Your choice

For the last blog of the year, you choose the topic. Find a newsworthy story and relate it to history, faith, and/or culture. Provide the link and embed it for easy access for the reader. Explain why this interested you and include an evaluation or opinion.

Your post should be made by June 1. Then you should review the posts of others and comment to at least two other student articles.

This assignment is due on June 8 and is worth 20 points.

Dancing in the streets

After the special chapel dealing with the addiction to pornography, I was discussing this topic with some junior high teachers. One said that the chapel’s message was a good place to start in combating Satan’s temptation, and that we should also honestly and openly discuss homosexuality. Just comparing statistics, I would adjudge the temptation to pornography as a greater threat than that of becoming homosexual (yes, I know they will say “I was born this way” or “God made me this way”). Even the gay community will acknowledge that only 1 in 10 humans are homosexual/bisexual, and that dubious statistic is based largely on the flawed and biased research of the Kinsey report from two generations ago.

But then I saw the headline that Ellen DeGeneres was getting married. At first I thought that the lesbian actress had somehow changed, but, no, she was marrying her lesbian lover because California’s Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional and discriminatory to restrict marriage only to heterosexual couples. This picture of gay couples celebrating in the street even appeared in the Daily Telegram.

Although states like Michigan do not have to recognize marriages of gay couples performed in California or Massachusetts, eventually someone will file suit in federal court to force states to recognize the marriages performed in every state of the union, presumably on the basis of the 14^th amendment. This amendment, intended to protect newly freed slaves from being mistreated through discriminatory legislation in the unrepentant south, declares that no citizen shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the states without due process of law. Eventually, the case will find its way to the Supreme Court. Eventually, the person who nominates justices for the Supreme Court will play the single most influential role in shaping American culture for the rest of our lifetimes.

Think about that next time someone says how great it would be for a “change.” We may be over and done with a president in 4 years, but we can be stuck with his Supreme Court nominees for a lifetime. Compare the judicial record of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Clinton nominee) with that of John Roberts or Samuel Alito (Bush nominees) and then say that it doesn’t matter who wins the upcoming election.

By the way, God does not create sin. But if every new person is God’s creature, and every new person is totally depraved, isn’t that a contradiction? Remember that God uses existing sinful material (the genetic substance we inherit from our sinful parents) when knitting the new little life together in the mother’s womb. Both the homosexual and the porn addict offend against God’s gift of sexuality, and neither can shift the blame for sin to God by saying “That’s how God made me.”

(Waiting to see if the Dudley Sharpe of the gay community strikes…)

Evangelicals for Obama?!

On Sunday, the news flashed across the AP wire..."Evangelicals abandoning GOP." That didn't seem to ring true to me, since the beliefs of evangelical Christians are routinely held in derision by the political left, and Obama's pro-abortion stance is so radical that he could not bring himself to vote for a bill that would recognize a baby in a "failed" abortion attempt as a living human being with the constitutional guarantee of life.

I followed the link to this story, which turned out to be from a Seattle newspaper. In it, the author discusses a bipartisan forum held at Seattle Pacific University and a poll from September 2007 in which it was estimated that 15% of white evangelicals between the ages of 18-29 no longer identify with the Republican party. So follow the footprints...A survey taken long before anyone really knew Barack Obama leads to a bunch of left-coast college kids talking politics leads to a Seattle paper saying that some young white evangelicals support Obama which leads to a national wire service headline "Evangelicals abandoning GOP."

Use the comment section to react to some of the reasons given in the article by young college students for their choice in the upcoming election, particularly:

• I think a lot of Christians are having trouble getting behind everything the Republicans stand for

• Most of us would never blindly follow the old Christian Right anymore. James Dobson has nothing to do with us. A lot of us are taking apart the issues, and thinking, 'OK, well, [none of the candidates] fits what I'm looking for exactly.' But if you're going to vote, you've got to take your pros with your cons
• While the issue of abortion — the sanctity of life — must always be a hugely important issue, we must juxtapose that with other issues that are also very important
• It's changed our perspective. ... Each generation chooses their cause, and ours is AIDs in Africa, or poverty or social justice

• Tyler Braun, 23, a Portland seminary student who opposes abortion and gay rights, said he'll probably vote for Obama because, since he'd would like to see U.S. troops leave Iraq

Another Disney Girl shocks the world

Miley Cyrus, 15-year-old star of the Disney Channel’s hit show “Hannah Montana,” is viewed as a role model for the pre-teen and “tween” set. So it came as quite a shock to the entertainment world when provocative photos of Miss Cyrus appeared in Vanity Fair magazine. Although the offending picture only showed the bare skin of Miley’s back, the suggestion that she was nude with satin sheets was widely viewed as borderline child pornography.

I wasn’t going to comment on this story, but then I read this column in Sunday’s newspaper and, together with this week’s presentation by the Dramatic ministries team in chapel, led me to consider giving you a forum to express yourselves. In the column I referenced, there is a mention of girls as young as 11 showing themselves off in their underwear on the hood of a sports car and then posting it on Myspace (which is supposed to be prohibited to anyone under 14). And “role models” like Linsday Lohan, Brittney Spears, Christina Aquilera, and Miley Cyrus only encourage young girls to even more exhibitionism.

When I was recently in Utah, there was a big story breaking about middle school kids exchanging nude photos taken with their cell phones. In fact, the Christian School to which I am headed even had to expel a boy who had been involved with this type of activity. From the sounds of police reports, this sort of behavior is considered routine at the junior high level, and obviously Christian young people are not immune to temptation.

The numbers are staggering. When 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed pornography on line, it is no longer a problem only for losers who can’t get a date. It appears that our fight against the culture is not going well. But, as God’s word says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:12-13)

The culture of polygamy

One of my favorite movie quotes of all time is from Austin Powers-Goldmember when Austin’s father (Michael Caine) says, “There’s two things in this world I can’t stand—those who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the Dutch.” Oh, yes, there are many politically correct people in the world of academia who are tolerant of everything and everyone—except “intolerance.” World history and foreign language classes have the stated goal to bridge the gap between cultures and to make students more tolerant of others. And US History courses are to be less a celebration of the greatness of America, and more a searing indictment of her serial intolerance and injustice toward Native Americans, African Americans, women, immigrants, and the poor.

At what point is something a point of “culture” which can be appreciated and tolerated, and when does it become scandalous and offensive enough to judgmentally declare ourselves to be intolerant of it? I remember some years ago when I was responsible for chaperoning a group of American Christian high school students on a trip to Germany, where they would stay with host families. One young man said that at one party, the German kids wanted to not only drink and smoke but turn off the lights and dance nice and slow with their partner. My student said that they didn’t want to do that, that it was wrong. His German host said, “But that’s our culture.” Responded the Christian student (who is now a pastor), that’s not culture, that’s just sin.

A secluded, isolated temple compound near San Angelo, Texas, was raided last week. Over 400 children, suspected of being the victims of sexual abuse, have been taken into state custody, have been assigned lawyers, and will go through DNA testing to determine paternity. This is allegedly a polygamist group known as the Fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and their head, Warren Jeffs, is already in jail for having relations with a 14-year old girl. The regular Latter-Day saints, commonly known as Mormons, disavow any relationship to the “Fundies” because they renounced polygamy years ago.

I saw a news story in which three of the young women from the compound were distraught that their children had been taken away from them and, upon questioning, denied that any adult men had had relations with underage girls. What it boils down to is the definition of “underage.” According to one cultural definition, if a female is able to bear children, she is of marriageable age. And since the onset of puberty can take place even before age 10, it certainly is frightening to imagine the abuses that may have been taking place behind the secrecy of the compound walls.

Or is this just a cultural difference between us and we should be more tolerant of those who are not like ourselves? In Latin American countries, young girls celebrate the quinceañera at the age of 15. Although there is a religious rite and blessing attached with the event, the history and tradition of this cultural event was to signify a girl’s passage from childhood to womanhood, and to announce that she was ready for marriage. In our study of Islam, we noted that the prophet Muhammad’s favorite wife was Aisha, who was 9 when the 52-year-old prophet (Peace be upon him) consummated their marriage. Even today, the marriageable age in Yemen is 9. In Iran it is 13. In the middle ages, Christian Europe did not judge child marriages—and defined them as marriage to a girl who was between 7 and 12. 12-year old girls were frequently married, and considered of the age of consent. Shakespeare’s Juliet, after all, was 13. The age of marriage varies throughout the United States. With parents’ permission, girls can marry at age 16 in Michigan, 15 in Hawaii and Mississippi, and even 13 in New Hampshire.

It certainly appears that this is going to cost the citizens of Texas a fortune. If every one of these 400 kids is assigned their own attorney, and given DNA testing, and placed in foster care, the expenditure is going to be enormous. But at least these dirty old men who used young girls as breeders will have been stopped. Our tolerance goes only so far.

Dead Man Walking

This weekend I got to see my son Zeke in his college’s production of “Dead Man Walking.” Zeke plays the role of Matt Ponchelet, a convicted murder who is awaiting his execution on death row in Louisiana. He begins to receive visits from Sister Helen Prejean, who sees Matthew’s humanity and dignity despite his crimes and hostile attitude. Although he clings to his claims of innocence and his insistence that others were really to blame nearly till the end, Ponchelet confesses his guilt and is assured of God’s forgiveness. Although his crimes brought consequences, he was able to receive grace and was redeemed.

The play was preachy in some spots. Although it purports to show both sides of the capital punishment question, it definitely slanted toward the “anti” position. Because the sentiment is expressed through the words of Sister Helen, it is intended to represent the position of the Catholic church, which is that human life is a seamless garment, and that to be consistently pro-life, a Christian must oppose abortion, capital punishment, and war. To paraphrase “Dead Man Walking,” murder is murder whether committed by Matt Ponchelet or by the government who executes him.

