1

As a former minister in the Church of Christ, I wouldn't be too surprised to see the creation of a "Church of Christ-ers Against Fred" organization. Fred claims (or at least his press spokesman claims) to be a member of the C of C, but no one seems to recall seeing him at church in the last 50 years. As the C of C rejects "once saved, always saved" this puts Fred in the category of "fallen away" and almost certainly hell-bound.

The premier (and really only) newspaper among Churches of Christ, The Christian Chronicle, has written about Fred's ambiguous status. See http://www.christianchronicle.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=662

As noted in that article, a C of C blogger is running a contest with a reward for anyone who has actually ever seen Fred in a church service. It turns out that Dobson may have been right to question whether Fred is a Christian.

2

How about giving it a rest. This article had nothing to do with Fred Thompson - who hasn't even declared.

The mania of those against Fred is comparable to those for him.

P.S. In my book, it's "once saved always saved", so as far as that goes - if he was genuinely saved, he still is.

3

The biggest issue facing America right now is Islamic terrorism. I don't agree with Rudy on all the social issues, but we won't even be able to discuss them if someone like him isn't elected President.

Count me in the "Protestants for Rudy" camp.

4

Joe, I'd like to see a post defending your support of a pro-choice candidate (in the first trimester, anyway, which is when most abortions take place) while rejecting a pro-choice candidate on similar grounds. Most of the defenses of Thompson apply to Rudy too. Both are federalists and judicial conservatives, for instance. The difference is that Giuliani is more honest about his position. Thompson has been trying to downplay it, although he's never contradicted it except to say vaguely that he's pro-life, all the while rarely getting into the specifics of his view that it would be immoral to prevent a young girl from having an abortion in the first trimester. He's denying that he ever held views that people have found video clips of him saying. I just can't see how a pro-lifer can prefer him to someone like Mitt Romney, who is both honest about his change of views and now solidly pro-life in the trimester when most abortions take place. I'd vote for any of the three against Hillary or Obama, but I can't see how anyone can prefer either Giuliani or Thompson to Romney, unless other issues are outweighing abortion.

Here's an excellent collection of Thompson quotes showing quite demonstratively that he's pro-choice.

blah blah blah: What makes you so sure he was ever really saved? I believe that if he was once saved he is always saved, but I see evidence that he was never saved in how his life has been for a long time. Not that it matters. I don't see why whether he's saved has anything to do with whether I'd vote for him.

5

"The biggest issue facing America right now is Islamic terrorism."

I don't think so. Islamic terrorism affects the average American only through our government's knee-jerk response to it. I can think of three issues facing America that dwarf Islamic terrorism, and I don't even have to leave the e's to do it: education, economy, and environment. If I wanted to stretch it a bit, I could add exiting (Iraq) and ending (our sponsorship of Israel).

6

Fred Thompson talks about abortion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5a_Fpu_8KE

7

It is very encouraging that prominent conservative intellectuals are teaming up against the abortion holocaust. I want to mention an incredibly effective pro-life educational organization. It is clear that Scott Klusendorf is the best public advocate of the pro-life view (Even Francis Beckwith has written that Klusendorf is the best public advocate). This is Klusendorf’s blog http://lti-blog.blogspot.com/ this is his page for his educational organization http://prolifetraining.com/ this is his pro-life training page http://www.caseforlife.com/ I love his 5-Minute Pro-Lifer article, for example, http://prolifetraining.com/Articles/FiveMinute1.htm Scott educates thousands of people a year on the pro-life issue. Because his organization systematicaly trains people with the best pro-life arguments, it is successfully training thousands of people that can make a difference for unborn human beings.
Francis Beckwith has written a lot of the best pro-life books out there (as many of you know) http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521691354

Barry (above) writes, “The biggest issue facing America right now is Islamic terrorism. I don't agree with Rudy on all the social issues, but we won't even be able to discuss them if someone like him isn't elected President.”

Jay at Life Training Institute answers the aforementioned type of view. Jay writes, “Why should I accept that RG [Rudy Giuliani] or anyone else is SO TOUGH on terrorism that I should overlook the fact that the unborn are not human beings in their minds? Why should it not matter that a candidate thinks we are free to kill the unborn whenever killing them appears easier or more personally beneficial than allowing them to live? Why can’t we demand someone who feels strongly about protecting all life? It is not like this is a quest for a unicorn or something.” Jay and Lydia Mcgrew give more information about that aspect here https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1442827238174603755&postID=2806789444592300003