Over the weekend, Glenn Beck held a rally on the National Mall at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The political left, of course, hated every minute of it. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, though, was unimpressed for other reasons and posted this very thought-provoking article on the event. It’s so chock full of great quotes that if I tried to sample them, I’d likely end up pasting the entire article, so head over to russellmoore.com and read the entire article yourself. I will, though, at the risk of “ruining” it for you, quote his closer, because it’s a good one:

It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pessimistic. Jesus will build his church, and he will build it on the gospel. He doesn’t need American Christianity to do it. Vibrant, loving, orthodox Christianity will flourish, perhaps among the poor of Haiti or the persecuted of Sudan or the outlawed of China, but it will flourish.

And there will be a new generation, in America and elsewhere, who will be ready for a gospel that is more than just Fox News at prayer.

Feel free to comment below.

A U.S. district court issued a preliminary injunction on Monday stopping federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, in a slap to the Obama administration’s new guidelines on the sensitive issue.

Read more here.

In his June 18 Presidential Proclamation of Father’s Day, President Obama had this to say in part:

Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step father, a grandfather, or caring guardian. [emphasis added]

Do you think Mr. Obama, in praising “two fathers” refers to a situation of same-sex partners, or the late 80′s situation comedy with Paul Reiser, “My Two Dads“?

Our rapid moral decline in America, I’m afraid, leaves us only to guess.

WASHINGTON (BP)–You can’t keep a good state down. Proving that its state motto, “Equality Before the Law,” truly applies to all its residents, Nebraska has again stepped up to take the lead against the horrific practice of late-term abortion and its main proponent, LeRoy Carhart.

By the overwhelming margin of 44-5, Nebraska’s unicameral legislature passed a bill April 13 that bans abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, except when the abortion would preserve the life or physical health of the mother. Gov. Dave Heineman signed the bill into law that same day.

Read more here: http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=33107

Check out this headline and news story.

Nebraska First to Allow Women to Sue for Psychological Injury After Abortion

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:

“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.

A panel of Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 2321 which allows “the state Board of Education to adopt guidelines for the nonsectarian, nonreligious academic study of the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, culture and politics.”

“This lays some ground fire to back these teachers who would like to refer to the Bible,” said bill author Rep. Todd Russ. “It’s intended to be an additional tool for presenting our heritage and the history of America and the value system of America and where it came from.”

I appreciate Rep. Russ’ description of “ground fire.” It reminds me of the line from the song “Pass It On” that says it only takes a spark to get a fire going. May this Bible teaching fire continue to spread throughout our country.

“The uproar over Tim Tebow’s Super Bowl ad with his mother, who is expected to talk about how she ignored medical advice to have an abortion when she had complications during her pregnancy, shows the underlying hypocrisy in the so-called abortion ‘debate’: There can be no debate, no conversation at all.

“A simple ad with the theme ‘Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life’ has now been deemed by the National Organization for Women ‘extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.’” Read the rest here.

So let’s see: GoDaddy’s SuperBowl ads each year don’t create a reaction from radical feminists, but the pro-life Tim Tebow ad is a bother. Can’t remember who first pointed out to me this contradiction, but it’s true.

Hat tip: JR

You may have read about the push to encourage OU fans not to sing “… and the home of the SOONERS!” instead of the proper ending of the National Anthem. Here is the actual story about the controversy in The Oklahoman.

I normally don’t like to stop to kick every barking dog, but this issue requires a stand. You can count me with David Boren and the fans who want this phenomenon to stop because:

1) It’s silly copy-cat-ism at its worst. The Atlanta Braves started this years ago (which makes more sense as they are the Braves, by the way, and only add an ‘S’ on the end) so it’s not even original to us;

2) There’s something unpatriotic about messing with our national anthem, and we Okies are the first ones to get upset when someone tinkers with the words of the pledge of allegiance. Why does this not upset us?;

3) The so-called tradition is brand-new. It did not begin until a decade ago; and

4) Finally, the fans who do it subconsciously realize it’s inappropriate. How do I know? Because during the ballgame directly following 9/11, the entire stadium, I vividly recall, sang as one “… and the home of the brave.”

Let’s keep celebrating America the home of the brave, fellow Sooners!