Marvin Olasky at World magazine just posted a piece, “Slow train coming,” that meshes in theory with mine, although I think mention should have been made at the “50 year” mark of the sexual revolution and launch of the birth control pill. Olasky’s point is that Romney’s loss last night didn’t start this year, or even last year. The GOP’s slide began a long, long time ago.

A couple of Olasky’s milestones surprised me, such as at 20 years and 10 years and a little bit at 30 years.

It begins…

The blame Romney game begins: If only the GOP had had a more aggressive candidate, a more pointed message, a better ground game in several states. The blame God game also commences: If only Superstorm Sandy hadn’t let Barack Obama break Mitt Romney’s momentum.

Maybe, maybe, yet Gov. Romney did OK given the state of our culture. Republicans lost this presidential election not just yesterday, but…

Continue reading here, and then tell me what you think.

I wished to myself when I woke up this morning that we had a prophet like Isaiah to help us understand what is happening.

Then, of course, I realized we do have Isaiah. And we have history. We have the cycle of the Israelites to teach us, and the cycles of great human civilizations.

Ancient cultures like Egypt, Rome, and Greece all eventually collapsed because the people gave themselves over to idolatry and sexual debauchery.

Among followers of the God of the Bible there may be a similar cycle, but there is always a remnant that holds fast to Him, whom He protects and restores.

Here is the cycle of the Israelites:

It appears the United States is approaching the “Oppression, Depression, War” phase. We don’t know whether we are on a trajectory of doom and demise, like Rome, or if we as a nation will allow ourselves to be restored by turning back to God. Either way, the immediate future on the circle looks bleak.

And I think we’re on the former path. Our educational and court systems and dominant media have all been absconded by secular liberals. Both the Catholic and Protestant Churches are failing to pass on Christian beliefs to our children, never mind expand the number of believers.

Last night, for the first time, voters in not just one but two states – Maine and Maryland – approved same sex marriage, after 32 defeats around the country. Voters in Colorado and Washington approved the legalization of marijuana. Incredibly, a measure in Florida to prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion failed. “Welcome to Liberal America,” is the Buzzfeed headline today.

I know some measures and elections went our way, but I think it is clear our country is facing more than just a fiscal cliff. We are also facing a moral cliff.

The reelection last night of Barack Obama means either 1) there are more secularists in the U.S. than Christians, or 2) too many Christians have integrated the “separation of Church and State” into their hearts and compartmentalize their votes according to a) selfish desires, or b) misunderstanding the role of government.

It is likely a combination of both 1 and 2. Had the “Chick-fil-A’ bloc indeed voted as a bloc, I wouldn’t be typing this post. Here are the current raw numbers:

Obama: 59,532,820 votes
Romney: 56,931,709 votes

God did not deliver us from Barack Obama. I wrote yesterday that our country doesn’t deserve God’s mercy, but I asked Him for respite anyway. He didn’t give it. There has apparently been too much innocent blood shed in America, and too much craven behavior. I mean, come on, this country has killed 55 million children by abortion this past 40 years.

On the pro-life front we have a Democrat Party that proudly promotes abortion, even if coded as “reproductive health,” and which successfully attacks Republicans on the issue. This is because Republicans, generally speaking, are either terrified to discuss abortion, pro-abortion themselves, or utterly inarticulate.

I’m hearing talk on Fox this morning that the Republican Party needs to deemphasize its stand against abortion, never mind that the percentage of Americans calling themselves “pro-choice” is at a historic low of 41%.

The fact is Republicans just got outboxed, which was easy since by-and-large Republicans just play rope-a-dope on the abortion issue.

Republicans must seriously reach out to the African-American and Latino communities. The GOP’s dismissal of them is shameful, not just because doing so hurts the Party politically, but also because doing so fails to help these dear people uphold a more holistic way of life.

Ah, but enough politics. In closing I refer back to what Erick Erickson of RedState.com wrote the weekend before the election:

My world view is pretty simple. I think this world is destined to go to hell in a hand basket by design. I think things are supposed to go to pot. So if Barack Obama wins, I won’t be upset. If Mitt Romney wins, I won’t be running through the streets cheering. I think, either way, it is all part of the design. The world is going down hill. Barack Obama re-elected just gets us down the slippery slope faster in my view. For others, it is Mitt Romney who does.

God is sovereign and He is in charge and He will return. That is my hope and my ever present expectation.

We often get so wrapped up in the view of things at ground level, we forget to look at the world from 50,000 feet. In the historic, grand scheme of things, this too will end.

Don’t confuse me with a fatalist and don’t confuse me with someone who does not really care about the future of our nation. I think we are the last best hope of mankind on this planet. But my destiny is not tied to this planet. While I am here, however, I have convictions that are greater than either candidate and either party and I fight more for a cause than a candidate….

When I wake up on Wednesday morning, I’m still going to have my wife. I’m still going to have my kids. I’m still going to have my family. And I’m still going to have my God. So will you….

There is no permanence except in Heaven.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. ~ Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV

One other thing. At times like this I always go back to Genesis 50:20, what Joseph told his brothers who had sold him into slavery:

 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

This is all part of God’s plan. And I trust it’s a perfect one, for the ultimate purpose of “saving many lives,” a pro-life goal.

[“Divided States” graphic via Drudge]

With contractions five minutes apart, Galicia Malone stopped at Precinct 88 in Chicago to cast her vote on her way to the hospital, according to the Cook County Clerk’s Office.

Once she had voted, she headed to the hospital to deliver her baby.

~ WLS Chicago reporting on the vote made by a mother in labor, November 6

I love Father Mallick. He’s my kind of pastor. From timescall.com, November 5:

Boulder County voters whose polling place is Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church on South Boulder Road can expect to walk past an anti-abortion display – including thousands of crosses representing aborted fetuses – when they go to cast their ballots Tuesday.

County election officials said the display does not appear to violate any rules for polling places, but they will allow voters assigned to Sacred Heart of Mary to vote elsewhere Tuesday – and the county will no longer use the church as a polling place in future elections.

“Our concern is that people are going to feel a sense of conflict with regard to voting at this church,” said Molly Tayer, Boulder County’s deputy clerk and election coordinator.

Tayer said a church representative initially told the clerk’s office that the display, erected in October for Respect Life Month, would be taken down the first weekend in November. According to Tayer, that person called back on Friday to say that, “Father has elected to keep it up.”

The Rev. Marcus Mallick is the priest at Sacred Heart of Mary. Church representatives on Monday referred questions to the Archdiocese of Denver, where a spokeswoman said the display is not meant to influence voters, but to continue a ministry that reaches out to women considering abortion and those who have undergone abortions in the past.

“These are ‘Respect Life’ signs to bring awareness to the issue,” said Karna Swanson, the diocese’s spokeswoman. “The decision to keep them up was based on the success of that ministry.”

Swanson said she does not know how long the church – which made news in 2005 for hosting burial services for the cremated remains of aborted fetuses – will maintain the display. She also said that no one from the church spoke with the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office between April, when the contract was signed to host the voting location, and late last week.

The display does not appear to violate any election rules against expressing political views at polling places, Boulder County’s Tayer said. It is on the church’s private property and is not explicitly political. It also lies outside the 100-foot buffer inside which no political signs or personal campaigning is allowed.

However, the Boulder County clerk’s office has received three complaints about the display being located outside a polling center.

Are these people just pro-abortion, or are they vampires?

[HT: RH Reality Check]

by Kelli

We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.

• 40 Days for Life reports at least 608 babies saved from abortion during their latest campaign.
• Michael New writes that despite the insistence of some, there is no evidence that offering welfare benefits to women decreases abortion rates. At National Review, New also has information on three ballot initiatives in Montana, Florida, and Massachusetts, which may be of interest to pro-life voters.

• At Mommy Life, Tripp Curtis has posted an account of the last hours of his beloved wife Barbara’s life, in which he and their family see the hand of the Lord. May she rest in peace in the arms of her Heavenly Father, and may He grant peace to the entire Curtis family.
• Abstinence Clearinghouse links to an article by Dr. Judith Reisman, who asserts “nearly all of today’s liberal ‘comprehensive sex education’ curricula is derived entirely from the criminally fraudulent research of Alfred Kinsey.”
• At Ethika Politika, Andrew Haines says the message sent by the acceptance of IVF in society is that “women are tools, and we should use them — and especially their bodies—to get what we want. Not to mention, the utilization of women shouldn’t be restricted only to men; women should use each other for the same reasons. After all, what are women, really, apart from conveniently evolved vehicles that allow us to pursue more desirable ends?”
• At Live Action, Kristi Burton Brown tells pro-lifers what we must do, regardless of the outcome of today’s election:
  

  We already know what we must do if President Obama is re-elected…. We must raise our voices ever louder on behalf of the innocent. If we hide, their voices will drown into silence. We cannot hide, or be silent, or go away in discouragement. We can survive another four years of anything, because we must. The innocent children need us, no matter who else abandons them – even if it is the leader of the free world….

  If Governor Romney wins… we don’t stop the fight, either. But the fight will take a different turn. We must continue our efforts because we all know that abortion will not end just because Romney wins. Anyone who believes that is living in a fairytale land. If Romney wins, we must insist on action. Action is what ends abortion, not an election. We must insist that he keep his promise. We cannot rest or back off until he defunds Planned Parenthood.

Created Equal’s  pro-life activists showed the reality of abortion outside President Obama’s  campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday. “All the security lines converged on our position in front of the arena,” wrote Executive Director Mark Harrington in an email. A captive audience. I love this photo (click all photos to enlarge). …

Today, Created Equal showcased pro-life signs on an overpass over the busiest freeway in Central Ohio during morning rush hour….

See more photos here.

Meanwhile, as promised, The Center For Bio-Ethical Reform has been flying an abortion banner over major cities in Wisconsin since this past weekend…

The banner has “appalled” the citizenry. From todaystmj4.com, November 5:

There were shocking images in the skies over Racine as a pro-life group paid a plane to fly around showing a banner of an aborted fetus.

The stunning and graphic images had people in Racine looking to the skies Monday morning.  Some people told TODAY’S TMJ4 they were outraged and said the banner went too far.

Robert Griffin couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I look up and I see something about abortion,” says Griffin.

He was pumping gas in Racine, when he looked up and saw a banner of a ten-week-old aborted fetus.

“It was upsetting when I’ve got my kids in the car,” explains Griffin….

“It’s inhumane, it’s not appropriate, there’s a lot of kids,” says Griffin.

The group’s leader is not apologizing to anyone, including kids who see it.

“We think stealing a child’s life is more important than sparing a child’s feelings,” says Gregg Cunningham….

It is a stand that has some questioning the group’s real motives.

“To openly fly around and pretty much have right in front of everyone’s face, its distasteful, its disgusting,” says Shane Morey.

It’s always so odd to me that people become angry with the people showing the carnage and not the people causing the carnage.

by Hans Johnson

There’s nothing like a full week without power because of Hurricane Sandy to concentrate one’s mind on the blessings we have in this country. The Declaration of Independence speaks of our unalienable rights, as endowed by our Creator, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (which was understood in Thomas Jefferson’s day to refer primarily to the right to own and govern one’s own property).

Natural disasters can destroy homes, paralyze people’s freedom, and take lives. But governments can also levy onerous taxes and regulations on family estates and the people in general. Worse, they can stand by for or even sanction the killing of the youngest among us.

These young people,  as well as their younger brothers and sisters, can’t vote this Election Day, but their voices ask us to choose wisely. Which candidate, backed and tempered by which party, will best look out for our financial legacy, our freedom, and our children soon to be born?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuCaWYvpVZg[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: Jim S.]

Via Breitbart.com, November 5:

President Obama’s big rally tonight turned out to be just like his first, opening salvo of the 2012 campaign: a half-empty arena in Ohio. According to RealClearPolitics’ Scott Conroy, there were “empty seats scattered around the upper-level of Nationwide Arena… Four years ago, after all, Obama was easily filling venues larger than that …” The event even featured Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z, and Obama still couldn’t fill it out.

As it turns out, the empty seats didn’t look exactly “scattered.” They looked like substantial portions of the upper bowl of the arena….

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign yesterday prepared its people for bad news today. They’re counting on early voting making up the difference. From Observer.com:

In a conference call this afternoon, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign had one central message for their supporters when Election Day arrives tomorrow: They should “keep calm,” even if they hear snippets of information favoring Republican Mitt Romney.

“My warning, we need to stay calm for much of the day,” Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Obama’s deputy campaign manager, said, touting thousands of early ballots already submitted by voters. “We’ve already banked a pretty big portion of our vote.”

The fear, she explained, was early numbers leaking before voters have finished going to the polls, creating unnecessary panic and pessimism among Democrats.

“Keep calm and tweet on,” Ms. Cutter said. “So, no matter what you hear tomorrow about turnout in Republican counties or exit polls, particularly early in the day, please remember and remind your readers that, because of early votes, we’re where we need to be to win…. I don’t think there’s going to be official exits until the end of the day, but if things leak out that aren’t validated or weighted, please stay calm.”

It seems to me they know something.

[Top photo via Breitbart; bottom photo via Real Clear Politics]