blockbuster book Love Wins—a maddeningly unbalanced book that didn't so much reconsider the subject as rip the band-aid off our most uncomfortable issue. Into the fray step two friends of mine with their own book, entitled  Is God Fair? What About Gandhi? Where Bell was coy, dancing around the issue and understating hard questions, my friends forthrightly make a case for Biblical Universal Salvation—addressing the hardest objections head-on. Disclaimer: the authors hired me to build their website and run their marketing campaign.

I know authors James William and Michael Riley to be men of deep Christian faith. I attended church with Jim and his dear wife, who've now been family friends for the better part of 20 years. And I've seen God's grace in Mike's life over the decade I've known him. Though I am not a Universalist, my reading and research in recent years have led me away from the traditional view of eternal-life-in-hell for the unsaved, to what is often called Conditional Immortality.


But I do mean what I say in the headline of this post. Universal Salvation has been described as a Wider Hope. And that hope can be seen in scripture: "...the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"; "...when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself"; "...for I came not to judge the world, but to save it." How could that be anything other than Good News to anybody?


But there are other amazing insights in this book: like how often the New Testament mentions a just future reckoning for people famously destroyed in Old Testament times. Or the Scripture Chain detailing the sweep of God's redemptive intention from the beginning of creation. Or the case of the Apostle Paul being used as an example of undeserved mercy. Or the implications of the "ages to come." My favorite quote is the authors' contention about God's judgment for the wicked: "Nobody is getting away with anything." 


I must warn that this isn't light reading—the sections on faulty translating from Greek and Hebrew sometimes wander into the weeds. The chapter on Free Will—and, ironically, the one about the Sons Of Thunder—strike me as pedantic. But as a single-volume resource, Is God Fair? What About Gandhi? can fairly be called an encyclopedia of Universal Salvation. It is a worthy and sincere contribution to the understanding of God's strategy in human history.

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Is God Fair? What About Gandhi?

"For I came not to judge the world, but to save it." John 12:47

by Michael Riley and James William

Perfect Bound Softcover, 424 pages

ISBN-13: 978-145675709-0

(Also on eBook and Hardcover)

Published October, 2011 by AuthorHouse 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am on paid retainer with the authors of this book, as described above. 

They did not pay me to review their book on my blog, nor forbid me from criticizing it. I would not agree to any such restriction on my personal blog, where I only comment on books I have actually read and deem either important or useful to readers.

 I disclose this per the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”