Tom Wright has an op-ed in The Times of London today commenting on the Anglican decision not to ordain women as bishops. Wright’s article is a response in large part to Prime Minister David Cameron’s admonition to the church to “get with the program.” Wright thinks Cameron oversteps his bounds in telling the church what it ought to do. Perhaps I’m not the only one who would note the irony of an Anglican church leader complaining about the state chiming-in on church matters. But that is not what I am mainly concerned about here.
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When Jesus hates thanksgiving…
The Christian’s duty to give thanks is pretty clear in scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is one aspect of God’s will that is not secret or hidden. It’s not something that we have to pray about. We already know what it is. Giving thanks in every circumstance is the normative ethic for all Christians. Nevertheless, there is at least one place in scripture in which Jesus warned against giving thanks. From Luke 18:9-14:
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Report Says Abortions Down 5% Nationwide
The Associated Press reports that the number of abortions is down 5% nationwide. This good news is somewhat mitigated by the fact that there are still about 1 million abortions performed every year in the United States. We can be thankful for the small decrease in the number of abortions, but make no mistake. An incalculable human slaughter continues. The report is quick to credit birth control use as a primary reason for the decrease in abortions, not the passage of recent laws restricting abortions. There’s no statistical evidence in the report to support this claim. Nevertheless, the author clearly suggests that laws restricting abortion are ineffective. This is a…
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Who Is Hobby Lobby?
We all heard the news earlier this week about the death of religious freedom at Hobby Lobby. Even though the public is becoming aware that the owners David and Barbara Green are Christians, Americans still need to know more about these good people and what they stand for. To this end, Ben Domenech writes:
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Conversation with Sarah Posner
Sarah Posner from Religion Dispatches was very kind to invite me on to her bloggingheads program yesterday (see below). We talked for about 30 minutes about evangelical political engagement in the aftermath of the presidential election. For those of you who watch the video, that’s not the shekinah beaming off my face. I just set myself up in bad lighting in my basement. Nevertheless, I do look like a luminous being, although I am no Jedi.
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Emboldened Gay Activists Press Forward
If you thought gay marriage activists would be resting on their laurels, think again. Politico reports: Gay activists are preparing to quickly use the momentum from this year’s election to try to legalize marriage in at least seven new states and force Congress and the president to make major changes in discrimination laws.
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Religious Liberty Dies at Hobby Lobby
Here’s the bad news from The Beckett Fund website: Today, a federal court denied a request to halt enforcement of the abortion pill mandate which forces the Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., to providethe “morning after pill” and “week after pill” in their health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million dollars per day… Hobby Lobby is the largest and first non-Catholic-owned business to file a lawsuit against the HHS mandate. The Green family has no moral objection to the use of preventive contraceptives and will continue covering preventive contraceptives for its employees. However, the Green family’s religious convictions prohibit them from providing or paying for the…
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Banning Public Nudity in San Francisco…Sort of
San Francisco is preparing to pass a law that would prohibit nudity in most public places. According to the Associated Press, lawmaker Scott Wiener spearheaded the effort after “constituents complained about the naked men who gather in a small Castro plaza most days and sometimes walk the streets au naturel. He persuaded his colleagues last year to pass a law requiring a cloth to be placed between public seating and bare rears, yet the complaints have continued.”
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Thanksgiving Fun
Here’s some Thanksgiving fun from the boys at Igniter Media.
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Charles and Andy Stanley Open Up to CNN
Charles and Andy Stanley open up to John Blake of CNN about their relationship and the split that led to the founding of North Point Community Church back in the 1990’s. The story appears in Andy Stanley’s new book Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend. Fair warning: The intro to the CNN story will hook you into reading this lengthy article. Here it is: