What were the chances of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson dying on the same day . . . the 4th of July . . . the birth of the nation they labored to bring life to? What are the chances that President Reagan, who brought freedom out of tyranny, would die on the same weekend as the anniversary of the liberation of Europe and the American involvement in that liberation.

On one hand it is unfortunate because it is very rare that the world is reminded of the greatness of America, her sacrifices for freedom and the liberation from oppression. So to have two in one weekend almost seems like putting an extra quarter in the parking meter by accident, thinking you will get another 15 minutes on a two hour meter.

Boy . . . is she cynical you say. No, just old and used to a system that does anything but honor heroes, laud sacrifice and praise the glorious triumphs of the human spirit to work together to defeat forces that would destroy it.

President Reagan and his memory will live forever for those who knew and loved him. Even for those who didn’t know him, but loved him anyway, they will never be dissuaded by voices that still utter the veiled accusations of not being smart enough. Heh, we all have translated that euphemism. Any republican is dumb to any democrat, period. They can’t understand why anyone would be a republican, therefore, they are dumb. This is what is referred to as . . . enlightened thinking.

But . . . what happened to Reagan? Did he first go to the voter’s registration booth, change from being a lifelong democrat and then have his lobotomy, or was it vice versa? The brain surgeons were doing a record business during Reagan’s 8 years in office. More democrats became republican under Reagan than at any other time in the last century. And why was that?

Reagan, his ideology, and his way of relating to his fellow Americans really was, very simple. Like most Americans, the KISS method works best. Keep it Simple Stupid. We want less government interference in our lives, greater freedoms to pursue our dreams, and less taxes to prevent that from happening. We want to raise our kids with our values, and worship where we please. “Choice” is not a euphemism for killing a baby, it is about freedom from tyranny and oppression. And the most important purpose of government is to protect the citizens from foreign or domestic attacks. Other than that . . . there is not a lot left to do. Oh, did I say “left?” Ok, for them, the government IS your life. You can’t eat, sleep, breath, bath, build, buy, sell, create, destroy or exist without it. It has become the Borg, and resistance is futile.

Reagan saw this, not only in the tyranny of the Soviet Union that spread its form of global expansion around the world, but he saw it in our own government that sought to take more and more of our freedoms daily. He was a true revolutionary and freedom fighter. He envisioned the purest utopia which would be the most minimal of government involvement in our lives, freedom from outside attacks and oppression, and freedom of expression and religion. Pretty much what the founding fathers envisioned for this nation. Perhaps that is why he was perceived by many as a modern day, founding father.

But the most unique aspect of Reagan’s life was what he achieved. Not the resume version of what he achieved, but the spiritual version. Very few people in all of history stick to the created blue print of their destiny and see every detail through to the end. Reagan was a man of destiny who understood it, sought it, relied on it and defied all circumstances and odds to fulfill the specific destiny he was created for. That is what greatness truly is, because there is a natural understanding that a man was born, lived and died for a specific purpose and did everything, perfectly, to fulfill that purpose.

The men who stormed the beaches of Normandy had no idea what was waiting for them. They didn’t know if they would succeed or fail. They didn’t know if their lives would be in vain and forgotten the minute their loves ones stopped mourning. But as they each stepped off those boats, that fateful June day, they walked into their destinies that paved a way of freedom and liberty for people they would never know, who spoke a language they couldn’t understand, and who lived in a land that would bury them.

What, besides the honor of military, would cause people to lay down their lives for the unknown? They had no idea that 60 years later all the presidents of the free world who represent countries that tried to destroy each other, would all come together and honor their memories. They didn’t do it for that. President Reagan didn’t do what he did so that people would write glowing articles about him the day he died. He did it to preserve their rights to write ANYTHING they wanted.

So, it is fateful, and it is fitting that a generation of true heroes should both die, and be honored on the same day. It is right that heroes not be forgotten and young men and women are taught the difference between self-sacrifice and self-absorption, between right and wrong, between moral absolutes and situational ethics that allow nations to slide down that slippery slope of fascism and communism.

These men . . . from President Reagan, to the last man who gave his last breath on the beaches of Normandy, all served with honor, with a purpose and with a specific, God-created destiny and we honor, and bless them all. And we pray, that that fire, that spirit of sacrifice and faith still burns in the hearts of a few brave men and women.

Today, was the passing of an era. The next stage is up to those left standing

When touring the great museums of the old Soviet Union, 10 years ago, I could not help but compare their art to the art in American museums.

The best artifacts on display in their museums were items made over 200 years ago, when U.S. independence from England was still a dream. Our treasures from that same era show struggle, hardship, toil and endurance, while their’s show affluence, comfort, and excessiveness reserved for a small elite class.

Today, however, the roles have switched. America was carved from the wilderness with the will power, faith and determination of a group of people who abandoned their wealth in favor of freedom. This freedom then provided the people the opportunity to actualize their God-given potential and goals.

The same freedom that was denied to people whose only function in life was to serve the state. As a result, the modern wealth reflected in America is a consequence of a realized spirit of individuality and self-expression.

This is Nina May and the Renaissance Women reminding Americans that where free men flourish with God’s blessings, abundance and grace abound.

Many people who are neutral on the issue of gun control, ask what’s the big deal about the government registering guns.

Dr. Stephen Halbrook offers an historic perspective to help answer that question. “On November 8, 1938, The New York Times reported that ‘The entire Jewish population of Berlin had been “disarmed” with the confiscation of 2,569 hand weapons. Any resisters were shot immediately. Thousands of Jews were taken away. Searches of Jewish homes were calculated to seize firearms and assets and to arrest adult males.’

It was self-evident that the Jews must be disarmed before the extermination could begin. Finding out which Jews had firearms was not too difficult. The liberal Weimar Republic passed a Firearm Law in 1928, [ten years before this], requiring extensive police records on gun owners. Hitler signed a further gun control law in early 1938.”

So in light of the very hostile speech against the “religious right” by certain presidential candidates from both parties it serves us well to remember history. That, coupled with the insistence by these same people that guns be registered or banned is cause for concern. A concern that our Founding Fathers obviously shared.

This is Nina May reminding you that history can teach us a lot . . . if we are willing to learn.

Who said, “In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. How we have blemished and scarred the body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful, in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Whenever the early church entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being ‘outside agitators.’ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were called to obey God, not man.

Small in number, they were big in commitment. By their effort and example, they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.

So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said this 36 years ago . . .but it could have been today.

The historical revisionists have been tinkering again. This time its with Robin Hood.

According to people who have absolutely no proof, but offer opinions anyway, Robin Hood was gay, and Maid Marion never existed. No letters or correspondence, eye-witnesses, or proof, yet we are supposed to accept it as fact.

With that as the standard, why then is it so difficult for these same historians to accept the fact that all of our Founding Fathers had a deep and abiding faith in God?  There are reams of documents, letters, speeches and notes to prove it, yet their faith is either denied, dismissed, or mentioned as an afterthought as though they remembered they might have had a library card.

Even Thomas Jefferson, who is referred to as an atheist by many historians, and who wrote a book called the “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,” said in reference to the Bible, “It is a document in proof that I am a real Christian… a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”

So here’s the deal: if Robin Hood was gay, then Thomas Jefferson was a Christian.  There is certainly more proof to substantiate that.

In 1909, President Teddy Roosevelt said, “I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism. The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining.”

He also said, “Every thinking man realizes that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven with our whole civic and social life that it would be impossible for us to figure ourselves what that life would be if these standards were removed.”

And here we sit and the end of the century that this was spoken in, witnessing his warning for the nation played out in a myriad of scenarios. Everything from leadership without moral character to children without moral absolutes. From good people being ridiculed and labeled as evil, while those without moral conviction are raised up as the standards for tolerance.

But the battle is not political, it is spiritual.  It is not geographic, but territorial in the spiritual realm. If Christians fail to understand this, then we may not even recognize ourselves in the next half century.

The new international theme for countries seems to be based on the old Plessey vs. Ferguson rule of segregation . . . separate but equal.

Of course that was considered not only unconstitutional, but unjust and blatantly racist here in America. But that out-dated standard seems to the new paradigm for countries such as Israel and Yugoslavia.

Israel is now a patchwork quilt of ethnic groups who do not work together, play together, or vote together.  It has become a “separate but equal” country. It seems as though that is the hope of the Kosovars, that they have their own separate, but equal country, with their own president and standing army.

This should be wonderful news for southerners who have steadfastly held to the motto, the “South Shall Rise Again.” After all, they tried, unsuccessfully, 140 years ago to do exactly what the Palestinian Authority and the KLA have accomplished.

To be consistent, Clinton should give them his full blessing, the backing of NATO, and any foreign country who agrees with this new standard, should feel free to join in the fray. This is Nina May asking what you think.

As we wind down this century, it serves us well to reflect upon the end of the last one to gain a historical perspective on who we are as a nation.

On this day, 95 years ago, President William McKinley, then Governor of Ohio said, “There is no currency in the this world that passes at such a premium anywhere as good Christian character… The time has gone by when the young man or the young woman in the United states has to apologize for being a follower of Christ.”

It is important for Christians today to understand that the cause of Christ has been a spiritual battle that has been ongoing since the foundation of the earth. It has been a physical battle for 2000 years as Christians have been faithful, persecuted and victorious in that order.

Why do we think today we should have it any easier just because we think we live in a more civilized and more accommodating time? Christians one hundred years ago had to make the same choices we do today. And because they stood for the cause of Christ, we can continue sharing His love with others.

We are merely passing the baton of love, forgiveness and salvation. . .that is a wonderful legacy to leave our nation.

Robert E. Lee was offered a commission by Abraham Lincoln and turned it down to lead the Confederate Army, so both sides thought he was qualified. And now his portrait has been removed from a wall containing 28 others in Richmond, the capitol of the Confederacy, because one of the city councilmen is offended by it.

He compared him to Adolph Hitler. Obviously not a history buff, this man is comparing an apple to an orange. The better analogy would be to compare Lee to the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who have been fighting for independence from Yugoslavia. They want to secede from their Union. The dictator, Hitler, on the other hand, wanted to remake the world in his image.

So what again is Sa’ad El-Amin’s complaint about the portrait of a great general? He claims that “Lee is a pariah in my community.” Which community is that? Richmond? The former Capitol of the Confederacy . . . I doubt that very seriously.

This is Nina May asking you to tell us what you think. Should the portrait stay or go? And if it goes, can Republicans have every picture of Clinton removed from public buildings because they find them offensive?

The best argument against the use of the confederate flag in state flags is that it “evokes visceral, emotional feelings.”

Remember the Vietnam days when the U.S. flags were being burned, cut up, desecrated as a few Americans were calling their own country imperialists? In their view, the American flag represented military oppression, murder, and aggression. Granted, they were a very small minority, but they were entitled to their opinion. And possibly, for a small number of veterans, who lived through the war, the flag still evokes “visceral, emotional feelings.”

They probably get a knot in their stomach when they see people saluting it as they remember the bodies of their dead friends floating in rice paddies under it. But does their bad experience, hate, and lack of respect for the flag mean it should be banned or outlawed?

No, what it means is that the flag protects their right to express their hate against it. Just as that same right is protected by those who hate the confederate flag . . . but that is not a good enough excuse to change history and destroy symbols that might “evoke visceral emotional feelings.” This is Nina May, still encouraging consistency in the law.