The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1386251
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 23, 2021 B-7 ence in the religious appoint- ment of the High Priest, and its occupation of the 'Prom- ised Land.' The Jewish peo- ple had no voice, as only 'cit- izens of Rome' had any legal standing. Israel was seething with revolutionaries foment- ing unrest, civil disobedi- ence, and advocating armed rebellion. During all the political, economic, and religious cha- os of his day the Prince of Peace went about preaching and teaching the 'kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt 4:17).' Some people approached Je- sus trying to draw him into the political fray with Rome by asking him,' Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it against our Law to pay tax- es to the Roman Emperor, or not? ' His reply? 'Give to Cae- sar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's (Mt 22:17- 22).' Not that Christians should be ignorant of the world or adopt an unconcerned at- titude. Jesus was aware of the politics of his day. King Herod envisaged Jesus as a political threat and sought to frighten him out of his prov- ince in Galilee. People came to Jesus and said to him, 'leave this place and go some- where else. Herod wants to kill you.' Jesus replied, 'Go tell that fox, I will drive out demons and heal people to- day and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal (Luke 13:31-33).' Herod or Rome did not frighten Je- sus; he was on a mission to go to Cavalry and along the way preach 'the kingdom' ( John 12:27). St. Augustine said that we are citizens of two kingdoms: the kingdom of man and the kingdom of God. These two kingdoms are in a constant state of tension and diamet- rically opposed to each oth- er. So much so that when Pi- late asked if Jesus was a king, Jesus replied, 'My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from be- ing handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here ( John 18:36).' Shortly before his death, Jesus' disciples approached him asking about the signs of his return and the end of the age—and the com- ing kingdom (usually re- ferred to as the Mt. Olivet discourse). The 'Message Bible' translates these pas- sages: 'It will seem like all hell has broken loose—sun, moon, stars, earth, sea, in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers- that-be quaking (Lk. 21:25 - 26).' While Jesus' warnings are disconcerting and fright- ening, he tells his disciples NOT to fear these things because they must come to pass. He says we should NOT let what we see and hear frighten us because, 'When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way! " stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Lk. 21:28).' Yes, 'These are times that try men's souls.' Jesus tri- umphed over tough times and so will every believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, 'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have over- come the world ( John 16:33).' lionaires." He wants some form of wealth tax to hold their wealth down. "Entrepre- neurs like Jeff Bezos would be just as mo- tivated by $100 million or even $50 mil- lion," Reich claims. But Mitchell points out that if their in- come is limited, "Maybe they just take it easy ... retire ... sail a yacht around the world ... consuming instead of saving and producing." I want them saving and producing! Bil- lionaires have shown that they're good at cutting prices or improving products or both. As Mitchell puts it, "I'm not giving Jeff Bezos any money unless he's selling me something that I value more than that money." Even if they don't — even if they run out of ideas — their wealth is useful. One reader called me "a complete moron" for saying that. He argues that "more money in the richest hands means money sitting in the bank doing nothing." But that's an ignorant view of banks. Because banks loan that money out, they enable other people to buy homes, start new businesses and get educated. Still, I hear that "the rich are getting richer, while the poor get poorer! " That's Myth No. 2. Yes, the rich got lots richer, but the poor and middle class got richer, too. "The economic pie grows," says Mitch- ell. "We are much richer than our grand- parents, and our grandparents were much richer than their grandparents." For thousands of years, the world had almost no wealth creation. Only when some countries tried capitalism did GDP grow. Capitalists helped everyone, including the poor. The media suggest that today's wealth gap proves that's no longer true. But they are wrong. Capitalism's gradual progress continues. Census Bureau data shows that the average family today is almost a third richer than 40 years ago (yes, ad- justed for inflation). The media also say, "The middle class is in decline." It's true, Mitchell points out. "It's shrinking because more people move in- to upper-income quintiles! The rich get richer in a capitalist society. But guess what? The rest of us get richer as well." Next week, more myths about capital- ism. John Stossel is author of "Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." is no one writing similar ac- counts of the carnage in Min- neapolis, Milwaukee, New York, Kenosha, Portland and Los Angeles? Why isn't the local law enforcement and the FBI hunting down the perpetrators and putting them behind bars? We have video evidence of who they are and what they did. Pres- ident Joe Biden seems on- ly interested in putting the pro-Trump protesters be- hind bars. Who and how will we stop the fires next time? The left's response has been to deluge these cities with hundreds of billions of federal dollars. It seems highly unfair to force people in Omaha, Nebraska, and Boise, Idaho, to pay for the failure of "progressive" Democratic mayors and blue-state governors to en- sure public safety. You broke it; you fix it. Money won't fix the dam- age to the civil infrastruc- ture of these low-income neighborhoods that were ransacked. It will take many years and perhaps decades to undo the damage to these communities. These Black and Hispanic families de- serve justice. Can we at least, please, stop calling the Black Lives Matter rioters "social justice warriors? " Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foun- dation and an economic con- sultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of "Trum- ponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the Amer- ican Economy." by it. But if you're right and you give in, you have only served to embolden cancel culture. You have fed its voracious appe- tite and made it stronger, giving it more energy to seek out its next victim. You have made it harder for others to stand up for the truth, and as a result, many will continue to cower in silence. Don't try to cancel others. There's no need to be cruel and adopt the tactics of cancellation. Here is where I go back to my faith-based roots. We all fall far short of perfection. We