posted by Michael on 07/22/10
Hillary Clinton got me thinking recently with a decision she made to support a legally binding international treaty to increase regulations on the gun trade. Just what do you think the Administration is up to now?
The disarming of American citizens can be achieved by controlling the distribution of firearms. The best way at the moment to get control of this distribution is through an international treaty that would bypass the legislative process (“government of the people, by the people, for the people”) and subjugate the American people to laws created by foreign nations. Would the American people comply with that kind of insanity? I don’t think so. Remember Virginia’s motto? It is “Thus always to tyrants” with Virtus armed and standing atop a dead tyrant. What if Virginians were to stick to that? What about the famous words of Patrick Henry? “Give me liberty or give me death!” What do you do with a law that makes a good thing illegal, while the law itself is Constitutionally illegal? Article 2 of the Bill of Rights states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Do Americans value freedom as much as those who have tried to live without it? Why did my grandpa put his life on the line in World War II? Talking about the right to load ammunition and bear arms is talking about the guarantee of a free country. If Mountaineers will always be free, mountaineers will have to be armed. That’s what the 2nd amendment is all about. If you love America, go here.
Let’s think this over. Why should anyone be labeled a criminal just because he owns a weapon? Why did God give horns and hooves to the buffalo, and stingers to the honey bees? What is wrong with parents protecting their families? Why would a government even want to make it difficult for its good, responsible and law abiding citizens to arm themselves? Does the government really think it can completely control all crime so that no one ever has to defend themselves? Do we want the government to have that kind of absolute control over everyone? If that means eliminating guns, it also means eliminating cooking utensils, rocks, and fingers. Anyone who truly favors fighting crime must favor the armed citizen. If we have a crime problem, what we need to ask is why people do not control themselves and respond correctly to difficult situations. So why would some people want Americans helpless? Are the American people entirely untrustworthy? Why should the government be afraid of an armed nation? This level of suffocating restraint without any regard to personal self-control is tyranny. For one thing, governmental force and secular education do not have the capacity to solve a crime problem. Furthermore, a law that banned weapons would only take weapons away from law abiding citizens, the very ones who should be armed. Every month the NRA reports many accounts of citizens properly using firearms to successfully protect their families. Does it seem to you that the TV news tends to only report the actions of lawless people using weapons in lawless ways? Is this by accident?
5 Comments » | posted in Politics
posted by James on 07/17/10
The climax of our trip concluded with probably the most spectacular activity we could have imagined: a helicopter tour of the city of Callao and the surrounding towns. One of our tour guides has connections with the Peruvian Naval Air Force, so through him we were granted this incredible opportunity to see Peru from a completely different perspective.
Because of this trip, I now see Peru from a completely different perspective. It is no longer an exotic location of tourist attractions; it is a land teaming with friendly people who are open to working toward meeting the needs of their country. I have seen with my eyes and heard with my ears that there is great potential for Peru that will soon burst forth to a degree that will attract the attention of the world!
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden
causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth;
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)
3 Comments » | posted in Ministry Reports
posted by James on 07/16/10
Wow! There is less and less time in the evenings to write. In fact, we haven’t returned to our hotel before midnight for the past few evenings. So, I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking. 
Currently, the country of Peru is divided into two classes for the most part: the rich and the poor. We traveled through some pretty poor regions of Lima this morning.
Then there are the rich. What better place encapsulates this more than the Presidential Palace itself? The greatest highlight of the day was to tour this incredible building, something not available to your normal tourist. It is equivalent to the United State’s White House. Though we never saw the president, we still got to see the incredible architecture of his home. Everything you see that is gold in these pictures is truly gold; pure gold.
And another amazing banquet dinner! Octopus and raw fish don’t really taste that bad any more.
4 Comments » | posted in Ministry Reports
Thanks to the help of many volunteers who helped care for the apple and peach trees in previous months and years, we were blessed with an abundant harvest! The Wilkes and Fleshman families helped us process some of the harvest so that we could enjoy it on many occasions to come. Thank you one and all!
