• Politics

    Last Word on the CIA Leak Case (a.k.a. “Plamegate”)

    Today’s Washington Post provides it’s evaluation of Joe Wilson and the pseudo-scandal he provoked: One of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House — that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame’s identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson — is untrue. . . It’s unfortunate that so many people took [Joe Wilson] seriously (“End of an Affair,” Washington Post).

  • Politics

    Free Scooter Libby!

    The call from the Wall Street Journal is for the president to pardon Scooter Libby and to bring an end to the pseudo-scandal known as “Plamegate.” I have been writing about this scandal for over a year (see previous posts) and have become increasingly aware that this entire dust-up was more about partisan politics than it was about truth–at least insofar as it has been covered in the media.Here is what we know today. Richard Armitage leaked Valerie Plame’s identity to Robert Novak. Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush did not. I know this will be a shocker to Joe Wilson who was hoping to see…

  • Politics

    Pray for Darfur

    The New York Times reports that Darfur is on the precipice of a catastrophe. The 7,000 member African Union force is proving ineffective, the rebel groups have not signed on to the U. N. agreement, and the goverenment of Darfur is poised to strike. The pieces are in place for a large-scale military conflict that would devastate the people of Darfur. “So far, negotiations over a proposed United Nations force to shore up the shaky peace in Darfur have limped along with no sign of compromise. The opposing sides in the conflict now seem headed toward a large-scale military confrontation, bringing Darfur to the edge of a new abyss —…

  • Culture,  Theology/Bible

    Stained-Glass Ceiling for Women as Pastors?

    A recent article in the New York Times claims that even in more mainline denominations that ordain women as pastors, very few women are being called to pastor larger churches. Women now make up 51 percent of the students in divinity school. But in the mainline Protestant churches that have been ordaining women for decades, women account for only a small percentage — about 3 percent, according to one survey by a professor at Duke University — of pastors who lead large congregations, those with average Sunday attendance over 350 (source). So why is it that so few egalitarian/feminist churches actually employ women as lead pastors? Here’s my theory. God…

  • Theology/Bible

    Justin Taylor on the Emerging Church

    I get asked all the time, “What is the emerging church?” Usually when this happens, what they want is just a quick definition of what it is and whether or not they should be for it or agin’ it. So I give them my thumb-nail definition and a brief evaluation and critique of the movement.But I have one more resource to give to them, now that Justin Taylor has written his own brief definition and evaluation of the emerging church. His short essay, “An Emerging Church Primer,” is a part of the most recent 9Marks Newsletter, and it is a helpful introduction to a very complicated and diverse movement. Justin…

  • Culture,  Theology/Bible

    Jada Bown Swanson: A “Plan C” Testimony

    Introductory Note from Denny: If “Plan A” is the effective use of contraceptives and “Plan B” is the use of a drug that has the potential to cause the miscarriage of an unborn baby, then “Plan C” would be yet another way that one might deal with an unplanned pregnancy. An old friend of mine from college left an extended comment on my previous post “Propaganda and ‘Plan B.’” In that comment, Jada Bown Swanson shares her own “Plan C” testimony, which she has given me permission to share with all of you. What follows is Jada’s story in her own words. Thank you, Jada, for your story with us.…

  • Culture,  Politics

    Propaganda and “Plan B”

    The FDA has just approved the use of a non-prescription “morning after” pill. According to the Associated Press, “Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription — but only with proof they’re 18 or older” (source).Anyone who reads this blog knows that I believe this to be a tragic development. I say that because the so-called “morning after” pill can act as an abortifacient. How does “Plan B” work? It is essentially a heavier dose of birth control pills that a woman takes within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. The “emergency contraception” works to restrict ovulation in a woman. But it also can act after conception by blocking implantation…

  • Culture,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: Okay after All?

    Today’s New York Times reports that “Biologists have developed a technique for establishing colonies of human embryonic stem cells from an early human embryo without destroying it. This method, if confirmed in other laboratories, would seem to remove the principal objection to the research” (source).If this article is any indication, I think the proponents of this research have yet to grasp the moral implications of experimenting on embryonic humans. While we can be thankful that this new technigue doesn’t kill the embryo, there still remains the obvious ethical problem of using human beings for spare parts. Moreover, this new technique doesn’t even address the widespread practice of in vitro fertilization…

  • Politics

    The Bush Doctrine: Alive and Well

    In a recent issue of Commentary Magazine, Norman Podhoretz says that the Bush doctrine is alive and well. He contradicts mischaracterizations of the Bush doctrine that allege the Bush doctrine to be an ideology of unilateralism. Podhoretz shows that many of Bush’s detractors simply misrepresent and misunderstand what the Bush doctrine is.Readers of this blog know that I am in fundamental agreement with Podhoretz on this one (see my “Time Magazine Takes a Whack at Bush and Misses“). I commend to you Podhoretz’s full essay: “Is the Bush Doctrine Dead.”