Let's Talk Sense...

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Wednesday, August 30, 2000 Volume XXV, No. 23
Roswell, New Mexico

In this issue:

The Faith of Joe Lieberman and the Epistle of James

Joe Lieberman, Faith Talker

In September of 1998, Senator Joseph Lieberman took the floor to deliver a famous speech about President Clinton's conduct in office. He said, in part:

"Such behavior is not only inappropriate, it is immoral and it is harmful." And, "It is wrong and unacceptable and should be followed by some measure of public rebuke and accountability."

However, as the Almanac of American Politics 2000, on page 347, says:

"But he was persuaded by Minority Leader Tom Daschle not to call for censure, and he stopped well short of backing impeachment or resignation."

The fact is the idea of Lieberman actually doing something was never, ever in the cards. Talk? Yes,
you bet, in spades. You can guarantee he was going to talk. But actually cross the Democrat Party and
vote for some kind of punishment. No way. It wasn't going to happen. And everyone knew it.

What he provided liberal America with was cover. He was at least willing to say he disapproved, or that
the actions of the president in a variety of instances were "inappropriate."

"There, you have it, " they said. "We've trotted out our guy, and he's reprimanded the president, so let's move on, let's get it behind us."

Only in a nation with so few leaders could Joe Lieberman be considered a hero for mere talk. It is a sign of the total degeneration of the Democrat Party that the one guy who would stand up and talk about impropriety is a veritable hero, a moral icon. Never mind that he really doesn't believe any of what he said.

We are so far gone as a society that actual belief is simply too much to hope for. No, today, anyone who will merely talk will become the high priest of public discourse on matters of conduct.

That is what Joe Lieberman is.

The Epistle of James, Faith Walker
(Faith without Works is Dead)

The Epistle of James is a letter to Jewish believers in Christ written by James, the brother of Jesus (not to be confused with either of the two disciples named James: the son of Zebedee, or the son of Alphaeus).

In a commentary on James from the New Open Bible, Study Edition are these words(added emphasis is mine):

"Faith without works cannot be called faith. Faith without works is dead, and a dead faith is worse than
no faith at all. Faith must work; it must produce; it must be visible. Verbal faith is not enough; mental faith is insufficient. Faith must be there, but it must be more. It must inspire action. Throughout his epistle to Jewish believers, James integrates true faith and everyday practical experience by stressing that true faith must manifest itself in works of faith."

The writer goes on to add:

"Faith obeys the Word. It will not merely hear and not do. Faith produces doers.....Faith displays itself in works. Faith is more than mere words; it is more than knowledge..."

Question: By citing a book of the New Testament which Jews do not accept as scripture are we holding Lieberman to a standard which does not apply? Answer: No. There is nothing in James teaching on faith and the real evidence of that faith that is inconsistent with the Torah. In fact the Old Testament is replete with examples of the same theological law. He draws on some of them as he is inspired to cite passages in four of the five books of the Pentateuch, as well as the Psalms, Chronicles, Kings, the minor prophet Micah, and various references to Job.

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Alleged Faith without Accompanying Action or any actual manifestation of the influence of that faith is Liebermanism.

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A Man for Our Times

Joe Lieberman is hailed as a hero by the Democrat Party and by the media. This must seem strange to many of those who grasp the total emptiness of expression which he actually has given himself over to....and not only on this issue, but many others.

It would be rude perhaps to say that Mr. Lieberman doesn't actually believe in anything. Certainly a nation
which has been forced to overdose on him over the past fortnight might be expected to be incredulous at such a thought. But I will posit it. In each and every instance for which he receives so much acclaim, a close examination reveals only a half-hearted paean, a mealy-mouthed lip service to whatever cause he has been called on to address.

"Mere words," says the commentator on James. "Verbal faith is not enough."

Anyone can say he or she is "outraged" by whatever blight on America, be it the immoral or unethical
behavior of elected officials, child pornography, or offensive publicly funded"art." But when you go back out of camera range and don't follow through it rings awfully hollow.

Only in America 2000 could Joe Lieberman's tinny, hollow, whining ring sound like a bold clarion call of "faith" to so many. It is more a reflection on his admiring hordes, and the standards to which they have fallen, than it is on him. I am quite sure he is oblivious to it all.

Mr. Lieberman is a walking, talking expose of the phoniness of the worst among us, of the failings within each of us. His sorry example of "talk which trumps the walk" should convict us all (for our own sorry episodes we are all guilty of) and renew in us the realization that we need a real, rather than merely professed, relationship with God.

Instead of his being seen as an exemplar of faith in God, he should be readily recognizable as a clear manifestation---the very epitome of groundless, uninspired "dead" faith which James wrote about in the First Century AD.

What a radically secular picture we reveal when we examine the real substance of Liebermanism: his "mere words" NEVER accompanied by action, his manifest knowledge NEVER leading to anything productive held out as the highest standard we can aspire to. This can only be described as a grotesque caricature of actual true faith. Yet it won him the vice-presidential nomination, because---as insubstantial as it is---it still put him a magnitude beyond anyone else in his own party. That should be a staggeringly sobering thought, not just for the Democrat Party, but for all of us.

Only in a nation which has lost its way could such an individual be lauded as a pillar of faith in God.