President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
Actors Jane Wyman and her husband, Ronald Reagan, hold their daughter Maureen in 1941. Maureen Reagan died before her father, at the age of 60. Reagan and Wyman divorced in 1949.
1980 Republican National Convention Pt 4 In this part of the speech, Reagan talks about the defense failings of Carter administration and gives some his views on defense.
Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. Ronald Reagan
When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat. Ronald Reagan
While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future. Ronald Reagan
Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face. Ronald Reagan
Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. Ronald Reagan
You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan
Reagan tells a joke on Democrats
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman, attend a traditional Hollywood world premiere Dec. 23, 1945, in Los Angeles. Wyman was an Academy Award winner for her performance as a deaf rape victim in Johnny Belinda and star of the long-running TV series Falcon Crest. Wyman died Sept. 10, 2007, at 93.
Ravi Zacharias, Christian apologist, discusses atheism. Pt 3
In my last post which was about Ronald Reagan, I mentioned that I was jealous of Jeremy Hutchinson because he got to meet Reagan. Now I must admit that I am jealous of my sister Vicki Parks because she got to have dinner with Ravi Zacharias when he was visiting Memphis to speak at Bellevue Baptist several years ago. I think Ravi Zacharias is the best the evangelical community has to offer since Francis Schaeffer.
In the first post on this subject I quoted from Brummett’s article “Athiesm’s Big Night in Little Rock,” (The Morning News, April 27, 2007), John Brummett stated: I’d asked Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School, if he expected trouble — a shouting demonstration from zealous religious believers, perhaps. “Could be,” he said.
The atheist scientist Richard Dawkins was the speaker that night in Little Rock and he had a haughty attitude towards Christians because he felt they did not want to recognize science. Kerby Anderson answered this concern in his commentary “Answering the New Atheists.” He observed:
The New Atheists believe that science and Christianity are in conflict with one another. They trust science and the scientific method, and therefore reject religion in general and Christianity in particular.
Sam Harris says, “The conflict between religion and science is unavoidable. The success of science often comes at the expense of religious dogma; the maintenance of religious dogma always comes at the expense of science.”{25}
Richard Dawkins believes religion is anti-intellectual. He says: “I am hostile to fundamentalist religion because it actively debauches the scientific enterprise . . . . It subverts science and saps the intellect.”{26}
Are science and Christianity at odds with one another? Certainly there have been times in the past when that has been the case. But to only focus on those conflicts is to miss the larger point that modern science grew out of a Christian world view. In a previous radio program based upon the book Origin Science by Dr. Norman Geisler and me, I explain Christianity’s contribution to the rise of modern science.{27}
Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow also point out in their book that most scientific pioneers were theists. This includes such notable as Nicolas Copernicus, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal, Johannes Kepler, Louis Pasteur, Francis Bacon, and Max Planck. Many of these men actually pursued science because of their belief in the Christian God.
Alister McGrath challenges this idea that science and religion are in conflict with one another. He says, “Once upon a time, back in the second half of the nineteenth century, it was certainly possible to believe that science and religion were permanently at war. . . . This is now seen as a hopelessly outmoded historical stereotype that scholarship has totally discredited.”{28}
The New Atheists believe they have an answer to this argument. Christopher Hitchens discounts the religious convictions of their scientific pioneers. He argues that belief in God was the only option for a scientist at the time.{29} But if religious believers get no credit for the positive contributions to science (e.g., developing modern science) because “everyone was religious,” then why should their negative actions (e.g., atrocities done in the name of religion) discredit them? It is a double standard. The argument actually ignores how a biblical worldview shaped the scientific enterprise.{30}
The arguments of the New Atheists may sound convincing, but once you strip away the hyperbole and false charges, there isn’t much left.
If you would like to know how to answer the arguments of the New Atheists, I suggest you visit the Probe Web page at www.probe.org/radio and also consider getting a copy of the book by Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow. You will be able to answer the objections of atheists and be better equipped to defend your faith.
Ravi Zacharias, Christian apologist, discusses atheism. Pt 4
Former first lady Nancy Reagan shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada in the Capitol Rotunda on on June 3, 2009. Rep. John Boehner stands next to her.
