The front page of The Nashville Tennessean has an article by Bob Smietana titled “Should wives submit? Debate resurges.” Though Michele Bachmann’s candidacy for president is the catalyst for this piece, the article is not really about her. It’s about how American Evangelicals approach the question of gender roles in the home, in the church, and in society at large. Smietana interviews folks on both sides of this question and even deals briefly with the various interpretations of Ephesians 5 and how those readings play out in the lives of real families. Smietana even uses the proper theological designations for each view, complementarianism and egalitarianism. This is an unusual article,…
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Joseph Bottum Takes Joe Biden to Task over Abortion Remarks
Joseph Bottum has written a scathing criticism of Vice President Joe Biden’s recent remarks about China’s one-child policy. In a gaffe on August 21, Vice President Biden said that he didn’t want to “second-guess” China’s one-child policy—a policy that has led to countless forced sterilizations and forced abortions in China. Bottum responds:
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College Asks Prospective Students about Sexual Orientation
Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois has become the first college in the country to ask applicants about their sexual orientation. From the Chicago Sun-Times: “Increasing diversity is part of our mission statement,” said Gary Rold, Elmhurst’s dean of admissions. “This is simply closing the loop, in many ways, of another group who has a very strong identity. It may not be race and religion but it’s an important part of who they are.”
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Who’s Your Daddy? Could Be Ferris Bueller for 2015 Class
The freshmen class entering college this Fall has no remembrance of what life was like before the Internet, what this whole Communist Party fuss was about in Russia, and that Amazon was once just known as a river in South America. Ferris Bueller is old enough to be their dad, and they probably don’t know the name of the bar where everybody knows your name (MSNBC.com). Every August since 1998, Beloit College has compiled the Beloit College Mindset List, “providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.” The paragraph above describe just a handful of cultural items that have shaped (or…
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Gay Activists Want Marriage Supporters Regarded as Bigots
Maggie Gallagher has a helpful article at The Public Discourse about the aims of the gay rights movement. She warns about the conflict that will come to those stand for traditional marriage: Advocates of gay marriage are not slow to use any lever of power, including government, to impose their new morality on America. The primary goal of the existing gay marriage movement is to use cultural, social, economic, and political power to create a new norm: marriage equality. The governing idea behind “marriage equality” is this: there is no difference between same-sex and opposite-sex unions. If you see a difference, there is something wrong with you. “You’re a hater,…
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Iconic Photo “American Girl in Italy” Turns 60
“American Girl in Italy” is one of the most iconic images ever captured by an American photographer. It was taken by Ruth Orkin in 1951, and today the image turns 60. The photographer died in 1985, but the woman who is the subject of the photograph is still alive. Her name is Ninalee Craig, she is 83 years old, and she now lives in Toronto. I had always thought of the subject of this photo as a woman surrounded by danger and in distress. At least that is the impression that one gets from the distraught look on her face. But it turns-out that my interpretation is incorrect. In a…
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What does it mean to read the Bible literally?
John Wilson is the editor of Books & Culture, and he has penned an OP-ED for the most recent issue of The Wall Street Journal. In the article, Wilson covers the ongoing debate among evangelicals about the existence of an historical Adam. It looks to me, however, that Wilson has not framed the issue accurately. Wilson writes,
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The Girl Who Lost Her Faith Listening to CCM
I just read one of the most fascinating and sad articles that I have read in a long time. The article is by Meghan O’Gieblyn, and it’s a brief narrative of her childhood transition from being a fan of contemporary Christian music (CCM) to being a fan of secular music. As an avid consumer of CCM through the 80?s and 90?s, I relate to a great deal of what is in this article. She talks about how CCM changed from the 80?s to the 90?s and became more and more adept at producing material that could compete with its secular counterparts. She loved CCM and was the ultimate fan until…
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Will Bert and Ernie be Wed on “Seasame Street”?
The Washington Post reported yesterday that a gay rights group called “Change.org” recently started a petition requesting PBS to marry Bert and Ernie on the long-running children’s program “Seasame Street.” As of this writing, there are 5,625 signatures. Here’s the text of the petition letter: In this horrific age of LGBT kids taking their own lives, they need to know that they ARE BEAUTIFUL and their lives are worth living.
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Pregnancy Reduction, An Everyday Horror in the Culture of Death
The New York Times Magazine has a heartbreaking article on yet another monument to the culture of death—pregnancy reduction. In case you have never heard the term, here’s what pregnancy reduction is in a nutshell. When a pregnant mother is carrying two or more babies in her womb, she can choose to kill one or more of those babies while allowing others to live. According to pro-choicers, pregnancy reduction is a practice that began years ago to reduce health risks for women carrying multiples. Pro-choicers have also reasoned that pregnancy reduction increases chances for surviving multiples to make it to term.