Secret Romney Meeting with BJU Staff and Students – Recorded!

CNN is reporting that Mitt Romney held an invitation-only meeting with BJU staff and students.  This was not endorsed by the college or held on campus, to my knowledge.  Present was BJU Dean Robert Taylor, who told students concerning hesitancy over Romney’s Mormonism (i.e. Cultic beliefs):

“I think there’s a lot of us evangelicals that have kind of held back a little,” Taylor said. “They realize he’s the guy they would like to support, but they’re kind of looking left and right and seeing, ‘OK who has the courage to step out and support him and if somebody else does maybe I will, too.’

“So you can probably be the encouragement to that neighbor or that other church member that’s a little concerned.”

I think that is odd how this BJU Dean does not label himself as a fundamentalist but as only an evangelical.  This may seem inconsequential, but what is the difference between a Fundamentalist and an Evangelical?  It is the doctrine of separation.   In this case, Taylor is encouraging his students to go out and tell their fellow believers in church that this Mormon is ok for you to support.  Go out into the highways and byways and help this Mormon man win the presidency.  Does this strike anyone else as odd?

You can read the whole CNN report here.  The report does contain audio clips from the meeting, recorded without knowledge from the Romney campaign or BJU. 

Here I Stand Podcast #1 – Conversation with Dr. Bob Jones, III

This is a very short conversation with Dr. Bob Jones concerning his endorsement of Mitt Romney for President.  This took place at a Christian teachers convention here in MA, shortly before a workshop session taught by Dr. Jones. 

While readers of my blog know that I am sadly disappointed with Dr. Jones (See here), I was still respectful while conversing with him.  I do respect his life’s work and ministry.  Besides, this was not the place for debating and it was never meant to be a serious interview.  Besides, I didn’t even realize my recorder was on (I recorded each workshop session I attended that day)!  So do not expect a highly confrontation exchange!  After the conversation, we were still brothers in Christ.

Nevertheless, I did let Dr. Bob know that Romney failed to do his job as Governor when it came to homosexual marriage.  The Massachusetts Constitution, Part Two, Chapter Three, Article Five states:  “All causes of marriage, divorce, and alimony, and all appeals from the Judges of probate shall be heard and determined by the Governor and Council, until the Legislature shall, by law, make other provision.–”

The conversation is about 2 minutes in length.

Download the mp3 here.
Listen to the stream here.

The Podcast is Coming

The very first Here I Stand Podcast is on its way.  I will attempt to post one podcast every other week or so.  I would love to do another weekly podcast, but my schedule will simply not allow for it. 

 This podcast will cover the same themes as this blog does – whatever happens to be in my mind at the moment!  The official podcast tagline will be “Covering all things spiritual, political, and topical.”  Bascially, whatever I feel like posting, will be posted.  Many of the podcasts will be my own messages preached in various locations.  I will also be posting some never-before-heard Delve into the Depths and Fundamental Persepective interviews.  Those will be interesting.  Throw in some politics and you have my podcast!

Our first podcast will feature a short conversation I had with Dr. Bob Jones III concerning his endorsement of Mitt Romney.  I think you will find that interesting.

The Spirit of Fear and the Politics that Go with it

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.   – II Timothy 1:7

Earlier this week, Dr. Bob Jones, III officially endorsed Mitt Romney for President.  Quite frankly, I am shocked and appalled at this decision.  I have the utmost respect for Dr. Bob and for Bob Jones University.  However, this endorsement is irresponsible. 

I think what I find most shocking about this is the reasoning behind it.  Dr. Bob said, “This is all about beating Hillary.”  He went on to add, “If it turns out to be Guiliani and Hillary, we’ve got two pro- choice candidates, and that would be a disaster.” 

This is what I call the politics of fear.  Because we fear a supposedly evil person, we will stop at nothing, including the compromise of principles and conviction, to prevent their election.  Often times, we decide to back a lesser evil person who we deem not as bad.  Of course the problem is that the lesser of two evils is still evil. 

That is what Dr. Jones is clearly guilty of.  He deems Hillary and Rudy to be so scary, he has decided to back a flip-flopping cultist responsible for legalizing homosexual marriage here in Massachusetts.  Is this really something the Lord would want us to do?

The Bible tells us that we have not been given a spirit of fear.  But, one thing we have been given is a sound mind.  A sound mind does not make decisions based on fear or polling data, but on prayer, Biblical principal and Scriptural convictions.  A sound mind is not easily led astray by anxious worry neither is it bullied into bad decisions by bad situations.

As Christians, we do what is right and leave the consequences to our sovereign, Almighty Lord.  We are not to do what is right only when we think the consequences will be favorable.  We do not know how the Lord will work. 

People think the election of Hillary Clinton would be the worst thing ever to happen.  Therefore drastic measures, even the abandonment of principle, are in order.  Let us remember that Christianity flourished under the persecution of evil Roman dictators such as Nero.  God Himself declares in Romans 9 that He raised up the wicked Egyptian Pharaoh for His purpose.  God is not limited or His work thwarted by any human ruler.  “The king‘s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” – Proverbs 21:1. 

Of course, another thing we must consider is the false dilemma Jones creates in the first place.  Jones suggested we would only be limited two one of two options – Rudy or Hillary.  That is not a true dilema.  There will be other candidates on the ballot.  Yet, again, because Jones deems these to be the only credible candidates, they are the only options available. 

I am a member of the Constitution Party, America’s third largest party. Our motto is “principles over politics.”   We will offer a true alternative to either party’s candidates.  We are a party that is 100% pro-life, against gay marriage or civil unions, and will fight for the freedoms and liberties that we as Christians hold dear.  On top of that, we are the only party still dedicated to upholding the Constitution. 

It has been my experience that most Christians agree with our party in principle, but still feel the need to vote for one of the major party candidates.  This is out of pragmatism, not principle.  Again, the politics of fear. 

Notice that Dr. Bob does not even take third parties into consideration, or even one of the other Republican candidates such as Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter or Mike Huckabee.  We often complain about the lack of choices we have in elections like this.  Yet, we have exactly the political atmosphere we have voted for.  As long as Christians are willing to vote for pro-abortion candidates, that’s what we will get.  As long as we continue to reject pro-life, Christian candidates(because they are third party or not top-tier), the less we will have to choose from.  We have what we vote for. 

Many people wish Republicans would start acting like Republicans.  I just wish Christians would start voting like Christians.  If we would simply start to vote our consciences, we would see a dramatically different political landscape. 

As one who has run for office (with the Constitution Party), I can testify that there are more people out there that believe as we do than most people are aware of.  We often assume that in places such as liberal New England, Christians cannot make a difference.  But as one who has been out there on the campaign trail, I know that not to be true.  Remember, that in many elections, most people do not vote.  In my election, which received a lot of press attention, only 30% of voters came out to the polls.  That means we still do not know what 70% of voters actually believe.  What I came to see was that many people agreed with my views, yet simply believed nothing could be done and stayed home on election day.   Those who did cast their votes yet were too willing to waste their votes on candidates who did not stand where they would stand.  Yes, we can make a difference – if we are willing to pay the price to do that.

However, even if the Christian vote meant nothing, Christians still ought to vote like Christians.  It is the right thing to do regardless of the perception or result.   I wish someone like Dr. Bob Jones, III would take a stand for righteousness and not for pragmatism. 

Bob Jones Dances With The Devil

Chuck Baldwin
October 19, 2007

The Washington Times carried an Associated Press report entitled, “Bob Jones III endorses Mitt Romney.” Here are excerpts:

“Bob Jones III, chancellor of the Christian fundamentalist school named for his family, is endorsing Republican Mitt Romney for president.

“Romney’s campaign confirmed Jones’ endorsement today.”

According to the report Jones told a Greenville, South Carolina newspaper that “supporting Romney is critical to make sure former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doesn’t win the GOP nomination and that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton doesn’t win the election.

“‘If it turns out to be Giuliani and Hillary, we’ve got two pro-choice candidates, and that would be a disaster,’ Jones told The Greenville News for a story on its Web site today.”

Jones also said, “As a Christian I am completely opposed to the doctrines of Mormonism. But I’m not voting for a preacher. I’m voting for a president. It boils down to who can best represent conservative American beliefs, not religious beliefs.”

