Damn Lies: When Anti-Religious Bigots Use Math to Hate

January 15, 2014 By Leave a Comment
statslie

Mark Twain once famously said, "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." You've probably heard some of those lies used by non-believing friends and relations to discredit Christians.  For instance, have you heard that Christians divorce at the same rate as others?  How about the one about Christians being bad tippers?  How about the one that says that the majority of young people are abandoning churches in droves? It turns out that none of those statements are actually true despite … [Read more...]

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Because No One Does Tolerance Like the Germans — (German Judge Torments Homeschooling Family)

January 14, 2014 By Leave a Comment

This is terrifying.... Many readers may recall that in August, German authorities used the equivalent of a SWAT team to remove children from their homeschooling parents.  20 jack booted thugs (literally) burst into the Wunderlich's home and took their children, even though the judge in the case admits that the children were well-adjusted and well cared for.  The problem is that in Germany, homeschooling is unconscionable and anti-social (because Germans are so pro-social) and so, despite … [Read more...]

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Orthorexia–When “Eating Right” Goes Wrong

January 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Healthy-Food

I read a fascinating article at Christianity Today about an interesting twist on problem eating.  ...I'm equally concerned when I see how easily the devotion to 'healthy' and 'righteous' eating can take a pernicious turn and become legalistic, judgmental, isolating and even crippling. Not long ago, I met a woman who was deeply concerned about her granddaughter. "She doesn't eat anything any more! It's not that she wants to be thin, she just thinks so many different things are unhealthy. She … [Read more...]

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Exposing the Lie: Marriage and Manipulating the Media

January 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
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No doubt you've seen the headlines, Marriage Is Not an Antidote to Poverty.  It's a lie--or at least wishful thinking.  If Marlboro came out with a pr campaign that said, "Anti-Smoking Efforts Fail to Curb Lung Cancer Rates" would you believe it?  Or would some part of you say, "Hmmm.  Maybe there is something else going on here." The same is true about the paper underlying the headlines. It's a position paper--essentially a PR campaign of the marriage-hostile "Council on Contemporary … [Read more...]

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“Manning Up.” The Truth About Masculinity

January 7, 2014 By 3 Comments
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My son, Jacob, has a provocative post about masculinity at his website.  I think he offers some powerful insights on the confusing messages we send to boys about masculinity and how the theology of the body can help young men respond to those messages.   Here's a sample... One of the biggest lies that the world sells us is that masculinity is something to be achieved. Keep this in mind the next time you go on Facebook or head to the grocery store and I think you’ll see that I’m … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gender, Uncategorized 3 Comments

What Do Pope JPII, Pope BXVI, and a Lesbian Feminist Have in Common? (Guest post by Dave McClow)

January 6, 2014 By 3 Comments

In a WSJ interview with Bari Weiss, Camille Paglia, a self-described "notorious Amazon feminist" who is identified as a lesbian and a mom, actually sees that we have a problem with how we view men in our culture.  This is the theme I discussed in my previous blog, “Towards a Theology of Authentic Masculinity.”  She gets that, “Houston, we have a problem”!  Weiss states, “…no subject gets her going more than when I ask if she really sees a connection between society's attempts to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gender, theology of the body 3 Comments

Merry Christmas from The Popcak Family to Your Family

December 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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"What has happened to me has been the very reverse of what appears to be the experience of most of my friends. Instead of dwindling to a point, Santa Claus has grown larger and larger in my life until he fills almost the whole of it. It happened in this way. As a child I was faced with a phenomenon requiring explanation. I hung up at the end of my bed an empty stocking, which in the morning became a full stocking. I had done nothing to produce the things that filled it. I... had not worked … [Read more...]

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Don’t Forget to Pack Your Prozac (Fa, la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la). Holiday Hints for Surviving the Homefront

December 20, 2013 By 3 Comments
christmas

Ah, Christmas. A solemn, joyful time of year for Christians, where silent and holy nights are de rigueur and Norman Rockwell springs eternal in the collective unconscious of the American mind.  And then it happens.... You try--contrary to what conventional wisdom says about the subject--to go home again. Now, let me state right up front that this article is not for those of you who can't wait to fly home and reenact your own Currier and Ives Christmas in all your old haunts with all your … [Read more...]

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Poverty Sucks! The Pope, Research, and Fatherhood The Pope –Guest Post by Dave McClow.

December 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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The following is a guest post by Pastoral Solutions Institute clinical pastoral counseling associate, Dave McClow, MDiv, LCSW, LMFT. The Pope It seems that Pope Francis’ favorite topic is the poor.  His new Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of Evangelism, is not even the latest evidence, because every other homily or statement includes the poor.  And it is right “the poor are the privileged recipi­ents of the Gospel” (EG, 48).  They are the summit in kingdom … [Read more...]

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Pope Francis Promotes Public Breastfeeding

December 18, 2013 By 1 Comment
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Back in April, I posted a beautiful picture of, then, Cardinal Bergoglio,  blessing nursing mothers at a mass for newborns.  Yesterday, Pope Francis made a statement of public support for nursing moms and the witness they provide to the Corporal Work of Mercy that is giving food to the hungry.  In response to a question on world hunger, Pope Francis said, "There are so many children that cry because they are hungry. At the Wednesday General Audience the other day there was a young mother … [Read more...]

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