Taking the Threat to Heart

  

The Obamacare mandate for religious institutions to provide healthcare services that violate their beliefs is more serious than most people realize. The focus has been on Catholics and contraceptives, but that’s only the beginning. Since the country as a whole doesn’t hold to the no-contraception doctrine of the Catholic church, the outrage is somewhat muted. What many don’t understand is that it is merely the opening salvo for a full-scale attack on Christianity. Note I said “Christianity,” not religion, because… Read more »

Obama: Israel Is the Real Problem

  

In the midst of everything else the Obama administration is doing wrong, there’s the ongoing saga of how he’s handling the Middle East. Earlier last year, he spoke glowingly of the inappropriately named Arab Spring. What a boon this was going to be for the world. Now that Egypt has held its elections, the results have not been encouraging. Egypt is even holding nineteen Americans for trial who are primarily aid workers. I was hardly the only one who warned… Read more »

The Fine Art of Twisting Scripture for One’s Own Purposes

  

Normally, I would be pleased for a president to attend a prayer breakfast, as President Obama did yesterday. But it would have been better if he had just been an attendee listening to someone with a genuine Biblical message. Instead, he was the speaker, and he used the occasion to say Jesus would approve of his policies, specifically his proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy. He used the Scripture that says more is required from someone who has been… Read more »

The Court Gets One Right

  

Whenever the Supreme Court makes a proper decision, it’s worthy of mention. That mention is doubly worthy when the case involves religious liberty. Earlier this week, the Court concluded, 9-0, that a church in Michigan had the right to determine whether or not to fire one of its workers who went against the beliefs and/or practices of the church. The worker in question had sued for discrimination. Every specific case is unique, but the principle upheld in this decision is… Read more »

Winning the Semantic Battle

  

I comment frequently to my students that if you win the semantic battle, you can often win the war. How you frame yourself or your belief system/cause is extremely important, and if you can create an image that is positive, while not being dishonest, you can draw people to your side. Unfortunately, that also works for those with less integrity. Margaret Sanger, for instance, the great promoter of eugenics and lowering the birth rates of those she deemed “human weeds,”… Read more »

A Tale of Christian Martyrdom Well Told

  

I used my Christmas break to do some reading for a new course I’m developing: The American Republic, 1789-1848. The ideas and resources for the course are coming together. One of the books I’m definitely planning to use for this course is An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears by Daniel Blake Smith. As a Christian conservative who deeply appreciates the Biblical grounding of our earliest generations, I’m always alert to those who may try to undermine… Read more »

Reaffirmations

  

New Year’s resolutions are primarily a joke, especially the ones about losing weight. So I don’t bother with them. For Christians, they should be unnecessary. My life already was bought with the highest price imaginable on the Cross. My response to that outpouring of divine love should be a constant resolve/resolution to put Him first in all things and to follow His lead as Savior and Lord of my life. Consequently, I have no new resolutions to make, but as… Read more »