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(Site Ahuattce The ADVANCE, December 27, 2023/Page 7A
A free press is not a privilege but
organic necessity in a great society.
-Walter Uppmann
COMMENTARY
out of
CONTEXT
A compilation of quotations on a variety of
issues by national, state and regional writers,
well-known personalities, just plain everyday
people and from various publications
collected by the editors of THE ADVANCE.
Quotes for our Times:
Leah Barkoukis, online features editor at
Townhall.com: Colorado GOP responds to
Ramaswamy's pledge with a better plan.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek
Ramaswamy vowed to withdraw from the
Colorado GOP primary in protest over the
state's Supreme Court ruling removing for
mer President Trump from the ballot,
"This is what an *actual* attack on de
mocracy looks like: in an unAmerican, uncon
stitutional, and Unprecedented* decision, a
cabal of Democrat judges are barring Trump
from the ballot in Colorado," he added.
The Colorado Republican Party said he
wouldn't have to, however, because it would
withdraw from the primary as a party.
Matt Vespa, Senior Editor at Townhall.
com: Why Anti-Trumpers are popping cham
pagne over what Colorado just did for their
2024 ballot.
New Hampshire also considered these
14th Amendment arguments to remove
Trump from their ballot possibly. They backed
down for a good cause: it's a baseless legal
argument. You don't need to be a lawyer to
know that Trump hasn't been charged with
igniting an insurrection. Second, you're not
guilty by default in this country, which has a
little thing called due process of law. Sure,
whatever happens after that is lawyer's
work, but even the most disengaged voter
knows that you have your day in court be
fore anyone is convicted of a crime, barring
a plea deal.
Rebecca Downs, Web Editor at Townhall.
com: 'A completely flawed decision': Trump
campaign responds to Colorado's latest an
ti-democratic ballot move.
Not long after, Make America Great
Again Inc. also released a statement from
spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. Her state
ment touched upon the larger ramifications
that the Colorado Supreme Court's decision
has.
"Today's ruling by the Colorado Supreme
Court is much more than a political attack
on President Donald Trump — it's an attack
on the Republican Party and an attack on
the very fabric of America. Everyone, includ
ing the Republicans running against Donald
Trump for the Republican nomination, and
even President Joe Biden, must speak out
swiftly against this unconstitutional ruling and
stand for fair and honest elections," Leavitt
said.
The Babylon Bee, fake news you can trust:
Colorado saves democracy by not allowing
people to vote for preferred candidate.
After Justice Hart's statement, the three
other justices who voted with her stood and
clapped in approval.
Democracy experts also applauded this
democracy-subverting move to make sure
democracy wasn't subverted. "Just think. If 4
people in robes hadn't taken away the vot
ing rights of millions, we would have lost our
democracy!" said journalist and democracy
expert Linda Florgbott. "Thank God we saved
it just in time."
At publishing time, Trump had gained an
other 12% in Colorado polls.
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the
NITTY
GRITTY
Universities
Symptom of Much
Bigger Problem
I have writ
ten in the past
about the simi
larities of the
stress and ten
sions in our
country today
to the stress
and tensions
that were taking
place in the
years before the Civil War.
A free country will always have
debate and differences of opinion.
But that debate becomes dangerous
and destructive when the differences
strike at the core premises that define
the very existence of the nation.
When we can no longer agree about
who we are, what we stand for and
why we exist, our very existence
comes into question.
As Abraham Lincoln said, “A
house divided against itself cannot
stand.” Then the basic premises of
our free country were challenged by
the existence of slavery.
The country is divided today by
those who see injustice as a problem
to be defined and solved by politics
and those who continue to see injus
tice as evil defined by Scripture and
dealt with through repentance and
self-correction.
When the issue of slavery tore
apart our nation, most Americans
were church-going citizens. The di
viding line then was between those
who saw slavery as a sin and those
who did not.
As Lincoln said in his second in
augural address, delivered as the
Civil War raged, “Both read the same
Bible and pray to the same God and
each invokes His aid against the
other.”
But today the division is between
those for whom religion is relevant
and those for whom it is not. The lat
ter, overwhelmingly, are on the po
litical left.
The recent Wall Street Journal/
NORC polling on national values
shows the picture clearly.
Of those who say religion is per
sonally “very important,” 27% of
Democrats say yes and 53% of Re
publicans say yes.
Of those who say patriotism is
“very important,” 23% of Democrats
and 59% of Republicans say yes.
Of those who agree that schools
and universities have gone “too far ...
taking steps to promote racial and
ethnic diversity,” 6% of Democrats
agree and 55% of Republicans agree.
Of those who agree that “Busi
nesses taking steps to promote racial
and ethnic diversity” have gone “too
far,” 7% of Democrats agree and 52%
of Republicans agree.
Many are now shocked to see
how politicized our universities have
become. But the data shows that this
is not a problem limited to our uni
versities; it reflects broader, deep
changes in our society.
Injustice has become a problem
relegated to politics as religion has
increasingly been purged from our
society.
