The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 2, 2017 C-11 OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Washington is in an uproar about the president's decision last week to exclude transgendered people from military service. The president expected a fight, but is surprised at the opposition from conservative, pro-military Repub- licans. I'm surprised, too. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Sur- vey of 27,715 respondents nation- wide reported 39 % experienced se- rious mental problems in the pre- vious month, based on the Kessler 6 Psychological Distress Scale. That compares with 5% of Ameri- cans overall. Seven percent of the transgender respondents attempt- ed suicide in the previous year, 12 times the overall national rate. But the Obama Pentagon an- nounced last summer that trans- gendered people could serve open- ly, that it would fund sex-change surgeries within the military's health care budget, and that it was working on a plan to recruit new transsexuals. I believe the Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg conduct- ed the best study of the fiscal im- pact of that new policy. He calculated the total cost over the next 10 years as $1.88 billion at best, and $ 3.7 billion at worst, without assum- ing any inflation. I believe the high- er forecast is the more likely one. $ 3.7 billion could buy 39 F-35 fight- er jets at $ 94 million apiece, or 123 CH-47 "Chinook" helicopters at $ 30 million a pop. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) introduced a budget amendment prohibiting sex-change medicine in the military. The deployment of transgenders is hampered not merely by surgical recovery time, but by indefinite and expensive hormone treatments. "It makes no sense to create soldiers who are unable to fight and win our nation's wars," Hartz- ler argued. But she lost that vote last month after 24 Republicans crossed over to vote with the Dem- ocrats against her bill. This deprived Pres- ident Trump of the middle ground. He ei- ther had to accept all the medical demands and organization- al risks of transgen- der privilege, or ex- clude transgenders altogether. I believe he made the only de- cision a conscientious command- er-in-chief could have made. Angry television commentators said a 2016 Rand Corporation re- port put the medical costs issue to rest. It calculated the net increase in medical costs at no more than $ 8.4 million annually. But that 2016 report's language is so unequivocal that it's obvious it was written to specification for the Obamists who signed the checks and wanted a green light for their One of the fears Martin Luther had as the Reformation took root was the mantle of Christ would be torn into pieces. That is an ac- complished fact. The Church as it was con- ceived and built by the apostles is not a visible edifice or a sec- tarian set of rules, but is built up- on the Christ; "Jesus ask them, 'But whom say ye that I am? ' Si- mon Peter answered, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to you, but my Father which is in heav- en. And I say also unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not overthrow it'" [Matthew 16:15 -18]. The Reformation was the re- sult of the visible church falling into carnal decay. It had lost its spirituality. There were men and groups who had championed re- form several hundred years be- fore Luther, but they were perse- cuted and destroyed. The awakening and return of the church to its spiritual nature was inevitable, and the Roman Church validated the need to re- form by its edicts from the Coun- cil of Trent. But the Church is still hemor- rhaging. However, keep in mind that the church has always been besieged with pres- sure to water down its teachings, to be- come more cultural- ly relevant, and beset by heretical teach- ings [read Revela- tions chapters 2 and 3 and the proceedings of the first 7 ecumen- ical councils.] What I perceive as our biggest threat is from the same spiritual vein that the progressive political movement plagues America with. Much of the political correct- ness demanded by progressivism has crept into the church. The So- cial Gospel which drives much of what the church calls mission work, is actually social work. What is emerging within the church is a narcissistic spirit where everyone is offended and demands their own church. An extended definition of Nar- cissism brings what troubles the church into focus: "Narcissism is a self-deceiving act producing af- fection only for things that unwit- tingly reflect one's self." In layman's terms, modern man is seeking out expressions of how they feel and believe. So a church must represent them; they do not seek the spiritual Christ, but a Christ of their own imagi- nation. But there is more to our definition: "The narcissist fails to know Christ because he can love Christ on- ly when Christ resem- bles him." The similarities of progressives in pol- itics and the church are strik- ing. They mandate that