“So who is the main beneficiary of the attacks? Cui bono? So we would have an operation with some sponsors trying to use it for one cause, and others seeking a diametrically opposite outcome? Sounds like plenty of other precedents in the history of terrorism over the past century or so.”   I dearly wish... Continue Reading

You will not talk about pride, the great sin; you will call it “self-esteem,” “self-worth,” or what is “due to me.” You will not talk about gluttony and materialism; you will talk about “the good life.” You will not talk about disobedience; you will talk about “shortcomings.”   Three hundred years is a long time.... Continue Reading

The assumption of the article is that the Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage is a cultural landmark, placing gay rights within the moral authority of the civil rights movement—as it were, Martin Luther King blessing the rainbow banner. The decision, the authors say, is “like a boulder thrown into a pond which... Continue Reading

Sometimes what God does in the waiting room of our lives is more important for our future than what we hoped He would have done in one of our “missed appointments.” Our part is to not figure out His path for us, but to trust Him while we’re on it.   Have you ever noticed... Continue Reading

The desire to make the world a tolerant and liberated place has now extended to Princeton University where students are objecting both to associations between the institution and its former president, Woodrow Wilson, but also to the word — wait for it — “master.” (Will Princeton stop granting “Masters” degrees?)   First it was smoking.... Continue Reading

The trial’s organizers knew that if they were going to try Nazi leaders as the world watched, they also had to follow the Geneva Conventions. Article 16 says that “ministers of religion, who are prisoners of war, whatever may be their denomination, shall be allowed freely to minister to their co-religionists.”   Should anyone who... Continue Reading

“Paul teaches that those who are not married and who have sexual needs must exercise self-control and refrain from fornication. But he knows this is hard, very hard, and so urges those who burn to marry.”   I don’t understand all men. I understand few women. (OK, maybe none.) My understanding of psychologists? “And I... Continue Reading

As good friend of the Center, Institute for Religion and Democracy’s Faith McDonnell notes in her recent piece on the state of Christian refugees, the State Department has explicitly declared they, “would not support a special category to bring Assyrian Christians into the United States.”   President Obama made headlines today in reaction to a... Continue Reading

“Christian … and yes I mean Christian … what is your sin of choice? What remnant of the flesh sticks around and still disrupts your experiential peace with God, peace with self, and peace with your neighbor? Peter struggled with faith. Martha struggled with anxiety. John the Baptist struggled with despair.”   What is your sin of choice?... Continue Reading

“God is praiseworthy. Getting that fact under our skin is not as easy as we might think. Self-centered praying (which is a form of idolatry) fails to appreciate that our purpose here on earth is to praise our Creator and Redeemer.”   It is easy to be critical of prayer, particularly the prayers of others.... Continue Reading