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User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-12T21:49:16Z

Updatewithfacts: polished up a couple sentences

'''Updatewithfacts''' is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is Thaddeus, simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for that particular online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

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Vince Foster

2021-06-11T06:24:44Z

Updatewithfacts: polished up a sentence

'''Vince Foster''' (died 20 July 1993) was a childhood friend and classmate of [[Bill Clinton]]<ref>[https://www.google.com/search?q=kindergarten+photo+vince+foster+hope+arkansas+1950&num=30&newwindow=1&client=tablet-android-efun&biw=1280&bih=800&prmd=insv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEttba2ozQAhVLrFQKHXtcCVwQ_AUIBygB#imgrc=9zyXWr4MtgBpaM%3A Bill Clinton's [[segregation|segregated]] kindergarten photo, Hope Arkansas, 1950]. Bill Clinton is the chubby boy to the far left, Vince Foster is the taller boy to Clinton's left.</ref> who served as [[White House]] Counsel for the first five months of the Clinton presidency. Contrary to popular myths ''[[Washington Post]]'' writer David Maraniss and others propounded, Bill Clinton was not "First in his class," Vince Foster was.<ref>http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/vince-foster.html</ref> Foster was under investigation for [[espionage]] at the time of his death.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrEA8i7z_PYC&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=Foster+was+under+investigation+for+espionage+at+the+time+of+his+death.&source=bl&ots=UwZr91Gz8l&sig=bBSqovJ-fE0fxYWvvj9_nc2To4s&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKyvS_yYzQAhXlhVQKHVYaAIcQ6AEIKTAC#v=onepage&q=Foster%20was%20under%20investigation%20for%20espionage%20at%20the%20time%20of%20his%20death.&f=false]</ref><ref>http://www.worldtribune.com/in-memory-of-vince-foster-who-cannot-rest-in-peace/</ref>

Foster was one of four former members of the notorious [[Arkansas]] Rose Law Firm who migrated to [[Washington, D.C.]] upon [[Bill Clinton]]'s [[United States presidential election, 1992|election in 1992]] to the presidency with a 42% [[plurality]]. The other three were :

*[[Hillary Rodham Clinton]], the first [[First Lady]] of Arkansas and the [[United States]] to come under [[criminal]] investigation;
*[[Webster Hubbell|Webster (Webb) Hubbell]], former Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court appointed by Bill Clinton; convicted and sentenced to [[federal]] [[prison]] in the [[Whitewater]] land scheme to [[fraud|defraud]] [[Senior citizen|retiree]]s of which Bill and Hillary Clinton were partners;<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/14/home/062995hubbell.html Ex-Clinton Confidant Gets 21 Months], By JEFF GERTH, ''[[New York Times]]'', June 29, 1995. www.nytimes.com</ref>
*William H. Kennedy III

Bruce Lindsey, current Chairman of the Board of the [[Clinton Foundation]], also came from another Little Rock law firm.<ref>[https://www.clintonfoundation.org/about/board-directors Board of Directors | Clinton Foundation], www.clintonfoundation.org</ref>

==Some facts==
Foster is said to have committed [[suicide]] one day after President Bill Clinton took the unprecedented step of firing the head of the [[FBI]]. Under the law, the FBI would normally be the agency charged with the investigation of the death of a high ranking Executive Branch official.

Some FBI field agents have been accused of suspicious activities in the conduct of three investigations.

Various theories surround the odd circumstances in Foster's death. Here is a sampling of some theories most frequently discussed:
*Foster committed suicide in his office in the [[White House]], and his body was moved by unknown persons to Fort Marcy Park.<ref>Sarah McClendon who worked in the White House since 1941 under 11 presidents and knew everybody and everything there reported a throw rug which had been in the White House for decades was unaccounted for immediately after Foster's suicide.</ref>
*Foster committed suicide in his car in the White House parking lot, and his body was transported to Fort Marcy Park by unknown persons.<ref>''The Clintons' War on Women'', [http://epubbookonline.com/b/3035/roger-stone/the-clintons-war-on-women/22 CHAPTER 14 THE BODY], by Roger Stone, Skyhorse Publishing, 2015.</ref>
*Foster drove under his own volition to Fort Marcy Park and shot himself.
*Foster was the victim of a homicide either in the White House, the White House parking lot, another location, or at Fort Marcy Park.

The statements of EMTs and those first on the scene about the number and nature of bullet wounds in the body conflict with the final reports of the US Park Service and two Independent Counsels, as do statements about the weapon that was found, among other particulars.

==''it was homicide...''==
Here are a few of the base arguments which imply Foster's death was a premeditated homicide :
*FBI Director William Sessions was summarily fired by President Bill Clinton one day before Foster's death. The FBI, which would have been the lead agency to investigate the death of the highest ranking Executive Branch official since the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]], was in a state of flux and confusion.<ref>[https://www.newsmax.com/Pre-2008/Vince-FosterWhat-the/2003/12/04/id/677697/ Vince Foster: What the Media Won't Tell You], ''[[Newsmax]]'', 04 Dec 2003.</ref>
*Webster Hubbell is quoted at the time as saying "Don't believe a word you hear. It's not suicide. It couldn't have been."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk94BwAAQBAJ&pg=PT226&dq=Don%E2%80%99t+believe+word+you+hear+not+suicide+couldn%E2%80%99t+have+been&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA1_6CyJrNAhVHdlIKHWEDA_YQ6AEIJjAB#v=onepage&q=Don%E2%80%99t%20believe%20word%20you%20hear%20not%20suicide%20couldn%E2%80%99t%20have%20been&f=false Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups], Richard Belzer, David Wayne, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., Aug 1, 2012.</ref>
*Botched investigation and autopsy.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qT8eb8oTzdMC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=Botched+investigation+and+autopsy+foster&source=bl&ots=bMQPz96FaE&sig=jRj-KBubIvOusXF_8UZzUThKCps&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9hebUzpvNAhVNHGMKHcqADmkQ6AEIUTAH The Strange Death of Vincent Foster: An Investigation],
Christopher Ruddy, Simon and Schuster, Apr 5, 2002.</ref>

One such theory is that Foster was lured to a secret apartment referenced severally by a female White House intern with brownish-blonde hair for sex.<ref>http://theamericanchronicle.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-strange-death-of-vincent-foster.html</ref> And that either at that location or elsewhere he was executed, with a smokeless ball powder low velocity bullet below the jaw line on his right side, leaving the bullet within the cranium.<ref>https://youtu.be/PrhckovAFEA</ref> Another bullet was fired into his mouth, to make it appear as suicide, and his body transported to Fort Marcy Park where the federal Park Service would have jurisdiction, not the local DC police homicide unit.

There is no video record of Vince Foster leaving the White House alive on the night of his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbicover-up.com/dreyfus/dreyfus5.htm|title=America's Dreyfus Affair|date=November 27, 1996|work=Failure of the Public Trust|authorfirst=David|authorlast=Martin|publisher=FBIcover-up.com|accessdate=10 September 2019|archive-url=https://archive.fo/sEJ72|archive-date=10 September 2019|dead-url=no|quote= ''"...Shortly after that article came out I was told by an acquaintance of mine who used to work for the CIA-contract Mitre Corporation that Mitre had installed the security equipment at the White House and that their surveillance cameras were, as one might expect, state of the art. "They could tell you how close the driver of a car had shaven when he drove in the gate in the morning," he said. It had intrigued me that with everyone wondering where Vince had gone after he left the White House proper, no one had ever raised the question of when the surveillance videos showed him leaving the White House grounds or whether they showed him leaving the grounds alive at all. I passed the word on to [[Christopher Ruddy|Ruddy]] and asked if he might look into it. A week or so later he came back to me with the incredible story that his White House source had told him that there were no such surveillance cameras, that Clinton had found that they cramped his carousing style and he had had them removed. I relayed that word to my acquaintance, who simply shook his head in disbelief.'' ''Upon further reflection, the failure of the Park Police or the FBI to interview on the record anyone minding either of the gates to the White House compound or the exits of the Old Executive Office Building that Foster would have had to use to leave the White House compound, as opposed to the White House, itself, is as telling as the failure to consult the surveillance record. '''Taken together they strongly suggest that Foster, in fact, never left the White House compound alive on July 20, 1993, and the investigators know it.''' Ruddy's lack of interest in these matters, in fact, his apparent fabrication to steer me away from them, is, in retrospect, at least as telling. It is also reminiscent of the apparent fabrication by Paul Gigot that a handwriting expert hired by the Wall Street Journal had examined the torn-up note "found" in Foster's briefcase and had pronounced it authentic....''}}</ref>

==''it was suicide...''==
These are some of the arguments tending to the conclusion Foster's death was a suicide :
*Foster was severely depressed after forwarding instructions from Hillary Rodham Clinton which resulted in the death and incineration of 17 children and 68 adults in the [[Waco massacre]].<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/tripp.lkl/ Transcript: Larry King Live], CNN, February 9, 2001.</ref>
*Foster was the week link in the [[cabal]] of Arkansans with detailed knowledge of the [[Whitewater scandal]], the [[Mena Arkansas]] dope smuggling operation, money laundering through the [[Arkansas Development Finance Authority]],matters associated with [[Inslaw]], and private investigators hired by Hillary Clinton to intimidate, harass, and blackmail women linked to Bill Clinton sexually.<ref>http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/every-clinton-sex-assault-victim/</ref>

The recent reporting on Foster's state of mind, his depression caused by his involvement in the Waco massacre and Hillary publicly ridiculing him, is a more reasoned and plausible explanation than the talking points doled out by the Clinton War Room and surrogates at the time. The mainstream narrative for two decades was that Foster killed himself because he was depressed over filing Hillary's tax returns (as per the ''Washington Post'', for example).<ref>See the ''Washington Post'', "The 1993 suicide of White House counsel Vincent Foster, hard on the heels of the travel-office imbroglio and his filing of delinquent Whitewater Corp. tax returns." [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/whitewater.htm Untangling Whitewater], By Dan Froomkin
Washingtonpost.com Staff.</ref>

==Jerry Parks==
The family of Clinton private investigator Jerry Parks has given testimony contradicting the findings of the investigators.<ref>http://contrariansview.org/onashisite/WebVAX/Foster/AEPonQuinn10Oct96.html</ref> Parks did some work for Foster, which included running large sums of cash from the [[Mena airport]] to Foster. He was paid $1000 a trip. When Foster's death was announced on a local TV bulletin in [[Little Rock]], Parks sitting at home announced to his family, "I'm a dead man." He muttered that Bill Clinton's people were "cleaning house," and that he was "next on the list." Within days their family home was burglarized, and a dossier Parks was compiling at the request of Hillary Clinton and Foster to contain "bimbo eruptions" was stolen.<ref>http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/clinton/arkansas.htm</ref>

On September 23, 1993, on the way home from a restaurant, a white Chevrolet Caprice pulled up beside him on the Chenal Parkway. An assassin let off a volley of semi-automatic fire. Parks skidded to a halt in the intersection of Highway 10. The killer jumped out and finished him off with a 9 mm handgun—two more shots into the chest at point blank range. Several witnesses watched as the gunman joined his accomplice in the waiting car and sped away.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040402111006/http://terpsboy.com/Articles/JerryParks.html The Secret Life Of Bill Clinton], Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, 1997</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/ACyGsAAjfCI</ref><ref>https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Bill-Clinton-Unreported/dp/0895264080</ref>

==Miguel Rodriguez==
In the files of the National Archives and Records Administration, Kenneth Starr's lead prosecutor Miguel Rodriguez submitted a 2-page resignation letter and a 31-page memo about the injuries Foster sustained.<ref>http://www.allanfavish.com/images/PDF/rodriguez%20memo.pdf</ref> Rodriguez notes in the letter details of injuries around Foster's neck which were not reported in the official final report.

At the time, the FBI claimed that Foster's neck injury photos were underexposed, and therefore useless to them.

These records indicate Foster didn't really die from one .38 caliber gunshot, but from two gunshots. The other shot was on the right side of his neck, made by a “Small caliber” bullet hole.

Rodriguez claims that after he produced additional damning evidence of a possible Foster murder coverup, he became a target and was investigated internally. Mark Tuohey, past President of the D.C. Bar who served as deputy counsel to Starr, thwarted Rodriguez's efforts. Rodriguez was threatened by FBI investigators and others to "back off" and "back down." Rodriguez stated the result of the investigation was pre-determined by Fiske, and Starr held to the same determination.<ref>https://youtu.be/V34XC56LFFY</ref>

Rodriguez resigned and took the case to the media. While reporters were interested, editors at the ''New York Times'', ''Washington Post'', ''Chicago Tribune'', '' L.A. Times'', Associated Press, Reuters and others spiked the story.<ref>ibid</ref> Rodriguez was replaced on the Special Counsel's team by [[Brett Kavanaugh]].<ref>http://www.fbicover-up.com/justice-brett-kavanaugh.html</ref>

The motivation for a coverup among FBI investigators evidently is careerism, a desire to get along with one's professional colleagues and suck up to the boss who is capable of handing out rewards and promotions. Having ruled prematurely, based on the US Park Police's inept investigation, that "no criminal activity" occurred, to avoid embarrassment the FBI was determined to stick by its story throughout the two subsequent Independent Counsel investigations.

==Patrick Knowlton==
At 4:30 PM, on the afternoon Foster died, a commuter stuck in traffic needed to relieve himself. He exited the freeway and drove into Fort Marcy Park. When he entered the parking lot he saw a car with Arkansas license plates - not Vince Foster's. A Middle Eastern or Hispanic man in a car beside it glared at him menacingly, exited the car and stood alongside it when Knowlton got out of his car to find a tree to do his business. Knowlton hurried up, returned to his vehicle, and left.

Later that evening, Knowlton saw on the news that Foster's body had been found just after 6 PM. Knowlton called the police to report what he saw, was thanked and told they'd be in touch. No one ever followed up on Knowlton's report.

9 months later when questions arose over the botched Park Police investigation, and a special prosecutor had been appointed to look into the Clinton's real estate investments, Foster's death was reopened and combined into the [[Whitewater]] investigation. Knowlton again came forward, this time to speak with the FBI. The FBI tried to convince Knowlton he didn't see what he saw. They tried pleading and plodding Knowlton to second-guess himself and load up his statement with uncertainty.

Meantime the first Special Prosecutor, Fiske, was booted off the case for a conflict of interest. Fiske defended clients in the [[BCCI]] scandal in 1991, and now was investigating the same people, Foster, Hillary Clinton, [[Webster Hubbell]] and others who worked for BCCI. Ken Starr took over and in October of the following year, two years and three months after Foster's death, summoned Knowlton to testify before the Whitewater Grand Jury. But the FBI was fearful Knowlton intended to stand by what he saw.

Knowlton learned through a journalist that the FBI agent who interviewed him a year and a half earlier had altered his statement to imply that Knowlton ''may'' have seen Vince Foster's vehicle with Arkansas plates in the parking lot at 4:30 PM. The statements of other witnesses and rescue workers also formed a conclusion that Foster's dead body was in the park ''before'' Foster's vehicle arrived. But the other witnesses hadn't been interviewed by journalists, and they too didn't know investigators shaded their written reports with uncertainty which would be of no use to a grand jury.

On his way to the Court House to give testimony, Knowlton encountered no less than 23 men, strangers, over several blocks, staring him down, bumping into him, walking on his heals, walking beside him, using all manner of intimidation tactics to rattle him and question his sanity. And if he spoke about it to anyone, he'd sound like a paranoid lunatic.

Knowlton was ridiculed in the Grand Jury, with Starr's prosecutor implying to the jury Knowlton was in the park looking for a gay rendezvous. [[Brett Kavanaugh]] asked Knowlton in front of the grand jury if the man he saw in the park touched his genitals. Kavanaugh wanted to discredit Knowlton and his testimony.

When Miguel Rodriguez learned that Kavanaugh asked Knowlton about genitals he said, "How could Brett stoop that low. I can't believe Brett did that...What they are trying to do is discredit [Knowlton] by making him out to be a homosexual cruising at a park. The reality is we had this fight a year ago, and I was literally irate with Tuohey and the FBI agents who were snickering and laughing with Brett about this."

Rodriguez told Reed Irvine of Accuracy in Media about Brett Kavanaugh. "The young aspiring people who I used to work with back in that office – who will, will say and do what they have to, to move up the ladder." President [[George W. Bush]] hired Kavanaugh as White House Staff Secretary, and later nominated him to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. President [[Donald Trump]] later appointed Kavanaugh to the [[Supreme Court]].

Knolwton's statement was ignored in the final report. Knowlton sued for inclusion over Starr's objections, stating the FBI had misrepresented and falsified his statements. The panel of three federal judges who appointed Starr allowed Knowlton to attach an appendix to the final Starr Report with his testimony of what he saw at Fort Marcy Park. Knowlton also documented ethical violations, witness intimidation, harassment, threats, and obstruction of justice by FBI officials.

==Timeline==
*July 1, 1993, Thursday - Foster purchases a plane ticket from Washington D.C. to [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] on TWA and Swiss Air.
*July 8, Thursday - Swiss Air refunds the purchase price of Foster's ticket. Foster had canceled the trip to Geneva "when he inquired about his numbered bank account at Banca Della Svizzera Italiana in Chiasso, Switz.--and found the account empty. Foster was shocked to learn from the bank that someone using his secret authorization code had withdrawn all $2.73 million he had stashed there and had moved it to, of all places, the [[US Treasury]]."<ref>Jim Norman, ''Fostergate'', Media Bypass Magazine, August 1995</ref>
*July 11, Sunday - Vince Foster tells his wife Lisa he had written the opening argument for his defense against a feared congressional probe into his affairs. According to the Fiske report, Lisa believed this was the torn note found in Foster's briefcase by Stephen Neuwirth on July 26, six day's after Foster's death.
*July 12, Monday - Webster Hubbell receives Inslaw's rebuttal to the Bua Report. The rebuttal is dated July 11, 1993.<ref>[http://www.pinknoiz.com/covert/inslaw.rebuttal.html INSLAW's ANALYSIS and REBUTTAL of the BUA REPORT], July 11, 1993</ref>
*July 16, Friday - Sheila F. Anthony allegedly effects an approximate $286,000 wire transfer from Mellon Bank to Lisa Foster. Sheila Anthony contacts a psychiatrist and tells him—according to the psychiatrist—that Vince Foster is working on "top secret" issues at the White House, and that "his depression was directly related to highly sensitive and confidential matters." But Vince Foster does not visit the psychiatrist. Instead the name of this psychiatrist, along with the names of two others, are found in his wallet after his death.
:*Clinton has a two hour meeting with Judge Louis Freeh.
:*In the evening Vince and Lisa Foster drive to the Tidewater Inn, on the eastern shore of Maryland.
*July 17–18, Saturday & Sunday - Vince and Lisa Foster spend the weekend on Maryland's eastern shore. By "coincidence" Webster Hubbell also spends the weekend in the area, and he and Vince Foster meet at the estate of Michael Cardozo, head of Clinton's legal defense team and son-in-law of prominent Democratic fund-raiser Nathan Landau.
:According to the Fiske report, "Lisa Foster stated that the weekend did not go particularly well for Foster. When Foster returned on Sunday evening, July 18, he spoke to Lyons by telephone." James M. Lyons was a Little Rock attorney who was Counsel to the Clinton-Gore Presidential Transition Planning Foundation. He says Foster discussed Travelgate, and they talked about his representing Foster before Congress.
*July 19, Monday - Marsha Scott, Deputy Assistant to the President, spends 1–2 hours in a closed door session with Vince Foster. This is especially noted by [[Linda Trapp]], executive assistant to [[Bernard Nussbaum]], because Foster rarely has meetings this long with any one person.
:*Foster calls Larry Watkins, his physician in Arkansas and says he is depressed. Watkins calls a D.C. pharmacy and has 30 tablets of DESYREL (Trazodon) delivered to Foster's residence before 6 p.m.
:*At 3:15 p.m. Clinton meets with [[Janet Reno]] to discuss the FBI. Afterward he fires FBI Director William Sessions, and appoints Floyd Clark as Acting FBI Director.
:*Webster Hubbell stops by Foster's office. According to testimony, Hubbell gives Foster a Systematics related document.
:*Monday night Foster goes home earlier than usual. Bill Clinton calls to invite Vince to a movie back at the White House. Vince declines, and has dinner with Lisa.
*July 20, Tuesday - At 9:27 a.m. in the Rose Garden, Clinton nominates Judge Louis Freeh to be head of FBI. Clinton commends the FBI on the "remarkably swift arrest in the [[World Trade Center]] bombing" and laments that "drugs continue to ravage our young people and our streets".
:*In Little Rock, the FBI obtains a warrant to search the Little Rock offices of David Hale, the head of Capital Management Services. Hale was a Clinton-appointed municipal judge who charged that James McDougal and Gov. Clinton forced him to give fraudulent SBA loans to Clinton's friends. (This included $300,000 to a company connected to Madison Guaranty and run by McDougal's wife, $100,000 of which later ended up in a Whitewater Development Co. account.)
:*James Lyons calls Foster from Little Rock late morning, but says he was unable to speak to him. Lyons was scheduled to meet with Foster the following day in Washington D.C.
:*C. Bradley Buck, a partner at the Rose Law Firm, calls Foster. Buck leaves a message when he is unable to speak to Foster. Foster calls back at 12:17 p.m. (D.C. time) and leaves a message for Buck. Buck then calls Foster back at 1:00 p.m., but Foster has gone out. Buck later tells the FBI his calls related to the blind trust he was working on with Foster for Bill and Hillary Clinton.
:*At 12:00 Foster asks Linda Tripp, executive assistant to Bernard Nussbaum, to get him lunch from the cafetaria. He eats lunch in his office. At about 1:00 p.m. he emerges with his jacket on and leaves, telling Tripp, "There are lot's of M&Ms left in there. I'll be back."
:*Later at 6 p.m. Foster is reported dead, his body found laying on a steep slope near one of the cannons at Ft. Marcy Park across the Potomac in Virginia. His 4-door Honda Accord bearing Arkansas license plates is found in the Park parking lot. The car is registered to Vincent Foster, Jr. of Little Rock, Arkansas.
:*A Park Service employee says that a man in a white contractor van had told him that he had seen a body by the last [second] cannon at Fort Marcy Park. This report was in the form of a 911 telephone call to the Fairfax County Public Safety Communications Center. The call was received by dispatcher Marion White at call-taker position 11, at 5:59.59 p.m.
:*The Secret Service is notified when a White House identification badge is found in the car.
:*White House staffers Bernard Nussbaum, Patsy Thomasson, and Maggie Williams rifle Foster's office for "national security matters". The FBI and the Park Police are kept waiting outside in the hallway. Secret Service officer Henry O'Neill says he saw Maggie Williams, Hillary's chief of staff, leave "carrying what I would describe, in her arms and hands, as folders". Some documents are taken to Hillary's closet upstairs at the White House.
:*The White House releases a statement saying, "The positive identification of Mr. Foster's body was provided to the White House at approximately 9:55 p.m., and the death was reported by Park Service Investigators as an apparent suicide."
:*Robert Getzman calls Debra von Trapp and excitedly says, "We ''did'' him!" and "we did him somewhere else, but we dumped him in a 'queer' park to send Clinton and his 'queer' wife a message!"
*July 22, Thursday - At the afternoon press briefing, Dee Dee Myers says that the Park Service Police had been at the White House that morning; ". . . what they are looking for is anything that would confirm it was a suicide, such as a note".
:*Deborah Gorham, Vince Foster's secretary, is asked by Bernard Nussbaum to help search Foster's file. She observes that the index detailing the Clinton's personal files is missing.

==Recent developments==
*In August 2016 Vince Foster was back in the news. A false story was planted in the [[London]] ''Daily Mail'' alleging Foster killed himself because he had been humiliated by Hillary Clinton in a staff meeting one week before killing himself. This story sounds more plausible then the official explanation the ''Washington Post'' has cited for more than two decades - Beth Foster was depressed because he had done Hillary's tax returns,<ref>See for example ''Washington Post'', "The 1993 suicide of White House counsel Vincent Foster, hard on the heels of the travel-office imbroglio and his filing of delinquent Whitewater Corp. tax returns." [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/whitewater.htm Untangling Whitewater], By Dan Froomkin, Washingtonpost.com Staff.</ref> there are problems with it. Mainly, that according to the First Lady's schedule now at the Clinton Library in Arkansas, Hillary Clinton was in [[Japan]] and the Far East more than two weeks before Foster's body was discovered. She returned to the United States on July 18, spent two days in Arkansas, and wasn't scheduled to return to Washington till after Foster's body was found. Numerous other sources corroborate her schedule.

*FBI files relating to Hillary's role in the Vince Foster's death investigation are now missing from the National Archives.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3753013/Missing-FBI-files-linking-Hillary-Clinton-suicide-White-House-counsel-Vince-Foster-vanished-National-Archives.html</ref>

==''Investigating the investigators?''==
A so-called 'Independent Counsel' isn't really independent if he/she has to rely on field investigators from the FBI and US Justice Department. All three flawed investigations were conducted by the same Clinton Justice Department field investigators.

*U.S. Park Service Police. This agency lacked the legal jurisdiction to investigate the death of a high level White House employee.
*Robert Fiske. Because of the sloppy investigation by the Park Service Police, Special Counsel Robert Fiske was asked to investigate. Robert Fiske previously represented defendants in the [[BCCI]] scandal which was [[laundering money]] for the [[Iran-Contra]] arms dealers and Mena Arkansas dope smugglers.<ref>https://fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/11intel.htm</ref><ref>http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dirt-grit/jackson-stephens-bcci-and-drug-money-laundering</ref> Fiske's [[conflict of interest]] ultimately compromised his investigation, so [[Ken Starr]] was asked to take over.
*Kenneth Starr. While Clinton surrogates have delighted in excortiating and [[demonizing]] Ken Starr personally, Starr's findings in Foster's death are held up as the [[gold standard]] of truth. Starr went on to defend Jeffrey "Joe" Epstein, a registered sex offender and [[pedophile]], from a second conviction for having sex with minors.<ref>http://www.justice-integrity.org/faq/791-ken-starr-explains-his-help-for-billionaire-pervert-jeffrey-epstein</ref> [[Joe Epstein]], who is a billionaire, has travelled widely with former President Bill Clinton since Bill Clinton left office<ref>[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/05/18/morning_joe_panel_clintons_connection_to_billionaire_pedophile_jeffrey_epstein_will_blow_up_campaign.html]</ref> and is a big donor to the Clinton Foundation. Starr has nothing but praise for Clinton these days<ref>https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/281021-kenneth-starr-praises-clinton-for-redemptive-process heaps praise on Clinton</ref> and was recently ousted as President of [[Baylor University]] for ineptness and lax handling of a sex scandal involving the football team.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ken-starr-bill-clinton-nemesis-ousted-baylor-president-amid-school-n581011 ousted as Baylor University president</ref>

Nonetheless, witnesses cited in the Starr Report came forward after the report was issued claiming their statements in the report have been altered by Starr's investigators. Starr, who had delegated the investigation to the FBI and holdovers from the Friske investigation, refused to affix his signature to the final report.

==See also==
*[[Arkansas Development Finance Authority]]
*[[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]]
*[[Clinton body count]]
*[[Loretta Lynch]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Vince}}
{{Deep State}}
[[Category:Clinton Administration]]
[[Category:Hillary Clinton Advisors]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Clinton Scandals]]
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:1990s]]

United States presidential election, 2016

2021-06-11T01:49:31Z

Updatewithfacts: Fixed a typo and polished a sentence

[[File:ElectoralCollege2016.svg.png|thumbnail|right|350px|2016 election results]]
[[File:2016 United States presidential election, results by county.png|thumb|350px|Results by county, popular vote.]]
:''See also: [[Donald Trump achievements: 2016 election and transition]]''
In the '''2016 United States presidential election''', Republican [[Donald J. Trump]] defeated Democrat [[Hillary Clinton]]. The election was held on November 8, 2016. Trump was inaugurated as the forty-fifth president on January 20. Indiana Governor [[Mike Pence]], Trump's running mate, was inaugurated as vice president at the same time. Few predicted that Trump would win before the election and the result was a historic upset.<ref name="HistoricUpset"/>

Trump was elected with an [[Electoral College]] majority of 304 votes. Hillary Clinton got 227, Colin Powell 3, Bernie Sanders 1, Ron Paul 1, John Kasich 1, and Faith Spotted Eagle 1.<ref name=schmidt>KIERSTEN SCHMIDT and WILSON ANDREWS, "[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/19/us/elections/electoral-college-results.html A Historic Number of Electors Defected, and Most Were Supposed to Vote for Clinton]," ''New York Times''</ref> This result includes two "faithless" Republican electors who voted for minor candidates, and five faithless Democrat electors.<ref name="schmidt" /> Trump received 45.95 percent of the popular vote (63.0 million votes) compared to 48.04 percent (65.8 million) for Clinton.<ref name=NationalPopular>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=2016&off=0&f=1 2016 Presidential General Election Results]. ''Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections''. Retrieved January 12, 2016.</ref> A total of 136.6 million votes were cast.<ref name="NationalPopular" /> Later investigations reveal 7.2 million duplicate voter registration forms, usually in one or more states, allowing a voter to vote in person in one state and fraudulently by absentee in another.<ref>https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/16/media/seth-rich-family-response-claims-of-wikileaks-contact/</ref> Other lax voting integrity laws, including twelve states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses likely resulted in over 800,000 ballots cast by non-citizens.<ref name="Lucas800k">Lucas, Fred, "[http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/28/more-than-800000-noncitizens-could-have-voted-in-2016-election-experts-say/ More Than 800,000 Noncitizens May Have Voted in 2016 Election, Expert Says]," ''The Daily Signal''.</ref><ref name="O'ReillyIA">O'Reilly, Bill (November 29, 2016). [https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/bill-oreilly-amazing-amount-of-confusion-over-illegal-aliens-voting Bill O'Reilly: Amazing amount of confusion over illegal aliens voting]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 2016.</ref><ref name="Scarborough800k">Scarborough, Rowan (January 26, 2017). [http://washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/26/hillary-clinton-received-800000-votes-from-nonciti/ Trump argument bolstered: Clinton could have received 800,000 votes from noncitizens, study finds]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved January 27, 2017.</ref> Later estimates gave similarly large illegal vote totals, with one in June ranging as large as 5.7 million illegal votes.<ref>Scarborough, Rowan (June 19, 2017). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/19/noncitizen-illegal-vote-number-higher-than-estimat/ Study supports Trump: 5.7 million noncitizens may have cast illegal votes]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved June 20, 2017.</ref><ref>Shaw, Adam (June 22, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/22/study-noncitizens-may-voted-illegally-elections-previously-thought/ Study: More Noncitizens May Have Voted Illegally in Elections Than Previously Thought]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved June 23, 2017.</ref>—these figures later borne out as in 2019 notifications to addresses of 1.59 million inactive voters suspected of ineligibility were sent out in Los Angeles County alone.<ref>[https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/jw-exposed-fbi-media-collusion-against-trump/ "JW Exposed FBI-Media Collusion Against Trump"] (June 21, 2019). Judicial Watch website/press room/weekly updates.</ref> Dr. Robert Epstein of the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology testified before Congress that [[Google]] bias and meddling had shifted "between 2.6 million and up to 10.4 million votes" to Hillary Clinton.<ref>https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/08/psychologist-google-generated-at-least-2-6-million-votes-for-hillary.php</ref> In such key states as Ohio and Iowa, Trump soundly defeated Hillary with landslide margins as wide as 9 percent, carrying working class voters that previously voted for Barack Obama, whom Democrats now openly derided as "deplorable racists." While, the margins within several tipping point states as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania (Trump wins), and New Hampshire (Clinton won) had margins around or less than one percent, just providing now-President Trump the needed electoral votes to win the presidency.

The election was marred by corrupt elements within the Obama administration who spied on the Trump campaign and framed a thoroughly false narrative of collusion with Russia in an effort to smear Trump and tip the scale in Clinton's favor.

Trump's promises to crack down on illegal immigration and "repeal and replace Obamacare" were central campaign themes. Exit polls suggest that the issue of terrorism was a decisive factor for voters.<ref>William Saletan, [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/debunking_myths_about_trump_voters_with_exit_polls.html Debunking Myths about Trump’s Voters with Exit Polls]</ref> Clinton's foundation had accepted multimillion-dollar donations from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two Gulf Arab states that also finance [[ISIS]].<ref>"[http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/264493/saudi-arabia-and-qatar-bankroll-isis-%E2%80%94-and-clinton-joseph-klein Saudi Arabia and Qatar bankroll ISIS -- and the Clinton Foundation]," ''Frontpage Mag''.</ref>

[[Donald Trump]] defeated sixteen other major candidates to receive the nomination of the [[Republican Party]] in July. Former Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] defeated Vermont Senator [[Bernie Sanders]] to receive the nomination of the [[Democrat Party]].

==Primaries and convention==
[[File:Donald Trump (29273256122) Phoenix.jpg|thumb|right|The public's fascination with Donald Trump dominated the first half of 2016 more than any candidate of either party. Trump spent virtually nothing on media advertising.]]

===Republican primaries===
A record-breaking total of 17 individuals formally announced their candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Their first [[2016 presidential debate|debate]] was held on Thursday, August 6, on the [[Fox News Channel]], and viewed by a record-breaking audience of 24 million people. By February 14, 2016, after numerous debates and subsequent to the [[Iowa caucuses]] and [[New Hampshire primary]], six candidates remained in the race.

By March 15, half of the delegates were allocated among the candidates, including the key "winner take all" states of [[South Carolina]], [[Florida]] and [[Ohio]].<ref name="washingtonpost.com">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/17/if-donald-trump-wins-south-carolina-can-he-be-stopped/</ref> The remainder of the states holding early primaries allocated their delegates using a proportional scheme, which marginalizes the influence of the state.

To have a candidate's name placed into nomination at the National Convention, the candidate must win a majority of the delegates from at least eight different states.<ref name="Rule 40">{{cite web|url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3402699/posts|title=Rule 40|accessdate=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

With Donald Trump's victory in Indiana, and [[Ted Cruz]] and [[John Kasich]] subsequently suspending their campaign, Trump became the presumptive nominee for the GOP.<ref name="cnbc.com">https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/john-kasich-campaign-latest-news.html/</ref>

In winning the GOP primary, Trump received more votes than any other Republican primary candidate in history.<ref>Hoft, Joe (June 7, 2016). [https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/06/trump-trumps-wins-historic-race-record-fashion/ HISTORY! Trump Shatters Republican Primary Vote Record by 1.4 Million Votes]. ''The Gateway Pundit''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref>

====Conservatives increase in number====
The share of [[Evangelical Christians]] in the Republican Iowa Caucus increased to 64 percent from 57 percent in 2012.<ref>Zitner, Aaron (February 2, 2016). [https://www.wsj.com/articles/voters-seek-change-as-iowa-caucus-begins-1454377162 Ted Cruz’s Iowa Win Powered by Evangelicals, Conservatives]. ''The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref>

An NBC News exit poll taken at the Republican Primary in South Carolina found that voters have become more conservative:
{{cquote| Nearly four in 10 Republicans casting votes in the primary today described their political ideology as "very conservative"—an increase of 3 points over those who identified as "very conservative" in 2012 and up 5 points from 34 percent during the 2008 Republican presidential primary.

The increase among Republicans voters identifying as "somewhat conservative" is even more significant—now at 43 percent of Republican primary voters and up 11 points from 2012 and 9 points from 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/sc-exit-poll-results-gop-voters-grow-more-conservative-n522716|title=SC Exit Poll Results: GOP Voters Grow More Conservative|work=NBC News|date=Feb. 20, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 21, 2016}}</ref>}}

===Democrat primaries===

[[Democrats]] had to choose between former secretary of state [[Hillary Clinton]], [[Democratic socialism|"Democratic" Socialist]] Vermont senator [[Bernie Sanders]], and former Maryland Governor [[Martin O'Malley]].

====Rigged election====
The Democrat Iowa Caucus was very chaotic, poorly run, and whose results were very questionable.<ref>Samuelson, Darren (February 8, 2016). [https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/how-iowa-democrats-couldnt-handle-a-two-candidate-race-218934 Inside the Iowa caucus chaos]. ''Politico''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref><ref>Tuttle, Ian (February 5, 2016). [https://www.nationalreview.com/article/430878/hillary-clintons-iowa-victory-transparent-irregularities Iowa’s Transparently Dishonest Democratic Caucus]. ''National Review''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref><ref>Jacobs, Jennifer (February 3, 2016). [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/iowas-nightmare-revisited-correct-winner-called-caucus-night/79702010/ Iowa's nightmare revisited: Was correct winner called?] ''The Des Moines Register''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> It was reported that the results of 90 precincts, about 5 percent of the vote, went missing.<ref>[http://conservativetribune.com/iowa-caucus-democrat-party/ Iowa Democrat Party Issues Stunning Announcement About Caucus Results]. ''Conservative Tribune''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref>

The Democrat primary was rigged against Bernie Sanders and in favor of Hillary Clinton, and the party was shown to be helping Clinton behind the scenes.<ref>Griffin, Andrew (November 9, 2016). [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/bernie-sanders-us-election-president-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-democrats-primary-results-a7408451.html Donald Trump won election because Democrats rigged system to have Clinton beat Bernie Sanders, says WikiLeaks]. ''The Independent''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref><ref>Hoft, Jim (October 18, 2016). [https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/10/obama-lectures-media-integrity-elections-forgets-democrats-just-rigged-primary-bernie/ Obama Lectures Trump on "Rigged" Elections — Forgets That Democrats Just Rigged Primary Against Bernie]. ''The Gateway Pundit''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> In addition, Democrat primaries have "superdelegates", made up of party leaders and whose votes can vote for whomever they want, thus overriding the votes of primary voters.<ref>The Republican Party does not use the superdelegate method: although each state's chairman, national committeeman, and national committeewoman are automatically selected as delegates, their votes are counted along with other delegates.</ref><ref>Resnikoff, Ned (May 16, 2016). [http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/why-will-superdelegates-decide-2016-democratic-primary-unearthed-documents-hold Why Will Superdelegates Decide The 2016 Democratic Primary? Unearthed Documents Hold The Key]. ''International Business Times''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> Even the leftist website [[Salon Media Group|Salon]]<ref>Demoro, Roseann (March 30, 2016). [https://www.salon.com/2016/03/30/10_ways_the_democratic_primary_has_been_rigged_from_the_start_partner/ 10 ways the Democratic primary has been rigged from the start]. ''Salon''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> and, later, [[Elizabeth Warren]]<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41850798 Elizabeth Warren agrees Democratic race 'rigged' for Clinton]. ''BBC News''. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.</ref> believed the primary was rigged against Sanders.

[[Donna Brazile]], the interim DNC Chair, shared Democrat primary town hall questions to the Clinton campaign in order to help her win the primary.<ref>Shaw, Adam (March 17, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/17/brazile-admits-forwarded-debate-questions-to-clinton-camp.html Brazile admits she forwarded town hall questions to Clinton camp]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved March 17, 2017.</ref><ref>Ernst, Douglas (March 17, 2017). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/17/donna-brazile-admits-leaking-debate-questions-to-c/ Donna Brazile admits leaking debate questions to Clinton camp: ‘A mistake I will forever regret’]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved March 17, 2017.</ref> She continued to deny this fact through February 2017<ref>Scarry, Eddie (March 17, 2017). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/donna-brazile-finally-admits-she-shared-debate-questions-with-clinton-campaign/article/2617742 Donna Brazile finally admits she shared debate questions with Clinton campaign]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved March 17, 2017.</ref> and blamed [[Russia]] for the ordeal.<ref>Hudson, Jerome (March 18, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/18/donna-brazile-admits-to-sharing-debate-questions-with-clinton-camp-blames-russia/ Donna Brazile Admits to Sharing Debate Questions With Clinton Camp, Blames Russia]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved March 18, 2017.</ref> Later, in November 2017, Brazile revealed that not only did Obama leave the DNC deeply in debt due to his 2012 re-election campaign,<ref>Boyer, Dave (November 2, 2017). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/2/brazile-says-obama-left-dnc-deep-debt-clinton-camp/ Brazile says she found DNC deep in debt from Obama, controlled by Clinton a year before nomination]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.</ref> but the Clinton campaign effectively controlled the DNC as early as 2015, and the DNC worked to keep Sanders from winning the nomination.<ref>Multiple references:
*Brazile, Donna (November 2, 2017). [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774 Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC]. ''Politico Magazine''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*Pappas, Alex (November 2, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/02/donna-brazile-found-proof-dnc-rigged-nomination-for-hillary-clinton.html Donna Brazile: I found 'proof' the DNC rigged the nomination for Hillary Clinton]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*Neuman, Scott (November 3, 2017). [https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/03/561768006/book-reveals-clinton-campaign-effectively-controlled-dnc-as-early-as-2015 Book Reveals Clinton Campaign Effectively Controlled DNC As Early As 2015]. ''NPR''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*[https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Did-the-Democratic-Party-have-an-anti-Sanders-bias-513279 Did the Democratic Party Have an Anti-Sanders Bias?] ''The Jerusalem Post''. November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
The incident highlighted the growing divisions in the party:
*[https://www.voanews.com/a/democrats-cry-foul-rigged-primary-election/4098967.html Democrats Cry Foul Over 'Rigged' Primary Election]. ''Voice of America''. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*O'Reilly, Andrew (November 3, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/03/donna-brazile-allegations-highlight-mounting-schism-within-dnc.html Donna Brazile allegations highlight mounting schism within DNC]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
*Nolan, Lucas (November 3, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/11/03/bitter-hillary-supporters-blast-brazile/ Bitter Hillary Supporters Blast Donna Brazile, Elizabeth Warren on Twitter over Rigged Primary Revelation]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
The mainstream media avoided these revelations:
*Flood, Brian (November 3, 2017). [https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/11/03/big-three-networks-skip-donna-brazile-bombshell-that-dnc-was-rigged-for-clinton.html Big Three Networks skip Donna Brazile bombshell that DNC was rigged for Clinton]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
Brazile walked back from what she revealed soon after:
*Crookston, Paul (November 3, 2017). [https://freebeacon.com/politics/brazile-backtracks-clinton-dnc-claims-never-said-hillary-rigged-election/ Brazile Backtracks on Clinton-DNC Claims: ‘Never Said Hillary Rigged Election’]. ''The Washington Free Beacon''. Retrieved November 3, 2017.</ref>

====Millenial outreach====
Hillary Clinton's shapeshifting was on full display in the 2016 Democrat primaries. At first she posed as an experienced diplomat, [[national security]] expert, and statesman. But that didn't get her anywhere.<ref>See for example Hillary's speech on "The Crisis of Meaning" delivered in Austin Texas, 6 April 1993. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/23/magazine/saint-hillary.html?pagewanted=all</ref> So she appealed to the [[center]] by saying economists claimed Bernie Sanders promises were crazy and would bankrupt America.<ref>http://fortune.com/2016/02/17/bernie-sanders-open-letter/</ref> But that didn't gain any traction either. After the nomination she was matching or trying to outdo Sanders' pie-in-the-sky rhetoric by promising hundreds of billions for student aid to prepare young people for jobs that don't exist. Public Service Ads at one time ran saying, "Get a good job, get a good education". Then came an explosion of government handouts in the form of student loans. Then, in the bait and switch arrangement, students graduated only to find their jobs shipped overseas as the result of government negotiated trade agreements or the US economy's inability to create new jobs bankrupted by government mandated [[entitlement]] programs. Recent graduates found themselves [[serf]]s of the [[IRS]] with no way to repay the debt delivering pizzas.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2016/01/student_loan_crisis_at_its_ugliest_i_graduated_and_found_out_i_owe_200_000.html]</ref> What would be the way to reform the crisis? Increase [[capital]] formation to create new jobs? Not in the Democrat program. As Bernie Sanders proposed, and Hillary adopted, increase public treasury debt so that all young adults can go to college to graduate and find no jobs.

====Convention shenanigans====
[[File:Sethrich-e1494948876256.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Seth Rich (1989-2016) leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks. His bullet ridden body was found on a dark Washington DC street two weeks before Hillary's nominating convention.]]
The Clinton dominated [[Democratic National Committee]] showed how un-inclusive it is when it rejected out of hand 42 of 45 Sanders nominees for the 75 member convention rules, platform, and credentials committees. Of the 75 members on the 3 committees (25 each), 72 where staffed with Clinton cronies, and 3 with Sanders supporters, under the party's alleged "proportional allocation" methods based upon primary and caucus results.<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/bernie-sanders-dnc-rules-committee-222978#ixzz48eixbtTR</ref>

Despite being under investigation by the [[FBI]] for illegal mishandling of classified information during her term as Secretary of State, with the inclusion of [[Superdelegates]] Hillary led the field as the convention approached. The Clinton's have amassed $3 billion over 41 years from political donations. The majority of the money — $2 billion — has gone to the Clinton Foundation.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/clinton-money/</ref> Her campaign has also accumulated $6.9 million from fossil fuel donations.<ref>http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaign-updates/hillary-clintons-connection-oil-gas-industry/</ref> Through the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee, she funneled $60 million in donations through 33 Democrat state parties.<ref>http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/01/how-hillary-clinton-bought-the-loyalty-of-33-state-democratic-parties/</ref>

Clinton promised to put her husband, former President Bill Clinton, "in charge" of fixing the [[economy]];<ref name="aflcio.org">http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/NAFTA</ref> according to the [[AFL-CIO]] and the Economic Policy Institute, Bill Clinton along with the Democrat-controlled Congress destroyed 700,000 jobs in America with the passage of the [[NAFTA]] agreement.<ref name="aflcio.org"/>

====Socialist Caucus at 2016 DNC====
Over 300 Sanders activists attended [[Democratic Socialists of America]]’s “Socialist Caucus” on Wednesday afternoon, July 27, 2016. In the audience were over 100 Sanders delegates, including most of DSA's 55 member-delegates; they were joined by Larry Sanders, Senator Sanders’ brother, and the Senator's son, Levi Sanders.

The enthusiastic audience heard from leaders of the two largest unions that backed Sanders. Michael Lighty, political director of National Nurses United (and former DSA national director) analyzed the “transformative,” anti-corporate nature of Sanders’ call for [[single-payer]] healthcare and a financial transactions tax to finance free public higher education. Communications Workers of America District One Legislative Director Bob Master argued that a post-Sanders political trend would have to broaden its racial basis and coordinate work around several key racial and economic justice demands.

DSA National Director Maria Svart, El Paso DSA activist and Sanders delegate Ashley Rodriguez, and New York City DSA Co-chair Rahel Biru outlined the role DSA locals play in multi-racial coalitions and electoral campaigns to fight for immigrant rights, affordable housing and democratic public education. Jose LaLuz, DSA vice-chair and veteran labor and Puerto Rican rights activist, brought down the house with an impassioned plea to end United States [[colonialism|colonial]] rule in [[Puerto Rico]].

[[Maria Svart]] and [[Joseph Schwartz]], DSA National Political Committee member and chief organizer of the caucus, briefly outlined the NPC's outlook on the election: building a stronger, multi-racial and anti-racist “post-Bernie trend” that can be in opposition to a neoliberal [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] administration on day one. This can be accomplished, in part, by engaging in independent “Dump Trump” work in swing states (e.g., working for down-ballot progressives and engaging in voter registration and voter turnout among anti-Trump, progressive constituencies). In non-contested states, DSA locals can work for down-ballot progressive candidacies and build independent left electoral and social movement capacity.

Numerous participants remarked on social media that the caucus was one of the most substantive meetings at the convention. A score of participants joined DSA on the spot and the DSA table rapidly sold out of its 50 bright red DSA “Continuing the Political Revolution” T-shirts.

:''"Shout-outs to all the DSA delegates and volunteers who helped build the caucus. In particular, Tom Gallagher, Penny Schantz, Paul Garver, Harlan Baker, Ashley Rodriguez, Danny [Fetonte] and Barbara Fetonte, Larry Wittner, Rachel Ochs, Rebecca Ryan, Diane Isser and the list goes on..."''<ref>[http://www.dsausa.org/dsa_leads_socialists_caucus_at_dnc_dl DSA DSA Leads Socialist Caucus at DNC] Posted by Joseph M. Schwartz on 08.12.16</ref>

==Republican Party candidates==
{| class="wikitable"4
|-
! Maverick/anti-[[Establishment]]
|-
| [[Donald Trump]]
|}

=== Republican candidates===
A record-breaking total of 17 major individuals formally announced their candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Their first [[2016 presidential debate|debate]] was held on Thursday, August 6, on the [[Fox News Channel]], and viewed by a record-breaking audience of 24 million people. As of February 14, 2016, after numerous debates and subsequent to the [[Iowa caucuses]] and [[New Hampshire primary]], six candidates remained in the race.

By March 15, half of the delegates will have been allocated among the candidates, including the key "winner take all" states of [[South Carolina]], [[Florida]] and [[Ohio]].<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> The remainder of the states holding early primaries allocate their delegates using a proportional scheme, which marginalizes the influence of the state.

To have a candidate's name placed into nomination at the National Convention, the candidate must win a majority of the delegates from at least eight different states.<ref name="Rule 40"/>

With Donald Trump's victory in Indiana, and Ted Cruz and John Kasich subsequently suspending their campaign, Trump remained as the only Republican candidate left and became the presumptive GOP nominee. He opposed Hillary Clinton in the general election.<ref name="cnbc.com"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Donald Trump]]
|Business smart, name recognition, holds some conservative positions. Leads in almost all polls. Has forcefully campaigned on the issues of illegal immigration and international trade.
|Celebrity type with a bombastic style that can be a distraction.
|Trump won the [[New Hampshire primary]] easily, more than doubling the votes of his nearest rival. Won the [[South Carolina primary]], Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky. As of March 7, he enjoys a lead in the polls in Florida and Michigan. He originally announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/16/trump-announces-white-house-bid-joins-crowded-gop-field/</ref>

|-

|}

=== Other possible Republican candidates ===
These individuals expressed interest in running or have been mentioned as possible candidates, which could happen if none of the existing candidates attains a majority of the delegates prior to the [[Republican National Convention]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Paul Ryan]]
|Endorsed by former Speaker [[John Boehner]] and a proven conservative; ran on 2012 national ticket.
|Happy being speaker
|Boehner withdrew support and shifted to [[John Kasich]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/16/john-boehner-withdraws-2016-support-for-paul-ryan-backs-john-kasich-until-first-vote/|title=John Boehner Withdraws 2016 Support for Paul Ryan, Backs John Kasich Until First Vote|date=March 16, 2016|accessdate=March 17, 2016}}</ref>
|-
|[[Sarah Palin]]
|Very popular with the conservative base, record of cutting the size of government, expert on energy issues. Already experienced on national ticket.
|Thanks to the media, the electorate has already made up their minds about her. May prefer the role of commentator and not run for her and her children's sakes.
|
|-
|[[Condoleezza Rice]]
|Articulate, popular, foreign policy experience, takes the race and gender cards off the table, gave impassioned speech at the RNC, inspiring childhood story.
|Pro-choice, ties to Bush administration, never elected to any office, just appointed; left-wing immigration stance, had role leading up to [[Iraq War]], single status will mean she won't have the emotional support of a family for a Presidential run as [[Laura Bush]] has said; admired by some conservatives, disliked by others like [[paleoconservatives]] and from how [[Dick Cheney]] and [[Donald Rumsfeld]] have criticized her, she doesn't even have all the [[neoconservatives]] wrapped up.
|Some conservatives would think her running would be a good idea, others wouldn't. She declined to run in 2008 and 2012, but from the speculation she was going to be Romney's VP, she might this time.
|-
|[[John Thune]]
|Senator who defeated [[Tom Daschle]], relatively conservative for a Senator.
|Voted for TARP and often votes for other spending bills the leadership pushes, not well known.
|
|-
|[[Susana Martinez]]
|Gave a good speech at the RNC, conservative Governor of a blue state, Hispanic.
|Might not be interested, expanded Medicare in her state.
|
|-
|[[Jan Brewer]]
|Former governor of Arizona. If she were to run, would use potent immigration issue as foil to Rubio. Can take its mantle and change debate to pressure other candidates to tack right on the issue. Outspoken critic of Obama.
|Expanded Medicare waiver for Obamacare, and is no longer in elective office. Has lost some support from conservatives.
|
|-
|[[Kelly Ayotte]]
|Represents a swing state
|Voted in favor of amnesty
|If Rubio had been the Presidential nominee, he was likely to make Ayotte his running mate hoping the ticket will appeal to two swing states (Florida and New Hampshire), Hispanics, and women, offsetting Hillary with the last group. Both Rubio and Ayotte have been taken under the wings of McCain and Graham since getting in the Senate.
|-
|[[Allen West]]
|Conservative black Congressman from Florida who speaks his mind, some conservative activists insist that he run.
|Lost his race for re-election to the House two years after getting voted in.
|Has compared his loss to [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s before he became President in a radio interview.
|-
|[[Brian Sandoval]]
|Hispanic, fiscal conservative
|Pro-abortion, expanded Medicare in his state, [[Harry Reid]] did not seem to mind his performance as Governor.<ref>http://blogs.rgj.com/politics/2013/02/20/reid-says-hell-run-for-re-election-in-2016-wont-comment-on-sandoval-as-opponent/</ref>
|Sandoval later announced he would not run for President. He is capable of winning Reid's seat for the U.S. Senate instead with Reid's pending retirement.
|}

=== Republican candidates who dropped out of the race ===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Jeb Bush]]
|Unable to win Florida, has Hispanic wife and kids, multilingual, backing of [[Karl Rove]]. Had the backing of most [[George H.W. Bush#Family|Bush family]] members, despite the comment from his mother, [[Barbara Bush|Barbara]], who stated, "We've had enough Bushes" during an April 2013 interview.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51667537#51667537</ref>
|Outspokenly supports amnesty and Common Core, neither Tea Partiers or independent voters want a third Bush, told GOP primary voters they wouldn't elect Reagan today.
|Bush officially announced his candidacy on June 15, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/15/after-long-wind-up-bush-set-to-enter-2016-white-house-race/</ref>
|-
|[[Rick Perry]]
|Strong record of experience as Governor of [[Texas]]. Supports [[Second Amendment]]. Before the next election he might see a debating coach. Strong fundraiser. Not expanding [[Medicare]] to adjust for [[Obamacare]] like some other Governors are doing.
|Performed poorly in the last time, is an also-ran without [[Rick Santorum]]'s likely momentum in a race that will probably also have multiple other Republican Governors, also signed a state version of the DREAM Act and mandated vaccines for schoolgirls.
|Perry announced his candidacy on June 4, 2015. Perry became the first candidate to drop out of the race in September 2015.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/11/rick-perry-drops-out-of-2016-presidential-race/ RICK PERRY DROPS OUT OF 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, Breitbart, September 11, 2015]</ref>
|-
|[[Scott Walker]]
|A once-seeming [[movement conservative]] who defeated a recall that was pushed by [[George Soros]] and the unions, exhibited conservative determination in passing right-to-work in his state and surviving the relentless union attacks that followed.
|[[AFL-CIO]] and the other union special interests have him as a top target, but he stood his ground until recently where he's starting to adopt RINO stances on issues, such as refusing to speak out against [[same-sex marriage]] in a meaningful way and not taking a strong stance against the ''[[Obergefell]]'' decision.
|Walker formally announced his candidacy on July 13, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/13/walker-announces-2016-white-house-bid/</ref> To announce dropping out Sept. 21st, 2015.
|-
|[[Bobby Jindal]]
|Populist conservative who voiced skepticism about big business, Indian-American, followed Democratic Governor [[Kathleen Blanco]] in the aftermath of [[Hurricane Katrina]], focused on evangelical and energy issues like Rick Perry.
|Severely lacking in charisma.
|Jindal announced the formation of an exploratory committee on May 18, 2015.<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/18/politics/bobby-jindal-forms-exploratory-committee/</ref> Jindal announced his candidacy on June 24, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/24/louisiana-gov-jindal-looks-ready-to-jump-into-2016-race/</ref>
|-
|[[Lindsey Graham]]
|Moderate Senator from South Carolina. Is pro-military and an advocate for a strong national defense. Good public speaker.
|Widely seen as a liberal on immigration issues. Is considered a clone of Senato [[John McCain]] in the Senate.
|Announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee in January 2015. Graham announced his candidacy on June 1, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/01/graham-set-to-enter-2016-race-with-focus-on-middle-east/</ref>
|-
|[[George Pataki]]
|Former governor of a large state.
|Very low name-recognition nationally.
|Pataki announced his candidacy on May 28, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/28/former-new-york-gov-pataki-announces-run-for-2016-gop-presidential-nomination/</ref>
|-
|[[Mike Huckabee]]
|Former Arkansas governor who ran well in the 2008 primaries, and is particularly popular with [[evangelicals]]. He is the strongest candidate against [[judicial supremacy]] and the [[homosexual agenda]]. Huckabee has kept himself in the public eye for the past six and a half years as the host of a news-and-commentary show on the Fox network.
|His record on social issues is rock solid, but some question his record on fiscal issues.
|On September 2, 2015, he announced his support for the [[Christian]] Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, and telephoned her as other candidates were either ducking the issue, or speaking out against her. Huckabee launched an exploratory committee on April 17, 2015.<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/huckabee-set-to-announce-claims-ive-beaten-clinton-political-machine/article/2563219</ref> He announced his candidacy on May 5, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/05/huckabee-announces-2016-white-house-bid/</ref>
|-
|[[Rand Paul]]
|Son of [[Ron Paul]], voted against GOP establishment's spending compromise bills, advocate for cutting spending, can unite libertarians and conservatives, voted against NDAA. Made waves with historic [[filibuster]] against [[CIA]] director John Brennan over the Obama administration's claimed authority to use drone strikes against US citizens on American soil.
|Some of his father's more hardcore followers think he's a "traitor" for endorsing [[Mitt Romney]] in 2012, voted for [[Chuck Hagel]] as Defense Secretary. Supported the Supreme Court's liberal wing when it struck down Section 3 of the [[Defense of Marriage Act]], suggesting he's somewhat supportive of the [[Homosexual Agenda]].
|Has criticized [[Paul Ryan]], [[Jeb Bush]], and [[Chris Christie]] as a candidate might, delivered 2013 Tea Party response to the SOTU, which the news media didn't cover. Announced candidacy on April 7, 2015.<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?325139-1/senator-rand-paul-rky-presidential-campaign-announcement</ref>
|-
|[[Rick Santorum]]
|Strong social conservative base, runner-up in the 2012 primary, by 2016 endorsing [[RINO]]-turned-Democrat [[Arlen Specter]] will be a distant memory for many because he died in 2012. Strongly opposed to [[homosexual agenda]].
|May have been a [[stalking horse]] for Romney in the last election, which he'll vehemently deny; in 2016 voters may want a new face to lead the party instead of an also-ran, media portrays as fanatic, voted for Bush's spending to be 'part of the team'.
|Has founded an organization called Patriot Voices which may serve as a fulcrum for his campaign. Santorum announced his candidacy on May 27, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/27/santorum-set-to-announce-2016-plans-wednesday/</ref> Is currently near the bottom of the field of 17 Republican candidates.
|-
|[[Chris Christie]]
|Blunt criticism of teacher's unions won conservatives over for about a year, [[Ann Coulter]] supported him.
|Unprofessional style, abrasive, overweight, praised Obama's Hurricane Sandy efforts only days before the 2012 election, has gotten heat for appointing Sharia judge and having pro-abortion Lieutenant Governor. Not endearing himself to conservatives with his statements on things like gun control.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/30/christie-announces-2016-bid-for-white-house-becomes-14th-gop-hopeful/</ref>
|Dropped out and endorsed Donald Trump.
|-
|[[Carly Fiorina]]
|Former CEO, a good track record of attacking liberalism. Has gained support and attention since the first debate. She was widely considered the winner of the preliminary debate held for those not in the Top Ten as rated by the polls.
|Failed to win an election as a candidate for Senator, rejected Tea Party support, embraces the establishment GOP.
|Her entrance in the 2016 campaign would deny Democrats and Hillary Clinton the image of men vs. a women argument, aka 'war on women'. Fiorina formally launched her campaign for the Republican nomination on May 4, 2014.<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/carly-fiorina-im-running-for-president-1430739879</ref>
|-
|[[Ben Carson]]
|Plain-spoken, with common-sense solutions to the country's problems.
|Has said states can enact [[gun control]]. Much of his time during debates has been spent on humor or general apolitical remarks.
|The world-renowned surgeon made waves by skewering Obama's policies at the White House correspondent's dinner. Carson formally announced his candidacy on May 4, 2015, in Detroit, saying ""I'm Ben Carson, and I'm a candidate for president of the United States."<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/04/ben-carson-tells-tv-station-is-running-for-president/</ref> Dropped out on March 4, 2016 at CPAC.
|-
|[[Marco Rubio]]
|Favorite of [[Fox News]], articulate, Hispanic, able to win key battleground state of [[Florida]] since he's from there, was on Romney's shortlist in 2012.
Though perhaps initially a [[stalking horse]] for Jeb Bush, Rubio began to excel on his own and attract donors independent of the [[Establishment]], and insists on campaigning hard to win the nomination.
|Rubio used to be a Tea Party favorite when he defeated [[RINO]] [[Charlie Crist]], but some soured on his actions beginning with his efforts with [[Chuck Schumer]] as part of the so-called "Gang of Eight" to enact pro-immigration legislation.<ref>Rubio has also been criticize for denouncing [[Michele Bachmann]]'s investigation into [[Huma Abedin]] an for sending troops into Syria.</ref>
|Visited Iowa in December 2012 to speak at [[Jack Kemp]] library, delivered GOP response to Obama's 2013 SOTU, put his capital on the line working with seven other Senators on a controversial amnesty plan many conservatives oppose but has now eased away from it. Announced candidacy on April 13, 2015.<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?325251-1/senator-marco-rubio-rfl-presidential-campaign-announcement</ref> Won in Minnesota and Puerto Rico. Dropped on out March 15, 2016 after losing the Florida Primary.
|-
|[[Ted Cruz]]
|Previously active in the [[tea-party movement]], solid on opposition to Obamacare and gun control. Good debater.
|Like Obama, some question as to eligibility. As a first-term Senator, relatively inexperienced. Alienated some due to role in government shutdown.
|Bypassed the exploratory committee process and instead made his formal announcement of candidacy on March 23, 2015.<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?324979-1/ted-cruz-presidential-campaign-announcement</ref> Has gained in the polls since the first debate. By March, he'd won in Iowa, Maine, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Alaska.
|-
|[[John Kasich]]
|Two-term Ohio Governor, former U.S. Congressman. Popular with establishment types after Jeb Bush's withdrawal from the race.
|Expanded Medicare in his state, said the [[Bible]] supports [[Obamacare]], D.C. beltway insider, and will not oppose [[same-sex marriage]].
|On July 21, 2015, Kasich officially declared his candidacy, stating, "I have decided to run for president of the United States."<ref>http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/07/21/john-kasich-presidential-announcement.html</ref>
|}

==Democrat Party candidates==

===Announced Democrat candidates===
These individuals formally announced their candidacy for the Democrat nomination in the 2016 presidential election.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Hillary Clinton]]
|Has wanted to be President for decades, has Clinton machine and big money behind her, teflon image helped along by the liberal media, quitting Secretary of State position lets her run, she will have the "sexist" card at her disposal.
|Role in Benghazi and decades worth of scandals going back to the 90s, cheerled for the Iraq war, facing corruption charges, feminist. Bill Clinton may be a distraction.
|Clinton announced her candidacy on April 12, 2015.<ref>https://www.hillaryclinton.com</ref>
|-
|[[Bernie Sanders]]
|Independent that is lockstep with the Democrat Party. Popular among socialists.
|As head of the Veterans Affairs Committee, he has done nothing to fix scandals and help veterans. Endorses Obama's policies.
|At a press conference on April 30, 2015, Sanders announced that he is running for the Democrat nomination.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/29/vermont-sen-bernie-sanders-am-running-for-president/</ref>
|-
|}

[[Democrats]] did not have a choice other than [[liberal]] Hillary Clinton. If a competitive race had been allowed by the party bosses and [[Superdelegates]] (and it was not), the candidates mentioned below her were considered contenders:

===Other possible Democrat candidates===
These individuals expressed interest in running or were mentioned as possible candidates.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Joe Biden]]
|Tries to set image as he's "one of the folks" even though he's a millionaire. He'll have Obama's Chicago machine. Incumbent VPs often receive the party nomination
|Very gaffe-prone, VP to an unpopular administration.
|Currently yukking it up as Obama's Vice-President and has openly expressed some interest in running. Hasn't talked about running...yet. Should be good seeing how he and Hillary deal with each other on the stage if they both run.
|-
|[[Andrew Cuomo]]
|Tried to make himself look like a fiscal conservative, he's part of a political family like Jeb and Hillary, governor of a large state.
|Uncompelling, declared intentions to seize guns from lawful gun owners, which he's used executive orders to do.
|His late father, the former Governor, said he expected him to run. His gun confiscating executive orders are not sitting well with the American people by and large.
|-
|[[Mark Warner]]
|Senator from a swing state with a relatively moderate record compared to others, might try to get points with independents that the other Democrats won't have.
|He votes with his party most of the time, voted for gun control even though he claims to be pro-gun.
|
|-
|[[Elizabeth Warren]]
|Popular in [[Occupy Wall Street]] and other progressive circles, elected in very competitive Senate race.
|Caught lying about being a Native American so she could get [[affirmative action]] at Harvard, her very liberal views and rhetoric probably would not have resonated in states less liberal than [[Massachusetts]].
|Won election to the Senate in November 2012 against [[Scott Brown]].
|-
|[[Al Gore]]
|Former Senator and Vice-President. Represented a conservative leaning Southern state (although as of the 2016 election, it is one of the most Republican states in the nation). Since leaving office, Gore has made a career out of lecturing the world on the dangers of "Climate Change."
|
|Is being talked up as a possible candidate by Democrats worried about the scandals attached to Hillary Clinton.
|}

=== Democrat candidates that dropped out of the race ===

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Pros
!Cons
!Trending ...
|-
|[[Lincoln Chafee]]
|Former governor of Rhode Island, former Republican.
|
|Chafee announced his candidacy on June 3, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/03/former-ri-gov-lincoln-chafee-one-time-republican-declares-candidacy-for/</ref>
|-
|[[Jim Webb]]
|Former Virginia Senator and Secretary of the Navy.
|Webb's surprise candidacy looks like a public relations stunt by Democrat bosses to make the party look more mainstream than it really is. It is doubtful that this is a serious attempt to win the nomination.
|Announced his candidacy July 2, 2015 <ref>http://www.webb2016.com</ref>
|-
|[[Martin O'Malley]]
|Former governor of Maryland. Partisan and aggressive liberal.
|Martin who? He has low name recognition. Fiercely supports raising taxes and other very liberal stances, although that might help in the primary.
|O'Malley announced his candidacy on May 30, 2015.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/30/omalley-returns-to-baltimore-set-to-seek-democratic-nomination-2016-white-house/</ref>
|}

==Spygate==
[[File:3 hop.PNG|right|500px|thumb|Illustration of how the 3 hop rule works after a FISA warrant is obtained. A typical subject has 50 contacts in their phone or email. The same legal surveillance authority is applied to those 50 contacts, and then to the contacts' contacts. A FISA warrant on the Trump campaign chairman would grant surveillance authority to all 50 state campaign chairmens and their contacts.]]
:{{See also|Obamagate timeline|Fake news in the 2016 presidential election|FISA abuse}}
Initially in December 2015 there were 17 GOP candidates and all needed to be researched. However, when Donald Trump won New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina the field was significantly whittled. Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Carson remained. During the time-frame of December 2015 through April 2016 the [[NSA]]'s [[FISA]] database was being exploited by contractors within the [[intelligence community]] doing unauthorized searches.

On Super Tuesday, March 2, 2016, Donald Trump won seven states (VT, AR, VA, GA, AL, TN, MA) it was then clear that Trump was the GOP frontrunner with momentum to become the presumptive nominee. On March 5th, Trump won Kentucky and Louisiana; and on March 8th Trump won Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii.

===Contractor access denied===
On March 9, 2016, oversight personnel doing a review of FBI system access were alerted to thousands of unauthorized search queries of specific U.S. persons within the NSA database. NSA Director [[Admiral Mike Rogers]] was made aware. Subsequently NSA Director Rogers initiated a full compliance review of the system to identify who was doing the searches; and what searches were being conducted.

On April 18, 2016, following the preliminary audit results, Director Rogers shut down all FBI contractor access to the database after he learned FISA-702 “about”(17) and “to/from”(16) search queries were being done without authorization. The NSA database had been continually illegally misused during the [[Obama administration]] to conduct political surveillance. It was the discovery of the database exploitation and the removal of access as a surveillance tool that created the Obama operatives initial problem. The system users needed to develop another way to get access. On April 19, 2016, [[Fusion-GPS]] founder [[Glenn Simpson]]’s wife, [[Mary Jacoby]], a Hillary Clinton friend going back to [[Little Rock]],<ref>
Hillary Clinton was the intellectual property lawyer for Systematics. According to The ''American Lawyer'', July 1992: "[Hillary] Clinton also was attracted to intellectual property litigation. 'We did not have any intellectual property expertise when she joined us,' says [[Vince Foster]], who adds that Clinton got involved in this area through her work for the firm client, Systematics Inc., a company based in Little Rock that provided computer systems for financial institutions. 'She became sort of self-taught in all of this,' explains Foster. 'And you don't find a lot of intellectual property subspecialists in Arkansas. Quite frankly, the rest of us here thought of it as a foreign language.'"

Part of this "intellectual property" would involve a banking transaction software system based on the stolen PROMIS software. A federal bankruptcy court had ruled in 1987 that the US Justice Dept. 'stole' the PROMIS software from a small company called [[Inslaw Inc]] when the DOJ refused to pay Inslaw for it. US intelligence took the PROMIS software and added a hidden "backdoor" for monitoring banking transactions and money laundering. Systematics was the marketing firm the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) was using to get the PROMIS software with the hidden backdoor into the hands of banks worldwide. The intellectual property that Hillary handled, and that Systematics was marketing, had been stolen from Inslaw.

Systematics was founded in 1968 by University of Arkansas graduate Walter Smiley, who learned of the high software costs and other difficulties faced by small banks in trying to use data processing software from his experiences working with IBM and in the banking industry. Smiley recognized a niche that could be filled for medium-sized banks in this space, and sought funding to start his own company. http://walton.uark.edu/abhf/walter-v-smiley.php Through Jon Jacoby, Smiley was introduced to the Stephens family, who agreed to invest $400,000 in Smiley and Systematics in return for 80% equity stake. http://www.stephensgroup.com/our-portfolio-partners/case-studies Jon Jacoby is the father of Mary Jacoby, wife of [[Glenn Simpson]], http://library.fora.tv/speaker/6818/Glenn_Simpson the founder and owner of FusionGPS.</ref> visited the White House.<ref>https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/mary-jacoby-1.jpg</ref> Immediately thereafter, the DNC and Clinton campaign hired Fusion GPS, who then hired [[Christopher Steele]].

As FISA Judge Rosemary Collyer later wrote in her report, “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” Put another way: attributes belonging to a specific individual(s) were being targeted and queried, unlawfully. The primary search target, over multiple date ranges, was Donald Trump. There were tens-of-thousands of unauthorized search queries; and as Judge Collyer stated in her report, there is no reason to believe the 85% non compliant rate was any different from the abuse of the NSA database going back to 2012. Judge Collyer wrote: “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” The system users were searching the same phone number, email address, electronic identifier, repeatedly over different dates. Specific persons were being tracked/monitored. Collyer also wrote: “while the government reports it is unable to provide a reliable estimate of” these non lawful searches “since 2012, there is no apparent reason to believe the November 2015 to April 2016 coincided with an unusually high error rate”. That means the 85% unlawful FISA-702(16)(17) database abuse had been happening since 2012. There were more than 10,000 illegal FISA database queries by contractors just between November 2015 to April 2016.

2012 is an important date in this database abuse because a network of specific interests is assembled that also shows up in 2016/2017: Robert Mueller was FBI director in 2012, who was selected by the FBI group to become special prosecutor in 2017. Mueller’ [[chief-of-staff]]was [[Aaron Zebley]], who became one of the lead lawyers on the [[Mueller team]]. [[John Brennan]] who helped oust [[Gen. Petraeus]] was CIA director. [[James Clapper]] was [[DNI]]. The NSA is inside the [[Defense Dept.]] command structure. Ash Carter was [[Defense Secretary]]. Brenna Clapper, and Ash Carter tried to get Adm. Rogers fired during the [[Trump transition]] after Rogers altered President-elect Trump of the illegal spying. And it was Brennan, Clapper and James Comey who wrote and signed-off-on the January 2017 ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' to impugn President-elect Trump as a Russian asset and then lied about the using of the ''[[Steele Dossier]]'' as evidence.

[[Crowdstrike]] was a known FBI contractor; they were also contracted by the DNC. [[Shawn Henry]] was the former head of the FBI office in DC and became the President of Crowdstrike Services; a rather dubious contractor for the government and a politically connected data security and forensic company. Former [[CBS]] News anchor [[Sharyl Attkisson]] named Shawn Henry as a defendant in her lawsuit against the Obama administration for illegal computer intrusion. Henry also conveniently worked as an [[NBC News]] "national security" consultant to push the [[fake news]] [[Trump-Russia collusion]] narrative. [[James Comey]]’s special friend Daniel Richman was an unpaid FBI “special employee” with security access to the database. [[Nellie Ohr]] began working for Fusion-GPS on the Trump project in November 2015 and she was a CIA contractor; and it’s entirely likely Glenn Simpson or people within his Fusion-GPS network were also contractors for the intelligence community.

===Human spies===
[[File:Downer-and-halper.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[Stefan Halper]] and [[Alexander Downer]], along with [[Joseph Mifsud]], were recruited by [[John Brennan]] to frame [[George Papadopoulos]] and [[Carter Page]]. [[Richard Dearlove]], the head of UK's [[MI6]] also worked closely with Brennan. They didn't like Donald Trump's talk of making [[NATO]] allies pay more for their own defense. The future of the [[military industrial complex]] was at stake.]]
Immediately after NSA flags were raised March 9th; the same intelligence agencies began using confidential human sources (CHS’s) to run into the Trump campaign. By activating intelligence assets like [[Joseph Mifsud]] and [[Stefan Halper]] the [[IC]] (CIA, FBI) and system users had now created an authorized way to continue the same political surveillance operations. When Donald Trump hired [[Paul Manafort]] on March 28, 2016, it was a perfect scenario for those doing the surveillance. Manafort was a known entity to the FBI and was previously under investigation. Paul Manafort’s entry into the Trump orbit was perfect for Glenn Simpson to sell his prior research on Manafort as a Trump-Russia collusion script two weeks later.

Fusion GPS was not hired in April 2016 just to research Donald Trump. The Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a plausible justification for already existing surveillance and spy operations. Fusion-GPS gave them that justification and evidence for a FISA warrant with the ''Steele Dossier''. The Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to create a legal albeit ''ex post facto'' justification for the pre-existing surveillance and spy operations.

===The cover-up: ''The Steele dossier''===
The ''Steele Dossier'' contained three insurance policy purposes: (1) the cover-story and justification for the pre-existing surveillance operation (protect Obama); and (2) facilitate the FBI counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign (assist Clinton); and later (3) continue the operation with a special counsel (protect both). That’s why the FBI small group, which transitioned into the Mueller team, were so strongly committed to and defending the formation of the ''Steele Dossier'' and its dubious content.

==General election==
Hillary Clinton lead the Real Clear Politics averages of polls for 101 days straight, from the end of the Democratic National Convention until election eve. The Clinton organization blamed Hillary's loss on the "[[misogyny]]" and "[[bigot]]ry" of the American people, particularly among women.<ref>[https://dailycaller.com/2016/11/15/get-this-now-hillarys-campaign-is-saying-she-lost-because-white-women-are-misogynist-video/ GET THIS: Now Hillary’s Campaign Is Saying She Lost Because WHITE WOMEN ARE ‘MISOGYNIST']"</ref>

===The Trump campaign===
Trump's central campaign theme has been to oppose [[illegal immigration]] and [[free trade]], and he enlisted Senator [[Jeff Sessions]] as an adviser on this issue. As reported by [[Breitbart News Network|Breitbart]], "Sen. Sessions, Chairman of the Senate’s Immigration Subcommittee, is widely regarded as the gold standard on immigration. Sessions has also become the intellectual thought leader in the Republican Party on appealing to the blue collar voters who have been abandoned by their political leaders." <ref>Hahn, Julia (August 14, 2015). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/14/game-change-trump-consults-with-sen-jeff-sessions-on-immigration-strategy/ "Game change: Trump consults with Sen Jeff Sessions on immigration strategy"]. Breitbart website/Big government.</ref> However, in recent months, Trump has focused more on [[ISIS]] and terrorism.

At the final presidential debate between [[Hillary Clinton]] and Trump on October 19, 2016, Clinton chastised Trump for running a newspaper advertisement in 1987 critical of the [[Reagan Administration]]. But Trump persuasively explained that he has always disagreed with Reagan's support of free trade, as many other [[conservatives]] disagree with Reagan on this issue.

====Quotes====
[[File:Donald Trump and Mike Pence RNC July 2016.jpg|thumb|Trump and his running-mate, [[Mike Pence]], at the 2016 Republican National Convention.]]
Trump's tactics of naming and shaming candidates has been proven very effective. He called Jeb Bush "low-energy Jeb" and it stuck. Then came Marco Rubio as "Little Marco". Next came "Lyin' Ted" for Ted Cruz. For the Democrats, he calls Hillary Clinton "Crooked Hillary". He doesn't give Bernie Sanders the same treatment though he has referred to him as a Communist.

*"We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of [[globalism]]."
*"I think we have a president who, as a president, is totally incompetent, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I think he has no idea what he’s doing. And our country is going to [[hell]]."<ref>http://time.com/4210983/republican-debate-barack-obama-incompetent/</ref>
*"I will be the greatest jobs president that [[God]] ever created."
*"I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich."
*"Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people."
*"Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump. Nobody. Within our military, I will find the General Patton, or I will find General MacArthur, I will find the right guy."
*"I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have [[Mexico]] pay for that wall."
*"I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct."<ref>https://video.foxnews.com/v/4406746003001/watch-a-replay-of-fox-news-prime-time-presidential-debate/?#sp=show-clips</ref><ref>[https://www.google.com/search?q=a+big+problem+with+our+country+is+too+politically+incorrect&oq=a+big+problem+with+our+country+is+too+politically+incorrect&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64l3.8295j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8]</ref>
*"Becoming the nominee of the party of [[Abraham Lincoln]] has been the greatest honor of my life.<ref>https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/294401-trump-claims-party-of-lincoln-mantle-in-speech-at-black</ref>

====General election debate quotes====
*"Because you would be in jail." (Trump in response to Clinton saying that it would be a good thing that he "is not in charge of the law in our country")<ref name="2ndTranscript">[https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/2016-presidential-debate-transcript-229519 Full transcript: Second 2016 presidential debate]. ''Politico''. October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.</ref>
*"Now she’s blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln. ...Honest Abe never lied. That’s the good thing. That's the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you." (Trump in response to Clinton's excuse for having "'a public and private position on certain issues.'")<ref name="2ndTranscript"/>
*"Hillary has experience, but it’s bad experience."<ref>Goodenough, Patrick (September 27, 2016). [https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/ Trump: 'Hillary Has Experience, But It's Bad Experience']. ''cnsnews.com''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref>

====Quotes from Twitter====
[[File:Screenshot 2015-09-28-12-11-31-1.png|right|300px|Thumb|Tweet from Billionaire Carl Icahn]]
<center>{{Cquote| '''Somebody said I’m the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters.'''}}</center>
* "An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud."<ref>Trump, Donald J. (August 6, 2012, 1:23 pm). [https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/232572505238433794 "An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud."] Tweet by @realDonaldTrump.</ref>
* "It’s amazing how people can talk about me but I’m not allowed to talk about them."<ref>Trump, Donald J. (November 13, 2012, 12:23pm). [https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/268449146711703553 "It’s amazing how people can talk about me but I’m not allowed to talk about them."] Tweet by @realDonaldTrump.</ref>
* "This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bull**** has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps, and our GW scientists are stuck in ice."<ref>Trump, Donald J. (January 1, 2014, 4:39pm). [https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/418542137899491328 "This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bull**** has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice."] Tweet by @realDonaldTrump.</ref>

====2015 quotes====
* "So many 'politically correct' fools in our country. We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!" (August 8, 2015)
* "Notice that illegal immigrants will be given ObamaCare and free college tuition but nothing has been mentioned about our VETERANS #DemDebate" (October 13, 2015)
* "They laughed at me when I said to bomb the ISIS controlled oil fields. Now they are not laughing and doing what I said." (November 13, 2015)
* "President Obama said 'ISIL continues to shrink' in an interview just hours before the horrible attack in Paris. He is just so bad! CHANGE." (November 14, 2015)
* "Refugees from Syria are now pouring into our great country. Who knows who they are - some could be ISIS. Is our president insane?" (November 17, 2015)
* "Eight Syrians were just caught on the southern border trying to get into the U.S. ISIS maybe? I told you so. WE NEED A BIG & BEAUTIFUL WALL!" (November 19, 2015)

====2016 quotes====
* "Hillary said that guns don't keep you safe. If she really believes that she should demand that her heavily armed bodyguards quickly disarm!" (January 3, 2016)
* "I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!" (February 20, 2016)
* "The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!" (March 12, 2016)
* "Why is it that the horrendous protesters, who scream, curse punch, shut down roads/doors during my RALLIES, are never blamed by media? SAD!" (March 20, 2016)
* "Do you all remember how beautiful and safe a place Brussels was. Not anymore, it is from a different world! U.S. must be vigilant and smart!" (March 22, 2016)
* "For the 1st time in American history, America’s 16,500 border patrol agents have issue[d] a presidential primary endorsement—me! Thank you." (April 1, 2016)

====Other quotes====
* "[T]he country is going to hell."<ref>Cassidy, Chris (March 19, 2015). [http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2015/03/country_is_going_to_hell_claims_donald_trump "'Country is going to hell,' claims Donald Trump"]. BostonHerald.com website.</ref>
* "We have no leader in this country.”<ref>Reisner, Hiram (April 22, 2011). [https://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/donaldtrump-karlrove-gop-birther/2011/04/22/id/393742 "Trump: I'd just take Libyan oil"]. NewsMax website.</ref>
* "Our leaders are stupid, they are stupid people."<ref>Pierce, Tony (April 29, 2011). [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/04/donald-trump-in-vegas-our-leaders-are-stupid-they-are-stupid-people.html "Donald Trump in Vegas: 'Our leaders are stupid; they are stupid people'"]. Los Angeles Times website/Top of the Ticket blog.</ref>
* "I can tell you I am [the 2012 Obama campaign's] worst nightmare."<ref>Mooney, Alexander (April 11, 2011). [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/11/trump-says-he-is-obama-campaigns-worst-nightmare/comment-page-6/ "Trump says he is Obama campaign's worst nightmare"]. Cable News Network website/politicalticker blog.</ref>
* "Obama has no solutions."<ref>Coz, Steve (August 19, 2012). [https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/trump-gibbs-fox-obama/2012/08/19/id/449050/ "Trump fires back at Obama campaign smear"]. Newsmax website/Newsfront.</ref>

===The Clinton campaign===
:{{See also|2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign|Ukrainian collusion|Russia collusion hoax|Clinton donors in the Panama Papers}}
[[File:Hillary on the campaign trail.jpg|right|400px|thumb]]
Unlike Trump, [[Hillary Clinton]] carried the baggage of 40 years of personal and political scandal, and recent international foreign policy disasters as Secretary of State. The Democrats and liberal media attempted to compensate by waging an aggressive war of slander and personal attacks on Donald Trump and supporters, labeling every utterance as "racist". In the end the stategy failed, with Trump rallying more African-American votes to his side than any GOP candidate since [[Eisenhower]]. Neither did Hispanic voters respond to the Clinton's hate campaign with the final tally falling in its traditional 60%-40% break.
====Wikileaks====
:''Main articles:'' '''[[Murder of Seth Rich]]''' ''and'' '''[[Clinton body count]]'''
Clinton talking points emphasized the idea that US intelligence, the same people who brought you the [[WMD]] debacle, claim Russia and Putin were responsible for the hack of [[DNC]] servers which resulted in the firing of Democratic National Committee Chair [[Debbie Wasserman Schultz]]. This presumably would exonerate anyone connected with the DNC or Clinton campaign from complity in the Murder of Seth Rich.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails provided by [[Wikileaks]] showed clear [[collusion]] between Clinton, [[mainstream media]] outlets, and the DNC to smear [[Bernie Sanders]]. Thousands of hopeful millennials felt betrayed by the Democrat Party. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced out on the eve of the convention, less than 24 hours after dozens of emails were published by Wikileaks showing her and her staff rigging the primary elections for Hillary Clinton.

Wikileaks founder [[Julian Assange]] has offered $20,000 cash reward for the arrest and conviction of Seth Rich's killer or killers, the alleged [[Whistleblower Statutes|whistleblower]] who provided the DNC emails to Wikileaks and was murdered execution style in early July 2016. Hillary says of Assange in an email, "Can't we just drone this guy?"<ref>http://truepundit.com/under-intense-pressure-to-silence-wikileaks-secretary-of-state-hillary-clinton-proposed-drone-strike-on-julian-assange/</ref> To silence Assange, Wikileaks internet access was cut by the government of Ecuador after the release of Hillary's private paid speech to [[Goldman Sachs]]. Wikileaks Director, Prof. Gavin Macfayden, was found dead the following week. Macfayden's death was the third of a close associate of Assange in 6 months.<ref>https://mobile.twitter.com/wikileaks/status/790004642038050816/photo/1</ref>

The mysterious death of Shawn Lucas, an attorney and process server for a [[class action]] [[lawsuit]] on behalf of [[Bernie Sanders]] supporters which alleged fraud and collusion between the DNC and the Clinton campaign remained unsolved.
<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160824031134/http://www.usapoliticstoday.com/just-found-dead-major-attorney-dnc-fraud-lawsuit</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/D3FMgZruOXE</ref> Lucas's death has delayed judicial proceedings until after the November 2016 elections.<ref>http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/08/shawn-lucas-cause-of-death-still-unknown-as-clintons-campaign-lawyer-tries-to-move-dnc-lawsuit-into-the-weeds/</ref> Illegal payments from the DNC to agitators and activists for [[dirty tricks]] and other illegal election campaign activity on behalf of Hillary C!inton has also been uncovered.<ref>
https://youtu.be/5IuJGHuIkzY</ref>

====the insurance policy====
Using a series of intermediaries, the DNC and [[Hillary for America]] (Clinton campaign) paid a private firm to conduct opposition research on candidate Trump and his ties with Russia. [[FusionGPS]] (fusion) is the trade name of a Washington, D.C.-based company that conducts research primarily on behalf of corporate clients. [[Marc Elias]], chair of [[Perkins Coie]]'s election law practice who represented the DNC and the Clinton campaign, hired Fusion in Spring 2016 and paid Fusion $1 million to conduct opposition research on candidate Trump. Fusion subsequently hired former British Secret Intelligence Service officer [[Christopher Steele]] for $160,000 to obtain information on candidate Trump via a Russia-based primary subsource and numerous sub-sub-sources network who were purported to be current and former [[Russia]]n government officials. The information Steele collected was reported back through a series of memos to Fusion and Perkins Coie. Steele produced sixteen memos, which comprise what has become known as the ''[[Steele dossier]]''.<ref>''Russian Active Measures'', March 22, 2028, pp. 111-112.</ref>

By the end of September 2016 - in addition to Fusion and Perkins Coie - Steele provided the information in the ''Steele dossier'' to the [[DOJ]], [[Department of State]],<ref>"Former State Department official [redacted] has stated publicly that, over a period of approximately two years, he provided over "100 of Steele's reports with the Russia experts at the State Department," including Assistant Secretary of State [[Victoria Nuland]]. In Septemberer 2016, [[Jonathan Winer]] was personally briefed by Steele on the dossier, and shared a two-page summary with Nuland, who ensured that Secretary of State [[John Kerry]] was made aware of Steele's information. Additionally, [redacted] received from Clinton associate [redacted] information collected by an individual named [redacted] [[Cody Shearer|Shearer]] which, "alleged the Russians had compromising information on Trump of a sexual and financial nature." Winer shared [redacted]r information with Steele, who provided it to the FBI. [redacted], "Devin Nunes is investigating me. Here's the truth.," ''Washington Post'', Feb. 8, 2018; Susan B. Glaser, "Victoria Nuland: The Full Transcript." ''POLITICO'', Feb. 5, 2018; Appendix G. The Committee believes that additional State Department officials were aware of Steele's efforts in 2016." Footnote 4, p. 113, HPSCI ''Russian Active Measures in the 2016 Election'', March 22, 2018.</ref> numerous press outlets, and the FBI.

Marc Elias of Perkins Coie recalled personally being briefed by Christopher Steele on his findings during a late September or early October meeting and formed the impression that "the Fusion folks thought it was important that Mr. Steele hear from me directly that I was aware of his work and was appreciative."<ref>''Russian Active Measures'', March 22, 2018, p. 90.</ref>

The Obama DOJ's illegal FISA warrant on [[Carter Page]] was built on an echo chamber of Hillary Clinton's opposition research among [[journalist]]s, [[law enforcement]] and the [[intelligence community]] - all reinforcing each other with the manufactured allegations of the ''Steele dossier''. [[Michael Isikoff]]’s September 23, 2016 ''Yahoo News'' article, provided by Christopher Steele, was used to corroborate the Obama DOJ's evidence to the FISA court, which likewise was provided by Christopher Steele.<ref>[https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/03/08/doj-political-surveillance-from-the-irs-in-2011-to-the-fisa-court-in-2016/ DOJ Political Surveillance – From the IRS in 2011 to the FISA Court in 2016], Posted on March 8, 2020 by sundance. theconservativetreehouse.com </ref>

=====FBI paid off=====
[[Virginia]] Gov. [[Terry McAuliffe]] was co-chairman of President [[Bill Clinton]]'s 1996 re-election campaign. In that capacity he was a very successful fundraiser. Consequently, when the Clintons left the [[White House]] in 2001, he was rewarded with the chairmanship of the Democrat Party. In 2008 he was chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. In May 2016 McAuliffe came under FBI investigation for illegal campaign donations from a [[Chinese]] businessman.<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/terry-mcauliffe-fbi-doj-federal-investigation-campaign-contributions/</ref> McAuliffe invited the same man to Hillary Clinton's Washington DC home to meet Hillary.<ref>http://time.com/4348675/terry-mcauliffe-hillary-clinton-china-investigation/</ref><ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/1294661.html</ref>
Throughout the email probe when things looked darkest even to loyal Democrats and partisan surrogates, Hillary woukd smuggly reiterated, " I am confident they'll find nothing." The reason became apparent readily enough.

McAuliffe's political-action committee, Common Good VA, donated $467,500 to the 2015 state [[Senate]] campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe, who is married to Andrew McCabe, who later became deputy director of the FBI. The Virginia Democrat Party, over which McAuliffe exerts considerable control, donated an additional $207,788 worth of support to Dr. McCabe's campaign in the form of mailers, according to the records. That adds up to slightly more than $675,000 to her candidacy from entities either directly under Mr. McAuliffe's control or strongly influenced by him. The figure represents more than a third of all the campaign funds Dr. McCabe raised in the effort. Responding to a ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' exposé on the Clinton pay-to-play scandals, [[FBI]] issued a press release:
{{Quotebox|Months after the completion of her campaign, then-Associate Deputy Director McCabe was promoted to Deputy, where, in that position, he assumed for the first time, an oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails.}}
At the time the Clinton email probe was launched in July 2015, McCabe was running the FBI's [[Washington, D.C.]], field office, which provided personnel and resources to the Clinton email probe. At the end of July 2015, McCabe was promoted to FBI headquarters and assumed the No. 3 position at the agency. In February 2016, he became disgraced FBI Director [[James Comey]]’s second-in-command. As deputy director, McCabe was part of the executive leadership team overseeing the Clinton email investigation. McCabe was instrumental in supervising Hillary's investigation the subsequently clearing her.<ref>http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-24/prominent-democrat-connected-clintons-donated-675000-campaign-deputy-fbi-directors-w</ref> Some investigators wanted to combine the McAullife investigation with the investigation into bribery and influence peddling through the Clinton Foundation. Investigators reported McCabe issued a 'stand down' order.<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/10/30/fbi-investigation-bribery-clinton-foundation-spans-nation-multiple-field-offices-says-wsj/</ref>

=====FusionGPS=====
[[FusionGPS]] was retained by a law firm to assist with representation of a Russian defendant in a civil forfeiture case arising out of alleged money laundering activities uncovered by the late Sergei Magnitsky (whose name was subsequently given to the U.S. human rights law, the [[Magnitsky Act]]). [[Glenn Simpson]] acknowledged that the [[Kremlin]]'s interests in the case were aligned with his client and against the [[U.S. Government]]. Russian lawyer [[Natalia Veselnitskaya]] hired the law firm for which Simpson was working, and that firm retained the services of Russian-American lobbyist [[Rinat Akhmetshin]], both of whom attended a meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016.

====email scandal====
:''Main article:'' [[Hillary Clinton email scandal]]
The Office of Secretary of State is on the 7th floor of the State Department building. Security protocols do not allow any outside, non-State Department electronic transmission or listening devices on the 7th floor. Hillary Clinton insisted upon using her own personal Blackberry and refused to use State Department issued equipment and a State Department email account. For four years, when at work in her State Department Office suite, the Secretary of State was incommunicado with anyone she wanted to communicate with, or who needed to communicate with her, whether professional, diplomatic, or personal.

Fortunately for her the job of Secretary of State requires a lot of travelling. The Secretary usually is in the office only once a month when he/she returns to [[Washington D.C.]] for a monthly Congressional Oversight hearing. While on the road Hillary used exclusively her personal Blackberry tied to an email account server in her Chappaqua, New York home.

Because of her insistence on using personal equipment, emails from her via the Chappaqua server were put on the State Department's spam block list. Huma Abedin pleaded with her to get an official state.gov email account. Hillary responded saying, "Let’s get separate address or device but I don’t want any risk of the personal being accessible."<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3657225/Clinton-failed-hand-key-email-State-Department.html New Clinton email cover-up: Hillary did not include crucial message to right hand aide which demanded her account stay secret in hand-over of 'all' her work-related emails], By Associated Press, 23 June 2016. dailymail.co.uk</ref>

It has been established Hillary knew both her Blackberry and Chappaqua server were vulnerable to hackers. After a bureaucratic fight, the State Department accommodated her by disabling some of their security features to allow access from the Chappaqua server.

Criminal investigations of Hillary Clinton fundamentally surround three issues:
*Handling of classified information and government records;
*conflicts of interest with donors and the Clinton Foundation;
*efforts to circumvent the [[Watergate]] reform era [[Freedom of Information Act]] and openness in government.

The issue of ''intent'' was reviewed by the inspector general's offices in the State Department and the U.S. Intelligence Community which referred the case to the FBI for criminal investigation after it was determined the Chappaqua server contained classified information. The Chappaqua server was hacked and sensitive classified information compromised.<ref>[https://observer.com/2016/06/how-emailgate-weakened-americas-national-security/ How EmailGate Weakened America’s National Security], By John R. Schindler, ''The Observer'', 06/01/16</ref>

When Hillary moved her server to Platte River Networks, it was a further violation of law.

Bill Clinton met privately with Attorney General [[Loretta Lynch]]. Days later FBI Director James Comey closed the investigation. Later it was revealed President Obama communicated with Hillary on the server using a pseudonym, which seemingly implies he was aware of the abuse. As in the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] child sex scandal, the FBI whitewashed the investigation.

=====Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner=====

Hillary's longtime personal aide, Huma Abedin, was married to New York Congressman [[Anthony Weiner]] in a ceremony presided over by former President Bill Clinton. Weiner resigned from Congress in a sexting scandal. In mid 2016, Weiner was involved in yet another sexting scandal involving a 15-year-old girl and came under FBI investigation. His laptop, iPad and cell phone were seized. More than [[Weinergate|600,000 State Department emails]] related to the investigation of Hillary's [[theft]] of government property were discovered on his laptop.

=====Hillary's health=====
Hillary sent an email to Cheryl Mills on August 19, 2011 featuring the text of an article entitled ''Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?''

The article was about how people in positions of power and influence can suffer from “decision fatigue” that causes them to be “low on mental energy” and prompts the sufferer to “become reckless” and “act impulsively”.

The article also explains how “decision fatigue” could explain why “ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues.” Hillary added, “Wow that is spooky descriptive."

Huma Abedin sent an email on January 4, 2013 about Hillary's "life threatening" Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST). CVST is the presence of acute thrombosis (a blood clot) in the dural venous sinuses, which drain blood from the brain. Symptoms may include headaches, seizures, abnormal vision and any of the symptoms of stroke, such as weakness of the face and limbs on one side of the body.

From WebMD:
{{Quotebox|Cavernous sinus thrombosis is a very rare, life-threatening condition that can affect adults and children.
In cavernous sinus thrombosis, a blood clot blocks a vein that runs through a hollow space underneath the brain and behind the eye sockets. These veins carry blood from the face and head back to the heart.
The cause of cavernous sinus thrombosis is usually an infection. But other factors may play a role.
Cavernous sinus thrombosis is a serious condition. It causes death in up to 30% of cases.}}

====The Clintons' racist record====
:''See also [[Bill and Hillary Clinton and racism]] and [[Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign]]''
Hillary Clinton is known for her cynical manipulation of Black voters and pandering to "white working class, hard-working white" nativist sentiment.<ref>https://youtu.be/vjoMcqMTMfw</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/ijhL3-5sr18</ref> Reminiscent of her famous "bring them to heel" speech, while discussing police shootings Hillary said, "We have got to rein in what is absolutely inexplicable" without bothering to explain what is inexplicable.

Hillary's racism runs deep. The night Bill Clinton lost his bid for a Congressional seat in 1974 and disappointing their immediate personal ambitions, Hillary blamed the loss on campaign manager Paul Fray. "She called me everything but a white man," Fray explained to the [[BBC]].<ref>https://youtu.be/_VonG4TyTWw</ref> Tensions escalated. Then she called him a "F***ing [[Jew]] bastard." The Clintons of course deny it but five separate surviving witnesses corroborate each other in detail.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2016/07/05/three-eyewitnesses-allege-hillary-called-aide-a-fking-jew-bastard/</ref><ref name="Did Hillary commit a hate crime">[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_200007/ai_n8910772 Did Hillary commit a hate crime?], Human Events, July 28, 2000.</ref> The incident was first reported in a book published by Harper Collins in 2000 entitled, ''State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton''.<ref name="Did Hillary commit a hate crime"/><ref>https://www.amazon.com/State-Union-Complex-Marriage-Hillary/dp/0060193921</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/US_election_race/Story/0,,344475,00.html Hillary faces voters' wrath for alleged ethnic slur], Michael Ellison, London Guardian, July 18, 2000.</ref><ref>[http://www.sobran.com/columns/1999-2001/000718.shtml Hillary’s Manners], Joseph Sobran, July 18, 2000.</ref><ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15015 I agree with Clinton!], Joseph Farah, WorldNetDaily, July 20, 2000.</ref>

The Clintons called [[Jesse Jackson]] that "Goddamn n****r" behind his back.<ref>http://polidics.com/news/hillary-clintons-jew-bastard.html</ref><ref>http://rapmusic.com/threads/hillary-clinton-hates-blacks-and-jews-caught-by-the-secret-service-and-endorsers.1074368/</ref><ref name="emptysuit.wordpress.com">https://emptysuit.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/the-clintons-jews-and-niggers-warning-graphic-language/</ref><ref>https://www.theblaze.com/contributions/racial-slurs-are-unsettling-if-used-by-celebrity-chefs-or-top-democrats/</ref> Jackson refused to release his delegates in 1984 to [[Gary Hart]], Clinton's old boss from the [[McGovern]] campaign of 1972. Jackson, the first African-American to win states in a major party primary, questioned the disparity between his vote total and delegate count, but even Hart sided with the DNC's rigging the primary rules.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/20/us/disparity-between-jackson-s-vote-and-delegate-count-vexes-party.html?pagewanted=all DISPARITY BETWEEN JACKSON'S VOTE AND DELEGATE COUNT VEXES PARTY], By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, ''New York Times'', May 20, 1984.</ref> In 1988 Jackson selected Ron Brown as his chief negotiator at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.<ref>https://socialistworker.org/2016/07/25/how-democrats-got-over-the-rainbow</ref> Brown went on to serve as DNC Chairman and Commerce Secretary until he died in a plane crash.<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Ron-Browns-Body-Presidency-Hillarys/dp/0785262377</ref>

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was a racist organization formed by remnants of the McGovern and Hart campaigns - less the [[Rainbow Coalition]].<ref>http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html</ref><ref>https://ofamerica.wordpress.com/tag/democratic-leadership-council/</ref> By 1992 it had taken over the DNC. Democrat strategists sought to distance themselves from the civil rights movement and begin pushing the "centrist" candidacy of Bill Clinton.<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2016/01/31/the_clintons_sordid_race_game_no_one_will_say_it_but_the_clintons_rise_was_premised_on_repudiating_black_voters/ The Clintons’ sordid race game: No one will say it, but the Clintons’ rise was premised on repudiating black voters], Corey Robin, ''Salon'', Jan 31, 2016</ref>

That fact that 30 year old allegations of sexual assault and improprieties are hurled at [[Bill Cosby]] with a devastating effect on his life and career while Bill Clinton is held up as a paragon of manhood and public service by the liberal media and judicial system is a testament of the bigotry and racism of the liberal media and their supporters. Rumors persist that the Clintons have effectively blackmailed Barack Obama to drop the email investigation and for his active support in the 2016 presidential campaign.<ref>http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/07/media-gets-facts-wrong-on-loretta-lynchbill-clinton-tarmac-meeting/</ref>

=====Black lives don't matter=====
[[File:Blmhillary (1).jpg|right|350px|thumb|Democrat Presidential nominee [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] confronted by Black Lives Matter protesters in 2016.]]
On the eve of the [[New Hampshire]] primary in 1992, Bill Clinton took off from the campaign trail to sign the death warrant and oversee the execution of a retarded black man, Ricky Ray Rector. Recktor, who had been lobotomized, was mentally incompetent and unable to understand the charges against him.
<ref>[https://skepticalbrotha.wordpress.com/tag/christopher-hitchens/ Christopher Hitchens], Skeptical Brotha. Retrieved 23 June 2016</ref><ref>[http://www.blackstarnews.com/us-politics/elections/bill-clinton-hopped-up-on-whack-ricky-ray-rector-part-2.html Bill Clinton "Hopped Up On Whack" -- Ricky Ray Rector Part 2], Colin Benjamin, Black Star News, April 13, 2016</ref> "It was like executing a child," the prison chaplain said. Hillary, the master strategist of the Clinton's rise, fearing the Willie Horton syndrome which torpedoed [[Michael Dukakis]] in 1988 and the 'monkey business' which destroyed [[Gary Hart]] as well, still defended the execution in 2016.<ref>[https://theintercept.com/2016/03/17/hillary-clintons-indefensible-stance-on-the-death-penalty/ Hillary Clinton’s Indefensible Stance on the Death Penalty], Liliana Segura, ''The Intercept'', Mar. 17 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.salon.com/2016/01/31/the_clintons_sordid_race_game_no_one_will_say_it_but_the_clintons_rise_was_premised_on_repudiating_black_voters/ Jan 31, 2016 04:00 AM MDT The Clintons’ sordid race game: No one will say it, but the Clintons’ rise was premised on repudiating black voters], Corey Robin, ''Salon'', Jan. 31, 2016</ref>

Hillary was at his side when Bill Clinton raised mandatory sentencing guidelines which disproportionately sent Blacks to prison, giving the United States the highest mass incarceration rate in the world.<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/article/129433/clintons-war-drugs-black-lives-didnt-matter The Clintons’ War on Drugs: When Black Lives Didn’t Matter], By Donna Murch, ''The New Republic'', February 9, 2016</ref> The Clinton's championed the "three strikes you're out" law, passed a crime bill that created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for more state prisons. By the time the Clintons left office in 2001, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that in seven states, African Americans constituted 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders even though they were no more likely than whites to use or sell illegal drugs. Prison admissions for drug offenses reached a level in 2000 for African Americans more than 26 times the level they had been under [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[https://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-peoples-votes/ Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote], Michelle Alexander, ''The Nation'', February 10, 2016</ref>

In late 2015, while several American cities smoldered in riots over police shootings, Hillary Clinton had several prison industry lobbyists working as fundraisers on her campaign. The fundraiser-lobbyists worked for the Corrections Corporation of America and Geo Group, which also run most of the [[immigrant]] detention centers.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/while-missouri-students-battle-racism-prison-lobbyists-funded-hillary-clintons-campaign_b_8553370.html While Missouri Students Battle Racism, Prison Lobbyists Funded Hillary Clinton’s Campaign], H.A. Goodman, ''Huffington Post'', Nov 13, 2015</ref>

=====Racial profiling of Hispanics=====
The Clintons instituted [[racial profiling]] of [[Latino]]s as drug dealers in 1988. Specifically, the troopers were authorized to stop and search cars driven by Hispanics, especially those with Texas license plates. Again, the Clintons' Criminal Apprehension Program was challenged in federal court and ruled unconstitutional. But the program went on anyway with further destruction of civil liberties when the Clintons authorized state troopers to stop and search any car regardless of race.<ref>https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-56765970.html</ref>

Roberto Garcia de Posada, executive director of the Hispanic Business Roundtable, cited the fact that Clinton was "a strong supporter of racial profiling against Hispanics," and that they do not have "the moral authority to lead a national campaign on this issue." The Clintons need to "apologize to all those Hispanics who suffered this 'morally indefensible' practice".

=====Naked racism=====
A Black Lives Matter activist confronted Hillary Clinton in 2016 about the Clintons' history of [[racism]].<ref>[http://fair.org/home/why-did-it-take-an-activist-to-bring-superpredators-into-the-campaign/ Why Did It Take an Activist to Bring ‘Superpredators’ Into the Campaign?], By Jim Naureckas, FAIR, 27 Feb 2016</ref> In January 2016 ''[[Salon]]'' published an article on the dirty little secret among the liberal intelligentsia no one wants to talk about: The Clintons' rise and success has been based on stoking racial fears. Stan Greenberg conducted the focus groups that dictated the Clinton's daily buzzwords and talking points to provide the fodder and fuel the Clinton's lived and died on. Greenberg's work produced results claiming the Democrat Party was too identified with [[Jesse Jackson]] and minorities to speak for 'average Americans' and it needed to appeal to white working class swing voters.<ref>[http://prospect.org/article/crisis-working-majority-0 From Crisis to Working Majority], Stan Greenberg, ''The American Prospect'' 2, no. 7 (September 1991). Republished 24 May 2005</ref>

Perhaps nothing reveals the cold, cruel, calculated and hateful divisiveness in the heart of the woman than her comment to Sam Donaldson on ABC's ''Prime Time Live'' that Gennifer Flowers was the daughter of Willie Horton. Intended as a throwaway line, with all the facts in now - that it was a lie and she knew it was a lie - we see the cynical manipulation of people, particularly those in the civil rights and women's movements, and her incipient predations.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1j6Xy5FnBzkC&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=gennifer+flowers+is+the+daughter+of+willie+horton&source=bl&ots=LIylbGcmHA&sig=35GnRjdcZx32qV_stExpcJV0PFw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjPgdST5s3NAhUIKGMKHfDfCOgQ6AEIODAE#v=onepage&q=gennifer%20flowers%20is%20the%20daughter%20of%20willie%20horton&f=false The Rhetoric of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton: Crisis Management Discourse], Colleen E. Kelley, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, pp. 268-269</ref>

In 1992 for the first time in nearly half a century the party platform made no mention of redressing racial injustice. Through triangulation and a policy of "get tough on crime", the Clintons sought to repudiate and distance themselves from the Democrat Party's commitment to the struggles of [[African-American]]s. The Clintons formulated a crime bill purportedly to 'put 100,000 new cops on the street'. Hillary became one of the chief spokespersons referring to black teens as dogs.
{{Cquote|They are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super-predators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way but first we have to bring them to heel.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-slams-clintons-racist-1996-super-predators-comment/ Bernie Sanders slams Clinton's "racist" 1996 super predators comment], By Reena Flores, CBS News, April 14, 2016</ref><ref>[http://fair.org/extra/superscapegoating/ Superscapegoating], Teen 'superpredators' hype set stage for draconian legislation, By Robin Templeton, FAIR, 1 Jan 1998</ref>}}
In the 2008 presidential primaries, the Clintons were back at it: fostering racial fear and paranoia,<ref>[http://www.alternet.org/story/80258/america's_new_racial_reality%3A_white_minority_status America's New Racial Reality: White Minority Status], While Obama raises the bar for racial understanding, the Democratic Leadership Council leverages white voter fear. By Roberto Lovato / New America Media, March 21, 2008</ref> which by now seemed to be the regular program of the Democratic Leadership Council.<ref>[http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html Muzzling The African-American Agenda With Black Help], Bruce A. Dixon, ''The Black Commentator''. www.blackcommentator.com</ref> They tried to marginalize Obama as the black candidate with comparisons to Jesse Jackson<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/26/bill-clinton-obama-is-jus_n_83406.html Bill Clinton: Obama Is Just Like Jesse Jackson], ''Huffington Post'', 03/28/2008</ref> emphasizing Hillary's 'wide appeal': "Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again", Hillary told ''USA Today''.<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-05-07-clintoninterview_N.htm Clinton makes case for wide appeal], By Kathy Kiely and Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY, 5/8/2008</ref> She mocked and ridiculed Obama's fitness to lead on his no first strike nuclear pledge saying, "I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or nonuse of nuclear weapons," whereas two months earlier she promised to nuke Iran. She stayed in the race even after it became apparent she lost, according to her, only because Obama might be assassinated.

As heir to the [[New Deal]] tradition and key to the New England donor base, Senator [[Ted Kennedy]]'s blessing on the candidate for the 2008 Democrat presidential nomination was vital. The Clintons also were seeking bona fides among liberals and the [[civil rights]] movement. Clinton said of Obama, "that boy would have been carrying our bags and getting us coffee a few years ago".<ref>[http://urbanintellectuals.com/2015/07/17/did-you-know-bill-clinton-made-racist-comments-about-barack-obama-when-he-first-ran-for-president/ Did You Know Bill Clinton Made Racist Comments About Barack Obama When He First Ran For President], F. Taylor, Urban Intellectuals, July 17, 2015.</ref> Kennedy was offended by Clinton's racism and refused to give Hillary the endorsement.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/28/hillaryclinton.usa Hillary has cynically turned to the one argument she has left: race], Gary Younge, ''Guardian'' UK, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.alternet.org/story/80258/america's_new_racial_reality%3A_white_minority_status America's New Racial Reality: White Minority Status], While Obama raises the bar for racial understanding, the Democratic Leadership Council leverages white voter fear. By Roberto Lovato / New America Media, March 21, 2008.</ref>

=====Haitian abductions=====
In 2010, Bill Clinton, through the Clinton Foundation, worked for the release of 10 adults who had been arrested transporting 33 [[Haiti]]an children abducted from their families across the border to the [[Dominican Republic]].<ref>https://youtu.be/vzVAcn1YkcY</ref>

=====African sex slaves=====
Again, this advocate of women and children's rights was asked repeatedly in 2011 to designate [[Boko Haram]] as a terrorist organization after the group bombed the [[United Nations]] headquarters in Abuja. Secretary Clinton's State Department refused, despite requests coming from the U.S. Justice Department, the FBI, the [[CIA]], and numerous Senators and Congressmen.<ref>[https://www.yahoo.com/news/hillary-dropped-ball-boko-haram-020300046--politics.html?ref=gs Hillary Dropped the Ball on Boko Haram], Josh Rogin, [The Daily Beast], May 7, 2014. www.yahoo.com</ref> In May 2012, Justice Department official Lisa Monaco wrote to the State Department to urge Clinton to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. The following month, Gen. Carter Ham, the chief of U.S. Africa Command, said that Boko Haram provided a "safe haven" for al Qaeda in the Maghreb (al Qaeda in North Africa) and was likely sharing explosives and funds with the group.<ref>Morrissey, Ed (May 8, 2014). [https://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/08/did-hillary-refuse-to-designate-boko-haram-as-a-terrorist-organization/ Did Hillary refuse to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organization?] Hot Air website.</ref>

The American counterterrorism agencies were asking for the legal authority to begin countering Boko Haram. Boko Haram is now an Islamic State province but at the time it held allegiance to al Qaeda. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the behest of French and British [[corporate]] interests was in negotiation with several al Qaeda affiliates - [[al Qaeda in the Maghreb]], the [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]], and Ansar al Shariah - to destabilize Muammar Gaddafi in Libya at the time and didn't want to antagonize or alienate her allies.

