The title for this article is taken from Os Guinness’s underrated and underread book The Gravedigger File.[1] There are numerous Christians who believe that a personal, private faith is all the gospel requires. Guinness described this as “The Private-Zoo Factor.” Much of “1925–1975 Evangelicalism”[2] was based on the idea that Christians could make peace with the world by doing the church thing an [...]

I can remember when there were only three television networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC and their local affiliates. Reception was so bad in our area that we had a tough time pulling in the NBC signal at night. This meant that I never saw an episode of Bonanza or Star Trek until I went off to college. But during the day, the NBC signal (channel 11 in Pittsburgh) came in as clearly as the other two. [...]

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, speaking at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on March 15, 2005, weighed in on the latest Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty. If you recall, a majority of the justices (5–4) ruled that the death penalty could not be applied to anyone under the age of 18. The March 1 ruling was based on “evolving notions of decency.” The logic of the r [...]

The libertarian humorist P. J. O’Rourke says, “When you think of the good old days, think ‘dentistry.’” The greatest invention of the modern world is anesthetics. Prior to 1844, in preparation for an operation, you drank booze until you passed out–hopefully. Then the physician – “sawbones,” he was called –got started hacking away.[1] Michael Crichton, best known for The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Th [...]

Salman Rushdie, the embattled author of The Satanic Verses who was condemned to death by Ayatollah Khomeini on February 14, 1989 for its publication, believes that religion is the world’s problem and the worldview of the Enlightenment is its savior. He prefers European secularism to American Christianity. His article, “Life under religion’s thumb turns society into tyranny,”[1] which appeared in y [...]

Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin’ down the bunny trail, Hippity, hoppity, Easter’s on its way. Bringin’ every girl and boy Baskets full of Easter joy, Things to make your Easter bright and gay. I don’t know what’s worse—Veggie Tales substituting for Bible characters or the whole Easter Bunny, soft marshmallow chicks, colored eggs, and jelly bean menagerie somehow representing [...]

I received the following email from someone who came across American Vision’s website: “I don’t trust any site that doesn’t allow comments on articles.” I responded by stating that I try to answer every email that comes across my computer. It may take me some time to get to all of them, but I try. He wrote back, not satisfied with my answer: “I believe people have the right to know how [...]

A number of letter writers have weighed in on the Ten Commandments controversy. Ed Buckner, secretary of the Georgia chapter of Americans united for Separation of Church and State, writes that “nowhere in or on the [Supreme Court] building is to be found any version of the text of the Ten Commandments.” This is true. Let’s suppose that there were crosses on government buildings o [...]

Some readers get upset any time I point out how modern-day prophecy writers are misrepresenting the Bible on prophetic matters. The integrity of the Bible is at stake. If it’s wrong on one point, then it can be wrong on other points. My critics don’t seem to mind that Hal Lindsey has been wrong over the years in an area of study that has made his reputation and so much of Christendom h [...]

The Supreme Court is going to rule whether copies of the Ten Commandments can hang in government buildings. This is the same court that’s ruled it’s OK for a girl under the age of 18 to murder a preborn baby, but it’s not OK to execute a murderer if he or she is under 18. The Court has just made anyone under 18 the most dangerous group in America. So don’t get your hopes up on this Ten Commandment [...]

People in the Netherlands are worried. Holland used to be a Christian nation. Over a period of time, the government adopted a form of religious pluralism, giving equal standing, first, to all Christian denominations, then to religion in general, and finally to every worldview imaginable. Holland has lost its worldview base. It has become a haven for drugs, prostitution, and euthanasia–all le [...]

Before Kenny Rogers embarked on a solo country and pop musical career, he had been the lead vocalist for The First Edition. One of the group’s most popular songs was “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).” In countering the tenets of unbelieving thought, we can change the song’s title to help us understand the best biblical and rational way to present [...]

I wanted to like Million Dollar Baby. If you haven’t seen the movie, and you have plans to see it, you might not want to read any further. I love movies with twists and turns. Being fooled plot-wise is a great artistic vehicle. My first encounter with the motif was with Charles Eric Maine’s science fiction novel The Man Who Owned the World,[1] a book I read when I was 13. [...]

Susette Kelo owns a house that she doesn’t want to sell. You would think that if she doesn’t want to sell something, she shouldn’t have to. The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment gives the power of “eminent domain” to governments. This allows governments to seize property as long as “just compensation” is given and the property will be put to “public use.” Historically, public use has meant railroads, [...]

You must have heard by now that Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” claims that people who hold religious views are unenlightened. Here’s just some of what he said: We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think flying planes into a building was a faith-based in [...]

I received a number of emails from people objecting to my article on Hal Lindsey. This was to be expected. I pointed out how Lindsey has made several bad prophetic pronouncements and how he even admitted that if it turned out he was wrong that he would be a “bum.” I didn’t say this, Lindsey did. Lindsey turns out to be wrong, and I’m the bad guy. Some maintained that I shouldn’t criticize other Ch [...]

We’ve just learned that Alan Keyes’ daughter, Maya Marcel-Keyes, is a self-described “queer liberal.” The Keyes’ family joins the ranks of Phyllis Schlafly, Dick and Lynne Cheney, Randall Terry (an adopted son), Sadie Fields, head of Georgia’s Christian Coalition, all prominent conservatives, who have a child who is a self-proclaimed homosexual. Julianne Malveax, writing for USA Today, castigates [...]

Hal Lindsey is once again making predictions about the end times using Israel as the prophetic time piece. In his latest article on the subject, he claims that the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin is prophetically significant. Here’s how he explains it: “These religious authorities [in Israel] believe it was necessary to re-establish the Sanhedrin because only this properly ordained body of sages [...]

John Harrison, who is a senior at Druid Hills High School in DeKalb County, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, was miffed when he was rebuffed by parents at a private school when they refused to purchase a discount coupon for Domino’s Pizza. The money was to go to his public school’s art program. They told him, “We already contribute through taxes, and we pay for our children to go to school, so why do [...]

A German zoo was planning to introduce male penguins into a group of female penguins because the female penguins seem to be attracted to one another. Homosexual rights groups are angry with the plan because theybelieve the zoo’s actions are trying to turn the penguins straight. Here’s the premise: Whatever animals do in nature is natural. What’s natural is normal. What’s normal is moral. So if pen [...]