The Pledge of Allegiance is once again in the news. David Habecker, a council member in Estes Park, Colorado, has decided not to stand to say the Pledge because he has a problem with the addition of “under God” to the original version. As a result, there is a recall effort under way. Habecker would be on more solid ground if he had refused to say the Pledge because of its socialist ori [...]
Almost every day now, especially during the Christmas season, we’re reading stories about how anything religious is being cut out of history. Censoring Christianity from culture is not a new phenomenon. What has been going on for more than 30 years and known only by a few is finally coming to light thanks to the Internet. It’s no wonder that most young adults have little knowledge of A [...]
A story is told that during the days of the Cold War a two-car automobile race took place between the United States and the former Soviet Union. An American newspaper reporter described the result of the race this way: “American car beats out Soviet competitor.” The Russian newspaper reported the same race from a slightly different perspective: “Soviet car finishes second; Americ [...]
Rev. Joyce Hollyday, an associate conference minister for the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ and co-pastor of Circle of Mercy congregation in Asheville, North Carolina, is an advocate of “diversity” and “pluralism.” She doesn’t just mean ethnic and cultural inclusion within the body of Christ following Paul’s admonition that there is “ [...]
“World records are being smashed by men who have been taking anabolic hormones [steroids]. Some athletes see them as a new secret weapon. . . . It’s the hottest–and quietest–argument in sports today.” A 2004 editorial about Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and breaking baseball’s cherished records with the help of a little juice, right? Wrong! This opening paragraph a [...]
In the 1950s, the John C. Winston company, later to become part of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, published “Adventures in Science Fiction,” a series of juvenile hardcover novels that made up a collection of thirty six books. Some of the world’s greatest science fiction writers got their start with the series: Arthur C. Clarke, best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben Bova, Lester Del Rey, Don [...]
The Ghost of Antonio Gramsci By Gary DeMar For a long time American Vision has been calling on Christians to understand that social change comes from the bottom up, not the top down. This does not mean that the top should be ignored. There were converts in “Caesar’s household” (Phil. 4:22). Political involvement is God-ordained and “ministerial” (Rom. 13:1, 4), not re [...]
As promised, I am offering a few comments on the Discovery Channel special “Rameses: Wrath Of God Or Man?” [The Discovery Channel Challenges the Bible] Dr. Kent Weeks claims he has found the firstborn son of the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Well, sort of. Throughout the program we heard, “I believe he could well be. . . . He thinks he’s found the skull. . . . It’s believed to be the skull of the son of [...]
Leftist pundits continue to raise fears about a Taliban-type Christian theocracy. The evangelical and moral vote scared the daylights out of a cabal of frenzied popping jays who have had a near monopoly on the flow of editorial comment over the last 20 years. There’s even a “theocracy watch” website for those who care about such things. Maureen Dowd, Garry Wills, Bill Moyers, and [...]
Just what we need, another prominent evangelical making it theologically easier for Christians not to get involved in the political process. Franklin Graham begins his article on “Christians must focus on God, not politics” with the obligatory acknowledgment that he has “always used whatever influence and platform [he] had to urge everyone to vote.” Then comes the inevitabl [...]
Have you seen the Wrath of God advertisement? It’s a one-page ad that has been appearing in big-market, big-name magazines like Time. There are no pictures, just a one-line web address: www.wrathofgod.info. At the bottom of the ad, the reader is dared to check it out. When you do, you will find a slick video presentation depicting the ten plagues on Egypt. The Flash video ends with these que [...]
Most of us don’t remember that Arlen Specter was considering a run for the presidency in 1995.[1] Specter ran for president because he didn’t like the “exclusionary attitudes” of Christian conservatives, especially their pro-life agenda. He believed then, like he believes now, that the Republican Party is “so captive to the demands of the intolerant right that we end up re-electing a president on [...]
On Thursday, September 24, 1789, the First House of Representatives voted to recommend—in its exact wording—the First Amendment of the newly drafted Constitution to the states for ratification. The next day, Congressman Elias Boudinot from New Jersey proposed that the House and Senate jointly request of President Washington to proclaim a day of thanksgiving for “the many signal favors of Almighty [...]
Maryland public school students are in a rude historical awakening this Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving means thanking anyone or anything except God. I suppose that thanking the devil would pass Public School muster as long as the kiddies didn’t ask about his origin since such an inquiry might lead them back to God. These public school children, who are being denied the right and historical reality of [...]
Dear Bill, I don’t have time at the moment to address all of the claims in your response, so I will take up only a few of them. You assume that I am an advocate of school vouchers. I am not. I am for the abolishment of government mandated and compulsory taxpayer funded education. Having said that, given how I am forced to pay taxes to fund the education of other children while my wife and I [...]
One of the more pleasurable parts of what I do at American Vision is traveling around the country and meeting people who are working out the implications of the gospel and the kingdom of God. It’s heartening to hear how the ministry of American Vision is having an impact. The most rewarding experiences I have is meeting with young people who are part of the growing Christian private, church, and h [...]
Chantal Stepney is a senior at the University of Georgia. An article she wrote appeared in the November 16, 2004, issue of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She takes issue with anti-Bush types on campus who want to flee America for a better life in Canada where they can get “free health care.” Some of her friends thought that finding a piece of land in Namibia to start a family in Afr [...]
Similar counsel was given to Michael Corleone from his father in the Godfather saga. It turned out to be very good advice. It looks like Arlen Specter is going to get the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is not as bad as it seems. Specter got the behind-closed-door message that his pro-abortion obstructionist philosophy would not be tolerated. Having a bad guy as chairman can h [...]
Those familiar with recent history will remember that one of the attack groups that got Chief Justice Roy Moore removed from office was the Southern Poverty Law Center located in Montgomery, Alabama. Richard Cohen, a lawyer for the SPLC, led the charge against Moore. After their success in getting Moore removed, the SPLC, the ACLU, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the s [...]
Garrison Keillor, the soft-spoken, folksy host of “A Prairie Home Companion,” has shown his dark side with comments he made during a speech at Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and during his radio monologue the Saturday after the election. According to a transcript of the show, Keillor said, “I am now the chairman of a national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to take the rig [...]
