• Christianity,  Politics

    President Nixon and Chuck Colson

    The National Archives has released some new tape recordings of President Nixon’s telephone conversations. Some of the tapes record the President’s speaking to the yet to be born again Chuck Colson. Listening to these exchanges only magnifies the contrast between the old Chuck Colson and the new one. The Chuck Colson on these recordings has given way to the new creation that I heard preach in San Antonio last month. The Lord’s arm is not too short to save (Isaiah 59:1).

  • Christianity,  Culture,  Politics

    The Gay Shibboleth

    This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post on the Surgeon General and his stance that homosexuality is a sin. Christianity Today has an editorial out today titled “The Gay Shibboleth,” which takes basically the same position that I do, but states is much better: Affirmation of homosexual behavior seems to be shifting from an in-group shibboleth to an unwritten requirement for American leadership. Where does that leave biblical Christians? We may soon come to the point where supporting a sexual ethic based on an orthodox reading of Scripture becomes part of our cross to bear. . .

  • Politics

    Was the Iraq War a Mistake?

    It appears that the conventional wisdom is that the Iraq War was a mistake. One of the striking things about Michael Moore’s much publicized joust with Wolf Blitzer is that Blitzer seems to just concede the point that now everybody agrees that the Iraq War was a mistake. The conventional wisdom even prevails at CNN. I for one don’t agree with that analysis, and neither does Peter Wallison over at the Wall Street Journal, who writes about what would have happened if Sadam Hussein had remained in power. He writes:

  • Culture,  Politics

    Can a public servant call homosexuality a sin?

    I don’t look to the editors at the New York Times to agree with Christian teaching on sexuality, but neither do I expect them to advocate a policy that effectively excludes Christians from government service. Yet that is precisely what they have done today in an editorial about President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. James Holsinger. They argue that Dr. Holsinger’s adherence to his church’s teaching on homosexuality should exclude him from being the Surgeon General. They write:

  • Politics

    Schoolhouse Rocks the 4th of July

    Now this is nostalgic. I used to watch “Schoolhouse Rock” every Saturday morning. This is where a whole generation learned about manifest destiny (“Elbow Room”), English grammar (“Conjunction Junction”), how a bill becomes a law (“I’m just a bill”), and much more.

  • Personal,  Politics

    America: My Home away from Home

    America is my home away from home. I am a sojourner here, just like everyone else, passing through on my way to eternity. “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). Nevertheless, I regard it as a smiling Providence to have been born here, and I give thanks today. I have been to Washington, D.C. since my last 4th of July post. One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to the Lincoln Memorial. My favorite political speech is inscribed on the wall inside the memorial. The speech is Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.

  • Politics

    Scooter Libby, Politics, and the Rule of Law

    I’ve written too much about Scooter Libby over the last two years to let today’s big news go by without comment (see previous posts). Today, President Bush commuted Scooter Libby’s two and half year prison sentence. Bush didn’t pardon Libby, he merely said that Libby would not have to go to jail. Libby will still have to serve probation, pay a $250,000 fine, and identify himself as a convicted felon. I have always held that if someone commits a crime, then they should pay their debt to society. But the sound and fury that you are hearing from the left side of the talking head class is disingenuous outrage.

  • Politics

    Rejecting the Coulterization of Politics

    I am calling once again for conservatives to reject the Coulterization of politics (read my previous posts on this topic). Ann Coulter brings public discourse to new lows on a regular basis, and Christian conservatives in particular should have no part of it. The latest example appears in an exchange that Coulter had with Elizabeth Edwards (wife of presidential candidate John Edwards) on “Hardball” with Chris Matthews. You can watch a video of the encounter, or you can read the following transcript of the exchange:

  • Politics

    President Supports Kennedy Amnesty Bill

    Well, maybe President Bush wouldn’t describe it as the “Kennedy Amnesty” bill, but he did call it “amnesty” yesterday. Talk about a misunderestimated Freudian slip! Here’s the money-line: “You know, I’ve heard all the rhetoric — you’ve heard it, too — about how this is amnesty. Amnesty means that you’ve got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that.” Read about the gaffe here.

  • Politics

    America at War with Iran?

    The Agence France-Presse reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces have crossed the border into Iraq: Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces have been spotted by British troops crossing the border into southern Iraq, The Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday.