| September 30 2005 | Sexual
liberation's next goal: 'intergenerational (adult-child) sex'
The recent steady stream of female public school teachers molesting male pupils
in their charge gives witness to a change in the perception among "postmoderns"
of the morality of introducing children to sex rather than shielding them from
it as long as possible. Dr. Paul is correct: There's no
logical argument against the "ancient Greco-Roman" and samurai practices of pederasty
if the evolution philosophy (we are but tadpoles on our way) is true and the biblical
worldview (we are creations of a loving God who desires our fellowship) is not. I
remember the '60s sexual revolution. If precedence holds, Time, Newsweek,
or/and both should soon have a cover story asking whether there's actually a shift
in public perception on this controversial "sexual minority."
September 29 2005 | National
Catholic Reporter poll finds divides between Vatican, US Catholics
No duh...? I guess it would have seemed gratuitous
to also study support for birth control among American Catholics?
September 28 2005 | Europe's
'paganization' is outpacing its Islamization, but either way...Europe is dying
And America's liberals are embarrassed at how relatively "backward' we are
compared with Europe, how much harder we must work to make betrter impressions
in Paris, Brussels, and Barcelona.
September 27 2005 | British
publisher releases highly condensed '100-minute' version of the Bible
Are you telling me Cliff Notes didn't already have this covered? (Actually,
at 224 pages, the Cliff
Notes Bible is ponderous in comparison.)
September 26 2005 | Movie claims
C. S. Lewis - J. R. R. Tolkien friendship was frequently strained
Our interest here is not the tabloid-journalism penchant for scandal, of course,
but positive interest in anything that promotes the persons of Lewis and Tolkien,
the likes of which is rare and getting rarer. Frankly I have to wonder how "destructive"
the men's disagreements could be if we'd never been heard about that angle after
all the biographies done about them. But I'm guessing "occasional spats"
doesn't have as much box-office appeal as "bitter and personal rows."
September 25 2005 | Scholar
Huston Smith's book calls for restoring Christianity's great tradition
Though the octogenarian seems to be on the way to a more orthodox position, which
is encouraging, he never let's anyone get the impression anyone or -thing is in
charge but himself. He's become a critic of modernism (secualar humanism, liberalism)
with some incisive insights, but methinks he has a way to go yet before he transcends
it.
September 24 2005 | Hollywood
going all out to market family-friendly movies through churches
For every thing there is a season, turn, turn.
September 23 2005 | Interfaith
group's public school Bible textbook designed to avoid disputes
Is anything produced by a committee that includes serious Christians likely to
pass the muster of the liberal establishement led by the ACLU, the National Education
Association, and staffers at Howard Dean's Democratic Party headquarters? We'll
see. It's hard to imagine that any book that presents any
religion other than secular humanism in positive light is going to be accepted
by these groups...without disputes, at least.
September 22 2005 | Pew
study: Jordan the most anti-Jewish, Russia the most pro-Christian nation
The study also found that in Lebanon, which has a large Christian population,
sentiment was nearly unanimous (99 percent) unfavorable to Jews, with 91 percent
holding favorable views toward Christians. "The poll found decreasing support
in Islamic countries for Al Qaida and suicide bombings. Jordan was the exception...the
level of Jordanian support for Bin Laden rose to 60 percent, compared to 55 percent
in 2002," World Tribune.com reported.
September 21 2005 | Dominoes
Pizza founder says his Christian ministry most important thing
Though this was not my motivation for linking this article today...doesn't the
cynical, condescending attitude expressed by the USAToday interviewer toward
Christianity or any faith perfectly signify why so many people suspect and even
loathe much of the mass media these days?
September 20 2005 | Jewish
think tank fellow hails conservative Christians' humane contributions I
think what Horowitz says of evangelical Protestants also applies to many Catholics
and Orthodox Christians who believe what their creeds affirm and shape their lives
around them. This is actually two important articles—the
first giving needed recognition to Christians' contributions to the current human
rights cause and affirming the correctness of being involved in "politics" for
religious reasons, and the second providing needed guidance on how to become even
more effective by remembering the love of neighbor keystone of our faith and the
fundamental that everyone—even our ideological adversary—is an icon
of the eternal and all-holy God. I think that when we seem
to forget those first principles it's because we're preaching to the choir, trying
to stir greater conviction on the part of those already at least partially "in"
the believers' networks. Such evangelism is important, but we must never forget
(as Pat Robertson recently did) that others are scrutinizing our words to see
if they match our professed love of Christ. A difficult but vital aspect of the
Christian life.