the world [church] be reshaped to their utopic vision of how things should be. Any person holding beliefs contrary to what they consider are pure, are repulsive; then the skeptic is branded with a long list of negative verbs which are used to force him/her to con- form. The results of the demands of the narcissist is everyone must love these ideals; but what the narcissist cannot or does not re- alize is that he is worshipping himself. Robert Oscar Lopez in a re- cent article "Narcissus Revises Christianity, Makes It Liberal" identifies what he considers are the eight most common narcissis- Continued on page 12 Continued on page 12 Continued on page 12 Continued on page 12 Minority View by Walter E. Williams The Weekly by Alden Heuring My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Western values are superior Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond A narcissistic Christianity The cost of transgenders in the military Lucid Moments by Bart Stinson Americans put too much faith in government Heritage Viewpoint by Edwin J. Feulner "The present is getting better. The future, not at all." So begins a recent New York Times article about a Pew study that shows the public adopting a rather dim outlook. "Even as more Americans say the economy is im- proving, a clear majority remain fearful about their children's fi- nancial prospects," it continues. The Pew study isn't exactly bucking a trend, though. Other surveys indicate a similar level of pessimism, and not just about the economy. You have to wonder what happened to the optimism that once helped define the Unit- ed States. We were settled, after all, by the ultimate optimists. These were people willing to risk their lives during a dangerous three-month sea voyage in the hope of a better life in a land they had never laid eyes on. These new immigrants and pioneers had to be incredible optimists, just to overcome the in- ertia and resistance of leaving ev- erything behind. For generations, native-born and im- migrant Americans alike have believed that they could cre- ate a better way of life and fashion a better future for themselves and their descen- dants. And they've been proven correct time and again. Later immigrants came packed into third-class berths on steam- ships. Most understood they were making a one-way trip. They'd never see their homelands or their families again. Yet they were will- ing to take that risk and endure a dangerous trip because they op- timistically believed a better life awaited them. Their basic premise was that a transcendent and eternal God, not capricious political government, gave them their freedom. Under this providential dispensation, it was possible, by will- ingly undertaking in- credible risks, to cre- ate a new life in a new world. No matter how ma- ny problems they en- dured after arriving, they never lost sight of the idea of Ameri- ca's greatness. This land afforded them and their children a multitude of opportunities if they were willing to work — and they were. This optimistic spirit, and the confi- dence in the future that charac- terized the men and women who built America, is central to our na- tional heritage. Yet now, in times of economic difficulty, many look to govern- ment for solutions. But history has shown that government lacks Here's part of President Donald Trump's speech in Poland: "The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confi- dence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the de- sire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it? " A fter this speech, which was warmly received by Poles, the president encountered predict- able criticism. Most of the criti- cism reflected gross ignorance and dishonesty. One example of that ignorance was penned in the Atlantic mag- azine by Peter Beinart, a contrib- uting editor and associate pro- fessor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. Beinart said, "Donald Trump referred 10 times to 'the West' and five times to 'our civili- zation.' His white nationalist sup- porters will understand exactly what he means." He added, "The West is a racial and religious term. To be considered Western, a coun- try must be largely Christian (pref- erably Protestant or Catholic) and largely white." Intellectual elites argue that dif- ferent cultures and their values are morally equivalent. That's ludi- crous. Western culture and values are superior to all others. I have a few questions for those who'd claim that such a statement is un- true or smacks of racism and Euro- centrism. Is forcible female genital mutilation, as practiced in nearly 30 sub-Saharan A frican and Mid- dle Eastern countries, a morally equivalent cultural value? Slavery is practiced in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan; is it mor- ally equivalent? In most of the Mid- dle East, there are numerous lim- itations placed on women, such as prohibitions on driving, employ- ment and education. Under Islam- ic law, in some countries, female