Rev. Timothy Simpson, Promoting Propaganda by Proxy

I’ve noticed a lot of action from the “Progressive” Christian community on the internet and in the streets lately. I’ve seen billboards that say “Would Jesus discriminate?” popping up around the city, put there by self-proclaimed “progressive Christians” who apparently believe recognizing sin as sin is the same thing as “discriminating.”

Now I find in my mail a piece written by Reverend Timothy F. Simpson from the Christian Alliance for Progress, http://www.christianalliance.org/, titled, “The President Turns a Blind Eye to the Suffering and Death of Americans.”

Well, if LYING can be considered progress, the “progressive Christians” are certainly progressing!

Rev. Simpson suggests that by vetoing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, the President will cause “…the early deaths and unnecessary suffering of millions of Americans.” He further opines that the President’s decision was “irrational” and evidence that “America is under the sway of theocrats whose obsession for ideological purity outweighs their concern for America's, and the world's, sick and dying.”

Let’s look at the reality of this issue. EMBRYONIC (I must emphasize that adjective as the “Progressives,” like the good Rev. Simpson, conveniently leave this very important qualifier out of their propag….er, arguments) stem cells have not cured one disease. Zip. Zero. Nada. Zilch. In fact, EMBRYONIC stem cells, in the treatment of animals, have either done nothing for the malady which researchers were attempting to treat, or worse, it made the lab animals receiving them DEAD.

EMBRYONIC stem cells are attractive to researchers because they’re thought to be “pluripotent”, which means, in essence, that the cells have not made up their little minds what kind of specialized cell they’d like to be when they grow up. This, theoretically, opens the path for researchers to train them to become whatever kind of specialized cell a researcher could want. This hasn’t happened. EMBRYONIC stem cells, instead of being told to grow up specializing in this or that by researchers, have a mind of their own….forming bone inside recipients’ brains, or tumors, oftentimes fatal, wherever they please. EMBRYONIC stem cells don’t take instruction well at all.

ADULT stem cells, however, DO.

ADULT and CORD BLOOD (very important adjectives, setting these cells apart from embryonic stem cells in that they are not harvested by killing human embryos, and denoting the fact that different kinds of stem cells exist, something “progressives” conveniently overlook) stem cells possess more pluripotent properties, like those thought to be possessed by EMBRYONIC stem cells, than researchers ever thought possible. They can grow into specialized cells apart from that in which they’ve already specialized. Treatment with these stem cells is much less risky than treatment with the unruly EMBRYONIC stem cells, cells which can only be obtained by killing a human embryo, a.k.a. a baby.

Further, ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cells are currently being used to treat more than 70 different diseases. We are treating cancer, cardiovascular diseases, auto-immune diseases, neurological diseases, blood diseases and conditions, various injuries, including spinal, wounds, and a whole host of other debilitating diseases and conditions with ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cells. Unlike EMBRYONIC stem cells, treatment with ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cells has shown real progress for real people with real diseases. Unlike EMBRYONIC stem cells, treatments with ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cells have proven effective.

To recap:

EMBRYONIC stem cells have not cured one disease and have caused the death of many test animals upon the administration of these stem cells.

ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cells are currently being used to treat 72 different diseases and conditions, with approximately 300 trials showing promise for treatment of other diseases and conditions currently underway.

The scorecard for EMBRYONIC v. ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cells is:

EMBRYONIC – 0
ADULT/CORD BLOOD - 72

See the difference?

The good Reverend Timothy F. Simpson hopes you don’t.

Taking this reality into account, it makes perfect sense that President Bush would veto federal funding for research that has, thus far, proven to be a failure. The hype of the past decade regarding EMBRYONIC stem cell research was just that….hype…..hype which overshadowed the miraculous breakthroughs and progress in the fields of ADULT and CORD BLOOD stem cell research, the research fields most deserving of federal funds. Even so, EMBRYONIC stem cell research continues, just not with federal funds beyond that which was previously allowed on existing lines. The President's veto did not put an end to all EMBRYONIC stem cell research as the good Reverend would have you believe.

