You have probably already heard that the Senate is set to debate an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as the union between one man and one woman. In his weekly radio address last Saturday, President Bush came out strongly in favor of the amendment. He said: Marriage is the most enduring and important human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. Marriage cannot be cut off from its cultural,…
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Why Europe Hates America
Do you want to know why folks abroad don’t like America? It’s because of reports like this one in the BBC: The BBC has uncovered new video evidence that US forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 innocent Iraqi civilians (source). That line is the lead from the story, but it’s not even the most provocative part (nor necessarily inaccurate). In one of the paragraphs that follow, the story suggests that this kind of atrocity is routine for American troops. In reporting the announcement that U.S. soldiers will be undergoing “ethical training†as a result of the killing, the BBC reports: The news of ethical training…
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Abortion Nonsense: Ramesh Ponnuru Taken To Task
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Peter Berkowitz reviews Ramesh Ponnuru’s anti-abortion tour de force The Party of Death. In this critical review, Berkowitz puts forth the same pro-abortion arguments that have been refuted time and again by pro-lifers. He writes: Invisible to the naked eye, lacking body or brain, feeling neither pleasure nor pain, radically dependent for life support, the early embryo, though surely part of the human family, is distant and different enough from a flesh-and-blood newborn that when the early embryo’s life comes into conflict with other precious human goods or claims, the embryo’s life may need to give way (source). The problem with Berkowitz’s critique is that…
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Enron Convictions: A Rush to Judgment
There has been a rush to judgment. But I’m not referring to a federal jury’s decision yesterday to convict former Enron chairman Kenneth L. Lay and his protégé Jeffrey K. Skilling (see Washington Post coverage). What I am talking about is a rush to condemn President Bush along with Lay and Skilling. I was going to write an essay yesterday warning readers that partisan Democrats and their accomplices in the media would try to make the Enron convictions a political issue. But Howard Fineman of Newsweek beat me to the punch in his online column: “Kenny Boy, Meet Brownie: The conviction of Enron’s founder marks another dark moment in the…
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First Human-to-Human Transmission of Bird-Flu
From the Washington Post: The outbreak in the North Sumatran village of Kubu Sembilang, was not only the largest bird flu cluster in the world but also the first in which investigators believe the virus was passed from one person to another and then to a third (source). From the New York Times: International health officials emphasized that laboratory tests from the family did not suggest that the A(H5N1) bird flu virus had mutated in any way that would allow it to spread among humans more readily, which scientists have said could set off a devastating worldwide pandemic (source). We will be watching this story very closely.
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Dixie Chicks Abandoning Dixie
My wife and I are fans of the Dixie Chicks–at least when they are not saying things that are so over-the-top offensive that we feel like joining the boycott. As many of you know, the Dixie Chicks have been on the outs with their fan-base ever since Natalie Maines zinged President Bush during a concert in London in 2003. But when I talk about offensive rhetoric, I am not talking about their politics. What I am talking about is reflected in some recent comments by Martie Maguire:
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Debunking Myths about the Iraq War
I’ve written much on the justice of the Iraq War, and about how people have misunderstood and mischaracterized President Bush’s rationale for war. Readers of this blog know how frustrated I get by the erroneous arguments that are often put forth by people whose real goal is to harm President Bush.For instance, on “Meet the Press†just this passed Sunday, Tim Russert’s questioning of Condoleeza Rice about the Iraq War was entirely premised on these kinds of erroneous arguments (see transcript). In today’s Wall Street Journal, Peter Wehner takes on these misguided critiques in the article, “Revisionist History: Antiwar myths about Iraq, debunked†(HT: Justin Taylor). You need to read…
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Peggy Noonan for Hire? Bush Needs Her Again.
Readers of my blog know that I love Peggy Noonan’s column in the Wall Street Journal. She took a break from writing her column in 2004 in order to help President Bush get re-elected. I really think that he could use her advice again now.Noonan hits another homerun in her commentary today on President Bush’s immigration speech, and I hope that the President and his administration are listening. Her main critique is that the President didn’t really address the issue with the seriousness that his base is calling for. She writes: What was needed was a definitive statement: “As of this moment we will control our borders, I’m sending in…
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Calvinism a Problem at Patrick Henry College
Well, if you read my last post, I ended by saying that I look forward to hearing more of the story of what’s going on with the faculty departures at Patrick Henry College. According to Christianity Today, at least one of the reasons for tension between the faculty and the President was Calvinism. [President] Farris, a Baptist minister, has publicly expressed views that have shocked some professors and students. “He said St. Augustine was in hell,†said [Professor] Root. “I heard it with my own ears.†Other professors and students said Farris has repeatedly disparaged Calvinist theology. “There is a sense that you face antagonism as someone who is theologically…
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Faculty Shake-up at Patrick Henry College
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K . . . oops, I meant Patrick Henry College. According to the LA Times, one professor was fired and three others resigned in protest. One of the exiting professors was Todd Bates, former professor at Criswell College where I teach.The LA Times writes: Patrick Henry College, the small evangelical Christian school founded six years ago to train students for careers in public life, gained national prominence for placing many students in White House internships and other government positions. Now five of the school’s 16 faculty members have left, saying the school’s approach is too doctrinaire to prepare students for the realities of…