American culture is in crisis. Anyone looking around can see it. Even within the church, divisions, vitriol, and malfeasance are common on any number of issues, including race, sexual abuse, and politics. The culture’s response to the Supreme Court’s recent draft opinion leak (and, one could argue, the leak itself) is just the latest example …
Continue...Simmering beneath the surface of so much of our unhelpful national rhetoric is a deep-seated suspicion of those we view as “other” than us. When that suspicion goes uncorrected, it seethes and grows until, eventually, it morphs into hate. Unchecked, hate finally lashes out in the form of nasty words or, as we’re seeing, violent …
Continue...In 1991, as the Soviet Union was nearing its official end, the people of Ukraine turned out in record numbers to formally declare their independence from the Union of Soviet Social Republics (U.S.S.R.). After the votes were tallied, over 90% of Ukrainian voters had endorsed independence. Despite political pressure from Moscow, Ukraine elected its first …
Continue...On March 30, a Finnish court issued a unanimous ruling dismissing ‘hate speech’ charges against Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola. According to Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Räsänen in this case, the court ruled “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” This case garnered international attention, especially from …
Continue...On Friday, Feb. 25, President Biden named Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. Breyer “will retire at the end of the 2021-22 term” after 28 years. Jackson’s nomination is historic in that, if confirmed, she would be the first African American woman to serve on …
Continue...The advance of technology has outpaced our morality. It’s a grim assessment, but it’s hard to argue against. In some ways it’s an inevitability — technology is always more potent with possibilities than we can initially conceive of. Who would have ever thought the advent of television, for instance, would one day lead to the …
Continue...The amount of disarray in American public life — from the ongoing waves of COVID-19 to our miserable political disunity — doesn’t exactly paint a picture of national consensus on much of anything. And, the last thing we might imagine Americans would ever agree on, especially at this cultural moment, is the place religion holds …
Continue...For nearly 30 years now, as a way of monitoring severe and ongoing opposition to Christianity, Open Doors has published what it calls the annual World Watch List — a “ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.” For those of us in the West who enjoy an unprecedented level of …
Continue...One of the great promises of social media is its implicit pledge to make its users well-known. Friends and followers, likes and retweets all whisper to us that we are being seen and known. And as our digital audience grows, we feel affirmed, important, influential, and maybe even powerful. It can be intoxicating, and social …
Continue...We live at a dizzying moment in history. From the persistence of COVID-19 to the unrest in the Middle East to the natural disasters that continue to occur across the globe, it feels difficult at times to find any sort of stability. But there is a place where men and women can come to step …
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