In the wake of sagging poll numbers in Iowa, Donald Trump assures Iowa voters that he is a “great Christian.” At a rally in Sioux City, he declared: Will you get these numbers up? I promise you I will do such a good job. First of all, I am a great Christian. And I do well with the evangelicals, but the evangelicals let me down a little bit this month. I don’t know what I did. NPR reports that Trump’s campaign has been handing out pictures of his 1959 confirmation ceremony in an attempt to establish his Christian bona fides. I doubt that anyone is buying this. I’m not questioning…
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Throwing your money into a bureaucratic black hole
Last week, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed about Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million dollar gift to public schools in Newark, New Jersey. What happened to the money? The Facebook founder negotiated his gift with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and then-Mayor Cory Booker in 2010, and it flowed into Newark’s public-school system shortly thereafter. The bulk of the funds supported consultants and the salaries and pensions of teachers and administrators, so the donation only reinforced the bureaucratic and political ills that have long plagued public education in the Garden State. Mr. Zuckerberg is not the first private donor to fail at reforming public education by working with government—and he…
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A brief word about the ACBC conference and the protest
This week I gave a couple of talks at the annual conference of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). The conference themes were transgender and homosexuality, and I gave one address on each topic. Rosaria Butterfield, Sam Allberry, Heath Lambert, Albert Mohler, Stuart Scott, Owen Strachan, and others also addressed the 2,000 people who gathered for the conference.
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Chuck Todd’s Interview with Cecile Richards
I like Chuck Todd. I like “Meet the Press.” I don’t like this interview (watch above).
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Planned Parenthood’s problems have to do with facts that are not in dispute
I watched a good bit of the testimony that Cecile Richards offered to Congress yesterday, but I suspect that most Americans did not. Most Americans will view news reports about the hearings if they hear anything at all. That means that most Americans are going to be woefully under-informed about what happened yesterday. So let me give you the bottom line about what came out in the hearings. 1. Planned Parenthood harvests organs from aborted babies and gives those organs to researchers in exchange for money. Planned Parenthood disputes the claim that they “profit” from this exchange, but they do not dispute that the exchange happens. They provide the baby…
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Fact-checkers claim Planned Parenthood video doesn’t exist
Carly Fiorina’s big moment at the last Republican debate occurred when she described one of the videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s sale of baby parts. Since the debate, critics have claimed that the video she describes doesn’t exist. Fiorina’s campaign responded with the ad above showing that the video does in fact exist (WARNING: The video is graphic). Still, the critics have been piling-on as if Fiorina’s claims are completely fabricated. Just yesterday I saw Chuck Todd rake her over the coals about it on “Meet the Press.” Fiorina stood by her guns. So who’s telling the truth here? Fiorina or the fact-checkers? The best article I’ve seen on this so…
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Pope Francis supports right of Kentucky Clerk to withhold marriage licenses
Earlier today on the flight back to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions from reporters about a variety of issues. In one fascinating segment, ABC News’s Terry Moran had this exchange with the Pope—an exchange that seems to imply papal support for the conservative side of a recent religious liberty controversy concerning gay marriage: Terry Moran, ABC News: Holy Father, thank you, thank you very much and thank you to the Vatican staff as well. Holy Father, you visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and we were told that you wanted to show your support for them and their case in the courts. And, Holy Father, do you also support…
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Nothing explicitly Christian about Pope’s speech
I just finished listening to the Pope’s speech to Congress from earlier today (watch below). There is no question that the occasion was historic—the first time ever that a Pope has delivered such an address. Indeed, it would have been impossible to imagine such an invitation being extended just fifty years ago. But the times have changed, and now the United States Congress has done something unprecedented. Nevertheless, even though the speech was historic, it was also a disappointment—not so much for what he did say but for what he didn’t say. For example:
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Ted Cruz gets booed on gay marriage in interview with Colbert
Ted Cruz appeared on the “The Late Show with Steven Colbert” last night and was booed over his remarks about gay marriage (watch above). Colbert had to turn to the crowd and ask them not to boo his guest, even though they disagreed with him. Some reflections on this appearance:
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3801 Lancaster: American Tragedy
The documentary releases on November 10, and it includes interviews with Gosnell himself. You will hear his voice in the trailer above. The documentary’s website is here.