Breakfast Links for 12/21/12 – End-of-the-World-Party; 300 Million Locked and Loaded; Atheist Kids in Pews

BREAKFAST LINKS 12/21/12:

Andrew Marin, Patheos/Love Is An Orientation: “In either case, Brenda (my wife) and I are holding an End of the World Party tonight for our friends. It’s not a theme party, it’s a party with our close friends just in case the Mayans, er, the extreme rapture ready crowd, is right. Here’s hoping they are!”

William J. Bennett, CNN Opinion: The Case for Gun Rights Is Stronger Than You Think

Frank Viola, Patheos/Frank Viola: “Years ago I came to the place in my spiritual journey where I gave up trying to live the Christian life. Yep. I gave it up for Lent.”

Rand Paul, Investors.com: The Fiscal Cliff’s Dirty Secret

Karen Spears Zacharias, Patheos/Karen Spears Zacharias: “I wish the Mayans were right. I wish the world were ending. I wish the wailing would stop. I wish those families were not going to wake up this Christmas morning and every Christmas from here on out weeping for their dead children, or dead mothers, aching for the embrace of them.”

Benjamin Domenech, Orange County Register: Will Obama Delay Obamacare?

Daniel Harrell, Patheos/Cultivare: “There are 300 million guns already in the hands of Americans. Another 4 million new guns enter the market each year. The dog is off the leash for good. The question remaining is what to do with a whole country that’s locked and loaded.”

Nicholas Didonato, Patheos/Science on Religion: “The formula seems simple: parents pass down what they believe to their children. Atheist parents don’t believe in God or go to church, therefore…. Yet, a surprisingly large number of atheist scientists from elite universities raise their children in a religious community such as a church.”

Bill Blankschaen, Patheos/Bill In the Blanks: “We are rapidly becoming a nation of people averse to taking risks.  When something — anything — fails, we demand an inquiry as to why.”

Melissa Steffan, Christianity Today: Sibelius Promises “Never” to Enforce Mandate