Guess Who Stopped By Today

We had an interesting visitor here at Sunlit Uplands today; a visit recorded by our Site Meter.  Someone in the Executive Office of the President googled "evangelicals, contraception mandate." One will never know what political or policy discussion and considerations may have prompted such a search, but we are delighted that they found our post entitled "Evangelicals, Southern Baptists Rip HHS Mandate," which we had reposted from Catholic World News.
  

Having worked in the Executive Office of the President in a far better time, we know that there are several thousand employees in the EOP, but it's nice to know that someone there is concerned about the firestorm they brought upon themselves.  

The Obama regime's sinister attempt to drive a wedge between the church hierarchy and the lay faithful, and between conservative Catholics and liberal Catholics backfired badly.  They have not only strengthened the unity of our Church and aroused a sleeping giant politically, they have forged greater unity among all Christians who care about religious liberty, conscience rights and the United States Constitution.  Yes, Catholics and Evangelicals are working together as Christian brothers and sisters to defend our "unalienable Rights" and to rid America of a regime which has proven itself to be an enemy to all people of faith.

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Time of Visit		Mar 2 2012 12:20:20 pm
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Please Send Your Submissions for Our Forthcoming Sunlit Calendar

Sunlit Uplands will soon post a calendar of major events related to our broad themes of faith, freedom, defense of the West and renewal of the culture.  If you know of any conference, retreat, lecture, symposium, concert, liturgy, meeting or rally, particularly in the English-speaking world, that would be of interest to our worldwide readers, please let us know.  We are interested in any event that in any way builds and advances the cause of Christian civilization.

We are still working out the design of our calendar, but it will probably be similar to our Sunlit News, with links to the sponsoring organization's website or registration materials.  Please send any suggested items to dncassidy[at]sunlituplands[dot]org.  Many thanks.

Sunlit Uplands Included on List of "100 Excellent Conservative Blogs You Should Be Reading"

Sunlit Uplands is honored and humbled to be included among such major blogs as Town Hall, Drudge, Michelle Malkin, Red State, and Newsmax in a new list of the 100 best conservative blogs.

The "100 Excellent Conservative Blogs You Should Be Reading" list was compiled by Masters in Education.

Sunlit Uplands to be Featured at Renew America

We received some great news this morning. Sunlit Uplands columns will be featured on the Renew America network and included among their superb lineup of columnists.

We are grateful for the opportunity this provides to reach a far greater audience, and hope our regular readers will also explore the many great writers and features on the Renew America website.

A Note to Sunlit Uplands Readers

I want to inform our faithful readers that posting on Sunlit Uplands will be light at best for the foreseeable future. I remain very much in the battle, but have recently deployed to another battlefield here in South Carolina, where I will be addressing the issues and causes raised on the blog over the last two years.

As we have noted, the Obama administration deserves credit for rousing a great, sleeping giant -- the broad, patriotic, faithful, heartland of America. As Tea Parties in Washington and across the nation are demonstrating, Americans are demanding a renewed respect for the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, decentralized government, states' rights, and individual liberty. For our part, we will be working to ensure that "we the people" have representation in the United States Congress that will preserve and strengthen this republic under God.

We will continue to post important items, our weekend features, and "Sunlit News" will be regularly updated. As always, reader submissions and suggestions are most welcome. It has been a great joy to see the very positive response to Sunlit Uplands and our steadily growing number of faithful readers. The response from friends and critics has been a great source of encouragement and motivation.

I look forward to resuming more regular posting after the Republican Primary of next June. In the meantime, please keep our efforts and our nation in your prayers.

Daniel J. Cassidy

Sunlit Uplands: We "Rejoice" in Being #1 in More Ways than One

Sunlit Uplands' #1 ranking by BlogNetNews is not the only proof of our effectively promoting the traditional values of "Faith, Freedom, Defense of the West, and Renewal of the Culture" in South Carolina's blogosphere.

Our effectiveness can also be measured and validated by the volume and intensity of vitriol sent our way by obviously disturbed and threatened liberals. The more effective we are at promoting our values, and thus the greater the threat the Radical Left perceives us to pose to theirs, the more intense and hostile will grow their attacks.

And on that scale, Sunlit Uplands is hurtling headlong toward the top as well. As evidenced by one particularly disturbed liberal, whose reactionary bile can only be described as over the top.

Perhaps overcome by a rush of wishful thinking, South Carolina's #4 Liberal Blogger wore his religious bigotry and personal hostility (dare we say "hate"?) on his sleeve Monday when he gleefully imagined my death:

"One can only wonder what [Cassidy's] last thoughts would be if someone ran him to ground in his parish at confession (surely, as an aside, those sessions must be truly marvelous exercises in magical realism) or taking communion for the astonishing and popular spew of hate and bigotry his blog presents daily, and pumped a few lead rounds into him."

Several observations...

First, this is an instructive example of what the word "hate" means to the left-wing hypocrites who seek ultimately to criminalize the free speech and thought of anyone who dares disagree with them.

1. If a conservative traditional values advocate merely expresses disagreement with or opposition to liberals' repressive political agenda, such mere expression constitutes "hate and bigotry."

2. On the other hand, if a member of the anointed left publishes a blog post graphically fantasizing about the violent murder of a conservative, that is of course merely reasoned discourse.

We also note that South Carolina's #4 Liberal Blogger makes frequent reference to all things "gay," even posting at the top of his blog a running count of how many times even our socialist president has failed to sufficiently safeguard the "rights" of those who engage in homosexual behavior.