A tribute to one of the greatest American Presidents, Ronald Reagan
I have a son named Wilson Daniel Hatcher and he is named after two of the most respected men I have ever read about : Daniel from the Old Testament and Ronald Wilson Reagan. I have studied that book of Daniel for years and have come to respect that author who was a saint who worked in two pagan governments but he never compromised. My favorite record was the album “No Compromise” by Keith Green and on the cover was a picture from the Book of Daniel.One of the thrills of my life was getting to hear President Reagan speak in the beginning of November of 1984 at the State House Convention Center in Little Rock. Immediately after that program I was standing outside on Markham with my girlfriend Jill Sawyer (now wife of 25 years) and we were alone on a corner and President was driven by and he waved at us and we waved back.
My former pastor from Memphis, Adrian Rogers, got the opportunity to visit with President Ronald Reagan on several occasions and my St Senator Jeremy Hutchinson got to meet him too. I am very jealous.
What would President Reagan think about all the commotion surrounding his 100th birthday? Well, first he’d probably send his regrets for being unable to attend.
Washington is not a place where cheerfulness tends to stand up over time, but for Ronald Reagan, it did. He was always quick with a smile or a self-deprecating joke. Reagan didn’t view his affable nature as a respite from the daunting challenges the nation faced on his watch. Instead, he saw optimism as an essential component of his ability to lead the country. It helped him connect with the people he served and the leaders he served with — including both Democrats and Republicans. This is one reason why today’s elected leaders aspire to Reagan’s example, and must accept being measured against him.
For me, Reagan’s presidency was, from its very first moments, a call to arms. Just after taking the oath of office, Reagan stood in the center of our nation’s capital city and declared, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” Those words struck a chord with small-town, small-business people like me who were fed up with intrusive government and indecisive leadership. The promise of a smaller, less costly and more accountable government was renewed. Pro-growth policies to cut taxes and reduce the size and scope of government were set in motion.
President Reagan’s commitment to economic and human freedom resonated at home and abroad. He formed a partnership with Margaret Thatcher, echoed the free world’s awe for Pope John Paul II and encouraged Lech Walesa and other freedom fighters. Unafraid to call the Soviet Union the “evil empire” that it was, he took the fight against communism to the foot of the Berlin Wall. He rejected the moral relativism of his day that was blind to the distinction between tyranny and freedom, seeing America as a city on a hill, set apart by a God who intended us to be free. In so many ways, Reagan did not succumb to the times — he shaped them.
There’s one other thing President Reagan would surely be thinking today: that none of this would be possible without the love of his life, Nancy. I was honored to stand at the former first lady’s side two years ago during the unveiling of a statue of President Reagan in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. That 7-foot likeness contains timbers from the Berlin Wall and bears one of the Great Communicator’s great lines: “America’s best days are yet to come. Our proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.”
Ronald Reagan’s legacy is intact, and I’m confident it will be for a long while. If you study the man and his times, you’ll see the rhythm of life as described by Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. … And one man in his time plays many parts.”
Ronald Reagan played his parts brilliantly, and we are right to pause today for another well-deserved standing ovation.
John Boehner is the current speaker of the House of Representatives.
Reagan tells Soviet jokes that are told by Soviets themselves.
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
Nancy Davis (her stage name) starred with husband Ronald Reagan in Hellcats of the Navy. She was in three films after the couple wed; Hellcats was their only film together.
The atheist scientist Richard Dawkins was the speaker that night in Little Rock and he had a haughty attitude towards Christians. Brummett’s comment shows the attitude towards Christians that religious believers can be dangerous. Kerby Anderson answered this concern in his commentary “Answering the New Atheists.” He observed:
For our discussion, we will be using the general outline of the book Is God Just a Human Invention? written by Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow, Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow, Is God Just a Human Invention? (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2010)…
The New Atheists contend that religion is not just false; it’s also dangerous. Sam Harris believes it should be treated like slavery and eradicated.{14} Christopher Hitchens wants to rally his fellow atheists against religion: “It has become necessary to know the enemy, and to prepare to fight it.”{15} Richard Dawkins is even more specific: “I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they have been invented.”{16}
Much of the criticism against religion revolves around violence. We do live in a violent world, and religion has often been the reason (or at least the justification) for violent acts. But the New Atheists are kidding themselves if they think that a world without religion would usher in a utopia where there is no longer violence, oppression, or injustice.
Sean McDowell and Jonathan Morrow point out in their book on the New Atheists that details matter when you are examining religion. Injustices by the Taliban in Afghanistan ought not to be used as part of the cumulative cases against religion in general or Christianity in particular. The fact that there are Muslim terrorists in the world today does not mean that all Muslims are dangerous. And it certainly doesn’t mean that Christianity is dangerous.
Alister McGrath reminds us that “all ideals—divine, transcendent, human or invented—are capable of being abused. That’s just the way human nature is. And that happens to religion as well. Belief in God can be abused, and we need to be very clear, in the first place, that abuse happens, and in the second, that we need to confront and oppose this. But abuse of an ideal does not negate its validity.”{17}
Religion is not the problem. People are the problem because they are sinful and live in a fallen world. Keith Ward puts this in perspective:
No one would deny that there have been religious wars in human history. Catholics have fought Protestants, Sunni Muslims have fought Shi’a Muslims, and Hindus have fought Muslims. However, no one who has studied history could deny that most wars in human history have not been religious. And in the case of those that have been religious, the religious component has usually been associated with some non-religious, social, ethnic, or political component that has exerted a powerful influence on the conflicts.{18}
The New Atheists, however, still want to contend that religion is dangerous while refusing to accept that atheism has been a major reason for death and destruction. If you were to merely look at body count, the three atheistic regimes of the twentieth century (Hitler in Nazi Germany, Stalin in Russia, and Mao in China) are responsible for more than 100 million deaths.
Dinesh D’Souza explains that “Religion-inspired killing simply cannot compete with the murders perpetrated by atheist regimes.” Even when you take into account the differences in the world’s population, he concludes that “death caused by Christian rulers over a five-hundred-year period amount to only 1 percent of the deaths caused by Stalin, Hitler, and Mao in the space of a few decades.”{19}
Religion is not the problem; people are the problem. And removing religion and God from a society doesn’t make it less dangerous. The greatest death toll in history took place in the last century in atheistic societies.
Richard Dawkins on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox:
Ravi Zacharias, Christian apologist, discusses atheism pt 2
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
Ronald Reagan and Virginia Mayo in the 1952 film She’s Working her Way Through College.
Reagan cared a lot putting in across the board tax cuts and he talks about his plans during the 1980 Republican National Convention. This tax cut brought about a huge boast to our economy.
We are never defeated unless we give up on God. Ronald Reagan
We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent. Ronald Reagan
We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan
We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child. Ronald Reagan
We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule. Ronald Reagan
We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. Ronald Reagan
We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added. Ronald Reagan
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free. Ronald Reagan
We’re in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan roasts George Burns.
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
Ronald Reagan plays with his daughter Patti in the pool of their Pacific Palisades, Calif., home in 1966.
In 2003 José Piñera, President of the International Center for Pension Reform and Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute, gave this conference warning the upcoming crisis of the west. For more information about José Piñera’s ideas and Pension Reform visit http://www.josepinera.com or http://www.pensionreform.org
Social Security Series Part 6
Max Brantley on his Arkansas Times blog on Sept 3, 2010 wrote concerning Social Security privatization efforts, “Allowing such individual investment decisions would be the doom of the system as we know it and those who favor the approach know it full well.”
I would counter Mr. Brantley with two pieces of information. First, the path we are on is unsustainable. The video clip rightly points out that the unfunded liabilities of “pay as you go state run pension systems are enormous” and they are “a time bomb” as José Piñera notes in the above video in 2003. He said of Europe: “I am astonished that the political leadership of Europe does not understand the seriousness of this threat. It is a time bomb. The unfunded liabilities of the pay as you go state run pension systems are enormous.”
Basically the USA will be where PIIGGS is today. Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Great Britain, and Spain are guilty of following down the path of socialism that we are going down. The only difference is that we are about 10 years behind them. Similar results can be expected in the USA that they have now. This forecast of José Piñera was given in 2003.
Second, Proponents of Social Security privatization can cite examples of other countries all over the world privatizing their social security systems and can report much success.
Australia began to implement personal accounts back in the mid-1980s, and the results have been remarkable. The government’s finances are stronger. National saving has increased. But most important, people now can look forward to a safer and more secure retirement. Another great example is Chile, which set up personal accounts in the early 1980s. This interview with Jose Pinera, who designed the Chilean system, is a great summary of why personal accounts are necessary. All told, about 30 nations around the world have set up some form of personal accounts. Even Sweden, which the left usually wants to mimic, has partially privatized its Social Security system.
President Obama signs the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act on June 2, 2009, as former first lady Nancy Reagan looks on.
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
UPON SIGNING THE RONALD REAGAN CENTENNIAL COMMISSION ACT
I am going to include in my series on Ronald Wilson Reagan a group of articles from USA Today that deal with today’s politicians and what they appreciated about Reagan.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was a believer. As a husband, a father, an entertainer, a governor and a president, he recognized that each of us has the power — as individuals and as a nation — to shape our own destiny. He had faith in the American promise; in the importance of reaffirming values like hard work and personal responsibility; and in his own unique ability to inspire others to greatness.
No matter what political disagreements you may have had with President Reagan— and I certainly had my share — there is no denying his leadership in the world, or his gift for communicating his vision for America
President Reagan recognized the American people’s hunger for accountability and change — putting our nation on a bold new path toward both. And although he knew that conflicts between parties and political adversaries were inevitable, he also knew that they would never be strong enough to break the ties that bind us together. He understood that while we may see the world differently and hold different opinions about what’s best for our country, the fact remains that we are all patriots who put the welfare of our fellow citizens above all else.
It was a philosophy that President Reagan took to heart — famously saying that he and Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill, with whom he sparred constantly, could be friends after 6 o’clock. It’s what led him to compromise on issues as contentious as Social Security and tax cuts. And it’s what allowed him to work with leaders of all political persuasions to advance the cause of freedom, democracy and security around the world, including reducing nuclear weapons and imagining a world, ultimately, without nuclear weapons.
But perhaps even more important than any single accomplishment was the sense of confidence and optimism President Reagan never failed to communicate to the American people. It was a spirit that transcended the most heated political arguments, and one that called each of us to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. At a time when our nation was going through an extremely difficult period, with economic hardship at home and very real threats beyond our borders, it was this positive outlook, this sense of pride, that the American people needed more than anything.
When the future looked darkest and the way ahead seemed uncertain, President Reagan understood both the hardships we faced and the hopes we held for the future. He understood that it is always “Morning in America.” That was his gift, and we remain forever grateful.
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, then California Gov. Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope and John Wayne attend a party to benefit Reagan’s gubernatorial campaign in 1970.
Its the Master of Venom’s turn to dish out the punishment, this time its Govenor Ronald Reagan.
There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. Ronald Reagan
There are no easy answers’ but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Ronald Reagan
There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder. Ronald Reagan
They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. Ronald Reagan
Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying. Ronald Reagan
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy. Ronald Reagan
To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will. Ronald Reagan
Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. Ronald Reagan
Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse. Ronald Reagan
Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders. Ronald Reagan
Violence has been Nicaragua’s most important export to the world. Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
President Reagan and Nancy Reagan wave from a limousine during the Inaugural Parade on Jan. 20, 1981, in Washington. This was the warmest Inauguration Day on record, hitting 55 degrees.
A great moment in modern conservatism. 1980 Republican National Convention speech by Ronald Reagan.
But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret. Ronald Reagan
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. Ronald Reagan
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. Ronald Reagan
Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets. Ronald Reagan
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. Ronald Reagan
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Ronald Reagan
Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. Ronald Reagan
Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them. Ronald Reagan
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin. Ronald Reagan
I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress. Ronald Reagan
I’ve never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a ‘fat cat’ and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a ‘public-spirited philanthropist’. Ronald Reagan
If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party. Ronald Reagan
If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
President Reagan is pushed into his limousine after shots are fired. He would joke with doctors lat
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
President Reagan and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor walk outside the Supreme Court after O’Connor was sworn in Sept. 25, 1981. O’Connor was the first woman on the Supreme Court.
Reagan humor
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on Feb 6, 1911. I wanted to celebrate his life the next couple of weeks with some great posts about him. Today I am starting off with some funny quotes from him.
“Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, you coast for awhile, you have a hell of a closing.”
“What does an actor know about politics?” -criticizing Ed Asner for opposing American foreign policy
“What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who’s played with a chimp, could have a future in politics?” -on Clint Eastwood’s bid to become mayor of Carmel
“How can a president not be an actor?” -when asked “How could an actor become president?’
“I hope you’re all Republicans.” -speaking to surgeons as he entered the operating room following a 1981 assassination attempt.
“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency — even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.”
“Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'”
“I don’t know. I’ve never played a governor.” -asked by a reporter in 1966 what kind of governor he would be
“There is absolutely no circumstance whatever under which I would accept that spot. Even if they tied and gagged me, I would find a way to signal by wiggling my ears.” –on possibly being offered the vice presidency in 1968
“You can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.” -explaining why he liked to have a jar of jelly beans on hand for important meetings
“I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” -during a 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
“As a matter of fact, Nancy never had any interest in politics or anything else when we got married.”
“I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”
“I’m afraid I can’t use a mule. I have several hundred up on Capitol Hill.” -refusing a gift of a mule
President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary
President Reagan and Queen Elizabeth II pose for photographers at a formal state dinner at the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. At left are Prince Philip and first lady Nancy Reagan.