In early 2014 Boko Haram kidnapped 276 teenage schoolgirls, most of whom were Black, and announced its intention to sell them as [[marital]] [[sex]] [[slave]]s.<ref>http://www.theledger.com/opinion/20160927/letter-for-hillary-money-matters-more</ref>

=====Black problem=====
[[File:Allen garnerchokeweb 850 593.jpg|right|350px|thumb|Loretta Lynch threatened to re-open the 2014 Eric Garner case with federal civil rights charges against police if New York officials didn't back off the [[Weiner laptop]].]]
:{{See also|Black problem}}
On October 25, 2016 the ''[[New York Times]]'' reported the {{quotebox|"Justice Department has replaced the New York team of agents and lawyers investigating the death of Eric Garner, officials said, a highly unusual shake-up that could jump-start the long-stalled case and put the government back on track to seek criminal charges."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/nyregion/justice-dept-replaces-investigators-on-eric-garner-case.html</ref>}} Garner was a black man arrested for selling cigarettes who died from a chokehold while in police custody in 2014.

To kill speculation about reopening Hillary Clinton's email investigation, the New York FBI and Eastern District of New York (EDNY) prosecutors were threatened by Lynch to drop the Weiner laptop matter and concede the Clinton email investigation to Washington, or else the DOJ Civil Rights Division would be used as leverage against the New York Police Department (who work closely with NY FBI and EDNY) to re-open the Eric Garner case. Lynch had the Southern District of New York (SDNY) US Attorney Preet Bharara on stand by as the enforcer. The OIG reports on October 26, {{quotebox|"McCabe and the New York Assistant Director in Charge (NY-ADIC) participated in what McCabe described as “a hastily convened conference call with the Attorney General [Loretta Lynch] who delivered the same message to us” about leaks, with specific focus being on leaks regarding the high-profile investigation by FBI’s New York Field Office into the death of Eric Garner. McCabe told us that he “never heard her use more forceful language.” NY-ADIC confirmed that the participants got “ripped by the AG on leaks.”}}

McCabe told the OIG that he proposed that the Clinton email team meet with Comey the following day after the conference call between the NYO and SDNY. Meantime the daughter of Eric Garner criticized the Clinton campaign over a [[John Podesta]] email about her father's death ("we know we have an Eric Garner problem").<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/erica-garner-rips-clinton-camp-emails-father-death-article-1.2847478</ref><ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/10/28/daughter-eric-garner-slams-clinton-campaign-over-emails-about-fathers-death.html</ref>

====Clinton attacks on women====
=====Slandering assault victims=====
In [[George Stephanopoulos]]'s memoirs of the Clinton 'War Room', a war waged by the Clinton machine and surrogates against fellow citizens with as much vitriol and [[hate]] as against any foreign oppressor...
{{Quotebox|..."We have to destroy her story," Mrs. Clinton said of one of the first women to come forward during her husband's first presidential campaign, Connie Hamzy, in 1991.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/article/207158/abcs-fairy-tale-hillary-tim-graham</ref>}}
In January 2016, ''Esquire'' magazine reported on a gathering in the fashionable Upper East Side apartment of the chief executive of [[HBO]]. Several conflicted past and present Clinton surrogates discussed how...
{{Quotebox|...the Clintons and their allies discredited women who said they had had sexual encounters with, or been [[sexual assault|sexually assaulted]] by former [[President Bill Clinton]]. 
The conversation, relayed by several people with knowledge of the discussion who would speak about it only anonymously, captures the deeper debate unfolding among [[liberal]]-leaning women about how to reconcile Mrs. Clinton's leadership on women's issues with her past involvement in her husband's efforts to fend off accusations of sexual misconduct.<ref>[http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a41327/new-york-times-clinton-rumors/ The New York Times Is Obsessed with 2 Things. You Already Know What They Are.], By Charles P. Pierce, ''Esquire'', Jan 20, 2016.</ref>}}
The conundrum these conflicted Clinton surrogates face is how to explain their own past participation in sliming and vilifying women who came forward with accusations against the President of the United States with a history of untoward, and even violent, sexual misconduct to a generation of Millennials unfamiliar with the brazen history of the pair:
{{Quotebox|Even some [[Democrat]]s who participated in the effort to discredit the women acknowledge privately that today, when Mrs. Clinton and other women have pleaded with the authorities on college campuses and in workplaces to take any allegation of sexual assault and sexual harassment seriously, such a campaign to attack the women's [[character]] would be unacceptable.}}
But such a public campaign of abuse and ridicule of the victim ''was'' acceptable under the Clintons, by Clinton media and [[Hollywood]] surrogates. And virtually all historical and inside eyewitness accounts, dating back to Arkansas and the White House years, point to Hillary Clinton as the source who made it a mission.

=====Intimidation and blackmail=====
{{Cquote|When Hillary hired this fleet of detectives to go around examining all of the woman who had been identified with Clinton. Not for the purpose of divorcing Clinton. Not for the purpose of getting him to stop, but for the purpose of developing blackmail material on these women to cow them into silence that had a [[Nixon]]ian quality that I hold against her and I continue to.|20px|20px|[[Dick Morris]]<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/video/2014/10/31/dick-morris-i-left-when-hillary-hired-secret-police-to-go-after-woman-victimized-by-bill/ Dick Morris: I Left When Hillary Hired Secret Police to Go After Woman Victimized by Bill], by [[Breitbart.com]], 31 Oct 2014.</ref>}}
One of the more abhorrent aspects of Hillary Clinton's personality is a well documented pattern by multiple Clinton confidants and advisors of intimidation and blackmail toward female victims of Mr. Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct. Mrs. Clinton is accredited with introducing the [[sexist]] [[pejorative]], 'bimbo', into the American political [[lexicon]] to disparage victims of sexual assault by the rich and powerful.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WiQRBN8igE Hillary Clinton calls Bill Clinton's sexual assault victims "Bimbo Eruptions"] youtube.com</ref> The politicalinsider.com identified the problem,
{{Quotebox|One of the most incredible things about Hillary Clinton running for President is that there is an extraordinary long list of scandals that younger voters have never heard of. Just trying to keep up with the multiple decades of corruption and criminal activity of Bill and Hillary Clinton which happened long before the recent email scandal is overwhelming.<ref>[http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/a-woman-who-was-sexually-assaulted-by-bill-clinton-drops-a-bomb-on-hillary-whoa/ A Woman Who Was Sexually Assaulted by Bill Clinton Drops a BOMB on Hillary], thepoliticalinsider.com</ref>}}
The ''New York Times'' noted before the 2016 [[primary election]] season began that the ''’90s Scandals Threaten to Erode Hillary Clinton’s Strength With Women'', and Hillary Clinton certainly was not, by any account, a victim, or a victim of her husband's faithlessness.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/us/politics/90s-scandals-threaten-to-erode-hillary-clintons-strength-with-women.html ’90s Scandals Threaten to Erode Hillary Clinton’s Strength With Women], By AMY CHOZICK, ''New York Times'', JAN. 20, 2016.</ref>
In the recent book, ''The Clinton's War on Women'', the authors cite a [[Sociology|sociological]] phenomena known as [[elite deviance]] in a society where the elites no longer believe the rules apply to them and their behavior is justified and facilitated by a cadre of [[sycophant]]s, [[apologist]]s, supporters, and surrogates collectively known as the Clinton smear machine.<ref>https://www.lifezette.com/polizette/the-hillary-clinton-smear-machine/</ref><ref>''[http://greatbookcorner.com/data/thepopularbook.site/T/the-clintons-war-on-women-roger-stone--93pfuGF9wiHCc6-8BX16-8ZvB6-8AVI6d.pdf The Clinton's War on Women]'', pp. 16-17 pdf.</ref>

To locate, stalk, harass, and intimidate the women, Betsy Wright was put in charge of the operation. According to [[Carl Bernstein]], "Betsy's operation became known as 'The Defense Department', and Wright was sometimes known as the 'secretary of defense'"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KG8oDvWH3ZYC&pg=PT612&dq=Carl+Bernstein+betsey+wright+defense+department+clinton&hl=en&sa=X&ei=x4RWU4edAcLjsATguYHYAQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Carl%20Bernstein%20betsey%20wright%20defense%20department%20clinton&f=false A Woman in Charge], Carl Bernstein, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Jun 5, 2007</ref> For this Jack Palladino, Terry Lenzner, Ivan Duda, Jerry Parks,<ref>http://bonedjello.com/Articles/The%20Murder%20of%20Jerry%20Parks.html</ref> Anthony Pellicano, and others were employed.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2005/07/31278/ The real story behind the Clinton body count], ''[[WorldNetDaily]]'', 07/13/2005. Review of Richard Poe’s, ''Hillary’s Secret War.'' wnd.com</ref><ref>[http://alamo-girl.com/02742.htm PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INVESTIGATIVE RESOURCES], SECTION: SECRET POLICE, Revised 8/10/00. http://alamo-girl.com</ref><ref>[http://www.mega.nu/ampp/foster.html Reports Tie Clinton Sexcapades to Foster's Death]. mega.nu</ref>

To silence the women, all sorts of threats and intimidation were common, such as murdering the family pet on the doorstep or blatant cowardly threats against the lives of their children.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1v5e4lZiS08C&pg=PA214&lpg=PA214&dq=pellicano%2Bhillary&source=bl&ots=2QSRhFU8QY&sig=zFCzv6MqE1JDMGwraPnD1XL3TB8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyuqCkgYDNAhVLz2MKHdJwA9AQ6AEI3AEwIg#v=onepage&q=pellicano%2Bhillary&f=false Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton], Kathleen Willey, WND Books, 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2007/11/44416/ PI 'admits' Hillary paid him to harass Willey], WND, 11/07/2007.</ref> [[Pornographer]] impresario [[Larry Flynt]] was called to boot a $1,000,000 reward to anybody to come forward with sexual innuendo, whether true or not, to attack Clinton's enemies with.<ref>[https://observer.com/2000/08/its-poker-night-with-larry-flynt-porn-king-discourses-on-sex-gore/ It’s Poker Night With Larry Flynt! Porn King Discourses on Sex, Gore], By Andrew Goldman, ''New York Observer'', 08/28/00</ref>

Hillary's obsession with sexual blackmail is not limited to compromising and silencing disgruntled mistresses or women Bill Clinton assaulted, it became a ready tool against political opponents as well. Hillary Rodham Clinton has an obsession with digging up dirt and negative information on opponents.<ref>https://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/hillary-clinton-already-knows-the-bad-thing-you-said?utm_term=.ry2yGw3Go#.of4rD4yDJ</ref> As Hillary's emails reveal, she often spent more time studying domestic critics views of her activities than the actual job of secretary of state. A new generation of millennials is becoming familiar with the term, "oppo", which is the first step in blackmailing and silencing media critics or candidates for public office. The Clintons have raised it from [[muckraking]] and [[dirty tricks]]to a high art form.

To political opponents and the women, Clinton surrogates routinely use the material, truth not being a factor, dug up by Hillary's investigators to slime anyone publicly who would not fall into line. A recent lawsuit filed just days after it became evident Trump was considering using the case of Joe Epstein in the election is intended to neutralize criticism.<ref>https://youtu.be/EPlDvVwER7A</ref> And the surrogates relish their jobs. Indeed, many Clinton supporters believe this is the essence of [[politics]] — slander, defamation, and demonization of living human beings — not formulation or discussion of public policy.

In what perhaps may or may not be a [[Freud]]ian slip Hillary Clinton titled her last book, ''Hard Choices''.

=====Other assaults=====
Most cited by name in this section of assault victims are of women who have spoken about the crimes they've suffered, although some have been intimidated into silence after going public. Others remain fearful to come forward.

*In 1972, a twenty-two-year-old woman told Yale University's campus police that she was sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton, and although no charges were filed, a retired policeman confirmed the incident to ''Capitol Hill Blue''. The woman herself was also tracked down and confirmed it, though she elected to stay anonymous.

*In 1974 a female student at the University of Arkansas complained that then law school instructor Bill Clinton tried to prevent her from leaving his office during a conference, groping her and forcing his hand inside her blouse. Although she complained to her faculty advisor, who confronted Clinton, the complaint again failed to go anywhere. The student left the school shortly after the incident, and more recently confirmed the incident. Several former students also confirmed the incident in confidential interviews and also said there were other reports of Clinton attempting to force himself on female students.

*Arkansas state troopers assigned to protect Clinton have knowledge of at least seven other complaints from women who said Clinton forced himself on them sexually or attempted to do so.<ref>[http://www.shwiggie.com/articles/clintons.html Living with the Clintons, Bill's Arkansas bodyguards tell the story the press missed], By David Brock, 1993</ref>

*A Little Rock legal secretary named Carolyn Moffet claimed that in 1979, she met the governor at a political fundraiser and shortly afterward received an invitation to meet him in a hotel room. She was escorted there by a state trooper. When she arrived he was sitting on a couch wearing an undershirt and nothing else, and angrily assaulted her. She was able to escape before being raped. Moffet received threatening phone calls. “He said that people who crossed the governor usually regretted it and that if I knew what was good for me I’d forget that it ever happened...I haven’t forgotten it. You don’t forget crude men like that.”<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2014/12/15/why-hillary-is-not-inevitable-bills-sordid-past/</ref>

*Elizabeth Ward Gracen, a former Miss Arkansas who won the Miss America crown in 1982 told friends she was forced by Clinton to have sex with him shortly after she won her state crown.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/news/the-trashing-of-clintons-women-6422690</ref> Clinton media surrogates publicly hype and boast of Clinton's manliness and ''machismo'' for his sexual conquest of Miss America.

*An Arkansas state employee named Paula Corbin filed a sexual harassment case against Clinton after she said the governor exposed himself and demanded sex in a Little Rock hotel room. President Clinton finally settled the case with Paula Corbin in 1998 with an $850,000 cash payment.<ref>
https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/18/jones/</ref>

*Sandra Allen James, a former Washington, DC, political fundraiser said Clinton invited her to his hotel room when he was in Washington in 1991, pinned her against the wall and stuck his hand up her dress. She says she screamed loud enough for the Arkansas state trooper stationed outside the hotel suite to bang on the door and ask if everything was alright. Then, she said, Clinton released her and she fled the room. When she reported the incident to her boss, he advised her to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to keep working. ‘’My husband and children deserve better than that..I wasn’t raped, but I was trapped in a hotel room for a brief moment by a boorish man...I got away. He tried calling me several times after that, but I didn’t take his phone calls. Then he stopped. I guess he moved on.” She said she learned other women had similar stories during Clinton's 1992 presidential run. She has since married and left Washington and retreated from public view.<ref>http://m.digitaljournal.com/article/255828</ref>

*Christy Zercher, a flight attendant on Clinton's campaign plane in 1992, reported that he exposed himself to her, groped her, and made explicit sexual remarks. A video filmed on board the plane by [[ABC News]] showed an obviously drunken Clinton with his hand on intimate parts of another young flight attendant. Zercher said later in an interview that White House attorney Bruce Lindsey tried to pressure her into not going public about the assault.<ref>http://redalertpolitics.com/2015/12/29/millennials-guide-bill-clintons-20-sex-scandals/</ref>

*Kathleen Willey was a volunteer at the White House when Clinton grabbed her, fondled her, and pressed her hand against himself during an Oval Office meeting in November, 1993. Willey, who told her story in a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview, became a target of a White House–directed smear campaign after she went public.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Target-Caught-Crosshairs-Hillary-Clinton/dp/0974670162 Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton], Kathleen Willey, World Ahead Publishing, Nov 6, 2007 ISBN 978-0974670164 ISBN 0974670162</ref> In 1998, just before Willey was to testify in the Paula Jones trial, Willey had a disturbing encounter where she was approached by a jogger near her home. The complete stranger asked her menacing questions about her children, naming them by name. According to Willey, "I'll never forget that look in his eyes . . . He just looked at me and he said, 'You're just not getting the message, are you?'" On ''Hardball'' in 1999, [[MSNBC]] host [[Chris Matthews]] identified the mysterious jogger as [[Cody Shearer]].<ref>https://www.weeklystandard.com/the-other-secret-dossier/article/2011477</ref>

*The other encounters were confirmed with more than 30 interviews with retired Arkansas state employees, former state troopers and former Yale and University of Arkansas students. Like others, they refused to go public because of fears of retaliation from the Clinton White House and smear machine.

*Peter Baker in ''The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton'', which the ''Washington Post'' describes as the definitive account of the impeachment saga, reported that in the files of the independent prosecutor lawyers had collected the names of 21 different women. Baker noted
{{Quotebox|“One woman was alleged to have been asked by Clinton to give him oral sex in a car while he was the state attorney general (a claim she denied). A former Arkansas state employee said that during a presentation, then-Governor Clinton walked behind her and rubbed his pelvis up against her repeatedly. A woman identified as a third cousin of Clinton’s supposedly told her drug counselor during treatment in Arkansas that she was abused by Clinton when she was baby-sitting at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock.”<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/The-Breach-Inside-Impeachment-William/dp/1476730075 The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton], Peter Backer, December 4, 2012, p. 138</ref>}}

On November 21, 2014, columnist Joan Vennochi of the ''a [[Boston Globe]]'' wrote, “Rape allegations hurt Bill Cosby but sail past Bill Clinton.”

“Power—who has it, who doesn’t, and how it can for years insulate the holder of it—is the common thread between Cosby, Clinton, and their accusers,” Vennochi wrote. Clinton apologists, surrogates, sycophants, and spin-meisters srgur their public policies are more important than his private failings.

“Meanwhile, the Clinton spin machine did its best to portray his accusers as ‘nuts or sluts,’ ...against women who dare to hold men accountable for their actions,” Vennochi wrote.<ref>https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/11/21/rape-allegations-hurt-bill-cosby-but-sail-past-bill-clinton/YTIsUoXS2uxrW1mW2JSuRM/story.html</ref>

=====Defends a pedophile=====
The next job after the Children's Defense Fund the self-described "defender of children" handled was the case of a 41-year-old man who raped a 12-year-old girl. The rapist was facing 30 years to life in prison, but Hillary plea bargained down to time served - two months in county jail - by attacking the victim who was too young to testify in a court of law to defend herself.<ref>[https://freebeacon.com/politics/audio-hillary-clinton-speaks-of-defense-of-child-rapist-in-newly-unearthed-tapes/ AUDIO: Hillary Clinton Speaks of Defense of Child Rapist in Newly Unearthed Tapes], Washington Free Beacon Staff, June 15, 2014. freebeacon.com</ref>

In court documents Hillary wrote to the judge about the young victim as:
{{Cquote|emotionally unstable with a tendency to seek out older men and engage in fantasizing...children in early adolescence tend to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences and that adolescents in disorganized families, such as the complainant’s, are even more prone to exaggerate behavior.<ref>[https://www.intellihub.com/video-hillary-clinton-brags-getting-pedophile-off-hook/ Video: Hillary Clinton brags about getting a pedophile off the hook], By Brandon Turbeville, January 25, 2016. www.intellihub.com</ref>}}
In 2006 the victim, now an adult heard for the first time Hillary Clinton laughing about her victory in the case. The victim spoke out,
{{Cquote|Hillary Clinton took me through hell. ...You took a case of mine in ’75, you lied on me… I realize the truth now, the heart of what you’ve done to me. And you are supposed to be for women? You call that for women, what you done to me? And I hear you on tape laughing. ... she lied like a dog on me. I think she was trying to do whatever she could do to make herself look good...<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/20/exclusive-hillary-clinton-took-me-through-hell-rape-victim-says.html She Lied: 'Hillary Clinton Took Me Through Hell,' Rape Victim Says], Josh Rogan, ''The Daily Beast'', 06.20.14.</ref> }}

Mrs. Clinton knew the child rapist to be guilty, and joked about it. Clinton mainstream surrogates, apologists, and sycophants [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spin%20control spin] the episode to prove how "tough minded", "dedicated", and "fair" she is.

In 2014 Hillary Clinton again lied about the case claiming she asked to be relieved.<ref>[https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/jul/17/did-hillary-clinton-ask-be-relieved-rapist/ Politifact: Did Hillary Clinton ask to be 'relieved' from representing an accused rapist in 1970s?], By Steve Contorno, July 17th, 2014. politifact.com</ref>

=====Jeffrey Epstein=====
When the Clintons left the White House in 2001, Bill became a friend and business associate with a character known in the media as "the billionaire pervert". His new friend is involved in a child sex trafficking ring. He is a registered sex offender for sex crimes involving children.<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/02/28/jeffrey-epstein-sex-offender-yes-billionaire-no/#669f83922136</ref>

Clinton's [[pedophile]] friend and associate, Jeffrey 'Joe' Epstein, is a donor to the [[Clinton Foundation]].<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/07/06/billionaire-sex-offender-epstein-once-claimed-co-founded-clinton-foundation.html</ref> He began making donations shortly after his arrest on child sex charges. Epstein received a relatively light sentence in view of the charges against him. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] settled lawsuits with 33 of his child victims. Other suits are still pending.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2584309/Bill-Clinton-identified-lawsuit-against-former-friend-pedophile-Jeffrey-Epstein-regular-orgies-Caribbean-compound-former-president-visited-multiple-times.html#ixzz3NysnRS27</ref> Epstein is said to have provided minor girls for Prince Andrew. When the Palm Beach Florida police seized Epstein's contact book,<ref>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/bill-clinton/bill-clinton-and-jeffrey-epstein-9086711</ref> 21 different phone numbers and email addresses for Clinton machine operatives were discovered, including the personal cell number for Bill Clinton, and numbers for Bill's flunky Doug Band and Hillary's flunky Cheryl Mills.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2015/03/27/cheryl-mills-the-woman-who-knew-too-much/</ref>

Epstein owns property in Manhattan, Palm Beach and the Virgin Islands where the child molestation acts are said to have taken place.<ref>http://nypost.com/2011/02/25/billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-im-a-sex-offender-not-a-predator/</ref> Seized flight logs in the investigation reveal Clinton flew on Epstein's private plane 18 times.<ref>[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/05/18/morning_joe_panel_clintons_connection_to_billionaire_pedophile_jeffrey_epstein_will_blow_up_campaign.html]</ref> It has been established some of these flights were to Epstein's Virgin Islands retreat.<ref>https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2015/07/judge-unseals-more-details-in-jeffrey-epstein-underage-sex-lawsuit-210065</ref> A woman who victims name as procurring underage girls is a donor to the Hiilary Clinton Presidential campaign and attended Chelsea Clinton's wedding in 2010.<ref>http://snn.bz/clinton-4ss/</ref>

In 2007 former Whitewater prosecutor [[Ken Starr]], whom critics accuse of whitewashing the Vince Foster investigation,<ref>http://www.prorev.com/knowl2a.htm</ref> defended Epstein from a second conviction of having sex with a 14 year old minor.<ref>http://www.justice-integrity.org/faq/791-ken-starr-explains-his-help-for-billionaire-pervert-jeffrey-epstein</ref> Starr was forced out of his position as president of Baylor University in May 2016 for mishandling another sex scandal.

====Sycophants and surrogates====
The London ''Telegraph'', for example, refers to [redacted] revelations into the Goldwater girl's "high mind".<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1558943/Hillary-Clinton-student-letters-reveal-high-mind.html Hillary Clinton student letters reveal high mind], By Toby Harnden, ''London Telegraph'', 30 Jul 2007.</ref> As the young woman at Wellesley College considered which of a "smorgasbord of personalities" she wanted to be, she asked him, "Can you be a misanthrope and still love or enjoy some individuals?". A misanthrope - a hater of humanity, is opposite of a philanthrope - a lover of humanity. But it also can be understood in a sexual sense; a misogynist is a woman-hater, and a misanthrope is a man-hater.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QesppquBwgsC&pg=PT1408&lpg=PT1408&dq=misogynist+woman-hater,+misanthrope+man-hater&source=bl&ots=F8br3x1wPm&sig=1koMfbtfuulHxZ9MOTFc48vIhNk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwif6fT3zOnMAhUJGj4KHXu8C-8Q6AEIfjAT#v=onepage&q=misogynist%20woman-hater%2C%20misanthrope%20man-hater&f=false New American Roget's College Thesaurus in Dictionary Form (Revised & Updated)], By Philip D. Morehead, Penguin Books, 2002.</ref> Whatever its meaning, a college sophomore ought to understand it refers to an antisocial personality.

'''David Maraniss''', while promoting a book based upon personal interviews during the Clinton's first term, broached the subject of the Clintons remaining active in electoral politics beyond Mr. Clinton's presidency. Maraniss speculated one or the other, or both, would run for the Senate.<ref>[https://www.c-span.org/video/?64214-1/book-discussion-first-class Booknotes, C-Span, March 27, 1995.]</ref> Maraniss's book was entitled ''First in His Class'', a euphemistic title offensive to baby boomers. Clinton ''was not'' first in class, his schoolmate [[Vince Foster]] was, who ended up dead before being able to deliver Rose Law Firm and Waterwater records to investigators.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/22/us/white-house-aide-leaves-no-clue-about-suicide.html?pagewanted=all</ref> Clinton was thrown out of his class at Oxford for a reported rape of a 19 year old.

Impeachment made it improbable for Mr. Clinton to run for the Senate, but when Hillary declared her candidacy for the Senate from New York in 2000, it was an open secret their ambitions were for the White House again in 2008. Hillary was declared "inevitable" by media surrogates and supporters. By 2007 when Barack Obama publicly cited published reports the Clintons made a secret pact with each other in the early 1970s to further each other's careers with their eyes set on the White House, Clinton surrogates such as [[Media Matters]] went to work smearing and attacking Barack Obama.<ref>[http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3735821 More Obama Desperation: talks about Hillary and Bill's secret pact of ambition], Sun Nov-18-07 08:22 PM. www.democraticunderground.com</ref>

Hours before the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, radio personality [[Michael Savage]] was abruptly cutoff in midstream on air from his 400 nationwide affiliates when he began discussing Hillary's obvious failing health.<ref>http://breaking911.com/breaking-talk-radio-host-michael-savage-abruptly-removed-radio-claims-sabotage/</ref>

=====Google=====
[[File:Google crimes.png|thumb|right|225px|Google results, June 2016.]]
[[Google]] has more or less destroyed its reputation for integrity in generating non-biased search engine results among intellectuals of the tech-savvy millennial generation. On numerous occasions Google has been caught red-handed manipulating autocomplete [[search engine]] results to favor Hillary Clinton.<ref>[http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-10/must-see-video-how-google-manipulates-search-results-favor-hillary-clinton How Google Manipulates Search Results In Favor Of Hillary Clinton], by Tyler Durden, Jun 10, 2016. zerohedge.com</ref> Autocomplete returns the most popular trending search queries.
<ref>[https://freebeacon.com/politics/here-are-10-more-examples-of-google-search-results-favorable-to-hillary/ Here Are 10 More Examples of Google Search Results Favorable to Hillary], Tech giant accused of whitewashing autocomplete results, Brent Scher and Elizabeth Harrington, ''Washington Free Beacon'', June 10, 2016</ref> Only a few examples are outlined in this section.

When a user types in ''Hillary Clinton cri'' to query about the criminal investigation into Mrs. Clinton for example, the Google results do not match at all popular trends on all other major search engines.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFxFRqNmXKg Did Google Manipulate Search for Hillary?], Matt Lieberman, SourceFed, Jun 9, 2016. UPDATE: Friday June 10. youtube.com</ref>

Supporters of [[Bernie Sanders]] complained throughout the 2016 primary season Google had inflated Hillary's delegate count by adding unelected [[Superdelegate]]s who by rule were to remain unpledged until the convention.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/sanders-vs-clinton-delegate-count/ Failing Delegate Math], A popular [[meme]] detailing the actual delegate count between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in May 2016 is mostly accurate. Kim LaCapria, ''Snopes'', May 10, 2016</ref> Some in late primary states considered this a form of [[voter suppression]].<ref>[http://thebernreport.com/superdelegate-system-has-been-used-as-a-form-of-voter-supression/ Superdelegate System Has Been Used as a Form of Voter Suppression], Posted by G.A. Casebeer, ''The Bern Report'', May 23, 2016</ref>
[[File:Bing crimes.png|thumb|right|225px|Bing results, June 2016.]]
In an article entitled ''How Google Could Rig the 2016 Election'' in August 2015 ''Politico'' warned Google "can easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by 20 percent or more—up to 80 percent in some demographic groups—with virtually no one knowing they are being manipulated... In the United States, half of our presidential elections have been won by margins under 7.6 percent".<ref>[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/how-google-could-rig-the-2016-election-121548 How Google Could Rig the 2016 Election], Google has the ability to drive millions of votes to a candidate with no one the wiser, By Robert Epstein, ''Politico'', August 19, 2015</ref>

Billionaire [[Eric Schmidt]], [[CEO]] of Google's parent company Alphabet funded a startup company called The Groundwork to ensure Hillary has the engineering talent needed to win the election.<ref>[http://qz.com/520652/groundwork-eric-schmidt-startup-working-for-hillary-clinton-campaign/ THE GROUNDWORK The stealthy, Eric Schmidt-backed startup that’s working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House], Adam Pasick & Tim Fernholz, ''Quartz'', October 09, 2015. qz.com</ref> Schmidt and Google are both donors to the Clinton Foundation.

When Googling, '''Hillary Clinton's he-''' 
Google yielded,
*Hillary Clinton's headquarters
*Hillary Clinton's health plan
*Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan
[[File:Yahoo crimes.png|thumb|right|225px|Yahoo results, June 2016.]]
Search results on Bing return the suggestions
*Hillary Clinton's health
*Hillary Clinton's health issues
*Hillary Clinton's health and weight

Search results on Yahoo return the suggestions
*Hillary Clinton's health problems
*Hillary Clinton's health
*Hillary Clinton's health issues

There also are allegations Google has been filtering emails from [[Donald Trump]] into Gmail users spam boxes.<ref>[https://dailycaller.com/2016/06/23/users-claim-google-is-putting-trump-emails-in-their-spam-box/ Users Claim Google Is Putting Trump Emails In Their Spam Box], Alex Pfeiffer, ''Daily Caller'', 8:19 AM 06/23/2016</ref> Of course, Google and other Clinton surrogates deny any manipulation.

=====CNN=====
During Erin Burnett's broadcast [[CNN]] maliciously slandered Donald Trump with the claim he advocated racial profiling when in fact he has not. A review of the transcript shows that Trump never used the phrase in his comments on terrorism and immigration. CNN ran headlines reporting that the GOP presidential nominee spoke of using "racial profiling" to stop terrorism. Trump spoke of “profiling," as [[Israel]] does. CNN added the word "racial". CNN likewise edited out a key portion of Hillary Clinton's statement days earlier after the terror attacks in New York and New Jersey.<ref>https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/296753-cnn-falsely-adds-racial-to-trump-vetting-comments</ref>

CNN had gone on air with doctored, altered images of tweets from Donald Trump editing out the wording of Trump's messages critical of Hillary Clinton asking for the release of her medical records.<ref>https://thehill.com/media/293704-cnn-edits-crooked-out-of-trump-tweet-on-hillary</ref><ref>http://nalert.blogspot.com/2016/09/cnn-blurs-out-guests-trump-t-shirt.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FwHtV+%28Newsalert%29</ref>

CNN abruptly cancelled the highly successful ''Dr. Drew'' show when Dr. Drew expressed concern on air about Hillary's health and the care and treatment she's been receiving from Dr. Lisa Bardack for post-concussion syndrome. In 2012, when Hillary got a "cracked head" (her words ''per her email'') a blood clot, or thrombosis, was formed inside her skull.<ref>https://abcnews.go.com/Health/hillary-clinton-blood-clot-life-threatening-medical-experts/story?id=18101213</ref> Hillary ''was not'' hospitalized, according to CNN's reporting at the time.<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/15/us/us-hillary-clinton-concussion/</ref> Dr. Drew criticized the use of outdated bloodthinners her physician prescribes.<ref>https://www.weeklystandard.com/hillary-im-probably-on-blood-thinners-for-life/article/794545</ref> Dr. Drew was threatened and harassed after his comments and CNN demanded he retract them. When he refused, he was fired.<ref>http://pagesix.com/2016/09/04/dr-drew-loses-show-after-discussing-hillarys-health/?_ga=1.33153086.1667858589.1472997909</ref>

CNN became increasingly deranged in its frothing hatred, alleging ''Pepe the Frog'' to be a symbol of white nationalism. CNN's relationship with the Clinton campaign machine reversed itself: rather than the campaign machine write talking points for the news network, the news network now was writing talking points for the campaign. Having sown the seeds of hate and violence, CNN blamed the victims of terrorism for CNN's own blithering hate when the Republican headquarters in North Carolina was firebombed.<ref>[https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2016/10/16/cnns-stelter-blames-firebombing-nc-republican-office-trumps?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJWa00ySmlOR00wTnpjeSIsInQiOiJWRHU2MzNZSVhxTktPTkRoZ01JOWlwRWhTY2grVmV3cWpMV1J4TnVDelE1bFYzaDV0SE82NkZcL2tvZVIxSlVVQ3RqVTFENFZEdTRrVWkrd25EZlNPR05xck1YOUs5bkJDdU5pRWcwTnJURFU9In0%3D]</ref>

CNN forced journalist Amber Lyon to kill stories.<ref>https://youtu.be/BO-TyETzNO8</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/NzyyIb5_jXA</ref> Lyon had prepared a [[documentary]] about [[Bahrain]]'s bloody uprising during Hillary's ill-advised "[[Arab Spring]]" the network [[quash]]ed at the behest of Hillary's State Department.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/04/cnn-international-documentary-bahrain-arab-spring-repression</ref>

=====Dana Milbank=====
In June 2016 after Donald Trump had secured the Republican nomination, ''Washington Post'' columnist Dana Milbank proposed a "media blackout" after alleging that eight top news outlets gave Trump the equivalent of $55 million of free advertising, about two-thirds of it being positive. Taken as a whole, Milbank reported, coverage was worth $2 billion and amounted to a "huge in-kind contribution to Trump." Milbank adopted a conspiratorial tone, proposing "[n]o more live, wall-to-wall coverage of Trump’s rallies and events."<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-right-response-to-donald-trump-a-media-blackout/2016/06/14/2868a0e0-3256-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?utm_term=.ad617f85321f</ref>

Milbank supported Hillary's use of the term, "deplorables", to describe American citizens and voters.<ref>http://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/dana-milbank-clinton-must-cast-aside-caution/article_332fbebf-4ca6-5679-958e-94b24789e6b1.html</ref>

Dana Milbank is a member of the Skull and Bones Society.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/871/000044739/</ref> Paranoid extreme [[leftist]]s consider Yale's Skull and Bones Society as an entry point for elitists into the [[New World Order]] and the [[Illuminati]].<ref>http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3888011</ref> New World Order conspiracy kooks are known for their racist and [[anti-Semitic]] sentiments.

=====Reuters and CBS=====
The live feed of a Trump rally at an [[African-American]] [[church]] in [[Detroit]] was blacked out in the midst of Trump receiving the blessing and presentation of a [[Jewish]] prayer shawl from the senior black pastor.<ref>https://youtu.be/MM7oPN2g1ig</ref> A hot mic captured the camera team ordering a blackout. [[Reuters]] was widely criticized for cutting the news feed. Typically, one news organization sets up a camera at a crowded event where space is limited and all broadcast organizations share the video feed. When the camera was cut, the blackout was universal. Reuters denied they issued the blackout and blamed [[CBS]]. CBS denied to comment but attacked the Trump campaign.

Trump received a standing ovation from members of the black church after his moving speech on the importance of the black faith community in American life.

The issue was so widely reported Vladimir Putin asked Barack Obama about it at the G20 Summit in [[Beijing]] in early September 2016. Putin has been accused by Western reporters of impeding the campaigns of opposition challengers and murder of journalists critical of him. Obama is reported to have given Putin no answer.

====Pay to play====
:''Main article : [[Clinton Foundation conflicts of interest]]''
Clinton's critics claim that the sudden rise in the Clinton's net worth following their departure from the White House in 2001 was as a result of trading access for money.

=====Rosatom-Uranium One deal=====
In 'resetting' relations with [[Russia]], Secretary Clinton gave approval to a deal that allowed a Russian government enterprise to control one-fifth of all [[uranium]] producing capacity in the [[United States]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150509041803/http://nypost.com/2015/04/26/charity-watchdog-clinton-foundation-a-slush-fund Charity watchdog: Clinton Foundation a ‘slush fund’], Isabel Vincent, ''New York Post'', 26 April 2015</ref> Rosatom, the Russian company, acquired Uranium One, a Utah mining company owned by a [[Canadian]] firm and run by Frank Giustra (pron. ''Ju-stra''). Giustra is a member of the Clinton Foundation Board. The transaction required Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's approval. Giustra then donated over $130 million to the Clinton family non-profit foundation.<ref>[https://www.clintonfoundation.org/about/board-directors Board of Directors | Clinton Foundation], www.clintonfoundation.org</ref><ref>http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/04/23/more-clinton-foundation-cronyism-the-deal-to-sell-uranium-interests-to-russia-while-hillary-was-secretary-of-state/</ref>

Rosatom is the 21st century [[free market]] inheritor of the [[Soviet]] system's command and control predecessor agency which operated the [[Chernobyl]] reactor. In the era of global corporate competition, Rosatom has taken the Soviet-style model of design, construction, and operation of nuclear power plants on the road for export. Rosatom does not just build power plants for anyone with the cash willing to pay, it can operate the plant with continuing contracts using its own technicians and employees. This includes supplying reactor grade [[plutonium]] and the more problematic and [[environment]]ally hazardous disposal of spent fuel rods. Syrian president [[Bashar al-Assad]] in May 2010 discussed with Russian President [[Dmitry Medvedev]] the possibility of Rosatom building nuclear power plants in [[Syria]].<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-syria-medvedev-idUSLDE64A14S20100511 UPDATE 1-Russia says eyes atomic energy cooperation with Syria], ''Reuters'', May 11, 2010.</ref> In its report on Rosatom, [[Greenpeace|Greenpeace International]] cites cost-cutting and an historical culture of corruption as causes of concern.<ref>[http://www.greenpeace.org/hungary/PageFiles/636986/rosatom_risks.pdf Rosatom Risks: Exposing the troubled history of Russia’s state nuclear corporation], Greenpeace International, October 2014.</ref> Russia has now achieved near [[monopoly]] control globally in uranium enrichment for the worlds nuclear plants.

Rosatom builds more [[nuclear power plant]]s worldwide than anyone else, with projects currently underway in China, [[Vietnam]], [[India]], and [[Turkey]]. Rosatom built [[Iran]]’s [[nuclear reactor]] in Bushehr. With the purchase of Uranium One, Rosatom also bought uranium exploration rights in [[Arizona]], [[Colorado]], and [[Utah]].<ref>[http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/moscows-american-uranium/ Moscow’s American Uranium], By Matt Baker, 18th October 2013 - Politico. www.defenddemocracy.org</ref> Uranium is the only fuel right now that can reliably produce large amounts of [[electricity]] without the release of [[greenhouse gases]] and other [[hydrocarbon]] [[pollution|pollutants]].<ref>[https://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/putins-power-play-how-it-will-change-the-uranium-sector Putin’s Power Play – How It Will Change the Uranium Sector], Casey Research, May 15, 2013</ref> And under Russian law, contaminated waste must be returned to the country of origin.

According to the ''[[New York Times]]'' money began flowing into the Foundation before the transaction was complete.
{{quotebox|Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the [[Obama]] [[White House]] to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well. 

And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the [[Kremlin]] that was promoting Uranium One stock.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html?_r=0 Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal], By JO BECKER and MIKE McINTIRE, ''New York Times'', APRIL 23, 2015. nytimes.com</ref> }}

=====Toxicolgical agents for Bahrain=====
Emails reveal after the Kingdom of Bahrain donated $150,000 directly to the Clinton Foundation, plus another $32 million to the Clinton Global Initiative,<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3753487/How-Clinton-Foundation-donors-got-hotline-Huma-including-Bono-begging-link-International-Space-Station-concerts.html</ref> Hillary approved $630 million worth of direct arms sales to Bahrain's military, which included $700,000 for toxicological agents which were then used against the Gulf State's nation's own people, including women protestors demonstrating for women's rights.<ref>https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_Reports/Bahrain-TearGas-Aug2012-small.pdf</ref>

=====Blackwater=====
Blackwater is a private company that provides support services, including security, to the federal government, particularly in war zones. Five [[Blackwater]] guards were indicted by a U.S. grand jury on [[manslaughter]] and weapons charges stemming from a 2007 incident in [[Baghdad]] in which 17 Iraqis died. There was a huge public outcry not to renew Blackwater's contract. A donation of $10,000 to $25,000 was reported in late 2008; the State Department awarded a contract with a Blackwater subsidiary shortly after Sec. Clinton took office.<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/money/top-donors-clinton-foundation-include-saudis-blackwater-article-1.357326 Top donors to Clinton foundation include Saudis, Blackwater], The Associated Press, Thursday, December 18, 2008, nydailynews.com</ref><ref>[http://www.iraqinews.com/baghdad-politics/u-s-extends-iraq-contract-for-blackwater-firm/ U.S. extends Iraq contract for Blackwater firm], Iraqi News, Sep 3, 2009. www.iraqinews.com</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/17/new-deal-for-blackwater-bucks-decision-by-iraq/ EXCLUSIVE: New deal for Blackwater], By Jim McElhatton - The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 17, 2009</ref>

=====Others=====
'''Laureate International Universities.''' Between 2010 and 2014 while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State, Bill Clinton made $16.5 million for his role as honorary chancellor of Laureate Education, a for-profit college company which operates in 30 countries.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-31/hillary-and-bill-clinton-paid-43-million-in-federal-taxes Hillary and Bill Clinton Made $139 Million in Eight Years],
Richard Rubin & Jennifer Epstein, ''Bloomberg'', July 31, 2015</ref> The [[State Department]] funneled $55 million in grants during Hillary Clinton's tenure to groups associated with Laureate's founder, Douglas Becker. The International Youth Federation, an organization connected to Laureate chairman Douglas Becker, received [[USAID]] funding.<ref>[http://www.iyfnet.org/people/douglas-l-becker Douglas L. Becker, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Laureate Education]. International Youth Foundation. www.iyfnet.org</ref> Becker is a major donor to the Clintons and the [[Clinton Foundation]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/laureate-a-for-profit-education-firm-finds-international-success-with-a-clintons-help/2014/01/16/13f8adde-7ca6-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html Laureate, a for-profit education firm, finds international success (with a Clinton’s help)], By Mina Kimes and Michael Smith. ''Washington Post'', January 18, 2014</ref><ref>[https://jonathanturley.org/2016/06/08/the-clintons-university-problem-laureate-education-lawsuits-present-problem-for-clintons/ The Clinton University Problem: Laureate Education Lawsuits Present Problem For Clintons [Updated] ] Jonathan Turley, June 8, 2016. jonathanturley.org</ref> In her first year as Secretary of State, Hillary is quoted as directly asking that Laureate be included in a high-profile policy dinner — just months before the lucrative contract was given to Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton references in an email “Laureate Universities, started by Doug Becker who Bill likes a lot".<ref>[http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/hillarys-emails-reveal-lucrative-ties-to-for-profit-colleges/ Hillary’s emails reveal lucrative ties to for-profit colleges], Ana Kasparian, ''RawStory'', 12 Mar 2016. www.rawstory.com</ref> “It’s a for-profit model that should be represented,” she wrote in the August 2009 email.<ref>[https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/09/02/clinton-sought-invite-laureate-state-dept-dinner Clinton Sought Invite for Laureate at State Dept. Dinner], Inside Higher Ed, September 2, 2015. insidehighered.com</ref><ref>[https://foia.state.gov/searchapp/DOCUMENTS/HRCEmail_JulyWeb/Web_031/DOC_0C05763085/C05763085.pdf UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05763085]</ref>

For-profit colleges have been criticized by [[education]] experts for low graduation rates and do little more than saddle students with insurmountable debt. In the case of Laureate, the scam has been spread to no less than 30 countries.

'''[http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/03/16/cbs-news-chinese-firm-pledged-2m-to-clinton-foundation-in-2013/ Rilin Enterprises]''', a Chinese firm run by Wang Wenliang, a member of the Chinese parliament with close security and intelligence connections to the Chinese government, has donated $2 million.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-company-pledged-2-million-to-clinton-foundation-in-2013/ Chinese company pledged $2 million to Clinton Foundation in 2013], Julianna Goldman, CBS News, March 16, 2015</ref><ref>''The Clintons' War on Women'', [http://epubbookonline.com/b/3035/roger-stone/the-clintons-war-on-women/33 CHAPTER 23 CONFLICT OF INTEREST], by Roger Stone, Skyhorse Publishing, 2015, pp. 341-342.</ref> After a meeting between Mr. Wenliang and former DNC chairman [[Terry McAuliffe]] in Hillary's [[Washington, D.C.]] home, McAuliffe has come under [[FBI]] investigation as well.<ref>[http://time.com/4348675/terry-mcauliffe-hillary-clinton-china-investigation/ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Invited Chinese Donor to Hillary Clinton’s Home], Michael Scherer, ''TIME'' magazine, May 25, 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/officials-feds-investigating-virginia-governor/2016/05/23/ef6c2ebe-2126-11e6-aa84-42391ba52c91_story.html Officials: Federal prosecutors investigating Virginia Gov. McAuliffe], By Matt Zapotosky, (Reuters), May 23, 2016. washingtonpost.com</ref>

'''Raj Fernando''' was appointed a seat on the State Department's International Security Advisory Board with a $250,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation. Fernando has no known association with the U.S. Intelligence Community nor expertise in national security affairs. Fernando also served as a 2016 unelected [[Superdelegate]] for Hillary Clinton to the Democratic Convention.<ref>[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/06/10/abcs_brian_ross_do_newly_released_clinton_emails_show_quid_pro_quo.html ABC: Newly Released Emails Show Unqualified Clinton Foundation Donor Appointed to Sensitive Intelligence Board], Posted By Tim Hains, June 10, 2016. realclearpolitics.com</ref>

'''Union Bank of Switzerland''' ('''UBS'''), one of the world's largest, was fined $780,000,000 in February 2009 in a U.S. Federal Court on charges it helped thousands of Americans evade [[tax]]es.<ref>[https://www.investmentnews.com/article/20090219/FREE/902199983 ''UBS fined $780 million in [[tax evasion]] scandal,''] Investment News, February 19, 2009.</ref> The [[Department of Justice]] and the [[IRS]] were the lead agencies in the UBS investigation. After Sec. Clinton intervened, donations to the Clinton Foundation increased tenfold from $60,000 to $600,000. Additionally, Bill Clinton collected $1.5 million in speaking fees from UBS.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/30/ubs-donations-to-clinton-foundation-increased-after-hillary-intervention-in-irs.html Swiss bank's donations to Clinton Foundation increased after Hillary intervention in IRS dispute], FoxNews.com, July 30, 2015</ref>

====Health matters====
In late 2012 Hillary was reported to have suffered a concussion. Initial reports suggested it occurred after a "fainting" spell; other reports stated she suffered the concussion on board a C-12 Huron military aircraft which skidded off the runaway while in Iran to jumpstart negotiations on sanctions and the nuke deal.<ref>https://youtu.be/xTMw_w4IhBw</ref> The crash occurred on or about 8 December 2012; Hillary had a public "fainting" spell on 15 December 2012<ref>https://youtu.be/P885qYmxbE4</ref> which then led to reports she suffered a concussion. Reports say she was not hospitalized at that time. In a 24 December email she refers to having a "cracked head."<ref>https://70news.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/wikileaks-hillarys-crackhead-and-dementia-bombshell-hillary-clinton-used-drugs-for-dementia-and-parkinsons-disease-asked-nfl-chief-to-help-her-deal-with/</ref>

=====Neurological disorder=====
Significant concerns have arose in late summer 2016 about Hillary Clinton's mental and neurological fitness. The Clintons have never complied with requests to disclose their medical records, which has led to widespread speculation among experts and laymen about both Clinton's health based on observation and what has been reported. In December 2011, a series of emails were passed between the staff and Hillary in which she inquired about the prescription medication, Provigil, which suggests [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/23/emails-top-hillary-aide-was-researching-drug-that-treats-parkinsons-alzheimers/</ref>

On the 2016 campaign trail it was obvious Hillary had trouble walking and keeping her balance. Other unusual occurrences in public medical experts described as a combination of brain freezes, blackouts, seizures or symptoms of post traumatic brain injury. Even while Secretary, Hillary began missing a series of important meetings, which included testifying before Congress and a [[national security]] briefing at the White House on the Benghazi attack. She canceled without notice her participation in the Friends of Syrian forum in Marrakesh when her presence was vitally needed as NATO was detecting suspicious movements of the Syrian army's chemical weapons. Her assistant [[Huma Abedin]] noted in an email "she is often confused" because of her incapacitation.<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3320900/Newly-released-email-shows-aide-Huma-Abedin-warned-colleagues-Hillary-confused-needed-hand-holding-calls-foreign-leaders.html#ixzz4Iu8Nujvw ]</ref>

What was particularly quixotic was the behavior of the Clinton campaign in spinning the story. Hillary's peculiar facial expressions at odd moments while talking to people could not go unnoticed. Or her coughing fits.

Typically a candidate, like a sitting president, travels with a press pool in tow. However the Clinton campaign has done everything imaginable to keep national reporters from getting too close to the candidate. When Hillary was rushed from the scene after collapsing at [[Ground Zero]] during a 9/11 commemoration, a 90-minute news blackout ensued. Repeated questions from reporters went unanswered.<ref>https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article101235582.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter</ref> When she emerged on an open street without a security detail, the person did not look at all like the Hillary we've come to know, nor the Hillary who had moments earlier been diagnosed with a serious illness. Nor the Hillary who broke down in an extended coughing fit two dsys earlier on national television on opening day of the general election.

One instance of an on camera freeze (see discussion on dyskinesia, below), it was speculated, was triggered by the cross-talk of several persons at once, such as regularly occurs in a press conference.<ref>https://youtu.be/OqbDBRWb63s</ref> Hillary did not have a press conference for nine months in 2016. Hillary is accompanied in all public appearances by an attending physician who most mistake for part of her security detail. The physician, who is always at her side, has been photographed ready and armed with an auto-injector syringe carrying the anti-seizure medication, Diazepam.

All the speculation and rumors of course could be ended if the Clinton campaign would open up and be honest about a matter that is of no slight or insignificant purpose to the American people. During an interview with Erin Burnett on CNN, Dr. David Scheiner, President Obama's former physician, insisted that a two-page note from Hillary's doctor was insufficient.<ref>http://www.inquisitr.com/3471504/hillary-clinton-needs-a-thorough-neurological-exam-obamas-doctor-says/</ref> Dr. Milton Wolf, President Obama's cousin, called the diagnosis of Lisa Bardack, one of Hillary's physicians, "pure fiction," noting the diagnosis does not appear in any medical tectbook.<ref>http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/09/dr-milton-wolf-obamas-cousin-catches-lie-in-hillary-clinton-medical-report/</ref>
Even more frightening, is that reporters who have discussed the matter publicly have been fired. Dr. Drew was fired by [[CNN]] after 6 years,<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/26/dr-drew-show-canceled-days-after-his-negative-speculation-about-hillary-clintons-health/</ref> and the [[Huffington Post]] terminated David Seaman who had written hundreds of articles over many years.<ref>http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/huffpo-writer-questions-hillary-health-happened/</ref><ref>[http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index2104.htm Hillary Clinton Colostomy Bag Cover-up Consumes US Media Giants, Puts Debates In Doubt], Sorcha Faal, August 30, 2016. www.whatdoesitmesn.com</ref> Seaman now lives in fear of his life and personal safety.

=====Subcortical vascular dementia=====
A Twitter posting in August 2016 about Hillary's advanced medical condition was reportedly knocked down by Hillary's team and alleged Fact Checkers as a hoax and conspiracy. The reports are said to have been leaked possibly by the father of one of the physicians treating Hillary Clinton. The physician's name is Dr. Daniel Fleck. His father's name is Vincent Fleck. Vincent Fleck was found dead less than 24 hours after the reported leak. The [[leak]]ed files are from the office of the physician who authored the two-page clean bill of health, and contradict what she distributed publicly. The clean bill of health is viewed as a whitewash by the Clinton campaign, intended to serve as the official response to requests for Hillary's medical records.<ref>http://www.eutimes.net/2016/08/father-of-doctor-treating-hillary-clinton-for-dementia-mysteriously-dies/</ref>

The two-page clean bill of health was written by Dr. Lisa Bardack, who claimed Hillary was in "excellent physical condition". Bardack said Clinton was diagnosed with a “transverse sinus venous thrombosis,” a type of blood clot in the brain. She was given blood thinners to dissolve the clot. Hillary experienced double-vision and had been given prism glasses to wear. Bardack wrote that by 2013 Hillary Clinton had "complete resolution of the effects of the concussion", which any [[NFL]] fan and layman can tell is complete nonsense. No mention was made of Hillary's persistent coughing fits or loss of balance. Bardack noted Hillary also suffered from deep vein thrombosis (blood clotting) in 1998 and 2009 and takes the medications Armour Thyoid and Coumadin (an anticoagulant blood thinner) daily. Armour Thyroid is an old-fashioned brand name remedy of desiccated thyroid extract from dried [[beef]] and [[pork]] [[thyroid]] glands.

The earliest leaked document from Dr. Bardack's office is dated February 5, 2014, stating the patient's present complaint is "Blacking out for short periods of time, uncontrollable twitching, memory loss, fatigue." It lists the [[diagnosis]] of "Complex Partial Seizures, Subcortical Vascular Dementia." Subcortical vascular dementia is caused by widespread microscopic damage to the brain resulting from hardening of the arteries that supply blood to the subcortical areas of the brain. The leak further notes "the patient is having signs of more frequent Complex Partial Seizures."<ref>http://allnewspipeline.com/Hillary_Clinton_Medical_Records_Released.php</ref>

Levadopa (L-dopa) is considered the most effective treatment of Parkinson's disease. Dyskinesia, or involuntary muscle movements, is a side affect of longterm treatment with levadopa.

{{Quotebox|"Dyskinetic movements look like smooth tics — sometimes like an uncoordinated dance. People who experience dyskinesia sometimes mask the involuntary movement with finalistic movements (if the arm starts moving on its own, they might bring it to their head and adjust their hair, as if it was planned)", according to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.<ref>https://www.michaeljfox.org/understanding-parkinsons/living-with-pd/topic.php?dyskinesia</ref>}}

Tinted blue sunglasses are considered a therapuetic remedy to alleviate symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.<ref>http://commons.pacificu.edu/pt/93/</ref><ref>http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e6_1473703406</ref>

=====Cover-up of health problems=====
Following Hillary's high-profile collapse on Sunday morning September 11, 2016 at Ground Zero it was no longer possible to deny Hillary's debilitating condition as a "[[vast right-wing conspiracy]]". Former [[MSNBC]] anchor Dan Schuster, while the blackout on Hillary's condition was still fresh, tweeted that DNC officials were pondering an emergency meeting to replace Hillary Clinton. By Monday afternoon discussions were confirmed by former DNC Chairman Dan Fowler who was appointed by President Bill Clinton to oversee his 1996 reelection. Fowler insists the open discussions were about process for replacing a nominee, not the actual replacement. A singular precedent exists, the 1972 replacement of Sen. Tom Eagleton with [[Sargent Shriver]] as VP on the Democrat ticket, an event many considered as sealing the fate of Senator George McGovern's fledgling bid for the presidency.

====Jobs====
The Clintons’ support of [[NAFTA]] helped to destroy the economies of the four key industrial states of [[Michigan]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Wisconsin]].

Hillary expressed strong support for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a NAFTA-like free trade zone along the Pacific rim with China, Japan, South Korea and about a dozen other countries.<ref>https://youtu.be/Fju459PbqIc</ref> When Democrats defeated Obama's proposal to create the TPP Hillary flip-flopped to grab headlines in support of what public opinion polls were alresdy saying. Hillary publicly pitched the Trans Pacific Partnership no less than 45 times around the world as Secretary of State.<ref>Tapper, Jake et al. (June 15, 2015). [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2015%2F06%2F15%2Fpolitics%2F45-times-secretary-clinton-pushed-the-trade-bill-she-now-opposes%2F&ei=wC2CVeupMYO0oQTUj4HYCg&usg=AFQjCNEsFqVDafeOiL3RCS2RkzIM4yx07A&sig2=FjN1zCMVkBdQg3uHQ-cQvg "45 times Secretary Clinton pushed the trade bill she now opposes"]. CNN website/Politics.</ref><ref>Swenson, Michele (June 24, 2014). [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fmichele-swenson%2Fnafta-the-transpacific-clinton_b_5523327.html&ei=CzKCVfvNFoq1oQTkg6iQDA&usg=AFQjCNH8zZ2k0O_82qbQ4lDs25S0ZL7LUQ&sig2=PUwH5dxq_fcRw17Tw9x7SQ "NAFTA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Clinton Global Initiative"]. Huffington Post/The Blog.</ref><ref>Shreckinger, Ben (February 21, 2014). [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/how-obamas-free-trade-push-could-put-hillary-clinton-in-a-tight-spot/283958/ "How Obama's free trade push could put Hillary in a tight spot"]. ''The Atlantic'' website.</ref> Meanwhile, the Clintons revived their old, tired game: Bill came out in favor of TPP just to make sure all sides of an issue are covered. Rest assured, more jobs being destroyed are in the offing together with lower living standards, but donations to the Clinton Foundation seem secure.

