• Culture,  Politics

    Peggy Noonan for Hire? Bush Needs Her Again.

    Readers of my blog know that I love Peggy Noonan’s column in the Wall Street Journal. She took a break from writing her column in 2004 in order to help President Bush get re-elected. I really think that he could use her advice again now.Noonan hits another homerun in her commentary today on President Bush’s immigration speech, and I hope that the President and his administration are listening. Her main critique is that the President didn’t really address the issue with the seriousness that his base is calling for. She writes: What was needed was a definitive statement: “As of this moment we will control our borders, I’m sending in…

  • Culture,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Calvinism a Problem at Patrick Henry College

    Well, if you read my last post, I ended by saying that I look forward to hearing more of the story of what’s going on with the faculty departures at Patrick Henry College. According to Christianity Today, at least one of the reasons for tension between the faculty and the President was Calvinism. [President] Farris, a Baptist minister, has publicly expressed views that have shocked some professors and students. “He said St. Augustine was in hell,” said [Professor] Root. “I heard it with my own ears.” Other professors and students said Farris has repeatedly disparaged Calvinist theology. “There is a sense that you face antagonism as someone who is theologically…

  • Culture,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Faculty Shake-up at Patrick Henry College

    Strange things are afoot at the Circle K . . . oops, I meant Patrick Henry College. According to the LA Times, one professor was fired and three others resigned in protest. One of the exiting professors was Todd Bates, former professor at Criswell College where I teach.The LA Times writes: Patrick Henry College, the small evangelical Christian school founded six years ago to train students for careers in public life, gained national prominence for placing many students in White House internships and other government positions. Now five of the school’s 16 faculty members have left, saying the school’s approach is too doctrinaire to prepare students for the realities of…

  • Culture,  Politics

    Shut up and Sing . . . On Second Thought, don’t sing either.

    Newsweek magazine reports that pop artists are jumping on the Bush-bashing bandwagon (click here for the story). From Pink, to Paul Simon, Neil Young, Bruce Springstein, and even to Merle Haggard, they’re all coming out to beat up on Bush.As Newsweek points out, the interesting thing about this latest round of protests is that unlike Vietnam era protests which were aimed at “the establishment” and “the man” in general, these protests are focused rather narrowly on President Bush. For these entertainers, Bush is the personification of political and imperial evil.

  • Culture,  Politics

    Possible Peace in Darfur?

    The Associated Press has an anonymous source from a Darfur rebel group that says the rebel groups may be ready to accept a U.S. backed peace agreement with the Sudanese government. “A proposal drafted by the United States and Britain to help end the war in Sudan’s Darfur region meets key rebel demands and could set the stage for a peace accord, a rebel negotiator said Thursday. “A rebel negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity because the parties involved had been asked not to reveal details of the proposal, said it called for thousands of rebels to be integrated into Sudanese security forces. “Sudanese government officials were not immediately available…

  • Culture,  Politics

    Darfur Developments over the Weekend

    This past weekend witnessed two major developments related to the genocide in Darfur. First, about 15,000 demonstrators from very diverse backgrounds descended on the mall in Washington D. C. in order to urge the U. S. government to do what it can to “Save Darfur.” The diversity of the demonstrators was reflected in the list of speakers who gave addresses. You had liberals like George Clooney and Al Sharpton on the one hand, and conservatives like Richard Land on the other. Liberals, conservatives, Jews, protestants, evangelicals, blacks, whites, and others all united in behalf of Darfur. The Washington Post reports:

  • Culture,  Politics

    Interest in Darfur Crisis Heightens in U.S.

    Last week, I wrote and hosted a radio show about the genocide in Darfur in the Sudan. There have been some good signs that the U.S. is beginning to take note of the crisis that is unfolding there.George Clooney and his father recently returned from a trip to Darfur, and are making the media rounds trying to focus the public’s attention on the what is happening. On Thursday, Clooney appeared with U.S. Senators Sam Brownback and Barack Obama at the National Press Club. The important thing about this appearance is that it brings together one of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate (Brownback) with a rising star on the…

  • Politics

    Tony Snow To Be House-Trainer-in-Chief

    Well, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. I’m a fan of Tony Snow, and I have high hopes that he will be great in this very difficult position of White House Press Secretary. I think he’ll be an improvement over McLellan.Truth be told, however, I don’t think he or anyone else will be able to make nice with the White House press corps. They are like a bunch of spoiled house pets that run around growling at and gnawing on anything they can sink their teeth into. They won’t put their fangs back into their mouths until a Democrat is in the White House. Until that time, Tony’s…

  • Culture,  Politics

    David Beamer on the New Movie “United 93″

    Do you remember Todd Beamer? On September 11, 2001, he was the hero who said “let’s roll” as he and a band of other heroes aboard United 93 led the first counter-attack in the war on terror.I’m sure that you have already heard about the new movie based on the events of that day aboard that fateful flight. The movie is called “United 93″ and you can watch the trailers here. Some have been questioning the timing of the movie and whether releasing such a movie shows disrespect to the families of the victims. Todd Beamer’s father, David Beamer, weighs in on the debate in today’s Wall Street Journal in…