Ross Douthat has an insightful blog today about “Pagans and Christians” that you should read. Among other things, he argues that America isn’t really a “pagan” nation yet. So much of its middle-class spirituality is still deeply informed by the judeo-christian tradition. He is certainly right about that. He also argues that secularists don’t know what to do when Christians outshine them in acts of mercy and charity. Case in point: the overwhelmingly Christian identity of western doctors on the ground in Liberia right now. They are missionaries, they are there to heal, and they are there to proselytize. Everyone likes the healing part. But secularists get really uncomfortable about…
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Coercing a Christian couple to host a gay wedding
The story in the video above is not a new one. Still, you need to see this. Here’s the story in a nutshell. Cynthia and Robert Gifford are Christians who own a family farm near Albany, New York. They regularly rent their property for special events, parties, weddings, etc. In 2012, a lesbian couple attempted to rent the facilities for their lesbian wedding, and the owners declined. Why? Because the Giffords are Christians and believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. They simply did not wish to use their property to host an event that contradicts their deeply held religious beliefs.
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Gay marriage hailed as “wholesome” in graham cracker ad
The video above is a Honey Maid Graham Cracker commercial that features a pro-gay marriage message. I guess I missed this one when it came out last April, so it is entirely possible that many of you have already seen it. In many ways, it is unremarkable. Those of us who hold to natural marriage are in the minority in this country. It was always only a matter of time before mainstream advertisements began to reflect the opinions of the majority. There’s nothing new about that. It would be unrealistic to expect anything less. Still, there are a number of items worth reflecting on in connection with this ad.
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What the Bible teaches about spanking
I can imagine that recent events may drive a fresh conversation in our culture about the morality of spanking. Americans have widely divergent views on the matter. Even evangelical Christians have seen some division over the issue in recent years. In light of this, Christians need to be ready to engage this discussion in a biblical way, insisting on the protection of children from abuse while also pursuing biblical truth concerning discipline. For Christians, the key texts on this issue are in the book of Proverbs. Here’s a sample: Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently. Proverbs 29:15 The…
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Steve Jobs was a low-tech parent. What about you?
The New York Times published an article yesterday saying that Steve Jobs was a low-tech parent. Contrary to what you might think, Jobs did not let his kids have unfettered access (or in some cases any access) to the devices he created at Apple. Nick Biltin reports,
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Regretting Surrogacy
Jennifer Lahl was recently interviewed by ABC News about women who regret being surrogate mothers. A surrogacy agreement is when a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for someone else. In some cases, the pregnancy occurs through in vitro fertilization so that the baby is genetically unrelated to the woman who carries the child. In other cases, the woman who carries the child becomes pregnant naturally or artificially so that the child is genetically related to the woman who carries the baby. Usually, a woman agrees to receive a sum of money in exchange for being a surrogate.
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How will gay marriage impact your marriage?
If you’ve ever been in a debate with someone about gay marriage, one of the conversation stoppers that proponents often throw out is this: “How does gay marriage hurt traditional marriage?” Or more personally, “How does my gay marriage corrupt your straight marriage?” The thinking goes like this. What two people do in the privacy of their own home ought not concern you, even if they choose to reinvent society’s most basic institution. After all, who are you to judge someone else’s pairing? If some people want to call gay unions a “marriage,” what’s that to you? [read the rest at ERLC.com]
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NY Times reporter calls for incivility
I have been watching with some interest the ongoing Twitter conversation between Ryan Anderson and New York Times reporter Josh Barro. Anderson supports the traditional marriage position, and Barro has been arguing that those who hold Anderson’s view are not worthy of civility. Barro says that such persons should be treated with the same intolerance that we would give to segregationists. For anyone paying attention to the current cultural climate, none of this is surprising. Still, it is jarring to see such a bald expression of intolerance from a New York Times reporter. I encourage you to read Ryan Anderson’s two blog posts chronicling the conversation (here and here). Anderson…
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50 Shades of Strange
I have not read 50 Shades of Grey, nor do I plan to. The book is a bona fide publishing phenom, but every description I have read is that the story amounts to literary pornography. For that reason, I can’t imagine anything helpful coming from the film version set to be released later this year. I’ll be sitting that one out too. So I have great sympathy for the concerns Aimee Byrd expresses about the reception of the forthcoming movie. She writes:
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When the Transgender Comes Home
Josh Bishop has a really helpful article at The Gospel Coalition telling how he and his family responded to the revelation of his sister’s transgender identity. He writes: Jessah is 19 years old, 12 years younger than I am. I was in the hospital when she was born. I spent my middle-school years changing her diapers. She beamed with pride and excitement when my then-fiancée Becca asked her to be a bridesmaid at our wedding, and during the ceremony she looked just as beautiful and twice as proud as the older girls. Becca offered advice when she was learning to put on makeup, when puberty arrived, when she first started…