I believe that this position is not consistent with Scripture, however. Passages that teach Christians to “turn the other cheek” rather than seeking personal revenge speak to a personal morality that allows justice to be executed by God’s governing authorities. Romans 13 says that the government is God’s agent to punish the evildoer, and that it does not bear the sword for nothing. However, unlike the Old Testament civil law that prescribed the death penalty (a la the Code of Hammurabi) for a wide variety of offenses, the New Testament is not a type of Christian Koran that is meant to be a constitution for civil society. A government that executes a criminal is bearing the sword as God permits. It is, therefore, impossible to call capital punishment “immoral” on the basis of the Bible. If, however, a society chooses not to apply the death penalty, that does not mean that it has abandoned God. Civil societies have the freedom to devise their own sanctions for criminal behavior in order to protect the innocent.

I once was summoned for jury duty for a capital murder trial. Actually, I was a member of the jury pool who was stricken by the prosecution because I wouldn’t be a reliable vote for the death penalty. Although I had no personal problem with execution and could not call it “immoral” and in conflict with Christianity, I admitted that I didn’t want to be the one to become the executioner, because I believe that as long as a person has breath and life, he has opportunity to repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness. I had a hard time putting myself into the role of ending that time of grace and sending the person to their eternal fate.

The United States is the last nation in the western world to utilize capital punishment. It is likely to be a topic of conversation this week as Pope Benedict visits our country. How have your convictions developed on this topic?

Real-life Bart Simpsons

OK, so it’s not school violence on the level of the Virginia Tech murders a year ago. But that doesn’t make this story less shocking.

A group of third-graders (8- and 9- year olds) in Waycross, Georgia (note: not in a place like crime-ridden Detroit where one could blame the poor environment) devised a sophisticated plot to murder their teacher because she had the audacity to scold a little girl for standing on her chair. One child was to crack the teacher’s skull with a glass paperweight while others used duct tape to secure her mouth and handcuffs to bind her arms, while another would do the stabbing as another kept a lookout and another got ready to clean up.

Sounds like they got an “A” in cooperative learning.

The offenders will be punished, of course. Some will receive suspension or expulsion from school, and the ringleader (a girl, FYI) may face charges of attempted murder or conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Society’s experts are baffled at this behavior. Aren’t children supposed to be pure and innocent?

• This writer says, “What do you expect when they receive so much violent stimuli in media and video games?”
• This writer not only blames the poor and disrespectful attitude of parents, but finds it possible to blame President Bush and all who complain about public schools.
• This one says that children really don’t realize the consequences of their actions and probably figured that, like cartoon figures, you can drop an anvil on them and they get up and walk away unharmed.
• This one figures that they were just showing off and would never have carried out their plan.

What is perplexing to me is that so many people do not grasp the fact that human beings are sinful from the moment of conception, and that the sin nature is capable of every manner of evil. John Calvin grasped it. The biblical principle of Total Depravity is one of the five pillars of Calvinism. The Bible tells us in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was a sinner a birth; in sin did my mother conceive me.” Because of this, St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, chapter 2: “As for you, you were dead in trespasses and sin.” Furthermore, as Paul also wrote to the Romans, chapter 8: “The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”

The disrespectful little hellions in little old Waycross, Georgia, act that way because that is their natural impulse. Spend some time with a room of two-year-olds, and you will experience the unchecked and uncorrected selfish and defiant urges of the sinful flesh. And we all know what happened to Charlie and his big brother...


Some of our country’s founders believed this to be true, because Calvinism was the predominant religious mindset in colonial times, and Thomas Hobbes’ political views echoed Calvin’s religious ones. This is why so many checks and balances were written into the constitution. This is why a Bill of Rights is necessary. It is because the founders sought to limit power and prevent its abuse in the hands of malevolent rulers. They recognized that human beings are congenitally evil. “They have all turned aside, they have together become wicked; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

On this day, Hollywood lost one of its legends. Actor Charlton Heston, perhaps best known to today’s younger audiences as Moses in “The Ten Commandments,” passed away at the age of 84. In 1998, Mr. Heston was elected as president of the National Rifle Association, and it was not uncommon during the Clinton-Lewinsky years to see bumper stickers on pickup trucks that said “My president is Charlton Heston.” Personally, I have no vested stake in gun rights. Most hunters or other gun-rights advocates will quote the second amendment and its stated “right to bear arms.” But those who wish to ban guns and limit the second amendment often reveal this naïveté about human nature. Weapons do not cause crime; they are a tool in the hands of criminals. And as we discussed earlier when the Colorado church was assaulted by a deranged killer, guns can also be a life-saver in the hands of those committed to defend and protect innocent life.

Can you guess where the presidential candidates stand on the issue of gun ownership or legislation banning or restricting guns? Even John Kerry (D-MA), the democratic nominee for president in 2004, made sure to have a photo-op with him hunting. (Of course, these photo-ops that try to prove that you’re a “regular guy” can backfire. As in, let’s go bowling and score a 37. ) Almost assuredly they will say that they support the second amendment but favor common-sense restrictions on gun ownership. That is to say, people like NRA members have no common sense, since they are opposed to such restrictions.

Aren’t we grateful to be part of a school that recognizes human nature for what it is, and applies the only life-changing remedy—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and force—God’s Holy Spirit?