Weekly Reading for Christian Culture Warriors
Every week I offer a curated selection of articles and posts of interest to Christians loving God with all their minds in a hostile society. I hope to provide culture warriors with information that helps you stand firm in the faith despite the culture wars raging around us.
When It Comes to Homosexuality, the Bible Addresses Behavior
Alan Shlemon at Stand to Reason shows that the Bible does not condemn homosexuals but addresses homosexual and other behaviors as sinful.
When it comes to sexuality, the Bible usually addresses behavior. Some behaviors are permitted, and some are prohibited. It’s very straightforward. There is only one kind of sexual behavior that’s permitted: sex between a man and a woman who are married (Gen. 1:27–28, Matt. 19:4–6). Every other type of sexual activity (e.g., fornication, adultery, homosexual sex, incest, bestiality) is prohibited.
Nurse Wins Lawsuit Against Medical Center That Fired Her Because She Refused to Assist Abortions
The hospital fired Sandra Rojas from her job as a nurse in 2015 because she refused to take part in abortions.
In a victory for freedom of religion, a judge ruled she should not have lost her job for her pro-life beliefs.
I pray this will become the norm, but our pro-abortion national leadership will press for it to be otherwise.
Garland Suffers from Truth Decay
Tony Perkins’ comments on Attorney General Merrick Garland should cause all Americans to question our current national leadership.
Even though the National School Boards Association backed away from their memo, triggering Garland’s response, he hasn’t changed his position.
Even more disturbing is this information provided by Senator Tom Cotton:
“We received from [internal Justice] sources a memorandum with a spreadsheet full of federal crimes that parents might commit at school board meetings — not state crimes, not disorderly conduct, not criminal threats, but federal crimes… And it specifically references — not meetings, not consultations, not coordination — but federal investigation and prosecution. And it attached to it, a spreadsheet listing in detail 13 federal criminal statutes that might be used to target these parents,” he explained. “One of those statutes that Merrick Garland mentioned himself… says ‘the use of telecommunications devices to annoy the recipient.’ Think about that. If a parent or parental group posts on Facebook or other social media that they’re dissatisfied with school board members and the school board members find that annoying, Merrick Garland might sic the U.S. attorney on them.” We need to get to the bottom of this, he insisted, and fast.
If you care about what is happening in our schools and the current administration views concerned parents, you need to read this article.
Protecting Religious Liberty at Home and Abroad
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
Marissa Postell at NRB reflects on the importance of the First Amendment in protecting freedoms critical to a functioning democracy. And cautions us about how quickly freedom can erode.
Most Americans born in this country have only experienced religious freedom fully protected by the First Amendment. Many Christians take the ability to practice their faith according to their convictions for granted. For many, the months since COVID-19 reached the United States have been a jolting wake-up call to how fleeting religious liberty can actually be.
The Cautionary Tale of Francis Collins
Justin Lee at First Things gives us an insightful look at the man who has headed the NIH for more than a decade.
Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for nearly 12 years, leaves that post at the end of 2021. Collins is an interesting and accomplished man. He is also a man who holds views and approves actions inconsistent with his faith.
These achievements are remarkable on their own, but all the more resonant because Collins is an outspoken evangelical Christian. He showed that it was possible for an evangelical from a working-class background to rise to the heights of scientific and bureaucratic accomplishment. His presence in the halls of medical power was also a testament to the harmony of faith and reason. Collins has championed the compatibility of science and religion and encouraged Christians to accept theistic evolution through his bestselling 2006 book The Language of God and a spin-off organization, BioLogos. His witness is singular, and singularly powerful—if we don’t look too closely.
In this essay, Lee examines several ethically questionable projects pursued under Collins’ leadership. And asks: “How does a sincere evangelical Christian become such a consequential champion of the culture of death?”
Not a Joke – Biden Administration Negotiating to Pay Illegal Aliens $1 Million Per Family For Crossing the Border Illegally
When I first saw this post, I thought it was a joke. I mean, why in the world would our tax dollars be used to pay people for entering our country illegally? It’s like the city government sending me a check for $100 because I illegally parked in an accessible parking spot.
Unfortunately, this is not a joke. Read the post for yourself and read the linked Wall Street Journal Article.
UMC Bishop’s Spouse “Comes Out” as Transgendered United Methodist Minister
Mia Steupert at juicyecumenism.com reports on some disheartening shenanigans in the United Methodist Church.
Last week, the Rev. Michael Johnson publicly “came out” as a transgendered United Methodist minister, who is now changing his first name to Mary. What’s more, this newly prominent transgendered minister is the spouse of liberal United Methodist Bishop Peggy Johnson, who served as bishop of both the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conferences from 2008 until her September 1 retirement. Bishop Johnson used the opportunity to affirm the ministry of “a number of United Methodist pastors” she knows “who are either trans women, trans men, gender fluid, non-binary, or gender non-conforming.”
Children Are Not Leftovers to be Frozen
cbc-network.org · by Jennifer Lahl, CBC President
In this article Jennifer Lahl, President of The Center For Bioethics and Culture reminds us that all embryos created using in vitro fertilization (IVF) are human persons and not dinner leftovers to be frozen for later use.
Never to know the nurturing environment of their mothers’ wombs and never to be lovingly raised by their mothers and fathers, such embryos suffer an absurd—and tragic—fate indeed.
My position is that it ought to be illegal to create surplus embryos in the United States and to freeze or discard them. That is the current law in Germany, and we should adopt that law here.
According to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, “The German embryo protection law, passed in 1991, stipulates that no more than three embryos can be created per cycle of IVF and all three, regardless of their quality, must be transferred to the patient’s womb at one time, and cannot be frozen or discarded.”
I agree with Lahl. What do you think?
A Sign of the Times: When Persecution Comes from Within the Church
Grayson Gilbert’s essay at Patheos is a trenchant warning attacks on religious freedom can come from within the church.
In many ways the church has been in a collective stupor, even as the writing has been on the walls for years. The Christian worldview is not one that is generally accepted in mainstream thought. Instead, it is seen as a worldview that binds and fetters a culture that desires to throw off the shackles of an oppressive worldview.
There is no tolerance for this worldview under the new regime. Lest we think this mindset is contained to the broader culture at large, it has long infiltrated the church.
A great example of such a mindset is the perpetual victim culture and the “cancel culture” built into modern evangelicalism today. Even confessional-types are guilty of perpetuating these tropes, airing their dirty laundry for all to see rather than strictly embracing the proper channels of the Presbytery (I say this as a Baptist who has no real dog in that fight). Rather than people being slow to speak and quick to listen, what often transpires is the same mob-mentality that the broader culture portrays as the correct means to achieve justice. They fail to consider that the first to plead their case seems right until another comes and examines him (Pro. 18:17).
Biden’s ‘Come on, man’ defense will not fly on religious freedom
This one belongs in the “you can’t make this stuff up” file.
“Come on, man,” seems to be President Biden’s signature response to any uncomfortable question. The phrase is meant to be both dismissive and conclusive in ending inquiries, frequently used to counter reporters before often walking away, and so often repeated that it appears on T-Shirts or coffee mugs and in remixes.
Read on to see why.
Some Additional Articles to Consider
Being A Decent Parent And Other Decisions That Aren’t Brave: A Guide For The Left
Twitter Locks GOP Congressman’s Account Over Calling A Man A Man
Public School District Wants to Teach 8-Year-Olds about the ‘Birds and the Bees’
Woke Theory at Evangelical Colleges
How Many People Must Be Thrown Into the Volcano Before the Left Is Happy?
May you have a blessed, productive, and peaceful week.
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