adulterers face death by stoning. Thieves face the punishment of having their hands severed. Ho- mosexuality is a crime punish- able by death in some countries. Are these cultural values morally equivalent, superior or inferior to Western values? During his speech, Trump asked several vital questions. "Do we have the confidence in our val- ues to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our cit- izens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it? " There's no ques- tion that the West has the military might to protect itself. The ques- tion is whether we have the intelli- gence to recognize the attack and the will to defend ourselves from annihilation. Much of the Muslim world is at war with Western civilization. Is- lamists' use multiculturalism as a foot in the door to attack Western and Christian values from the in- side. Much of that attack has its roots on college campuses among the intellectual elite who indoctri- nate our youth. Multiculturalism has not yet done the damage in the U.S. that it has in Western Europe- an countries — such as England, France and Germany — but it's on its way. My colleague Dr. Thomas Sow- ell reveals some of the problem. He says, "Those in the Islamic world have for centuries been taught to regard themselves as far superior to the 'infidels' of the West, while everything they see with their own eyes now tells them otherwise." Sowell adds, "Nowhere have whole peoples seen their situation re- versed more visibly or more pain- fully than the peoples of the Islam- ic world." Few people, such as Per- sians and Arabs, once at the top of civilization, accept their rever- sals of fortune gracefully. More- over, they don't blame themselves and their culture. They blame the West. By the way, one need not be a Westerner to hold Western values. One just has to accept the sancti- ty of the individual above all else. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason Uni- versity. Back from the North It has been a week. I've just re- turned from a family vacation in New England—my first vacation longer than 48 hours since Flan- nery was born. She's an extremely patient traveler, and, more impor- tantly, she got the hang of walk- ing on her own during the vaca- tion. Now she's stepping out all over the place. Flannery also got to enjoy minia- ture golf, a swimming pool, a sce- nic waterfall, a room escape puz- zle, two different churches, and a lot of quality time with her uncles. I finished my book on the history of tea, and enjoyed a lot of quali- ty time sitting on the porch of our condo watching a woodchuck. Be- yond that, the week is a bit of a blur. Honestly, I think the thing that impressed me the most was how well Flannery handled the 18 -ish hour drive each way. She is easi- ly amused, and found plenty to do from her little car seat, whether she was picking her nose, picking my nose, drinking from her sippy cup, playing with a toy, looking out the window, or jabbering to us. As long as she got to stretch her legs every few hours, she was content. I think she even enjoyed the drive. We got home just in time for bed before work the next day, but Jill kindly reminded me that I had a column to write, so this is the on- ly thing separating me from half a night's sleep. I don't think I'll have any trouble at all getting back in- to my workday routine—I've been asleep inside my mind for the last few hours. So, I think I'll just skip ahead to the stuff of the week and see you next time. Have a great week! Book: Purrfect Crime (a collec- tion of mystery stories involving cats) Music: Ave Maria (find an in- strumental if you can—I prefer vi- olin) Movie: The LEGO Batman Mov- ie (the only Batman movie ever made that deals with Batman's feelings as a person—also, it's even funnier than the Adam West movie) Coffee: New England Coffee's French Vanilla (it got me through a vacation) Haiku: All the time I pray to Buddha I keep on killing mosquitoes. -Kobayashi Issa A fter having traveled the jour- ney of my health career and it's for- mation, it is time to take a break from this subject. It was not all hard and intense university work, there were a lot of recreational ac- tivities I had done too to balance out things. Since one of my passions is mu- sic, I did a lot of listening to the mu- sic of the 60s and 70s which was the era of my college years. I remember the British invasion, the American Bandstand, the music of the Beatles and the memorable song "I Saw Her Standing There," the Buckinghams " Don't' You Care,"The Dave Clark Five " Because I Love You," the Her- man's Hermits " Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" Gerry and the Pacemakers " Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." How about Lulu and "To Sir with Love" and so ma- ny more. On the US local talents, we had Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, John- ny Mathis, talented groups like The Letterman, Mamas and Papas, the Supremes, the Carpenters to name a few. Music of the 60s