Are You Ready for "Peace?"

What follows is an analysis of the "Report from Iron Mountain," a study conducted in 1966 to determine how to prepare American society for disarmament ("peace").  This analysis was done prior to my reading Chapter 24 of "The Creature from Jekyll Island."

Introduction

I began my blog as an investigation into current events, because they seemed far outside the norm of what should be happening in the United State of America as established by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  I sought to discover the motivation behind these events.  From my research, I have developed the hypothesis that world leaders are attempting to establish a "One World Government" to finally bring "peace" to the world.  Let me explain:

1. I believe that God, as revealed to us in the Bible, exists.
2. I believe that men have a natural tendency to seek power over other men.
3. I believe that men have a natural desire to attempt to solve humanity's problems (i.e. establish "peace"), without the assistance or acknowledgement of God, as this will make them god-like.
4. If you are going to establish "peace" on the planet, you will have a plan to do so.

I believe that I may have come across a seed crystal for just such a plan that focuses on transitioning a society from a state "war" to a state of "peace," potentially under a One World Government of some sort.  This plan is described in the "Report from Iron Mountain" which was written in 1966 by a group of 15 professionals who represented different fields and professions and were collectively referred to as the Special Study Group.  We are potentially seeing glimpses of the actions taken during such a transition today.

Whether or not anyone follows the recommendations of this Report verbatim, the thought process behind it is very similar to what is being done for Agenda 21 and other socialist movements.  The authors of the Report call for centralized control of the population, and acknowledge that "The elimination of war implies the inevitable elimination of national sovereignty and the traditional nation-state." (p. 36)  Interestingly enough, this is not at odds with general communist goals, as stated at the first World Congress in 1919:

The Comintern [Communist International] would work "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State."  (source)

Before we continue, we must ask ourselves, what is "peace" (dictionary definition).  In the Report, it only means the absence of war between nations.  But there is an implication that is not stated.  With peace, generally something must be surrendered.  In Christianity, the individual surrenders to Christ.  In Islam, the society surrender to all the aspects of its totalitarian ideology.  So what do you surrender in a man-made peace?  I believe it is your liberties afforded you as an American citizen, because according to this report, to achieve peace, the population must be deceived and strictly controlled.  If you believe what the Lord has taught us, there will be no true peace until the return of our Savior.  Until then, any efforts by man to do likewise, especially through socialist methods, will end in utter failure, and most likely death (look back to transitions in Soviet Russia, Communist China, and Pol Pot in Cambodia).

The "Report from Iron Mountain" indicates that the following actions may be required in a transition to peace:

1. Deceiving the people of the United States
2. Maintaining centralized control of the population
3. Massive disarmament and the transition of the economy to another form
4. Creating fictitious alternate enemies (aliens, pollution, etc.)
5. Potentially implementing a modern form of slavery
6. Implementation of a eugenics program for population control
7. Implementation of a massive social welfare program

What the Report does not address:

1. God (ruled out from the beginning)
2. The People of the United States as being sovereign
3. The Constitution of the United States and the protection of individual liberties

In its Report, the Special Study Group (SSG) first looked at the current state of war and its functions within society, identified what is needed for transition to peace, and then made recommendations as to what substitutes could replace those functions provided by war.

The Functions of War (from pp. 59-60 of the Report)

1. Economic.  War has provided both ancient and modern societies with a dependable system for stabilizing and controlling national economies.
2. Political. The permanent possibility of war is the foundation for stable government; it supplies the basis for general acceptance of political authority. It has enabled societies to maintain necessary class distinctions, and it has ensured the subordination of the citizen to the state, by virtue of the residual war powers
inherent in the concept of nationhood.
3. Sociological.  War, through the medium of military institutions, has uniquely served societies, throughout the course of known history, as an indispensable controller of dangerous social dissidence and destructive
antisocial tendencies.... [T]he war system has provided the machinery through which the motivational forces governing human behavior have been translated into binding social allegiance. It has thus ensured the degree of social cohesion necessary to the viability of nations.
4. Ecological.  War has been the principal evolutionary device for maintaining a satisfactory ecological balance between gross human population and supplies available for its survival.
5. Cultural and Scientific. War-orientation has determined the basic standards of value in the creative arts, and has provided the fundamental motivational source of scientific and technological progress. The concepts that the arts express values independent of their own forms and that the successful pursuit of knowledge has intrinsic social value have long been accepted in modern societies; the development of the arts and sciences during this period has been corollary to the parallel development of weaponry.

Requirements for Transition to Peace (from p. 61 of the Report)

1. Economic.  An acceptable economic surrogate for the war system will require the expenditure of resources for completely nonproductive purposes at a level comparable to that of the military expenditures otherwise demanded by the size and complexity of each society. Such a substitute system of apparent "waste" must be of a nature that will permit it to remain independent of the normal supply-demand economy; it must be subject to arbitrary political control.
2. Political. A viable political substitute for war must posit a generalized external menace to each society of a nature and degree sufficient to require the organization and acceptance of political authority.
3. Sociological.  First, in the permanent absence of war, new institutions must be developed that will effectively control the socially destructive segments of societies. Second, for purposes of adapting the physical and psychological dynamics of human behavior to the needs of social organization, a credible substitute for war must generate an omnipresent and readily understood fear of personal destruction. This fear must be of a nature and degree sufficient to ensure adherence to societal values to the full extent that they are acknowledged to transcend the value of individual human life.
4. Ecological.  A substitute for war in its function as the uniquely human system of population control must ensure the survival, if not necessarily the improvement, of the species, in terms of its relations to environmental supply.
5. Cultural and Scientific. A surrogate for the function of war as the determinant of cultural values must establish a basis of socio-moral conflict of equally compelling force and scope. A substitute motivational basis for the quest for scientific knowledge must be similarly informed by a comparable sense of internal necessity.

Potential Substitutes for War Functions (p. 62 of the Report)
1. Economic.
    a) A comprehensive social-welfare program, directed toward maximum improvement of general conditions of human life.
    b) A giant open-end space research program, aimed at unreachable targets.
    c) A permanent, ritualized, ultra-elaborate disarmament inspection system, and variants of such a
system. (This last substitute was generally rejected by the SSG.)
2. Political.
    a) An omnipresent, virtually omnipotent international police force. (This recommendation was generally dismissed by the SSG because it would imply a continuing state of warfare of some nature.)
    b) An established and recognized extraterrestrial menace.
    c) Massive global environmental pollution. d) Fictitious alternate enemies.
3. Sociological.
    Control Function:
      a) Programs generally derived from the Peace Corps model.
      b) A modern, sophisticated form of slavery.
    Motivational Function:
      a) Intensified environmental pollution.
      b) New religions or other mythologies.
      c) Socially oriented blood games.
      d) Combination forms.
4. Ecological. A comprehensive program of applied eugenics.  (eugenics: the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics).)
5. Cultural and Scientific.
    Cultural: No replacement institution offered.
    Scientific: The secondary requirements of the space research, social welfare, and / or eugenics programs.

Signs of Transition

Like all good planners, the SSG recommends that the solutions be arrived at before implementation begins.  What follows is taking the model provided by the SSG planners and fitting current events to that model.  The fact that many current events fit into this model does not in and of itself validate that the powers-that-be are actually following the model as laid out in the Report.  However, it could help explain these curious events that currently seem to make no sense otherwise.

1. Economic.
    a. The Affordable Care Act, being enormous in cost, independent of the normal supply/demand model, and under arbitrary political control, may meet the criteria to be a substitute function for the current military expenditures of the United States.  It even calls for a new civil defense force that may meet the need for a Peace Corps type organization in the Sociological realm.
    b. Some national leaders have thrown out the ideas of establishing a "moon base" or putting a human on Mars, which could be interpreted as efforts to establish an open-ended space program as the substitute for the military portion of the budget.
    c. Sequestration and the currently planned cuts to the military budget will assist in significantly reducing the size of the United States military over a 10-year period, and reduce its portion of the entire national budget.
    d. The current precarious position of the US military deployed in the Pacific and Mideast could result in significant losses should war erupt in near-simultaneous fashion.  This, coupled with the budget/deficit problems, could force the retirement of the US military from overseas positions.
    e. The creation of, and government support for, "green jobs" may be an attempt to replace a portion of the military industry in the economy with a completely new sector.

2. Political.
    a. The UFO phenomenon that has been present for decades now may not be a credible enough threat  to force people to accept political authority.  Threat from a meteor/asteroid strike might not either.
    b. Islam could be used as the external (and potentially internal) "menace," or even the controlling political structure itself.  However, the acceptance of Islam by the American people as that internal political structure may not be feasible.

3. Sociological.
   a. There will be a requirement to transition people currently serving in the military into other professions due to "general disarmament."  The new initiative by the Department of Defense, "Reverse Boot Camp," could be the start point for a larger program to support such massive disarmament and returning military professionals to civilian life commensurate with the disarmament.
   b. With the amount of debt being placed on the backs of the American taxpayer in the form of the national debt, home loans, college loans, etc., this could potentially serve as a modern form of slavery for the American people--slavery to enormous debt that is owed to the central government. (control function)
   c.  There are the current hyped-up threats of man-made "global warming" and "climate change" that can be used for the motivational function and provide "fear of personal destruction."  Maybe an asteroid or meteor strike.  (motivational function)

4. Ecological.
    a. Legalized abortion serves eugenics purposes by limiting the size of the population and the number of children had by members of the lower classes of society.  With pre-natal testing, abortion allows couples to abort children with birth defects.
    b. The promotion of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender behavior also helps reduce the size of the population by encouraging men to "shoot at the wrong target" and women to opt out of child-bearing relationships.
    c. Some researchers are now suggesting that post-birth abortions are ethical, which can also be used to reduce the size of the population and eliminate children with birth defects that were not identified in the womb.

5. Cultural and Scientific.
    a. A potential cultural replacement institution could be Islam which brings with it the complete totalitarian package that appears to be required by this Report.  However, the SSG potentially dismisses the need for a "god" by stating "It may be, however, that a basic cultural value-determinant [i.e. God] is not necessary to the survival of a stable society." (p. 63)  Another possibility could be the worship of the planet.
    b. An attempt to find a substitute for the scientific contributions of the war industry could be with the development "green technology," or potentially the space exploration sector should the US decide to resume its space program.

Special Study Group Recommendation

The Special Study Group's (SSG) primary recommendation at the conclusion of the report was for the United States Government to establish a WAR/PEACE Research Agency to determine technically feasible, politically acceptable, and socially credible "substitute institutions for the principal non-military  functions of war" (pp. 61, 69) and "to ensure the continuing viability of the war system to fulfill its essential nonmilitary functions for as long as the war system is judged necessary to or desirable for the survival of society." (p. 70)

The Agency's organization and powers are described as follows:

This agency (a) will be provided with non-accountable funds sufficient to implement its responsibilities and decisions at its own discretion, and (b) will have authority to preempt and utilize, without restriction, any and all facilities of the executive branch of the government in pursuit of its objectives. It will be organized along the lines of the National Security Council, except that none of its governing, executive, or operating personnel will hold other public office or governmental responsibility. Its directorate will be drawn from the broadest practicable spectrum of scientific disciplines, humanistic studies, applied creative arts, operating technologies, and otherwise unclassified professional occupations. It will be responsible solely to the President, or to other officers of government temporarily deputized by him. Its operations will be governed entirely by its own rules of procedure. Its authority will expressly include the unlimited right to withhold information on its activities and its decisions, from anyone except the President, whenever it deems such secrecy to be in the public interest. (p. 69)

Conclusion of the Special Study Group (pp. 64-66)

Such solutions, if indeed they exist, will not be arrived at without a revolutionary revision of the modes of thought heretofore considered appropriate to peace research. That we have examined the fundamental questions involved from a dispassionate, value-free [aka no God] point of view should not imply that we do not appreciate the intellectual and emotional difficulties that must be overcome on all decision-making levels before these questions are generally acknowledged by others for what they are. (p. 64)