====Divisive and dismissive comments====
Hillary branded half of Trump's supporters as "deplorables" and called them "irredeemable".
She has also called Roman Catholics "severely backwards" and charging that they don't know "what the hell they’re talking about." [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/12/catholic-group-calls-clinton-spokeswomans-resignat/]

====Children's issues====
Hillary Clinton's only interest in children is as props for photo ops. She believes her dabbling in the [[occult]] and communion with dead [[spirit]]s makes her an appropriate role model for children.<ref>Book says Hillary talks to dead, CNN, Junne 22, 1996</ref>

=====Dead Iraqi children=====
Four years into the Clinton administration ''The Lancet'' British medical journal reported 567,000 Iraqi children had died under the sanctions. President Clinton made his position clear: "There is no difference between my policy and the policy of the [previous] administration."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/15/world/clinton-affirms-us-policy-on-iraq.html CLINTON AFFIRMS U.S. POLICY ON IRAQ], By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, ''New York Times'', January 15, 1993</ref> By June 1993 Clinton began bombing Baghdad.

In a ''60 Minutes'' interview CBS reporter Lesley Stahl had this exchange with Secretary of State Madelaine Albright: [[File:Iraq pop 2003.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Hillary considered Iraq to be a "business opportunity."<ref>https://youtu.be/sQq3hs_lXpY</ref>]]
{{quotebox|'''Stahl''' : We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in [[Hiroshima]]. And, you know, is the price worth it? 
'''Albright''' : I think this is a very ''hard choice'', but the price–we think the price is worth it.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnskeu-puE Madeleine Albright says 500,000 dead Iraqi Children was "worth it" wins Medal of Freedom]. youtube.com</ref><ref>[http://fair.org/extra/we-think-the-price-is-worth-it/ ‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’], By Rahul Mahajan, FAIR, 1 Nov. 2001</ref>}}
They didn't deny it, the Clinton administration only toughened the sanctions in 1998, and now called for [[regime change]]. Hillary wrote in ''Living History'' after discussing how people were saying the Clinton's bombing and sanctions were a diversion from the sex charges against the President,
{{Cquote|as bombs fell on Iraq, the impeachment debate began. I had refrained from making any direct public statement for several months, but that morning I spoke to a group of reporters outside the White House. “I think the vast majority of Americans share my approval and pride in the job that the president’s been doing for our country.”<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=H78s9ZbLXCIC&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489dq=bombs+fell+on+Iraq+impeachment+debate+began+share+approval++pride++job&source=bl&ots=o3nVogt6So&sig=Ac21uLJL4SYV0xdzzLxHncrR7NA&hl=ensa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiO_aCb_MTNAhWEJR4KHS70AiUQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepageq=bombs%20fell%20on%20Iraq%20impeachment%20debate%20began%20share%20approval%20%20pride%20%20job&f=false Living History], Hillary Rodham Clinton, Simon and Schuster, Apr 19, 2004, p. 489</ref>}}
In the lead-up to the [[Iraq War]] in 2002, Sen. Clinton reiterated her support for the Clinton policy and touted her leadership role in it.
{{quotebox|I know a little bit about what it's like on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue making these difficult decisions.<ref>[https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=4136 "Clinton Supports Regime Change in Iraq."] [[Tim Russert]], correspondent. [[Meet the Press]]. NBCUniversal Media. 15 Sep. 2002.</ref>}}
Not surprisingly, Hillary entitled her memoirs as Secretary of State, ''Hard Choices'', recalling the Albright interview. [[Osama bin Laden]] later was to cite the deaths of Iraqi children under the Clinton's sanctions regime as motivation for the [[9/11 attacks]].<ref>https://www.thenation.com/article/hard-look-iraq-sanctions/</ref> Kevin Groenhagen noted in 2008, "Liberals who say Saddam was not a threat cannot explain why keeping him contained was worth the deaths of one half million Iraqi children."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyFr2pFkbswC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=bin+laden+death+o+f+iraqi+children&source=bl&ots=OjRO8Q-ENW&sig=WJ8shVsXboa8pfdR7iGrFfyfUf8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjogvbu95jPAhUCOz4KHd_sAR4Q6AEIdjAZ#v=onepage&q=bin%20laden%20death%20o%20f%20iraqi%20children&f=false What Really Happened: the Story of Clinton Inc. 's Efforts to Rewrite Bill Clinton's Record on Iraq and Terrorism,] Kevin Groenhagen, Lulu.com, Jul 16, 2008</ref>

=====Exterminated the children of Waco=====
Among the hard choices this advocate of children and women's rights made was the go-ahead to extinguish the lives of 17 children and 68 adults, the majority of which were women and minorities in the [[Waco massacre]].<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-really-happened-at-waco/ What Really Happened At Waco], CBSNews staff, ''CBS News'', Jan 25, 2000.</ref><ref>[http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2014/01/hillary-ordered-final-massacre-at-waco.html Hillary Ordered The Final Massacre At Waco], By Robert Morrow, January 27, 2014. www.economicpolicyjournal.com</ref> [[Vince Foster]] transmitted the order from Mrs. Clinton to [[Webster Hubbell]] who acted as White House liaison to the [[United States Department of Justice]],<ref name = "nytimesresignation">{{cite news
| title = A Clinton Friend Admits Mail Fraud and Tax Evasion
| work = New York Times
| url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E3DF1539F934A35751C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
| accessdate = May 28, 2008
| first=Stephen
| last=Labaton
| date=December 7, 1994
}}</ref><ref name = "dojwacoreport">{{cite web
| title = Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas
| work = U.S. Department of Justice
| url = http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/waco/waconine.html
| date = October 8, 1993
| accessdate = May 28, 2008
}}</ref> who relayed it to [[Attorney General]] [[Janet Reno]]. Foster, distraught over his role in the carnage, is claimed to have committed "suicide".<ref name="Transcript: Larry King Live">[https://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/tripp.lkl/ Transcript: Larry King Live], CNN, February 9, 2001.</ref>

Vince Foster was found dead with a bullet in his head allegedly, according to the ''Washington Post,'' because he was depressed over doing Hillary Clinton's tax return.<ref>"The 1993 suicide of White House counsel Vincent Foster, hard on the heels of the travel-office imbroglio and his filing of delinquent Whitewater Corp. tax returns." [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/whitewater.htm Untangling Whitewater], By Dan Froomkin
Washingtonpost.com Staff.</ref>

=====Cluster bombs for children=====
On September 6, 2006 on an amendment to the Defense Appropriations act by Senator [[Dianne Feinstein]], Senator Hillary Clinton voted against banning the use and sale of cluster bombs in areas with concentrated [[civilian]] populations. Sen. Feinstein argued,
{{quotebox|Innocent children think they are picking up a play toy in the field and suddenly their arm is blown off.<ref>[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/21/425303/-Hillary-Clinton-Voted-to-Continue-Cluster-Bombing-Civilians Hillary Clinton Voted to Continue Cluster Bombing Civilians], By DemocraticLuntz, ''DailyKos'', Dec 21, 2007.</ref>}}
Hillary voted to continue sales while the [[United Nations]] determined that 40% of those killed by cluster munitions are children.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00232 U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session], On the Amendment (Feinstein Amdt. No. 4882 ) Purpose of Bill:To protect civilian lives from unexploded cluster munitions. September 6, 2006.</ref><ref>[http://warisacrime.org/node/31173 Children Are Forty Percent of Cluster Bomb Casualties], BY TV 3 News (New Zealand)</ref> Many of the cluster bombs have been used in [[Yemen]] via the arms transfers Sec. Clinton approved to Saudi Arabia. Thousands of innocent [[children]] have died, or have been permanently disfigured and handicapped due to picking up unexploded cluster bomblets.<ref>[http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251413864 Hillary Clinton Voted to Continue Cluster Bombing Civilians], ''DailyKos'', Feb 15, 2016.</ref>

====National security====
Donald Trump said, "immigration security is national security." Hillary touted her record in respone saying, "We need a vigorous vetting process that includes people asking for visas. I know, I was a senator from New York. The people who ran those planes into the World Trade Center were here on visas. We have to have tougher, tighter controls. I've been an advocate for that for 16 years." What Hillary neglected to say was the hijackers entered the country before those 16 years when she was in the White House, or that 15 of the 19 hijackers received some form of [[entitlement]] under the Clinton administration.

Beginning in 1994, the Clinton administration paid [[North Korea]] $4 billion ''not to'' build a nuclear bomb while they were in the White House.<ref>https://youtu.be/6TcbU5jAavw</ref> It is unquestionable the money, aid, and resources the Clinton administration delivered to North Kores facilitated North Korea's ability to build a nuclear [[bomb]]. The Clintons' greatest fear, and only concern was, that a nuclear armed North Korea would become a foreign crisis during their term of office and disrupt the prosperity the country experienced in the immediate post-[[Cold War]] era. So they paid North Korea to build a bomb so long as North Korea didn't roll it out before Bill was reelected, or despoil his legacy in his second term.<ref>''Legacy of Ashes : The History of the CIA'', Tim Weiner, Random House, 2008, p. 439</ref> It was little surprise to observers when North Korea tested a bomb in 2002.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/id/5981265/</ref> Quite literally, the Clintons kicked the can down the road, showing no leadership, cynically allowing nuclear weapons to proliferate to advance their own ambitions and careers.

After witnessing the betrayal and murder of Muammar Gaddafi who became an ally in the War on Terrorism,<ref name="theatlantic.com">[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/what-kim-jong-il-learned-from-qaddafis-fall-never-disarm/247192/ What Kim Jong-Il Learned from Qaddafi's Fall: Never Disarm], As the U.S. tries to restart multiparty talks with North Korea, it may find that the rogue state suddenly sees greater value in keeping its nuclear arsenal, Mira Rapp-Hooper and Kenneth N. Waltz, ''The Atlantic'', Oct 24, 2011.</ref> North Korea now vows it will never give up its nukes.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/12090658/North-Korea-cites-Muammar-Gaddafis-destruction-in-nuclear-test-defence.html North Korea cites Muammar Gaddafi's 'destruction' in nuclear test defence] Pyongyang says the fates of the late Libyan leader and Saddam Hussein show the need for a nuclear deterrent, By AFP, 2:49AM GMT 09 Jan 2016. www.telegraph.co.uk</ref> Gaddafi was murdered so that Hillary Clinton could pose as a decisive leader.<ref>https://youtu.be/Fgcd1ghag5Y</ref>

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama opposed deployment of the missile defense system and condemned the anti-Putin stance of Secretary of State [[Condolezza Rice]] who they portrayed as a [[feminist]] [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Uncle%20Tom Uncle Tom]. In office, Obama promptly cancelled the missile defense program and Hillary hit the Reset button on deteriorating US-Russian relations - at least until the Rosatom-Uranium One deal was completed. Then reality set in. Obama and Hillary started echoing George W. Bush and Condi Rice, the two people they heaped scorn on a few years earlier. In 2016 the two redirected their scorn at Donald Trump, as Trump's rhetoric about Putin and criticism of incumbents sounded like a mimeographed speech of either Hillary or Obama in the 2008 Democrat primaries.

Putin warned that the Russians do not view the missile defense system as a defensive system at all.<ref>https://youtu.be/kqD8lIdIMRo</ref> The system has the capability of a first strike launch to destroy the entire Russian land based nuclear arsenal when it's in range on Russia's borders. Deployment Putin would consider provocative. President Obama, after decades of trashing Ronald Reagan as a reckless nuclear war hawk for the Strategic Defense Initiative (AKA "Star Wars"), and [[George W. Bush]] for allegedly reigniting the Cold War, Obama ignored Putin's warning and deployed the missile defense system in Romania.<ref>http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/218188</ref> This was done, the administration said, to guard against Iranian nukes, despite the fact Obama said it would be at 13 years at a minimum before Iran had a nuke in the recently completed Iran nuke deal.

Hillary boasts of being the architect of the Iranian nuclear deal to "drive them to the negotiating table,"<ref>http://www.mrctv.org/videos/clinton-defends-iran-deal-thats-diplomacy</ref> despite the fact key players, notably Russia and Germany, had already violated the sanctions agreement.<ref>http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/iran-sanctions-the-german-control-problem</ref> In reality it was our own allies and Vladimir Putin who drove Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to the negotiating table by violating the agreement.<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-calls-for-new-security-pact-with-russia-iran/</ref>

=====Origin of the European migrant crisis=====
:{{Main article|European migrant crisis}}
In 2012 Hillary announced [[Syria]]n President Bashar Assad must go and committed the United States to supporting an odd assortment of militias, arms traffickers, narco-terrorists, gangsters and jihadis. The State Department and media used the [[oxymoron]]ic tag, "moderate rebels" to describe them.<ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/18/the-media-are-misleading-public-syria/8YB75otYirPzUCnlwaVtcK/story.html The media are misleading the public on Syria], By Stephen Kinzer, ''Boston Globe'', February 18, 2016. "The Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press."</ref><ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2749197/ISIS-arming-US-military-hardware-wage-jihad-Middle-East-seizing-weapons-Syrian-rebels-Iraqi-soldiers.html ISIS arming themselves with US-made military hardware to wage jihad across the Middle East after seizing weapons from Syrian rebels and Iraqi soldiers], By Ted Thornhill for MailOnline, 9 September 2014. www.dailymail.co.uk</ref> Congress appropriated $500 Million for Hillary's [[Free Syrian Army]]. The weapons supplied made their way to [[ISIS]].<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/hillary-clintons-foreign_b_5674467.html Hillary Clinton’s Foreign Policy Deception], Jeff Sachs, ''Huffington Post'', 08/13/2014 08:39 am ET | Updated Oct 13, 2014</ref> Four years later the Free Syrian Army is virtually non-existent, except as a front for arms traffickers. Any soldiers that were trained defected to the Islamic State with their weapons in 2013-14. Obama saw the scandal and cut back aid, but Hillary wants to continue dumping money and weapons on jihadis and the Clinton Foundation donors.<ref>[http://time.com/3097964/hillary-clinton-syria-isis-the-atlantic/ Hillary Clinton Criticizes Obama on Syria Policy], Sam Frizell, ''Time'', Aug. 10, 2014</ref>

By weakening Assad, the Clinton State Department effort opened up the space for the [[Islamic State]] to claim large swathes of territory in both Syria and Iraq.<ref>''HuffPo'', ibid.</ref>

Because of the enduring crisis there are 11,000,000 displaced persons - one third of the population. 7,000,000 are homeless internally, and 4,000,000 must be resettled worldwide. More than 600,000 alone entered [[Germany]] in the last 6 months of 2015 - more than the size of Germany's standing military of 400,000. Other estimates place the figure of Syrian refugees entering Germany in 2015 at over 1,000,000. Whatever the number, the impact is permanent.

By the time Hillary quit the State Department to raise more money and run for president, 300,000 Syrians had been killed and one third of the population displaced. Meantime Assad's position had been strengthened with the support of two powerful allies, [[Vladimir Putin]] of [[Russia]], and the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]], now with State Department acquiescence.<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/syria-ceasefire-sham-helps-assad-cling-power-450832 Syria Cease-Fire Is a Sham That Helps Assad Cling to Power], By Faysal Itani and Hossam Abouzahr, ''[[Newsweek]]'', 4/24/16.</ref>

=====Libyan chaos=====
[[File:Mass beheading of Christians in Libya.jpg|right|350px|thumb|[[Christian]]s beheaded in Libya after Hillary's intervention.]]

The aftermath of the Libyan carnage Hillary engineered created what Putin calls a 'zone of chaos', with the [[Islamic State]] taking control of Derna, the site of the videotaped beheading of 21 [[Coptic]] [[Christians]] in February 2015.<ref>[http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/252615/hillarys-war-kenneth-r-timmerman Hillary’s War: Don’t believe Clinton’s claim she wants her emails released. She’s got too much to hide.] Kenneth R. Timmerman, Frontpage Magazine, March 5, 2015</ref> As Gaddafi had predicted, the Islamic State took credit for the November 2015 Paris attacks killing 137, wounding 368, and the February 2016 Brussels bombing killing 35 and injuring 340. Libya has now become a major stepping stone or drop off point for the European refugee crisis.

Hillary was the subject of a Congressional investigation after it had become evident that the deaths of four Americans during the [[Benghazi attack|September 11, 2011 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi]] were caused by incompetence and malfeasance.<ref>Page, Susan (May 10, 2013). [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/09/senator-lindsey-graham-hillary-clinton-testify-benghazi-subpoena/2147869/ Sen. Graham: Hillary Clinton should testify on Benghazi]. ''USA Today'' website.</ref>

In a moment of candor President Obama referred to Hillary's 'greatest moment' where she laughed about the 'sh*t show' she engineered<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgcd1ghag5Y Hillary Clinton on Gaddafi: We came, we saw, he died]. youtube.com</ref> as the 'worst mistake' of his presidency.<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/12/libya-obama-admits-clintons-greatest-moment-was-his-worst-mistake Libya: Obama Admits Clinton's "Greatest Moment" Was His "Worst Mistake], Lauren McCauley, ''Common Dreams'', April 12, 2016.</ref>

====Illegal fundraising 2016====
Per election, an individual donor can contribute $2,700 to any candidate, $10,000 to any state party committee, and (during the 2016 cycle) $33,400 to a national party's main account. These groups can all get together and take a single check from a donor for the sum of those contribution limits — it's legal because the donor cannot exceed the base limit for any one recipient.

State parties however can make unlimited transfers to the national party.

In 2014 the [[Supreme Court]] made clear in ''McCutcheon v. FEC'', the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) may not solicit or accept contributions to circumvent base limits, through "earmarks" and "straw men" that are ultimately excessive — there are five separate prohibitions.

Six-figure donations to the Clinton machine either never actually passed through state party accounts or were never actually under state party control, which adds false FEC reporting violations by the Hillary Victory Fund (HVF), state parties, and the DNC to other violations.

Donna Brazile and others admitted that the DNC placed the funds under the Clinton campaign's direct control, a massive breach of campaign finance law.

Democrat donors, knowing the funds would end up with Clinton's campaign, wrote six-figure checks to influence the election — 100 times larger than allowed.

HVF bundled these megagifts and, on a single day, reported transferring money to all participating state parties, some of which would then show up on FEC reports filed by the DNC as transferring the exact same dollar amount on the exact same day to the DNC. Yet not all the state parties reported either receiving or transferring those sums.<ref>https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/the-anatomy-of-hillary-clintons-84-million-money-laundering-scheme/</ref>

====Bush donors====
:''For more see [[Jeb Bush donor list]]''
In the primary season [[Bernie Sanders]] supporters saw exactly what Clintonism is and what Clinton and surrogates are famous for-accusing your opponent with a straight face of the malfeasance and lack of ethics you yourself are guilty of. As the challenge from Bernie Sanders became more fierce, when Hillary needed the Sanders supporters more than ever, Hillary reached out to the big money donors who supported [[Jeb Bush]] saying, "I represent your values".<ref>[https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/hilary-clinton-bush-donors-222872 Hillary forces target Bush donors], By Ben White, Politico, 05/05/16. politico.com</ref><ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/09/clinton-campaign-republican-donors-hillary-shares-your-values Clinton Campaign to Republican Donors: Hillary Shares Your Values], by Jake Johnson, ''Common Dreams'', May 09, 2016. commondreams.org</ref><ref>[https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/05/06/Clinton-targeting-former-Jeb-Bush-donors-on-Wall-Street/3811462559579/ Clinton targeting former Jeb Bush donors on Wall Street], By Eric DuVall, UPI, May 6, 2016. www.upi.com</ref>

====It's the stupid voters, stupid====
Hillary's chameleon like ability to adapt and survive is not based on a belief that people are good and willing to forgive, rather that they are stupid and forgetful. Her willingness to portray herself as a socio-pathological liar in front of a nation is intended to be divisive, to pit neighbor against neighbor, to set at odds people of goodwill and those who are guided by emotion, prejudice, and stereotype. The pattern is detectable and familiar.

Clinton 'talking points' are always shaped by focus groups, a process of distilling key buzzwords and phrases from sit-down discussions with small, usually uninformed groups of voters. Clintonism consists of accusing your opponent of what you yourself are culpable of, laughing at or denying accusations of wrongdoing, dismissing evidence within 24 hours as "old news", and exhorting the media and country to "move on" with nothing ever being resolved. The scandals only stack up, and since leaving the White House in 2001, have accrued into hundreds of millions of dollars to the Clintons' personal fortune.

Gwen Ifill, writing in the ''New York Times'' observed during the 1992 primaries, {{quotebox|Responding to a series of potentially damaging news reports, the Presidential campaign of Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas has crafted a multitiered plan to discredit and respond to accusations....The damage-control mechanism...operates on at least three levels. Mr. Clinton himself is the chief weapon. Backing him up is a crew of aides who scour every report for what they consider to be omissions and a group of advisers in Little Rock who search through public and private records and provide affidavits and statements that rebut the central conclusions of each new report...

...The strategy was put on its best display earlier this month when a New York Times article raised questions about Mr. Clinton and his wife, Hillary, and their business relationship with a developer who ran a failing savings and loan that was represented by Mrs. Clinton's law firm...

There have been constant, though undocumented, reports of articles that were never published because the Clinton damage controllers went on full alert before final publication decisions were made

This works "more often than you think," [Deputy campaign manager George] Stephanopoulos said.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/29/us/the-1992-campaign-political-memo-when-trouble-s-ahead-clinton-s-staff-is-ready.html</ref>}}

In 2016 we've seen the system that Gwen Ifill described in detail with several examples, now being employed with Hillary's medical records, and before that in the email scandal.

Hillary accuses Donald Trump of cozying up to Moscow, yet Hillary hit the "Reset Button" to soften relations after the hardline approach of the Bush administration. She's happy to assume a hardline again now that the Rossatom-Uranium One Deal is complete and the Clinton family pocketed $500,000 in speaking fees from a Russian investment bank that was promoting Uranium One stock.

The Clintons' attempt at character assassination of Gennifer Flowers was predicated on the fact her story originally appeared in the supermarket tabloid ''Star''; now exculpatory evidence used to exonerate Bill Clinton of the claim he fathered an out of wedlock son is based on claims by Clinton surrogates the ''Star'' ran DNA tests proving Clinton is not the child's father.

Whitewater Independent Council was excoriated and vilified by the Clinton attack machine yet his ruling of Vince Foster's death as a "suicide" is held up as the gold standard of truth among several investigations into Foster's death. Yet no mention is made now that it was Starr who defended Clinton intimate and registered [[pedophile]] Jeffrey 'Joe' Epstein from a second conviction on child abuse and rape charges.

Hillary voted to send US troops into Iraq in 2003 but refused to pay them when she voted against a piece of compromise legislation in 2008 to issue their paychecks.

After trashing US intelligence for its unreliability, failures, and deception regarding Iraqi WMD in the prelude to the Iraqi war, Clinton mainstream surrogates, the Clinton campaign, and the Obama administration claim as an undeniable truth supposed US intellugence assessments that Vladimir Putin and Russia hacked DNC servers which resulted in the firing of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and that the [[Murder of Seth Rich]] is unrelated to Clinton and DNC operatives and surrogates.

Bill Clinton's deregulation of [[Wall Street]] and repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act has been roundly cited as one of the major causes of the Great Recession.<ref>[http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877322,00.html Blameworthy: Bill Clinton. 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis], ''[[Time magazine]]''.</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/14/448685233/fact-check-did-glass-steagall-cause-the-2008-financial-crisis Fact Check: Did Glass-Steagall Cause The 2008 Financial Crisis?], October 14, 2015. npr.org</ref> In an undignified moment while giving partisan supporters marching orders on how to respond to claims that the great recession was caused by ''too much'' regulation, Hillary began barking like a dog, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58rLBBpCE2M ARF ARF ARF ARF].

On the issue of the controversial, biased online encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]], Clinton sent a message of congratulations that was read at the opening session of the Wikimania 2012 conference in Washington, DC.<ref>{{cite web|first=Nicholas Michael|last=Bashour|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/07/17/wikimania-2012-swan-song/|title="Wikimania 2012 swan song"|publisher=Wikimedia blog website|date=July 17, 2012}}</ref>

==General election results==
===Results===
[[File:Pelosi insurrection.PNG|right|350px|thumb|Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] fanned the flames of violent insurrection with false claims of election theft.]]
Trump won the election with an [[Electoral College]] majority of 306 to 232, prior to December 19, when the Electoral College voted.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/results|title=Election Results|accessdate=Nov. 12, 2016}}</ref> Clinton won the popular vote 65,844,954 (48.04 percent) to 62,979,879 (45.95 percent) for Trump, according to unofficial results.<ref name="NationalPopular" /> Trump received more votes than any other Republican candidate in history. By comparison, McCain got 60.0 million votes in 2008 and Romney got 60.9 million votes in 2012.<ref>"[http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/clinton-vs-trump-popular-vote-2016-margin-lead-latest-update-results-2012-2008-2000-hillary-gore-obama-electoral-college/ How Hillary Clinton’s 1.4 Million Popular Vote Lead Broke Records]"</ref> A total of 137,053,916 votes were cast,<ref name="NationalPopular" /> a 5.9 percent increase over 2012.<ref name="VoteTracker">"[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/133Eb4qQmOxNvtesw2hdVns073R68EZx4SfCnP4IGQf8/htmlview?sle=true#gid=19 2016 National Popular Vote Tracker]".</ref> Republican candidates to the House of Representatives received 49.9 percent of the vote compared to 47.3 percent for Democrats.<ref name=NationalHouse>"[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oArjXSYeg40u4qQRR93qveN2N1UELQ6v04_mamrKg9g/edit#gid=0 2016 National House Popular Vote Tracker]"</ref> Thus the Democrats were 1.8 points ahead in the popular vote for president, but 2.6 points behind in the popular vote for the House of Representatives. That is to say, congressional Republicans ran ahead of Trump by a four-point margin. In 2012, congressional Republicans ran ahead of Romney by a three-point margin.

Republican turnout in California, the most populous U.S. state, was exceptionally low in 2016 as this state had no major contested race.<ref>"[https://www.nationalreview.com/article/442141/donald-trump-election-dont-blame-electoral-college Why We Have an Electoral College].", ''National Review''</ref> Without California, Trump would have carried the national popular vote by 58.4 million votes to 57.1 million votes.<ref name="NationalPopular" /><ref name="VoteTracker"/><ref name=Calpop>"[http://heavy.com/news/2016/11/popular-vote-results-2016-clinton-trump-2012-2008-vs-electoral-college-california-uncounted-ballots-new-york-update-totals-final/ Popular Vote 2016: How California Drove Hillary Clinton’s Lead]"</ref> The results in the states with the most representative voting populations, or swing states, provide another way to estimate what a national popular vote might have looked like. In the thirteen swing states, Trump received a total of 22.2 million votes compared to 21.4 million for Clinton.<ref name="NationalPopular" /><ref name="VoteTracker"/> Both of these metrics correspond to a two-point edge for Trump in the popular vote. Viewed from another angle, California, New York and Massachusettes - the three most liberal states in the Union - gave Clinton a popular vote edge of 7 million. In the other 47 states combined she lost the popular vote by 4 million.

Lax voting integrity laws, including laws in twelve states that allow an illegal immigrant to obtain a drivers' license, most likely resulted in over 800,000 ballots being cast for Clinton by non-citizens.<ref name="Lucas800k"/><ref name="O'ReillyIA"/><ref name="Scarborough800k"/>

===Historic upset===
Trump's campaign was vastly outspent, outraised, and out-staffed by Clinton's.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/10/more-with-less-trumps-lean-machine-beats-clintons-big-bank-account.html More With Less: Trump's lean machine beats Clinton's big bank account]. ''Fox News''. November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> The [[mainstream media]] was extremely biased against and unfair towards Trump.<ref>Kurtz, Howard (November 11, 2016). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/11/media-remain-hostile-to-donald-trump-even-as-some-pundits-admit-blew-it.html Media remain hostile to Donald Trump even as some pundits admit they blew it]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref><ref>[https://www.billoreilly.com/b/Media-Bias-to-the-Extreme/39285014073786148.html Media Bias to the Extreme]. ''BillOReilly.com''. November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2016.</ref> According to one study, 91% of the media coverage concerning Trump was negative and 96% of campaign contributions from the media went to Clinton.<ref>Bedard, Paul (March 19, 2017). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/anti-trump-media-91-coverage-negative-96-of-donations-to-hillary/article/2617828 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/anti-trump-media-91-coverage-negative-96-of-donations-to-hillary/article/2617828]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved April 27, 2017.</ref>

It was widely expected that Clinton would easily win the election, and the elite pollsters and "political insiders" all predicted a massive Clinton victory.<ref>Vogel, Kenneth P. & Isenstadt, Alex (November 9, 2016). [https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/how-did-everyone-get-2016-wrong-presidential-election-231036 How did everyone get it so wrong?]. ''Politico''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref><ref>Catanese, David (October 24, 2016). [https://www.usnews.com/news/the-run-2016/articles/2016-10-24/republicans-last-hope-the-polls-are-wrong Republicans’ Last Hope: The Polls Are Wrong]. ''U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref> At least once, when a poll was released that actually showed Trump leading, Clinton's campaign dismissed it as "bad polling".<ref>Nelson, Louis (November 1, 2016). [https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/clinton-campaign-bad-poll-abc-washington-post-230591 Clinton camp on new survey showing Trump ahead: It’s ‘bad polling’]. ''Politico''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref> Instead, Trump won the election in a massive, historical upset, winning even states such as [[Pennsylvania]], [[Michigan]], and [[Wisconsin]], which a Republican had not won for 20–30 years.<ref name="HistoricUpset">[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/08/first-polls-close-in-2016-race-trump-projected-to-win-ind-ky-clinton-wins-vt.html Trump wins presidency, defeats Clinton in historic election upset]. ''Fox News''. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref><ref>Blake, Aaron (November 9, 2016). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/08/donald-trumps-path-to-victory-is-suddenly-looking-much-much-wider/ Donald Trump just blew up the electoral map]. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref> The polling and predictions were off dramatically.<ref>Flint, Joe & Alpert, Lukas I. (November 9, 2016). [https://www.wsj.com/articles/bad-polling-in-hand-media-misses-mark-badly-with-election-predictions-1478710860 How the Media’s Election Predictions Badly Missed the Mark]. ''The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref> Trump's election victory was described by ''[[Politico]]'' as "the most stunning upset in American history."<ref>Goldmacher, Shane & Schreckinger, Ben (November 9, 2016). [https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/election-results-2016-clinton-trump-231070?lo=ap_c1 Trump pulls off biggest upset in U.S. history]. ''Politico''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref>

===Electoral gains===
While the GOP increased its vote share across the entire nation, Trump made the largest gains in the rural [[Midwest]] and [[Rust Belt]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/how-trump-pushed-the-election-map-to-the-right.html How Trump Reshaped the Election Map]. ''The New York Times''. November 9, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2016.</ref> He won more votes in the general election than any Republican candidate in U.S. history, and he won the largest number of electoral votes since [[George H. W. Bush]].<ref>Hoft, Jim (November 22, 2016). [https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/11/trump-breaks-record-votes-republican-candidate-history/ Trump Breaks Record for Most Votes by Republican Candidate in History]. ''The Gateway Pundit''. Retrieved November 22, 2016.</ref> In addition, Trump won 2,623 counties—the largest number for both a Republican or Democrat since [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1984—while the Democrats won only 489, something even the liberal [[PolitiFact]] admitted to be true.<ref>Jacobson, Louis (December 4, 2016). [https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/dec/04/mike-pence/mike-pence-says-donald-trump-won-most-counties-rep/ Mike Pence says Donald Trump won most counties by a Republican since Ronald Reagan]. ''PolitiFact''. Retrieved December 4, 2016.</ref> Geographically speaking, Trump accordingly won 85 percent of the nation,<ref>Wallace, Tim (November 16, 2016). [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/16/us/politics/the-two-americas-of-2016.html?_r=0 The Two Americas of 2016]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved December 5, 2016.</ref> and he won 61 percent of the states (including Maine's 2nd district).

With the historic flip of Elliott County, Kentucky, every rural, white-majority Southern county voted for the Republican nominee for the first time in history.<ref>Simon, Jeff (December 9, 2016). [https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/elliott-county-kentucky-democratic-streak-broken-by-donald-trump/index.html How Trump ended Democrats' 144-year winning streak in one county]. ''CNN''. Retrieved January 15, 2017.</ref>

According to exit polling, Trump won 81 percent of evangelical Christians compared to 16 percent for Clinton, a record high and even more than [[George W. Bush]] won in 2004,<ref>O'Brien, Cortney (November 12, 2016). [https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2016/11/12/white-evangelical-voters-showed-up-this-time-n2243931 Evangelical Voters Showed Up Big Time For Trump]. ''Townhall''. Retrieved December 8, 2016.</ref><ref>Lovett, Ian (November 9, 2016). [https://www.wsj.com/articles/evangelicals-back-donald-trump-in-record-numbers-despite-earlier-doubts-1478689372 Evangelicals Back Donald Trump in Record Numbers, Despite Earlier Doubts]. ''The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved December 8, 2016.</ref> even though some have disputed the accuracy of such exit polling methods.<ref>Showalter, Brandon (November 16, 2016). [http://www.christianpost.com/news/81-percent-evangelicals-vote-trump-eric-teetsel-joe-carter-171542/ Did 81 Percent of Evangelicals Really Vote for Trump? Not So Fast, Some Say]. ''The Christian Post''. Retrieved December 8, 2016.</ref> This is largely due to Trump's conservative policies that align well with the Bible, including opposition to abortion.

===Not an isolated victory===
In addition to Trump's defeat of Clinton, the Republican Party kept control of the House and Senate, outperforming expectations.<ref>Bresnahan, John (November 9, 2016). [https://www.politico.eu/article/republicans-on-cusp-of-keeping-the-senate/ Republicans hold the Senate in a stunner]. ''Politico''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref><ref>Hughes, Siobhan (November 9, 2016). [https://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-are-confident-about-retaining-control-of-the-house-1478634160 Democrats Gain Seats in House, But GOP Retains Majority]. ''The Wall Street Journal''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> In addition, the Republican Party performed well—much better than expected—in state races, winning trifectas in [[Kentucky]], [[Iowa]], [[Missouri]], and [[New Hampshire]], and Democrats only had six trifectas and total control in five states, a record low.<ref>Greenblatt, Alan (November 9, 2016). [http://www.governing.com/topics/elections/gov-republicans-add-dominance-state-legislatures.html Republicans Add to Their Dominance of State Legislatures]. ''Governing''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref><ref>Siegel, Josh (November 9, 2016). [http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/09/republicans-maintain-strong-control-of-state-capitols-what-that-means/ Republicans Maintain Strong Control of State Capitols. Here’s What That Means.] ''The Daily Signal''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> The GOP won 25 trifectas, the largest since 1952.<ref>Lieb, David A. (December 29, 2016). [https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-tribune/20161229/281822873464433 GOP-Controlled States Aim to Reshape Laws]. ''Chicago Tribune'' (from the Associated Press). Retrieved December 30, 2016.</ref> In addition, after the election, the GOP controlled the highest amount of governorships since 1922,<ref>Lieb, David A. (November 9, 2016). [https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-11-09/republicans-expand-control-of-governorships-legislatures Republicans governorships rise to highest mark since 1922]. ''U.S. News & World Report''. Retrieved November 9, 2016.</ref> and it controlled the most state legislative chambers in history.<ref>Bosman, Julie & Davey, Monica (November 11, 2016). [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/republicans-expand-control-in-a-deeply-divided-nation.html Republicans Expand Control in a Deeply Divided Nation]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved November 14, 2016.</ref>

During Obama's eight years in office, Democrats lost 1,042 seats—including U.S. House, Senate, state governorship, and state legislative seats.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/27/democrats-lost-over-1000-seats-under-obama.html?refresh=true Democrats lost over 1,000 seats under Obama]. ''Fox News''. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.</ref>

===Aftermath===
====Stock market upsurge====
With expectations that Trump's election victory would cause the markets to plunge, the [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] actually performed very strongly, closing at the highest level it had ever reached in history after the second day.<ref name="MarketRally">La Monica, Paul R. (November 10, 2016). [https://money.cnn.com/2016/11/10/investing/markets-stocks-donald-trump-rally/index.html The 'yuge' Donald Trump market rally continues]. ''CNN Money''. Retrieved November 10, 2016.</ref> It is rare for the stock market to rise immediately after a U.S. presidential election regardless of the winner.<ref name="MarketRally"/> The stock market had its best week in five years due to optimism of a Trump presidency.<ref>Craig, Victoria (November 11, 2016). [https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/11/trump-optimism-propels-dow-to-best-week-in-five-years.html Trump Optimism Propels Dow to Best Week in Five Years]. ''Fox Business''. Retrieved November 12, 2016.</ref>

====Anti-Trump violence and hate crimes====
After the election, childish [[leftists]] and [[anarchists]], who could not accept the results of the election, strongly protested Trump's victory and committed outrageous and extreme acts of vandalism and violence.<ref name="Protests">Chiaramonte, Perry (November 10, 2016). [https://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/11/10/trump-protests-intensify-as-doubts-swirl-about-spontaneity.html Trump protests intensify, as doubts swirl about spontaneity]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref> Trump supporters were the victims of numerous targeted attacks, brutal violence, and [[hate crime]]s.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/11/10/video-emerges-group-beating-chicago-man-while-yelling-dont-vote-trump.html Video emerges of mob beating Chicago man while yelling 'don't vote Trump']. ''Fox News''. November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.</ref><ref>http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/11/trump-supporter-15-beaten-during-rockville-protest/slide/1/</ref> A tech company corporate CEO threatened to murder Donald Trump.<ref>http://bgr.com/2016/11/15/man-threatens-to-kill-trump-ceo-sniper/</ref> The brutal and disturbing anti-Trump hate crimes (or hate crimes closely related to Trump's election) continued to occur into the next year.<ref name="LatestAntiTrump">[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/05/facebook-live-attack-latest-in-string-anti-trump-assaults.html Facebook Live attack the latest in string of anti-Trump assaults]. ''Fox News''. January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.</ref> Democrat leaders, Obama and the Clinton machine refused to condemn the hate and violence. Ads for paid protesters appeared on Craigslist. Many of these protests were likely organized and coordinated, as many protestors were bused in by Coach buses.<ref name="Protests"/>

Despite these attacks, liberals and leftists only focused on alleged attacks by Trump supporters against minorities and others (the false leftist narrative, although being blatantly false and one-sided, fits their manufactured narrative that Trump supporters are "racist" and "evil" and that leftists are "tolerant" and "forgiving", despite the opposite being true). It was found that despite the number of real anti-Trump attacks, several of the "pro-Trump" attacks were found to be hoaxes.<ref name="LatestAntiTrump"/>

====Democrat blame and deception====
Despite the unholy collusion between the Clinton campaign and mainstream news organizations which had been documented by her emails, and polling organizations paid by the Clinton campaign,<ref>https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/10/11/media-polling-fully-exposed-about-that-nbcwsj-clinton-11-point-poll/</ref> liberal apologists blamed so-called "[[fake news]]" sites for the defection of Democrat voters to Trump, and Hillary's loss. Google, Twitter, and Facebook vowed to blacklist "fake news", a veiled reference to Breitbart TV, Infowars, the Drudge Report, conservative blogs and social media sites.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/technology/google-will-ban-websites-that-host-fake-news-from-using-its-ad-service.html?_r=0</ref> Throughout the election, fake news stories and polling by mainstream sources insisted only "stupid" people supported Trump whereas Clinton had the edge among people with higher education. In post-election analysis it was revealed Trump indeed carried a majority of people with a college education.

Then Clinton surrogates alleged that Trump was the agent of a foreign power. The Clintons would not exit the stage peaceably,<ref>https://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/12/14/colorado-judge-tells-faithless-electors-they-have-to-vote-for-clinton-or-face-jail-time/</ref> even with the anger expressed by some of her donors who had raised over one billion dollars on her behalf, and felt ripped off.<ref>https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/hillary-clinton-campaign-donors-post-mortem-232715</ref> Other Clinton donors dumped another $7 million trying to overturn the election result.<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/10/15/jill-stein-clinton-foundation-donors-in-corporate-media-prop-up-hillary-campaign/</ref>

The Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for opposition research memos written by former British MI6 intelligence agent [[Christopher Steele]] using hearsay accusations from anonymous Russian sources to claim that the Russian government was blackmailing and bribing Donald Trump.

The DNC did not allow the FBI to examine its computer server for clues about who may have hacked it — or even if it was hacked — and instead turned to [[CrowdStrike]], a private company co-founded by a virulently anti-[[Putin]] Russian. Within a day, CrowdStrike blamed Russia on dubious evidence. All of the [[Russiagate]] allegations, which were taken on faith by Democratic partisans and members of the anti-Trump Resistance, traced back to claims paid for or generated by Democrats.

====Certifying the victory despite leftist objections====
Progressives, media, and Hollywood surrogates tried to wheedle, cajole, and intimidate Electors,<ref>https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/310595-electoral-college-must-delay-vote-otherwise-putin</ref><ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/group-using-celebrities-urge-electors-vote-trump-foreign-registered-website/</ref> going so far as to employ bribery and death threats on members of the Electoral College.<ref name="thehill.com">https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/310980-michael-moore-to-gop-electors-i-will-pay-your-fine-if-you-dont</ref> Ultimately, Trump lost two pledged Electors and Hillary Clinton lost five.<ref>Hughes, Clyde (December 20, 2016). [https://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/electoral-college-monday-donald-trump/2016/12/20/id/764847/ Electoral College: Monday's Results Cement Trump's Presidency]. ''Newsmax''. Retrieved December 20, 2016.</ref><ref>[http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/revolt-fizzles-trump-easily-wins-electoral-college-vote/HsJeDsyNHYee1oH616qp1J/ Revolt fizzles as Trump easily wins Electoral College vote]. ''Dayton Daily News'' (from the Associated Press). December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.</ref><ref>Finnegan, Michael (December 19, 2016). [https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-electoral-college-vote-20161219-story.html With 304 votes, electoral college seals Donald Trump's election as president]. ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved December 20, 2016.</ref>

The Electoral College results were certified on January 6, 2017 by the 115th U.S. Congress.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/06/dems-try-to-contest-trump-victory-on-house-floor.html ‘It is over’: Congress certifies Trump’s win, over last-ditch Dem objections]. ''Fox News''. January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.</ref><ref>Nazarian, Adelle (January 6, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/06/it-is-over-joe-biden-shuts-down-democrats-electoral-college-challenge-to-trump/ ‘It Is Over’: Joe Biden Shuts Down Democrats’ Electoral College Challenge to Trump]. ''Breitbart''. Retrieved January 6, 2017.</ref>

====The ''shattered'' Clinton campaign====
Clinton continued to blame "misogyny" (even from women) for her loss of the election, as well as supposed Russian meddling in the election, James Comey, and WikiLeaks.<ref>Breitman, Kendall (April 7, 2017). [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-explains-why-she-really-lost-trump-n743581 Hillary Clinton Explains Why She Really Lost to Trump]. ''NBC News''. Retrieved April 8, 2017.</ref><ref>Kew, Ben (April 6, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2017/04/06/hillary-clinton-again-blames-misogyny-for-election-defeat/ Hillary Clinton Again Blames ‘Misogyny’ for Election Defeat]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved April 8, 2017.</ref>

In April 2017, journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes released the book ''Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign'' revealed that the Clinton campaign was a dysfunctional disaster and that numerous mistakes during the campaign contributed to her defeat.<ref>Adams, Becket; Weaver, Al (April 18, 2017). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/im-sorry-clinton-campaign-disaster-laid-bare-in-new-book/article/2620518 'I'm sorry': Clinton campaign disaster laid bare in new book]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved April 21, 2017.</ref><ref>Geraghty, Jim (April 19, 2017). [https://www.nationalreview.com/article/446885/shattered-jonathan-allen-amie-parnes-clinton-campaign-dysfunction-revealed Shattered Illusions]. ''National Review''. Retrieved April 21, 2017.</ref><ref>Kakutani, Michiko (April 17, 2017). [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/books/shattered-charts-hillary-clintons-course-into-the-iceberg.html?_r=0 'Shattered' Charts Hillary Clinton's Course Into the Iceberg]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved April 21, 2017.</ref> The book reveals that Clinton did not plan on conceding the election until Obama told her to do so.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-excerpts-from-shattered-and-what-they-tell-us-about-clintons-loss/ Takeaways from the Clinton campaign autopsy "Shattered"]. ''CBS News''. April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.</ref> The book also revealed that within 24 hours after her loss, the Clinton campaign, particularly [[John Podesta]] and [[Robby Mook]], developed the claim of alleged collusion between Trump and Russia to give to the public as the center reason for the loss.<ref>Hudson, Jerome (April 21, 2017). [https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/04/21/shattered-revelation-clinton-campaign-hatched-russian-hacking-narrative-24-hours-after-hillarys-loss/ ‘Shattered’ Revelation: Clinton Campaign Hatched Russian Hacking Narrative 24 Hours After Hillary’s Loss]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved April 21, 2017.</ref>

*Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes (2017). ''[https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Inside-Hillary-Clintons-Campaign/dp/0553447084 Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign]''. New York: Crown. ISBN: 978-0553447088.

== See also ==
*[[Presidential debates 2016]]
*[[Candidates on homosexuality]]
*[[Oleg Deripaska]]
*[[Marc Elias]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P16/events.phtml?s=c List of primaries and debates]
*[https://www.mintpressnews.com/beyond-the-dnc-leaks-hacks-and-treason/247674/ George Eliason: Beyond the DNC - Leaks, Hacks, and Treason], August 14, 2018.

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016, United States presidential election,}}
[[Category:United States Presidential Elections]]
[[Category:2016 Presidential Election]]
[[Category:Hillary Clinton email scandal]]
[[Category:Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax]]
[[Category:Memes]]

Mike Lee

2021-06-11T01:13:30Z

Updatewithfacts: minor change to show Mike Lee is the current senior senator

{{Officeholder
|name=Mike Lee
|image=MikeLee.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Sharon Lee
|religion=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Utah
|terms=January 3, 2011 – present
|preceded=[[Bob Bennett]]
|status=s
|succeeded=
}}
}}

'''Michael Shumway "Mike" Lee''' (born June 4, 1971) is mostly a constitutional [[conservative]], a constitutional lawyer, a [[paleolibertarian]], and is the senior Republican United States Senator from [[Utah]], having won the 2010 election, having been backed by the [[Tea Party Movement]] and the [[Senate Conservatives Fund]]. He scored a primary victory against incumbent Republican [[Bob Bennett]]. He promised to reduce the cost, size and scope of the federal government. His father was an Assistant U.S. Attorney General under President Ford and U.S. Attorney General under [[Ronald Reagan]]. Lee's legal career includes a one-year clerkship with Justice [[Samuel Alito]] at the U.S. Supreme Court. He and his wife Sharon have three children and live in Alpine, Utah.

==External links==
*[https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/one_item_and_teasers/Lee_Mike.htm Senate website]
*[https://www.facebook.com/mikelee2010 Facebook page]
*[https://twitter.com/#!/mikelee2010 Twitter page]
*[https://www.youtube.com/mikelee2010 YouTube channel]
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikelee2010 Flickr page]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK27NZon11w&t=185s Mike Lee's remarks on the Green New Deal]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Mike}}
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Libertarians]]
[[Category:Tea Party Movement]]
[[Category:2010 Midterm Elections]]
[[Category:112th United States Congress]]
[[Category:113th United States Congress]]
[[Category:114th United States Congress]]
[[Category:Mormons]]
[[Category:Utah]]
[[Category:Quasi America First Agenda]]
[[Category:117th United States Congress]]
[[Category:Non-Interventionist Republicans]]
[[Category:Pro First Amendment]]
[[Category:Libertarian Republicans]]

User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-11T01:03:54Z

Updatewithfacts: Improved images to userboxes

'''Updatewithfacts''' is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for an online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

{{Userbox | border-c=#F99C99 | border-s=1| id-c=#F99C99| id-s=12| id-fc=#000000| id-op=| info-c=#F9CBC9| info-s=8| info-fc=#000000| info-lh=1.2em| info-op=| id=| info=This user wishes [[Calvin Coolidge]] was a presidential candidate today.}}
{{Userbox | border-c=#F99C99 | border-s=1| id-c=#F99C99| id-s=12| id-fc=#000000| id-op=| info-c=#F9CBC9| info-s=8| info-fc=#000000| info-lh=1.2em| info-op=| id=| info=This user is a fan of [[Calvin Coolidge]].}}

Utah

2021-06-11T00:28:39Z

Updatewithfacts: Added dates and link

{{USState
|name=Utah
|flag=Utah_State_Flag.gif
|motto="Industry"
|nick=The Beehive State
|capital=Salt Lake City
|language=English
|governor=Spencer Cox
|gparty=Republican
|senator2=Mike Lee
|s2party=Republican
|s2phone=(202) 224-5444
|s2email=https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/one_item_and_teasers/Lee_Mike.htm Contact
|senator1=Mitt Romney
|s1party=Republican
|s1phone=(202) 224-5251
|s1email=https://www.senate.gov/senators/116thCongress/RomneyMitt.htm Contact
|population=3,250,000 (2020)
|date=January 4, 1896 (45th)
}}

'''Utah''', known as the ''Beehive State'', is the forty-fifth state to enter into the union, achieving statehood on Jan. 4, 1896. Approximately 62% of Utah's residents are members of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] ([[Mormons]]), although this number is on the wane.<ref>http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2886596</ref> Nearly all Utah elected officials are Mormon, but divided between pro-[[Trump]] and anti-[[Trump]].

The state's capital and largest city is [[Salt Lake City]], where Temple Square includes the headquarters of the global Mormon church, which has a predominantly foreign membership. The [[Great Salt Lake]], located in northern Utah, is the largest saltwater lake in the Western hemisphere,<ref>http://www.utah.com/stateparks/great_salt_lake.htm</ref> and is likely a remnant of the [[Great Flood]].

The state bird is the California Seagull. The state insect is the European Honey Bee.

The state Constitution of Utah, like all of the other 50 states, acknowledges God or our Creator or the ''Sovereign Ruler of the Universe''. It says:
:''Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we, the people of Utah, in order to secure and perpetuate the principles of free government, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION.''

==History==

The first permanent European settlement of Utah came in 1847 when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, led by [[Brigham Young]], settled there, which ended their long westward trek to escape persecution. Peace would prove illusory, as relations with [[Native American]]s and white non-Mormons would turn sour. The infamous [[Mountain Meadows Massacre]] of 1857 led to over 100 deaths.<ref>[http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1c234dc029133110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0 The Mountain Meadows Massacre]</ref><ref>http://www.cesnur.org/testi/morm_01.htm</ref> Utah was admitted into the Union in 1896, after the Church banned [[polygamy]] on the basis that a new revelation from God had commanded this.

==Politics==
[[File:Great Salt Lake ISS 2003.jpg|thumb|right|Great Salt Lake]]
Utah is among the reddest of red states, having elected [[President Bush]] by some of the highest margins of any state in both 2000 and 2004 and supporting [[John McCain]] in 2008. [[Salt Lake City]] is generally the only exception, having a mayor, Rocky Anderson, who is very liberal.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17154193/</ref> Both of the state's Senators ([[Mitt Romney]] and [[Mike Lee]]) are [[Republican]]s, and all four of the state's Representatives are Republicans.<ref>https://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=UT</ref>

==Elected Officials==
===Federal===
*Sen. [[Mitt Romney]] (R)
*Sen. [[Mike Lee]] (R)
*Rep. [[Blake Moore]] [R, UT–01]
*Rep. [[Chris Stewart]] [R, UT–02]
*Rep. [[John Curtis]] [R, UT–03]
*Rep. [[Burgess Owens]] [R, UT–04]

===Statewide===
*Governor [[Spencer Cox]] (R)
*Lt. Governor [[Deidre Henderson]] (R)

==Out of wedlock births==

Utah has the lowest rate in the nation of out of wedlock births at 18%. The highest is [[Mississippi]] with 53%.<ref>San Diego Union-Tribune Newspaper, Nov. 9th, 2008</ref>

==Notable people from Utah==
*[[Mario Capecchi]] - Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "Discoveries for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells."
*[[Orson Scott Card]], science-fiction writer best known for the ''Ender's Game'' series, has lived in Orem.
*[[Orrin Hatch]] - Republican U.S. Senator from Utah, serving since 1977.
*[[Jon Huntsman, Jr.]], 2012 presidential candidate, current U.S. ambassador to Russia
**[[Thomas Monson|Thomas S. Monson]], President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from February 3rd 2008 to January 2nd 2018, was born in Salt Lake City.
*[[Ken Jennings]], who made a record 74 straight appearances on the game show ''Jeopardy'', lives in Utah.
*[[Donny Osmond]] and [[Marie Osmond]] - singers and actors; both were born in Ogden.
*[[Grant Speed]], weatern sculptor
*[[Brigham Young]], perhaps the most important person in the history of the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints other than the founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., was part of the aforementioned settling of the state in the 1840s.
*[[Steve Young]] - Hall of Fame quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Steve is a direct descendant of [[Brigham Young]].

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.city-data.com/city/Utah.html Utah Cities] on [[City-data.com]]
==See also==
*[[Bountiful Utah Temple]]
*[[Logan Utah Temple]]
*[[Manti Utah Temple]]
*[[Monticello Utah Temple]]

{{USstates}}
[[Category:Utah]]
[[Category:Red States]]

User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-09T19:11:26Z

Updatewithfacts: Added some userboxes

'''Updatewithfacts''' is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for an online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

{{Userbox | border-c=#F99C99 | border-s=1| id-c=#F99C99| id-s=12| id-fc=#000000| id-op=| info-c=#F9CBC9| info-s=8| info-fc=#000000| info-lh=1.2em| info-op=| id=[[File:Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 (cropped).jpg|50px]]| info=This user wishes [[Calvin Coolidge]] was a presidential candidate today.}}
{{Userbox | border-c=#F99C99 | border-s=1| id-c=#F99C99| id-s=12| id-fc=#000000| id-op=| info-c=#F9CBC9| info-s=8| info-fc=#000000| info-lh=1.2em| info-op=| id=[[File:Calvin Coolidge cph.3g10777 (cropped).jpg|50px]]| info=This user is a fan of [[Calvin Coolidge]].}}

Talk:Red eagle politics

2021-06-09T03:26:11Z

Updatewithfacts: Added a quick thank you

Request to delete heading

I was contacted by Red Eagle Politics himself and requested the page be deleted. I tried to delete most of the page but the heading remains.

Could anyone help me with deleting it? Thanks [[User:Updatewithfacts|Updatewithfacts]] ([[User talk:Updatewithfacts|talk]]) 18:27, June 8, 2021 (EDT)

:I just added in a deletion template, so we'll see what happens. [[User:Northwest|Northwest]] ([[User talk:Northwest|talk]]) 18:38, June 8, 2021 (EDT)

::Two questions: (a) what is "alternative history"? (b) was it necessary to dox his real name and place of residence? [[User:RobSmith|RobS]][[User talk:RobSmith|Free Kyle!]] 18:47, June 8, 2021 (EDT)

:Hi RobSmith. I did not intend to dox him. The only reason I brought up his real name was due to having his real name show up in interviews: that is one of the very few exceptions where I will put out a person's name. In pretty much all other cases, I respect privacy and strictly use the username. I also (to be fair) did not dox his place of residence. I mentioned he was from Michigan but did not put his address or anything like that. I only put that in order to add a little information on his personal life and providing a partial reason why he will mention Michigan politics more often than other states. As for the alternative history, he sometimes did videos on purpose where he did "what if" elections: one example he did was what if Nixon won the 1960 election. I am a fan of Red Eagle and was trying to create a page about him but he reached out to me and asked me to delete it so I decided to be respectful :) I do wish to apologize if I give any impression that I approve of doxing where a person's street address is posted online but I only mentioned his state. [[User:Updatewithfacts|Updatewithfacts]] ([[User talk:Updatewithfacts|talk]]) 23:15, June 8, 2021 (EDT)

: Northwest; thanks so much for that :) I am still pretty new and was having trouble deleting the heading. I actually tried to give a proper thank you on your talk page but my computer kept glitching on letting me publish it or something . [[User:Updatewithfacts|Updatewithfacts]] ([[User talk:Updatewithfacts|talk]]) 23:26, June 8, 2021 (EDT)

Talk:Red eagle politics

2021-06-09T03:15:38Z

Updatewithfacts: Added a clarification that I did not dox but did apologize if users/editors got that impression

Talk:Red eagle politics

2021-06-08T22:27:09Z

Updatewithfacts: Reached out for help in deleting page

Cleon Skousen

2021-06-05T15:31:52Z

Updatewithfacts: fixed a small typo

'''Willard Cleon Skousen''' (January 20, 1913 – January 9, 2006), author of the best-selling books [[The Naked Communist]]<ref>https://www.skousen2000.com/historical-books/11-the-naked-communist.html
</ref> and [[The Five Thousand Year Leap]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haddock |first1=Sharon |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705292222/Becks-backing-bumps-Skousen-book-to-top.html?pg=all |title=Beck's backing bumps Skousen book to top |work=[[Deseret News]] |date=March 21, 2009 }}</ref> was a [[conservative]] [[constitutionalist]] [[libertarian]] [[Mormon]] [[American]] author and political theorist.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper= [[Deseret News]] |url= http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705349270/BYU-professors-Glenn-Beck-doesnt-speak-for-all-Mormons.html |title= BYU professors: Glenn Beck doesn't speak for all Mormons |first= Sara |last= Israelsen-Hartley |date= December 5, 2009}}</ref> He also helped popularize among [[Latter-day Saint]]s ([[Mormons]]) (LDS) their [[Mormonism|theology]]. A notable [[anti-communist]] and supporter of the [[John Birch Society]],<ref>Skousen, Cleon (1963), ''The Communist Attack on the John Birch Society''. Belmont, MA: American Opinion. 8 page pamphlet. [http://www.ourrepubliconline.com/OurRepublic/Article/27 Online reprint] by Micah Burnett at ourrepubliconline.com</ref>

==Early life==
Skousen was born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada, to Royal Pratt and Margarita Bentley Skousen. He graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1940.

