By now, you’ve probably already heard the news that the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to the scientist who developed in vitro fertilization (Robert G. Edwards of Great Britain). What you may not have heard is how many difficult ethical quandaries have been created since the implementation of this new technology. Debora Spar reports how this lawless industry is spawning Octomoms, birth defects, and maternal deaths. She also demonstrates how far behind the United States is in regulating In Vitro compared to Europe. She writes,
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WSJ on Adoption
The Wall Street Journal has a story on evangelicals and adoption that features Russell Moore. The article traces the growing emphasis on orphan care among evangelical Christians.
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Did Jesus Affirm a Gay Couple?
A friend sent me a news story today about a set of billboards in Dallas, Texas that cite the Bible in support of homosexual relationships. Because you can find all kinds of crazy things on billboards, I initially didn’t think much of this report. But I was really intrigued by the picture of one billboard that was included in the story (see it at right). The message reads simply, “Jesus affirmed a gay couple. Would Jesus Discriminate?” What caught my attention was not the suggestion that Jesus affirmed homosexual conduct. This is standard fare among religious progressives, and I have heard this many times before. What caught my attention was…
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Burning the Koran
Albert Mohler weighs-in on the Koran burning controversy. In short, his concern is not mainly that the act is un-American, but that it does not serve the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a publicity stunt that hinders the preaching of the good news. In the book of Acts, we don’t see the church deliberately trying to offend others, but rather we see them trying to preach the gospel. Listen to the rest below. The Briefing – September 8, 2010[audio:http://albertmohler.com/media/audio/totl/Podcast/The_Briefing_September_8.mp3]
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Is Your Doctor a Believer?
Is your doctor a believer? If not, a new study suggests that the care he is giving you may be inferior to that of believing doctors. The study appears in the Journal of Medical Ethics, and in it Dr. Clive Seale surveys more than 3,700 British doctors, of whom 2,923 reported on how they took care of their last terminally ill patient. In short, “Doctors who are atheist or agnostic are twice as likely to make decisions that could end the lives of their terminally ill patients, compared to doctors who are very religious” (AP report). Medical care is not value-neutral. That much is clear from this study. In fact,…
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The Faith of Katy Perry
The most recent issue of Rolling Stone has an interview with pop music sensation Katy Perry. I’ve written about Perry before and have noted her past life as Katy Hudson—a Christian music star and the daughter of two charismatic youth pastors. What I found interesting about this interview in Rolling Stone was her remarks about her current spiritual state and practices. She describes it this way: “Speaking in tongues is as normal to me as ‘Pass the salt.’ A lot of religions use meditation or chanting as a subliminal prayer language, and speaking in tongues isn’t that different–it’s a secret, direct prayer language to God. If I felt intuitively that…
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Evangelical Bigots?
Carl Trueman notes that for Americans under 35 years of age, homosexual marriage is not even an issue. That figure indicates a great generational divide over attitudes toward homosexuality. The trend lines in our culture are moving decidedly in the direction affirming homosexuality as normal. Trueman predicts, therefore, four challenges that lie ahead for Christians. Here’s the fourth challenge that Trueman mentions: “Those evangelical leaders, academics and evangelical institutions that prize their place at the table and their invitations to appear on `serious’ television programs, and who enjoy being asked to offer their opinion to the wider culture had better be prepared to make a choice. As I have said…
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The End of Prop 8: A Moral and Legal Revolution
Yesterday, a federal judge overturned California’s ban on gay marriage—a measure that was added to the state’s constitution through a 2008 ballot effort called Proposition 8. Federal district judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was a violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment (p. 109). The judge immediately stayed his own decision pending appeals, so gay marriages will not be performed until the issue is resolved in the higher courts. Read the decision here. The next stop for this case is the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—a court well-known for leaning left on social issues and which will almost certainly rubber-stamp…
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Federal Judge Strikes Down Prop 8
This is a terrible decision, and I will have more to say about it later. For now, here’s a snippet and a link from the story in The New York Times: “Saying that it unfairly targets gay men and women, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, handing supporters of such unions a temporary victory in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by the Supreme Court. . . “‘Proposition 8 cannot survive any level of scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause,’ wrote Mr. Walker. ‘Excluding same-sex couples from marriage is simply not rationally related to a…
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Satirizing Moral Confusion
Sometimes satire can be a most effective polemical tool. That is why Joe Carter’s satirical conversation between two women talking about having a fetus is a must-read. Here’s a snippet: Jan: “Marsha! How are you girl? I haven’t seen you in ages.”Marsha: “Hey Jan, you’re looking great. How’ve you been?”Jan: “Just peachy. Hey, guess what? I’m going to have a fetus!”Marsha (excited): “That’s wonderful! Oh, I’m so happy for you. Isn’t it a blessing having parasites growing in us?”Jan: “Yes, but I have to confess—I’m jealous. I wanted to have twins too.”Marsha: “Oh, I only have one now. Greg didn’t get his promotion so we decided to selectively reduce one…