Kevin DeYoung has a fantastic post on how Christians ought to conduct themselves in the culture war. He writes: Call it what you want-a culture war, a battle of ideas, an ideological struggle-there is no question we have deep division in America. The most obvious division right now concerns homosexuality. When Dan Cathy’s off-handed, rather ordinary comment in of support traditional marriage sends big city mayors out on their moral high horses wielding the coercive club of political power-and when the subsequent response from middle America is a record-breaking avalanche of support for Chic-fil-A–you know there is more than a skirmish afoot. I know every generation thinks they are facing…
-
-
What happened to contemporary Christian music?
Joel Hartse asks “What happened to contemporary Christian music?” in a recent column for Christianity Today. He notes the unprecedented explosion of Christian rock during the 1990’s (with an interesting focus on some of the alternative bands) and how that heyday is long gone now. He gives three explanations for the decline:
-
How Obamacare Tramples Religious Liberty
Obamacare’s abortion mandate went into effect yesterday, and there continues to be a great deal of confusion over the law’s trampling of religious liberty. The public by and large still believes that this is a debate over access to contraception. That is incorrect. No doubt the misunderstanding owes in part to the way the mainstream media have covered the issue.
-
Is Chick-fil-a Day a “bold mistake”?
Today countless Americans will heed Mike Huckabee’s call to rally in support of Chick-fil-a. Over 500,000 people have signed up to take part and to show support for a company that has been under fire over the last couple of weeks for its advocacy of traditional marriage. For the most part, conservatives have answered the call. But Barnabas Piper is a notable exception and is calling the show of solidarity with Chick-fil-a a “bold mistake.” In his column for World magazine, he argues that the rally presents an “us vs. them” division between Christians and those on the other side of the debate. It unnecessarily alienates people whom we would…
-
Albert Mohler Is Back on “The Briefing”
After a month long hiatus, Albert Mohler is back behind the microphone for his daily podcast “The Briefing.” If you are not a regular listener to this one, you should be. He gives smart commentary and Christian worldview analysis of all the major stories in the news. And it’s all packed in to about a fifteen minute program. Today’s program includes commentary on the Chick-Fil-A Controversy, gay marriage in the Democratic Party platform, Watergate at 40, and more. You can listen to the episode below or download it here. You can sign-up for the podcast at iTunes here. [audio:http://albertmohler.com/media/audio/totl/Podcast/20120801_TheBriefing.mp3]
-
Richard Land Announces His Retirement from ERLC
Just in from the Baptist Press: Richard Land, who led the transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity during the denomination’s conservative resurgence, has announced he will retire next year after a quarter of a century of service as its president.
-
How the Gay Marriage Agenda Advances
Once again, Ross Douthat has some shrewd observations about the gay marriage debate. This time he talks about the factors that have caused public opinion to change so rapidly over the last ten years. He rightly argues that the law not only reflects society’s values, but it also shapes them. Douthat insists that there is a “link between law and culture” and that “stigma, harassment and legal sanctions” play a crucial role in “changing attitudes and behavior.” He writes:
-
Another Persistent Error in Reporting on Chick-fil-a
I suppose when you read a lot of news reports about one story, you begin to notice details. I know I have in the whole Chick-fil-a imbroglio. There is one particular error in reporting that I keep seeing over and over. I have seen it in The New York Times, The Associated Press, and countless others. The error goes something like this:
-
Can Christians hide in the basement during the gay marriage debate?
I think Jen Hatmaker probably represents the feelings of a lot of folks who are worn out by the culture wars. In a recent post, she urges Christians to sit out the public debate on gay marriage. Her argument is simply that we have better things to do and that we are alienating gay people from Christianity by participating. So she plans to retreat to the metaphorical “basement” to ride out the storm in seclusion, and she urges other Christians to join her. In her own words: Christians, do you really think posting pithy statements on Facebook about “standing firm in our values” and “resisting the liberal media” is helping?…
-
Chick-fil-a, Contraceptives, and Religious Liberty
If you haven’t yet Ross Douthat’s column in today’s New York Times, then you need to. He describes better than anyone else the fundamental constitutional issue at stake in the recent controversy regarding Chick-fil-a. He rightly recognizes that the issue is much bigger than whether or not Chick-fil-a gets to open stores in Boston and Chicago. At bottom, we are talking about the meaning of religious liberty as it is spelled out in the Constitution of the United States. He writes: