Seeking Redemption in the Age of Oprah

Last updated on: July 14, 2008 at 4:32 pm By jonathanjonesuiwdpt

Michael Knox Beran has an outstanding essay in City Journal about the attractions of secular Messianism, where it is easy and comfortable to place blame for present discontents far away from moral deficits. The search for redemption through politics is nothing new, but it is particularly noteworthy during this campaign season. A sample: The solution, he says, lies in a political reformation. Unless we “begin the process of changing politics and our civic life,” we will bequeath to our children... Read more

The Legacy of a Pro-Life President

Last updated on: July 14, 2008 at 1:56 pm By Morning's Minion

“For the first time in its history, the United States sanctioned government officials to physically and psychologically torment U.S.-held captives, making torture the official law of the land in all but name.” These words were written by Jane Mayer, in her new book (The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals) that will be released shortly. It’s time to pull the curtain back on all the obfuscation and call... Read more

Man At The Crossroads I: The Practical Atheism of the Modern World

Last updated on: July 14, 2008 at 11:11 am By Henry Karlson

The world is undergoing a radical shift in its economic, political, and social hierarchies, and it is quite important for Christians to realize this and take the opportunity being given to them before it is too late for them to do so. If we wait too long, our next opportunity to help humanity might be in the far future, after a new barbarism has taken over the world. For quite some time, we have lived in a purely secular world,... Read more

Would Overturning Roe Reduce the Abortion Rate?

Last updated on: July 14, 2008 at 10:55 am By Edward Blackadder

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that women had a fundamental right to procure an abortion. So long as the decision remains the law of the land, any attempt to significantly restrict legal access to abortion will be futile. For this reason, most of the pro-life movement has long seen overturning Roe as one of the chief goals in the fight against abortion. Recently, however, several of my co-contributors at Vox Nova have taken issue with this assumption.... Read more

“Bush Hispanics” leaving the GOP

Last updated on: July 14, 2008 at 1:34 am By Policraticus

Jennifer Ludden of NPR has an interesting piece on the move of “Bush Hispanics” toward the Democratic Party. While the efforts of President Bush to push comprehensive immigration reform through Congress attracted many Hispanic voters (40 percent voted for Bush in 2004), the damage appears to have been done by the numerous “illegal immigration” ads from Republicans running for office in 2006. Despite John McCain’s rather favorable immigration view, it does not appear that he will fare well among Hispanics... Read more

Iran condemns McCain’s cigarette joke

Last updated on: July 13, 2008 at 11:33 am By Iafrate Michael

And rightly so. Such things are never “just a joke.” Read more

Vatican takes financial hit from weakening U.S. dollar

Last updated on: July 13, 2008 at 11:25 am By Policraticus

Even the Vatican is feeling the strain of a faltering U.S. dollar, which tends to be its highest form of donated currency worldwide. BBC News has the story. Read more

An interview with Prof. James Cone

Last updated on: July 13, 2008 at 12:04 am By Iafrate Michael

This past week I attended a conference organized by the Ekklesia Project on the topic of race and racism in the Church. Before the conference I read James Cone’s 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation and after reading it I felt ashamed that it had taken me so long to read one of his books in its entirety. I’m currently devouring one of his later books, God of the Oppressed, and I am increasingly sure that Cone is one... Read more

Attitudes to Climate Change

Last updated on: July 12, 2008 at 4:52 pm By Morning's Minion

Case 1: “There is a need to “wake up consciences,” Benedict responded. “We have to give impulse to rediscovering our responsibility and to finding an ethical way to change our way of life.” Benedict said that politicians and experts must be “capable of responding to the great ecological challenge and to be up to the task of this challenge.” “We have our responsibilities toward Creation,” Benedict said, stressing, however, that he had no intention of weighing in on technical or... Read more

Which short letter urges forgiveness for a runaway slave named Onesimus?