A viable system of peace, assuming that the great and complex questions of substitute institutions raised in this Report are both soluble and solved, would still constitute a venture into the unknown, with the inevitable risks attendant on the unforeseen, however small and however well hedged. (p. 65)

It is possible that one or more major sovereign nations may arrive, through ambiguous leadership, at a position in which a ruling administrative class may lose control of basic public opinion or of its ability to rationalize a desired war. It is not hard to imagine, in such circumstances, a situation in which such governments may feel forced to initiate serious full-scale disarmament proceedings (perhaps provoked by "accidental" nuclear explosions), and that such negotiations may lead to the actual disestablishment of military institutions. As our Report has made clear, this could be catastrophic.(p. 66)

Summary

This Report is one of the most evil documents I have ever read.  The SSG presupposes the absence of God, and treats humans as animals governed by evolution and survival of the fittest.  Not surprisingly, their construct is the polar opposite of how our Founding Fathers solved the problem of creating a new government for the United States of America, by first assuming there is a God who endowed us with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

What we observe in the Report from Iron Mountain is man's total reliance on science (or human knowledge and reason) and a blatant rejection of God.  What is important to know is that there are people in the world that think this way, and can exploit science and reason to "rationally" support their conclusions, no matter how faulty their premises or how inhumane their solutions.  As a result, these are very dangerous people.

The Report from Iron Mountain, like socialism, is a great thought exercise.  However, its implementation will result in utter failure because of a critical precondition that was set by the Group: that God is not a factor (basically, does not exist).

The United States of America, as a Christian nation, can never be at "peace" with the rest of the world.  This is because the rest of the world is replete with poisonous ideologies that seek to destroy our liberties and faith in God.  So to even harbor the thought that peace is possible before the return of Christ is fallacious.

Finally, in the United States, the people are sovereign.  The fact that this Report proposes that our government deceive the people in order to transition to a state of peace indicates that many of the recommendations of the "Report from Iron Mountain" are treasonous (treason: 1. the offense of acting to overthrow one's government or to harm or kill its sovereign. 2.a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's state. 3. the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery.).

Read the Report from Iron Mountain at your own mental peril.  Two of the group members experienced heart attacks following the completion of the Report. (p. 13)  I personally have not experienced such a bad physical response to reading a document since reading descriptions of partial-birth abortions.

Primary resource: "Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace."  New York: The Dial Press, 1967.  (link)

Disclaimer: These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions or official positions of any United States Government agency, organization or department.

The Presbyterian Church (USA): What Progressive Christianity Looks Like

"They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them....They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.  They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied.  They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed....They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor..."   2 Peter 2:1, 13-15

Introduction.  It appears that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is positioning itself to become the Progressive Church of America by adopting the entire progressive agenda, hook, line and sinker.  This includes the homosexual agenda, the environmentalist agenda, the Open Society agenda (George Soros), and the acknowledgment that other religions are legitimate pathways to God.  Frankly, PC(USA) appears to be more like the Church of Oprah Winfrey rather than a Church based on the Word of God.

What follows are several of the topics that the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA, addressed this summer.  As a Christian having grown up in the Presbyterian Church, I find the topics and the PC(USA) responses to them alarming.

(1) Boycott of Israeli products from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  "After three failed attempts to bring divestment back to the table, commissioners to the 220th General Assembly voted with a 71% majority to boycott “all Israeli products coming from the occupied Palestinian Territories....” One of the motions considered by the Assembly was the use of the word "apartheid" to describe the condition of Palestinians at the hands of Israelis....  The Assembly agreed and voted with a 72% majority to reject the motion."  (link)

"He [Bonhoeffer] had become convinced that a church that was not willing to stand up for the Jews in its midst was not the real church of Jesus Christ."  Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Eric Metaxas and Timothy J. Keller) (Bonhoeffer was a Christian pastor during the time of Nazi Germany.)

"I will make you a great nation.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.  All the families on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:2-3

(2) "New Arab democracies doing in a few years what it took the U.S. over 200 to do."  They willingly listened to Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University in Beirut, spout hogwash like:

• The United States and Israel need to understand and appreciate the change taking place this year across the Arab world because “you have for the first time nations with popular legitimacy.”  
• He pointed to the birth of the United States, followed almost 100 years later by the Civil War, later still by women’s rights, and now by issues of immigration, gender issues and sexual orientation. “You’re still debating these issues,” Khouri said. “They [the new Arab democracies] are debating these issues in one year.” (link)

We should be skeptical of the quality of the freedoms that result from these new Arab democracies, since they are influenced by the Islamic ideology that requires the implementation of shariah law, and because many of their leaders, like the President of Egypt, are members of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The freedoms of fellow Christians in those nations will most certainly be in jeopardy, as will the lives of the Jewish people in neighboring Israel.

"...you may kill the idol worshippers when you encounter them, punish them, and resist every move they make." --Sura 9:5 of the Quran

"You shall fight them, for GOD will punish them at your hands, humiliate them, grant you victory over them..." --Sura 9:14 of the Quran

"As for those who reject our revelations, and are too arrogant to uphold them, they have incurred Hell, wherein they abide forever.  Who is more evil than those who invent lies about GOD, or reject His revelations?  These will get their share, in accordance with the scripture, then, when our messengers come to terminate their lives..." --Sura 7:36-37 of the Quran

"God is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations."--Motto of the Muslim Brotherhood

(3) Rejected the return to the 'fidelity and chastity' language to the ordination standards.  In 2010 PC(USA) removed the language that required pastors to be either chaste or in a faithful marriage between a man and woman.  As a result, homosexuals are now permitted to hold leadership positions in the church. (link)

"Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman.  It is a detestable sin."  --Leviticus 18:22

"Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Don't fool yourselves.  Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people--none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God....  You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you....  But you can't say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality.  They were made for the Lord..."  --1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 12-13

(4) Redefining marriage.  The Assembly rejected the idea of affirming that the definition of marriage is "a civil contract between a woman and a man" and instead called for a two-year study in the matter.  (link)  Two proposals during the General Assembly:

• Change the definition of marriage from between a woman and a man to between two people...The proposal to change the definition of marriage passed 28-24, with commissioners on both sides expressing fear about being unfaithful to God’s call.  (Against All Enemies note: Are you more concerned about obeying God or pleasing Man?)
• Call for a “season of serious study and discernment” about the meaning of Christian marriage. (link)

"But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband."  -- 1 Corinthians 7:2

"As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one."  This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one."  --Ephesians 5:31-32

(5) Approving multiple actions in regard to immigrants.  PC(USA) may have adopted the ideology of multiculturalism and an Open Society where there are no national borders, and may also be asking its members to ignore current immigration laws.  Frankly, how illegal immigrants are dealt with on a personal level needs to be left up to each parishioner's conscience and not dictated from on high.

• Affirming the scriptural call to provide hospitality to and justice for immigrants, regardless of status
• Continuing to advocate on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform
• Actively advocating for legislation such as the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) that offers hope for young immigrants by providing a pathway to citizenship
• Directing the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness to make immigration reform one of the top policy issues in its work
• Urging the U.S. government to end policies such as Secure Communities, a program of the Department of Homeland Security, because of concern that the program has led to racial profiling, lack of due process and violations of human rights related to the arrest and detention of immigrants
• Encouraging presbyteries to create cross-cultural ministry teams and immigration issues task forces
• Calling on congregations to build relationships with immigrants and refugees and to learn about the gifts they have to offer
• Incorporating stories from churches engaged in ministry with immigrants into times of worship and sharing at next year’s Big Tent event and at the 221st General Assembly (2014) (link to article)

(6) Steering away from the one true path; worship of the planet.  The following "to do" list was recommended by a speaker at a "Voices of Sophia" breakfast.  The points sound very much like New Age philosophies that are fundamentally at odds with the Christian faith.

• the need to create holistic, sacred space
• giving attention to inclusive, expansive language for God
• speaking truth to power about warmongering, sable-rattling, and more
• recognizing the earth as an endangered species
• building coalitions with other faith communities (link to article)

Why are we building coalitions with other faith communities when the Church should be spreading the Good News to them?  This sounds like the legitimization of other faiths as pathways to God.