==Background==
A prominent [[Mormon]] [[theologian]] and founder of the [[Freemen Institute]], Cleon Skousen wrote about a diverse subjects such as the [[Communism]], the [[New World Order]] [[conspiracy|conspiracies]], the [[Six-Day War]], the [[Second Coming]], and [[parenting]].

He was born in a devoutly [[Mormon]] family. Skousen was a prominent best-selling [[conservative]] author and commentator.

He is the father of popular conservative [[libertarian]] [[survivalist]] author [[Joel Skousen]], author of Strategic Relocation and founder of World Affairs Brief.

During first year of [[Ronald Reagan]]'s Presidency in 1981, Mr. Skousen was invited to become the first member of the [[Conservative think tanks|conservative think tank]] called the [[Council for National Policy]]. The think tank was founded by the author of the popular ''[[Left Behind]]'' series of books, [[Tim Lahaye]], who is a [[fundamentalist]] [[Baptist]] [[pastor]]. Other early participants included [[Paul Weyrich]]; [[Phyllis Schlafly]]; [[Robert Grant (Christian leader)|Robert Grant]]; [[Howard Phillips (politician)|Howard Phillips]], a former Republican affiliated with the [[Constitution Party (United States)|Constitution Party]]; [[Richard Viguerie]], the direct-mail specialist; and [[Morton Blackwell]], a [[Louisiana]] and [[Virginia]] [[Republican]] activist.<ref>[http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6949&abbr=cs_ Americans United: Behind Closed Doors]</ref><ref>[http://www.nndb.com/org/700/000051547/ Council for National Policy]</ref><ref name="thefreelibrary.com">[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Behind+closed+doors:+who+is+the+council+for+national+policy+and+what...-a0123708159 Behind closed doors: who is the council for national policy and what are they up to? And why don't they want you to know? - Free Online Library]</ref><ref>[http://www.nndb.com/org/700/000051547/ Council for National Policy], [[NNDB]], Soylent Communications</ref> Skousen's proposals with the group included a plan to convert the [[Social Security]] system to private retirement accounts, as well as a plan that he claimed would completely wipe out the [[United States]] [[national debt]].

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* https://www.skousen2000.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skousen, Cleon Willard}}

[[Category:American Authors]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:Conservative Authors]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:1960s]]
[[Category:Reagan Era]]
[[Category:Libertarians]]
[[Category:Mormon Authors]]
[[Category:Anti-Communism]]
[[Category:Utah]]

User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-02T21:39:00Z

Updatewithfacts: Made a small error

'''Updatewithfacts''' is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for an online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-02T21:26:31Z

Updatewithfacts:

'''Updatewithfacts''',named in an interview as Jack Francis <ref>https://canadafreepress.com/article-video/watch-red-eagle-politics-jack-francis-says-trump-base-is-more-energized-than-ever</ref>, is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for an online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-02T21:26:12Z

Updatewithfacts: Added information regarding his given name

'''Updatewithfacts''',named in an interview as Jack Francis <ref>https://canadafreepress.com/article-video/watch-red-eagle-politics-jack-francis-says-trump-base-is-more-energized-than-ever</ref> is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for an online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

User:Updatewithfacts

2021-06-02T06:49:08Z

Updatewithfacts: Created the user page

'''Updatewithfacts''' is an American online researcher, editor, jack of various trades, and helper on the Internet.

== Previous work==
Updatewithfacts has spent a few years doing music reviews while researching politics in his spare time (among his other things during the day). His work has covered things such as security consultant, manager, translator, and teacher. He currently is enrolled in college and hopes to graduate before Spring 2022.

==Work with others online==

Before getting into encyclopedia editing, he got some articles published in an online magazine. The funny part is that he essentially won the prize of doing the articles by winning a writing contest for them. His articles covered mostly compilation albums and new music. Updatewithfacts has worked (in collaboration or simply talked shop) with a few other online researchers. He has respected the privacy of some of them (who wished to only give out their usernames) and enjoys the teamwork all the same. His political researchers on other sites (with the exception of Wikipedia) have been amazingly helpful and he has loved the experience of putting context into pages, adding relevant information, or fleshing out something on his mind.

== Personal Life==

One of his best friends online has the username TheDataCruncher. Most of their collaborations have been on local elections, although they have done federal elections at least every 2 years. Updatewithfacts worked with TheDataCruncher on predicting Burgess Owens as the winner of Utah's 4th congressional district. Some of their fans assumed both of them lived in that particular CD (congressional district), but neither one has. Both have lived in neighboring CD's at different points of time but not in the 4th. The big reason for working on that particular election was due to it being one of the most competitive elections nearby. TheDataCruncher still works with Updatewithfacts on research, predictions, and general water cooler chat from time to time. Another of his best friends is simply nicknamed Tad. Tad has mostly been helping him out with additional music research as Updatewithfacts felt a bit burnt out after all his years doing it. Nowadays he doesn't work for an online magazine but they still talk shop about music and occasionally post reviews for non-profit media.

Conservative media

2021-06-02T05:43:41Z

Updatewithfacts: added a conservative youtuber

'''Conservative media''' refers to [[media]] which tends to be geared to the American political right in content. Leaders of America's conservative movement have rightfully claimed that the liberals have control of what is said in the national media. The internet, AM talk radio and Fox News Channel led to an explosion of popular conservative news sources.

As conservative media has grown, [[liberal media]] is suffering from dwindling advertising, popularity and credibility. You'll hear prominent [[liberal]] politicians lamenting liberal media's demise and offering support for [[censorship]] through legislative means such as the [[Fairness Doctrine]] and [[Net neutrality]], or financial assistance by means of taxpayer bailouts.

Conservative media refers to news and opinion media outlets, watchdog organizations, and also authors. It also includes personalities on TV, in movies, as well as on YouTube.

==Hollywood Conservatives==
{{See also|List of Conservative or pro-Conservative Hollywood stars}}
*[[50 Cent]]
*[[Michael Lee Aday]]
*[[Trace Adkins]]
*[[Danny Aiello]]
*[[Kim Alexis]]
*[[Tim Allen]]
*[[Scott Baio]]
*[[Stephen Baldwin]]
*[[Stephen K. Bannon]]
*[[James Belushi]]
*[[Jodi Benson]]
*[[Pat Boone]]
*[[Richard Boone]]
*[[Morgan Brittany]]
*[[Kimberlin Brown]]
*[[Jerry Bruckheimer]]
*[[James Caan]]
*[[Dean Cain]]
*[[Kirk Cameron]]
*[[Jim Caviezel]]
*[[Drew Carey]]
*[[Lacey Chabert]]
*[[Tom Clancy]]
*[[Lauren Conrad]]
*[[Robert Conrad]]
*[[Cindy Crawford]]
*[[Stacey Dash]]
*[[Tony Danza]]
*[[Robert Davi]]
*[[Bo Derek]]
*[[Shannon Doherty]]
*[[Robert Downey Jr.]]
*[[Hilary Duff]]
*[[Josh Duhamel]]
*[[Robert Duvall]]
*[[Clint Eastwood]]
*[[R. Lee Ermey]]
*[[Gloria Estefan]]
*[[Kevin Farley]]
*[[Jamie Farr]]
*[[Lou Ferrigno]]
*[[Jeff Foxworthy]]
*[[Dennis Frantz]]
*[[Andy Garcia]]
*[[Sarah Michelle Gellar]]
*[[Mel Gibson]]
*[[Kelsey Grammer]]
*[[Sammy Hagar]]
*[[Angie Harmon]]
*[[Melissa Joan Hart]]
*[[Patricia Heaton]]
*[[James Hetfield]] <ref>[http://moonbattery.com/?p=46797]</ref>
*[[Clint Howard]]
*[[Rachel Hunter]]
*[[Kathy Ireland]]
*[[Victoria Jackson]]
*[[Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]]
*[[Bruce Johnston]]
*[[James Earl Jones]]
*[[Shirley Jones]]
*[[Richard Kiel]]
*[[Kris Kristofferson]]
*[[Daniel Knauf]]
*[[Cheryl Ladd]]
*[[Mike Love]]
*[[Rob Lowe]]
*[[Susan Lucci]]
*[[David Mamet]]
*[[Jackie Mason]]
*[[Gerald Molen]]
*[[Heidi Montag]]
*[[Dave Mustaine]]
*[[Wayne Newton]]
*[[Chuck Norris]]
*[[Ted Nugent]]
*[[Jennifer ONeill]]
*[[Marie Osmond]]
*[[Joe Perry]]
*[[Joe Pesci]]
*[[Dr. Phil]]
*[[Chris Pratt]]
*[[Freddie Prinze Jr.]]
*[[Kid Rock]]
*[[Joe Rogan]]
*[[Mike Rowe]]
*[[Antonio Sabato, Jr.]]
*[[Pat Sajak]]
*[[Adam Sandler]]
*[[Nick Searcy]]
*[[Rick Schroeder]]
*[[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]
*[[Harry Shearer]]
*[[Tom Selleck]]
*[[Gary Sinise]]
*[[Jessica Simpson]]
*[[Sylvester Stallone]]
*[[Ben Stein]]
*[[Taylor Swift]]
*[[Fred Thompson]]
*[[Alex Trebek]]
*[[Donald Trump]]
*[[Moe Tucker]]
*[[Mr. T|Laurence "Mr.T" Tureaud]]
*[[Janine Turner]]
*[[Carrie Underwood]]
*[[Vince Vaughn]]
*[[Jon Voight]]
*[[Ken Wahl]]
*[[John Walsh]]
*[[Denzel Washington]] <ref>[http://tellmenow.com/2015/03/denzel-washington-defies-hollywood-speaks-out-against-obama-agenda/]</ref>
*[[John Wayne]]
*[[Larry the Cable Guy|Daniel "Larry the Cable Guy" Whitney]]
*[[Hank Williams, Jr.]]
*[[Bruce Willis]]
*[[James Woods]]
*[[Chuck Woolery]]
*[[David Zucker]]

==Conservative News==
*[[American Thinker]]
*[[Breitbart]]
*[[Canada Free Press]]
*[[Catholic Edition]]
*[[Catholic News Service]]
*[[City Journal]]
*[[CNSNews]]
*[[Conservative News and Views]]
*[[Conservative Review]]
*[[Fox News]]
*[[Free Republic]]
*[[Gateway Pundit]]
*[[Hot Air]]
*[[Human Events]]
*[[Investor's Business Daily]]
*[[LifeNews.com]]
*[[LifeSiteNews]]
*[[Memeorandum.com]]
*[[Military Times]]
*[[National Catholic Reporter]]
*[[National Review Online]]
*[[News Revolt]]
*[[Newsbusters]]
*[[NewsMax]]
*[[OneNewsNow.com]]
*[[Pajamas Media]]
*[[Planet Free Media]]
*[[Politic-Ed]]
*[[Red State]]
*[[Ricochet]]
*[[Right Wing News]]
*[[RIGHTNETWORK]]
*[[Spero News]]
*[[The Blaze]]
*[[The Daily Caller]]
*[[The Hill]]
*[[The New Media Journal]]
*[[Town Hall]]
*[[TrevorLoudon.com]]
*[[United Press International]]
*[[USAsurvival.org|America's Survival]]
*[[Voice of Europe]]
*[[Washington Examiner]]
*[[Washington Free Beacon]]
*[[Washington Times]]
*[[Whitehousedossier.com]]
*[[WorldNetDaily]]

==Conservative Talk Radio==

*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Mark Levin]]
*[[Michael Savage]]
*[[Laura Ingraham]]
*[[Neal Boortz]]
*[[Hugh Hewitt]]
*[[Dana Loesch]]
*[[Kevin Jackson]]
*[[G. Gordon Liddy]]
*[[Dennis Prager]]
*[[Monica Crowley]]
*[[Michael Reagan]]
*[[Phyllis Schlafly]]
*[[Tammy Bruce]]
*[[Herman Cain]]
*[[Dennis Miller]]
*[[Dr. Laura Schlessinger]]
*[[Mark Davis]]
*[[Greg Garrison]]
*[[Steve Malzberg]]
*[[Tom Sullivan]]
*[[Michael Medved]]
*[[Howie Carr]]
*[[Jay Severin]]
*[[Mike Rosen]]
*[[Jay Sekulow]]
*[[Mike McConnell]]
*[[Chris Baker]]
*[[Cal Thomas]]
*[[Michael Berry]]
*[[Lee Rodgers]]
*[[Ben Shapiro]]
*[[John Gibson]]
*[[Mancow | Mancow Muller]]
*[[Mike Gallagher]]
*[[Roger Hedgecock]]
*[[Bill Cunningham]]
*[[Lars Larson]]
*[[Curtis Sliwa]]
*[[Ed Morrissey]]
*[[Michael Koolidge]]
*[[Scott Hennen]]
*[[Larry Elder]]
*[[Lou Dobbs]]
*[[Michael Graham]]
*[[Andrew Wilkow]]
*[[Rusty Humphries]]
*[[Tony Katz]]
*[[Jordan Sekulow]]
*[[Andrea Shea King]]
*[[Rick Amato]]
*[[Mike Church]]
*[[The Victory Sessions]]

==Conservative Newspapers / Magazines==
*[[American Thinker]]
*[[Breitbart]]
*[[Canada Free Press]]
*[[Catholic Edition]]
*[[Catholic News Service]]
*[[City Journal]]
*[[CNSNews]]
*[[Conservative News and Views]]
*[[Conservative Review]]
*[[Free Republic]]
*[[Gateway Pundit]]
*[[Hot Air]]
*[[Human Events]]
*[[Investor's Business Daily]]
*[[LifeNews.com]]
*[[LifeSiteNews]]
*[[Memeorandum.com]]
*[[Military Times]]
*[[National Catholic Reporter]]
*[[National Review Online]]
*[[News Revolt]]
*[[Newsbusters]]
*[[NewsMax]]
*[[OneNewsNow.com]]
*[[Pajamas Media]]
*[[RedState]]
*[[Ricochet]]
*[[Right Wing News]]
*[[RIGHTNETWORK]]
*[[Spero News]]
*[[The Blaze]]
*[[The Daily Caller]]
*[[The New Media Journal]]
*[[Town Hall]]
*[[TrevorLoudon.com]]
*[[TruthRevolt.org]]
*[[United Press International]]
*[[USAsurvival.org|America's Survival]]
*[[Voice of America]]
*[[Washington Free Beacon]]
*[[Washington Times]]
*[[Whitehousedossier.com]]
*[[WorldNetDaily]]

==Conservative Media Watchdogs==
*[[Accuracy in Media]]
*[[American Decency Association]]
*[[Center for Media and Public Affairs]]
*[[Culture and Media Institute]]
*[[Family Research Council]]
*[[Media Fairness Caucus]]
*[[Media Research Center]]
*[[Media Trackers]]
*[[Morality in Media]]
*[[Movieguide]]
*[[NewsBusters]]
*[[Parents Television Council]]
*[[Projectveritas.com]]
*[[Sunlight Foundation]]
*[[TimesWatch]]
*[[True The Vote]]
*[[Watchdog.org]]

==Conservative Media Personalities==
*[[Jeanine Pirro]]
*[[Bill O'Reilly]]
*[[Michael Reagan]]
*[[Scott Rasmussen]]
*[[Grover Norquist]]
*[[Brit Hume]]
*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Sarah Palin]]
*[[Elizabeth Hasslebeck]]
*[[Charles Krauthammer]]
*[[Patrick J. Buchanan]]
*[[Megyn Kelly]]
*[[Dana Perino]]
*[[Dick Morris]]
*[[Bernie Goldberg]]
*[[Bill Kristol]]
*[[Oliver North]]
*[[Sean Hannity]]
*[[Glenn Beck]]
*[[Steve Forbes]]
*[[James Dobson]]
*[[Andrew Napolitano]]
*[[Dr. Laura Schlessinger]]
*[[Lou Dobbs]]
*[[David Limbaugh]]
*[[Greg Gutfeld]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Mike Huckabee]]
*[[S.E. Cupp]]
*[[John Stossel]]
*[[Bret Baier]]
*[[Brent Bozell]]
*[[Lynne Cheney]]
*[[Fred Barnes]]
*[[Neil Cavuto]]
*[[John Bolton]]
*[[Larry Kudlow]]
*[[Dennis Miller]]
*[[Jedediah Bila]]
*[[Ralph Reed]]
*[[Tony Perkins]]
*[[Bill Bennett]]
*[[Ken Blackwell]]
*[[Kimberly Guilfoyle]]
*[[Dinesh D'Souza]]
*[[Gerald Celente]]
*[[Frank Luntz]]
*[[Rick Santelli]]
*[[Ari Fleischer]]
*[[Michael Barone]]
*[[Daniel Pipes]]
*[[Ann Barnhardt]]
*[[Stuart Varney]]

==Conservative Journalists==
*[[Gary Bauer]]
*[[Tucker Carlson]]
*[[Timothy P. Carney]]
*[[Mike Cernovich]]
*[[Jerome Corsi]]
*[[Steven Crowder]]
*[[Ed Driscoll]]
*[[Nina Easton]]
*[[Erick Erickson]]
*[[Joseph Farah]]
*[[Mike Flynn]]
*[[Patrick Frey]]
*[[John H. Fund]]
*[[Major Garrett]]
*[[Pamela Geller]]
*[[Jim Geraghty]]
*[[Hannah Giles]]
*[[Jonah Goldberg]]
*[[Mary Katharine Ham]]
*[[Peter Hitchens]]
*[[David Horowitz]]
*[[Cliff Kincaid]]
*[[Aaron Klein]]
*[[Stanley Kurtz]]
*[[Dana Loesch]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Jason Mattera]]
*[[Stacy McCain]]
*[[John Nolte]]
*[[James O'Keefe]]
*[[Katie Pavlich]]
*[[Joel Pollak]]
*[[Dan Riehl]]
*[[James S. Robbins]]
*[[Lila Rose]]
*[[Debbie Schlussel]]
*[[Peter Schweizer]]
*[[Ben Shapiro]]
*[[Thomas Sowell]]
*[[Jill Stanek]]
*[[Todd Starnes]]
*[[Mark Steyn]]
*[[Andrea Tantaros]]
*[[James Taranto]]
*[[Cal Thomas]]
*[[Eugene Volokh]]
*[[Byron York]]

==Conservative YouTubers==
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgbxKzg2BpGN_AQ6uarXDw The Amazing Lucas]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/An0malyhiphop An0maly]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu8ebUHoKbhVY0tavNdhwvw Anthony Brian Logan]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRUhJlurBdyGwVyyaAdwS9w ashtonbirdie]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUowFWIWGw6Pv2JqfEj8njQ Aydin Paladin]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/Barbara4u2c Barbara4u2c]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwW_vaMPlq8J4weKDsfeJzw Bearing]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmCBKaKOtOrEqgsL4-3C8Q Blaire White]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpbyOgUSjTSPpvVUAT2OyHw Blonde in the Belly of the Beast]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaYw_yJ_YLPEv6zR2c7hgHA Brandon Tatum]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL0u5uz7KZ9q-pe-VC8TY-w Candace Owens]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/LACK78 Dave Cullen]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm8-xXtQycnMH-xeyPffUdQ Deplorable with Victor Dweck]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/BONDActionInc Jesse Lee Peterson]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYY-xsfMg0TKz-gwQOMhcWA Jericho Green]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeLnfBtNwLFFTQirNCfzQ4w Elly Maye]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/libertydollshouse/featured Liberty Doll]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBDrbqudUtPUQxAK_K2JaNQ Lisa Haven]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/StevenCrowder Louder With Crowder]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9XP_Ax4_vTi1IqSSRD9ORQ Megan Fox]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC89QtIAIY6xQgOhMYxMWXFA My Name Is Josephine]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZNk7Jjb2t8EuBdgn4Zj1cw No Bulls***]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCittVh8imKanO_5KohzDbpg Paul Joseph Watson]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8fKk4GVLHTR13VkrMQH1Tw Patricia Dickson]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SMGmU6X9zJBGCGarr7ODQ Red Eagle Politics]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNiNWbmPWehjpQohglWsKxw The Red Elephants]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQeWZ0ninG-2pzlaenh2ECw The Rageaholic]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUrVTVTA3PnUFpYvpfMcpg Roaming Millennial]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClFE0KTVxyOB7lpZ-JdD1Rw Sarah Corriher]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7e57qWIEAZTQAaFwHpKdlw SomeBlackGuy]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC3L8QaxqEGUiBC252GHy3w Stefan Molyneux]
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/Styxhexenhammer666 Styxhexenhammer666]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWIMUUnahjYH4Xq6FR0CaIA/videos thatsweetdisposition]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTrecbx23AAYdmFHDkci0aQ Undoomed]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe59cL4edbS8z1X1PIZ6-ig What Is Your Worldview? - Creation or Evolutionism?]
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC39wDqrRwtgVtWUPZmbJ0hw Wild Smile]

==Conservative authors==
* [[James Burnham]]
* [[Russell Kirk]]
* [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]
* [[Whitaker Chambers]]
* [[John Locke]]
* [[Edmund Burke]]
* [[Andrew Breitbart]]
* [[Cleon Skousen]]

==See also==
* [[Conservative news websites]]
* [[List of Conservative or pro-Conservative Hollywood stars]]
* [[Essay:List of celebrities who support the Second Amendment]]
* [[List of celebrities against Second Amendment]]
* [[Essay:Top conservatives on Twitter]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Conservatism}}

[[Category:Conservative]]
[[Category:Conservative Media]]
[[Category:Hollywood Conservatives]]
[[Category:Conservative Authors]]

Infant baptism

2021-06-02T05:36:50Z

Updatewithfacts: Edited part of a sentence to eliminate a particular bias but still keeping most of the original part of the sentence (and its meaning) intact.

:'''''Note to reader:'' the controversy attending this topic is complex and unresolved, and relates to interpretations of scripture and tradition.'''
----
 {{Christianity}}'''Infant [[baptism]]''' is the practice of baptizing infants or young children. In [[Theology|theological]] discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism, or pedobaptism, from the Greek prefix '''παιδ'''- ''paid-'', as in the word '''παιδίον''' ''paidion'', meaning, "child".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/3813.htm '''παιδίον''' ''paidion'' "childling"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3808.htm '''παιδάριον''' ''paidarion'' "little boy"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3809.htm '''παιδεία''' ''paideia'' "tutorage, education, training"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3810.htm '''παιδευτές''' ''paideutes'' "trainer, teacher, discipliner"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3811.htm '''παιδεύω''' ''paideuo'' "train, educate, discipline"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3812.htm '''παιδιόθεν''' ''paidiothen'' "from source, from infancy"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3814.htm '''παιδίσκη''' ''paidion'' "girl, female-slave, servant"]; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3807.htm '''παιδαγωγός''' ''paidagogos'' "boy-leader, tutor, pædagogue"].</ref> This is in contrast to what is called "believer's baptism", or credobaptism (from the Latin word ''[[Creed|credo]]'' meaning "I believe"), which is the [[Religion|religious]] practice of baptizing only individuals who personally confess faith in [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]], therefore excluding underage children. It is also referred to as "John's baptism" with water, in contrast to "Jesus's baptism" of the [[Holy Spirit]].

According to Romans 10:9-10, baptism is not necessary for [[salvation]].

On the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] fundamental principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]'', [[Baptist]]s, [[Anabaptists]], [[Evangelical Christians|evangelicals]] and [[Non-denominational church|nondenominational groups]] reject infant baptism as not supported by the [[Bible]]. In addition, some [[Methodism|Methodists]] and most [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] denominations also reject infant baptism as not being supported by the Bible. The American Reformed Baptist pastor and author John Piper <ref>[https://www.desiringgod.org/our-founder Our Founder: John Piper (desiringgod.org)]</ref> states that there are no instances of infant baptism in the Bible.<ref name="desiringgod.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/infant-baptism-and-the-new-covenant-community|title=Infant Baptism and the New Covenant Community|date=1993-02-14|website=Desiring God|language=en|access-date=2019-03-04}}</ref> The American German Reformed Church Presbyterian theologian and church historian Philip Schaff <ref>Philip Schaff, American theologian - Britannica Encyclopedia] [https://www.ccel.org/schaff Philip Schaff, German-American theologian and church historian - Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org)] Philip Schaff </ref> says the apostolic fathers make no mention of it because they hardly touch upon baptism at all, but that at the same time it seems an almost certain fact that, with the baptism of converts, the optional baptism of the children of Christian parents in established congregations, comes down from the apostolic age. Schaff says the only opponent of infant baptism among [[Ante-Nicene Fathers|the fathers]] is the eccentric and schismatic [[Tertullian]], of North Africa, and that the very manner of Tertullian’s opposition proves as much in favor of infant baptism as against it because he meets it not as an innovation, but as a prevalent custom.<ref name=Schaff>'''History of the Christian Church''', Philip Schaff. § 73. Infant Baptism. [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Schaff Philip Schaff - Wikiquote] [https://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Church-8-vols/dp/156563196X History of the Christian Church, 8 vols. (amazon.com)] [https://ccel.org/s/schaff/history/About.htm History of the Christian Church, 8 vols. 1889 (ccel.org)] [http://www.bible.ca/history/philip-schaff/ ''History of the Christian Church'' Philip Schaff (bible.ca)]</ref> [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]], writer, and speaker Douglas Beaumont <ref>[https://douglasbeaumont.com/ Douglas Beaumont - Theology Philosophy Apologetics (douglasbeaumont.com)]</ref> cites the ancient Church fathers, Medieval theologians, and Protestant Reformation leaders who all asserted that water baptism is spiritually ''regenerative'' and that infant baptism is a doctrine from the apostles of the Lord consistent with the will of God.<ref name=Douglas.Beaumont>[https://douglasbeaumont.com/2017/03/10/the-church-fathers-medieval-theologians-and-protestant-leaders-on-baptism/ '''The Church Fathers, Medieval Theologians, and Protestant Leaders on Baptism''', Douglas Beaumont - Baptism's Purpose (Removal of sin / Regeneration), Baptism's Mode (Water), Baptism's Recipients (Infants) (douglasbeaumont.com)]</ref>

Colossians 2:11-12 has been cited as connecting infant circumcision and infant baptism (see discussion below). Paul sees infant circumcision into the Abrahamic covenant with God (Genesis 17:9-14) as the Old Testament ''[[Typology|type]]'' foreshadowing its fulfillment in the New Testament covenant with God in Christ Jesus with its ''antitype'' of infant baptism unto salvation in the blood of Christ. On the other hand, Jesus condemned those who claimed kinship with the Father on the basis of a ceremony performed over them at birth as children of the [[devil]].<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A41-45&version=KJV John 8:41-45].</ref>

It should be noted that the [[Bible]] does not explicitly ''command'', nor does it explicitly ''forbid'', the practice of infant baptism.

==Denominations that practice infant baptism==

Infant baptism is practiced in most of the major Christian denominations, including [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Orthodox Church|Eastern and Oriental Orthodox]], and among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], several [[denomination]]s: [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Congregationalism|Congregationalists]] and other [[Reformed Churches|Reformed denominations]], [[Methodism|Methodist]]s and some [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]], and the Moravian Church. For [[Presbyterian]]s, Baptism is a sacrament, seal, and outward symbol of “inward grace”, which also grants membership into the Christian community.

The [[Unitarianism|Oneness Groups]] believe that baptism is a requirement for [[salvation]]. Both Oneness and [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]] use full immersion and do not practice infant baptism.

==Colossians 2:8-15==
Some opponents of the practice of infant baptism claim there is no biblical passage connecting the seal of [[circumcision]] of infants eight days old in the covenant with Abraham and the seal of water baptism of infants in the covenant of Christ in salvation. For example, Baptist John MacArthur says: {{quotation|[I]nfant Baptism is not in the Scripture, it’s not New Testament Baptism, and it is not, please, a replacement sign for the Abrahamic mark of circumcision. One of the other things that Reformed people say is that infant Baptism takes the place of circumcision. I’ve heard that argument for years. So my response is, what verse says that? Where is it? Show me the verse. Where in the Bible does it say, by the way, Baptism is a replacement of circumcision? Where does it say that? It doesn’t say that anywhere.<ref>[https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-369/is-infant-baptism-biblical Is Infant Baptism Biblical?] by John MacArthur</ref>}}

'''Colossians 2:8-15''' is cited and [[Hermeneutics|interpreted]] by ''paedobaptists'' as explicit scriptural evidence and justification for the doctrine and practice of infant baptism as being a replacement and fulfillment of the ''[[Typology|type]]'' of the seal of circumcision of an eight-day-old infant. {{cquote|8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 '''In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:'''

12 '''Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.'''

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

—King James Version (KJV) ''boldface emphasis added''}}

===Tradition in the New Testament===
The tradition of infant baptism is dismissed as unbiblical, and condemned as invented by the traditions of men being read [[Eisegesis|eisegetically]] into Scripture (Matthew 15:2-3; Mark 7:6-8; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 3:14-18). For example, John MacArthur says {{quotation|You can’t read habits into Scripture, you can’t read traditions into Scripture.<ref>ibid. [https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-369/is-infant-baptism-biblical Is Infant Baptism Biblical? by John MacArthur]</ref>}}

Appeal to unwritten Christian tradition, as being an integral part of the whole doctrine and "''deposit of the faith''" from Jesus and the apostles, and as guarded and handed down and only properly [[Exegesis|interpreted]] and [[Hermeneutics|understood]] according to the mind of Christ by the leaders of the [[magisterium]] as shepherds of the church led by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is based on
:Matthew 18:15-17; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:45; John 16:12-13; 20:30-31; 21:25; Acts 1:3; 20:28-30; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14; 11:2 2 Corinthians 3:2-3; 5:20; Galatians 1:6-9; Ephesians 3:10; 4:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15; 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 6:2-5; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 3:9-11; Hebrews 13:7-8, 17; 1 Timothy 3:15; 4:1; 2 Peter 3:14-18; 1 John 2:18-27; 2 John 9-12; 3 John 3-4, 13; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.
Apologists for the whole of Christian tradition traditionally interpreted as being supported by these texts, also appeal to the Christian ''[[sensus fidelium]]'' and ''[[sensus Christianorum]]'' as being consistently expressed by Christian writers and theologians down through the centuries, a whole tradition of Christian doctrine and interpretation as being in complete harmony with the scriptures and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit leading into all truth forever. They point to the fact that nowhere in the New Testament is found any form of the statement that "all of the traditions of the apostles are written in the scriptures", or that "the whole of the doctrine of Christ is contained as written in the scriptures"; and that John himself wrote essentially the same thing, saying, "but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31), and that not everything he wrote has been preserved, where he says, "I have written something to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority" (3 John 9); and that Paul stated that all of the written scriptures are "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17) but does not state that all of the doctrine of God is contained therein, and he refers in his letters to doctrines he had preached which are not recorded in the Bible, as in for example, Galatians 2:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 4:6; 11:1-2; and in 2 Corinthians 2:3-9; 7:8-12; and in Ephesians 3:3-4, in which he refers to a previous letter written by him to that church containing Christian doctrine, "as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ" (KJV); and that Paul wrote two more letters to the church in Corinth that are not in Scripture, as implied in 1 Corinthians 5:9 regarding one more letter to Corinth, when he refers to an earlier letter, saying, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people"; and the Letter from Paul sent to the Laodiceans and coming from the Laodiceans to the Colossians (Colossians 4:16).<ref>[http://www.newvisionministriesonline.org/the-traditions-taught-by-the-apostle-paul-1-corinthians-111-2/ The Traditions Taught by the Apostle Paul 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 (newvisionministriesonline.org)]</ref>

On the pretext of this scriptural basis, long-held, centuries-old, "sacred Christian traditions" are read into scripture, as in interpreting Paul's interpretation of the circumcision of infants as a ''[[Typology|type]]'' of infant baptism in Colossians 2:8-15 being the direct ''antitype'' fulfillment of the covenant with God in Christ, "putting on Christ", and "belonging to Him", as "one body with Him" (Galatians 3:7, 29; 1 Corinthians 3:23; 12:12-14, 20, 27; Romans 12:4-5). The covenant of Abraham was a covenant with God involving the minimal shedding of human blood by the circumcision of the foreskin of the male child, "My covenant" (Genesis 17:9, 14), not as a [[sign]] that they belonged to the people called the Jews, a sign that they ethnically and racially belonged to the nation Israel, but as a sign that they belonged to God, with all the attendant duties and promised blessings for obedience. By this interpretation of the meaning of circumcision in Colossians 2:8-15, baptism is a sign of the covenant with God in the blood of Christ Jesus His Son, and that those who have been baptized into Christ belong to Christ by a covenant of blood, as Christ belongs to God (1 Corinthians 3:23; Acts 20:28; Titus 3:4-7; Hebrews 10:28-29; Ephesians 2:10). As it was possible for a circumcised Jew to break the Abrahamic covenant of circumcision by disobedient sin, so it is possible for a baptized Christian to fall away from salvation by afterward despising as profane the blood of Christ by which he was sanctified, by [[apostasy]] and willful sins of disobedience (Hebrews 6:4-12; Romans 2:4-11). This argument is articulated in the following article:

[http://www.biblequery.org/Doctrine/LoseSalvationOrNot/DonahueMorrisonAffirmative1.htm Patrick Donahue’s First Affirmative Against "Once Saved Always Saved" (biblequery.org)]
:“Galatians 5:4 reads, "Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace" (ASV). The standard Baptist position is a Christian cannot fall from grace, but this verse points out specifically that it is possible. First I suggest that this verse has to be talking about Christians:
::you can’t be severed from something (Christ) that you were never connected to you can’t fall from a tree (grace) that you weren’t in to start with ”
:(''The author cites biblical texts for his argument in the following sequence:'' Galatians 1:2, 11; 3:15; 4:12, 31; 5:11, 13; 6:1, 18; 3:26; Revelation 3:5; 20:15; 21:27; James 5:19-20; 1:16, 19; 2:1-2; 3:1; 5:7, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 9:25-27; 8:11; Matthew 10:28; 18:11; John 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 2 Peter 3:9; 2:20-22; 1:9-11; Hebrews 3:6, 12, 14; John 3:36b; 15:2, 6; Hebrews 10:26-27; Acts 8:12-13, 22-23; 1 John 1:9; Romans 6:23; Revelation 14:13; 21:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Revelation 2:9-10; 1 John 1:9.)
:“There is overwhelming, clear scriptural evidence. It is possible for a genuine Christian to lose their salvation. Indeed, a child of God can be disinherited (Numbers 14:12). Live your life with that in mind.”

See [[Eternal security (salvation)]]

=== Circumcision and Baptism ===

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/colossians/2-12.htm Multiple commentaries on Colossians 2:12 on the biblehub.com site] explicitly connect circumcision and baptism:
:Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers; Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary; Barnes' Notes on the Bible; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary; Matthew Poole's Commentary; Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible; Geneva Study Bible; Meyer's NT Commentary; Expositor's Greek Testament; Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges; PETER LOMBARD ON BAPTISM. (Colossians 2:12.); Bengel's Gnomen; Pulpit Commentary

[https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/a-short-paper-from-piper-on-colossians-2-8-15.13157/ A short paper from Piper on Colossians 2:8-15 (puritanboard.com)]
:...in my struggles with this issue over the years, especially the years in graduate school when I was studying mainly with paedobaptists, three or four texts, more than any others, kept me from embracing the argument from circumcision. One is [https://biblehub.com/colossians/2-11.htm Colossians 2:11-12]. Another is [https://biblehub.com/1_peter/3-21.htm 1 Peter 3:21]. Another is [https://biblehub.com/romans/9-8.htm Romans 9:8]. And another is [https://biblehub.com/galatians/3-27.htm Galatians 3:26-27].

[https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/circumcision-and-baptism Circumcision and Baptism | Reformed Bible Studies (ligonier.org)]
:Today’s passage links baptism and circumcision, showing us that new covenant baptism is a proximate fulfillment of the sign of circumcision (Col. 2:8–15). At the consummation, the sign first given to Abraham will be completely fulfilled when the Lord makes a final cut between the sheep and the goats (Rev. 20:11–15).

[https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/circumcision-and-baptism Circumcision and Baptism, Author: Pastor J. C. O'Hair | Berean Bible Society (bereanbiblesociety.org)]
:If the circumcision of the eleventh verse is “without hands”, the baptism of the twelfth verse must be “without hands”. We have no doubt as to the fact of the “handless” circumcision. And we have no doubt that there is in the Bible a baptism “without hands”.

[https://www.gotquestions.org/baptism-circumcision.html Is baptism the New Covenant equivalent of circumcision? (gotquestions.org)]
:Jan 02, 2020 · Baptism, mentioned in verse 12, does not replace circumcision; it follows circumcision—and it is clearly a spiritual circumcision that is meant. Baptism, therefore, is a sign of inward, spiritual “circumcision.” This passage also specifies that the new life, represented by baptism, comes “through your faith.”

[https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/how-do-circumcision-and-baptism-correspond How Do Circumcision and Baptism Correspond? - John Piper (desiringgod.org)]
:It defines circumcision in a way that gives it the same basic meaning as baptism, and yet we know from Genesis 17 that circumcision was appointed by God for the infants of all Jewish people. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. … Have you been washed by the blood of the Lamb?

[https://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-baptism-replace-circumcision-an... Does Baptism Replace Circumcision? An Examination of the Relationship between Circumcision and Baptism in Colossians 2:11-12 (themelios.thegospelcoalition.org)]
:Some paedobaptists appeal to this to defend the idea that just as circumcision is a seal linked to faith, so too baptism. However, this verse is speaking descriptively about Abraham and not prescriptively about his seed. Abraham’s descendants are circumcised as a seal of the covenant God made with Abraham, not because they themselves have faith. Actually all this verse would prove is ‘believer’s circumcision’.

[https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Circumcision,-Physical 22 Bible verses about Circumcision, Physical (bible.knowing-jesus.com)]
:Genesis 17:10-14 "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. "And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. "And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations
:John 7:23 "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

[https://heidelblog.net/2012/09/baptism-and-circumcision-according-to-colossians-211-12 Baptism and Circumcision According to Colossians 2:11–12 (heidelblog.net)]
:Sep 17, 2012 · What is the Connection Between Circumcision and Baptism? The connection between baptism and circumcision is quite clear in Colossians 2:11–12. The connection is not direct, but indirect and the point of contact between them is Christ and baptism is the sign and seal of that circumcision. … The point not to be missed is that, in Paul’s mind, baptism and circumcision are both signs and seals of Christ’s baptism/circumcision on the cross for us.

[https://www.defendingthebride.com/sc/baptism.html Baptism (defendingthebride.com)]
:CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM The method of entry into the old covenant was circumcision (Genesis l7). The “whole household” was circumcised (Genesis 17:27) because the Old Covenant included infants (Genesis 21:4). In the new covenant, baptism replaces circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12). Galatians 3:27 says, “We were baptized into Christ” (Cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13). The New Covenant is greater than the Old Covenant. Since the Old Covenant included infants, the Jews would assume that the New Covenant would also. The Bible doesn’t specifically mention infant baptism because it was understood and assumed to include them.

== Protestant theological arguments against infant baptism ==

*[https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-369/is-infant-baptism-biblical Is Infant Baptism Biblical?] by John MacArthur
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuuCLJwQwY Is Infant Baptism Biblical?] by John MacArthur (Video)
*[https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-35-why-we-do-not-baptize-infants-genesis-17-and-other-scriptures Why We Do Not Baptize Infants (Genesis 17 and other Scriptures)], Bible.org
*[https://www.fivesolas.com/criteval.htm A Critical Evaluation of Paedobaptism] by Greg Welty, (M.Div, Westminster Theological Seminary; B.A., UCLA)
*[https://sermons.love/charles-stanley/3896-charles-stanley-baptism-the-clear-teaching-of-scripture.html Dr. Charles Stanley - Baptism: The Clear Teaching of Scripture] (Discusses baptism including his anti-infant baptism view)<ref>Dr. Stanley says, "There's not one word in the scripture that says, 'If I'm baptized, I'm saved'." —time index 8:13-8:19 minutes into Dr. Stanley's sermon. (Compare 1 Peter 3:21; Ephesians 5:26-27; Titus 3:4-5; John 3:5.) He also says this: "Is it scriptural to baptize babies? Let's think about it. Now let me say first of all, thank God for your parents who want to get you to heaven. That's really what they were after, primarily. So they were concerned about you. But think about this. Now if you were baptized as a baby, did you believe in Jesus? No. Then why did your parents have you sprinkled, or anointed, or poured on? Why did they do that? Because they wanted sort of to give you to God. And they in their interest and their desire for you, and loved you enough, that they want to be sure if anything happened to you, you'd be all right. The only problem with that is this. It's ''very'' deceiving. Especially when you belong to a church that tells you if you are baptized in that church you are saved forever." —time index 11:00-11:56 minutes into Dr. Stanley's sermon. This is a [[falsehood]] which [[Putting words in someone's mouth|puts words in the mouth of other churches]], ''none'' of which teaches such a doctrine, that "all who were baptized into the church as infants are saved forever". This is an example of the [[Straw man fallacy]].</ref>
*[https://www.gotquestions.org/infant-baptism.html What does the Bible say about infant baptism / paedobaptism?] by [[Got Questions Ministries]]
*[https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/sacraments/the-case-against-infant-baptism/ The Case Against Infant Baptism] by [[R.C. Sproul]] (R.C. Sproul is pro-infant baptism but he lays out opposite view)

== Protestants views: Infant baptism vs. anti-infant baptism video debates ==

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VzUOiNtgio John MacArthur vs. R.C. Sproul] (John MaCarthur is against infant baptism and R.C. Sproul is pro-infant baptism)
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoVXoH585gw James R. White vs. Bill Shisko: Infant baptism debate] (James White is anti-infant baptism and Bill Shisko is pro-infant baptism)
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXSPKjypoO8 James R. White and Gregg Strawbridge: Infant baptism debate] (James White is anti-infant baptism and Gregg Strawbridge is pro-infant baptism)

==Protestant commentaries 1555–2014 in support of infant baptism: Matthew 28:19-20==

===Zwingli (1484–1531)===
[[Ulrich Zwingli|Huldrych Zwingli or Ulrich Zwingli]] (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Reformation Swiss theologian who famously opposed the German theologian Martin Luther on many doctrines, but agreed on the issue of infant baptism. The theology of Huldrych Zwingli was based on the Bible, taking scripture as the inspired word of God and placing its authority higher than what he saw as human sources such as the ecumenical councils and the church fathers. He also recognized the human element within the inspiration of the Bible noting the differences in the canonical gospels.

[https://books.google.com/books?id=qd0rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA131&dq=Zwingli%27s+Works&hl=en&ei=_QZUTvG0IemLsQLLvaioBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Zwingli's%20Works&f=false '''Works of Zwingli''']{{quotation|“The children of Christians are no less sons of God than the parents, just as in the Old Testament. Hence, since they are sons of God, who will forbid this baptism? Circumcision among the ancients … was the same as baptism with us.” (Works of Zwingli)

“Children born of believing parents are children of God, like those who were born under the Old Testament, and consequently may receive baptism.” (Works of Zwingli)

“Baptism under the New Testament is what circumcision was under the Old; consequently, baptism ought now to be administered to children, as circumcision was formerly.” (Works of Zwingli) <ref name=Douglas.Beaumont/>}}

===Luther (1483-1546)===
[[Martin Luther]] (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) is probably the most famously recognized leader of the [[Protestant Reformation]] in opposition to the [[Doctrine|doctrinal]] and [[dogma]]tic authority of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the Imperial authority of the Emperor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Charles V of Spain|Charles V]]. He is credited with articulating the founding Reformation principles of the ''[[Five Solas]]'', in particular salvation ''[[Sola fide]]'' "by faith alone" above and apart from any appeals to [[apostolic tradition]], [[ecumenical council]]s and the orthodox catholic [[magisterium]].

'''Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation''' and '''Infant Baptism, XIII A'''{{quotation|“Why are babies to be baptized? A[nswer]. Babies are to baptized because they are included in the words ‘all nations’.” —(Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation) 
“Here a question occurs by which the devil through his sects, confuses the world, namely, Of Infant Baptism, whether children also believe, and are justly baptized. Concerning this we say briefly: Let the simple dismiss this question from their minds, and refer it to the learned. But if you wish to answer then answer thus: –That the Baptism of infants is pleasing to Christ is sufficiently proved from His own work, namely, that God sanctifies many of them who have been thus baptized, and has given them the Holy Ghost” (Infant Baptism, XIII A) “God confirms Baptism by the gifts of His Holy Ghost as is plainly perceptible in some of the church fathers, as St. Bernard, Gerson, John Hus, and others, who were baptized in infancy, and since the holy Christian Church cannot perish until the end of the world, they must acknowledge that such infant baptism is pleasing to God.” (Infant Baptism, XIII A) “we are not so much concerned to know whether the person baptized believes or not; for on that account Baptism does not become invalid; but everything depends upon the Word and command of God” .” (Infant Baptism, XIII A) “those who unworthily go to the Sacrament receive the true Sacrament even though they do not believe. Thus you see that the objection of the sectarians is vain. For (as we have said) even though infants did not believe, which however, is not the case, yet their baptism as now shown would be valid, and no one should rebaptize them” (Infant Baptism, XIII A) <ref name=Douglas.Beaumont/>}}

===Melanchthon (1497–1560)===
[[Philip Melanchthon]] (16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer and collaborator with Martin Luther, and the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, the foremost intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of [[education]]al systems. He stands next to Luther and John Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism . He was a primary contributor to the formulation of the Protestant ''Confession of Faith'' (1530)

[https://www.stpls.com/uploads/4/4/8/0/44802893/augsburg-confession.pdf '''Article IX of ''The Confession of Faith:'' Which Was Submitted to His Imperial Majesty Charles V. at the Diet of Augsburg in the Year 1530''']{{quotation|“Of Baptism they teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God’s grace. They condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the baptism of children.” (Article IX of The Confession of Faith: Which Was Submitted to His Imperial Majesty Charles V. at the Diet of Augsburg in the Year 1530) <ref name=Douglas.Beaumont/>}}

===John Calvin (1509–1564)===

[[John Calvin]] (10 July 1509–27 May 1564) was the foremost French Reformer in Geneva, Switzerland during the Protestant Reformation, a theological writer who produced many sermons, biblical commentaries, letters, theological treatises, and other works. Calvin produced commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. By 1555 he had completed his work on the New Testament, finishing with the Acts and the Gospels (he did omit only the brief second and third Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation).

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/matthew/28.htm '''Calvin's Commentaries''' (Mt 28:19)]{{quotation|...the earthly element does not become a sacrament until God quickens it by his word....

Accordingly, it is said in Mark, He that shall believe and be baptized shall be saved. By these words Christ not only excludes from the hope of salvation hypocrites who, though destitute of faith, are puffed up only by the outward sign; but by a sacred bond he connects baptism with doctrine, so that the latter is nothing more than an appendage of the former. But as Christ enjoins them to teach before baptizing, and desires that none but believers shah be admitted to baptism, it would appear that baptism is not properly administered unless when it is preceded by faith. On this pretense, the Anabaptists have stormed greatly against infant baptism. But the reply is not difficult, if we attend to the reason of the command. Christ orders them to convey to all nations the message of eternal salvation, and confirms it by adding the seal of baptism. Now it was proper that faith in the word should be placed before baptism, since the Gentiles were altogether alienated from God, and had nothing in common with the chosen people; for otherwise it would have been a false figure, which offered forgiveness and the gift of the Spirit to unbelievers, who were not yet members of Christ. But we know that by faith those who were formerly despised are united to the people of God.

It is now asked, on what condition does God adopt as children those who formerly were aliens? It cannot, indeed, be denied that, when he has once received them into his favor, he continues to bestow it on their children and their children's children. By the coming of Christ God manifested himself as a Father equally to the Gentiles and to the Jews; and, therefore, that promise, which was formerly given to the Jews, must now be in force towards the Gentiles, I will be thy God, and the God of thy seed after thee, (Genesis 17:7.)}}

[https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/calvin-institutes-christianity/book4/chapter-16.html '''Quotes from Calvin on pædobaptism - ''Institutes of the Christian Religion'' (4.16)''']{{quotation|“The argument by which pædobaptism is assailed is, no doubt, specious—viz. that it is not founded on the institution of God, but was introduced merely by human presumption and depraved curiosity, and afterwards, by a foolish facility, rashly received in practice; whereas a sacrament has not a thread to hang upon, if it rest not on the sure foundation of the word of God.” (Inst. 4.16) “it [infant baptism] is a well-known doctrine, and one as to which all the pious are agreed” (Inst. 4.16) “infants cannot be deprived of it [baptism] without open violation of the will of God” (Inst. 4.16) “If reason is listened to, it will undoubtedly appear that baptism is properly administered to infants as a thing due to them [infants].” (Inst. 4.16) “that circumcision was a sign of repentance is completely established by many passages of Scripture (Jer. 4:4). Thus Paul terms it a seal of the righteousness of faith (Rom. 4:11). Let God, then, be demanded why he ordered circumcision to be performed on the bodies of infants? For baptism and circumcision being here in the same case, they cannot give anything to the latter without conceding it to the former. If they recur to their usual evasion, that, by the age of infancy, spiritual infants were then figured, we have already closed this means of escape against them. We say, then, that since God imparted circumcision, the sign of repentance and faith, to infants, it should not seem absurd that they are now made partakers of baptism, unless men choose to clamour against an institution of God. But as in all his acts, so here also, enough of wisdom and righteousness shines forth to repress the slanders of the ungodly. For although infants, at the moment when they were circumcised, did not comprehend what the sign meant, still they were truly circumcised” (Inst. 4.16) <ref name=Douglas.Beaumont/>}}

===Matthew Poole (1624–1679)===

Matthew Poole (1624–1679) was an English Nonconformist theologian. The work with which his name is principally associated is the ''Synopsis criticorum biblicorum'' (5 vols fol., 1669-1676), in which he summarizes the views of one hundred and fifty biblical critics. Poole also wrote ''English Annotations on the Holy Bible'', a work which was completed by several of his Nonconformist brethren, and published in 2 vols fol. in 1683. The work was continued by others (last edition, three volumes, 1840).

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/matthew/28.htm '''Matthew Poole's Commentary''' (Mt 28:20)]{{quotation|Go ye therefore, and teach all nations; the Greek is mayhteusate, make disciples all nations; but that must be first by preaching and instructing them in the principles of the Christian faith, and Mark expounds it, telling us our Saviour said, ''Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, that is, to every reasonable creature capable of hearing and receiving it.'' I cannot be of their mind, who think that persons may be baptized before they are taught; we want precedents of any such baptism in Scripture, though indeed we find precedents of persons baptized who had but a small degree of the knowledge of the gospel; but it should seem that they were all first taught that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and were not baptized till they professed such belief, '''Acts 8:37''', and John baptized them in Jordan, ''confessing their sins'', '''Matthew 3:6'''. But it doth not therefore follow, that children of such professors are not to be baptized, for the apostles were commanded to baptize ''all nations:'' children are a great part of any nation, if not the greatest part, and although amongst the Jews those that were converted to the Jewish religion were first instructed in the law of God before they were circumcised, yet the fathers being once admitted, the children were circumcised at eight days old; nor were they under any covenant different from us, though we be under a more clear manifestation of the same covenant of grace, of which circumcision was a sign and seal to them, as baptism is to us. Infants are capable of the obligations of baptism, for the obligation ariseth from the equity of the thing, not from the understanding and capacity of the person; they are also capable of the same privileges, ''for of such is the kingdom of God'', as our Saviour hath taught us. (''italics and boldface emphasis in original''}}

===[[Matthew Henry]] (1662–1714)===

Matthew Henry (October 18, 1662–June 22, 1714) was non-conformist pastor of a Presbyterian congregation at Chester. He remained in this position for 25 years. After declining several times offers from London congregations, he finally accepted a call to Hackney, London, and began his ministry there May 18, 1712, shortly before his death. Henry's reputation rests upon his renowned commentary, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (1708-10, known also as Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible or Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary). He lived to complete it only as far as to the end of the Acts, but after his death other like-minded authors prepared the remainder from Henry's manuscripts. It was initially published in 1896. There is also a smaller devotional commentary on the Bible from Henry known as Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/matthew/28.htm '''Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible''' (Mt 28:16, Verses 18-20)]{{quotation|[3.] Their instructions for executing this commission. First, They must admit disciples by the sacred rite of baptism; "Go into all nations, preach the gospel to them, work miracles among them, and persuade them to come in themselves, and bring their children with them, into the church of Christ, and then admit them and theirs into the church, by washing them with water;" either dipping them in the water, or pouring or sprinkling water upon them, which seems the more proper, because the thing is most frequently expressed so, as Isa. 44:3, I will pour my Spirit on thy seed. And, Tit. 3:5, 6, Which he shed on us abundantly. And, Eze. 36:25, I will sprinkle clean water upon you. And, Isa. 52:15, So shall he sprinkle many nations; which seems a prophecy of this commission to baptize the nations.}}

===John Wesley (1703-91)===

John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement. He embraced the Arminian doctrines that were dominant in the 18th-century Church of England. Wesley's writing and preachings provided the seeds for both the modern Methodist movement and the Holiness movement. Methodism in both forms was a highly successful evangelical movement in the United Kingdom, which encouraged people to experience Jesus Christ personally. His written sermons are doctrinal but not dogmatic. Both the ''Sermons'' (about 140) and his ''Notes on the New Testament'' (1755) are doctrinal standards.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/wes/matthew/28.htm '''Wesley's Notes on the Bible''' (Mt 28:19)]{{quotation|28:19 Disciple all nations - Make them my disciples. This includes the whole design of Christ's commission. Baptizing and teaching are the two great branches of that general design. And these were to be determined by the circumstances of things; which made it necessary in baptizing adult Jews or heathens, to teach them before they were baptized; in discipling their children, to baptize them before they were taught; as the Jewish children in all ages were first circumcised, and after taught to do all God had commanded them. Mark 16:15.}}

===Joseph Benson (1748–1821.)===

Joseph Benson (Jan. 25, 1748–Feb. 16, 1821.) was one of the most eminent of the early Methodist ministers in England. He devoted himself closely to philosophy and theology, studying constantly and zealously. He became a Methodist circuit rider in 1771. As one of post-Wesley Methodism's most popular preachers, he sometimes addressed crowds of over twenty thousand. He was an able writer, and author of a multi-volume commentary on the Bible.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/matthew/28.htm '''Benson Commentary''' (Mt 28:19)]{{quotation|'''Matthew 28:19. Go ye therefore, and teach''' — Greek, '''μαθητευσατε, disciple''', or '''make disciples of''', or, as Dr. Doddridge renders it, '''proselyte all nations'''. This includes the whole design of Christ’s commission. Baptizing and teaching are the two great branches of that general design: and these were to be determined by the circumstances of things; which made it necessary, in baptizing adult Jews or heathen, to teach them before they were baptized; in disciplining their children, to baptize them before they were taught, as the Jewish children in all ages were first circumcised, and after taught to do all God had commanded them. It must be observed, that the word rendered '''teaching''', in the next verse, (namely, '''διδασκοντες''',) though in our translation confounded with the word used in this verse, yet is a word of a very different sense: and properly implies '''instructing''', which the word used in this verse does not necessarily imply, but, as has been observed, merely to '''proselyte''', or '''make disciples'''. The argument, therefore, that some draw from this verse, as if our Lord enjoined all to be taught before they were to be baptized, is without foundation. Our Lord’s words, taken together, in both verses, distinctly enjoin three things, and that in the following order, '''μαθητευειν''', '''βαρτιζειν''', '''διδασκειν''', that is, to '''proselyte''' men to Christ, to '''baptize''', and to '''teach''' them. It is true, however, that adult persons, before they can be made Christ’s disciples, or be proselyted, must be instructed and brought to '''believe''' the great essential truths of Christianity, and even to '''profess''' their faith in them. But the case is different with infants, who may be admitted to baptism, as the children of the Jews were to the rite of circumcision, and be instructed afterward. And, as Dr. Doddridge justly observes, if Christ had sent out these missionaries to propagate Judaism in the world, he might have used the same, or similar language: “Go and proselyte all nations, circumcising them in the name of the God of Israel, and teaching them to observe all that Moses commanded.” The whole tenor of the succeeding books of the New Testament shows, that Christ designed, by this commission, that the gospel should be preached to all mankind without exception; not only to the Jews, but to the idolatrous Gentiles: but the prejudices of the apostles led them, at first, to mistake the sense of it, and to imagine that it referred only to their going to preach the gospel to the Jews among all nations, or to those who should be willing to become Jews. (''boldface emphasis in original''}}

===Adam Clarke (1760 / 1762–1832)===

Adam Clarke (1760 or 1762–1832) was a British Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar. He is chiefly remembered for writing a commentary on the Bible which took him 40 years to complete and which was a primary Methodist theological resource for two centuries. Contained in 6 volumes, consisting of nearly 1,000 pages each, it was considered at the time the most comprehensive commentary on the Bible ever prepared by one man.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/clarke/matthew/28.htm '''Clarke's Commentary''' (Mt 28:19)]{{quotation|Go ye therefore - Because I have the authority aforesaid, and can send whomsoever I will to do whatsoever I:please: - teach, '''μαθητευσατε''', make disciples of all nations, bring them to an acquaintance with God who bought them, and then baptize them in the name of the Father. It is natural to suppose that adults were the first subjects of baptism; for as the Gospel was, in a peculiar manner, sent to the Gentiles, they must hear and receive it, before they could be expected to renounce their old prejudices and idolatries, and come into the bonds of the Christian covenant. But, certainly, no argument can be drawn from this concession against the baptism of children. When the Gentiles and Jews had received the faith and blessings of the Gospel, it is natural enough to suppose they should wish to get their children incorporated with the visible Church of Christ; especially if, as many pious and learned men have believed, baptism succeeded to circumcision, which I think has never yet been disproved. The apostles knew well that the Jews not only circumcised the children of proselytes, but also baptized them; and as they now received a commission to teach and proselyte all the nations, and baptize them in the name of the holy Trinity, they must necessarily understand that infants were included: nor could they, the custom of their country being considered, have understood our Lord differently, unless he had, in the most express terms, said that they were not to baptize children, which neither he nor his apostles ever did. And as to the objection, that the baptized were obliged to profess their faith, and that, therefore, only adults should be baptized, there is no weight at all in it; because what is spoken of such refers to those who, only at that period of life, heard the Gospel, and were not born of parents who had been Christians; therefore they could not have been baptized into the Christian faith, forasmuch as no such faith was at their infancy preached in the world. That the children and even infants, of proselytes, were baptized among the Jews, and reputed, in consequence, clean, and partakers of the blessings of the covenant, see proved at large by Wetstein, in his note on Matthew 3:16. - See the note on Matthew 3:6, and particularly on Mark 16:16 (note).}}

===Henry Alford (1810–1871)===

Henry Alford (7 October 1810–12 January 1871) was an English churchman, theologian, textual critic, scholar, poet, hymnodist, and writer. His chief fame rests on his monumental edition of the New Testament in Greek (4 vols.), which occupied him from 1841 to 1861.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/alford/matthew/28.htm '''Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford''' (Mt 28:19)]{{quotation|'''πάντα τὰ ἔθνη'''] '''all nations''', including the Jews.... '''βαπτίζοντες'''] Both these present participles are the conditioning components of the imperative aor. preceding. The μαθητεύειν consists of two parts—the ''initiatory'', admissory ''rite'', and the ''subsequent teaching''. It is much to be regretted that the rendering of μαθ. ''‘teach,’'' has in our Bibles clouded the meaning of these important words. It will be observed that in our Lord’s words, as in the Church, the process of ordinary discipleship is ''from baptism to instruction''—i.e. is, ''admission in infancy to the covenant'', and ''growing up into'' τηρεῖς πάντα κ.τ.λ.—the ''exception'' being, what circumstances rendered so frequent in the early Church, ''instruction before baptism'', in the case of ''adults''. On this we may also remark, that baptism as known to the Jews included, just as it does in the Acts (ch. 16:15, 33) ''whole households—wives and children''. (''italics in original'')}}

===Johann Peter Lange (1802–1884)===

Johann Peter Lange (April 10, 1802–July 9, 1884), was a German Calvinist theologian of peasant origin. He studied theology at Bonn (from 1822) under K. I. Nitzsch and G. C. F. L., held several pastorates, and eventually (1854) settled at Bonn as professor of theology in succession to Isaac August Dorner, becoming also in 1860 counsellor to the consistory. As a dogmatic writer he belonged to the school of Schleiermacher. In 1857 he undertook with other scholars a ''Theologisch-homiletisches Bibelwerk'', to which he contributed commentaries on the first four books of the [[Pentateuch]], [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]], [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]], [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], [[book of Revelation|Revelation]]. The ''Bibelwerk'' was translated into English, enlarged and revised under the general editorship of [[Philip Schaff]], with assistance of other scholars from the [[United States]] of various denominations, under the title '''''A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical''''' (25 vols., New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1865–80).<ref>Available online at http://biblehub.com/commentaries/lange/</ref>

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/lange/matthew/28.htm '''Lange Commentary on the Holy Scriptures''' (Mt 28:19)]{{quotation|Baptizing them.—Or, more correctly according to the reading '''βαπτίσαντες:''' ''having baptized them''. But '''μαθητεύειν''' is not completed in baptism. Rather are there two acts, a missionary and an ecclesiastical,—the antecedent baptism, the subsequent instruction. [Meyer: “'''βαπτίζοντες''', etc., by which the '''μαθητεύειν''' is to be brought about, not what is to take place after the '''μαθητεύσατε''', which would require '''μαθητεύσαντες-βαπτίζετε'''.” Alford: “The μαθη τεύειν consists of two parts—the initiatory, admissory rite, and the subsequent teaching. It is much to be regretted that the rendering of '''μαθ.''', ''‘ teach,’'' has in our Bibles clouded the meaning of these important words. It will be observed that in our Lord’s words, as in the Church, the process of ordinary discipleship is ''from baptism to instruction''—i. e., is ''admission in infancy to the covenant'', and ''growing up into'' '''τηρεῖν πάντα, κ. τ. λ.'''” But this applies only to Christian churches already established. As the Jewish religion commenced with the promise of God, and the faith and circumcision of ''adult'' Abraham, who received circumcision as a sign and seal of the covenant already established (Rom. 4:11) for himself and for his seed, so the Christian Church was founded in the beginning, and is now propagated in all heathen countries by the preaching of the Gospel to, and by the baptism of, ''adults''. Infant baptism always presupposes the existence of a responsible ''parent'' church and the guaranty of Christian nurture which must develop and make available the blessings of the baptismal covenant. Hence the preponderance of adult over infant baptism in the first centuries of Christianity, and in all missionary stations to this day. But even in the case of adult converts, a ''full'' instruction in the Christian religion and development of Christian life, does not, as a rule, precede, but succeed baptism, which is an initiatory, not a consummatory rite, the sacramental sign and seal of regeneration, ''i. e.'', of the beginning of the new life, not of sanctification or growth and perfection in holiness.—P. S.] (''italics and boldface emphasis in original'')}}

===''Pulpit Commentary'' and ''Pulpit Commentary Homiletics'' 1880-97===
====Joseph Exell (1819 - 1887) and Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (1836–1917)====
Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M.A., served as the Editor of ''Clerical World, The Homiletical Quarterly'' and the ''Monthly Interpreter''. Exell was also the editor for several large commentary sets like ''The Men of the Bible, The Pulpit Commentary, Preacher's Homiletic Library'' and ''The Biblical Illustrator''.

Rev. Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (January 14, 1836–1917). He was professor of English literature and lecturer in Hebrew at St. David's College, Lampeter, Wales from 1865-1870, then rector of St. Mary-de-Crypt with All Saints and St. Owen, Gloucester from 1870-1877 and principal of Gloucester Theological College 1875-1877. He became vicar and rural dean of St. Pancras, London 1877-1886, and honorary canon since 1875. He was select preacher at Cambridge in 1883,1887,1901, and 1905, and at Oxford in 1892 and 1903. In 1906 he was elected professor of ancient history in the Royal Academy. In theology he is a moderate evangelical, authoring numerous individual titles. He also edited ''The Pulpit Commentary'' in collaboration with Rev. J. S. Exell, to which he himself contributed the section on Luke, 2 vols., 1889, and edited and translated the ''Didache'' 1885.

====Pulpit Commentary====
Directed by editors Joseph Exell (23rd July 1819–6th March 1887) and Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (1836–1917), ''The Pulpit Commentary'' drew from over 100 authors over a 30 year span to assemble this "conservative and trustworthy" homiletical commentary set. (48 vols., London, 1880-97).<ref>[https://www.librarything.com/series/The+Pulpit+Commentary The Pulpit Commentary (78 Works)]</ref>

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/matthew/28.htm '''Pulpit Commentary''' (Mt 28:19)]. {{quotation|Verse 19. - Go ye therefore (οϋν). The illative particle is perhaps spurious, but it is implied by what has preceded. It is because Jesus has plenary authority, and can delegate power to whom he will, that he confers the following commission. He is addressing the eleven apostles, of whom alone St. Matthew makes mention (ver. 16); but as they personally could not execute the grand commission in all its extent and duration, he lays his commands upon their representatives and successors in all ages. They were to go forth, and carry the gospel throughout the world. Doubtless herein is implied the duty of all Christians to be in some sense missionaries, to use their utmost efforts to spread abroad the knowledge of Christ, and to make men obedient to his Law. The propagation of the gospel is a work for all in their several spheres. Teach; '''docete''' (Vulgate). These are unfortunate renderings of the verb μαθητεύσατε, which means, "make disciples." Teaching is expressed in ver. 20, as one of the elements or components of full discipleship. The imperative aorist μαθητεύσατε is, as it were, decomposed by the two following present participles, "baptizing" and "teaching." In the case of infants the process is exactly what is here represented; they are admitted into the Christian society by baptism, and then instructed in faith and duty. Adults have to be instructed before baptism; but they form a small minority in most Christian communities, where, generally, infant baptism is the rule, and would be regarded rather as exceptions. Teaching alone is not stated by the Lord to be the only thing necessary to convert an unbeliever into a Christian; this is effected by the grace of God applied as Christ proceeds to explain. All nations (πάντα τὰ ἔθνη αλλ τηε νατιονσ). The apostles were no longer to go only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6); they were to Christianize all the nations of the world, Jew and Gentile alike. The gospel is adapted to all the varying minds and habits of men, barbarous and civilized, near and remote, ignorant or cultivated; and it is the duty and privilege of Christ's ministers to make it known and acceptable in all quarters of the globe. Baptizing them; i.e. individuals of all the nations. The present participle denotes the mode of initiation into discipleship. Make them disciples by baptizing them. Christ thus explains his mysterious announcement to Nicodemus (John 3:5), "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." To the disciples the notion of baptism was no new thing. As a rite typifying the cleansing of the heart and the purpose of leading a new life, it had been long practised in the case of proselytes to the Jewish faith; they had seen it employed by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:6), and had used it themselves (John 4:1, 2). Christ adopts the old rite, gives it a new solemnity, a most sacred formula of administration, a new meaning, new spiritual effects. The persons to whom and in whose presence he spoke would understand his injunction as applicable to all who were capable of its reception, children and adults, the subjects of the initiatory ceremony of proselytism. There was no need of closer specification. (''boldface emphasis in original''}}

====Pulpit Commentary Homiletics====
While ''The Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible created during the nineteenth century under the direction of Rev. Joseph S. Exell and Rev. Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones, Rev. Exell also edited the ''Pulpit Commentary Homiletics Library''.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/homiletics/matthew/28.htm '''Pulpit Commentary Homiletics''' (Mt 28:19-20)]{{quotation|(3) Since Christian teaching is to follow baptism rather than to precede it, and since holy teaching cannot be begun too early, there is great propriety in the baptism of infants. Preliminary confession of faith is necessary for adults who have errors to renounce, but infants are happily not in this evil case. (4) Hence because baptism replaces circumcision as the sign of God's covenant, baptism is called "the circumcision of Christ," i.e. of Christianity (see Colossians 2:11, 12). If baptism be not regarded as taking the place of circumcision, then the covenant has now no initiatory rite. The Lord's Supper is not initiatory, but of regular habitual observance, as the Passover formerly was.}}

===Philip Schaff (1819–1893)===

'''Phillip Schaff's history of the church''' Philip Schaff (1 January 1819 – 20 October 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated theologian and a historian of the Christian church, who, after his education, lived and taught in the United States. He is a Calvinist who also believes in infant baptism. Philip Schaff also wrote one of the finest histories of the church. The sourced material on this page is taken from his extensive '''History of the Christian Church''' (1889).<ref>'''History of the Christian Church''', Philip Schaff. § 73. Infant Baptism. Referent numbers to notes (452 to 460) in the original source article text have not been included here. They are in the online text link to [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc2.v.vii.xv.html A History of the Christian Church § 73. Infant Baptism].</ref> <ref name=Schaff/>{{quotation|
§ 73. Infant Baptism. On INFANT BAPTISM comp. Just. M.: Dial. c. Tryph. Jud. c. 43. IREN.: Adv. Haer. II. 22, § 4, compared with III. 17, § 1, and other passages. TERTUL.: De Baptismo, c. 18. CYPR.: Epist. LIX. ad Fidum. CLEM. ALEX.: Paedag. III. 217. ORIG.: Com. in Rom. V. Opp. IV. 565, and Homil. XIV. in Luc. See Lit. in vol. I. 463sq., especially WALL. Comp. also W. R. POWERS: Irenaeus and Infant Baptism, in the “Am. Presb. and Theol. Rev.” N. Y. 1867, pp. 239-267. While the church was still a missionary institution in the midst of a heathen world, infant baptism was overshadowed by the baptism of adult proselytes; as, in the following periods, upon the union of church and state, the order was reversed. At that time, too, there could, of course, be no such thing, even on the part of Christian parents, as a compulsory baptism, which dates from Justinian’s reign, and which inevitably leads to the profanation of the sacrament. Constantine sat among the fathers at the great Council of Nicaea, and gave legal effect to its decrees, and yet put off his baptism to his deathbed. The cases of Gregory of Nazianzum, St. Chrysostom, and St. Augustine, who had mothers of exemplary piety, and yet were not baptized before early manhood, show sufficiently that considerable freedom prevailed in this respect even in the Nicene and post-Nicene ages. Gregory of Nazianzum gives the advice to put off the baptism of children, where there is no danger of death, to their third year. At the same time it seems an almost certain fact, though by many disputed, that, with the baptism of converts, the optional baptism of the children of Christian parents in established congregations, comes down from the apostolic age. Pious parents would naturally feel a desire to consecrate their offspring from the very beginning to the service of the Redeemer, and find a precedent in the ordinance of circumcision. This desire would be strengthened in cases of sickness by the prevailing notion of the necessity of baptism for salvation. Among the fathers, Tertullian himself not excepted—for he combats only its expediency—there is not a single voice against the lawfulness and the apostolic origin of infant baptism. No time can be fixed at which it was first introduced. Tertullian suggests, that it was usually based on the invitation of Christ: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” The usage of sponsors, to which Tertullian himself bears witness, although he disapproves of it, and still more, the almost equally ancient abuse of infant communion, imply the existence of infant baptism. Heretics also practised it, and were not censured for it. The apostolic fathers make, indeed, no mention of it. But their silence proves nothing; for they hardly touch upon baptism at all, except Hermas, and he declares it necessary to salvation, even for the patriarchs in Hades (therefore, as we may well infer, for children also). Justin Martyr expressly teaches the capacity of all men for spiritual circumcision by baptism; and his “all” can with the less propriety be limited, since he is here speaking to a Jew. He also says that many old men and women of sixty and seventy years of age have been from childhood disciples of Christ. Polycarp was eighty-six years a Christian, and must have been baptized in early youth. According to Irenaeus, his pupil and a faithful bearer of Johannean tradition, Christ passed through all the stages of life, to sanctify them all, and came to redeem, through himself, “all who through him are born again unto God, sucklings, children, boys, youths, and adults.” This profound view seems to involve an acknowledgment not only of the idea of infant baptism, but also of the practice of it; for in the mind of Irenaeus and the ancient church baptism and regeneration were intimately connected and almost identified. In an infant, in fact, any regeneration but through baptism cannot be easily conceived. A moral and spiritual regeneration, as distinct from sacramental, would imply conversion, and this is a conscious act of the will, an exercise of repentance and faith, of which the infant is not capable. In the churches of Egypt infant baptism must have been practised from the first. For, aside from some not very clear expressions of Clement of Alexandria, Origen distinctly derives it from the tradition of the apostles; and through his journeys in the East and West he was well acquainted with the practice of the church in his time. The only opponent of infant baptism among the fathers is the eccentric and schismatic Tertullian, of North Africa. He condemns the hastening of the innocent age to the forgiveness of sins, and intrusting it with divine gifts, while we would not commit to it earthly property. Whoever considers the solemnity of baptism, will shrink more from the receiving, than from the postponement of it. But the very manner of Tertullian’s opposition proves as much in favor of infant baptism as against it. He meets it not as an innovation, but as a prevalent custom; and he meets it not with exegetical nor historical arguments, but only with considerations of religious prudence. His opposition to it is founded on his view of the regenerating effect of baptism, and of the impossibility of having mortal sins forgiven in the church after baptism; this ordinance cannot be repeated, and washes out only the guilt contracted before its reception. On the same ground he advises healthy adults, especially the unmarried, to postpone this sacrament until they shall be no longer in danger of forfeiting forever the grace of baptism by committing adultery, murder, apostasy, or any other of the seven crimes which he calls mortal sins. On the same principle his advice applies only to healthy children, not to sickly ones, if we consider that he held baptism to be the indispensable condition of forgiveness of sins, and taught the doctrine of hereditary sin. With him this position resulted from moral earnestness, and a lively sense of the great solemnity of the baptismal vow. But many put off baptism to their death-bed, in moral levity and presumption, that they might sin as long as they could. Tertullian’s opposition, moreover, had no influence, at least no theoretical influence, even in North Africa. His disciple Cyprian differed from him wholly. In his day it was no question, whether the children of Christian parents might and should be baptized—on this all were agreed,—but whether they might be baptized so early as the second or third day after birth, or, according to the precedent of the Jewish circumcision, on the eighth day. Cyprian, and a council of sixty-six bishops held at Carthage in 253 under his lead, decided for the earlier time, yet without condemning the delay. It was in a measure the same view of the almost magical effect of the baptismal water, and of its absolute necessity to salvation, which led Cyprian to hasten, and Tertullian to postpone the holy ordinance; one looking more at the beneficent effect of the sacrament in regard to past sins, the other at the danger of sins to come.}}

===Joseph Parker (1830–1902)===

Joseph Parker (9 April 1830 - 28 November 1902) was an English Congregational minister (Puritan). His preaching differed widely from his contemporaries like Spurgeon and Alexander Maclaren. He did not follow outlines or list his points, but spoke extemporaneously, inspired by his view of the spirit and attitude behind his Scripture text. His preaching was neither systematic theology nor expository commentary, but more like his own personal meditations. ''The People's Bible'', in 25 vol. (1885–1895) was later republished as ''Preaching Through the Bible''.

[https://biblehub.com/commentaries/parker/matthew/28.htm '''The People's Bible by Joseph Parker''' (Mt 28)]{{quotation|Baptize all our little ones with dew from heaven: preserve their lives that they may become good and great and wise and honourable. Watch our houses that they be not broken in upon with violence''':''' may we find a sanctuary on the hearthstone and the beginning of heaven in the innermost joys of the house.}}

===R. C. Sproul (1939–2017)===

Robert Charles Sproul (February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries and could be heard daily on the ''Renewing Your Mind'' radio broadcast in the United States and internationally. Under Sproul's direction, Ligonier Ministries produced the Ligonier Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, and helped draft the ''Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy''. He was a critic of Roman Catholic theology and objected to the document ''Evangelicals and Catholics Together'', which downplayed the key differences, such as justification by faith alone, between evangelicals and Catholics.

[https://heidelblog.net/2014/07/r-c-sproul-on-infant-baptism-sin-and-patience '''R. C. Sproul On Infant Baptism, Sin, And Patience''' (2014/07)]{{quotation|I think it’s a sin—you can quote me—not to baptize your children. God was going to kill Moses for not circumcising his son. It was a very serious matter to administer the sign of the covenant to believers and to their infants. And nowhere is there in biblical content that principle of solidarity ever, ever abrogated. And so I think we’re making a huge mistake when we exclude the children of believers from the sign of the covenant. Alright? And so I think it’s a serious matter. Because I want to make sure with the administration of the sacraments that we’re doing what’s pleasing to God. So I think it’s pleasing to God to baptize infants of believers. My friends in the Baptist community think that it’s displeasing to God. Both sides want to do what is pleasing to God. What I do believe is that we should not break fellowship over that issue because there’s not an explicit teaching in the New Testament that says that ‘you must baptize children of believers.’ Nor is there an explicit prohibition in the New Testament that says, ‘No, you may not baptize the children of believers.’ And so you have to rest your case on inferences drawn from narratives and other texts of the Bible and any time a doctrine is left to development by inferences you’re open to all kinds of mistakes. }}

==Conversions from one doctrine to the other: two opposite views==

===Liam Goligher (1951—) from credobaptist to paedobaptist===

Dr. Liam Goligher (January 15, 1951—) began serving as Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in May of 2011. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Goligher has served as Senior Minister in Ireland, Canada, London, England, and his native Scotland. Liam has contributed to more than seventeen books and authored six, including ''A Window on Tomorrow'' (Christian Focus, 1994), ''The Fellowship of the King'' (Carlisle, 2003), ''The Jesus Gospel'' (Milton Keynes, 2006), ''Joseph—The Hidden Hand of God'' (Fearn, 2008), as well studies on Ezekiel (thegoodbook Company) and Elijah (Intervarsity). His Sunday sermons are webcast on the internet and on the radio program No Falling Word.

[https://www.tenth.org/resourc-library/articles/how-i-changed-my-mind-about-infant-baptism '''How I Changed My Mind about Infant Baptism''', by Liam Goligher (February 26, 2013)] {{quotation|No one should make the decision to change church allegiances without taking time to consider the biblical evidence: theological trajectories, pastoral impact (on people we love and serve), and cultural implications (every tradition has its "hem" traditions!) of the shift. Yet I suspect no one should take as long as I did to make the actual move! For me the change was not a sudden shaft of light so much as an unsought capitulation to the accumulated weight of evidence garnered over many years of regular biblical ministry.

Born into a Christian family I cannot remember a time when I did not love the Lord Jesus or love His church. Sunday was, as it remains, the high point of our week. As a child I loved the psalms and hymns we sang, the minister’s gravity (accentuated by his wearing the clerical collar), and the solemn order of our participation in the Lord’s Supper. My Baptist church looked and felt more like the Presbyterian church down the street.

Sensing a call to preach when I was eleven, I immediately developed a passionate interest in reading theology and doing evangelism. When I discovered the doctrines of grace at age 14 and began to talk about them to everyone who would listen, it caused dismay to my parents, peers, and church leaders who urged me to get over it and stick to the simple gospel. I was baptized as a believer by immersion at the age of 15; it was the thing to do in obedience to Christ. When the minister and church officers recognized my call to the ministry, they naturally directed me into the Baptist ministry, and I went to Ireland to study in a college that identified itself as "Reformed and evangelical." There I first heard the arguments that went beyond the usual proof texts used to support the credobaptist position, arguments that rooted believer’s baptism in the covenant of grace. These discussions and my love for the church sparked a serious study of ecclesiology that I would pursue over several years. By the time I became a pastor of my own church at age 22, I was already beginning to think that Presbyterian church government most closely resembled that which I saw in the New Testament, and I was prepared to say that to anyone who asked throughout the rest of my ministry. Three of the churches I served instituted an eldership as a result of my teaching on the nature and function of church office.

But a sense that Presbyterian polity was biblical was one thing; "getting" infant baptism was something else. Looking back over the first ten years of my ministry, I think I was becoming increasingly unconvinced that I had the baptism issue resolved, and I began to dismiss the issue of baptism as a divisive one and sought to rise above it! What reflection was possible with three (or four as in my very first church) sermons a week to prepare, no sabbatical (in 40 years of pastoral ministry), and a series of busy churches and a growing family to deal with were inconclusive? In Canada I had the opportunity to study Reformation Thought at the University of Waterloo in Ontario where there are strong Anabaptist influences. Reading the primary documents of the Reformation, especially the spiritual and Anabaptist writers, I found myself increasingly in sympathy with the magisterial reformers. I found myself increasingly uncomfortable in an exclusively Baptist setting and eventually moved to churches with an "open" membership where I was not bound to persuade people to be rebaptized and where I had the opportunity to explain to people from the Baptist tradition who applied for membership the paedo-baptist position. I felt deeply committed to serving the congregations where we were led; I appreciated the fact they welcomed paedobaptists into full membership and I respectfully implemented their church order and baptized believers by immersion. I could not accept invitations to pastor "closed" membership churches to the perplexity of many friends who simply never asked me why! As a couple our approach to rearing our five children became driven by covenant theology we followed the advice of William Still of Aberdeen who encouraged us privately to bring our children up in faith that they would become Christians rather than in fear they would not. And in my practice of child dedication I urged parents to see their children as children of promise. My wife and I are grateful to God for that godly and helpful advice.

What were my problems? I wanted to understand where baptism stood in the context of biblical theology, how did it fit into the flow of the bible’s story line? I could not understand why, given the Old Testament emphasis of God's working through families, the New Testament did not signal a change in that policy; it seemed passing strange to me that the new covenant sacrament included women and Gentiles but excluded the children of believers; it seemed that in that respect the new covenant was less generous than the old. There were too many questions surrounding the family baptisms in Acts and Corinthians, Paul's "holy" children, the warning passages of Hebrews, and the nature of the church that I could not resolve from a Baptist perspective.

The Nature of the Church

Was the church exclusively composed only of the elect? The Anabaptists and Baptists (like many such movements in the history of the church) aimed at forming a "pure" church of "believers only" and often contrasted themselves with the mixed nature of churches in the "magisterial" stream of the Reformation. Scripture seemed to contradict this assumption. My early dispensationalism dissolved during expositions of the prophet Daniel that led me to understand that the true Israel was the believing remnant within the larger body of circumcised and professing Israelites. God's covenant community in the times before Christ was a community of believers and their children; in that community some did and many did not fulfill the spiritual expectation of their circumcision. Our Lord Himself claimed to be the true Israel when He said, "I am the true vine" He went on to describe the branches "in him"—all of which were externally united to him and some of which were organically united and brought forth fruit as a result of his word. The writer to the Hebrews specifically links his Christian readers with the Hebrews of the old covenant and warns them that some in their community that have been "washed" (baptized) and who have eaten the heavenly food (the Lord's Supper) and have felt the powers of the age to come (the Word of God) may fall away. These were obviously church members, part of the Israel of God, but they were not savingly united to Christ or numbered among the elect. When our Lord addresses the congregations in Revelation, he recognizes that many within the churches will not have "ears to hear." This suggests New Testament churches were not pure though they strove to be, and it explains why the language of Israel is so indiscriminately applied to the churches (God’s people, holy nation etc. 1 Peter 2:10).

The Continuity of the Covenant of Grace

At seminary it became apparent that the fundamental issue separating credo and paedobaptists is that of the relationship between the old and new covenants. Here theologians make a helpful distinction between ordo salutis (order of salvation) and historia salutis (history of salvation).<ref>Liam Golisher footnote [1] The historia/ordo distinction is simply another way of speaking about redemption accomplished and applied. The historia salutis refers to the actual events, in space and time, by which God brings salvation to his people. Creation, the fall, the flood, the call of Abraham, the exodus, the captivity, the life and death of Christ, His resurrection and Pentecost. They actually happened in space and time but they bear theological significance, because they come in order to fulfill or accomplish the eternal decrees of God. The ordo salutis (or order of salvation) refers, in the wider sense, to the fact that Christ’s work is applied to believers, and in the narrower sense, to how this is applied in the life of the believer (eg. being and continuing to be united with Christ by faith, faith that, through the power of the Spirit, embraces Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel). I am grateful to my friend Carl Trueman for highlighting the need for definition here.</ref> The ordo salutis relates to the way salvation is applied to believers; the historia salutis refers to the once and for all event of our Lord’s coming into the world and all that he accomplished for our salvation by his life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is this distinction that helps us answer the question: “What is new about the new covenant?

Older dispensationalism spoke of several "administrations" of salvation in different dispensations or ages. I clung to a revised form of dispensationalism through seminary and even preached it in the first months of my ministry but it soon evaporated when I set myself to teach through the book of Daniel. Instead I was persuaded that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone in every age. This covenant of grace was announced to Adam, established with Abraham, administered provisionally under Moses, and realized in Christ. Genesis shows that Adam believed in the promise of the Messiah who would crush the serpent's head! That unilateral and unconditional promise of a Savior is called the covenant of grace. It is established in God's covenant with Abraham who was "justified by faith." Paul can say that Abraham was justified (ordo) even though when Abraham believed, Christ had not yet been raised for ourjustification (historia) (Galatians 3:6). In Hebrews 11 Abraham is shown to have had a new covenant faith as he looked for a heavenly city, the New Jerusalem; while Moses"considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward," even though Christ had not yet come into the world to be "reproached" when Moses believed these things (Hebrews 11:26). When the later prophets predicted a new covenant it was not in contrast with the covenant of grace announced to Adam and Abraham.

In Luke’s two volume work (Luke-Acts) I noticed that each book begins by anchoring the gospel in the covenant with Abraham—in Mary’s song where she places the events surrounding her son in the mercy of God "to Abraham and his offspring forever" (Luke 1:55); and in Peter’s sermon where his punch line after pointing to Christ is the "promise" (of the gospel—forgiveness and the gift of the Spirit) which is for us and our offspring. Later he says that Abraham "rejoiced" to see his day; and that Isaiah had seen him in the Temple "high and lifted up."

It follows that, if pre-Christian believers were saved that they had to be saved by Christ alone through Hhis work on the cross. This has implications for the sacraments.

The Signs and Seals of the Covenant of Grace

In the Old Testament salvation is conditioned on faith and is attended by covenant signs and seals—circumcision and the Passover. Both are "bloody" signs. And both point forward to their fulfillment in Christ.

Circumcision

Circumcision, which involved cutting off the foreskin, signifies the "cutting off" of Abraham and his children from the rest of the world and their belonging to the Lord. It was an outward sign and seal of inner spiritual circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16 and 30:6) which references the new birth and the transformation of the heart. In Ezekial 36:24 the Lord refers to this spiritual circumcision when he promises the new covenant. It is probably to this teaching Jesus refers when he expresses surprise that Nicodemus as a teacher in Israel doesn’t know about the new birth. Circumcision was also, according to Paul, the seal of "the righteousness that is through faith" (Romamns 4:11-12). These two blessings flow to the believer because of their union with Christ. Ultimately it pointed to the "cutting off" of the male "seed" the Messiah "the circumcision of Christ" (Collossians 2:11-12). "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." Christ was cut off for us, and his death for our sins is counted by God as our own death. Circumcision symbolizes this reality of Christ suffering as our substitute. In the new covenant, the sign and seal of the covenant is a bloodless sign; it uses water to demonstrate that the sacrifice has been made and the promise has been fulfilled and the sign signifies the forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Passover

Later under Moses GOd gave the people another sign, the Passover; that was also a "bloody" sign that reminded his people how he mercifully and graciously redeemed his people from bondage in Egypt. Passover was different from circumcision in the same way that baptism and the Lord's Supper differ: circumcision, the first covenant sign was applied to infants and adults alike, and was a mark of entrance into God's covenant people. When a Gentile like Abraham is converted and "believes God" he is circumcised as a believer and his family are circumcised as a sign and seal of the promise of God. The Passover meal was restricted to those who were able to understand God's redemptive acts because it was meant to nurture and lead to growth. It was not a sign of entrance into the visible covenant assembly of God's people, but served as a means of renewing the covenant of grace. The new covenant equivalent of Passover is the Lord’s Supper, which is reserved for those who profess the gospel to which they were pledged as children and who follow up their baptism by believing the gospel for themselves.

Only this biblical theological trajectory explains why the New Testament gives no detailed apologetic for baptism leading some to dismiss baptism (as I once did) as secondary or inconsequential. The Bible does not need to enlarge on that which it has already taught. So, a Jewish audience would know exactly what Peter meant on the day of Pentecost when he quoted the Abrahamic covenant language concerning the gospel promise, "this promise is for you and your children and all who are afar off" (Acts 2). What is clearly new in that announcement is that Gentiles are to receive the promise. It is then no surprise to find a Gentile with a family imitating the experience of Abraham (when he was a Gentile technically) believing God and being baptized along with all his family. Far from being an argument from silence, the household baptisms fit perfectly the trajectory of biblical theological teaching.

It is also no surprise to find the warning passages addressed to people who have been washed and have tasted the powers of the age to come. These are baptized Christians who are within the orbit of the church but who despite that may act like many Israelites in the desert and depart from the God they profess to serve.

This explains why the children of even one believer in a couple are described as "holy" by the apostle Paul in Corinthians. They are covenant children separated from the world and exposed to the things of God. And what is it that separates them from the world? It is their baptism. When the later prophets predicted a new covenant it was not in contrast with the covenant of grace announced to Adam and Abraham. The whole point of Hebrews 11 is that Abraham had a new covenant faith and looked for a heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, and Romans 4 and Galatians 3 use Abraham as an example of New Covenant faith. Moses "considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward," even though Christ had not yet been "reproached" in history when Moses believed these things (Hebrews 11:26).

The new covenant is new in contrast to the covenant with Israel through Moses. Galatians 3:1-29, 4:21-31, and 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 stress that the covenant with Moses was preparatory, and Paul says that the glory of the Old Covenant was fading but the glory of the New Covenant is permanent. The message of Hebrews chapters 3-10 is that the Old Covenant (under Moses) was preparatory to the New Covenant. This means that the newness of the new covenant is not that there is a new way of salvation, but that a new day has dawned. In theological terms it is not about the "ordo salutis" but the "historia salutis"—all that was foreshadowed found fulfillment in the new covenant.

We are grateful to God for every church where we have served and at this point of our lives we feel enormously privileged to serve in a church that holds to my beloved "Westminster Confession of Faith." It is my joy to baptize the children of believers and to see those children treated, not as little strangers until they make their profession of faith, but as members of the family of God. As such they are instructed in the full width of Bible truth and in the catechism of the church. It is the most wonderful privilege to see those children come to the point where they want to express their faith publicly and be admitted to the Lord’s Table. Of course it is still disappointing that baptism remains the "water that divides," but I have learned to appreciate the joy in knowing that there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. And it gives me more joy than I can express to belong to a church that takes seriously the creeds, confessions, and catechisms of the Reformation.}}

===Tim Challies (1976—) from paedobaptist to credobaptist===
Tim Challies (1976—) <ref>[https://www.challies.com/about About Tim Challies (challies.com)] </ref> is a former Anglican Presbyterian Dutch Reformed church '''pædobaptist''' who converted to the '''credobaptist''' doctrine of "believer's baptism" only, based entirely on what he read in the Bible. He earned a degree in History from McMaster University, and became a Canadian author, blogger, book reviewer, Christian apologist, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario.<ref>[https://www.gfcto.com/about About Grace Fellowship Church (gfcto.com)]</ref> He is the editor of ''Discerning Reader'' (discerningreader.com) and co-founder of CruciformPress <ref>[https://cruciformpress.com Cruciform Press (cruciformpress.com)]</ref>, and has written several books including ''The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment and Sexual Detox.'' He writes daily at https://www.challies.com.

[https://www.challies.com/articles/why-i-am-not-paedobaptist/ '''Why I am not Paedobaptist''' (June 16, 2016) (challis.com)] {{quotation|For the past few weeks I have been taking a day a week to tell how I have arrived at my various theological convictions. I’ve done this by telling you why I am not what I am not: I am not atheist, Roman Catholic, liberal, or Arminian. Today I want to tell you why I am not paedobaptist. But first, of course, definitions are in order.

While all Protestants affirm the necessity of baptism, there are two broad understandings of who should be the recipient of this act, and both are within the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. Some hold to believer’s baptism (credobaptism) and state that only those who make a credible profession of faith ought to be baptized. Others hold to infant baptism (paedobaptism) and believe that the children of believers ought to be baptized. The Westminster Shorter Catechism defends this position: “…the infants of such as are members of the visible church, are to be baptized.” The same catechism says, “Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.”

By rights I ought to be a convinced paedobaptist. I was baptized in an Anglican church by parents who soon developed Presbyterian convictions. I spent most of my childhood in a Dutch Reformed church that affirmed the Heidelberg Catechism which asks, “Should infants, too, be baptized?” It answers, “Yes. Infants as well as adults belong to God’s covenant and congregation. Through Christ’s blood the redemption from sin and the Holy Spirit, who works faith, are promised to them no less than to adults. Therefore, by baptism, as sign of the covenant, they must be incorporated into the Christian church and distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the old covenant by circumcision, in place of which baptism was instituted in the new covenant.” This was my understanding of baptism as I grew up, as I transitioned into adulthood, as I married, and as I became a father.

When our first child was born, Aileen and I prepared ourselves to baptize him. But just before the day arrived, a series of events unfolded that stopped us in our tracks. It would be fourteen years before he was baptized and, even then, only after he professed faith in Christ. By that time I would be a pastor at a Reformed Baptist church. Here’s what happened.

Nick was born early in 2000 and we soon began planning a date for his baptism. However, by that time my parents had moved to the States and we wanted to wait for their next visit so they could celebrate with us. It can’t have been more than a few weeks after his birth when one of our elders, a sweet and godly man, approached us to ask about our plans. We told him that we wanted to wait until my parents could be with us. He reported back to the other elders and their reaction surprised and confused us. They communicated to us their expectation that we would baptize him right away. We loved and trusted those men, so were perplexed. Why the rush? If baptism is simply a sign and seal that communicates no saving grace, why the urgency? What difference would a few weeks make? Right here, for the first time, a hint of doubt entered my mind.

I asked the elders if they would grant us a bit of time. A week’s reflection had shown me that while I could explain infant baptism perfectly well, I couldn’t satisfactorily defend it from the Bible. I was beginning to wonder if paedobaptism was even in the Bible. The elders felt that this hesitation was a rejection of both our profession of faith and our church membership vows. It looked like Aileen and I were going to be placed under the discipline of the church.

Thankfully, we found a compromise. Right around this time I received a job offer in a distant town and, since we would soon be leaving the church anyway, I asked the elders if they would be willing to terminate our membership on that basis. They were willing, and we parted as friends. (I should add that Aileen and I were young and foolish enough that we undoubtedly handled this situation poorly at times and do not count ourselves blameless. We have nothing but love and respect for that church and its elders.)

When we moved to our new home we began attending Baptist churches. We eventually settled into one and, in order to become a member, I had to be baptized as a believer. By then my convictions had grown and deepened enough that I believed it was the right thing to do. Since that day my convictions have grown all the more.

So why am I not paedobaptist? I am not paedobaptist because, quite simply, I cannot see infant baptism clearly prescribed or described in the New Testament. I see believer’s baptism and so, too, does every paedobaptist. We agree together that we are to preach “believe and be baptized” and extend that baptism to those who have made a profession of faith. That is perfectly clear. And, indeed, Aileen was rightly baptized as an adult believer in a paedobaptist church.

The pressing question is whether the Bible calls for a second kind of baptism—the baptism of the children of believers. It is this baptism that I do not see despite my efforts to do so. The New Testament contains no explicit command to baptize the children of believers and likewise contains no explicit examples of it. (To be fair, neither does it expressly prohibit infant baptism or show a second-generation Christian being baptized as a believer.) Instead, the doctrine has to be drawn from what I understand as an unfair continuity between the old and new covenants and from assuming that children were part of the various household baptisms (Acts 16:15; 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16). I suppose I am credobaptist rather than paedobaptist for the very reason most paedobaptists are not credobaptists: I am following my best understanding of God’s Word. My position seems every bit as obvious to me as the other position seems to those who hold it. What an odd reality that God allows there to be disagreement on even so crucial a doctrine as baptism. What a joy, though, that we can affirm that both views are well within the bounds of orthodoxy and that we can gladly labor together for the sake of the gospel.}}

== Historical argument against infant baptism given by some Protestants ==

Zondervan Academic states:
{{Cquote|[[Tertullian]] is the earliest to reference to the practice of infant baptism. He advised against it.

The Apostolic Tradition’s description of the ceremony of baptism shows that it was designed for those who were old enough to take an active part.

In fact, the confession of faith was so integral to baptism that, if a person could not confess the faith themselves, '''parents or someone else in the family would speak on their behalf.''' (''boldface emphasis added'')

A century after Tertullian, Cyprian advocated for infant baptism, although for many years this remained the exception to the rule of full immersion. Infant baptism did not become routine until the fifth and sixth centuries.<ref name=Zondervan>[https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/early-church-infant-baptism-or-full-immersion Did the Early Church Practice Infant Baptism or Full Immersion?], Zondervan Academic</ref>}}

==Early teachings on infant baptism==

See [https://www.churchfathers.org/infant-baptism '''Church Fathers - Infant Baptism'''] ''and'' [https://www.catholic.com/tract/early-teachings-on-infant-baptism '''Early Teachings on Infant Baptism'''] ''and'' [http://www.catholic-forum.com/members/catholictracts/tract52.html '''Infant Baptism'''] ''and'' [https://douglasbeaumont.com/2017/03/10/the-church-fathers-medieval-theologians-and-protestant-leaders-on-baptism/ '''The Church Fathers, Medieval Theologians, and Protestant Leaders on Baptism''', Douglas Beaumont - Baptism's Purpose (Removal of sin / Regeneration), Baptism's Mode (Water), Baptism's Recipients (Infants) (douglasbeaumont.com)].
:Irenaeus [A.D. 189] [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103222.htm ''Against Heresies'', Book II, chapter 22]—[A.D. 190] [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-fragments.html ''Fragment'' 34] Tertullian [A.D. 205] [http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-49.htm Tertullian, ''On Baptism'', chapters I, II, IV, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVIII] Hippolytus [A.D. 215] [http://www.stjohnsarlingtonva.org/Customer-Content/saintjohnsarlington/CMS/files/EFM/Apostolic_Tradition_by_Hippolytus.pdf ''The Apostolic Tradition'' chapter 21.4]. Origen [A.D. 248] [http://www.wtl.us.edu.pl/ssht/38,S/SSHT_38,S(2005)58-69.pdf Sin in Origen's ''Homilies on Leviticus'' 7. Sin in Pre-existence] <ref>Jan Slomka, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach, Śląskie Studia Historyczno - Teologiczne 2005, t. 38 specjalny, s.</ref> —also ''Commentaries on Romans'' 5:9.<ref>Origen's ''Commentaries on Romans'' not available online. —''access attempted'' 12/16/2019.</ref> Cyprian of Carthage [A.D. 253] [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050658.htm ''Letter'' 58. To Fadus, on the Baptism of Infants]. Gregory of Nazianz [A.D. 388] [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310240.htm ''Oration on Holy Baptism'' XVII and XXVIII]. John Chrysostom [A.D. 388] ''Baptismal Catecheses in Augustine, Against Julian'' 1:6:21. Augustine [A.D. 400 – A.D. 412] [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/14084.htm ''On Baptism, Against the Donatists'' (Book IV)] <ref>[https://carm.org/augustine-baptism-donatists-book4 CARM - Augustine, On Baptism, Against the Donatists, Book 4] —''Protestant apologetics site''</ref>. Council of Carthage V [A.D. 401] Canon 7 — — [https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/Canons%20of%20the%20Council%20of%20Carthage%20to%20Investigate%20Pelagianism.pdf Canons of the Council of Carthage to Investigate Pelagianism, May 1, 418, Canons 2 ''and'' 3.1]. Council of Mileum II [A.D. 416] [https://sensusfidelium.us/the-sources-of-catholic-dogma-the-denzinger/st-zosimus-417-4i8/ St. Zosimus 417-418 Canons 101.Canon 1 ''and'' 102.Canon 2].

==Earliest historical mention of infant baptism: A.D. 185 / 189-190==

The earliest explicit mention of infant baptism according to those who firmly hold to and maintain the paedobaptist doctrine of "infant baptism" is found A.D. 185 in [[Irenaeus of Lyons]], ''Against Heresies'', Book II, Chapter 22:4.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103222.htm Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 22) - Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org)] ''scroll down to paragraph 4''.</ref>, and in a fragment of his lost writings dated to A.D. 190.
{{cquote|For He came to save all through means of Himself — all, I say, who through Him are '''born again''' to God — '''infants''', and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth for youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. (''boldface emphasis added'')}}{{cquote|“‘And [Naaman] dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan’ [2 Kgs. 5:14]. It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [this served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as '''newborn babes''', even as the Lord has declared: ‘Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5]” (''Fragment'' 34 [A.D. 190] <ref>[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-fragments.html Early Christian Writings - Irenaeus of Lyons: Roberts-Donaldson English Translation: Fragments from Lost Writings (earlychristianwritings.com)]</ref>).}}This '''born again to God''' and '''regenerated as newborn babes''' with textual citation of John 3:5 is interpreted by ''paedobaptists'' (infant baptisers) as a direct reference to John 3:3-5:{{cquote|3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. —[[King James Bible]] (KJV)}}

The Greek New Testament word for "man" here in John is '''τις''' ''tis'' "anyone".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/5100.htm Strong's number ''5100''. '''τις''' ''tis'' "''some'' or ''any'' person or object:— any ''one''.]</ref>

See [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/3-5.htm interlinear text of John 3:5]. No human being is excluded. Age is not mentioned.

Those who firmly hold to and maintain the credobaptist doctrine of "believer's baptism" see no evidence of infant baptism in these statements quoted from Irenaeus or in John 3:3-5.

==Tertullian, '' On Baptism'': A.D. 200 / 205==

The next earliest mention of infant baptism is A.D. 200 in [[Tertullian]], in his [[treatise]] ''On Baptism''.<ref>See full text [http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-49.htm Tertullian, ''On Baptism'' (tertullian.org)]</ref> The very first words of ''On Baptism'' show the doctrine of "regenerative baptism"
:{{cquote|Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! … [''And further on he says''] All waters, therefore, in virtue of the pristine privilege of their origin, do, after invocation of God, attain the sacramental power of sanctification; for the Spirit immediately supervenes from the heavens, and rests over the waters, sanctifying them from Himself; and being thus sanctified, they imbibe at the same time the power of sanctifying.<ref>See the article [http://shamelesspopery.com/does-tertullian-reject-infant-baptism/ Does Tertullian Reject Infant Baptism? Joe Heschmeyer - Shameless Popery (shamelesspopery.com)] —''a critical clarification of the context of Tertullian's treatise.'' See the text: [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0321.htm Tertullian: On Baptism (newadvent.org)]</ref>}}
His treatise on baptism (''in particular chapters'' I, II, IV, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVIII) shows throughout that baptism saves from sins and that infant baptism is a practice accepted in the early church without any need for any kind of an official [[mandate]] of [[dogma]] to do so by any synod of bishops, council or pope.<ref name=consensus>At that period, infant baptism was accepted according to the ''[[sensus fidelium]]'' and as an expression of the ''[[sensus Christianorum]]''. It has always been accepted as an integral part of the Orthodox Tradition of the Fathers. See [https://orthodoxwiki.org/Infant_baptism Infant baptism (orthodoxWiki.org)]</ref> The [[Ante-Nicene Fathers|early Church Fathers]], including Tertullian, are unanimous in their belief in regenerative baptism, that Baptism actually saves us (as [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21 explicitly says]), by causing us to be born again by water and the Spirit ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A5&version=RSVCE John 3:5]); that it actually washes away our sins ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+22%3A16&version=RSVCE Acts 22:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A26&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+3%3A4-7&version=RSVCE Titus 3:4-7]), and creates in us a clean heart ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A22&version=RSVCE Hebrews 10:22]), making us new creatures ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6%3A15&version=RSVCE Galatians 6:15]), enabling us to approach God (Hebrews 10:22), all of which is prophesied by Ezekiel 36:25-27.{{cquote|25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do ''them''. —Ezekiel 36:25-27 (KJV)}}Whole families who converted to Christ had all of their members baptized into Jesus, including infants, that they all might belong to God.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A13&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+3%3A27&version=RSVCE Galatians 3:27].</ref> <ref name=consensus/> All who were in immanent danger of death were immediately baptized, using available water, even if only a few drops. And if they were unconscious, all who were unable to request baptism were baptized, including infants, to save them from damnation—"if a person could not confess the faith themselves, parents or someone else in the family would speak on their behalf" (Zondervan Academic <ref name=Zondervan/>; a citation from the early third century ''Apostolic Tradition'' attributed to [[Hippolytus]] <ref>"The Apostolic Tradition (usually attributed to St. Hippolytus) was written in the early third century (the 200s). It states: ‘Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them.’ " [http://www.aboutcatholics.com/beliefs/a-guide-to-catholic-baptism/ A Guide to Catholic Baptism (aboutcatholics.com)]</ref>). Tertullian does not denounce the practice of infant baptism but urges against the commonly accepted tradition that the sacrament be delayed until after the period of innocence because it is holy and a "heavy responsibility", and even much later, even in the case of adults, especially the young and unmarried who are subject to great temptations, and elders, because of the danger of committing a mortal sin, which some at that time believe cannot be forgiven after baptism, based on their particular controversial interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-6.<ref>It has been said that this is why [[Constantine]] delayed his own baptism until just before he died.</ref> The references to (i) being enlightened, (ii) tasting the heavenly gift, (iii) becoming partakers of the Holy Spirit, (iv) falling away, and (v) repentance, are interpreted in general by all as references to Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, [[Apostasy]], and Confession, respectively.{{cquote|4 For ''it is'' impossible for those who were once enlightened [Baptism], and have tasted of the heavenly gift [Eucharist], and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [Confirmation], 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away [Apostasy], to renew them again unto repentance [Confession]; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. —Hebrews 6:4-6 (KJV)}}Not everyone in that period of the history of the church agrees with Tertullian's recommendation that baptism is best delayed, because of the common belief that baptism actually cleanses the soul, washing away sins, and the danger of death before baptism.
:"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Acts 22:16.
He held the opinion that baptism alone, which could not be repeated, is the only, unique and singular means of forgiveness of sins. He was also concerned that what is holy, the baptismal grace, should not be carelessly defiled. The controversial opinion of some very intolerant strict moral rigorists that ''after baptism no mortal sin can ever be forgiven'' was rejected in the condemnation of the heresy of Novatianism,<ref>See [http://earlychristianwritings.com/novatian.html Novatian - Early Christian Writings- New Testament (earlychristianwritings.com)] [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11138a.htm Novatian and Novatianism - Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org)] [https://orthodoxwiki.org/Novatian Novatian (orthodoxWiki.org)].</ref> in favor of the [[orthodox]] [[catholic]] [[doctrine]] that there is no post-baptismal sin that cannot be forgiven by Christ in the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation|sacrament of confession]] before death.<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/5-16.htm 1 John 1:8-10 and 1 John 5:16.]</ref> The only exception is [[blasphemy]] against the Holy Spirit.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A30-37&version=RSVCE Matthew 12:30-37]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A28-30&version=RSVCE Mark 3:28-30]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A10&version=RSVCE Luke 12:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A42-50&version=RSVCE John 8:42-50].</ref> The predominant orthodox catholic doctrine held that just as people spoke against Jesus, so they speak against his body, against his household the church (as Novatian did).<ref>1 Timothy 3:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A25&version=RSVCE Matthew 10:25]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A24&version=RSVCE 12:24], 27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A22&version=RSVCE Mark 3:22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+11%3A14-23&version=RSVCE Luke 11:14-23].</ref> As blasphemy against the Son of Man is forgiven, so blasphemy against his body the church is forgiven. As blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Jesus is not forgiven, in this world or in the world to come, so blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of his body the church, as the One working <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A6&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A1-14&version=RSVCE Romans 8:1-14].</ref> in the sacraments and ministries of healing and the attested miracles worked by his body,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A4-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:4-28].</ref> is not forgiven, in this world or in the world to come. And as blasphemy against the Bride of Christ is forgiven, so blasphemy against the Spirit dwelling in Her and ruling Her, as being in reality the evil spirit of [[Antichrist]] and [[Satan#Lucifer|Satan]], is not forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A11-12&version=RSVCE Matthew 5:11-12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A4-10&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:4-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A29-36&version=RSVCE John 3:29-36]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+19%3A6-9&version=RSVCE Revelation 19:6-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A14-15&version=RSVCE 22:14-15] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A17&version=RSVCE and 17].</ref> {{cquote|If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy ''are ye''; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you''':''' on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. —[https://www.biblehub.com/1_peter/4-14.htm 1 Peter 4:14 (KJV)]}}

Tertullian afterward became convinced that the willingness of the Catholic Orthodox Church to absolve all sins was proof that it had become [[Heresy|heretical]] and committed [[Great Apostasy|apostasy]] from the purity of the Gospel. He and his followers [[Schism|departed]] and joined the Montanists for a while; then afterward the Tertullianists formed their own group. In his own time, [[Augustine]] (354 – 430) records that the Tertullianist group had dwindled to almost nothing and was finally reconciled to the church and handed over its basilica.<ref>"dwindled to almost nothing"—see [http://biblehub.com/john/15-6.htm John 15:6]</ref> <ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/tertullianistae/de_haeresibus.htm ''De haeresibus ad Quodvultdeus'' chapter 86 (To Quodvultdeus, On Heresies) (by St. Augustine)].</ref> It is not certain whether these Tertullianists were in all respects "Montanist" or not. In the 6th century, on the orders of the Emperor [[Justinian]], John of Ephesus led an expedition to Pepuza to destroy the Montanist shrine there, which was based on the tombs of the self-proclaimed prophets of the New Prophesy, [[Montanus]], Priscilla and Maximilla.

A sect called "Montanist" existed in the 8th century; the Emperor Leo III the Isaurian ordered the conversion and baptism of its members. These Montanists refused, locked themselves in their houses of worship, [[Suicide|set the buildings on fire and perished]].<ref>Quoted by [[Eusebius]], [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250105.htm ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book 5, Chapter 16. 4. Chapter 16. The Circumstances related of Montanus and his False Prophets. (newadvent.org)]</ref>

Tertullian had harsh words for those who reject tradition and believe salvation is by faith alone ''[[sola fide]]'', a "''most venomous doctrine''"''':''' "vipers", "asps", "basilisks", "monstrous creature", "a viper of the Cainite heresy"{{quotation|A treatise on this matter will not be superfluous; instructing not only such as are just becoming formed (in the faith), but them who, '''content with having simply believed, without full examination of the grounds of the traditions''', carry (in mind), through ignorance, an untried though probable faith. The consequence is, that a viper of the Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism. Which is quite in accordance with nature; for vipers and asps and basilisks themselves generally do affect arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes, after the example of our ''Icqus'' Jesus Christ,<ref>"our Icqus Jesus Christ" / "our Fish Jesus Christ" - '''ICQUS''' an [[acronym]] spelling "fish" like the more well-known '''ICThUS''' Greek "fish" '''''J'''esus '''Ch'''rist '''G'''od's '''S'''on '''S'''avior'' '''I'''esous '''Ch'''ristos '''Th'''eo '''hU'''ios '''S'''oter [https://www.acronymattic.com/ICQUS.html ICQUS Ihsous Cristos Qeou Uios Swthr - ICQUS IhsouV CristoV Qeou UioV Swthr (acronymattic.com)] [http://acronymsandslang.com/definition/2548197/ICQUS-meaning.html ICQUS means IhsouV CristoV Qeou UioV Swthr and can be abbreviated as ICQUS] [https://biblehub.com/greek/2486.htm '''ἰχθύς''' ''ichthus'' "a fish" (biblehub.com)] The word “ΙΧΘΥΣ” (ixoye) is an acronym comprised of the first letter of five Greek words: Iesous Xristos Theou Yios Sotare which means Jesus, Christ, Son of, God, Savior. Iesous (Iasoos) is Jesus. Xristos (Christos) is Christ. Theou (Theou) is God. Yios (Huios) is Son. Sotare (Sotare) is Savior. (See [https://carm.org/questions/other-questions/what-does-ixoye-mean CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry - What does IXOYE mean?].)</ref> are '''born in water''', nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water <ref>" by permanently abiding in water", that is, "by permanently abiding in [holding to, abiding in] the doctrine of water [water baptism]"</ref>; so that most '''monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine''', knew full well how to kill the little fishes, by taking them away from the water'''!''' <ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf03-49.htm#P11470_3245623 Tertullian, ''On Baptism'' '''I''', Introduction to the treatise]. See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+1%3A6-7&version=RSVCE 1 Timothy 1:6-7] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A1-2&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 2:1-2].</ref> (''boldface emphasis added'')}}

== Hippolytus A.D. 215 ==
:“Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them.” <ref name=links>See [https://www.churchfathers.org/infant-baptism '''Church Fathers - Infant Baptism'''] ''and'' [https://www.catholic.com/tract/early-teachings-on-infant-baptism '''Early Teachings on Infant Baptism'''] ''and'' [http://www.catholic-forum.com/members/catholictracts/tract52.html '''Infant Baptism'''].</ref> —[http://www.stjohnsarlingtonva.org/Customer-Content/saintjohnsarlington/CMS/files/EFM/Apostolic_Tradition_by_Hippolytus.pdf ''The Apostolic Tradition'' chapter 21.4].

