Only a day after Issue 2.15 was published, NCPA Chairman Pete Du Pont, J.D. ran yet another editorial in The Wall Street Journal’s online editorial page, www.opinionjournal.com. It followed the same raison d’être as my article about tax cuts.

Mr. Du Pont aptly denounces the left’s dogma that tax rate cuts cannot work, and even in the face of increasing revenues hold dear to the cry of tax cuts for the rich.

Opposing tax cuts has become the mantra of the liberal left. Sen. John Kerry wants to roll back Bush’s “unaffordable tax cuts.” Senator Mark Dayton (D., Minn.) called the cuts “dangerous and destructive and dishonorable.” Bill Clinton in 2003 said the cuts were “way too big to avoid serious harm.” And various New York Times editorials called them “economically unsound,” claimed that “they will increase the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars” and said they were unlikely “to stimulate the wallowing economy.” Earlier this month House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi promised that the election of a Democratic House in November would result in a “rollback of the tax cuts.”

He goes on to point out that incomes for families are up, and the portion of income held by the top 10% of Americans is going down.

As I said before, let’s take all the celebration with a grain of salt. GOP Leaders on Capital Hill and in the White House need some spine when it comes to reiging in spending. Suggestions left over from the Contract with America and maintained by the Republican Study Committee in the House, such as earmark reform and balanced budget amendment, still need to be instated. And we need to continue to work toward replacing income tax altogether with the Fair Tax, or even a Flat Tax. However, since government is, as Ronald Reagan said, “an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other,” progress is welcomed when it comes.

A group of archeologists from Texas believe they have found the remains of Noah’s Ark in a mountain range north of Tehran. From CompuServe News:

“I can’t imagine what it could be if it is not the Ark,” Arch Bonnema of the Christian-based Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (Base) Institute, told ABC News. The black wood thought to be the remains of Noah’s Ark sticks out in stark contrast to the rest of the mountain.

The team found the object nestled on the side of a hill, but at first they didn’t think it was the Ark. Still, they wondered—and hoped. “We found something that has my heart skipping a beat,” archaeologist and team leader Robert Cornuke told ABC. “It wasn’t impressive at first. Certainly didn’t think it to be Noah’s Ark. But when we got close, we were amazed. It looked similar to wood.” On the downside, it wasn’t all that distinctive since it looked very much like the deck of a modern boat.

Click here to see photos of the site at ArkFever.com.

More on what exactly the researchers found:

What they found is about 400 feet long and consists of rocks that look remarkably like blackened wood beams while other rock in the area is distinctively brown, according to a news release issued by the Base Institute. One visible piece is “cut” at a 90-degree angle. Even more intriguing, some of the wood-like rocks were tested just this week and actually proved to be petrified wood. Go to the Bible and you’ll read that Noah sealed his ark with pitch, which is a black substance. Upon being cut open, one of these “rocks” also divulged a marine fossil that could have only originated undersea.

From the ArkFever website:

The unusual object is perched on a slope 13,120 feet above sea level. After studying the discovery site, Bonnema observed, “These beams not only look like petrified wood, they are so impressive that they look like real wood—this is an amazing discovery that may be the oldest shipwreck in recorded history.”

Reg Lyle, oil and gas geologist said “the object appears to be a basalt dike, however, it is absolutely uncanny that the object looks like hand hewn timbers, even the grain and color look just like petrified wood….I really need to keep an open mind about this.”

The team returned to the U.S. from rugged mountains in Iran with astonishing video footage of a monstrous black formation which looks like rock but bears the amazing image of hundreds of massive, wooden, hand-hewn beams. Could it be the lost ark on which two of every animal once sailed with their human rescuer?

David Ketter is keeping a running “Noah’s Ark Roundup” for those interested in following the story.

I recently ran across this post at a website called “Talk To Action.” The writer is concerned about what he feels are efforts of the “religious right” to get “young people involved with their political goals as early as they can.” Generation Joshua is apparently one of these insidious groups that engages in “indoctrination,” and most of the post, which you can read here, is about that group.

To our delight, the writer later added that “Another effort at getting teens involved in the Christian political process is the Virtue Magazine written by High School students.” That’s not really accurate, but we got a kick out of it nonetheless. Some of the other comments were also quite interesting, including this one:

When it’s all said and done, these bright young people will have a degree that is worthless from an unaccredited school. Their parents will be out significant tuition. The young people will be adept at ringing doorbells, stuffing envelopes, making phone calls and begging for money. Put that on a resume along with their expertise in creation science, knowledge of Michael Farris’ twisted (re)Con Law and what are they qualified for?
Talk about used up and thrown away! Very, very sad.

Yes, very sad indeed.

There’s an interesting discussion at AgentTimOnline over Agent Tim’s latest post, in which he discusses the Bible and illegal immigration. He opens his post with a link to an article that claims to show that “The Bible is unabashedly pro-immigrant.”

Unfortunately, the article, which you can read here, is guilty of the logical fallacy we call a “red herring,” or diversion.

The author of the article apparently can only find one Bible passage to support his view that the Bible is “explicit[ly]” and “unabashedly” pro immigrant:

Immigration is different: The Bible is explicit. In the Torah, Moses commanded, “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” The Bible is unabashedly pro-immigrant.

The author continues:

The argument is simple: You were immigrants in Egypt, and you didn’t like being mistreated, so now that you have your own country, you should treat immigrants compassionately. Compassionate treatment of immigrants is basically an early version of the Golden Rule: Treat people the way you used to want to be treated when you were in Egypt.

That’s all fine and dandy, except he is arguing for a conclusion that isn’t at issue. No Christian “hard-line conservative,” as this author refers to those who want to put a stop to illegal immigration, thinks that immigrants should be mistreated. The real issue at hand is illegal immigration, and whether a nation has the duty to punish those who break the law by illegally entering this country.

Are we “mistreating” or “oppressing” immigrants by deporting them after they broke the law by entering our country illegally? Or are we instead upholding orderly conduct, the rule of law, and respect for our nation’s borders?

Later on the author claims, without a shred of evidence, that Jesus and his parents “crossed the border to Egypt illegally” for fear of persecution from Herod. The Bible does not state that they did so illegally, and if there is historical evidence that they did so illegally, he does not provide it. Ultimately though, he can only cite one passage from the Bible while claiming that the Bible is “explicit” and “unabashedly pro-immigrant”—and the one Bible passage has nothing to do with the real issue at hand.

The title of AgentTim’s latest post is misleading, because there really is no “Biblical worldview on immigration.” Immigration is not a religious issue—it’s a political one. Having said that, there are many Bible passages that speak of obedience to a nation’s government, including:

1 Peter 2:13: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.”

Romans 13:1-2: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities . . . those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incure judgment.”

Subjecting oneself to the governing authorities also means subjecting oneself to the laws of that country. It is clear from this that the Bible leaves no room for illegal immigration—rather, such an act is wrong and should be punished.