Once again, the religious vote is being courted by presidential wannabes. Beware of politicians and their religious rhetoric. Jimmy Carter ran as a “born-again Christian” in 1976. It was the first time in a national election that evangelicals were recognized as an identifiable voting block that could impact an election. The media did not know how to evaluate Carter’s religious rhetoric. Kenneth Br [...]
For the past few days, I’ve been in Orlando, Florida, attending the National Religious Broadcasters convention. The last time I attended was about 15 years ago. Most of my time has been spent meeting with other ministries that share a similar vision with American Vision. I’ve been able to reconnect with people I haven’t seen for awhile, and I’ve made some new friends. Many of the old guard broadca [...]
The other side finds a way to get its people involved, to raise money. Our side is thinking about something else. —James Dobson Druid Hills Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, is dealing with the issue of homosexual clergy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church must come to a conclusion on whether practicing homosexual pastor Bradley E. Schmeling of St. John’s Lutheran Church should be relieved of [...]
On Friday, February 2, 2007, ABC’s “20/20” broadcast a show on the sex-cult “The Family of Love,” known today simply as “The Family.” Prior to its new designation, it was known as The Children of God (COG), a cult founded by David (Moses David) Berg, who used sex as an intoxicant to keep the cult together. Berg once said: “I practice what I preach! And I preach sex, boys and girls. [...]
Since the results of the November 2006 election were so dismal, a number of Christian leaders are reassessing Christian involvement in politics. One editorial writer argued that time and energy have been lost with little to show for the effort. Can you imagine what our nation would be like today if Christians had not become politically active? This is not to say that politics is the solution to ou [...]
Can the gospel and social activism co-exist? Should Christians involve themselves in the world by participating in politics, pursue advanced degrees in education, medicine, science and law, produce films on a wide range of subjects, seek careers in journalism, and develop non-governmental programs for long-term social reform based on a well thought out biblical worldview? Or should Christians spen [...]
It had to happen. What if a Muslim won election in America? On what standard would he bind himself and the declaration of his oath to uphold the Constitution? Well, it has happened. Keith Ellison, a Democrat from the Minnesota House of Representatives who recently became a United States Congressman, is a Muslim who wants to take the oath of office on the Koran. First, the Koran calls for jihad aga [...]
William McKenzie, an editorial columnist for The Dallas Morning News, has written “Barton: new face of the religious right?”[1] The “Barton” is David Barton of Wallbuilders. Barton has been instrumental in reintroducing Americans to their rich Christian heritage. He is also involved in the Republican Party. Williams considers Barton to be “on the next wave” of leadership of the Christian Right. Th [...]
The winners of any contest, whether intellectual, political, or military, work very hard to formulate the history of the conflict so their side of the story is told in the best possible light. As one might expect, there is a great deal of bias in the way history is reported. In order to put the historical accounting in the best possible light for those who are reading the history for the first tim [...]
Pastor Oliver “Buzz” Thomas’s article seeking moral justification for homosexuality based on science and the Bible appeared in USA Today (November 20, 2006) under the title “When religion loses its credibility.” He argued that science, like the science that Galileo proposed to support his theory of a restructured cosmos, is overwhelmingly in favor of the claim that homosexuality is genetically det [...]
When Pastor Todd DuBord of Lake Almanor Community Church in Northern California listened to the tour guide at the Supreme Court building describe the friezes, he was in shock. I’ll let him tell it: When she began to speak about the history and architecture of the four marble friezes, which circle the top of the walls on the inside chamber of the Court, I listened intently. The first shock ca [...]
And Tango Makes Three is an illustrated children’s book about two male penguins that raise a baby penguin. It’s based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City’s Central Park Zoo that “adopt” a fertilized egg and raise the chick as their own. Some concerned parents see the book as a homosexual propaganda piece and want it removed from the library’s regular shelves. A parent would have [...]
Barry W. Lynn is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, a lawyer, and the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In his latest book Piety and Politics: The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom, Mr. Lynn levels a left-wing attack on biblical ethics. Consider his discussion of the Sixth Commandment: The Sixth Commandment states, “You shall not kil [...]
. . . Because they weren’t conservatives. Consider Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. I believe that conservative voters were indifferent to his campaign rhetoric because of his support for Arlen Specter in a primary race that he had with Pat Toomey in 2004. Toomey narrowly lost to the liberal Republican Senator Specter. Here’s how one post-election commentator sized up Specter’s narrow win over the o [...]
Barry W. Lynn is an ordained United Church of Christ Minister and an attorney. Since 1992, Mr. Lynn has been the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He has been a constant vocal critic of conservative Christians bringing their understanding of the Bible on moral issues into the realm of politics. American Vision invited Mr. Lynn to debate Herb Titus at its 20 [...]
Heather MacDonald, writing in USA Today, argues that “conservative principles . . . are best grounded in reason and evidence, not revelation.”[1] She goes on to state that “conservatives atheists and agnostics vigorously support the two-parent family because the life chances of children raised by both their biological parents are demonstrably superior to children raised by single mothers. Moreover [...]
On October 15, 2006 Antonin Scalia participated in a one-hour televised debate with American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen.[1] Scalia defended a number of his opinions and stated that neither homosexual rights nor abortion can be found in the Constitution. “On controversial issues on stuff like homosexual rights, abortion, we debate with each other and persuade each other and vot [...]
There is a battle raging today over the role religion plays in public and political life. To hear secularists tell it, religion is the problem and reason is the solution. Fundamentalists of all types are being singled out as the inhibitors of progress and the instigators of terror. Christian fundamentalists are no different from Islamic fundamentalists, according to liberal politicians, scholars, [...]
Reason is all the rage today, as Sam Harris tries to demonstrate in The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason . If people were only reasonable, he and others argue, all would be right with the world. Harris does not tell us whose version of reason we are to follow. The reason of the French Revolutionaries who didn’t meet a head that didn’t need lopped off or the reason of the St [...]
Americans can choose where they want to send their children to school. They can even educate them at home, something that is not allowed in some countries.[1] When Jerusalem was plundered by Nebuchadnezzar and his army, certain young men were brought to Babylon “to enter the king’s personal service,” that is, to further the kingdom of Babylon (Dan. 1:5). This was partly accomplished through educat [...]
