Sabbaticals were traditionally year-long, funded affairs reserved for scholars and professors. Today, most people consider any break from regular work lasting a month or more a sabbatical (though counting summer vacation is surely unconventional). A sabbatical might include long-term traveling vacations or goal-oriented career breaks. The trend is catching on: people are crafting their own... Continue Reading

When my firm helps executives craft talks that will persuade and forge bonds with listeners, we often have to help them recall or dig up latent stories that come from a deep place of personal conviction. Over the years, we’ve used effective techniques for unearthing these personal stories — which can then be cataloged, added into communications,... Continue Reading

Sessions seemed to be speaking both as a public official and as an insider to Christianity. By invoking Romans 13, Sessions was bringing to bear one of the most significant biblical passages in American history, but one which is a “two-edged sword” of conflicting interpretations—and the interpretation that Sessions chose to stress has a troubling history.... Continue Reading

“Girls are easier to mislead than guys just by lying or just not really caring. If you know what girls want, then you know you should not give that to them until the proper time. If you do that strategically, then you can really have anything you want…whether it’s a relationship, sex, or whatever. You... Continue Reading

The California law goes beyond even “passive euthanasia” by having doctors intentionally recommend death to still functioning people. The Catholic Church in California issued a statement condemning the law when it was passed in 2015 and again last month when it was overturned.   Last month, a Riverside County Judge put a hold on California’s... Continue Reading

Currently, Fairfax County Public Schools students in eighth, ninth and 10th grades are taught that “the development of individual identity occurs over a lifetime and includes the component of sexual orientation and gender identity.” The current curriculum says “biological sex” is one of four parts of individual identity. The change to the Family Life Education... Continue Reading

When it comes to churches and religious organizations, however, Justice Rowe made a further, significant conclusion. He acknowledged that, in religious contexts, procedural rules may actually involve the interpretation of religious doctrine, which is something that Canadian courts have never wanted to touch.   Today [May 31, 2018], the Supreme Court of Canada released a very significant... Continue Reading

Late in 302 the emperors visited the shrine of Apollo at Didyma and the oracle complained of the baneful influence of the Christians (“the just on earth”) in its pronouncements. The die was now cast. On February 23, 303, the Feast of Terminalia, repression would start. Churches were destroyed, Christian services banned, and the Scriptures... Continue Reading

Believe it or not, most religious people in this country have no desire to withhold their friendship, much less their business, from people with whom they disagree, even on serious issues. Some have suggested that bills spelling out religious freedom rights give businesses the “right to discriminate,” especially against gay and lesbian persons. This is... Continue Reading

“The Supreme Court’s action today means that Arkansas will have another chance to defend its chemical abortion regulations in court,” pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List said in a statement. “That’s positive news.”   The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by the Planned Parenthood to challenge an Arkansas law that regulates medication-induced abortions, which... Continue Reading