Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

ISLAM'S SWORD COMES FOR CHRISTIANS FROM U.S. TO UGANDA

The Western Press does a poor job keeping up with Muslim atrocities around the world.  Raymond Ibrahim reports on what happened in December.  

Islamic hostility for Christmas was on full display as documented here: on Christmas Day, Muslims in Bethlehem set a Christmas tree on fire and greeted the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem with a hail of stones;  Muslim “refugees” set fire to a public Christmas tree in Belgium; Muslim jihadis attacked churches during Christmas mass killing at least 16 in Nigeria; Muslim jihadis in the Philippines slaughtered 10 Christians on Christmas Eve to “make a statement”; three Muslim countries—Somalia, Tajikistan, and Brunei—formally  banned any Christmas celebrations; due to assassination attempts on pastors and death threats to Christians, churches skipped Christmas mass in Bangladesh and were on “high alert” in Indonesia, with 150,000 security personnel patrolling; in Iran, Christians celebrating Christmas in homes were arrested.   [ more . . . ]

RABIDLY ANTI-CHRISTIAN LEFT ATTACKS HEIDI CRUZ

Heidi Cruz, wife of GOP Presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz, made statements today regarding the Judeo-Christian foundation of this country that rankled the militant secularists.

David French writes:

The scandal du jour, from the ignorant, anti-Christian sectors of the Left, comes courtesy of a brief excerpt of a radio interview with Heidi Cruz, Ted Cruz’s wife:

For those who don’t have 92 seconds to listen, here are the quotes that caused Ken Meyer at Mediaite to call Cruz’s statements a bizarre rant:

We are at a cultural crossroads in our country, and if we can be in this race to show this country the face of the God that we serve — this Christian God that we serve is the foundation of our country, our country was built on Judeo-Christian values, we are a nation of freedom of religion, but the God of Christianity is the God of freedom, of individual liberty, of choice and of consequence.

Jon Green, a regional field director for Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign, also found this excerpt offensive:

I think that’s something that this country really needs to be reminded of, is that Christians are loving people, are nonjudgmental people, but there is right and wrong, we have a country of law and order, there are consequences to actions and we must all live peaceably in our own faiths under the Constitution. And Ted is uniquely able to deliver on that combination of the law and religion.

Green comments:

Thomas Jefferson envisioned a wall of separation between Church and State. Ted Cruz envisions that wall being torn down entirely. He’s not judging, he just thinks people who disagree are wrong and bad.

In reality, Heidi Cruz’s comment represents a standard (and accurate) expression not just of Evangelical beliefs, but also of American history. Christians aspire to “show the face of God” in all that we do — by imitating as much as we can our Savior, Jesus Christ. We fail often, but we’re better for the effort. As for Cruz’s statement that our nation was built on “Judeo-Christian values,”

 

*** THE 10 ABSOLUTE WORST AND MOST DEADLY PLACES TO BE A CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Billy Hallowell at the The Blaze writes:  (HT: Kathryn Jean Lopez)

Christian persecution rose on every continent in the world throughout 2015, with North Korea listed as the most dangerous country to be a Bible-believer, according to a new report released by Open Doors USA, a group that works to combat global persecution.

Open Doors released its annual “World Watch List” report on Wednesday, ranking the top 50 countries “where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian” during a morning event at the National Press Club. 

The report found that the 10 worst nations are as follows (listed from most dangerous to least): North Korea, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Libya. See the complete list of 50 below:

The findings in the “World Watch List” present a dire picture in which at last 7,000 Christians died throughout 2015 due to faith-related reasons. . .   Islamic extremism, according to the “World Watch List, is the “lead generator of persecution for 35 out of the 50 nations” on its list.

The day before the above list was published, Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review Online gave  Crux and the Boston Globe credit for (rare) articles on religious persecution.

For several months now, Crux, the Sunday religion magazine published by the Boston Globe, has been putting out a series of well-researched pieces from all over the world on the new Christian martyrs mostly written by John L. Allen. There have been 13 stories posted to date, many of them in the final days of December.   ...   Though estimates vary widely, even low-end counts suggest that one Christian is killed for motives related to the faith somewhere in the world every hour of every day.

