• Culture,  Politics

    Travesty: Abortion as Charity!

    The Associated Press reports that the only abortion clinic in central Arkansas is offering free abortions to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Jerry Edwards says, “If we didn’t provide it now, they would get it later — a late-term abortion that would give greater risk to the mother’s health.” Dr. Edwards says he has already provided six free abortions that would normally cost between $525 and $600. The abortion clinic is called “Little Rock Family Planning Services” and was featured in this past Sunday’s New York Times in an article titled “Under Din of Abortion Debate, an Experience Shared Quietly.” The Times article tells the tragic stories of a number…

  • Culture,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Scopes Monkey Trial 2: Intelligent Design on Trial

    The New York Times reports today about an upcoming court case in Pennsylvania. “Advocates on both sides of the issue have lined up behind the case, often calling it Scopes II, in reference to the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial that was the last century’s great face-off over evolution. “On the evolutionists’ side is a legal team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. These groups want to put intelligent design itself on trial and discredit it so thoroughly that no other school board would dare authorize teaching it. “Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the A.C.L.U. of Pennsylvania, said the…

  • Culture,  Politics

    L.B.J. and Senator Russell Long after Hurricane Betsy

    Lyndon Johnson and Senator Russell Long of Louisiana peer out of Air Force One in 1965 to survey the damage done by Hurricane Betsy. – Yoichi R. Okamoto / Lyndon Baines Johnson Library NBC News Anchorman Brian Williams provides a glimpse into how Lyndon Johnson used a trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy in 1965 for political advantage. This is a gem of an Op-Ed. Go check it out. It’s titled “L.B.J.’s Political Hurricane.”

  • Culture,  Politics

    Disappointed with Russert, et al.

    It’s not just the partisans who are rushing to judgment about who to blame for the catastrophic aftermath of Katrina. The clear thrust of mainstream media reporting has been to lay the blame for the crisis in New Orleans at the feet of the Bush administration. The default assumption in the media appears to be that if there was a failure of rescue operations, then the failure was a federal one. No reporter that I have seen has come up with a line of questioning that would insinuate a failure on the part of the Louisiana governor or the New Orleans mayor (I’ve mainly been watching CNN, NBC, and MSNBC’s…

  • Culture,  Music,  Politics

    Kanye West’s Race-Baiting Tirade

    Hip-hop star Kanye West went on a tirade during NBC’s disaster relief fundraiser tonight. West and Michael Myers were paired together during a segment so that they could appeal to a nationwide TV audience to donate money to the Red Cross. After Michael Myers opened with a few remarks, Kanye West began a meandering monologue that was clearly not written on his cue card and was very difficult to understand. However, a few things came through loud and clear. First, West made the outlandish claim that the government had given the troops in New Orleans permission to shoot black people. Second, he accused the media of racist coverage, alleging that…

  • Culture,  Politics

    New Orleans: Then and Now

    I was struck this morning when NBC’s Today Show offered glowing and nostalgic remembrances of how great New Orleans was before the hurricane. The parties, the good times, the food, and the music. According to the Today Show’s reporting, New Orleans was a virtual heaven on earth—a true American original. I have to say, however, that as a native Louisianan, I don’t think that description of pre-hurricane New Orleans really rings true. Yes, it is true that the city had its charms, but it also had its challenges, the kinds of challenges that are routinely overlooked by reveling tourists. I could relate story after story about how difficult the city…

  • Culture,  Theology/Bible

    Military Chaplains Pressured Not to Pray in the Name of Jesus

    Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt, a chaplain and a priest with the Evangelical Episcopal Church, has accused the Navy of religious discrimination. The Washington Post reports today on an little known controversy among the ranks of chaplains in the U.S. military: “Evangelical Protestant chaplains are fighting what they say is a legacy of discrimination in hiring and promotions, and they are bridling at suggestions they not pray publicly ‘in the name of Jesus.’” You can read the full story here.

  • Culture,  Personal,  Theology/Bible

    What do college students do when they aren’t studying?

    My Greek teacher Rev. James Lipscomb and I during one of our tutoring sessions at his home in Ruston, LA (circa 1994). “What do college students do when they aren’t studying?” According to the Wall Street Journal’s Naomi Riley’s review of two books about college life, college students are primarily engaged in idleness. No, they are not studying and going to class forty hours a week. They certainly are not becoming avid readers. Rather, they are in pursuit of the ideal represented in their ubiquitous watchword: “fun.” “Fun” includes among other things a great deal of binge drinking (often beginning on Thursday night and going through the weekend) and frequent…

  • Culture,  Music,  Politics

    Pro-Life and Hip-Hop: Nick Cannon’s Amazing Video

    Nick Cannon and His Mother It’s not often that a rap video brings a tear to your eye. But my wife and I watched one tonight that did. Some of you may know Nick Cannon from the hit movie “Drumline” or perhaps from his new show on MTV, “Nick Cannon Presents Wild ‘N Out.” What you may not know is that he released a music video this summer that is powerfully pro-life. The lyrics to the song tell the true story of Nick Cannon’s mother. When she became pregnant with Nick, she was an unwed teenager. She made it all the way to the operating table of the abortion clinic…

  • Culture,  Theology/Bible

    Mohler and Moore on Pornography

    In light of my blogs from last week on the XXXChurch, I would like bring your attention to R. Albert Mohler and Russell D. Moore’s blogs. Dr. Mohler investigates “Pornified America—The Culture of Pornography” in a review of a book by Pamela Paul. Dr. Moore’s essay is about “Praying for Porn Stars.”