September 19 2005 | Pope
Benedict XVI encouraging Catholics to read the Bible devotionally The
1953 classic film Martin Luther makes a point of showing the only Bible
in a Catholic parish being chained to the altar or lectern, which most Protestants
of the time interpreted as meaning the church was against the laity freely accessing
the Scriptures. And though Catholic apologists explained that the relatively rare
book was being protected against theft, they also allowed that there was caution
against laypeople making their own interpretations of the Scriptions. Those
days are long gone, with Catholic study editions of the Bible long since on the
market, and one of the liturgical reforms of Vatican II is to declare, after the
reading of the Gospel in the mass, "this is the word of God." Catholics
have been participating in and even hosting Bible studies since at least the 1970's.
Still, for any conservative Christians of Eastern Orthodox or Protestant communions
(who have always had a stronger tradition of individual devotional reading of
Scriptures), who may have feared that Benedict XVI might be a conservative of
the wrong kind, this is reassuring and encouraging.
September 18 2005 | Scholars
consider the roles of Christians in slavery and its abolishment I
would have preferred more treatment of the first question, why were evangelicals
liberal then and conservative now. But the answer is rather apparent to any who
has eyes to see. Liberalism has finally owned up to its original purpose, promoting
a secular humanism that brooks nothing supernatural, and those who care to preserve
anything have to turn into conservatives.
September 17 2005 | Federal
study of sexual behavior contradicts claims of the gay movement For
decades the gay movement line has been that they represent 10 to 15 percent of
the population and this makes them a legitimate "minority" entitled
to civil rights. Conservative spokespersons have countered that the actual percentage
of homosexuals in the general population is more like three to five percent, which
is confirmed by this study.
September 16 2005 | Vatican
moving to investigate homosexuality and heresy in US seminaries Though
the review of seminary admissions and doctrines is overdue, it seems (if this
report is accurate, and considering the source that's a huge "if") the Vatican
is looking for sinless candidates only for the priesthood. If the church is a
hospital for sinners but ten years of sexual abstinence isn't good enough, I suspect
that the church powers are still sowing to the wind. First they under-reacted
to priestly abuse, and now they're over-reacting rather than getting personal
(or "pastoral") to deal with homosexuality. This seems to say the church
has no hope to offer homosexuals, and this, if maintained, will rebound as tragedy.
September 15 2005 | Praeger:
the feminization of our society is another legacy of the secular Left I
had hoped Praeger's latest wouldn't be the best link available yet again. Foiled
again! This should be controversial even in conservative
circles, but debate is good.
September 14 2005 | Columnist
Daniel Pipes: Christianity is dying out in its birthplace This
situation has been worsening for several generations and appears likely to become
more dire before—if ever—it gets better.
September 13 2005 | Newsweek
refers to PC anti-hate-speech laws as the new blasphemy laws These
exercises in political correctness are liberal subversions, trying to undermine
the West's tradition of freedom of expression. Though I deplare blasphemy and
profanity, and also disrespect anyone for ethnic, ratial, or religious reasons,
using such objects to curtail freedom of expression is misguided. They're like
"hate crimes" laws. All crimes are based on hate and trying to grade them on some
leftist scale diminishes every other type of violence upon people and property. Their
enforcement is inevitably subjective and under the influence of political considerations.
Already some courts have held "homosexual practices are sinful" to be
hate speech, a long way from the western tradition of only ad hominem speech being
actionable in the courts (personal, by-name attacks). It's not hard to foresee
criminal charges for calling Islam a religion that's not peaceable after these
laws become official. What's debatable today will become criminal then. Democracy
cannot survive such mischief.
September 12 2005 | Scottish
Catholic Church opposes trend to replace Christian calendar I've
seen this tend illustrated many times in recent years and am glad that a representative
of the most powerful Christian community has expressed objections. And I'm especially
pleased with their description of this walk down the political correctness lane
as "yet another attack
on Christianity by unrepresentative people," though I'm unsure what "unrepresentative
people" means. I do find it typical of the secular-liberal mindset (which
seems frightening similar whether seen in Scotland, Canada, or California) to
consider the feelings of pagans of two millenia ago more worthy of respect than
those of their contempoary Christian neighbors.