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  --John 14:6

(7) Embraced the ideology of environmentalism (socialism).  Remember F.A. Hayek said in "The Road to Serfdom" that "...this is linked directly to the environmentalist agenda to only produce that which we need...using the threat to the environment as the rationale for controlling production..." (p. 84).  PC(USA) fails to understand that by supporting socialist goals such as those established by environmentalists, the end state will be tyranny and a limitation on religious freedoms to ensure the power of the state is unchallenged.  What follows demonstrates some of the discussion about the matter during the General Assembly.

Economic growth “has taken on a God-like identity,” Kovacs said, “and fossil fuels have become the economic temple of global commerce. This is perilous to the well-being of humanity, especially the impoverished.”

The World Christian Student Federation (WCSF), composed of Christian student groups from around the world, has been active in a program of the World Council of Churches called AGAPE, which is promoting “an alternative global development policy that integrates concerns for poverty, wealth and ecology.” Regional gatherings around the world over the last four years culminated last month in a Global Economic Forum on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology. 

“We are addicted to economic models that are the antithesis of God’s justice, which is not a political system or a social gospel but THE gospel―the good news for the hungry is a piece of bread.” (link)

Another speaker, Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, espoused more global socialist policies:

Nelson listed other examples of violence, including the “economic violence in our nation, where two classes are emerging—one rich and the other poor.” Free trade agreements, because they are not about “fair trade,” have contributed to violence and poverty in developing nations. Nations such as Iran and the United States are in a “race to see who can take out the other.” (link)

(8) Retained PC(USA) Property Clause.  This ruling prevents a local congregation from owning their own property, keeping it in the hands of the PC(USA) denomination as a whole.  This is most likely a move to prevent congregations from seceding from PC(USA). (link)

(9) Ruled on social(ist) issues. (link)

• Calling for an end to Poverty Zone Development and a resolution on Workers’ Rights and Income Equality
• Supporting the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• A set of principles and actions called World of Hurt, Word of Life: “Renewing God’s Communion in the Work of Economic Reconstruction”
• A Resolution on Racism, Incarceration and Restoration
• Commending the 2011-2012 Horizons Bible Study and the Accra Confession
• Plans to update the Safe Child Policy in the PC(USA)
• Supporting justice for survivors of sexual abuse
• A Statement on housing and the mortgage crisis
• Appointing two seasons of prayer to seek the will of God in this year’s election
• A Statement of concern about prolonged solitary confinement
• Advocating for trade reform and accountability

Conclusion.

"I believe that the church's main power comes through the influence of chiefly their congregations.  If the Word is not taught properly, then it sets itself up for failure when assailed by challenges to the beliefs of the faith."  Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Eric Metaxas and Timothy J. Keller)

"We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans." Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Eric Metaxas and Timothy J. Keller)

I have not been to seminary and am therefore not a pastor, but I do possess the capacity to read.  In 1536, William Tyndale sacrificed his life to ensure that the people of Britain had access to an English translation of the Bible.  He did so to prevent the Church of England from possessing the sole ability to interpret the Bible and relate it to the people based on what the Church of England wanted the people to believe.

Some 400 years later we are fortunate to still be able to read the Bible in English, but are being told by churches like PC(USA) that our interpretations are wrong.  Instead, we are being fed interpretations that fit an earthly agenda.  The Presbyterian Church, USA, is clearly becoming of the world, as opposed to being in it.  The leadership of PC(USA) fits the Bible to the world, as opposed to making the world fit to the Bible.

What business does the Church have meddling in all these topics covered during this year's General Assembly?  Should they not be more concerned about ministering to their flocks instead of establishing a social platform?  The behavior of PC(USA) appears more like that of a progressive, secular political party rather than that of a church concerned first and foremost with following Christ.

Bottom line is this: PC(USA) needs to get back to basics--the Word of God--or witness more of the faithful walking away.

(From 2010 to 2011, the total membership of PC(USA) declined by 63,804 members.--article link)

Disclaimer: These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions or official positions of any United States Government agency, organization or department.