Conservatives “have no place” in New York

January 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York often mentioned as an alternative to Hillary Clinton as a Democratic presidential candidate, doesn’t want pro-lifers, Second Amendment advocates, or believers in traditional sexual morality in his state.  Here is what he said on the radio:

“Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are, and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.” Only “moderate Republicans have a place in this state.”

Michael Gerson points out that this illustrates a familiar tactic the left has been using:  Don’t argue about the issues with people you disagree with.  Present them as unworthy of being members of “our” society.  [Read more…]

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The case against the Olympics

January 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Winter Olympics begin February 7 in Sochi, Russia, and people are getting nervous over terrorism threats, anti-gay laws, the toilet situation, and whatever Vladimir Putin might do.

Columnist Charles Lane argues that the Olympics have gotten too politicized, too expensive, too drug-saturated, too corrupt, and too corporate.  We should just end them.  Read his case against the Olympics here.

Does he have a point?  Or is there still value in having virtually all of the countries of the world come together in a huge athletic event?  Might the Olympics be reformed rather than killed?

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Why not Lutheranism?

January 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Mathew Block, communications director of the Lutheran Church Canada, posts about that article on the millennial generation yearning for liturgy and sacraments and joining “high church” congregations.  He asks,

Why don’t more of these young Christians looking for liturgy end up in Lutheran churches? As the article notes, most seem to go Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican. [Read more…]

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Privacy vs. anonymity

January 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Yale constitutional law professor Jed Rubenfeld makes a distinction that, I think, advances the debate over government and corporate surveillance:  Privacy refers to the content of our communications, which is protected constitutionally.  But the fact of our communications, which the NSA is exploiting, is not.  What we need, Prof. Rubenfeld says, is legal protection for anonymity, so that individuals cannot be identified without due process. [Read more…]

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Christian influence in Eastern Europe

January 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Filip Mazurczak reports that Eastern Europe is recovering its Christian identity, not only in personal conversions but also in cultural and legal influence.

In Hungary, Croatia, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, a pro-family, pro-life revolution and a rediscovery of Christian roots is occurring. While few in the American media have noticed, this trend should challenge those who simply lament Europe’s moral malaise. Unnoticed in the shadow of a secularized west, religion’s public role has been growing in the east since the collapse of communism. [Read more…]

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A watershed in American evangelicalism?

January 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The New Life Church in Colorado Springs was one of the nation’s leading megachurches.  But then its pastor, Ted Haggard, was brought down in a sex and drug scandal.  Now the congregation is changing the way it is doing things.  Instead of trying to be new, it is trying to find its place in historic Christianity.  This means bringing in liturgy, every-Sunday communion, the church year, and pastoral care.  Its new statement of faith is the Nicene Creed.

Christianity Today published a sympathetic in-depth article about the changes last month.  Lutheran scholar Martin Noland sees these developments as possibly “a watershed in American evangelicalism.” [Read more…]

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