During the 2000 presidential election race between Al Gore and George W. Bush, I was in the post office one morning. A woman at the counter was begging the postal clerk to not vote for Bush. In tears and obvious emotional distress she cried out, “He wants to kill women!” Extreme emotional claims such as this brought that election down to hand counting votes in Florida and a court ruling on the count but had little to do with the facts of the candidate’s positions.

On Monday, January 23, I was watching the Neil Cavuto Show on the FOX Business channel. He had billionaire, Leon Cooperman on the show to discuss his Open Letter to President Obama. The letter is interesting and even though he is very wealthy, Continue reading …

A second matter, in this regard, concerns the strong indications that for all the deep belief, the genuine piety, the heroic faith, and the good intention one finds all across American Christianity today, large swaths have been captured by the spirit of the age. One does not have to review or redo the research of many social scientists to recognize the extent of this challenge. Consumerism, individualism, the therapeutic and managerial ideologies have gone far to undermine the authority of the Christian movement and its traditions. This problem is especially acute among the young, where, as Christian Smith observes, a “moralistic, therapeutic deism” has triumphed over historical creedal faith and practice.

As Jonathon and I work our way through James Davison Hunter’s book, To Change the World : The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World , we are finding a number of things with which we agree. In fact, we have made similar observations which are similar to the above quote from his book. I do have to say that, although he states he is writing as a Christian, it is unclear what he means by that claim. He seems Continue reading …

As I write this the New Hampshire primaries are winding down. CBS gave its Nostradamus like predictions several hours ago, and it looks as if New Hampshirites (?) are backing the guy they dislike the least. Much has been said of about so called “values” voters especially the will of the Evangelical right and their influence. For the longest time, “Evangelical” was synonymous with conservatism but as of the last election this is no longer the case. The Evangelical Left has made its presence known spoiling the neat political landscape. The press is certainly interested: Continue reading …

Christmas has passed and the New Year has officially been celebrated. Now most of us will have to learn how to date our checks all over again! Most radio and television networks as well as news periodicals have done their obligatory year in review. January 2 became the official kick off of the political season leading up to the 2012 election. Iowa has been the center of activity as the Republican Party tries to decide who will run as its candidate and now the attention turns to New Hampshire.

For most of my life I have been told that two things which should not be discussed in polite company are religion and politics. As a missionary to cults and New Religious Movements by definition I discuss religion. Although I have been interested in politics for many years it has only been the last 3 years or so that we have written on faith and politics. So far, we have done 44 blog articles and a Journal article on faith and politics. In part Continue reading …

One would have to be living as a hermit to not have heard the extensive news coverage as women have come forth accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment and adultery. No actual evidence was ever presented but Herman Cain decided to step down from the run for president. Conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager in Adultery and Politics: Religious conservatives often go wrong by focusing on candidates’ sexual sins. wonders:

…whether we should care about a politician’s sexual life, and how much the press should report about these matters.

He doesn’t argue in defense of adultery or sexual sin but rather that one can break their vows before God to their wife and it should not influence our view of their abilities as a leader. An example he uses in support of this premise is King David: Continue reading …

Is the celebration of the national holiday called Thanksgiving a time of reflection and thanksgiving or merely the sound of the starting pistol in the race for buying stuff? The answers to this question vary and will be wide ranging. For some these days will be very difficult. I received news early on Thanksgiving Day that a friend’s husband had unexpectedly passed away earlier that morning. The season will be difficult for the family even though they are believers. A few days earlier a friend of my daughter and son-in-law was rushed to the hospital with a heart attack. He is about 40 and to the best of our knowledge, not a believer. We do not know yet if he will survive.

For some the holiday is one of a series of firsts. My mother passed away this year, as did Joy’s older brother and my sister’s husband. For us and other members of our families, this was the first Thanksgiving without someone who was special to us. For those of us who are believers and whose family members whom have passed from this life were believers, we have our feet firmly planted both in the present and the future. While we grieve we recognize that our current feeling of loss is temporary and for that we are thankful. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: Continue reading …

There have been a lot of “I” statements going around the internet lately. Lots of celebrities holding up signs with various statements written (often illegibly) on plain sheets of paper and photographed with camera phones.

Some of these may actually be real and not Photoshopped. Continue reading …