need to show grace and forgiveness toward others, especially if we hope for the same mercy from others when we inevitably stumble ourselves. Be principled and don't be a hypocrite. Hypocrites make easy targets for cancel- ing and are fun for everyone to take down a few pegs. Expect that anything you write or any- thing that you say in front of a camera (even your friend's cell phone) could end up trending on social media or landing on the front page of a newspaper. If you're not okay with that, think twice about say- ing or doing it. There are an awful lot of people who are willing to deliberately take things out of context to make other people look bad. So always include context with what you say and write publicly, even if it means writing a slightly longer tweet or taking an extra 30 seconds to more fully explain your point. People may still take you out of context, but you will always "have the receipts," as they say. In the end, you can't be afraid to speak up for what you know is right. You will inspire others to follow your lead, and when more people speak up, we'll reach enough critical mass to eventually can- cel "cancel culture." Remember the old days when you could debate and disagree and still be civil? Honest debate has been the cor- nerstone of Americans finding the best solutions to our biggest issues for near- ly 250 years. For the sake of our society, it's time to return to those days. Kay C. James is President of The Her- itage Foundation and is a leader in gov- ernment, academia and the conservative movement. CANCEL CULTURE Continued from page 6 seen fellow travelers whose facial expressions change from smiley to scary freaked- out mode when they can't find their passports which have been misplaced, not necessarily due to careless- ness but because of an over- load of multi-tasking. I can add more to this list but I don't want to go into de- tails anymore. I'm ruining my happy memories of my vacations. ••• A sense of humor is nec- essary to enjoy vacations. One of my most unforget- table memories is when we were in Rome, preparing to enter the huge Church of St. Peter's Basilica. In the en- trance, there is a guard who checks to make sure people are dressed appropriately. No shorts are allowed. Un- fortunately, one of our fellow travelers wore long knee- high shorts. When our tour guide said he would not be al- lowed into the Church wear- ing shorts, he unbuckled his belt, pulled down his shorts as low as he could until it looked like he was wearing long pants. He got in, but we tried to convince him to join another tour group who was right beside our own group. One time when he was asked to show his visa, he pulled out his Visa card and insisted that was enough proof. Talk about avoiding his company whenever we went places. It was hard to be char- itable sometimes. Have safe and memorable vacations this summer. Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Michael Bolin charged with two counts of child molesting, a level 1 felony. James Boner charged with count I pos- session of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, count II possession of parapherna- lia and count III possession of marijuana. Dennis Clark charged with operating a vehicle after being an habitual traffic offender, a level 6 felony. Brandon W. Hawthorne charged with count I strangulation, a level 6 felony, and count II domestic battery. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANORS Pike County Circuit Court Eden Marie Sullivan charged with op- erating a vehicle with an ACE of at least .08 but less than .15. Jason R. Williams charged with crim- inal mischief. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Professional and Business Collections sues Brian Green on complaint. DNF Associates, LLC sues Judy War- ren on complaint. Absolute Resolutions Investments, LLC sues Tammy Hudson on complaint. Citibank, N.A. sues Sharon Kendall on complaint. Jerrik Allen Martin petitions for name change. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Bradley W. Mason charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. McKinley L. Riegle charged with driv- ing while suspended. Evelyn L. Turner charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Craig P. Buckman charged with seat- belt violation. Katie N. Rooker charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Daniel F. Gorley charged with count I driving while suspended and count II speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Shawnee E. Byers charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Alexis B. Elliott charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Christopher M. Duncan charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Julia A. Krueger charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Jason K. Ross II charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Michelle A. Culbertson charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Byron E. Robinson charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Nicholas A. Duncheon charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Colton L. Wade charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Andrea B. Cole charged with operat- ing with expired plates. Erica Brooke Hillery charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Royann L. Clark charged with driving while suspended. Hunter D. Woolf charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Shelby E. Spangler charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Laurie A. Rosales charged with failure to change lanes for authorized emergen- cy vehicle. Jacob Marchino charged with speed- ing. Bobbie J. McCandless charged with speeding. Nicholas A. Heidorn charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Logan E. Williams charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Eric R. Inman charged with count I learner's permit violation and count II speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Kathy S. Kilgore charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Mang G. Lian charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. LEARNED Continued from page 6 CHICAGO Continued from page 6 his classic book "Democra- cy in America," he observed as follows: "America is, however, still the place in the world where the Christian religion has most preserved genuine pow- er over souls. ... one cannot say that in the United States religion exerts an influence on laws or on the details of political opinions, but it di- rects mores, and it is in regu- lating the family that it works to regulate the state." We know quite well what the Democratic Party is about. The question is wheth- er the Republican Party will provide the country a choice, championing the Chris- tian values that de Tocque- ville identified as the "secret sauce" of America's success. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." VALUES Continued from page 6 CIVIL WAR Continued from page 6 RICHER Continued from page 6