After God created the world and all that is in it, He gave it to mankind to cultivate and guard (Genesis 2:15). God gave us power over all that He made and put us in control of His creation (Genesis 1:26, 28). Unfortunately, unlike God, we are selfish and tend to misuse both power and…
Category: Current Events
Why Do Gingrich and Obama Agree on the Supreme Court?
Last week, after three days of tough argument before the Supreme Court, the President created a stir when he said that it would be “unprecedented” for the Supreme Court to overturn his national healthcare plan. Obama further questioned the legitimacy of “unelected” and “activist” judges. Conservatives went crazy! How could the President criticize the authority…
Grace Notes: American Grace: How Religion Divides And United Us (Liberty Magazine)
David Pendleton reviews Robert D. Putnam’s and David E. Campbell’s new book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. EXCERPT: “A leading, perhaps even the primary, reason that America manages to be both highly religious and highly religiously diverse is that most Americans do not believe that those with a different religious faith are damned,” conclude…
Five Lessons on Loving Your Enemies
By Jason Hines – Because of situations in my own life I have been repeatedly returning to the concept of loving your enemies. I have wrestled with this issue publicly (I have preached a sermon on this subject twice) and at times in this space, but I have yet to share here my spiritual thoughts…
Timeline: Obama Administration Actions Affecting U.S. Religious Freedom | Christianity Today
Excerpt: “The past year has marked a shift in religious liberty debates, one that previously centered on hiring rights but became focused on health care requirements. When President Obama first took office, faith-based groups were especially concerned that organizations that discriminate in hiring based on religious beliefs would become ineligible for federal funding. In 2011,…
Is Santorum Right? How to Revive American Protestantism (and Why It is So Important)
By Michael D. Peabody Like it or not, the GOP Primary season seems to be winding down. Mitt Romney is emerging as the clear winner, and while there may be some chance for another candidate to take the flag, it is “mathematically unlikely.” So let’s debrief. More than any other time in recent history, specific…
Hands Off! Religious Liberty Furor Over Birth Control (Liberty Magazine)
The real sleeper issue here, as it is with much of the political warfare of the present day, is money. Liberty magazine has consistently warned church organizations against taking state money. We have from the very beginning of the Faith-Based Initiative of the previous administration (an initiative still alive and kicking against the First Amendment establishment prick) warned that it is inimical to church-state separation for public monies to be used to advance any particular faith view. So it would seem a little ungrateful to the public purse for a church to object when the state applies generally applicable regulations to an operation it might tend to see as its pocket money project.
Beren Academy boys hoops coach Chris Cole still hopeful TAPPS reschedules state semifinal to accommodate Sabbath | Dallas Morning News
EXCERPT: HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas agency has turned down a request by an Orthodox Jewish school in Houston to reschedule a championship game potentially involving its boys’ basketball team because the game time falls during the Sabbath. The Beren Academy advanced to the semifinals in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’…
Dangerous Redefinition: Candidates Recast Role of Religion in American Life
By Jason Hines – I would like to say that Franklin Graham’s appearance on “Morning Joe” was unique in this political season. On Tuesday, Graham was asked whether he thought President Obama was a Christian. Graham said he has to take President Obama at his word, but that he did not know whether Obama was…
Santorum’s Martyr Complex (SLATE)
EXCERPT: Is Rick Santorum suffering for his faith? One of his advisers suggested to the Washington Examiner‘s Byron York that he is, and that Mitt Romney is getting absolution. “Why is Mormonism off limits?” York quotes the adviser as asking. “We’re having to spend days answering questions about Rick’s faith, which he has been open about….