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The Clarendon Press, December 16, Page 3
Anatomy of Political Structure
By: Weldon Rives, Minister
First United Methodist Church
Occasionally people will raise the question of how important is
the concept of THE LAST JUDGEMENT, We have moved away
from some of our heritage by putting less emphasis on some
doctrines of our faith. Quite often any emphasis on
understanding the doctrine of THE LAST JUDGEMENT is
considered taboo among that which we desire no longer to talk
about.
The evangelists of our father's day said a great deal about the
Day of Judgement, which they expected at the end of all life. Our
generation - and more especially the younger generations -
seems to ignore the doctrine. I've had some people deny all
probability that there will be a Day of Final Judgement. I think it
! is unfortunate that the doctrine of The Final Judgement has been
downgraded in modern preaching, in church school studies and
in the immediate thought of men. I think it is most regretable for,
see, if we deny this Judgement, we will lose life itself. The
fact is that each one of us will be held accountable by a righteous
God on the basis of our life, our choices, and the use or misuse of
our opportunities. We of the United Methodist Church re-affirm
this each Sunday when we affirm our faith by one of the Creeds
of the Church. Each one speaks in one form or another of such a
time of judgement where we must account unto God the Father
for the way in which we lived, moved and had our being
according to His commandments.
Our understanding of the Last Judgement is an outgrowth of
the Hebrew's concept of a "terrible day of the Lord" modified by
the preaching of the apostles, especially Paul, as they took up
this concept and re-interpreted it in light of a Second Coming of
Jesus Christ. The average Hebrew, Jew in Jesus' day, believed
in the coming of that "terrible day of the Lord" for the evil
nations who had inflected suffering, loss and destruction upon
the House of Israel would be punished and Israel would be
completely vindicated. Their understanding was based on
national dreams founded in the promises of The Covenant
between God and Abraham. Thus, according to the popular
teaching of the times, it was to be an occasion for rejoicing for
Israel and a time of terror for their enemies.
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The prophets, however, often proclaimed that "The Day Of
The Lord" would be not only a day of judgement upon the
enemies of Israel but upon Israel also. Therefore, it would be an
altogether different experience from what they expected. Instead
of being a day of victory it would be a day of anguish - Read
Amos 5:18-24. Yet, always there was the hope of the Day of the
Lord, a day of judgement when God Himself would set creation
in order and the lion would lay down with the lamb.
Now, the Christian dectrine of The Second Coming Of Jesus is
a variant of "The Day Of The Lord" theme of the Old Testament.
Jesus' assurance to his disciples that He would return and
resume His work was a powerful motivation for the early
Christians. When the Christian Church began to take root in the
Palestinian soul, then it began to re-interpret the Old Testament
doctrine of "the terrible day of the Lord" as a day when God
would restore Israel to its former glory to the event when Jesus
would come again descending out of the heavens as the Apostles
had seen Him go. Thus the hopes and dreams inspired by the
prophets were ascribed to the Christian's confidence in the
return of the Messiah who had been crucified by His enemies.
Therefore, an essential part of the Christian's faith is the belief,
according to Scripture, that God will act in Christ through a new
coming by which history, which now says so little about the
person of Jesus, will eventually reveal Him as Lord of lords and
King of kings.
Grace and peace.
Group to present play
The Cooperative Youth of the Episcopal, Methodist and
Presbyterian Churches will present a Christmas play at the
Presbyterian Church Sunday, December 16. There will also be a
program by the Sunday School departments. There will be no
cooperative worship service that evening. The public is invited.
Panhandle Press Association
West Texas Press Association
The Clarendon Press is published semi-weekly every week of
By CLARENCE HAMILTON
Clarendon College Instructor
My thesis is that separation of powers is a myth and not a
reality in American National Government.
After reading political theory written by Neustadt on
Presidential Power and Rossiter on The Presidency, I am
inclined to believe that as political practice becomes more
complex the President will become more authoritative..The rise
of Caesarism becomes more evident with the passing of time.
The people of the United States today are confused on the
primary structure of democratic practices as opposed to
democratic principle. When this happens to an unstructured
society, people begin to look for strength of leadership, hence
the rise of Caesarism.
The Constitution of the United States suggests that there
should be a separation of power, ie, Article I, Section 8, on war
power. Only Congress may declare war. Yet we have been
committed to war by Presidents at least 125 times during our
history.