JOSH DUGGAR'S VICTIMS SPEAK OUT

What Duggar's sisters say may surprise you.  I found it an eye-opener.  It looks to me like the tabloids and media have hyped and distorted the story (out of a desire to smear a Christian family?) and not taken into consideration the victims, the subsequent remedies, and legal confidentiality.  John Jalsevac has written, "Dear Duggar critics: You can stop pretending to care about the victims now."  (This interview took place on 6/5/15).

 

OBAMA: NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ISIS AND CHRISTIANITY

 

In his address yesterday to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. President Obama essentially said Christians have a violent history so they had better not get on their "high horses" and criticize Islam.   He drew moral equivalence between the Crusades/Inquisition and  ISIS atrocities.  Such a comparison is asinine and irresponsible, but sad to say, they were made by the current occupant of the White House.  In Obama's own words:

“Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history,” Obama told the group. “And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”

In an important history lesson and commentary, Ralph Peters says "The president knows as little about history as he does about warfare, and even less about religion."   

Mark Levin-  "Obama’s speech today sent two messages, one to our enemies that this is not a serious man, they are gut laughing, and one to all those people who are suffering, whose families are being slaughtered that they cannot count on the President of the United States for help.”

David Gelernter,  "His remarks were meant to establish his own moral superiority. . .   no littler man has ever been president."

Bobby Jindal - "The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the Radical Islamic threat today.”  

Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, cites two problems with Obama’s comparison:  “When Christians act violently they are acting in opposition to the teachings of their founder, Jesus Christ. . . On the other hand, radical Islamists can point to a number of verses in the Koran calling for Muslims to ‘crucify the infidels.’”

Jonah Goldberg cites Bernard Lewis, the greatest living English-language historian of Islam:  “The Crusades could more accurately be described as a limited, belated and, in the last analysis, ineffectual response to the jihad — a failed attempt to recover by a Christian holy war what had been lost to a Muslim holy war.”   (Note:  more facts on the Crusades can be found here).

Especially detailed responses citing Muslim scripture authorizing terror and brutality and murder can be found in reading Raymond Ibrahim and Robert Spencer.  History lessons can be found in Victor Davis Hanson and Ralph Peters.

I'll end with Ben Shapiro 's fine article: 

GLEANINGS

 - - J. Budziszewski:       The Religion of the Modern University

The undeclared religion of the modern university is practical atheism. You are allowed to believe in some kind of God, but not the kind of God who makes a difference to anything. You are allowed to have some kind of faith, but not the kind of faith that interacts with reason. What threatens practical atheists is the classical Christian view that God matters to everything, and that sound faith expands the possibilities of reason itself.  

 - - David J. Hebert in a review of How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life  by Russ Roberts:   What We All Desire

The second theme of this book is a sort of self-help book on how to be happy. In this respect, this book is quite simply amazing. Roberts reminds us that Smith says that we all “naturally desire, not only to be loved, but to be lovely.” Unpacking this simple sentence, Smith is saying that we all want to be appreciated, desired, and praised. We want people to take us seriously and pay attention to the things that we say, to want our presence, and to enjoy our company. Second, we want to be worthy of being loved honestly by “being respectable, honorable, blameless, generous, and kind.” In other words, we want to have a good reputation – a good rapport, if you will. 

- - Mike Huckabee:    Secular Oppression of Religion

 On CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday he argued that forcing people of faith to accept gay marriage is like forcing Jews to serve "bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli." Both foods are violations of Jewish kosher rules.

"We're so sensitive to make sure we don't offend certain religions, but then we act like Christians can't have the convictions that they have had for over 2,000 years," Huckabee said.  

"I would like to think that there's room in America for people who have different points of views without screaming, shouting, and wanting to shut their businesses down," he said. -  

 - - Humor

"Life is short, smile while you still have your teeth."

 Police were called to a day care center where a 3 year old was resisting a rest.

 Acupuncture is a jab well done.  That's the point of it.  Don't these silly puns needle you?

 I'd give up chocolate but I'm not a quitter.

WHY CAN'T OBAMA SPEAK OF THE SUFFERING AND SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ?

Yes, I know Obama recently did manage to mention "Christians" but only in the context of ISIS persecution of Yazidis as well.  He  uttered nary a word when  hundreds of thousands of Christians were driven out of Mosul and their ancestral home area  fleeing for their lives.   I believe Obama harbors a disdain, an antipathy (a hatred?), towards Christianity.   

