Carson Holloway at First Things is astonished at Hollywood’s reaction to Roman Polanski’s arrest for a 30-year old rape charge. While pity might be an appropriate response, he argues that indignation is not. “Pity, yes. But indignation? This is strange, and it compels us to ask how we can account for the inclination of some in Hollywood righteously to condemn those who would bring Polanski to justice. The reasons are no doubt complex. . . Nevertheless, this controversy should not pass without our observing that Hollywood surely has deep self-interested reasons to defend Roman Polanski. Put simply, Polanski’s sins are inextricably bound up with Hollywood’s own sins. If he is…
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Implanted with the Wrong Embryo (part 2)
I wrote last week about a woman who was implanted with another couple’s embryo. The Associated Press reports that the baby boy was born on Thursday. The video below contains an interview with the couple whose embryo was mistakenly implanted.
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Collision: Is Religion Good for the World?
In my earlier post about Douglas Wilson, I posted a link to John Piper’s interview with Wilson about the new movie “Collision.” In short, the movie is a documentary of a debate tour between Wilson and Christopher Hitchens. In each stop on the tour, they debated the question “Is Religion Good For The World?” Wilson argues as a Christian, and Hitchens as an atheist. The movie will be released on DVD in October. I’m looking forward to seeing it, as I am sure many of you are too. You can pre-order it now from Amazon.com.
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Implanted with the Wrong Embryo
The video above narrates a heart-wrenching story about a wife from Ohio who had another couple’s embryo implanted in her uterus by mistake. Using the in vitro Fertilization technique (IVF), doctors somehow implanted the wrong embryo. Now the woman is pregnant with someone else’s baby. Though she could have aborted the baby, she decided to carry it to term—even though she won’t be able to keep it. This is such a sad story, and it reminds us again of the ethical difficulties associated with certain kinds of fertility treatments. Nevertheless, I am grateful that this mother has chosen to bring this baby to term. You should take time to read…
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Abortion and the Sexual Revolution
Dinesh D’Sousa argues that the pro-choice movement prevails—in spite of its bad arguments—because of its connection to the sexual revolution. Pro-choicers by and large are not concerned about the humanity of the unborn. Indeed, some will grant that the unborn are human beings, but they will not grant that the unborn have a fundamental right to life. Why? He answers: ‘I think it’s because abortion is the debris of the sexual revolution. We have seen a great shift in the sexual mores of Americans in the past half-century. Today a widespread social understanding persists that if there is going to be sex outside marriage, there will be a considerable number…
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Gay “Marriage” Ice Cream
A friend just e-mailed me this little tidbit from the culture. This is no joke, and it wouldn’t be funny if it were. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream has rebranded one of it flavors in support of gay “marriage.” Here’s what the press release says: ‘Ben & Jerry’s, known for its euphoric ice cream flavors and dedication to social justice, celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby.” In partnership with Freedom to Marry, Ben & Jerry’s aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and,…
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No Right To Homeschool
If you haven’t heard about this story yet, you need to read this. A court in New Hampshire has denied a mother’s right to homeschool her child. The judge said that the child “appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on questions of faith” and ordered the child to attend public school for the 2009-2010 schoolyear. For the full story, read here, here, and here. Last week, Albert Mohler devoted an entire episode of his radio program to this issue. Listen to it below. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/media/audio/totl/2009/AMP_09_08_2009.mp3] This ruling is nothing short of astonishing. If a court can weigh-in like this against the wishes of a child’s parent and legal guardian, then something…
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8 Years Hence
Of course I’ll never forget where I was on September 11, 2001. My wife and I were in our second year of marriage, and we were living in Louisville, Kentucky while I was working on my Ph.D. On the morning of the attacks, I was in our apartment, and she called me from work to tell me to turn the television on. I think both buildings had already been struck by the time I tuned in, but I was watching live television as both of them eventually crumbled to the ground.
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Choosing Thomas
Twenty weeks into their pregnancy, T. K. and Deidrea Laux found out that their son had Trisomy 13—a rare DNA abnormality. After being counseled that “terminating the pregnancy” would be an option, they chose life. In Deidrea’s own words: “We didn’t not terminate because we were hanging on to some sort of hope that there was a medical mistake or there was gonna be some sort of medical miracle. We didn’t terminate because he’s our son.” The Dallas Morning News has produced this video chronicling the birth and home-going of Thomas. The Laux’s are members of Paul Lindquist’s church (one of my former Criswell College students), and Paul is the…
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Kardashian’s Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Dilemma
Kourtney Kardashian is probably best-known for her role on an E! network reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” I have never seen the show, and I know next to nothing about Kardashian personally. But today an article about her on the People magazine website caught this pro-lifer’s attention. In short, the article describes Kardashian’s inner turmoil about her recent unplanned pregnancy and deliberations about abortion. Here’s what she decided in her own words: