This morning I received an e-mail from The New York Times advertising a new 8-minute documentary they have produced about what abortion in American looks like after Roe. It’s a first-person narrative of a 27-year old woman who puts herself through a “self-managed” abortion. The film is a how-to guide for anyone living in a state where abortion is illegal. It shows women how to order the drug mifepristone from out of state so that they can put their unborn child to death in the privacy of their own home. This is naked advocacy on the part of The New York Times. The Times is making no pretense to objectivity…
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Who will speak up for the “transgender” kid?
Ross Douthat has written one of the most pointed, prophetic paragraphs that I have ever read in a newspaper. He writes: I will make a prediction: Within not too short a span of time, not only conservatives but most liberals will recognize that we have been running an experiment on trans-identifying youth without good or certain evidence, inspired by ideological motives rather than scientific rigor, in a way that future generations will regard as a grave medical-political scandal. Which means that if you are a liberal who believes as much already, but you don’t feel comfortable saying it, your silence will eventually become your regret. There is no question that…
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The 2021 Word of the Year – “Allyship”
Dictionary.com has an annual tradition of naming a “word of the year,” and this year’s winner is the term allyship. Here is the definition: allyship (noun): the status or role of a person who advocates and actively works for the inclusion of a marginalized or politicized group in all areas of society, not as a member of that group but in solidarity with its struggle and point of view and under its leadership. At first blush, the definition appears to be a positive concept. After all, what decent person doesn’t want to lend a helping hand to those who need it? Didn’t even Jesus himself say something along these lines?…
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Biblical Justice vs. Mob Justice
One of the most vicious characters in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is a woman name Madame Defarge. In the beginning, she appears as a diminutive woman who passively spends her time knitting as French nobility commit great injustices against commoners. The reader comes to find out that this woman is storing up bitter resentments and bloody plans for vengeance against her aristocratic persecutors. Through years of oppression, she is quietly knitting a “hit list” of aristocrats whose blood must be spilled in the coming revolution. Her bloodlust becomes so intense that she begins to sew names on her list that don’t deserve her condemnation. At one crucial…
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Louisville Mayor Endorses CRT in Public Schools
Yesterday, I read the news that the mayor of Louisville, Greg Fischer, has sponsored a resolution encouraging public school to teach Critical Race Theory (CRT). Mayor Fischer endorsed the measure at the 89th annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. Mayor Fischer’s resolution is deeply problematic and encourages school systems to adopt one of the most destructive and divisive ideologies of our time. The resolution treats any racially disparate outcome as racism itself. It claims that racism is a “normal feature of society” and thus is virtually omnipresent in American life. It rejects meritocracy and colorblind notions of justice. It calls for a new epistemology, one that gives…
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Is Debating CRT a Distraction from Racial Justice?
Jake Meador recently declared that racial reconciliation within Reformed Evangelicalism is effectively dead: “So far as I can tell, that conversation, which once showed such promise, is over.” You don’t have to agree with his explanation for why this is the case to see that he has a point. Things were already tense before the pandemic, but from the murder of George Floyd until now, we seem to have gotten ourselves into a tailspin. What happened? Evangelicals have differences over why things are the way they are right now. One side thinks the other is in the throes of Marxist identity politics. Another side thinks the other is marinating in…
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Dealing with Resolution 9… or not?
Last month, I made a prediction that we wouldn’t leave the SBC in Nashville without a resolution making it absolutely clear how Southern Baptists feel about CRT. How has that prediction turned out? It’s hard to say now because we still have more to debate and discuss tomorrow. Most notably, the Committee on Order of Business will report tomorrow on a motion to rescind Resolution 9 passed at 2019 SBC. If we are able to vote on that motion and rescind, it would serve the same purpose as a strong resolution. I suspect, however, that the motion will be ruled out of order and that we will not have the…
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Dealing with Resolution 9 at the SBC
I am pre-registered as a messenger from my church to the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville next month. Because of the aftermath of 2019’s infamous “Resolution 9,” one of the most important items of business before the Convention will no doubt be a resolution relating to Critical Race Theory (CRT). I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. So I could be wildly off in this prediction, but I anticipate that we won’t leave Nashville without a strong resolution against Critical Race Theory. I won’t even try to predict the path from point A to point B, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get to point…
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Senator Tim Scott Targets CRT Head-On
Last night, Senator Tim Scott gave the GOP response to President Biden’s speech to the nation (read here or watch below). In many ways it was an ordinary political speech, focusing on policy alternatives to the opposing party. In other ways, it was extraordinary. Senator Scott talked openly about his faith. He spoke about his impoverished upbringing and “a praying momma” that kept him from going into a very dark place. He also talked about his conversion to Christ, proclaiming that “becoming a Christian transformed my life.” And then he concluded with words that are absolutely extraordinary to hear in a modern political speech: I am standing here because my…
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The Verdict
Earlier today, a jury in Minneapolis delivered three guilty verdicts against Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd. The jury deliberations were relatively short, which seemed to signal in advance that guilty verdicts were in the offing. And indeed they were. I was not able to watch the whole trial (who could?), but I did read news coverage as it progressed. I also caught some of the closing arguments from both the defense and the prosecution. From what I saw, it was clear to me that the prosecution was very effective at proving its case. The key features that the trial confirmed were cause of death and…
