I have stayed up to the bitter end on election night. Secretary Clinton has just conceded the race, and President-elect Trump is delivering his victory speech as I type. There will be much to say in coming days about tonight’s result. Before turning-in for the night, I offer five quick thoughts on what we have just witnessed. 1. This is the American Brexit. It’s a populist realignment of the American two-party system. Donald Trump won 44% of the vote during the GOP primaries, and he has achieved a stunning victory tonight. The GOP is now the party of populism, not the party of conservatism. A similar populist strain runs right…
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An interview with “Nightline” about a candidate who is outside the normal bounds of unacceptability
Last week, I did an interview with Terry Moran of ABC News about the presidential election. It aired last night on “Nightline.” Ed Young, Jr. and Katelyn Beaty also appear. My part is at the very end–about the last minute and a half or so. You can watch it above. I stand by all of what I said in the interview (although I said much more than what actually made it to air). I do not believe that either of the major party candidates are qualified for the office that they seek, and I cannot vote for either of them. I do not do public endorsements, but I do think…
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Is evangelical Christianity becoming more open to gay marriage?
I was just rereading an essay I wrote about six years ago on what the bible teaches about homosexuality. That essay begins with a discussion of Brian McLaren’s then recent affirmation of committed homosexual relationships. It is strange to read that essay now and to consider in retrospect how quickly McLaren faded from evangelical view. At the time, the emerging church still had some purchase within the evangelical movement. Now that entire project is defunct and so are its major proponents. They pushed the very edges of the leftwing of the evangelical movement until they pushed themselves right out of the movement. Many of them did so by adopting unorthodox…
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Yes, let’s remember who’s watching this conversation
Last week I noted Jen Hatmaker’s sad departure from the Christian faith. In an interview for RNS, she revealed that she believes sexual immorality to be compatible with following Christ. As you can imagine, the response to this announcement has been mixed. I am happy to see that many Christians have expressed dismay at Hatmaker’s stance and have said that where she is going they cannot follow. Yesterday, Hatmaker posted some additional thoughts on Facebook. I had hoped and prayed that she might return to the fold, but that is not what she did. Instead, she admonished her detractors to remember that the LGBT community is watching this controversy. She…
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Is voting for a third party candidate a waste?
It is often said that voting for a third party is a wasted vote (see video above). But is that really true? In a really helpful essay titled “Is It a Sin to Vote for Trump?,” Owen Strachan highlights historical precedents that demonstrate the potential value of a third party vote. He writes:
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Russell Moore’s Erasmus Lecture
If you haven’t watched Russell Moore’s Erasmus lecture for First Things, you need to. See above.
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Affirming sexual immorality is a departure from the Christian faith
I just read Jen Hatmaker’s interview with Jonathan Merritt in which she says that sexual immorality is compatible with following Christ. If you haven’t read it, you should read the whole thing. But here’s an excerpt:
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Meet the baby born twice
CNN has reported on a baby who was born twice (see above). LynLee Boemer was removed from her mother’s womb at 23 weeks gestation so that doctors could perform a life-saving surgery on her. She was then returned to her mother’s womb and carried to term, at which time she emerged from the womb a second time. LynLee’s case raises an interesting question. Could she have been aborted after being returned to her mother’s womb? There is obviously both a legal and moral dimension to this question. Under normal circumstances in the U.S. once a person is born, they are considered a “person” under the law and are entitled to…
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David and Nancy French opposed Trump, and it cost them.
David and Nancy French are evangelical Christians and two of the most outspoken conservative opponents of Donald Trump in the country. Taking this stand has not been without a cost for them. Today, they have both written searching reflections on what their opposition has cost them. The pieces linked below are difficult to read, but I think that they are necessary to read if you want to understand the darkness lurking just beneath the surface of this election season. Thank you for fighting the good fight, David and Nancy. There are many of us who admire you and your principled stand this past year. Your moral clarity in the midst…
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Robbie George calls for charity among conservatives currently divided
Dr. Robbie George of Princeton University is regarded by many as the leading intellectual of conservatism. In a Facebook post today, he calls for charity among conservatives who are currently divided over how to vote in the 2016 presidential election. George writes: Lincoln famously said: “With malice towards none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.” Friends, we are in a terrible fix here. And it is putting some of us at each other’s throats. it must not be permitted to do that. Donald Trump is dreadful. Hillary Clinton is horrible. One called for the killing of the innocent family…