DEI — diversity, equity, inclu
sion — is a tool designed by secular
ists, who produce their own defini
tion of injustice and then design their
own quantitative tool to solve the
problem they have themselves de
fined.
This is one slice of ideology that
is a subset of broader godless move
ments in social engineering — com
munism and socialism.
President Ronald Reagan gave
one the nation’s great speeches in
March 1983 to the National Associa
tion of Evangelicals in which he
called the Soviet Union an “evil em
pire.”
Reagan said then, “But we must
never forget that no government
schemes are going to perfect man.
We know that living in this world
means dealing with what philoso
phers would call the phenomenology
of evil or, as theologians would put it,
the doctrine of sin.”
Speaking about the then-Soviet
Union, Reagan said, “Let us be aware
that while they preach the supremacy
of the State, declare its omnipotence
over individual man ... they are the
focus of evil in the modern world.”
With the surge to the left in our
country, and the purge of the influ
ence of religion, we have produced
our own “government schemes,” pre
tending they will “perfect man” and
solve our social challenges.
The result is the ongoing expan
sion of government and a burden of
national debt and government spend
ing that is crushing us.
Reagan quoted William Penn
saying, “If we will not be governed by
God, we must be governed by ty
rants.”
This is where we are today.
Star Parker is president of the Center
for Urban Renewal and Education and
host of the weekly television show "Cure
America with Star Parker." Her recent
book, "What Is the CURE for America?" is
available now. To find out more about
Star Parker and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers and
cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate
website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
By Star Parker
New
With the
discovery of
my husband’s
biological
family in Tex
as last year,
we’ve spent
the last several
months getting to know these people
and learning about their families and
lives. In the last week, we’ve had the
honor of participating in two of their
very special Christmas traditions.
The Amaryllis Bulb
It arrived in a box two weeks ago.
“It’s addressed to you from my
Texas mom,” my husband said.
I opened it to find a Red Lion Am
aryllis bulb kit — the kind that has a
big flower bulb that’s the size of a soft
ball, potting soil, and a little plastic pot
included. Texas Mom’s note said that
every year she sends all the women in
the family an Amaryllis bulb during
December, and since I’m part of the
family this year, she mailed one to me,
too.
But it’s more than a gift. It’s a
friendly holiday competition. All of
us planted our “Red Lion” bulb on the
same day, and the object of the game
is to get my Amaryllis to bloom before
the others.
My Amaryllis had already sprout
ed when I removed it from its packag
ing, so I had a bit of a head start on the
other women this year. I place mine
outdoors in the warm sunshine during
the days, and I bring it indoors during
the cooler nights. I keep it watered. I
talk to it. I’ve even sang Christmas car
ols to my plant. I want to win!
Every other day, I send photos of
my Amaryllis’ progress to Texas Mom,
my new sister-in-law, Kim, and two
nieces, and they send me photos of
their plants. My “Red Lion” looks to
Traditions
be ahead of everyone’s right now, and
today, it looks as though it is getting
ready to burst wide open.
Fingers crossed!
Lessons from Linus
We recently visited my husband’s
half-brother, Chris, and his family in
Katy, Texas, on a chilly Sunday in De
cember. We sat around a large kitchen
table and talked and laughed with
them for a couple of hours.
A few minutes before we left,
Chris’ wife, Leslie, placed a center-
piece in the middle of the table. It was
ceramic and held four candles.
“This is our Advent wreath,” Les
lie said. “It’s been in my family since I
was young, and now our family uses it
to acknowledge the four weeks of Ad
vent.”
And then they shared something
beautiful with us.
“When the kids were young, we
wanted to make sure that they under
stood and observed the true meaning
of Christmas,” Chris said. ‘And Leslie
and I had an idea.”
He paused, his eyes tearing up a
bit.
“Do you remember that scene
from A Charlie Brown Christmas when
Linus walks onto the stage, and that
big spotlight hits him, and he gives a
speech about the meaning of Christ
mas?” he asked.
We nodded, both of us big Charlie
Brown and Peanuts fans, and both of
us being familiar with Linus’ moving
soliloquy — a passage from the Gos
pel of Luke.
“Well, all of us memorized that
speech, and we recite it together, as a
family, each time we light an Advent
candle in December, and this evening,
we would like to recite it for you.”
Leslie fit a candle, and she, Chris,
and three of their four children gath
ered around the table whispered Linus’
iconic speech in unison.
'And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo,
the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not:
for behold, I bring unto you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the City
of David a Savior, which is Christ the
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye
shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude oj
the heavenly host, praising God, and say
ing, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.’”
In a world so consumed by ma
terialism, flashy fights, and superficial
celebrations, those words ground us all
— a profound message of love, good
will and the true meaning of Christ
mas — and Chris and Leslie (and their
children) prioritize the message, and I
encourage all of you to prioritize the
message, as well, this year and every
year.
Merry Christmas! Gloria, in excelsis
Deo!
From the Porch
By Amber Nagle