Congress has not been reluctant to let the President take the
blame for mistakes, ie, the To,kin Gulf Resolutions and
President Johnson's use of force in Viet Nan. Many people are
still confused on the issue of why we could not win the Viet Nam
War. The reason is obvious. Once we crossed the 17th Parallel
we became the aggressors and were no longer involved with
containment. Congress was willing to put the entire blame on
Johnson. If we are to expect the President to take the blame, we
are going to be forced to accept the rise of Caesarism.
The Courts have always been subjected to doing whatever
Congress and the President wanted them to do. The Supreme
Court under the direction of John Marshall established an era of
controversy. The Supreme Court under Taney became a
non-controversial body. The Court under Earl Warren became
I i
From Ann Foltz, Frederic, Wis.:
I wonder how many people have
ASSOCIATION gone down in a watery grave to
wake up again. This event took
place about sixty years ago when
I was seven years old.
I lived with my Grandmother's
family of eleven since I was two
years old, and I was the youngest
of the group. Grandma was a wi-
dow at an early age and I remem-
ber she didn't pay much attention
to aches, bumps, or minor injur-
ies.
On this warm summer day I
very active by handing down controversial decisions. The Court
during the Franklin Roosevelt years responded to the New Deal
unfavorably until Roosevelt got men of like thinking on the court.
Richard Nixon has apparently accomplished the same thing.
Also according to Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution,
Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes. Duti,
Imports, and excises, however, Congress has allowed Presidents
to enter into reciprocal trade agreements. In addition it has been
historically accepted that the Senate must ratify all treaties, but
in recent years Presidential or Executive Agreements far surpass
treaties. The Truman Doctrine, the Else,hewer Doctrine, and
other executive agreements have committed this country to act
accordingly concerning foreign affairs.
There is no way to separate foreign policy from domestic policy
in the United States. Both Congress and the President are
responsible for developing both foreign and domestic policy. The
first line of defense begins with foreign policy. The second line of
defense is military strength. The last line of defense is domestic
well being. All of these are so interrelated that there is no way to
separate powers between the Executive and Legislative branches
of government.
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lo, _Clarendon Press
the year, at 204 South Kearney Street in Clarendon, Texas,
79226
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corrected upon being brought to the attention of the publisher.
went with an Uncleto herd cattle
near the St. Croix River. The log
drives were going through and
there were many logs near the
bank of the river. My Uncle and
his friend decided we would all
go fishing while they kept an eye
on the cattle.
I was sitting, actually straddl-
ing a log and they kept saying,
"Move out of the way." So with
each command I made another
hitch backwards. After about
three hitches I came to the end
of the log. "Splash," that's all I
knew. I woke up lying on my
stomach on the ground and heard
After viewing the political structure of the United States, the
most astounding thing that comes to my mind is not how well the
system works (and it does) but that the system works at all.
The most optomistic thing that 1 ff, rsee in the future is that the
American system has placed strong emphasis on due process of
law. If the Atnerican people are willing to allow due process to
continue to work, America has a bright future.
I f grown-ups
st ill wrote
letters
to Santa.
Accutron *
With the famous
tuning-fork movement.
For him
Calendar classic.
14K solid gold.
For her
Bark textured.
14K solid gold,
Bulova
Reknowned for design
, The Press prints the news as it happens, and not as it wants it to my Uncle saying that 1 was corn- il']
___ ,happen. ing to. The first thing I said was, Ill rerandl.mdependability'
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;;+I . . n +,',,e most widely .sed method
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'WIF 'qlll PIIIV P'/ II o/all collected reuse. A/or more
YOUR FIILL SERVICE BAIK
N satis/actory disposal method is
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Banking Service
doesn't pay off
in blue ribbons
But if has won for us a
wonderful assortment
of very good friends.
If you are one of them, you
know why. If you're not, let
us show you.
SCHOOL
MENU
Dec. 17 - 20
Monday
School boy sandwich on bun
Lettuce & Tomatoes
French fries
Chocolate cake
Milk
Tuesday
Baked fish with tarter sauce
Buttered potatoes
Blackeyed peas
Batter bread-butter
Syrup
Milk
Wednesday
Beef stew with vegetables
Cole slaw
Harvard beets
Cornbread
Cookies
Milk
Thursday
Chipo pie with cheese
Tossed green salad
Buttered corn
Plain jello
Milk
Friday
Christmas Holidays
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