View the following video in which Kirsen Powers takes Obama to task for his failure to recognize Christian suffering:

  

Powers:

“He has not uttered the word ‘Christian,’ and now suddenly he throws it in with the Yazidis,” Powers said. “We’re not doing any airdrops to the Christians, who are refugees in the Kurdish region. [Virginia Congressman Frank] Wolf has taken to the floor, I think, seven days in a row now, pleading with the administration: Please help these people. They need humanitarian aid; they need drinking water. They have nothing. They’ve lost their homes; they’ve lost everything. The White House has done nothing; they’ve said nothing. And then the president goes on and goes into quite a lot of detail about the Yazidis, and never really gets into the specifics about Christians. I mean, it’s really unbelievable, and he has no right to invoke humantiarianism, because he is not a humanitarian president. A humanitarian president does not sit quietly by, while hundreds of thousands of Christians in Iraq [are uprooted or killed]– forget about the rest of the Middle East — and doesn’t say a word.”

PROTEST AT WHITE HOUSE OVER PRESIDENT'S SILENCE ON IMPRISONED MOTHER SENTENCED TO DIE

Paul Strand, CBN News, reports:

WASHINGTON -- Protesters from some 40 groups marched and rallied outside the White House Thursday, accusing the president of not doing enough to push Sudan to free Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old mother of two who's been sentenced to die for her Christian faith.

 Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attended the rally and pointed out Ibrahim, who is a daughter of a Muslim father, has been sentenced to die because she herself is a practicing Christian.

"Very simply the fact that she is a Christian, that she attends a local Catholic church, is deemed a crime there," Cruz said of Sudan. "And for that crime, she has been sentenced to 100 lashes and then to hang by the neck till dead."

Meriam's young son is imprisoned with her, as is her newborn baby daughter. Some of the protesters calling for their freedom wore red links as they marched and demonstrated.

"These represent the chains that Meriam Ibrahim has been wearing since she was imprisoned in Sudan," Penny Nance, with Concerned Women for America, told CBN News.

"She actually was forced to give birth while wearing them. So we wanted to wear them today in solidarity with our Christian sister, who was imprisoned only because of her faith," she added.

CHRISTIANS FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES IN IRAQ

** Update: Al-Queda rebels take Tikrit; force 500,000 to flee Mosul

** Original post: Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom reports the terrible news:

The government of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, fell overnight to the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, also called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Mosul’s panic-stricken Christians, along with many others, are now fleeing en masse to the rural Nineveh Plain, according to the Vatican publicationFides. The border crossings into Kurdistan, too, are jammed with the cars of the estimated 150,000 desperate escapees.

The population, particularly its Christian community, has much to fear. The ruthlessness of ISIS, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, has been legendary. Its beheadings, crucifixions, and other atrocities against Christians and everyone else who fails to conform to its vision of a caliphate have been on full display earlier this year, in Syria.

As Corner readers will remember, in February, it was the militants of this rebel group that, in the northern Syrian state of Raqqa, compelled Christian leaders to sign a 7th-century dhimmi contract. The document sets forth specific terms denying the Christians the basic civil rights of equality and religious freedom and committing them to pay protection money in exchange for their lives and the ability to keep their Christian identity.

Since 2003, Iraq’s Christian community has suffered intense religious persecution on top of the effects of the conflict and, as a result, it’s shrunk by well over 50 percent. Mosul, the site of ancient Nineveh of the Assyrians, who converted to Christianity in the first century, has become the home of many Christians who remained. Considered by Christians the place of last resort inside Iraq, Mosul and the surrounding Nineveh Plain has been home to many Christian refugees driven out of Baghdad and Basra. Mosul has the only university, the best hospitals, and the largest markets serving the Christian towns and villages of the Nineveh Plain. The plain, itself, is now at grave risk of direct jihadi attacks and the possibility of being cut off from an essential city.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT DOESN'T SUPPORT OVERSEAS AMERICANS - ESPECIALLY CHRISTIANS

Update 6/5/14 -  Consider sending a card or letter to Miriam

*Assuring her of your prayer and support and her witness of Jesus Christ. *Congratulate her for the birth of her daughter Maya. *Praise her for her stand and testimony for Christ. *Feel free to share if you want the impact this had in your life and relation with God.   Her Address: Dr. Meriam Yahia Omdurman Prison for Women P.O.Box 65, Omdurman, Sudan

Update 5/28/14 - From the Family Research Council:

American Children Imprisoned in Sudan: Does Obama Care?