== Origen A.D. 248 ==
:“Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin.... In the Church, baptism is given for the remission of sins, and, according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given even to infants. If there were nothing in infants which required the remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent to forgiveness, the grace of baptism would seem superfluous” <ref name=links/> <ref>[http://www.wtl.us.edu.pl/ssht/38,S/SSHT_38,S(2005)58-69.pdf Sin in Origen's ''Homilies on Leviticus'' 7. Sin in Pre-existence, Jan Slomka, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach, Śląskie Studia Historyczno - Teologiczne 2005, t. 38 specjalny, s.]</ref>.

:“The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit” —''Commentaries on Romans'' 5:9.<ref name=links/>

== Cyprian of Carthage A.D. 253 ==
:“As to what pertains to the case of infants: You [Fidus] said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born” ....
:“If, in the case of the worst sinners and those who formerly sinned much against God, when afterwards they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is held back from baptism and grace, how much more, then, should an infant not be held back, who, having but recently been born, has done no sin, except that, born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of that old death from his first being born. For this very reason does he [an infant] approach more easily to receive the remission of sins: because the sins forgiven him are not his own but those of another”. —[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050658.htm ''Letter'' 58. To Fadus, on the Baptism of Infants].

== Gregory of Nazianzus A.D. 388 ==
:“Do you have an infant child? Allow sin no opportunity; rather, let the infant be sanctified from childhood. From his most tender age let him be consecrated by the Spirit. Do you fear the seal [of baptism] because of the weakness of nature? Oh, what a pusillanimous mother and of how little faith!”….

:“‘Well enough,’ some will say, ‘for those who ask for baptism, but what do you have to say about those who are still children, and aware neither of loss nor of grace? Shall we baptize them too?’ Certainly [I respond], if there is any pressing danger. Better that they be sanctified unaware, than that they depart unsealed and uninitiated” —[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310240.htm ''Oration on Holy Baptism'' XVII and XXVIII].

== John Chrysostom A.D. 388 ==
:“You see how many are the benefits of baptism, and some think its heavenly grace consists only in the remission of sins, but we have enumerated ten honors [it bestows]! For this reason we baptize even infants, though they are not defiled by [personal] sins, so that there may be given to them holiness, righteousness, adoption, inheritance, brotherhood with Christ, and that they may be his [Christ’s] members” —''Baptismal Catecheses in Augustine, Against Julian'' 1:6:21.<ref name=links/>

== Augustine A.D. 400 ==
:“What the universal Church holds, not as instituted [invented] by councils but as something always held, is most correctly believed to have been handed down by apostolic authority. Since others respond for children, so that the celebration of the sacrament may be complete for them, it is certainly availing to them for their consecration, because they themselves are not able to respond” —''On Baptism, Against the Donatists'' 4:24:31. —A.D. 400 <ref>
[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/14084.htm ''On Baptism, Against the Donatists'' (Book IV)] —''Catholic Encyclopedia'' [https://carm.org/augustine-baptism-donatists-book4 CARM - Augustine, On Baptism, Against the Donatists, Book 4] —''Protestant apologetics site''</ref>.<ref name=links/>

== Council of Carthage V A.D. 401 ==
:“Item: It seemed good that whenever there were not found reliable witnesses who could testify that without any doubt they [abandoned children] were baptized and when the children themselves were not, on account of their tender age, able to answer concerning the giving of the sacraments to them, all such children should be baptized without scruple, lest a hesitation should deprive them of the cleansing of the sacraments. This was urged by the [North African] legates, our brethren, since they redeem many such [abandoned children] from the barbarians” —Canon 7 <ref name=links/> —[https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/Canons%20of%20the%20Council%20of%20Carthage%20to%20Investigate%20Pelagianism.pdf Canons of the Council of Carthage to Investigate Pelagianism, May 1, 418, Canons 2 ''and'' 3.1].

== Augustine A.D. 408 – 412 ==
:“The custom of Mother Church in baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned, nor is it to be regarded in any way as superfluous, nor is it to be believed that its tradition is anything except apostolic” ''The Literal Interpretation of Genesis'' 10:23:39. —A.D. 408.

:“Cyprian was not issuing a new decree but was keeping to the most solid belief of the Church in order to correct some who thought that infants ought not be baptized before the eighth day after their birth. . . . He agreed with certain of his fellow bishops that a child is able to be duly baptized as soon as he is born” —''Letters'' 166:8:23. —A.D. 412.

:“By this grace baptized infants too are ingrafted into his [Christ’s] body, infants who certainly are not yet able to imitate anyone. Christ, in whom all are made alive . . . gives also the most hidden grace of his Spirit to believers, grace which he secretly infuses even into infants.... If anyone wonders why children born of the baptized should themselves be baptized, let him attend briefly to this.... The sacrament of baptism is most assuredly the sacrament of regeneration” —''Forgiveness and the Just Deserts of Sin, and the Baptism of Infants'' 1:9:10; 1:24:34; 2:27:43. —A.D. 412.<ref name=links/>

== Council of Mileum II A.D. 416 ==
:“[W]hoever says that infants fresh from their mothers’ wombs ought not to be baptized, or say that they are indeed baptized unto the remission of sins, but that they draw nothing of the original sin of Adam, which is expiated in the bath of regeneration . . . let him be anathema [excommunicated]. Since what the apostle [Paul] says, ‘Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so passed to all men, in whom all have sinned’ [Rom. 5:12], must not be understood otherwise than the Catholic Church spread everywhere has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith even infants, who in themselves thus far have not been able to commit any sin, are therefore truly baptized unto the remission of sins, so that that which they have contracted from generation may be cleansed in them by regeneration” —Canon 3 <ref name=links/> —[https://sensusfidelium.us/the-sources-of-catholic-dogma-the-denzinger/st-zosimus-417-4i8/ St. Zosimus 417-418 Canons 101.Canon 1 ''and'' 102.Canon 2].

==Controversy based on interpretations of Scripture==

The [[Bible]] does not explicitly ''command'' the practice of infant baptism.

The Bible does not explicitly ''forbid'' the practice of infant baptism.

The necessity of [[baptism]] for [[salvation]] is seen by the majority of Christians <ref>Statistically, a majority of [[institution]]al Christian church doctrinal teachings supports and believes in infant baptism, based on scripture and tradition.

*The '''Catholic Church''' is the world's largest [[Christianity|Christian]] body comprised of several distinct [https://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/catholic_rites_and_churches.htm "Rites"]. The [[Catholic Church|Catholic Church (Latin Rite)]] is the largest religious body in the United States, with over 60 million adherents (4 times as large as the second largest church, the Orthodox).
*[http://www.pewforum.org/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/ “The Global Catholic Population,” © 2011, Pew Research Center.] [http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_romcath.html The Largest Catholic Communities]
*The '''Eastern Orthodox Church''', officially called the '''Orthodox Catholic Church''', and also referred to as the '''[[Orthodox Church]]''' and '''Orthodoxy''', is the second largest [[Christianity|Christian church]] in the world, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents, most of whom live in [[Eastern Europe]], the [[Middle East]], and [[Russia]]. {{cite web |last1=Calivas |first1=Rev. Alciviadis C. |title=The Greek (Eastern) Orthodox Church |publisher=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Of America |year=1983 |url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7061 |accessdate=7 May 2014 |ref=none }} {{cite web |last1=Fairchild |first1=Mary |title=Christianity:Basics:Eastern Orthodox Church Denomination |publisher=about.com |url=http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm |accessdate=22 May 2014 |ref=none }} {{cite web |title=Christianity |work=Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents |publisher=adherents.com |url=http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity |accessdate=22 May 2014 |ref=none }}
*[http://www.888c.com/worldChristianDenominations.htm Percentage of Christians in Protestant Denominations (29.5%)].</ref> as divinely revealed by God in the following Bible texts:

[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE John 3:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE Matthew 28:18-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A15-16&version=NRSVCE Mark 16:15-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38-39&version=NRSVCE Acts 2:38-39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21].

===Luke 18:15-16===
"'''They were also bringing their babies to him'''"
Luke 18:15—KJV "infants". 
Greek '''καὶ τὰ βρέφη ἵνα αὐτῶν''' ''kai ta brephe ina auton'' "also infants to him". The word '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' means, "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", children not yet able to walk. From the Greek vocabulary of this passage, these are helpless babies who cannot of themselves come to Jesus by their own power. See [http://biblehub.com/greek/1025.htm Strong's number ''1025'' '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' "infant".] Compare the [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/18-15.htm interlinear text of Luke 18:15]. Compare the [http://biblehub.com/luke/18-15.htm parallel versions of Luke 18:15].

"'''Allow the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them'''" Luke 18:16. KJV "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not". 
This passage in verses 15-16, is often used to argue in favor of [[Baptism#Baptismal regeneration|infant baptism]], with the reasoning that if the grace of blessing by Christ can be received by the soul of an infant, by "babies", as here in this text of Luke, then the grace of baptism unto salvation can also be received by the soul of a baby, and no one is justified in hindering or opposing the practice of infant baptism, which the ancient church fathers testified comes from the teaching of the apostles, traceable by tradition back to the first century of the [[Early Christianity|early church]]. Compare [http://biblehub.com/multi/john/3-5.htm John 3:5] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm commentaries]. See [http://biblehub.com/multi/1_peter/3-21.htm 1 Peter 3:21] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_peter/3-21.htm commentaries].

Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists argue that infants, "babies", are incapable of repentance and of committing any personal sins, and therefore baptizing them once, as infants, as an act never to be repeated, deprives them of obeying the commandment to "'''''Repent, and be baptized''''' every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the Holy Ghost." [http://biblehub.com/acts/2-38.htm '''Acts 2:38''']. All Christians admit that the New Testament teaches that believers, "the saints", can sin after being baptized ("post-baptismal sins") and that they can again "''repent''" and confess their sins and be forgiven and be saved, according to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+1%3A8-9&version=RSVCE 1 John 1:8-9] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20%3A21-23&version=RSVCE John 20:21-23]; also [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A15-18&version=RSVCE Matthew 18:15-18]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+5%3A13-20&version=RSVCE James 5:13-20]. Catholics teach that for those who have been baptized as infants, as well as adults who have been baptized, sins committed after baptism can be forgiven, and for this purpose the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation]] commonly called Confession was instituted by Christ. For this reason Catholics respond that infant baptism does not deprive the baptized person of obeying the commandment to repent, having already been baptized. They '''are''' baptized, '''being''' Christians "''from infancy''",<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+3%3A14-17&version=RSVCE 2 Timothy 3:14-17].</ref> and they repent, fulfilling the command "Repent, ''and'' '''be''' baptized". They repent, and they '''are''' (already) baptized, both together, the one and the other being fulfilled. "''I '''am''' baptized,'' '''and''' ''I repent of my sins''." The church fathers have also called Sacramental Confession a "laborious form of baptism", a "second baptism".<ref>Compare [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/13-10.htm John 13:10]
*[http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/scrutiny.html Scrutinies, Exorcism, Confession as Second Baptism, Cremation (stmaryvalleybloom.org)] —''the only available format of this page is a typewritten text'' (well-worth reading, however)
*[https://suscopts.org/resources/literature/271/confession-second-baptism/ Confession: Second Baptism, Bishop Youssef, Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States (suscopts.org)]
*[https://www.churchfathers.org/confession Church Fathers - Confession (churchfathers.org)]</ref> Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists are not persuaded by this argument, which seems to them to be an exercise in [[casuistry]],<ref>See [[Eisegesis]] and [[Cafeteria Christianity]]; also [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+3%3A9-10&version=RSVCE Titus 3:9-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+6%3A3-5&version=RSVCE 1 Timothy 6:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+1%3A20-21&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 1:20-21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A15-17&version=RSVCE 3:15-17].</ref> which ignores the distinction of a simple interpretation of the obviously plain and simple reading of Peter's word "repent (first), and (then) be baptized". If babies and infants and the unborn in the womb are incapable of repentance and do not know what it means, then they cannot (yet) qualify for baptism.

According to the Bible, even infants and those in the womb are able to praise God or go astray from him by sin. See the following:
:[http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/job/31-18.htm Job 31:18]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/8-2.htm Psalm 8:2]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/139-16.htm Psalm 139:16]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/isaiah/49-1.htm Isaiah 49:1]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/1-5.htm Jeremiah 1:5]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/21-16.htm Matthew 21:16]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/1-41.htm Luke 1:41]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/18-15.htm Luke 18:15]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/2-39.htm Acts 2:39]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/17-27.htm Acts 17:27]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9]; ''compare'' [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/58-3.htm Psalm 58:3]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/18-4.htm Ezekiel 18:4]; [http://www.biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/9-13.htm Romans 9:13].
There is even an inherent universal regret of loss suggesting an implicitly incipient natural tendency toward repentance by the whole material creation in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A19-23&version=NRSVCE Romans 8:19-23.] To groan is to desire relief and a willingness to embrace it, an unfulfilled, indefinite longing in the soul.

Apologists for the doctrine of infant baptism point to the next verse, '''Acts 2:39''': "For the promise is to you '''''and to your children'''''..."; and they point to the fact that here in Luke 18:15 "They were also '''''bringing their babies''''' to him", and that Jesus himself, seeing his own disciples rebuking them for doing so, commanded them, "'''''Allow''''' the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them" Luke 18:16—"And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them" Mark 10:16—"And he laid his hands on them" Matthew 19:15.

In response, Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists argue that Jesus did not command the "bringing" of infants by others, but that he said, "'''Allow the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them'''"—the words "allow to come" and "do not hinder them" indicating to them that these little children are capable of walking, and therefore of an age to reason, understand, repent, and "be baptized", by their own choice, not the choice of their parents on their behalf bringing them to him before they reach an age to have any rational understanding of the meaning of being sorry for their own sins. This [[Eisegesis|eisegetical interpretation]] utterly contradicts, or at the very least totally ignores, the Bible's word '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', which clearly means, "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", children not yet able to walk. Such an interpretation is a clear example of [[confirmation bias]]. From the context, Jesus' word, "allow the little children to come to me", means, "allow the little babies to be brought to me—don't exclude them!"

Apologists for infant baptism respond that Jesus was countermanding his disciples' refusal of infants, babies, being brought to him for his blessing, and that even infants, babies, incapable of conscious choice, can receive the blessing of Jesus from heaven in baptism. They also point to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25b-27], teaching that according to the Bible baptism [[Salvation|saves]] us now, and that Jesus sanctifies and cleanses his church with the washing of water with the word, to present the whole church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. They point to the fact that Paul teaches that baptism replaces [[circumcision]], which is done when a child is only eight days old, which made that little baby a member of the people of God, to be raised and taught the way of the Lord in truth. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Colossians 2:9-14]. They say this has always been the "tradition" by "word" as handed down from the apostles of the Lord, that whole "households" and "all their families" with all "your children" were baptized.<ref>[https://preachersinstitute.com/2016/11/23/infant-baptism-biblical/ On Infant Baptism – Is it Biblical? Fr. John Peck - Preachers Institute: The World's Premier Online Orthodox Christian Homiletics Resource (preachersinstitute.com)]</ref> Those "household" passages of the New Testament do not exclude children and infants, neither are they explicitly mentioned, although Acts 21:5-6 mentions wives and children bringing Paul on his way. No minimum age of accountability is mentioned in the New Testament as a requirement of eligibility for baptism into Christ. Nowhere do we read of children raised in believing households reaching the age of reason and then being baptized.
:[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A3-11&version=KJV Romans 6:3-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=KJV 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A19-22&version=KJV Hebrews 10:19-22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+22%3A16&version=KJV Acts 22:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=KJV Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A15-17&version=KJV Luke 18:15-17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A13-15&version=KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A2&version=KJV 2 Timothy 2:2], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A23-25&version=KJV 23-25]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A3&version=KJV Jude 3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A14-18&version=KJV 2 Peter 3:14-18]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A39&version=KJV Acts 2:39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+11%3A14&version=KJV 11:14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A15&version=KJV 16:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A31&version=KJV 31], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A33&version=KJV 33]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+18%3A8&version=KJV 18:8].
The Catholic and Orthodox doctrine of "household salvation" including the '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' infants of Luke 18:15 finds support in Hebrews 11:7, 9, 20, 28, 31, and James 2:17, 22, 24-26.<ref name=luther>Luther's controversial addition of "alone" to [http://biblehub.com/romans/1-17.htm Romans 1:17] and [http://biblehub.com/romans/3-28.htm 3:28] "by faith alone", absolutely contradicted the doctrine of [http://biblehub.com/james/2-24.htm James 2:24 "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."]</ref>
*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-7.htm Hebrews 11:7] By active faith Noah constructed an ark for the saving of his household.
*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-9.htm Hebrews 11:9] Isaac and Jacob as infants were heirs with Abraham their father who by active faith entered and dwelt in the land of promise.
*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-20.htm Hebrews 11:20] By active faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau his sons.
*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-28.htm Hebrews 11:28] By active faith Moses kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the first-born might not touch them, infants and adults.
*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-31.htm Hebrews 11:31] The active faith of Rahab the harlot saved the spies of Joshua from the king's soldiers when they were powerless to save themselves, and saved her whole family from death, which they could not have done without her.
*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-17.htm James 2:17] Faith by itself, without works, is dead, and baptism is a work of mercy.
*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-22.htm James 2:22] Faith was active along with Abraham's works, and faith was completed by his works on behalf of himself and his descendants.
*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-24.htm James 2:24] You can see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.<ref name=luther/>
*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-25.htm James 2:25] Rahab was justified by works by receiving the messengers and saving them from the king by sending them out of the city by another way, and by saving her whole family from death.
*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-26.htm James 2:26] As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
They claim that baptism is a work of Christ alone, performed by them in faith,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm Philippians 2 13]; [http://biblehub.com/ephesians/2-10.htm Ephesians 2:10].</ref> for the salvation of those who are baptized by the washing of water with the word in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

According to the pedobaptist doctrine of salvation of infants by "regenerative baptism", a permanent "baptismal character" (often called a "mark") is imprinted indelibly by the Holy Spirit of Jesus on the regenerated soul of the baptized which cannot be removed.<ref>[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Part Two, The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section Two, The Seven Sacraments of the Church, Chapter One The Sacraments of Christian Initiation, Article 1 The Sacrament of Baptism, paragraphs 1213-1284.]</ref> The cleansing of the soul from sin and the gift of supernatural faith implanted in the soul by baptism is, in the case of baptized infants, a "seed"remaining in the soul,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/1_john/3-9.htm 1 John 3:9 (KJV)]</ref> to be nurtured and encouraged by the upbringing and teaching of the parents and the Christian doctrine of the Church. Devout Christian parents who have their infants baptized, take upon themselves the duty to raise their children to understand that because of their baptism into Christ they are [[Duty|obligated]] to dedicate their whole lives to living the Christian life in obedience to Christ, and that to refuse to do so after they are old enough to understand is a very serious sin of rebellion against God himself, punishable by condemnation to [[hell]] for all eternity if, having known the truth, they do not repent of their conscious refusal to live a Christian life of holiness in obedience to Christ Jesus the Lord before they die. They have been taught that just as Israelites, consecrated to God by the rite of circumcision when they were babies, passed from life to death, by betraying the covenant of God in Moses, so those infants baptized into Christ, kill the baptismal gift of spiritual life within them, after reaching the age of understanding, by committing mortal sins, or at the very least wound it by sins that are not mortal (venial sins).<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A24&version=KJV Ezekiel 18:24] (context [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A5-28&version=KJV 18:5-28]); [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+5%3A16-17&version=KJV 1 John 5:16-17].</ref> The "baptismal character" thus wounded, or rendered inert and lifeless, killed by mortal sin, can be revived by confession and absolution in the confessional <ref>A "confessional" is a kind of very small partitioned room or closet designed so that the priest and the one "confessing" do not see each other. It normally has a seat and a "kneeler" to kneel upon facing the screen or curtain on the other side of which is the priest. The "seal of the confessional" binds the Christian priest to never reveal what has been confessed. "The ministry of reconciliation" according to the words of Paul in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A18-20&version=KJV 2 Corinthians 5:18-20] and Jesus in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A19-20&version=KJV Matthew 18:19-20] is exercised in the name of the Lord, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A13-14&version=KJV John 14:13-14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20%3A19-23&version=KJV 20:19-23].</ref> by the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation]], where the priest and the repentant sinner meet together in the name of the Lord, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." [http://biblehub.com/matthew/18-20.htm Matthew 18:20.]

This doctrine of "regenerative baptism" which causes an [[Ontology|ontological change]] that actually cleanses and washes away sins, by effecting in the soul a new supernatural life directly infused by the Holy Spirit ''[[Ex opere operato and ex opere operantis|ex opere operato]]'' through the "washing of water with the word", is found by apologists for infant baptism in the following scriptural texts:
:[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+11%3A19-20&version=NRSVCE Ezekiel 11:19-20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+36%3A25-29&version=NRSVCE 36:25-29a]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+24%3A7&version=NRSVCE Jeremiah 24:7]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+31%3A31-33&version=NRSVCE 31:31-33]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+3%3A5-6&version=NRSVCE Titus 3:5-6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+1%3A9&version=NRSVCE 2 Peter 1:9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25b-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Colossians 2:9-14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Galatians 6:15].
They point to these texts as teaching that according to the Bible baptism [[Salvation|saves]] us now by regeneration of the soul unto new life, as a "new creature", and that Jesus sanctifies and cleanses his church with his blood by the washing of water with the word as a true [[sign]] of the cleansing of the soul by his blood, to present the whole church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. They point to the fact that Paul teaches by a [[Typology|typological]] [[analogy]] that baptism replaces [[circumcision]], which is done when a child is only eight days old, which made that tiny baby a genuine member of the people of God, to be raised and taught the way of the Lord in truth, by the priests of the faith.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+2%3A4-7&version=NRSVCE Malachi 2:4-7]</ref>

This doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which includes infant baptism, is repudiated as being totally against the teaching of the Bible. Abraham, our father in [[faith]], was converted, regenerated, forgiven, and had righteousness reckoned (imputed) to him, by faith (an unborn or newborn child cannot exercise faith), being circumcised in the heart by faith, apart from physical circumcision, baptism, or any other statute, or ordinance. Those who reject infant baptism as regenerative or salvific in any manner accept that the outward [[symbol]] of washing of water with the word is simply an [[ordinance]] to be faithfully obeyed, not a [[sacrament]], solely as an outward testimony to faith in the salvation of God through [[Belief|believing]] in the promises of Jesus Christ alone. They obey His ordained ordinances, including baptism, because by faith in Him they '''''are''''' regenerated, not in order to '''''be''''' regenerated; and as a result of '''''having''''' a new heart, not that they might receive a new heart.<ref>See [https://www.bing.com/search?q=a+concise+refutation+of+baptismal+regeneration%2C+by+james+p.+shelley.&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=3f263ada36184adab3a65191ce7aba9c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 A Concise Refutation of Baptismal Regeneration, by James P. Shelley (bing.com)] Also [https://arcapologetics.org/comparative-religion/baptismal-regeneration-refuted/ Baptismal Regeneration Refuted, By Robin A. Brace - Apologetics Resource Center(arcapologetics.org)]</ref>

[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=KJV '''1 Peter 3:21'''] in the King James Version states that baptism is "the answer of a good conscience toward God". The Greek word here translated as "answer" is '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'' <ref>[http://biblehub.com/greek/1906.htm Strong's number 1906 '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'']</ref>, which means much more than a mere answer to a question. It means primarily [https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/enquire-or-inquire “question,” “enquiry,” “inquiry”] as in a probing investigation or hearing and a trial by law before the examiners, the judge and the court. A true understanding according to ''[[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)#The literal sense of scripture|the literal sense of scripture]]'' is found partly in the [[Forensics|forensic]] use of the Greek word for '''question''', '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'', as including, like our word “examination,” both question and answer. Substantive evidence as an "exhibit" brought before the court is presented to the judge as an answer to the charge of the guilt or innocence of the accused. In a medical examination of the patient who has been healed the doctor can see for himself that the disease is cured, as in the case of an infant cured of a deadly communicable disease, and the evidence is presented to the chief medical examiner at the head of a medical panel of judges to answer the question of the possibility of any remaining [[pathology]] which could pose a risk to the health of the patient and to the community as a whole.<ref>See for example, [https://answersafrica.com/diseases-in-africa.html Top 10 Diseases in Africa - Most Deadly (answersafrica.com)]</ref> The "answer of a good conscience" by baptism in 1 Peter 3:21 is the New Testament [[Typology|antitype]] to the Old Testament type in the book of [[Leviticus]], the examination by the Levitical priests of an Israelite healed of [[leprosy]] to establish proof of having been cleansed by God, after which the ritual of cleansing was performed.<ref>See [https://biblehub.com/leviticus/14-34.htm Leviticus 14:34 "''I put a leprous disease on...''"] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/leviticus/14-34.htm multiple commentaries on Leviticus 14:34]. See also [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+24%3A8&version=NRSVCE Deuteronomy 24:8] as a parallel to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A15&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 12:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=NRSVCE 13:17] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20%3A23&version=NRSVCE John 20:23], also the whole context of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+13-14&version=NRSVCE Leviticus 13–14.]</ref> The healing of Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, by his obedient recourse to the water of the [[Jordan River|Jordan]] according to the word of the prophet, was a real cleansing. It was not a merely symbolical declaration of his personal conversion to a sincere belief in the God of Israel. And this Old Testament episode has been seen by the [[Ante-Nicene Fathers]] as a [[Typology|type]] of the New Testament sacrament of "regenerative baptism" for the healing of the soul. As the soul of the child is conceived in sin and born without personal consent, unresisting, sin is washed away from the soul of the newborn child by the blood of Christ in baptism without personal consent, unresisting.

The tragic case of "crack babies"<ref>[https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crackcocaine/children-the-most-innocent-victims-of-crack-cocaine.html Children: the most innocent victims of crack cocaine (drugfreeworld.org)]</ref> formed in the womb and born of mothers already [[Addiction|addicted]] to "crack [[cocaine]]" is a very strong [[analogy]] to the doctrine of inherited sin. Just as these innocently addicted babies need curative medical treatment for the utter misery of a tormenting defect not chosen by themselves as individuals, so every individual human soul at the moment of conception is afflicted with the deadly terminal defect of original sin for which they are not personally responsible, already in "lifelong bondage" to the [[devil]].<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+2%3A14-15&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 2:14-15]; see [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4%3A5-6&version=NRSVCE Luke 4:5-6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A6-19&version=NRSVCE Romans 5:6-19].</ref> They are innocent, but they need salvation from the collective death of sin inherited from their parents descended in the direct lineage of Adam and Eve.<ref>See Luke 1:46-47 "''God my Savior''", and the articles [[Immaculate Conception]] and [[Theotokos]]. According to Catholic doctrine''':''' from all eternity the merit of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ alone was applied solely for his sake alone to the soul of her whom he had destined to be his mother, that the incarnation of the Word made flesh in her womb might not be taken from flesh defiled by sin but be taken from the sinless flesh of the body of his mother Mary whom God had prepared for the sake of Christ himself alone, in accordance with what is said in [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/10-5.htm Hebrews 10:5 "a body hast thou prepared for me"] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+8%3A19-20&version=NRSVCE Wisdom 8:19-20 "being good, I entered an undefiled body."]</ref>

[[Calvinism|Calvinist]] and [[Anabaptist]] doctrines of [[predestination]], and of credobaptism alone, are represented by their opponents as a doctrine of "monstrous evil" which arbitrarily and without mercy condemns to an [[eternal]] [[hell]] all who by default do not believe, simply because they are too young to understand or, because of the accidental circumstance of a lack of any kind of opportunity to hear it, have never heard about [[the Gospel]] of salvation, and do not believe. This includes all [[Paganism|pagans]] and babies, infants, all those whom Luke 18:15 calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", not yet able to walk. Apologists for this view respond that this is because their opponents do not grasp the fact that because of the fall of man, the whole human race became totally depraved, and as a consequence of their totally depraved nature are utterly deprived of the power of [[free will]] to choose to repent and be saved, and are "by nature the children of wrath".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A3&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 2:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A10-18&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:10-18].</ref> According to this doctrine, the Sovereign God, just and compassionate and merciful, is in his supremely sovereign, perfect, absolute justice under no obligation to save creatures who by nature have no love for him and are by their very nature destined for hell because of their depravity, which cannot be attributed to God, but to Adam alone, because of his abuse of free will by disobedience, with the consequentially complete self-destruction of free will in both himself and all his descendants as one whole united body of humanity. But to manifest absolutely his goodness before all creation, the Sovereign Lord God has predestined for glory all those chosen souls whom he has sovereignly elected to receive the unmerited grace of salvation for the praise of his glory and honor as the absolute Lord of all creation in heaven and on earth.

However, according to the Bible, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." [http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9]. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." [http://biblehub.com/john/3-17.htm John 3:17]. This indicates clearly that a sovereign willingness on the part of God to '''''not''''' provide for '''all souls in the world''' any possible opportunity for salvation, even ignorant pagans and infants, is not a doctrine supported by the Bible.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A17&version=RSVCE Revelation 22:17 "''whosoever '''will'''''"]</ref>

Many Christians reject the arbitrary doctrine that babies who have died, who have not been baptized, who did nothing, either good or bad, and did not believe, are automatically doomed to an eternity in the lake of fire.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A13-15&version=NRSVCE 13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A41-46&version=NRSVCE Matthew 25:41-46].</ref> Those Christians who at the same time also reject any need for infant baptism, who have been told that infants are ''[[ipso facto]]'' totally innocent of all sin, that there is an "age of innocence", and have heard preachers and apologists cite the phrase "below the age of innocence" with reference to very young children, have searched in vain for this phrase in the Bible.<ref>A search of [[Strong's]] under the topic of [http://biblehub.net/searchtopical.php?q=innocence"innocence"] gives no examples of these phrases. Online searches for the phrase [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=0ca3aae1f43b45139bb73e5b40a2869c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "age of innocence"] and [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22below+the+age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=7e33910d5a2c4df99886f48f82ca3f75&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "below the age of innocence"] in the Bible produce no result.</ref> Their doctrinal belief is not found in the New Testament, that the baptism of infants is utterly unnecessary, because they have accepted this unsupported belief:
:that the Bible itself teaches that '''''all''''' babies in the womb and those infants and children "below the age of innocence" are already "covered by the saving blood of Jesus" because they are innocent of any sin, and are already saved, but only up until the age of understanding and accountability, at which time they become unsaved and must choose on their own to make a decision for Christ to be saved.
Theologians and apologists who have been challenged to defend this doctrine with support from scripture are not able to cite a single text that explicitly states that an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, is saved by the covering blood of Christ apart from the baptism mentioned in the New Testament, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE John 3:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE Matthew 28:18-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A15-16&version=NRSVCE Mark 16:15-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38-39&version=NRSVCE Acts 2:38-39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]. This is simply from reading the whole text of the New Testament alone ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Such a doctrine appears to be only a "tradition of men" outside of the Bible alone. They are unwilling to consign unbaptized infants to hell, yet "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Romans 5:12 (KJV), "Except a man ['''τις''' ''tis'' "anyone"] be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he [he or she] cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven" [http://biblehub.com/multi/john/3-5.htn John 3:5 (KJV amplified)]. They have a belief in the universal compassionate mercy of God for all mankind, yet it is coupled with a doctrinal rejection of the apostolic tradition of infant baptism received by mainstream Christianity, [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Orthodox Church|Eastern and Oriental Orthodox]], and among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], several [[denomination]]s: [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Congregationalism|Congregationalists]] and other [[Calvinism|Reformed]] denominations, [[Presbyterians]], [[Methodist]]s, some [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]], and the Moravian Church.

According to scripture the whole of mankind was defiled by the guilt of Adam and Eve ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12&version=NRSVCE Romans 5:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+2%3A23-24&version=NRSVCE Wisdom 2:23-24]) which broke off the intimate communion of their whole being with the Lord, severing them and the collective whole of the heritage of all their offspring from the spiritual life of God. Moreover, not only are we born as members of the whole community of the fallen race of man defiled by the terminal defect of this original sin—and for this reason every human being dies, even innocent babies in the womb—we also each of us as natural descendants of fallen man commit our own sins against God and our fellow human beings, against our own parents, children, friends, enemies, against truth, mercy and justice, and against ourselves whether we intend it or not ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A23&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A15&version=NRSVCE 7:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A19&version=NRSVCE 19]). Even little children have regrets about what they have done, and tiny babies display anger and stubbornness when they don't get what they want. As we mature in age and come to know the holiness of God we become even more aware of our inherent imperfection and our guilt before Him. Even [[Atheism and health|atheists]], against their will, struggle with feelings of guilt, knowing that they are not what they should be, even by their own personal standards.

[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A1-2&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 10:1-2] clearly testifies that the sacrifices and washings of the Law of Moses can never make perfect the conscience of those who draw near to God, because even after offering sacrifices and cleansing their bodies according to the regulations and ordinances of the Torah blamelessly, without fault in their performance of them, they are still conscious of sin, for if they had actually been cleansed they would no longer have any consciousness of sin. But Christ through his blood in the washing of baptism with the word makes those who are members of his body sanctified, cleansed, without spot or wrinkle or any such defect, so that each one as members of the one body of Christ might be holy and without blemish, and this purity of a clean soul and clean conscience is the evidence of innocence in answer to the charge of guilt, "''the answer of a good conscience toward God''" (KJV).<ref>Catholic theologians answer that a terrified [[scrupulosity]] in the conscience is not a proof of not being cleansed of sin in the confessional, but rather an attack of the Accuser (''ha-Satan'' [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 12:10]) inciting a lack of trust in the mercy of God and the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to his Church ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A18-21&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:18-21]), tending toward the dangerous sin of [[despair]], which gives birth to a bitter hatred of God's justice, loss of love and charity toward God and man, and finally—if not overcome by prayer and humble submission to God—to death ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A13-15&version=RSVCE James 1:13-15]).</ref> On the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]'' itself, the belief that sin remains in the soul of every Christian cleansed and saved by the Lord contradicts the scriptures that say both that they are "in Christ", and that "in him is no sin".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6&version=NRSVCE Romans 6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&3A12-26&version=NRSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:12-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5&3A17&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+3&3A28&version=NRSVCE Galatians 3:28]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6&3A15&version=NRSVCE Galatians 6:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1&3A1&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 1:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1&3A11-14&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 1:11-14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2&3A10&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 2:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1&3A1&version=NRSVCE Philippians 1:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4&3A21&version=NRSVCE Philippians 4:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1&3A2&version=NRSVCE Colossians 1:2]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3&3A3&version=NRSVCE Colossians 3:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+2&3A14&version=NRSVCE 1 Thessalonians 2:14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6&3A26&version=NRSVCE '''Hebrews 6:26''' "''holy, blameless, unstained''"]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3&3A5&version=NRSVCE '''1 John 3:5''' "''in him is no sin''"]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+5&3A20&version=NRSVCE 1 John 5:20].</ref>

According to Catholic doctrine, baptism into Christ removes entirely from the individual soul the inherited defect of the original sin of the whole collective human race descended from Adam and the individually personal guilt of all sins personally committed before being baptized. Thus the effect of sin and its removal is not merely ''juridical'' as a legal decision exonerating the guilty by a decree of [[amnesty]], expunging the record of the individual and thereby formally changing the official, outward social and legal standing of the citizen in the eyes of the whole community. In contrast to the juridical model, by an absolute reality affecting the whole person, the removal of sin through the blood of Christ in baptism is instead ''[[Ontology|ontological]], regenerative'', affecting the very being of the individual soul, the "creature" itself, as the cure of a deadly disease is a real healing of the whole physical body, the image of which in the New Testament was the cleansing of leprosy by Christ and the apostles ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+9%3A2-8&version=NRSVCE Matthew 9:2-8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+6%3A13&version=NRSVCE Mark 6:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+5%3A14-16&version=NRSVCE Acts 5:14-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19%3A11&version=NRSVCE 19:11]). The defiling disease is removed.
:"Therefore if any man ''be'' in Christ, ''he is'' a '''new creature''': old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV, ''boldface emphasis added''.) "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a '''new creature'''." (Galatians 6:15 KJV, ''boldface emphasis added'')
A legal declaration of amnesty cannot cure the physical being of the guilty carrier of a deadly disease, only the medicine of the practicing physician administered properly can do that. Sin is not merely covered up,<ref>[http://www.judev3.co.uk/1SinsCoveredOrGone.htm '''Sins - Covered or Gone?''' (judev3.co.uk)]. A modern [[analogy]] of the fact that "a legal declaration of amnesty cannot cure the physical being of the guilty carrier of a deadly disease" is the judgment of the court in the famous case of "Typhoid Mary". See [https://www.thoughtco.com/typhoid-mary-1779179 Biography of Typhoid Mary, Who Spread Typhoid in Early 1900s: The sad story of a woman responsible for several typhoid outbreaks (thoughtco.com)].</ref> as in the sacrifices of the old covenant, which cannot take away sins, as the author of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A1-22&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 10:1-22] clearly says, but is in reality washed away, removed, according to [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/5-26.htm Ephesians 5:25-27] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/10-22.htm Hebrews 10:22] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_peter/1-9.htm 2 Peter 1:9]; see [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/22-16.htm Acts 22:16]. All that remains is the leftover temporal damage caused by the disease of sin. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6-8&version=NRSVCE Romans 6–8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A16-5%3A4&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 4:16–5:4]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A42-54&version=NRSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:42-54]. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, those leftover temporal defects afflicting reconciled sinners who have been forgiven in Christ, the residual remaining non-permanent defects which they have not yet in justice fully rectified and overcome by grace-filled virtue during life on earth, will be purged away afterward to fully cleanse them of all unrighteousness in preparation for their entrance into heaven.<ref>A medical analogy often cited by Catholic and Orthodox theologians sees this period of life after the regeneration of baptism as similar to a time of physical rehabilitative therapy helping to restore some semblance of normalcy to someone who has been completely cured of a devastating disease of bone, tissue, or central nervous system, and who is not yet fully recovered, but actually can eventually be fully released to go home and live a totally normal life.</ref> Included is the doctrine that not all sins are fatal, as in [http://biblehub.com/john/19-11.htm John 19:11] and [http://biblehub.com/1_john/5-17.htm 1 John 5:17].

According to Catholic doctrine, baptized infants and babies who have died innocent of personal sin are saved and enter immediately into heaven. Those who die in the womb or who have not been baptized before death took them, are commended to God, who alone knows what they would have done if they had lived to hear the Gospel, and whether in their souls and hearts they were resisting or not resisting the saving grace of salvation poured out on all the world through Jesus Christ alone. Their salvation can be assured by what is called, "baptism of desire", God knowing whether or not in their souls they would have been personally willing to do his will, whatever it is; and therefore the grace of baptism by the blood of Christ is imputed to them by the mercy of God, "who is not willing that any should perish" 2 Peter 3:9. This "baptism of desire" is called an "extraordinary" means of salvation provided by God,<ref>Also "baptism of blood". See [https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/baptism-of-desire Baptism of Desire, Jimmy Akin (catholic.com)] See also [http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4068.htm#article2 Summa Theologica iii:'''68:2'''], [http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4066.htm#article2 cf iii:'''66:1-2'''] - ''in other words,'' Summa Theologica: Third Part (''Tertia Pars''): 68:2, (cf ''compare'') Third Part (''Tertia Pars'') 66:1-2 - The Catholic Encyclopedia Text of Summa Theologica: Part III: Question 68:2, and Part III: Question 66:1-2. (newadvent.org)</ref> baptism by water and the word being the ordinary means of salvation ordained by God through Christ by the Holy Spirit for all mankind, including baptism unto salvation of those the Gospel of Luke 18:15 calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", innocent children not yet able to walk.

==Doctrine of Satan and the Antichrist==

===Fifth century: Council of Mileum II, A.D. 416, Council of Carthage 417 or 418===

One of the earliest mentions of an ''[[anathema]]'' of those who prohibit the practice of infant baptism is found in the Canons of the Council of Mileum II [A.D. 416]: <ref>See [https://www.churchfathers.org/infant-baptism Church Fathers - Infant Baptism (churchfathers.org)] ''scroll down to'' Council of Mileum II.</ref>
:“[W]hoever says that infants fresh from their mothers’ wombs ought not to be baptized, or say that they are indeed baptized unto the remission of sins, but that they draw nothing of the original sin of Adam, which is expiated in the bath of regeneration . . . let him be anathema [excommunicated]. Since what the apostle [Paul] says, ‘Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so passed to all men, in whom all have sinned’ [Rom. 5:12], must not be understood otherwise than the Catholic Church spread everywhere has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith even infants, who in themselves thus far have not been able to commit any sin, are therefore truly baptized unto the remission of sins, so that that which they have contracted from generation may be cleansed in them by regeneration” (Canon 3).

The Canons of the [[Council of Carthage]] (417 or 418) in condemnation against the views of [[Pelagianism|Pelagius]] and Celestius included an ''anathema'' of all those who rejected the practice of infant baptism.<ref>[https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/carthage_canons_on_sin_and_grace.htm “The Canons of the Council of Carthage (417 or 418) on sin and grace - the original Latin text with English Translation” directed against the views of Pelagius and Celestius - Early Church Texts: One of the most extensive resources on the internet for the study of early Christianity (earlychurchtexts.com)]</ref>
:“Likewise it seemed good that whosoever denies that infants newly from their mother’s wombs should be baptized, or says that baptism is for remission of sins, but that they derive from Adam no original sin, which needs to be removed by the laver of regeneration, from whence the conclusion follows, that in them the form of baptism for the remission of sins, is to be understood as false and not true, let him be anathema. For no otherwise can be understood what the Apostle says, “By one man sin is come into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed upon all men in that all have sinned,” than the Catholic Church everywhere diffused has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith even infants, who could have committed as yet no sin themselves, therefore are truly baptized for the remission of sins, in order that what in them is the result of generation may be cleansed by regeneration.” (Canon 2 of 418 Synod)

Clearly, there were voices raised in opposition to infant baptism long before the sixteenth century [[Protestant Reformation]].

===Sixteenth century===

While Zwingli, Luther and Calvin accepted and defended infant baptism, this practice of infant baptism together with all elements of [[apostolic tradition]] not found explicitly taught by the Bible alone according to the Reformation principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]'' was unequivocably condemned by Anabaptist and Baptist groups and [[Mennonite]]s as a Catholic doctrine, and therefore as being manifestly a [[satan]]ic lie promulgated and promoted by the [[Antichrist]], most evidently evil and obviously destructive, to anyone with eyes to see, a deceptive doctrine of devils straight out of the pits of hell.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+4%3A1&version=NRSVCE 1 Timothy 4:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+1%3A6-9&version=NRSVCE Galatians 1:6-9]. See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A17-19&version=NRSVCE Jude 17-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A9-11&version=NRSVCE 2 Peter 2:9-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A15-18&version=NRSVCE 3:15-18]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE 1 John 2:18-19].</ref> This warning clearly condemns to hell all who accept infant baptism as necessary: all of mainstream Christianity, Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, and among Protestants, several denominations: Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists, some Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church.

Foremost with their strong objection to infant baptism were the [[Anabaptists]], who were persecuted and condemned as [[Heresy|heretics]] by the majority of Christian believers, Catholic and Protestant.<ref>[https://thoughtsofalivingchristian.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-persecution-of-anabaptism-16th-century-catholic-lutheran-and-calvinist-perspectives-2/ The Persecution of Anabaptism: 16th Century Catholic, Lutheran and Calvinist Perspectives (thoughtsofalivingchristian.wordpress.com)] [https://themennonite.org/feature/the-birth-of-anabaptism The Birth of Anabaptism, Valerie G. Remple (themennonite.org)].</ref> Zwingli found their theologies to be contradictory, Luther found their entire organization confusing, Calvin labeled them as “poor fools”, “scatterbrains”, “ignoramuses” and “enemies of government”, and the Catholics associated them with the Devil, labeling them “messengers of the Antichrist”.<ref>See for example the article: [https://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2007/07/luther-there-are-almost-as-many-sects.html '''Luther: "There are almost as many sects and beliefs as there are heads..."''' (beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com)] —''Luther condemns the Anabaptists''.</ref>

The term Anabaptism "ana- (''again'') baptism" referred to being “rebaptized,” and it was a punishable offense. Since the establishment of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Christian Empire]], rejection of infant baptism, and re-baptism of those who had been baptized as infants as a repudiation of infant baptism, was condemned as ''anathema'' by local synods of bishops and the subsequent affirmation of their discernment by the judgment of the ecumenical councils of the whole [[catholic]] church east and west.<ref>See [http://www.heretication.info/_heretics.html Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Christianity and its Persecution of Heretics. (heretification.info)]</ref> In response to their [[ecclesiastical]] anathemas against heretical rejection of the doctrine and practice of infant baptism, repudiation of the practice of infant baptism had been made a [[capital offense]] by the [[Government|civil authority]] of the Byzantine Christian Emperors. This relationship of mutual support between the institutional church and civil authorities formed a kind of “Christian” kingdom, ideally intended as a realization of the doctrine of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12-13&version=RSVCE Romans 12–13], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=RSVCE Hebrews 13:17] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-3%3A17&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:13–3:17]. Thus, the Catholic Church’s spiritual authority was connected to civil authority. Through baptism, one became a part of the church and a citizen of the state. One’s baptismal record functioned as a kind of birth certificate. Christendom provided a way of understanding the world that seemed to bring it into a harmonious whole. The state handled civil life, and the church offered eternal life through counselling a prudent application of apostolic traditions of ethical and moral doctrinal practice, prayer, scripture and the sacraments. Each ruled their respective sphere and supported the other. Even Reform-minded leaders found it difficult to imagine a legitimate church refusing to baptize infants. Anabaptists stood alone in being willing to challenge the practice of infant baptism.

The development of abuses of power and scandalous disregard of Christian moral principles by [[Corruption|corrupt]] individuals holding high office in government and church prompted many to question the legitimacy of the authority of both. And this prepared the ground for the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the response of the [[Counter Reformation]] of the [[Council of Trent]].<ref>[https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/death/froom/luther-conditionalism.php#.XZ-VZfJFzx8 '''Martin Luther's Views on Conditionalism and Soul Sleep''', by Leroy Edwin Froom (truthaccordingtoscripture.com)] Luther denied the immortality of the soul. This article also includes a discussion of the beginning history of the Anabaptists and their condemnation of infant baptism.</ref> By baptizing each other, Anabaptists denied the Catholic Church’s claim of spiritual authority and challenged its relationship to civil authority. They declared their true citizenship to be in the kingdom of heaven rather than to any kingdom or ruler of the world.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+4%3A19-20&version=RSVCE Acts 4:19-20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18%3A36-37&version=RSVCE John 18:36-37].</ref> Anabaptists argued that their primary allegiance was always owed to Christ alone. This was a form of Christian [[anarchism]] rooted in [[secular]] [[antinomianism]] for the evident [[Motivation|purpose]] of destabilizing and overthrowing civil govenment.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-10&version=RSVCE Romans 13:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-17&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:13-17]</ref> Their [[pacifism]] <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A52&version=RSVCE Matthew 26:52]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+13%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 13:10].</ref> was viewed as giving passive [[Aid and abet|aid]] and comfort to the enemy forces of [[Islam]]ic [[terrorism]]. Civil and religious authorities throughout Europe moved quickly to quell what they viewed as a dangerous movement, similar to the modern governmental response to a [[clear and present danger]]. Wherever groups of Anabaptist believers emerged, in the Swiss and German regions of Europe and as far north as the Netherlands, they met with great opposition. Thousands were imprisoned and put to death as [[Treason|traitors to church and state]] by burning at the stake <ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A6&version=NRSVCE John 15:6] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-5&version=NRSVCE Romans 13:1-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A7-15&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:7-15]. By calculation of the thousand-year span of the establishment on earth of the Catholic Christian Byzantine Empire and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] the Protestant Reformation and the rise of the Anabaptists was seen by Church and Government leaders as evidence that Satan had been loosed from his prison, and had "come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle, their number is like the sand of the sea" ... "But fire came down from heaven and consumed them" Revelation 20:7-9. Both the Protestants and the Moslem armies were regarded as the satanic forces of God and Magog.</ref> or by being drowned in a local river. Drowning was considered a particularly appropriate death for Anabaptists. The authorities said they had sinned through the use of baptismal water, so by the water they would lose their lives.

[[Baptist]] churches adopted the same Anabaptist views of both the invalidity of infant baptism as a [[Paganism|pagan]] [[heresy]] and the absolute need for confessional credobaptism of youths and adults as true believers. Many other Protestant and independent churches also profess their opposition to the doctrine of infant baptism as diabolical and satanic; while others among them, Protestant and Independent, accept infant baptism as being supported by the Bible because the scriptures do not explicitly condemn the baptism of infants and young children, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists, (some) Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church. Compare the [[Mennonite]]s.

=== Nineteenth century ===

The doctrinal stand of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] (SBC) is strongly opposed to Catholicism. In 1852, Robert Boyt C. Howell wrote a paper he delivered to the Southern Baptist Publication Society "The Evils of Infant Baptism" in which he set forth in nineteen chapters the following arguments against infant baptism: <ref>[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismtoc.htm The Evils of Infant Baptism, By Robert Boyt C. Howell, Charleston, SC: Southern Baptist Publication Society 1852.] </ref>

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter01.htm CHAPTER 1 Infant baptism is an evil because its practice is unsupported by the word of God]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter02.htm CHAPTER 2 Infant baptism is an evil because its defense leads to most injurious perversions of Scripture]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter03.htm CHAPTER 3 Infant baptism is an evil because it engrafts Judaism upon the gospel of Christ]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter04.htm CHAPTER 4 Infant baptism is an evil because it falsifies the doctrine of universal depravity]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter015.htm CHAPTER 5 Infant baptism is an evil because the doctrines upon which it is predicated contradict the great fundamental principle of justification by faith]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter06.htm CHAPTER 6 Infant baptism is an evil because it is in direct conflict with the doctrine of the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter07.htm CHAPTER 7 Infant baptism is an evil because it despoils the church of those peculiar qualities which are essential to the church of Christ]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter08.htm CHAPTER 8 Infant baptism is an evil because its practice perpetuates the superstitions that originally produced it]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter09.htm CHAPTER 9 Infant baptism is an evil because it subverts the scripture doctrine of infant salvation]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter10.htm CHAPTER 10 Infant baptism is an evil because it leads its advocates into rebellion against the authority of Christ]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter11.htm CHAPTER 11 Infant baptism is an evil because of the connection it assumes with the moral and religious training of children]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter12.htm CHAPTER 12 Infant baptism is an evil because it is the grand foundation upon which rests the union of church and state]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter13.htm CHAPTER 13 Infant baptism is an evil because it leads to religious persecutions]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter14.htm CHAPTER 14 Infant baptism is an evil because it is contrary to the principles of civil and religious freedom]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter15.htm CHAPTER 15 Infant baptism is an evil because it enfeebles the power of the church to combat error]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter16.htm CHAPTER 16 Infant baptism is an evil because it injures the credit of religion with reflecting men of the world]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter17.htm CHAPTER 17 Infant baptism is an evil because it is the great barrier to Christian union]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter18.htm CHAPTER 18 Infant baptism is an evil because it prevents the salutary impression which baptism was designed to make upon the minds both of those who receive it, and of those who witness its administration]

:[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismchapter19.htm CHAPTER 19 Infant baptism is an evil because it retards the designs of Christ in the conversion of the world]

The [[Presbyterian]] Rev. Alexander Hislop, in '''''[[''The Two Babylons'']]''''' (1853, 1858, 1916) states in Chapter IV, Doctrine and Discipline, Section I, Baptismal Regeneration:{{cquote|Now, in both respects this doctrine is absolutely anti-Scriptural; in both it is purely Pagan. It is anti-Scriptural, for the Lord Jesus Christ has expressly declared that infants, without the slightest respect to baptism or any external ordinance whatever, are capable of admission into all the glory of the heavenly world: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." John the Baptist, while yet in his mother's womb was so filled with joy at the advent of the Saviour, that, as soon as Mary's salutation sounded in the ears of his own mother, the unborn babe "leaped in the womb for joy." Had that child died at the birth, what could have excluded it from "the inheritance of the saints in light" for which it was so certainly "made meet"? Yet the Roman Catholic Bishop Hay, in defiance of very principle of God's Word, does not hesitate to pen the following: "Question: What becomes of young children who die without baptism? Answer: If a young child were put to death for the sake of Christ, this would be to it the baptism of blood, and carry it to heaven; but except in this case, as such infants are incapable of having the desire of baptism, with the other necessary dispositions, if they are not actually baptised with water, THEY CANNOT GO TO HEAVEN." As this doctrine never came from the Bible, whence came it? It came from heathenism.<ref>[http://www.biblebelievers.com/babylon/sect41.htm The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop. Chapter IV. Doctrine and Discipline, Section I, Baptismal Regeneration (biblebelievers.com)]</ref>}}

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." <ref>John 3:5 [[King James Bible]] [http://biblehub.com/john/3-5.htm See multiple versions of John 3:5] also [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm multiple commentaries on John 3:5]. </ref>

== "Regenerate" in John 3:3-5: Greek '''γεννηθή''' ''gennethe''==

The words '''γεννηθή''' ''gennethe'' and '''γεννηθήναι''' ''gennethenai'' in the Greek New Testament text of John 3:3-5 mean to ''procreate, regenerate, bear, beget, be born, conceive'', a variation of '''γένος''' ''genos'', meaning ''born, offspring, generation, stock''.<ref>See Strong's numbers [http://biblehub.com/greek/1078.htm 1078], [http://biblehub.com/greek/1079.htm 1079], [http://biblehub.com/greek/1080.htm 1080], [http://biblehub.com/greek/1081.htm 1081], [http://biblehub.com/greek/1083.htm 1083], [http://biblehub.com/greek/1084.htm 1084], [http://biblehub.com/greek/1085.htm 1085].</ref> This "born" (as being literally "generated/regenerated") is the ordinary word "born" used in
:'''Matthew''' 1:16; 2:1, 4; 11:11; 19:12; 26:24; '''Mark''' 14:21; '''Luke''' 1:35; 7:28; '''John''' 1:13; 3:3-8; 8:41: 9:2, 19-20, 32, 34; 16:21; 18:37; '''Acts''' 2:8; 7:20; 18:2, 24; 22:3, 28; '''Romans''' 9:11; '''1 Corinthians''' 15:8; '''Galatians''' 4:23, 29; '''Hebrews''' 11:23; '''1 John''' 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18.
"Regenerated" is also found as "born again" '''άναγεγεννηθήναι''' ''anagegennethenai'' in 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again (regenerated), not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." <ref>See Strong's number [http://biblehub.com/greek/313.htm ''313'' '''άναγεγεννάω''' ''anagegennao'' to ''beget'', or ''bear'' (again).]</ref> Compare [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/1-13.htm the interlinear text of John 1:13], [http://biblehub.com/john/1-13.htm multiple versions of John 1:13], [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/1-13.htm and multiple commentaries on John 1:13].

This "word" of God in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+1%3A23&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 1:23] is understood by pedobaptists (baptizers of infants) as a direct reference to the doctrine of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-26&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:25-26], where Paul says,
:"Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word."
See also [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/titus/3-5.htm interlinear text of Titus 3:5] [http://biblehub.com/titus/3-5.htm multiple versions of Titus 3:5] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/titus/3-5.htm multiple commentaries on Titus 3:5].
:"he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the '''washing of regeneration''' and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior"
They proclaim that this washing of water by the word of God is the word spoken simultaneously with the action of pouring, immersing or sprinkling of water in the [[sacrament]] of [[baptism]] to wash away all sins,<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+22%3A16&version=RSVCE Acts 22:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A26&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:26].</ref> "I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16.) This is "baptismal regeneration".