Thus, we feel comfortable simply asking if SC#4LB should be judged by the same standard routinely demanded by professionally-aggrieved homosexual activist groups.

Their repressive thought- and speech-control rationale goes something like this, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: "Anti-gay rhetoric and anti-gay violence go hand-in-hand. The right wing is creating the most hostile atmosphere for (homosexual) people in recent memory. Hate violence is a logical extension of these rhetorical, legislative, and electoral attacks. When anti-gay rhetoric escalates, so does anti-gay violence. Hate crimes are a result of that intolerance. No one should condone violence against any group of people, nor should they contribute to an atmosphere that fosters such intolerance and violence."

Thus, because Dr. James Dobson publicly advocates traditional Biblical morality, he is accused by homosexual activists and their left-wing media allies of being morally responsible for inciting the beating death of Matthew Shepard. (In other words, by merely expressing a traditional moral code, Dobson is characterized as evil, hateful, and reprehensible.)

If Cardinal Maida of Detroit publicly supports in his state a Marriage Protection Amendment such as that approved by 77 percent of South Carolina voters, then homosexual activists say he is morally responsible for inciting the falsely alleged beating death of a homosexual senior citizen in Detroit -- who as it turned out, according to the medical examiner, died of arthritic paralysis. (In other words, merely by defending the mainstream value of traditional marriage, Cardinal Maida is portrayed as both evil, hateful, and reprehensible -- or as one prominent homosexual activist called him, "recklessly wicked.")

Similarly, if Sunlit Uplands regularly posts comments promoting traditional American values, Biblical morality, or even sacred music, then -- in the eyes of disturbed leftists such as SC#4LB -- this author obviously must also be both evil, hateful, and reprehensible. (And in good company, at that.)

Which raises this simple "what's good for the goose" question:

By painting Dr. Dobson and Cardinal Maida and myself as evil, hateful, and reprehensible, and thus obviously worthy of contempt, do homosexual activists and their allies create a climate of hostility in which someone might be encouraged to commit acts of violence against us? Does anti-conservative rhetoric and anti-conservative violence go hand in hand? When anti-conservative rhetoric escalates, does anti-conservative violence follow? No one should condone violence against any group of people, so should liberals continue to contribute to an atmosphere that fosters intolerance and violence toward conservatives?

If merely expressing a different point of view amounts to "hate," as leftists define the term, does that term not all the more so apply -- in the real world -- to SC#4LB's graphic imagining of my being pumped full of lead while at church? Should I now go running to the federal government to demand special protection? If someone gives me a dirty look, or worse, should I demand specially-enhanced prison sentence for my assailant? Should SC#4LB be held criminally responsible, arrested, and charged with inciting a "hate crime"?

Forbid it, Almighty God.

In the meantime, we are promised by Christ Himself that we are "blessed" when we are reviled and persecuted for righteousness' sake, when they say all kinds of evil against us falsely for His sake, and we are under His direct instruction to "rejoice and be exceedingly glad" when it happens.

It is in that spirit that we know that the time, energy, personal hostility, and intensity with which the Left attacks us is one of the surest measures of how effectively Sunlit Uplands is threatening their repressive agenda.

Along with our #1 ranking in South Carolina's blogosphere, that's cause for a lot of rejoicing.

And so we shall. And be exceedingly glad while we're at it.

EU Wants "Voluntary" Labeling of Blogs

From The Brussels Journal

A quote from a motion for a resolution at the European Parliament:

(...) Whereas weblogs are an increasingly common medium for self-expression by media professionals as well as private persons, the status of their authors and publishers, including their legal status, is neither determined nor made clear to the readers of the weblogs, causing uncertainties regarding impartiality, reliability, source protection, applicability of ethical codes and the assignment of liability in the event of lawsuits, (...)

[The European Parliament] suggests clarifying the status, legal or otherwise, of weblogs and encourages their voluntary labelling according to the professional and financial responsibilities and interests of their authors and publishers; (...)

In the spirit of the above legislation, Sunlit Uplands has been considering what we might offer in the way of "voluntary" labeling; perhaps something that draws from Jefferson:

Caution: In defense of faith, freedom, western civilization, and the Christian renewal of society, this blog is proudly counter-cultural, politically incorrect, and aspires to be provocative. With Jefferson, we believe that "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." This blog may cause statists, secularists, liberals and officious bureaucrats, palpitations, night sweats and difficulty breathing.

Those experiencing shaking, high blood pressure or reddening of the extremities for more than four hours should consult a doctor.

DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES BEYOND OUR CONTROL ...

Dear Friends,

The changes in this blog's appearance are completely involuntary!

The elements of my blog these past five months that I have most enjoyed have been the extraordinary header photographs taken by Marie Freeman of Blue Ridge Blog. Like the proverbial "picture worth a thousand words," they set a tone and expressed more than any of my postings. Unfortunately, due to some changes by Blogger, images in the header have been compressed down to a very distorted, thin sliver across the top of the page. I don't think it would be right to do that to such exceptional photographs, so I hope you will visit the Blue Ridge Blog and see its daily updates at the source.

In the process of trying to fix the problem, I did find this new, "stretched" template that makes use of the additional space provided by newer, wider, monitors. I hope it is more readable. As always, your comments and suggestions are warmly welcomed.

Thanks for visiting and all the best,

Dan