The Simpsons provided some wry political commentary in the weeks before the 1996 presidential election. Bob Dole was challenging Bill Clinton for the office, and Ross Perot was running as a third party candidate. In the episode excerpted above, Homer discovers that Dole and Clinton are really aliens in disguise and that he needs to expose them before one of them gets elected president. The story lampooned the popular notion that voting for a third party candidate meant that you were throwing your vote away. I disagree with the premise of this. I do believe that voting for a third party candidate is tantamount to voting against the major party…
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Why Abortion Is the Most Important Issue in This Election
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — On Nov. 6, America will go to the polls and elect the next president as well as members of the House and Senate. In advance of this vote, most Americans believe that the chief issue facing the country is the ailing economy. I want to make the case that this thinking is wrong-headed and that the transcendent issue of this election is abortion. The current law of our land excludes from the human community a whole class of human beings — the unborn. Right now, under the regime of Roe v. Wade, it is legal in our country to kill unborn human beings at any stage…
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The Criticism of Jim Lehrer Is Hogwash
After the debate last Wednesday, many journalists criticized Jim Lehrer for getting “steamrolled” by the candidates, for losing control of the format. These journalists think that Lehrer should have inserted himself more into the conversation and asked tough follow-up questions to the candidates. I think this complaint against Lehrer is hogwash. And it comes from a class of professionals who seem to have an overinflated sense of their role in this process.
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Romney vs. Obama on Gay Marriage
Michael Foust has done some fantastic reporting contrasting Romney’s and Obama’s records on gay marriage. There is a real difference here, and Foust reminds us of the strong stand that Romney took when he was governor of Massachusetts. Foust writes: Romney was governor of Massachusetts when the state’s highest court issued its first-in-the-nation decision legalizing gay marriage, and he not only fought to have the ruling overturned but also supported an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. Obama voted against that federal marriage amendment as a U.S. senator, and once he was president he became the first sitting U.S. president…
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Younger Evangelicals Are Not Going Liberal
Joe Carter argues against the meme that says younger evangelicals are trending more liberal than their parents. Highlighting a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, he shows that younger evangelicals have not abandoned the conservative political convictions of their parents. His concluding observations are right on the money: Since evangelicals tend to put strong emphasis on the authority of the Bible, it shouldn’t be surprising that they do not support a party whose platform is, on several issues, diametrically opposed to Biblical principles. What is surprising is that such as large number of evangelicals have embraced the naïve idea that voting for a party that endorses abortion-on-demand, same-sex…
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John MacArthur Rebukes Democratic Platform
I’ve been following John MacArthur’s ministry for many years now. He is not—by any stretch of the imagination—a political preacher. In fact, he steers clear of politics in his preaching because he believes it to be a distraction from the preacher’s primary responsibility—preaching the word of God. So it is worthy of note that MacArthur has recently included remarks in a sermon that address politics. I could write an excerpt here, but you’ll probably benefit more from hearing it from the man himself. You can download the audio here or listen below. [audio:http://www.gty.org/media/audioblog/AB_90-448_1.mp3] (HT: Dan Phillips)
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What Is Reparative Therapy?
In my last post, I noted that California has just become the first state in the union to outlaw therapies aimed at altering the sexual orientation of minors. If you read the law, you’ll find that the vast majority of it is taken up with explaining the medical basis for prohibiting these therapies—including some rather negative assessments of reparative therapy in particular. In the opening section of the law and in other writings on this story, I see persistent misunderstandings about what reparative therapy actually is. Consequently, there’s a good bit of confusion about how Christian teaching relates to this particular therapy. Here’s the definition given in Joe Dallas’ and…
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California Outlaws Therapies Aimed at Changing the Sexual Orientation of Minors
On Saturday, California became the first state to ban therapy practices that attempt to change the sexual orientation of minors. The new law states, Under no circumstances shall a mental health provider engage in sexual orientation change efforts with a patient under 18 years of age… Any sexual orientation change efforts attempted on a patient under 18 years of age by a mental health provider shall be considered unprofessional conduct and shall subject a mental health provider to discipline by the licensing entity for that mental health provider. This means that even if a minor wants help in battling same-sex desires, mental health professionals in California are not allowed to…
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Death Threats for Opposing Gay Parenting
Rupert Everett is gay actor who is probably best known for his role in the 1998 film My Best Friend’s Wedding. He recently made some remarks against gay parenting that have resulted in threats on his life. What exactly did he say? The Huffington Post has his exact words: [My mom] thinks children need a father and a mother and I agree with her… I can’t think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads… Some people might not agree with that. Fine! That’s just my opinion. The article goes on to talk about the backlash that Everett is getting from gay rights groups. They are predictably…
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Why President Obama Will Win Reelection
Doug Wilson is pretty convinced that Mitt Romney will pull off an impressive win against President Obama this November. Wilson is so sure of his prediction that he says, “If I were a betting man, which I am not, I would be willing to put a $25 steak dinner on it.” Well, if I were a betting man, which I am not, I would see his $25 steak dinner and raise him a $15 barbecue platter. I think President Obama is going to win reelection. Having said that, it’s important to point out that I’m no political professional. I’m just an amateur who follows these things pretty closely. So take…