Princeton University recently hosted a conference on abortion titled “Open Hearts, Open Minds and Fair Minded Words.” The conference title was inspired by President Obama’s 2009 Notre Dame address in which he called on different sides of the abortion debate not only to work together where we agree, but also to engage in “vigorous debate” with “open hearts, open minds, and fair minded words.” Peter Singer was one of the organizers of the event, and David Gushee was invited to represent the pro-life view. A full list of speakers and sponsors are available here.

In the video linked at right, Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches and Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute discuss changing public opinion on gay rights. Several things are interesting here. 1. Assumption – There is an underlying assumption that skews this conversation. Posner and Jones virtually equate “gay rights” with the right to “homosexual marriage.” The assumption seems to be that support for gay marriage indicates support for the basic human rights of homosexual persons and that opposition to gay marriage indicates opposition to the basic human rights of homosexual persons. I think, however, that this equation is a mistake.

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.

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…

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]

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…

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…