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First Principles’ News & Blog
Continuing its mission, First Principles, Inc. has several projects underway, including the Ronald D. Ray Library of American History. Check back here regularly for news & updates.
read moreRonald D. Ray Library of American History begins to take shape
Colonel Ronald Dudley Ray, USMC (Ret.) was a highly decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War, an attorney, a loving father, a devoted husband and a life-long reader. His library was organized according to periods of history and books lined the walls of the Crestwood, Kentucky farmhouse, where we lived and worked for over 40 years. The collection focuses on the miracle of America and its founding history, a history disappearing from the internet and those who click to research. It is our duty to leave our children and grandchildren the...
read moreElection 2016: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the War on Women
Before Donald Trump began his run for the Presidency, he was popular among liberals. While he bragged about his sexual conquests, liberals didn’t mind; after all, he was pro-choice on abortion and spoke the politically-correct language. He was the New York version of Bill Clinton: the left-leaning Alpha male who attracted women like dung attracts flies. But when he became a Republican Presidential candidate and embraced the pro-life position on abortion, the Donald suddenly became an enemy of women. In his first debate performance, Fox News...
read moreHaving Done All, STAND…
The last ten years have not been good for American Christians. In November 2004, President George W. Bush was re-elected in no small part due to American opposition to redefining marriage. Social conservatives carried the day, sending Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to a narrow defeat. Since then, the pitch has been downhill. In spite of victories at the ballot box, Christians and social conservatives have endured an offensive of major proportions, as (a) the judiciary in several states have ignored thousands of years of law, fact, and history by...
read moreIndiana and RFRA: A Glimpse of Post-Christian America
The United States of America, founded by Christians on a legal system (common law) rooted in the Old and New Testaments and institutions (military in particular) based on same, has sustained a seismic shift of foundation beginning in the middle of the 20th Century. Today the recent upheaval in Indiana and Arkansas, whose governments passed state versions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), has given Christians a glimpse of the hostility that awaits them in a nation now considered post-Christian. The gay rights movement, in concert...
read moreA Military at an Impasse: Chaplains or Social Workers?
In the height of the Cold War and in the wake of Vietnam, the military went to great lengths to recruit Christians. Our leaders promoted the Cold War in terms of our Christianity in contrast with the cold, murderous Atheism of the Soviet Union. It was not uncommon for recruiting magazines to portray outstanding Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines who were outspoken evangelical Christians. I know, because I received those publications during my high school days. The Christian answered the call: they would go to West Point, Annapolis, and...
read moreThe NYPD Shootings and the Character of Our Nation
The Rev. Al Sharpton has a longstanding career as a rabble-rouser whose rants have led to fatalities. His actions in the wake of an accidental death at Crown Heights led to the stabbing death of Yankel Rosenbaum, and his incitations against Freddie’s Fashion Mart, which led to the deaths of seven employees in a fire started by a rioter. In the aftermath of the police shooting in Ferguson, the Grand Jury heard a large volume of evidence, sifted out truthful testimony while comparing it with forensic evidence, and decided not to indict...
read moreElection 2014 and Endless War: Buchanan’s Prescient Warning
The Republican victory of November 4 was a summary dismissal of the Obama agenda by the American people. From runaway deficit spending, to the health care disaster that is Obamacare, to a rudderless, bumbling, reactionary foreign policy, Americans overwhelmingly voted against this administration, but will there be a new direction? And does a new direction include new wars? That is a poignant question that Pat Buchanan asks, and with good reason. No matter who wins the elections, there is a perennial element that seeks to engage in wars....
read moreIt’s Winter in America: The United States Air Force No Longer Needs God
In the early 1980s—during the Cold War–the military wanted Christians, and aggressively pursued them. Recruiting magazines would profile outstanding Airman, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, many of them Christians. Christians answered the call in droves. They would enroll in West Point, Annapolis, and Colorado Springs. They would attend college with ROTC scholarships. They would join the ranks of the Rangers and Special Forces and Reconnaissance Marines. They would become infantrymen, tank commanders, fighter pilots, bomber pilots,...
read moreMorality Has Its Advantages After All
The latest generation to reach adulthood has often been criticized for being lazy, selfish and, in general, lacking any sense of a moral compass. Many of the critics turn to our country’s straying from Christian principles as the cause for this, and that very well may be the case. But it goes much deeper than that. It seems that when critics of Christianity worked valiantly to eradicate all traces of the religion that led our country to be a global super power from public schools, workplaces, and government offices, they inadvertently...
read moreAnother Major Shortcoming in the Labor Force: Intangible Skills
The education establishment in the United States—from K-12 to higher education—is in serious trouble on many fronts. Students are graduating high school with scant job prospects, ill-prepared for the demands of the workforce. Even worse, college students are graduating with 6-figures of non-dischargeable student loan debt and little connection between their education and the demands of the workforce. Except for some STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)-based fields, the costs of a college degree are fast-becoming out of touch with...
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