Added clarity in the new NIV revision regarding the language used to refer to sexual sins is a big plus. This article explains the scholarship behind the changes.
Category: News Commentary
Thoughts related to specific news articles
I have been saying for years that our justice system needs to consider how to restore non-violent offenders. This is as much a part of justice as is punishment. This is a great article by Charles Colson commending the state of Ohio for taking a major step in this direction. I recommend it.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/win-win-win-61585/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44571565/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/
Here’s how I would answer the Republicans if I were President Obama.
“The Republicans have labeled my proposal for new taxes on the super rich as class warfare. That’s a Marxist term and here in America we don’t think that way. We believe in sharing the load according to our gifting–that’s a Biblical concept. In this case the super rich have volunteered to help shoulder the burden of re-balancing our country’s economy and I am simply proposing that we accept their offer.”
A suggestion for Republicans
I also think that if Romney or Perry would endorse the President on this they would strengthen their own candidacy. It would show willingness to compromise which the electorate is desperate to see. It would also show a Republican not completely protecting big money–a welcome change. And it would hint that the candidate was able to buck the libertarian economic far right–a group which scares the independent center.
I do not agree with Mayor Bloomsburg that there should have been no prayers at the official 9/11 remembrance time.
Ken Klulowski wrote: “Bloomberg’s sad exclusion of all prayer and clergy from the 9/11 ceremony is also illustrative of something much broader: political correctness increasingly means intolerance and exclusion of Christians from public life in our society. We see this in bans on prayer at veterans’ funerals in Houston, as well as in criticism of Governor Rick Perry’s day of prayer event.” (from <http://www.frc.org/op-eds/excluding-prayer-from-911-memorial-compounds-the-tragedy-of-that-day>)
I personally believe that exclusion of Christian clergy from public events such as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is a violation of the rights
of the vast majority of Americans who are Christians to freely practice their religion. To artificially restrict what
would naturally happen; that is to have the religious leaders of the majority express prayers on behalf of the majority, is to truncate the rights of the
majority to express their faith. The truth is that we cannot get away from choosing a faith. What we are doing in America is enshrining a
faith called atheism in our public events. The public exercise of a particular faith does not of itself persecute a minority. The public exercise of a faith in a natural way does not of itself establish a religion, it simply expresses it. This is what the First Amendment protects.
Categories
Teacher’s persecution is so wrong
http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news/?nxd_id=272457
Teacher unjustly persecuted
What is happening to this teacher is so wrong. First of all it is a gross violation of his right to free speech. More fundamentally, he is being persecuted for speaking up for that which is biblically and traditionally the right just because it happens to be politically incorrect in our society. This shows how much our culture is drifting towards defending that which is wrong. It also shows how militant the gay lobby is in forcing everyone else to agree with them. And the key battlefield is the school. This kind of pro-homosexual thinking is going to make the public schools unfit for traditional Christian, Jewish or Muslim children. Do educators really want to create enemies out of that many people?
When one of the richest men in America agrees with the president and others that it is time to add additional taxes for the very wealthy, it is time for everyone to listen. The facts that Mr. Buffett lists regarding the actual decreases in taxes for the super wealthy have been cited by others but Republicans seem deaf. I am a Republican and I think Buffett is right. I hope this super committee has courage to listen.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/california_gov_jerry_brown_sig.html
These two news articles present two good reasons why gay marriage is not right for America. This is not about them being able to secure additional rights; this is really about gay persons seeking society’s approval for their immoral lifestyle. Gov. Andrew Cuomo unconsciously acknowledged this when he spoke about giving gays legitimacy when he signed the bill approving gay marriage in New York State. That is exactly the issue. These activists are not happy unless they can force the rest of us to say their actions are okay. As the attack on Bachman shows, it is not okay for others to believe or practice differently than they desire. They are definitely not happy for the rest of us to simply “let them live” so to speak. They insist that we also approve.
But they cannot coerce our beliefs or our consciences. They cannot change the convicting words of Holy Scripture, either Old Testament or New Testament. So they seek legitimacy through laws and education.
As the California initiative indicates, now traditional family-values people of all faiths are the ones needing protection from their crusade to brainwash our children. Teaching morality is the job of parents and churches first. It is also the job of schools, but only as delegated servants of the parents. Education divorced from morality is not education. But when schools are forced by governmental authorities to teach something with which the majority of parents morally disagree, it is a grave injustice and it undermines the authority and legitimacy of the educational system. No wonder the number of homeschoolers increases yearly.
I could not believe that the Supreme Court of our land ruled that extremely violent video games for children are protected by the First Amendment! This is an extreme libertarian position on a par with those who advocate the legalization of illegal drugs, nonpayment of income taxes, etc. Both of the dissenting judges, Breyer and Thomas, made allowance for the common sense need of parents and government to take responsibility for the effect of that which is allowed. One of the fundamental responsibilities of government is to show some responsibility for the shaping of the future, at the very least, for the avoidance of destructive influences. We are willing to do this in areas involving safety, pornography and obscenity, it seems to me that inciting violence –which is what these games do — is definitely an extension of safety. The writer of the following article agrees with me. We as a country seem to be moving more and more in the direction of freedom without the balance of responsibility.
As Alexander Solzhenitsyn observed, “It is time in the West to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.” We want to be all about rights, but we don’t want to hear about responsibility or morality. We want complete freedom of choice but no accountability as to the consequences of those choices whether it is our own choices, or the allowances that government makes. This is license not true freedom.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/06/scalia-wrong-thomas-right-violent-video-games
While the Syracuse Post-Standard has been trying my patience greatly of late with their rabid unbalanced advocacy of gay marriage, today I found an article on a different topic that I really liked. They included an opinion piece by Peter Johnson which is an eloquent defense of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. It also provides an informative history of how the phrase came to be included. I highly recommend this article.
http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/06/flag_day_commentary_under_god.html
It isn’t every day that you run into one of those. But this definitely is one. The distinctions it draws between separatism, fusion, and critical engagement are well thought out and wise. If only more Christians understood the need to be critically engaged in the current debates in our country!
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/123701709.html