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Secularism on the March
Europe’s Culture War: Secularism on the March
This piece was originally published in The Washington Times on May 23, 2007 .
by Paul Belien
Europe is in the middle of a three-way culture war, between the defenders of traditional Judeo-Christian morality, the proponents of secular hedonism and the forces of Islamic Jihadism. In Western Europe, the fight between Christians and secularists is all but over. The secularists have won. Now, the religious vacuum left by the demise of Christianity is being filled by the Muslims. Since one cannot fight something with nothing, the European secularists are no match for Islam.
Jun 30, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Persecution, Religious Liberty
WSJ - Christianity Without Salvation
Christianity Without Salvation
The legacy of the “Social Gospel”—100 years later.
BY JOSEPH LOCONTE
Friday, May 11, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
Within a few years of its publication in 1907, “Christianity and the Social Crisis” swept through America’s Protestant churches like a nor’easter, selling more than 50,000 copies to ministers and laypeople alike. In an age of social upheaval, Walter Rauschenbusch’s jeremiad was meant to rouse the church from its pietistic slumber. “If society continues to disintegrate and decay, the Church will be carried down with it,” he warned. “If the Church can rally such moral forces that injustice will be overcome . . . it will itself rise to higher liberty and life.”
May 11, 2007
Topic: Faith, Apologetics, Bible, Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Church and State, Social Issues, Issues
New Coalition of Christians Seeks Changes at Borders
A new coalition of more than 100 largely evangelical Christian leaders and organizations asked Congress on Monday to pass bills to strengthen border controls but also give illegal immigrants ways to gain legal residency. In late March, Dr. Richard Land, the conservative president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, stood with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, in supporting routes to legalization for illegal immigrants.
May 8, 2007
Topic: Faith, Citizenship, Immigration, Legislation, National
USAToday: Court takes harder stance on abortion
Analysis by Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s abortion ruling Wednesday revealed the new court’s approach to one of the most difficult social issues and was a reminder of its rightward turn since the addition of Bush appointee Samuel Alito.
The 5-4 decision, reinstating a ban on the procedure opponents call “partial-birth abortion,” departed from past rulings by giving legislatures more latitude to restrict abortion, particularly when there is debate among physicians over the safety of a procedure. The decision will make it harder for abortion rights advocates to challenge new restrictions on abortion.
Apr 25, 2007
Topic: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, National, Science, Bioethics
Supreme Court Upholds Partial-Brith Abortion Ban
The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench.
The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.
Apr 18, 2007
Topic: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Legislation, National
Giuliani Reaffirms That He Would Not Seek Abortion Changes
Rudolph W. Giuliani, campaigning in South Carolina, firmly stated that as president he would not seek to make abortion illegal. Aware of the damage his position might do to him among some conservative voters, Mr. Giuliani said that if someone was inclined to vote against him solely because of his stance on abortion, then so be it.
Apr 10, 2007
Topic: Life, Abortion, Citizenship, National
Read the So-Called “Land Letter” from 2002
October 3, 2002
Dear Mr. President,
In this decisive hour of our nation’s history we are writing to express our deep appreciation for your bold, courageous, and visionary leadership. Americans everywhere have been inspired by your eloquent and clear articulation of our nation’s highest ideals of freedom and of our resolve to defend that freedom both here and across the globe.
Apr 9, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Human Rights, National, War, Issues
TIME: The Case for Teaching the Bible
The same might be said about public-school courses on the Bible nationwide. There aren’t that many. But they’re rising in popularity. Last year Georgia became the first state in memory to offer funds for high school electives on the Old and New Testaments using the Bible as the core text. Similar funding was discussed in several other legislatures, although the initiatives did not become law. Meanwhile, two privately produced curriculums crafted specifically to pass church-state muster are competing for use in individual schools nationwide. Combined, they are employed in 460 districts in at least 37 states. The numbers are modest, but their publishers expect them to soar. The smaller of the two went into operation just last year but is already into its second 10,000-copy printing, has expressions of interest from a thousand new districts this year and expects many more. The larger publisher claims to be roughly doubling the number of districts it adds each year. These new curriculums plus polls suggesting that over 60% of Americans favor secular teaching about the Bible suggest that a Miss Kendrick may soon be talking about Matthew in a school near you.
Mar 28, 2007
Topic: Faith, Bible, Family, Education, Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Religious Liberty
For Some Black Pastors, Accepting Gay Members Means Losing Others
When the Rev. Dennis Meredith of Tabernacle Baptist Church here began preaching acceptance of gay men and lesbians a few years ago, he attracted some gay people who were on the brink of suicide and some who had left the Baptist faith of their childhoods but wanted badly to return. At the same time, Tabernacle Baptist, an African-American congregation, lost many of its most loyal, generous parishioners, who could not accept a message that contradicted what they saw as the Bible’s condemnation of same-sex relations.
Mar 27, 2007
Topic: Faith, Family, Marriage, Sexual Purity, Homosexuality, Citizenship, Christian Citizenship
POLL: Most Americans Want to Win in Iraq
In the wake of the U.S. House of Representatives passing a resolution that amounts to a vote of no confidence in the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq, a new national survey by Alexandria, VA-based Public Opinion Strategies (POS) shows the American people may have some different ideas from their elected leaders on this issue.
Feb 20, 2007
Topic: Citizenship, Legislation, National, War