In light of this, it seems the only one obsessed with ideological purity and theocracy is Reverend Timothy F. Simpson. He obfuscates the debate by blending ALL stem cell research into one category, pretending that lack of federal funding for EMBRYONIC stem cell research will cause death and suffering, as though it has been useful in preventing those things previously (it has not); by ignoring the fact that EMBRYONIC stem cells haven't successfully treated one disease, condition or ailment; and, further, he wants the federal government to fund the killing of human embryos even though it is against the morals of many taxpayers. To him, and those like him, religion and morals are good so long as they are THEIR morals and THEIR religion. Anything else is deserving of demonization and lies.

Reverend Simpson bemoaning another’s obsession with ideological purity is like the KKK’s Grand Kleagle lamenting the racists in his midst.

Showing concern for the world's sick and dying does not entail what the good Reverend gives us - slickness and lying.

An Open Letter to Americans For Fair Taxation

Dear Leo Linbeck, Tom Wright, Genie Hayes, and anyone else it concerns,

A few short weeks ago my husband and I watched with participatory satisfaction, the Senate vote down the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S.2611).

It is my belief that if it were not for the completely grassroots organized and unorganized outcry of opponents of this amnesty bill that it would have sailed through the Senate. I believe that the grassroots effort of millions of Americans, who were sending faxes, letters, emails and making phone calls to their local and State Representatives, Senators and radio stations regarding the "Amnesty legislation," as well as local protests across the Nation crying for our government to secure our borders in the interest of National security, is solely responsible for getting the attention of those Senators, causing them to sit up and take notice of what the people they represented wanted done and/or would not accept from their Senators.

With this in mind I would like to take to task Americans for Fair Taxation (AFFT) for trying to keep grassroots supporters of the FairTax bill from voicing their opinions and demanding that the FairTax, Bill HR 25, become law.

My husband has been very active in supporting the FairTax. At every turn he is met with someone from AFFT who will tell him that this is not the way it is done, or that is not the way it is done. Enough! This is a free country!

While AFFT is a 501c organization, the average citizen grassroots supporter who is NOT on your staff, who is NOT a PAID EMPLOYEE of your organization, is in no way bound by the laws by which that 501c organization is bound, further, AFFT, itself, as a 501c organization, is in a position to fear the IRS, the very government agency which they would like to put out of business. Every action AFFT takes must be considered in light of their abiding of the laws of taxation in our Nation.

The staff and paid employees of AFFT are LOBBYISTS to Congress. If the passage of the FairTax Bill is successful their organization will roll up the sidewalks and go home. In short, their paid staff and paid employees will be OUT OF A JOB. This leaves me to question their intentions, right or wrong.

I am tired of the very organization which was put in place to support the FairTax Bill holding down its supporters, trying to restrict the free speech rights of their supporters and making an effort to keep them under their thumbs. The day that they begin to pay a salary or hourly wage to all of their grassroots supporters is the day they can begin to expect those grassroots supporters to abide by their policies and not a day sooner. For a long time we have honored the wishes of AFFT in its promotion of the FairTax Bill, but the Bill does not seem to get enough steam to become law, the next thing we know there is a NEW Congress and the effort must be started all over again. It is a vicious cycle and appears to be going nowhere under the current policy of promotion.

Regarding the upcoming Orlando, Florida FairTax Rally which is featured at Neal Boortz's blog : 580wdbo.com: Event Guide Neal Boortz Fair Tax Rally, my husband has called Orlando's local radio station with a couple of suggestions and questions. A paid lobbyist for AFFT has just called to let my husband know that it is "causing confusion" when he calls and that AFFT has a policy that only one person from the organization may contact the station. My husband obliged that request. I'll tell you what I would have said to this lobbyist: "The day you are paying me a wage for my opinions, thoughts and ideas regarding FairTax support and promotion is the day that I will abide by your organization's policies."

It is my personal belief that AFFT holds back the cause of the FairTax grassroot supporters. If the treatment my husband has received is any indication of the actions taken by AFFT in an effort to silence the vocal support for the Bill HR 25 then this may be the very reason, or at least a contributory factor, that the FairTax Bill cannot get the support of Senators and therefore passage into law in our Nation.

Is it in the best interest of the FairTax Bill to hold back its supporters and keep them so bound in their support of the FairTax? I have to wonder. Personally, I think there is an argument to be made that it would be in the best interest of Bill HR 25 to let your people go! Stop trying to control the natural inclinations of your grassroots supporters and give them back their own voices without micro-managing their support!

Sincerely,
Jacke M.