September 11 2005 | Research
finds only 16% of Americans base moral decisions on the Bible I
took the lead from Barna's story, but fear the headline is misleading, as, read
in a different light, the same research found that the Bible is by far the most
significant single influence on Americans' moral decision making. Barna's model
is at least a bit flawed, as it doesn't take in how much indirect biblical
influence there may be on, for example, Catholics. Though they may say they base
their morality on church teaching (which isn't mentioned and is ripe for serious
study), church teaching is generally consistent with biblical teaching. Still,
as one who spent my "real" career as a teacher of a biblical worldview,
it's disheartening to see that so few people—even serious Christians—see
it or the need for it.
September 10 2005 | Russian President
Vladimir Putin, convert, visits Orthodoxy's Holy Mountain I
have to admit...on a slow news day I figured I'd get a plug in for the Mountain
of Silence. Maybe George W's influence has made some effect
on his buddy Putin.
September 9 2005 | New
York 'public' community college sued for denying religious speech One
more time: "public" doesn't include Christians in these liberals' perspective.
To them, Christians are nonpersons or worse, "obnoxious persons."
September 8 2005 | Wal-mart
praised for rising to the occasion during Katrina catastrophe Credit
where credit is due. San Jose, where I live (the United
State's tenth-largest city), was entered late in the game by Wal-mart and still
has only two Wal-marts so far as I know, and I have been in them only a few times.
But as I travel the country I'm impressed by the company, "the cut of its
jib" as oldtimers used to say. An important distinction that I've never seen
mentioned elsewhere is that it serves towns and small populations that no other
national department store chain would locate in, not even the Woolworth's of the
day. I think the same Wal-mart spirit is the basis of what's reported in today's
linked article. I doubt whether most computer owners would
have one if not for Microsoft's populist approach to enterprise, but I wonder
how many more wouldn't have one if there hadn't been a Wal-mart to buy it and
provide its peripherals at "popular" prices.
September 7 2005 | US Court
decisions have 'removed religion as a basis of gaining asylum' Who
would have supposed that a United Nations officer would be a better friend of
people persecuted for their religious stands than United States courts? This
is as pointed an evidence of the liberal capture of the Federal courts as we're
likely to get. The liberal attack on religion, supplanting it by skin color, ethnicity,
and lately, sexual preference, has been underway for decades and is bearing fruit
not only in the campaign for "gay marriage" but for the elimination
of freedom of conscience, also known as freedom of religious persuasion.
September 6 2005 | Evangelical
leaders seek to tell secular media 'What is an Evangelical?' Good
luck. Some of us have been trying to get this definition "out there"
for well nigh on 40 years. And while you have your dictionary
hat on, could you tell me again, what "fundamentals" are?
September 5 2005 | 'Leading
British scientist' says stem cell potentials exaggerated for politics At
least I think I'm reading the real significance of this rather oblique piece correctly.
It's one of those reports that seems to circle the field but tries to avoid landing,
but at least there's enough admission of problems with stem cell claims here to
make it worth noting. Leftist (or anti-life...same difference?) scientists have
been telling "parliamentariants" that stem cell research can provide
miracle cures for sundry ailments, when in fact there's scant to no evidence that
this is true. And just why shouldn't "science" be as driven to be ethical
as medicine? Good question. Maybe Hitler's
scientists can shed some light on it?
September 4 2005 | New
book describes Hollywood and the media as the 'liberals' last resort' More
confirmation of what, to those paying attention, is already obvious. But all the
same, we need such confirmation lest we start doubting our own senses
September 3 2005 | Christian
hurricane relief efforts build; concerned Americans' record giving The
only comment needed is, Lord have mercy on all the people suffering because of
'Katrina.'
September 2 2005 | Columnist
thinks intelligent design cause unlikely to win in Supreme Court Though
not deep, this quick recap of the issue gets to all of the highlights and, in
predicting a mass exodus from the state schools, holds out hope.
Related:
The
UK's Guardian smears God-fearing people
AND
The New York Times admits that two-thirds of Americans support teaching
of creationism is tax-supported schools
September 1 2005 | Polls show voters
increasingly think Democrats are anti-religion, anti-morals How
could the pro-abortion party not be anti-religion and anti-morality? Of
course abortion is not the only moral issue that concerns religious people. But
it should be the first, because the way we regard and protect the most vulnerable
segment of our population is the most basic, as it affects and reflects our national
morality and spiritual health.
Related: Poll:
Fewer see Dems as religion-friendly
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