March 2010

¹ Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me.

² In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

⁴ And whither I go, ye know the way.

⁵ Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; how know we the way?

⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.

–Jesus Christ as quoted in the Gospel of John, chapter 14

It’s Friday, and for many families that means a run to the local movie rental store. With Blockbuster promoting ad nauseum the new Twilight saga DVD release, New Moon, it’s past time for me to post a thoughtful critique from The Christian Research Journal of the series for Christians to consider, especially ones with teen friends and family attracted to the novels and movies.

Read the article here.  It says in part:

“The Twilight love saga, then, may be the ultimate female coming-of-age fantasy that our biblically illiterate culture can offer, and, as such, this captivating story evokes dangerlously false expectations in young women that no man could ever satisfy. In fact, given that female sexuality is quite naturally rational, far more so than young male sexuality, the comparison that comes to mind is that Twilight is to female sexuality what pornography is to male sexuality.”

In this recent TV interview, when asked about the Executive Order related to abortion and the health care bill, self-proclaimed pro-life Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak says:

Christian author and spokeswoman Joni Eareckson Tada offers two non-negotiables in the health care debate in this sage piece. It begins:

“A few years ago, I helped write a book, How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World, about the bioethical challenges in the 21st century. Today, one of our foremost ethical challenges is how to accomplish health care reform in a way that respects most Americans’ traditional religious values.

“As a quadriplegic for the past 43 years, I have had more than my fair share of doctors’ visits and medical treatments. I know the difference between good care and bad care, and I can tell when a physician has my best interests at heart. I am thankful that, for the most part, my doctors have always treated me as the individual I am rather than just another patient in a wheelchair.

“For these reasons — my faith and my experience with medical care — I am very concerned about two specific items that currently exist in proposed health care legislation:
– Federal funding of abortions
– Rationing of care.”

I think she is spot on in this and the rest of her piece, which you read here at a link I found on Christianity Today‘s main website.

Her book, How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World, by the way, is one of the clearest, most concise ethical guides for Christians I have ever read. It covers hot topics like abortion, cloning, birth control, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, and uses the lens of the Christian view of the world to guide the reader. I highly recommend it, as well as any of her writings.

“ The following is a primer on abortion laws in American history:

American Colonies
U.S. adopts English Common Law, which forbade abortion. The procedure was ruled a misdemeanor if performed prior to quickening (feeling life) and a felony if performed after quickening.

Early 1800s
Discovery that life begins at fertilization and not when the mother ‘felt life.’
1860 Eight-five percent of the then-present U.S. states had laws that made all abortions a felony.

1869
British Parliament passes the Offenses Against the Persons Act, making all abortions a felony.

1967
Colorado and California legalize abortion.

June 1970
New York becomes the 16th state to allow abortion by passing the first Abortion on Demand Law, which legalized a 24-week limit. Other states’ laws were very restrictive, allowing abortion only in instances of rape, incest, danger to mother and suspected fetal handicap.

Jan. 22, 1973
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down all state abortion laws and legalizes abortion in all 50 states for the full nine months of pregnancy in the Roe v. Wade decision. The right to abortion falls under the right to privacy, which the court deemed “broad enough to encompass a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.” Late-term abortions need the approval of a licensed physician to judge the procedure necessary to protect the mother’s health.

Read the rest of this entry »

In an interview with USAToday, author Charles Murray says too many people go to college today. Read the interview here.

From Act I Scene II of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare:

Soothsayer
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.

“God and Tea,” a new piece posted on The American Conservative blog discusses how there is a rising tension between social conservatives and libertarians.

During the 2008 Presidential primary season there was a visible tension between Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Since then, Huckabee has gone on to attack Congressman Paul on occasion, and criticize CPAC for becoming too libertarian. Now evangelical leaders are expressing their unease with the libertarian leanings of the Tea Party Movement.

Read the full article here. I tend to think Fusionism died along with President Reagan. Now, not only do I not see how we can all get along, I don’t see why we would.

According to The Economist: “Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising.”

Blogging about the story, Southern Baptist’s Dr. Al Mohler states, “In other words, even as the spread of ultrasound technology has greatly aided the pro-life movement by making the humanity of the unborn baby visible and undeniable, among those determined to give birth only to baby boys, in millions of cases the same technology has meant a death warrant for a baby girl in the womb.”

Read the rest here.

One of my favorite public intellectuals, Dr. Allan Carlson, does it again with this masterpiece:

Eighteen months of severe recession have brought to the surface old truths that many chose to forget when times seemed to be good: the business cycle has not been eliminated; finance capitalism is by its nature unstable; politically-connected corporations commonly escape market discipline; and there is nothing conservative about the “creative destruction” of a capitalist economy.

Indeed, a curious aspect of political labeling in America has been the conflation of the word “conservative” with the interests of the great corporations. The problem is an old one. As one commentator noted in the mid 1930’s, the label “conservative” had then been thoroughly “discredited,” twisted by the “apostles of plutocracy” into a defense of “gamblers and promoters.”

Read more about third ways and a family-centered economy here.

Hat tip: JR

Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view.

-William F. Buckley, Jr.

According to this new analysis from the Southern Baptist’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the President’s health care plan advances abortion, in that:

• funding goes to Planned Parenthood;
• subsidies go toward insurance plans that cover elective abortions; and
• there is no language in the bill that speaks to barring federal funding of elective abortions.

This even after the Stupak amendment had passed and made clear the will of Congress. This is an absolute outrage!