Bob Jones’ endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor illustrates just how low the Religious Right will go in compromising bedrock principle for the sake of political expediency. Jones says he is supporting Romney so as to help defeat Rudy Giuliani. I very much want to see what Jones will do if and when Giuliani gets the Republican nomination. I would anticipate that he will continue to follow his current modus operandi and support Giuliani, because he would then say that Giuliani is the “lesser of two evils.”

Why do I say that? Because Jones is already demonstrating that he will support one liberal over another liberal. Mitt Romney is not a conservative–not by any measure of the word. And I am confident that Bob Jones knows it.

Romney’s entire political career has been built by catering to the eastern liberal establishment. That he is now attempting to remake himself into a conservative (and that Christian “leaders” are willing to assist this façade) is both laughable and detestable!

In his endorsement announcement, Jones said, “If it turns out to be a Giuliani and Hillary, we’ve got two pro-choice candidates, and that would be a disaster.”

DUH!

Where has Bob Jones III been for the last two decades? Mitt Romney has been a consistent pro-abortion politician since entering public life. His track record is there for anyone who wants to examine it. Here are a few facts Dr. Bob should have looked at before he embarrassed himself and Bob Jones University with this stupidly naïve endorsement.

According to one well-researched account, “Mitt Romney has a long history of supporting pro-abortion candidates and causes, and aggressively sought the support and endorsement of groups such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood. Indeed, Romney is still listed today as a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group supported by Billionaire leftist George Soros dedicated to shifting the GOP leftward on social issues such as abortion rights and stem cell research.

“Romney also has a history of assisting the careers of other prominent pro-abortion politicians. In the 1992 presidential race, Romney endorsed and voted for pro-abortion liberal Democrat Paul Tsongas in the Democratic primary and just three years ago endorsed and made a television ad for Democrat Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, a former Planned Parenthood attorney.

“As Governor, he issued state proclamations honoring ‘Right to Privacy Day’ which until 2005, specifically referenced the Roe vs. Wade case.

“Romney repeatedly took extreme stances on abortion throughout his career and consistently made statements such as this one: ‘I believe that Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it . . .’”

“There simply is no doubt that Romney was one of the most pro-abortion Republican office holders in the country.”

See the full report at: http://www.massresistance.org/romney/prolife.html

As to the issue of “gay rights,” Mitt Romney’s record is equally clear. He has consistently facilitated the radical homosexual agenda.

According to a World Net Daily report, “A website paid for and authorized by the Massachusetts Democratic Party has posted a picture of a flier reportedly passed out at a 2002 ‘gay pride’ event by then-gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney expressing support for homosexual rights.

“The flier, on red paper, claims to have been paid for by ‘the Romney for Governor Committee and Kerry Murphy Healey Committee’ and reads, ‘Mitt and Kerry wish you a great Pride Weekend.’”

See the full report at: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57786

For Mitt Romney to now say that he “took every conceivable step within the law to defend traditional marriage” is just so much hooey, according to my good friend, Harvard law school graduate and founding dean of Regent University’s law school, Herb Titus. Read the report at: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56674

On the subject of gun control, Mitt Romney promised that he would not lift a finger to “chip away” at the gun laws in Massachusetts–a state that has some of the most draconian gun restrictions in the country.

As recently as 2002, Mitt Romney said, “We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them.”

For the “skinny” on Mitt Romney’s leftist anti-gun record, see the Gun Owners of America’s report at: http://gunowners.org/pres08/romney.htm

For a look at Romney’s record on illegal immigration, read this: http://www.vdare.com/burns/070809_romney.htm

Obviously, Mitt Romney is a chameleon who will say anything to anybody in order to get elected. He has flipped and flopped more than John Kerry ever dreamed about. Only an idiot would believe anything this man says. For a very revealing look at Romney’s two-faced, double-talk, go here: http://www.romneyfacts.com/redblue.php

Thankfully, not everyone within the Religious Right has been duped by Mitt Romney. Janet Folger recently wrote the following about the chameleon.

“And then there’s Mitt Romney, making a convenient flip from his ardent pro-abortion stance just in time to run for president. It just seems to me that if you really come to the realization that dismembering children is not good public policy, you’d remember not to FUND it with taxpayer dollars in your state health-care plan . . . after such a conversion. Oh yeah, suddenly he’s pro-marriage, too. So why did Romney publicly beat up on pro-marriage activist Brian Camenker last month? It that’s how he treats people on our side of the issue, that doesn’t bode well for future White House relations. And finally, mandating that homosexual ‘marriage licenses’ be issued without any change in the law requiring it (in direct violation of the Massachusetts State Constitution) isn’t very convincing, either.”

Romney has not fooled World Net Daily editor Joseph Farah, either. Here is what Farah said about Mitt Romney:

“Don’t be fooled by this political chameleon, this charlatan, this pretender to the throne. He’s as phone as a three-dollar campaign promise.”

See Farah’s complete column at: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56637

Folks, here is the problem: Christian leaders such as Bob Jones III have succumbed to the temptation to become glorified politicians. They surrendered their convictions thirty years ago when the old Moral Majority married the Republican Party. Ever since then, Republican politicians have made a living by making dupes out of the so-called Religious Right.

There is another problem: our so-called Christian “leaders” crave attention. They desire notoriety. They are obsessed with having access to power. They want a seat at the king’s table. As a result, they are willing to believe the lies being told them by shrewd and cunning frauds–as long as they are Republicans, of course. As Doc Holliday said in the movie Tombstone, “My hypocrisy only goes so far.”

Accordingly, our Christian “leaders” will never promote a man’s candidacy on principle alone. They want to pick a “winner.” They want to be on the good side of the last guy standing–even if that guy is a no-good, compromising louse.

In addition, there is yet another problem: for the most part, our illustrious Christian “leaders” are willfully ignorant of the importance of constitutional government. They either don’t understand it, or don’t want to understand it. Whatever the reason, issues such as national independence and sovereignty and globalism do not even show up on their radar. I’m not sure they have even read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If they have, they sure don’t act like it.

Dr. Bob apparently does not realize that when our President takes his oath of office, he does not promise to “represent conservative American beliefs.” Instead, he promises to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

I wonder, too, if Dr. Bob has ever heard of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). Has he ever heard of the NAFTA superhighway? Does he have a clue about the globalist agenda of the Council on Foreign Relations? Does he even realize that there is a burgeoning North American Union developing? I doubt it. I further doubt that he has read Dr. Jerry Corsi’s book “The Late Great USA.”

Find it here: http://shop.wnd.com/store/item.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=6&SUBDEPARTMENT_ID=23&ITEM_ID=2116

In his endorsement of Mitt Romney, Dr. Bob Jones III also said, “This all about beating Hillary.” Oh, really?

Since when does a preacher of the Gospel and Christian educator put electing charlatans (of any political party) ahead of standing for truth and doing right? And this leads to another problem.

Our Christian “leaders” have forgotten what it means to stand on principle. They have gotten so bogged down in politics that they have forsaken the divine call to be watchmen on the wall. If Bob Jones III would be as concerned about standing for truth and principle as he is about “beating Hillary,” many others might be encouraged to do the same–and we preachers might actually be able to have a positive impact upon the direction of our country. As it is, our Christian “leaders” are not only not helping to lead our nation out of its current mess, they are actually contributing to the problem, as Dr. Jones’ endorsement of Mitt Romney illustrates.

Furthermore, what is Dr. Bob going to say to the students and graduates of Bob Jones University? How can he justify all the years of “separation” preaching that BJU is known for? Where is his consistency? How can he now turn around and convince his students that all those Christian “standards” regarding the fellowship of light with darkness, reproving evil, contending for the faith, etc., apply only to areas outside politics? Obviously, BJU students now know that when it comes to politics, we can cast all those principles aside. It makes one wonder what other areas of the Christian life are exempt from Biblical principles. Maybe our business life? But that’s a subject for another day.

I believe Dr. Bob’s grandfather must be turning over in his grave. I don’t know how many times I have heard the “big” fundamentalist preachers quote Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. as saying, “Do right if the stars fall!”

Instead of doing right, however, Bob Jones III would rather dance with the devil.

© Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Baldwin is also the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show  “Chuck Baldwin Live” This is a daily, one hour long call-in show.

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state