The grammar and vocabulary of the Greek text of John 3:5 supports "regenerative baptism":
:"unless one is '''γεννηθή''' ''gennethe'' '''''regenerated''''' of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
Compare [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/3-5.htm the interlinear text of John 3:5]

:Ἀμὴν , ἀμὴν , λέγω σοι , ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος , οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ .

:Amēn , amen , legō soi , ean mē tis gennēthē ex hydatos kai Pneumatos , ou dynatai eiselthein eis tēn basileian tou Theou .

:Truly , truly , I say to you , if not anyone be born (generated/regenerated) of water and of [the] Spirit , not he is able to enter into the kingdom - of God .

:Truly , truly , I say to you , unless anyone is regenerated γεννηθῇ by water and the Spirit , they cannot enter the kingdom of God.

:Compare [http://biblehub.com/john/3-5.htm multiple versions of John 3:5] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm multiple commentaries on John 3:5].

Credobaptists (baptizers of believers only) absolutely reject "regenerative baptism" as completely unbiblical, a [[Paganism|pagan]] doctrine of demons, as having utterly no support whatever ''anywhere'' in the scriptures. They understand being "''born again by the word of God''" in 1 Peter 1:23 as being born again by actively hearing, understanding and believing the message of the Gospel ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9-17&version=RSVCE Romans 10:9-17]; [http://biblehub.com/hebrews/10-38.htm Hebrews 10:38]), and consciously responding to the preaching of the Gospel, by having a living, active faith in Christ alone as Lord and Savior—born again by a living conscious faith which does not require any works or sacrament of baptism by water and the Spirit in order to be born again and enter into the kingdom of God—being born again by simply having the free gift of justification unto righteousness imputed by faith, the faith of Abraham ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A21-5%3A2&version=RSVCE Romans 3:21–5:2]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A17&version=RSVCE 10:17]), a conscious faith, the gift of God alone, which is required in order to be able to believe the word of salvation and be saved by faith ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8-10&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8-10]). Righteousness is not imputed to an infant, to one who is passive, who personally does not understand, who has no faith, and does not believe. Credobaptists have no faith that "baptism doth also now save us". Only a personal faith in Christ as Lord.<ref>Compare [http://biblehub.com/1_peter/3-21.htm 1 Peter 3:21].</ref>

Righteousness is imputed '''λογισθήναι''' ''logisthenai'' (credited) unto all them that believe with active faith in God in Romans 4:11, just as it is imputed '''έλογίσθη''' ''elogisthe'' (credited) for those that believe in Him who raised up Jesus from the dead in Romans 4:22-24—just as it was imputed '''λέγουσα''' ''legousa'' (reckoned) to Abraham, and he was called the Friend of God, in James 2:23 <ref>See Strong's numbers [http://biblehub.com/greek/3049.htm 3049], [http://biblehub.com/greek/3050.htm 3050], [http://biblehub.com/greek/3051.htm 3051].</ref> See the interlinear texts of [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/romans/4-11.htm Romans 4:11]; [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/romans/4-22.htm Romans 4:22]; [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/romans/4-23.htm Romans 4:23]; [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/romans/4-24.htm Romans 4:24]; and [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/james/2-23.htm James 2:23].

The phrase "''born again by faith in the word of God''", "''born again by faith in the Lord''", "''born again by faith''", is not found in the New Testament.<ref>See for example [https://www.openbible.info/topics/being_born_again_ '''100 Bible Verses about Being Born Again''' (openbible.info)]. Being saved by faith is proclaimed. Being born of God is proclaimed. Being born by the washing of regeneration is proclaimed. Being saved by the blood of Christ is proclaimed. But no passage of scripture has the explicit phrase "born by faith" or "born again by faith". The term "born again" is not found together with the term "faith" in any text of the Bible. The term "born again" is not found together with the term "saved" in any passage of the Bible.</ref>

In summary:
*Infant baptism is a sacrament instituted by Christ that of itself regenerates, washes away sin, and saves, by being born again of water and the Spirit. [[Infant baptism#Early teachings on infant baptism|''Infant baptism is holy''.]]
*Believers' baptism is an ordinance instituted by Christ that of itself does not regenerate, does not wash away sin, and cannot save, but being born again by faith alone saves. [[Infant baptism#Nineteenth century|''Infant baptism is evil''.]]
''[[Sensus fidelium]], [[Sensus plenior]], [[Sensus Christianorum]]'', together with the scriptural readings of '''γεννηθή''' ''gennethe'', '''γεννηθήναι''' ''gennethenai'',<ref>http://biblehub.com/greek/1080.htm '''γεννάω''' ''gennao'' "regenerate".</ref> '''άναγεγεννηθήναι''' ''anagegennethenai'',<ref>http://biblehub.com/greek/313.htm '''άναγεννάω''' ''anagennao'' "beget, bear (again)".</ref> and '''παλιγγενενεσίας''' ''paliggenenesias'',<ref>http://biblehub.com/greek/3824.htm '''παλιγγενεσία''' ''paligennesia'' "regeneration".</ref> all witnessing to "regeneration", supports the first as a doctrine of God, and condemns the second as a doctrine of Satan. (See [[Invincible ignorance]].)

==[[Faith]] and works==

In [[Christianity]] an important [[Hermeneutics|interpretive]] distinction is made between two mutually exclusive Christian views of "works"''':'''
* (1) the view that defines works as every kind of human effort intended to produce a result by means of the [[corporal and spiritual works of mercy]]
* (2) versus the view that defines works as the ceremonial ritual works of [[Leviticus|levitical]] sacrifice commanded by the law of Moses as acts of obedient righteousness, in particular, circumcision.

The divergence between these two [[Semantics|semantical]] understandings of the essential meaning of the word "works" in the Bible has been the cause of much theological contention, leading to both patient [[Christian apologetics|apologetic]] and bitter [[polemic]]. Some interpret faith and works as utterly opposed to each other in [[salvation]]; others interpret them as complimentary, mutually interdependent, and inseparably necessary for salvation.

The debate clearly depends on interpreting the phrase "works of the law" as meaning "works" in general including good works, and "the law" as meaning anything prescribed by established Christian authority as a necessary requirement for salvation and for living a [[Virtue|virtuous]] life.<ref>Compare, for example, the following texts: [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A6-11&version=RSVCE Romans 2:6-11] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A21-28&version=RSVCE Romans 3:21-28] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+3%3A1-14&version=RSVCE Galatians 3:1-14] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A13-25&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:13-25] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A8-23&version=RSVCE Colossians 2:8-23] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3%3A5-25&version=RSVCE Colossians 3:5-25] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A1-22&version=RSVCE Hebrews 10:1-22] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A7-21&version=RSVCE Hebrews 13:7-21] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A8-26&version=RSVCE James 2:8-26] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A7-24&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:7-24] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-15%3A13&version=RSVCE Romans 13:1–15:13].</ref>

===Romans 1:17; Romans 3:28 and John 3:5; John 20:21-23===
"Regenerative baptism" has been condemned as a "work" that is done to merit salvation in contradiction of the doctrine of salvation ''[[sola fide]]''. Apologists for regenerative baptism respond that God, "not willing that any should perish", ordained baptism as a gift which bestows grace ''[[Ex opere operato and ex opere operantis|ex opere operato]]'' "from the work performed", not by man but by Christ working in the sacrament, for "''even'' baptism doth also now save us".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A&version=RSVCE John 3:5].</ref> Nowhere in the New Testament is anyone seen baptizing himself in the name of the Lord. Always it is others who baptize those who are baptized. All Christian churches that practice any form of baptism accept by a universal consensus the ''[[sensus fidelium]], [[sensus plenior]], [[sensus Christianorum]]'' that no one can be self-baptized but each one must be baptized by another. It is not a work performed by the baptized person in order to merit salvation. Human beings cannot save themselves.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+49%3A7-9&version=RSVCE Psalm 49:7-9].</ref> According to Catholic doctrine Baptism is a sacramental gift of unmerited mercy bestowed by the Lord, and performed on behalf of the Lord, who is the one accomplishing the work of salvation,<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17-21&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17-21].</ref> in which his blood alone works unmerited salvation in the soul of the one he himself baptizes through the faith ministry of his Church which is his body.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A4-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:4-28].</ref> This is '''[[Ontology|ontological]] salvation''', affecting the whole being of a person. According to apologists for ontological "regenerative baptism", faith in the promise of God, that man is truly born again by water and the Spirit, is exercised by the whole Church on behalf of the one baptized, through faith in the operation of the saving power of God by the washing of water with the word, that the one being baptized might be truly saved, cleansed of all unrighteousness, even if the person, adult or infant, is unconscious and in immanent danger of death during an emergency, by "baptism which saves you now".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27].</ref> The baptized person does not perform the baptism, and does not do the work of salvation in being born of water and the Spirit. It is Christ alone in his own body the Church which saves. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of ''his'' good pleasure."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm Philippians 2:13].</ref> And God is "not willing that any should perish."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9].</ref> Outside of Christ there is no salvation. Those he saves are his workmanship;<ref>[http://biblehub.com/ephesians/2-10.htm Ephesians 2:10].</ref> they are not their own work.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A19-20&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 6:19-20].</ref> The faith bestowed by the Holy Spirit of Christ in baptism <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A9-11&version=RSVCE Romans 8:9-11].</ref> is a gift which must be exercised to bear fruit in good works <ref> [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians+2%3A8&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A1-10&version=RSVCE John 15:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A15-19&version=RSVCE Romans 5:15-19].</ref> which God ordained to be done by those who are his workmanship.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A10&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A14-26&version=RSVCE James 2:14-26].</ref>{{cquote|10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with ''him'' through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; —Colossians 2:10-13 (KJV)}}

"Believers' baptism" is set forth by Anabaptists and Baptist groups such as the Mennonites, as a testimony to an already existing saving faith in the atoning sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ offered once for all time for sins on the cross,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1%3A17&version=RSVCE Romans 1:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A22-26&version=RSVCE 3:22-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A8-11&version=RSVCE 5:8-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A20&version=RSVCE Colossians 1:20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A18-23&version=RSVCE 2:18-23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+1%3A3&version=RSVCE Hebrews 1:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A12&version=RSVCE 10:12].</ref> in accordance with the doctrine that man is justified by faith apart from works of the law, the law being the ritual ceremonial law of Moses. They utterly reject as [[superstition]] the doctrine that the ritual of water baptism saves by regeneration, and absolutely repudiate the doctrine that "baptism doth also now save us".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8-9&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8-9].</ref> According to the doctrine of credobaptism, without faith there is no salvation, for "without faith no one can please him",<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11%3A6&version=RSVCE Hebrews 11:6]; see [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6%3A11-12&version=RSVCE Hebrews 6:11-12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+4%3A4&version=RSVCE Romans 4:4].</ref> and it is evident that the unborn, newborn, infant, baby, child in arms who cannot walk, cannot exercise faith in the Lord and believe in him for salvation before they have the capacity of intelligent choice to be able to recognize Jesus as Lord and choose by the unmerited power of the gift of God to have faith in him alone. Thus, according to the credobaptist doctrine, baptism does not save us, but a confession of faith working through love,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A6&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A17&version=RSVCE James 2:17], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A22&version=RSVCE 22], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A24&version=RSVCE 24] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A26&version=RSVCE and 26].</ref> and infants too young to understand are not capable of performing charitable works of love, "before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good".<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A16&version=RSVCE Isaiah 7:16] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A9&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 3:9]. This passage in Isaiah seems to be the closest reference to what some believe to be a biblical teaching on "the age of innocence", of children "below the age of innocence" who will not be condemned to hell if they die before being baptized, being already saved by the blood of Christ because they are innocent of any sin, and do not have understanding to know how to choose the good and refuse evil.</ref> According to apologists for credobaptism, salvation is declarational only, a decision, solely by a sincere profession of belief in Christ personally made by the repentant sinner.<ref>An act or a work of the will of the one confessing—a "works" salvation, of ''receiving, believing, cooperating, calling on the name of the Lord'' and ''professing'', all active verbs indicating the working of the will, a work.</ref>{{cquote|9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher.... 17 So then faith ''cometh'' by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. —Romans 10:9-14, 17 (KJV)}}By the prompting of the inward witness of the Holy Spirit convicting the sinner of sin which merits only the wrath of God and the just judgment of condemnation to hell, the need for salvation in Christ is '''acknowledged''' and '''confessed'''. This is '''declarational salvation''', '''decisional salvation'''. According to the credobaptist doctrine, by their '''repentance''' for sin and '''confessing''' faith in Christ as merciful Lord and Savior and '''receiving''' him into their heart, by which the grace of salvation is not imposed but '''received''' ''ex opere operantis'' "by the act of the doer" in "opening the door of faith to the Lord that he might come in" <ref>Compare Revelation 3:20.</ref> (a work of the will), the practice of decisional "believers' baptism" which follows upon a '''confession of faith in Christ''' is simply nothing more than a faithfully obedient symbolic act of witness to having already been saved by the received and exercised gift of repentance unto saving faith in the Lord, as a sign of being given to God, through '''professing''' faith in the single sacrifice of his Christ for sins which he offered once for all time,<ref>Hebrews 10:12; Jude 3.</ref> performed by the complete burial of full immersion in water in answer to Christ's command to be baptized, [http://biblehub.com/greek/907 '''βαπτίζω''' ''baptizo'' "immerse".] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm John 3:16].</ref> The emphasis is on '''believing''', a work of the believer in active response to God's grace, and babies are incapable of belief. They cannot outwardly profess the gift of faith in Christ alone. Parents who believe in credobaptism alone raise their children in the Christian hope that one day they too, "knowing how to refuse the evil and choose the good",<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A15-16&version=RSVCE Isaiah 7:15-16]</ref> will repent of their sinful state in Adam,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A2122&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12-19&version=RSVCE Romans 5:12-19].</ref> and choose Christ as their own personal Savior and Lord of their lives by the declarational decisional salvation of publicly professing their faith in him, and be baptized in fulfillment of his word to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins ''ex opere operantis'', on the assurance of a faith based on the fundamental doctrinal principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Some urge use of the [[sinner's prayer]] as a guarantee of genuine repentance of sin unto complete salvation by a sincere reciting of a formula of profession of sinfulness, of repentance, and of faith in Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Many of these also believe that once one has truly accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and explicitly said so from the heart with their lips,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9&version=RSVCE Romans 10:9]. This [[Analogy|strongly resembles]] the essential characteristic of a formulaic spell used by a [[magic|ritual magician]] which requires an exact recitation precisely performed with the complete intention of the heart and will to effect the intended result, or the automatic function of an applied calculation to an operation of [[Physics|physical science]]. The whole procedure has been ridiculed both by [[Atheism|Atheists]] and Protestant and Catholic apologists as regarding God as the automated "cosmic dispensing machine" which immediately dispenses the product as soon as the coin or card is properly inserted and the proper button has been activated. The proper "technique" is required of the person who repents and believes for salvation.</ref> they are eternally assured of a personal salvation which can never be rescinded, revoked or forfeited, forever. This too has been condemned as a kind of legalistic requirement of a work performed by the person in order to merit salvation, and as a departure from a simple, trusting faith for redemption and salvation; moreover, it has also been condemned as promoting [[Antinomianism]] and [[Licentiousness]].<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6&version=RSVCE Romans chapter 6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A6-10&version=RSVCE 2:6-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A12-17&version=RSVCE 8:12-17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A13-26&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:13-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A1-3&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 2:1-3], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A9-22&version=RSVCE 9-22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A4-9&version=RSVCE Jude 4-19].</ref>

Among those who profess credobaptism, the parents of children who have reached the age of understanding worry if their children have not yet decided to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in some form of public profession of faith before others.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A8-9&version=RSVCE Luke 12:8-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A11-13&version=RSVCE 2 Timothy 2:11-13].</ref>

Among those who profess pedobaptism, the parents of children who have reached the age of understanding worry if their children fail to confirm the grace of their baptismal salvation of purification and consecration by water and the Spirit shortly after they were born, through casually developing by degrees careless attitudes toward the danger of sin by not diligently living for Christ, by not confessing their serious sins and being cleansed by sacramental absolution in the name of the Lord, and by not accepting and cooperating with the power of the sacrament of Confirmation to strengthen them with the protection and assistance of the Holy Spirit to be able to bear responsibly vital witness for the Lord in the face of hostility toward Christianity. According to the Bible, it is possible for those who have been baptized to forget that they were cleansed from their sins ([http://biblehub.com/2_peter/1-9.htm 2 Peter 1:9]).

The [[Council of Trent]] made clear the Catholic position on the sacraments including infant baptism by condemning with ''[[anathema]]'' the proposition that ''the sacraments have no power to bestow grace and that faith alone suffices''.<ref>[http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/dxa.htm The Council of Trent. Seventh Session. First Decree and Canons. On the Sacraments. <nowiki>[Denzinger EN 1583]</nowiki> (clerus.org)]</ref>

If faith is an act of righteousness <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A7&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:7]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A20-26&version=RSVCE James 2:20-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+4&version=RSVCE Romans chapter 4].</ref> exercised by the believer in obedience to Christ's command "have faith in God",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/mark/11-22.htm Mark 11:22].</ref> and in obedience to his commandment "believe also in me",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/john/14-1.htm John 14:1]</ref> and if the "gift of repentance"<ref>[http://biblehub.com/acts/11-18.htm Acts 11:18]</ref> is exercised according to Peter's command to "Repent, and be baptized every one of you",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/acts/2-38.htm Acts 2:38]</ref> so that "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/romans/10-10.htm Romans 10:10b]</ref> then faith and repentance are also works, something which men do, even if only in their hearts,<ref>Compare the [[good thief]] on the cross, who only had faith in Jesus, but acted by explicitly professing his faith, an act that was followed by the promise of Christ, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Jesus did not say this to him before he made his act of faith. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lluke+23%3A39-43&version=RSVCE Luke 23:39-43]. Proponents of credobaptism emphasize that this man was not baptized but was saved, demonstrating that faith not baptism saves. Catholic theology sees in this an evidence for "baptism of desire" in which the souls of those who are deprived of all opportunity to avail themselves of the ''ordinary'' means of entering the kingdom of God through salvation by water baptism commanded by Christ Jesus in John 3:5 are not deprived of salvation by ''extraordinary'' means provided by the Father through Christ, whose Spirit knows the hearts of men. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A12-16&version=RSVCE Romans 2:12-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A23&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+2%3A9-16&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 2:9-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+4%3A12-13&version=RSVCE Hebrews 4:12-13]. When critics object that if baptism is not necessary in some cases it should not be required because it obviously is not absolutely necessary to be saved, they are told that extraordinary circumstances are met with extraordinary means by the mercy of God when the ordinary means ordained for salvation are not possible, and that the ordinary means of salvation by baptism is commanded by Christ in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=RSVCE John 3:3-5] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A19&version=RSVCE Matthew 28:19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A16&version=RSVCE Mark 16:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24%3A47&version=RSVCE Luke 24:47]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A2138-42&version=RSVCE Acts 2:38-42].</ref> and man is saved by the work of faith and repentance unto salvation. It is not a work of man, but the work of God <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:13].</ref> in all who do not resist him but cooperate with him in working out their own salvation with fear and trembling before him as Lord.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A12-13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:12-13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+6%3A1&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 6:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+1%3A11&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 1:3-11].</ref> "Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall" 2 Peter 1:10.<ref>Compare Hebrews 6:4-8 and 1 John 1:9.</ref> Most Christians see in this and other similar passages of the New Testament a refutation of the doctrine that the human will is totally depraved and dead and utterly inert and unable to either resist or cooperate with the grace of God unto salvation.

On the basis of this concurrence of belief in the enabling work of God in the souls of mankind, those theologians engaged in interfaith dialogue seek common ground for unity among Christians by means of clarification of meanings and definitions of terms that may differ superficially in speech but not differ at all in the substance of their genuine [[semantics|semantical content]], in a spirit of honest ecumenism, even while many remain cautious and alert against the danger of [[syncretism]] by any suggestion of compromise with the purity of the Gospel as they understand it and the context of the whole of the teaching of the Bible, each of them granting the possibility of developing perhaps a more profound grasp of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Sincere Christian believers are very careful of [[specious reasoning]] which appeals to [[Cafeteria Christianity#Proof texts|proof texts]] to promote a doctrine which deviates from the whole of the total context of the Bible. They carefully search the whole of the scriptures to see if it is so, like the Beroeans of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17%3A10-12&version=RSVCE Acts 17:10-12].

==Where do unbaptized departed infants go?==

Among believers in the necessity of [[baptism]] for [[salvation]] there is no universal consensus on the fate of dead infants who have not been baptized, the souls of those whom the New Testament Greek text of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A15-16&version=RSVCE Luke 18:15-16] calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/1025.htm Strong's number ''1025'' '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' "infant".] Compare the [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/18-15.htm interlinear text of Luke 18:15]. Compare the [http://biblehub.com/luke/18-15.htm parallel versions of Luke 18:15]. </ref> There are four conflicting doctrines:
*They go to [[Hell]].
*They go to [[Limbo]].
*They go to [[Heaven]].
*They are [[Annihilationism|Annihilated]]
===They go to Hell===
This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mark/16-16.htm Mark 16:16] "'''He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.'''" (KJV) An unborn or newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, who does not and cannot understand, does not believe. And that little child shall most certainly be damned by dying because that child did not believe and was not baptized. "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5. Therefore, according to a literalist "plain, simple and obvious" reading of the Bible ''[[sola scriptura]]'', unbaptized infants are damned.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A25-29&version=NRSVCE John 5:25-29.]</ref>

[[John Calvin]] in his ''[[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]'' <ref>[https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/calvin-institutes-christianity/ Institutes of the Christian Religion (biblestudytools.com)]</ref> states most clearly that only those [[Predestination|predestinate]] souls [[Eternal security (salvation)|elected irrevocably]] to the blessed glory of salvation by the irresistible grace of the Sovereign Will of God alone will attain heaven and stand in the presence of Almighty God. All others, men, women, children, babies, infants, the unborn in the womb, who die, are destined by their unregenerate wicked nature of total depravity for the ruin of hell apart from the presence of God, because "''Thou art'' of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity". [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/habakkuk/1-13.htm Habakkuk 1:13]{{cquote|Original sin, then, may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh. This corruption is repeatedly designated by Paul by the term sin (Gal. 5:19); while the works which proceed from it, such as adultery, fornication, theft, hatred, murder, revellings, he terms, in the same way, the fruits of sin, though in various passages of Scripture, and even by Paul himself, they are also termed sins. The two things, therefore, are to be distinctly observed--viz. that being thus perverted and corrupted in all the parts of our nature, we are, merely on account of such corruption, deservedly condemned by God, to whom nothing is acceptable but righteousness, innocence, and purity. This is not liability for another's fault. For when it is said, that the sin of Adam has made us obnoxious to the justice of God, the meaning is not, that we, who are in ourselves innocent and blameless, are bearing his guilt, but that since by his transgression we are all placed under the curse, he is said to have brought us under obligation. Through him, however, not only has punishment been derived, but pollution instilled, for which punishment is justly due. Hence Augustine, though he often terms it another's sin (that he may more clearly show how it comes to us by descent), at the same time asserts that it is each individual's own sin. And the Apostle most distinctly testifies, that "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," (Rom. 5:12); that is, are involved in original sin, and polluted by its stain. Hence, even infants bringing their condemnation with them from their mother's womb, suffer not for another's, but for their own defect. For although they have not yet produced the fruits of their own unrighteousness, they have the seed implanted in them. Nay, their whole nature is, as it were, a seed-bed of sin, and therefore cannot but be odious and abominable to God. Hence it follows, that it is properly deemed sinful in the sight of God; for there could be no condemnation without guilt. —''[[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]'', Book 2, Chapter 1, Section 5.8 Definition of original sin.<ref>[https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/calvin-institutes-christianity/book2/chapter-1.html Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 1 (biblestudytools.com)]</ref>}}Thus, the [[ordinance]] of baptism avails nothing for those who are not already appointed unto salvation and do not believe, "and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/13-48.htm Acts 13:48 (KJV)], "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_thessalonians/5-9.htm 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (KJV)]. [[Saint Paul]] says in his ''Epistle to the Romans'', chapter 9:{{cquote|18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will ''have mercy'', and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed ''it'', Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor? 22 ''What'' if God, willing to shew ''his'' wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As he saith also in [[Book of Hosea|Osee]], I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, ''that'' in the place where it was said, unto them, Ye ''are'' not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. —Romans 9:18-26 (KJV)}}

===They go to Limbo===
This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/2-15.htm Romans 2:15]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/3-21.htm 1 John 3:21]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/20-12.htm Revelation 20:12]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] Christian theologians, unable to reconcile the mercy and justice of a good and loving [[God the Father]], and the necessity of baptism according to [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm John 3:5], had recourse to the word of Jesus in [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/12-48.htm Luke 12:48] in which those who did not know or hear or understand [[the Gospel]], and had personally of themselves done nothing either good or bad, would receive a light punishment, that loss solely due to the defect of the [[original sin]] of [[Adam]], placing them on the very outer edge (Latin ''limbo'' "edge") of hell, the state of simply being deprived for all eternity of the [[beatific vision]] of God enjoyed forever by the saved [[saint]]s in heaven, but also of being spared the torment of the wicked. Among Catholic theologians this uncertain doctrine of limbo has remained a philosophical and theological speculation only, and has never been approved as an official doctrine or dogma of the Catholic Church.

According to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A14-15&version=RSVCE 14-15] everything in hell (Hades) and everything in it will finally and irrevocably suffer burning in the lake of fire.{{cquote|10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet ''are'', and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.<ref>Compare [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/14-11.htm Revelation 14:11] "''And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night''".</ref>

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. —Revelation 20:10 and 14-15 (KJV)}}This would certainly include all of the innocent unbaptized children speculatively relegated by some Medieval theologians to a proposed state of the lightest possible suffering on the very outer edge (''limbo'') of hell.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A14-15&version=RSVCE Matthew 10:14-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A22-24&version=RSVCE 11:22-24]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A12&version=RSVCE Luke 10:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A47-48&version=RSVCE 12:47-48].</ref> However, some point out that Revelation 20:13 says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." Thus, none of the dead remained in hell when death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and according to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A15&version=RSVCE Revelation 20:15], only those not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire.

According to the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' '''1261''', in an affirmation of the [[Council of Trent]] on the question of the fate of unbaptized infants:{{cquote|'''1261''' As regards ''children who have died without Baptism,'' the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: ″Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,″ [''Mk'' 10:14; cf. ''1 Tim.'' 2:4.] allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church′s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.<ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church, Chapter One: The Sacraments of Christian Initiation, Article 1: The Sacrament of Baptism, VI. The Necessity of Baptism, '''[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1261 1261]''', Libreria Editrice Vaticana, English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' for the United States of America copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica'' copyright 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. page 321. ISBN 1-57455-109-4 </ref>}}

===They go to heaven===
This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/18-14.htm Matthew 18:14] "'''Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.'''" (KJV) —"for to such belongs the kingdom of God." (RSVCE) "of such is the kingdom of God" (KJV) [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/18-16.htm Luke 18:16], [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/19-14.htm Matthew 19:14], [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mark/10-14.htm Mark 10:14].

"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mark/10-15.htm Mark 10:15]. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/18-17.htm Luke 18:17].

===They are [[Annihilationism|Annihilated]]===
[[Annihilationism]] is the [[Specious reasoning|specious belief]] that the souls of all the [[Salvation|unsaved]] will either
*(1) be completely annihilated (extinguished, made to be completely extinct) immediately after death, or
*(2) will continue in hell, either conscious or unconscious, until after the [[Last Judgment]], when they will finally be resurrected and be totally extinguished and cease to exist.
[[Apologetics|Apologists]] for this doctrine have recourse to "proof texts" in the Old and New Testament, to all passages in the Bible which speak of "destruction" and "destroy" and "death" and "dead" relating to the bodies, souls and spirits of the wicked and of all infants who are unbaptized.

Their position is not only opposed by [[apostolic tradition]] but also by all [[Exegesis|biblical exegetes]] and [[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)|textual critics]] who point out that the Hebrew/Aramiac Old Testament and Greek New Testament manuscripts do not witness to annihilation of the wicked, but to their utter ruin instead, a ''conscious'' ruin of suffering and torment from which they cannot recover or escape.<ref>[https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/is-annihilationism-biblical/ What Christians Want To Know - Is Annihilationism Biblical? ''by'' Jack Wellman (whatchristianswanttoknow.com)]</ref> For example,
*in the Old Testament [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+145%3A20&version=KJV "all the wicked will he destroy (desolate '''שמד''' ''shamad'')" Psalm 145:20 '''שמד''' ''shamad''.] See [http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8045.htm Strong's number ''8045''. '''שמד''' ''shamad'' to desolate, bring to nought, overthrow, throw down, crush, consume.]
*in the New Testament [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+1%3A9&version=KJV "destruction (ruin ὄλεθρον)" 2 Thessalonians 1:9 '''ὄλεθρον''' ''olethron''.] See [http://biblehub.com/greek/3639.htm Strong's number ''3639''. '''ὄλεθρος''' ''olethros'' ruin, doom, destruction, death.] This word ólethros ("ruination") does not imply "extinction" (annihilation). It emphasizes the consequent loss that goes with complete "undoing." See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_thessalonians/1-9.htm multiple commentaries on 2 Thessalonians 1:9]
Ezekiel 18:20-32 clearly says "the soul that sinneth, it shall die ('''מות''' ''mooth'')" and also says that iniquity is "ruin" ('''מכשול''' ''mikshowl''), not annihilation. Psalm 89:40 says, "Thou has broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin ('''מכשול''' ''mikshowl''). They are utterly destroyed, dead ruins. This word translated as "die ('''מות''' ''mooth'')" is the same word in Genesis 2:17 "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die ('''מות''' ''mooth'')."<ref>See Strong's numbers [http://biblehub.com/hebrew/4191.htm 4191 '''מות''' ''mooth''] and [http://biblehub.com/hebrew/4383.htm 4383 '''מכשול''' ''mikshowl''].</ref> Adam and Eve did die that very day, not physically, but they did die and were dead that very same day, even while their bodies remained alive for a long while afterward, and while they were dead they suffered from that day forward, before they finally turned to dust (Genesis 2:17; 3:19).

In the New Testament, the [[Prodigal Son]] was dead and lost when he departed and was absent and away from his father and brother, "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-24.htm Luke 15:24]. The rich man who died and saw the dead Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham and spoke to Abraham was not annihilated, and he was still conscious as he suffered torment in the flame of hell ([http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/16-23.htm Luke 16:23]) "for I am in anguish in this flame" (Luke 16:24). The following verses illustrate the biblical meaning of a dead soul.
:“Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead ('''νεκρὸς''' ''nekros''),” [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/revelation/3-1.htm Revelation 3:1]. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead ('''νεκρῶν''' ''nekrōn''),” [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/ephesians/5-14.htm Ephesians 5:14]. “You hath He quickened who were dead ('''νέκρούς''' ''nekrous'') in trespasses and sins,” [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/ephesians/2-1.htm Ephesians 2:1]. “Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead ('''νεκρῶν''' ''nekrōn''),” [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/romans/6-13.htm Romans 6:13].
Souls that are completely "dead ('''νέκρούς''' ''nekrous'') in trespasses and sins" ([http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/2-1.htm Ephesians 2:1]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/colossians/2-13.htm Colossians 2:13]), and are not "written in the book of life", will experience the torment of absolute ruin in the lake of fire, "which is the second death ('''θάντος''' ''thanatos'')" (Revelation 20:10, 14-15) and
:"shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they shall have no rest day nor night", "and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever", "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 14:10-11; 20:10, 14-15) "into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not extinguished" (Mark 9:43-44, 46, 48).<ref>See Strong's numbers [http://biblehub.com/greek/3498.htm ''3498'']; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3499.htm ''3499'']; [http://biblehub.com/greek/3500.htm ''3500'']; [http://biblehub.com/greek/2288.htm ''2288''].</ref>
Clearly their souls are dead (Ezekiel 18:20) and destroyed (Psalm 145:20), but dead souls (Genesis 2:17) that are utterly ruined (destroyed) can experience torment (Genesis 2:19; Luke 16:23), so therefore, ''according to the Bible'', they are not annihilated, neither immediately after death nor after the final judgment of being cast into the "everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:46) of torment in the lake of fire.

Compare [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/1_thessalonians/5-3.htm 1 Thessalonians 5:3 '''ὄλεθρος''' ''olethros'' ruin, doom, destruction, death] and [https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-3.htm multiple versions of 1 Thessalonians 5:3];
also [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/1_timothy/6-9.htm 1 Timothy 6:9 '''ὄλεθρος''' ''olethros'' ruin, doom, destruction, death] and [https://biblehub.com/1_timothy/6-9.htm multiple versions of 1 Timothy 6:9].

The words "annihilate" and "annihilated" are not found in the [[King James Bible]], nor are the words "extinguish", "extinguished", "extinct". However, "annihilated" does appear fifty times in seven other translations, generally with the meaning of "ruined, useless", as seen from the context.<ref>[https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/words/Annihilated ‘Annihilated’ in the Bible - 50 times in 7 translations (bible.knowing-jesus.com)]</ref> See the section "[[Infant baptism#Universalists|Universalists]]" below.

If an infant is not baptized, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man ([http://biblehub.com/greek/5100.htm '''τις''' ''tis'' "anyone"]) be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm John 3:5 KJV.]

==Baptism for the dead==
===Mormon doctrine: baptismal salvation for the unbaptized dead===
[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] practices surrogate water-baptism for the salvation of the souls of the unbaptized dead, including infants, that they might be saved.<ref>[https://www.mormonwiki.com/Mormon_Beliefs:_Baptism_for_the_Dead Mormon Beliefs: Baptism for the Dead (mormonwiki.com)]</ref> This is based on their doctrinal interpretation of [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_corinthians/15-29.htm 1 Corinthians 15:29]{{cquote|Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? (KJV)}}

Mormon Apostle Mark E. Petersen explained this in just two short sentences. He says that a just and righteous God would not punish the millions of people who have lived on the earth who never had the opportunity to learn of the gospel and baptism.
:“The Savior himself declared that he was God of both the living and the dead, ‘for all live unto him’ (Luke 20:38), showing that he regards them all in the same light.”
Baptism for the dead gives those who would have embraced Christ and His Church the opportunity to do so after death. Mark E. Petersen went on to explain this fact:
:People who die without having been taught the gospel may yet be saved in the presence of God. This is made clear in the scriptures. But, how? That is the question. Jesus preached to the dead. The Apostle Peter taught this in his day, saying that after the death of the Savior, and while his body lay in the tomb, the Lord, as a spirit, went to the realm of the dead and there preached to the spirits of the people who previously had lived on the earth (1 Peter 3:18–20). Then he gives us the reason for this preaching: “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (1 Peter 4:6).

==="They" not "We"===
Those who deny that baptism on behalf of the dead was ever part of Christian doctrine and apostolic tradition point out that Paul says, "''they''", in reference to others who believe in the resurrection of the dead. He does not say, "Else what shall '''we''' do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are '''we''' then baptized for the dead?" He does not say this. If baptism for the dead had been Christian doctrine they reason that Paul would have included it as a practice that "we" Christians perform on behalf of the dead as a [[Corporal and spiritual works of mercy|work of mercy]]. There is no evidence from the first centuries of Christianity in the writings of the [[Apostolic Fathers]], the [[Ante-Nicene Fathers]], and the first seven [[Ecumenical council]]s of any mention of the practice of being baptized for the dead as being part of Christian [[doctrine]] and [[dogma]]. According to the [[Orthodox Church]] and the [[Catholic Church]] this practice was never a part of [[Apostolic Tradition]]. No Protestant denomination practices baptism for the dead. It is unknown in the [[Church of Christ]]. For this reason the Mormon doctrine of baptizing for the dead is seen by many as not Christian.

==Universalists==
According to the doctrine of [[Universalism]] all beings in hell and the lake of fire will eventually be fully and finally purified and cleansed, and all of those who have been damned, including Satan and the fallen angels will attain at last the joy of heavenly beatitude in the presence of a loving God, "who is not willing that any should perish".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_peter/3-9.htm multiple commentaries on 2 Peter 3:9]</ref> Not all universalists believe in hell, however, but they do believe in universal salvation.<ref>See the following articles:
*[https://www.wayoflife.org/database/fireoutofhell.html Taking the Fire Out of Hell, David Cloud, Way of Life Literature (wayoflife.org)]
*[https://www.christianity.com/theology/other-religions-beliefs/what-is-universalism-and-is-it-compatible-with-christian-faith.html What Is Universalism? Is it Biblical and Should Christians Believe Universalist Philosophy? Universalism is the belief that ultimately everybody will be saved. There are several different stripes of Universalists. Russell Moore -Moore to the Point (christianity.com)]</ref> Among congregations of Unitarian Universalists,<ref>See
*[https://www.uua.org/beliefs/who-we-are/history/faith Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith, A pamphlet by Mark W. Harris (uua.org)].</ref> most (not all) have child dedication ceremonies for infants and children.<ref>[https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-do/celebrations/births Baptism / Child Dedication in Unitarian Universalism - Unitarian Universalist Association (uua.org)]</ref> According to Universalist teaching, neither baptism nor avoidance of sin is ultimately regarded in any way as absolutely necessary, since all will eventually be blessed. The individual is completely free to do whatever he or she decides to do.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A20-28&version=KJV 1 Corinthians 15:20-28]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A9-11&version=KJV Philippians 2:9-11].</ref> The wicked learn to their sorrow that they were in serious [[error]], but they also discover to their joy that what seems to be their punishment in full accordance with divine justice and mercy is a [[Criminal rehabilitation|rehabilitation]] of corrective purification of love, to finally make them fit and clean and fully worthy of perfect communion with God.

According to this teaching, at the moment of death, the character of the unbaptized soul of a dead infant is not irreformably forever fixed and permanent, destined to an eternity in hell, but is ultimately by the divine will of God infallibly and irrevocably destined finally to eternal life with God. The whole of this doctrine has much in common with the teaching of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Monism]] and [[Cosmic Humanism]].

Universalism was early condemned as ''anathema'' by the [[Ante-Nicene Fathers]] and the [[Ecumenical council]]s of the universal catholic orthodox Church of the East and the West as a pernicious heresy.
*[https://www.christianforums.com/threads/universalism-was-condemned-and-defeated-in-553-a-d-at-the-the-fifth-ecumenical-council.8125771/ Universalism Was Condemned and Defeated In 533 A.D. At The Fifth Ecumenical Council - Christian Forums (christianforums.com)] —"''It's done, finished, Over etc. The issue has already been resolved. There's nothing left to debate.''"
*[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3812.htm Second Council of Constantinople A.D. 553 - Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org)]
*[https://www.patristics.co/patristic-universalism/ Patristic Universalism, By Ambrose Andreano (patristics.co)] - ''an Orthodox view''
*[https://www.tentmaker.org/books/prevailing/upd21.html Chapter 21. Unsuccessful Attempts to Suppress Universalism (tentmaker.org)]
*[https://christianuniversalist.org/resources/articles/salvation-conspiracy/ The Salvation Conspiracy: How Hell Became Eternal, by Ken R. Vincent - Christian Universalist Association (christianuniversalist.org)]
Compare the following Bible passages:
:[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+66%3A22-24&version=KJV Isaiah 66:22-24]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+12%3A2&version=KJV Daniel 12:2]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+4%3A1&version=KJV Malachi 4:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A29-30&version=KJV Matthew 5:29-30]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A31-32&version=KJV 12:31-32]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18%3A6-9&version=KJV 18:6-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A46&version=KJV Matthew 25:46]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A29&version=KJV Mark 3:29]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+9%3A44-48&version=KJV Mark 9:44-48]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A36&version=KJV John 3:36]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+1%3A9-10&version=KJV 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6%3A2&version=KJV Hebrews 6:2]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A15&version=KJV 1 John 3:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A6-7&version=KJV Jude 6-7]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A13&version=KJV Jude 13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+14%3A9-11&version=KJV Revelation 14:9-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+19%3A1-3&version=KJV 19:1-3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10-15&version=KJV 20:10-15].
On the Reformation principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]'' these passages of scripture cannot be legitimately contradicted or ignored.

:"everlasting contempt", "it shall not be forgiven", "everlasting fire", "hath never forgiveness", "eternal damnation", "shall not see life", "the wrath of God abideth (remaineth μένει) on him",<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A36&version=KJV "abideth (remaineth μένει)" John 3:36] '''μένει''' ''menei''. See [http://biblehub.com/greek/3306.htm Strong's number ''3306''. '''μένω''' ''meno'' to stay, abide, remain.]</ref> "punished with everlasting destruction (ruin ὄλεθρον)",<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+1%3A9&version=KJV "destruction (ruin ὄλεθρον)" 2 Thessalonians 1:9] '''ὄλεθρον''' ''olethron''. See [http://biblehub.com/greek/3639.htm Strong's number ''3639''. '''ὄλεθρος''' ''olethros'' ruin, doom, destruction, death.] ólethros ("ruination") does not imply "extinction" (annihilation). It emphasizes the consequent loss that goes with the complete "undoing."</ref> "eternal judgment", "no murderer has eternal life abiding (remaining) in him", "everlasting chains", "the vengeance of eternal fire", "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever", "they have no rest", "her smoke rose up for ever and ever", "tormented day and night for ever and ever", "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched", "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive ''his'' mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned." [http://biblehub.com/multi/mark/16-16.htm Mark 16:16 KJV]

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." [http://biblehub.com/multi/john/3-5.htm John 3:5 KJV]

==[[Religious Society of Friends]] (Quakers)==
[[Quaker]] belief teaches that the goal of all life is to experience God's indwelling presence. Participation by any of their members in sacramental activities with others is not forbidden, but it is not a part of their spiritual discipline or ''[[praxis]]''. Baptism is most often referred to by Friends as sensing the presence of God's Spirit, and experiencing an inner change as the result. This can be quite profound. Sometimes the term "illumination" is used, and "inner light" or simply having "the light".<ref>See the following:
*[https://classroom.synonym.com/the-quaker-view-on-baptism-12085718.html The Quaker View on Baptism, By Dell Markey (classroom.synonym.com)]
*[http://goinsidetogreetthelight.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Helen-Meads-Quaker-meaning-of-Light-_-JT-work_.pdf The Quaker Meaning of Light (and James Turrell's work), by Helen Meads goinsidetogreetthelight] pdf. —''The meaning of going inside to greet the Light.''
Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A27&version=RSVCE Colossians 1:27] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/colossians/1-27.htm multiple commentaries on Colossians 1:27]</ref> The Bible is not the principle rule of faith and practice for Friends, but rather what each of them personally discerns to be the guidance of the inner light of God's living Presence.

==Discernment of Truth: Seekers, Converts, and Christian Apologetics==

Independent seekers of truth who are not Christians, but are attracted to the person of the historical [[Jesus Christ|Jesus of Nazareth]], struggle with [[discernment]] of what is right in accordance with [[reason]] and their [[conscience]]. This is especially true for those persons with an unborn or newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, faced with the question of the eternal soul and the [[Last Judgment]].

Those who have recourse to [[Christian apologetics]] for help are offered arguments from scripture and tradition to help them decide. Those who are persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and become converts to [[Christianity]] will rely on what seems to them to be the truth of the matter of infant baptism according to the various and differing apologists they read and hear, with whom they agree or disagree. Some of them may or may not be found to use [[specious reasoning]], which may or may not be exposed as fallacies by the arguments of other apologists discussing infant baptism. Some use [[polemic]]. Accordingly they will choose to become a Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, Independent, non-denominational, or a [[Cafeteria Christianity|"cafeteria Christian"]], and, on the basis of their own personal judgment, on their own personal authority, as being answerable solely to their own conscience alone, they decide for themselves what to believe about the matter. Any one of them can become closed-minded and firmly entrenched in their [[opinion]] because of [[Sloth (sin)|mental and spiritual sloth]]. There are those who seek to be more and more informed about the matter and sometimes change their minds. Then, after careful discernment and much "soul-searching" with prayer to God for guidance, they often move to a different [[church]] or [[denomination]] as being more in accord with [[truth]] and the [[Bible]], fully assured that they are doing what is right. Their friends and associates may strongly disagree, some even warning that they could possibly, or most certainly will, go to [[hell]] unless they [[Repentance|repent]] their decision. There are men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, deceivers and deceived,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/2_timothy/3-8.htm 2 Timothy 3:8]</ref> those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A15-18&version=NRSVCE 2 Peter 3:15-18.]</ref> Credobaptists have become pedobaptists and pedobaptists have become credobaptists. Baptists have become Catholics and Orthodox, and Catholics and Orthodox have become Baptists.

Catholics rely on [[Petrine Primacy]], the authority of the [[Pope]] and the whole of Scripture and Tradition as the one deposit of the divine faith authentically interpreted by the Catholic [[Magisterium]], and they accept infant baptism.

The Orthodox rely on the organic whole of Orthodox ''praxis'' in accordance with the authority of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and the writings of the Church Fathers and saints of the faith consistent with what they understand to be the tradition of the Apostles and Prophets in harmony with the Scriptures and the Sacraments which lead to [[Theosis]], and they accept infant baptism.

Protestants rely on the [[Five Solas]] to discern the truth about infant baptism according to the Bible. Some rely on the principle that what is not explicitly forbidden is permitted, and they accept infant baptism. Some rely on the principle that what is not explicitly commanded is forbidden, and they condemn infant baptism.

[[Cafeteria Christianity|Cafeteria Christians]] and [[Cafeteria Catholic]]s decide for themselves if infant baptism is right.

Others decide for or against infant baptism based on the principle of ''[[sola spiritu]]'', relying solely on what they discern to be the will of the [[Holy Spirit]] and their own prayerful reading of the Bible apart from any other guidance or authority. They may or may not believe that an unborn baby has a soul. They may or may not believe that baptism saves the soul of a newborn infant or a child of the "age of innocence".

== Baptism of aborted infants ==

The word "''[[fetus]]''" is simply the Latin term for "little one", a baby unborn or just delivered, newborn, a little child. In the United States, during the sixties, seventies and eighties, [[Pro-life]] nurses attending patients pregnant with unwanted babies were sometimes summarily dismissed and banned for immediately baptizing [[Abortion|aborted babies]] in the delivery rooms of those hospitals and clinics whose boards of directors supported policies allowing the murder of babies, by procedures officially called "women's health care" but unofficially constituting deliberate infanticide, and the removal of these babies from the wombs of their mothers as disposable garbage and "biological waste", some of them still alive when they are ground up with those already dead, others tossed aside in the soiled utility room to die. Today many nurses who have discovered that they are participating in an abortion, and that the baby removed from the mother is still alive, baptize the still living baby, before it is assigned to die of total neglect, deliberately and according to policy, by the staff of the facility or clinic; and then they quit, and publicly denounce the practice. There have been doctors who believe in infant baptism who, after aborting the pregnancy, and finding that the baby has survived the procedure and is still living, will baptize the child before ordering the staff to allow it to die of total neglect, and will absolutely forbid anyone to care for it under threat of punitive [[litigation]] in reprisal against anyone who makes any attempt to do so without permission.

== Conscience and the defense of Christian doctrine regarding infant baptism ==

[[Saint Peter]] counselled restraint and respect with courtesy regarding defense of Christian doctrine in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A15-16&version=KJV 1 Peter 3:15-16].

[[Saint Paul]] said the same in [http://biblehub.com/2_timothy/2-25.htm 2 Timothy 2:25] and [http://biblehub.com/romans/12-14.htm Romans 12:14], and counselled patience toward those weak in the faith in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14%3A1-15%3A7&version=KJV Romans 14:1–15:7] and especially to practice avoidance of those who argue about words in [http://biblehub.com/1_timothy/6-4.htm 1 Timothy 6:4]; [http://biblehub.com/2_timothy/2-23.htm 2 Timothy 2:23].

According to the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' paragraph '''1776''' <ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Three: Life in Christ, Section One: Man's Vocation Life in the Spirit, Chapter One: The Dignity of the Human Person, Article 6: Moral Conscience, '''[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1776 1776]'''</ref>{{cquote|Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment.... For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God.... His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. [''GS'' 16.] <ref>"GS". The [[Second Vatican Council|Vatican II]] document Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ''Gaudium et Spes'' 16.</ref>}}

Jesus himself relied on the [[intuition]] and conscience of his hearers to discern the truth of doctrine:{{cquote|16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or ''whether'' I speak of myself. —John 7:16-17 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/7-17.htm multiple commentaries on John 7:17]</ref>

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. —Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/7-8.htm multiple commentaries on Matthew 7:8]</ref>

Judge not and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. —Luke 6:37 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/6-37.htm multiple commentaries on Luke 6:37]</ref>}}

Saint Paul said{{cquote|Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. —[http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/4-5.htm 1 Corinthians 4:5 (KJV)]}}

The Prophet Isaiah also said{{cquote|20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto ''them that are'' wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! —[http://biblehub.com/isaiah/5-20.htm Isaiah 5:20-21 (KJV)]}}

And the angel of Revelation said to John{{cquote|He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. —[http://biblehub.com/revelation/22-11.htm Revelation 22:11 (RSVCE)]}}

==See also==

[[Christian mysteries]]

[[Theosis]]

[[Schism]]

[[Heresy]]

[[Invincible ignorance]]

[[Ex opere operato and ex opere operantis]]

[[Bogomil: Bogomilism]]

[[Inquisition]]

[[Burning at the stake, Biblical pretext for]]

[[Protestant Reformation]]

[[Logical fallacy#Argument from silence|Logical fallacy: Argument from silence]]

[[Great Apostasy]]

[[Salvation: declarational salvation and ontological salvation]]

[["Catholic Heresies and Traditions Adopted and Perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Course of 1600 Years"]]

[[Eternal security (salvation)]]

[[Substitutionary atonement]]

[[Quakerism and the Bible]]

[[Old Catholic Church]]

[[Society of St. Pius X]]

[[Non-denominational church]]

[[Ecumenical Movement]]

[[Antinomianism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

[https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2015/02/17/born-experience-baptismal-regeneration/ '''“Born Again” Experience or Baptismal Regeneration?''', Robert Arakaki - Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (ancientfaith.com)]

[http://www.bible.ca/history/philip-schaff/7_ch07.htm '''History of the Christian Church. Chapter VII. The Sacramentarian Controversies''' (bible.ca)] —"''All the Reformers retained the custom of infant-baptism, and opposed rebaptism (''Weiderfaufe'') as a heresy. So far they agreed with the Catholics against the Anabaptists, or Catabaptists as they are called, although they rejected the name, because in their view the baptism of infants was no baptism at all.''" §''102 The Anabaptist Controversy. Luther and Huebmaier''.

[https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/a-brief-defense-of-infant-baptism/ '''A Brief Defense of Infant Baptism''', Kevin DeYoung (thegospelcoalition.org)] —"''...within two centuries of the Apostles we have clear evidence that the church was practicing infant baptism. If this had been a change to long-standing tradition, we would have some record of the church arguing over this new practice. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that Christians began to question the legitimacy of infant baptism.''"

[https://www.reasonablereligion.com/single-post/2017/11/18/Infant-Baptism---Gods-Ordinance-The-Danger-of-the-Doctrine-of-the-Anabaptists#! '''Infant Baptism - God's Ordinance, The Danger of the Doctrine of the Anabaptists''', John D. Palmer - Reasonable Religion (reasonablereligion.com)] —"''...the Doctrine of the Anabaptists, in excluding Infants from Baptism, and shutting them out of the visible Church, makes all Infants to be of the visible Kingdom of Satan, and so leaves us no well-grounded hope of the salvation of any dying in infancy; and is therefore to be justly abhorred as false Doctrine.''"

[https://baptistcourier.com/2015/08/happens-children-die-infancy/ '''What happens to children who die in infancy?''' David Roach - The Baptist Courier (baptistcourier.com)] —"''Evangelicals have expressed a range of views on the eternal destiny of children who die in infancy. Among Southern Baptists, most agree Scripture suggests aborted babies — along with others dying in infancy and individuals with severe mental disabilities — go to heaven. But pastors and theologians disagree on various related issues from the clarity of Scripture on children’s salvation to whether infants bear guilt before God.''"

[https://www.atotheword.com/doctrine-of-baptisms/baby-baptism-baptize-newborn-baby '''Baby Baptism - Infant Baptism Facts - Should I Baptize My Newborn Baby?''' (atotheword.com)] —"''Baby baptism or infant baptism is not biblical. Jesus didn’t teach or practice it and none of his disciples did either. Nowhere in Scriptures, will you find any instructions concerning baby baptism. It’s not there!''"

[http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/infant_baptism_exposed.htm '''INFANT BAPTISM EXPOSED!''' - Jesus-is-Savior.com] —"''Infant baptism appeared in the Christian church history around the Second Century, coming from the pagan influences of Baal Worship...''"

[https://how2becomeachristian.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/infant-baptism-and-baptismal-regeneration-exposed-its-history-and-harm/ '''Infant Baptism and Baptismal Regeneration Exposed! Their PAGAN Origin and Deadly History. INFANT BAPTISM EXPOSED! It’s History and Harm''' - Petersburg Gospel Center (how2becomeachristian.wordpress.com)] —"''Infant baptism is not a Scriptural doctrine. It is not found in the Bible. There is not one example in the Bible of one single baby being baptized. We will show that baby baptism is of pagan origin.''"

[https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/doctrine#baptism '''Lutheran Doctrine - Frequently Asked Questions - Baptism FAQs''' (lcms.org)] ''Topics include''
:What is the Lutheran view of Baptism and its purpose? Does Baptism save? Who can be godparents/sponsors? How does faith play a role in infant Baptism? What is the history of infant Baptism? What about infants who die before being baptized? Why do Lutherans use the “sprinkle” method for Baptism? Do I have to be re-baptized to join the LCMS? Does the LCMS baptize children of unchurched parents? Why baptize infants?

[https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/infant... '''Infant Baptism or Believer's Baptism: Which is Correct?''' Author: Brittany (equippinggodlywomen.com)] (This article displays large blank areas between its several brief statements. After accessing this site, keep scrolling down to read each piece of the article in its entirety.) —"''Early Church Fathers: Not a single church father found infant baptism unlawful, though of course, everyone had their own opinion on when the “optimal” time to be baptized would be. There was never any serious controversy surrounding it until the 16th century.''"

[https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/position-statements/baptism/should-babies-be-baptized '''Should Babies be Baptized?''': Text of a sermon by Rev. David Feddes (crcna.org)] —"''If you support infant baptism because you believe in baptismal regeneration, you need a sounder basis than that. By the same token, if you oppose infant baptism because you oppose the idea of baptismal regeneration, you need a better reason for opposing it.''"

[https://pjmedia.com/trending/nurse-i-witnessed-the-infanticide-ralph-northam-defended/ '''Nurse: I Witnessed the Infanticide that Ralph Northam Defended''', by Tyler O'Neil (pjmedia.com)] —"''The nurse also recalled Christ Hospital's ‘comfort room,’ unveiled in December 2000. Rather than taking live aborted babies (an [[oxymoron]] term to avoid the truth of [[infanticide]]) to the soiled utility room to die, the nurses would take the babies to the comfort room. ‘This was a small, nicely decorated room complete with a First Foto machine in case parents wanted pictures of their aborted babies, baptismal supplies if parents wanted their aborted babies baptized, and a foot printer and baby bracelets if parents wanted keepsakes of their aborted babies. There was also a wooden rocker to rock these babies to death,’ Stanek testified."

[https://clinicquotes.com/my-hardest-night-a-nurses-story '''My Hardest Night: A Nurse's Story''' - Tech. By Barbara. From Vital Signs: the Journal of the Friendship Pregnancy Center fall 1991 (clinicquotes.com)] —"''In the end, I lost. We were not going to try to resuscitate this baby. So, I did the only thing I could do. Dipping my index finger into sterile water and placing it on his head, I baptize the child.''"

[http://walkinginthedesert.com/2016/05/06/the-salvation-of-aborted-babies-who-dies-without-baptism/ '''Salvation of Aborted Babies who Die Without Baptism''', by Tony Acosta (walkinginthedesert.com)] —''Includes discussion of "Baptism of Desire" and "Baptism of Blood" and if the aborted child is a martyr because of the faith like the Holy Innocents whom Herod killed specifically because he was attempting to kill Jesus.''

[https://www.liveaction.org/news/catholic-abortionist-once-baptized-aborted-children-at-planned-parenthood/ '''Catholic Abortionist Once Baptized Aborted Children at Planned Parenthood''', by Sarah Terzo (liveaction.org)]

[https://owlcation.com/humanities/Which-Religions-Practice-Baptism-Which-Do-Not '''Which Religions practice Baptism and Which do not?''', Beverley Byer (owlcation.com)]

[https://carm.org/annihilationism '''Annihilationism''' - CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (carm.org)] — ''Founder and site host Matt Slick provides extensive list of multiple articles on the topic of annihilation of the soul.''

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Article completed 25 December 2019 by Michael Paul Heart on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem

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