TAKE ACTION

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Sign the petition at WhiteHouse.gov to pressure the Obama administration to act in the case of Meriam Ibrahim in Sudan and her baby and toddler in prison.

 

May 28, 2014 - Wednesday

Today, as you read this, two innocent children -- a toddler and a newborn baby, who based upon available evidence are American citizens -- lie in a Sudanese prison while their mother awaits execution for the "crime" of following Jesus.

Already mother of 20-month old named Martin, Dr. Meriam Ibrahim gave birth to her second child, a daughter, in the prison clinic in Khartoum. This unusual delivery venue is because Meriam recently was sentenced to death in Sudan for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. Meriam was born of a Muslim father, but her father abandoned the family. Meriam became a Christian and married a Christian man who is a United States citizen -- a fact that makes her two children eligible for American citizenship.

At this point the Sudanese government has refused to entertain Meriam's release, and has refused to turn over the children to their father upon the claim that her marriage is not valid because she married a Christian. Now, Meriam and her two American babies languish in Khartoum's Omdurman Prison -- a place which a 2008 United Nations report said had an infant mortality rate of one infant death per day in the summer months.

The situation is critical. The lives of the babies and their mother hang in the balance. While many international groups have taken up efforts to pressure the Sudanese government to release Meriam and her children, the Obama administration has said little, and done nothing.

Think about this: two innocent American children are imprisoned abroad as their life hangs in the balance. If President Obama will not act in a situation like this, what will he act upon? Does Obama care?

The President has at his disposal the means to quickly grant Meriam and the children the ability to come to the U.S.; once here, she could seek permanent asylum. He could also put great pressure on the Sudanese government over this gross human rights violation. He could do any number of things, but President Obama's inaction speaks volumes about his diminished view of what being an American means. Apparently the latent American citizenship of these children is not a status the President sees as worth acting upon.

Help us today pressure the Obama administration to take action. Join me in signing a petition we have created on the White House website to move the President to pave the way for Meriam and her children to seek asylum in the U.S. If it reaches 100,000 signatures in 30 days, the White House, according to the guidelines they have established, must respond to the petition.

We may not have 30 days. Please sign the WhiteHouse.gov petition.

Me:  I signed the petition.  Please do so as well.  

** Original post 5/21/14: What good is the State Department and U.S. Consulates if they won't stand up for American citizens abroad?  

From the Family Research Council: 

For three months, a young Christian wife -- now almost eight and a half months pregnant -- has been shackled in a Sudanese prison on death row. Authorities, who refuse to recognize her marriage to a Christian man, have sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery and execution for her faith.

As if that weren't horrifying enough, her stateside husband, Daniel Wani, an American citizen, says their 20-month-old toddler is behind bars with her, enduring unspeakable horrors at the hands of the oppressive Sudanese. Her frantic husband, who continues to plead with the U.S. Embassy for help, flew from New England to Khartoum to visit his wife, Meriam Ibrahim -- and was beside himself to find her bound up and swollen. For now, authorities refuse to release his son to Daniel, because of his faith. Although the court gave Meriam days to recant her Christianity, she refused, saying, "I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian."

And while the court does allow pregnant women to give birth before their hanging, the international community is pressing to overturn the verdict. Unfortunately for Daniel, his home country has barely lifted a finger to help the family, saying only that it was "disturbed" by the case. Yesterday, in a shocking exchange with CNSNews.com, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki showed the absolute indifference of the Obama administration toward this family's nightmare. Asked if Daniel was in fact a U.S. citizen, Psaki told CNSNews, "Typically we don't confirm those type of details, but I'm happy to check and see if there's more to share." "You don't know whether that little boy in prison is a U.S. citizen?" CNS fired back. "I don't have any more details to share," Psaki answered.

SYRIA'S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CRIES OUT FOR HELP

Nina Shea reports:

The Vatican news agency Fides reports today that two new mass graves containing a total of 30 bodies were found in Sadad, an ancient Christian town of some 15,000 people between Damascus and Homs, bringing to 45 the number of residents killed there by Islamist militias since October 21.

Surviving relatives and friends uncovered the graves after government forces recently recaptured the town from rebels. Those killed were reported by the local Syriac Orthodox metropolitan, who presided over 30 of their funerals this week, to be Christian civilians, including women and children. A list of their names was provided to the Catholic press.

The Islamist rebel militias of Al Nusra Front and Daash were identified by eyewitnesses as responsible for this war crime.

The battle also resulted in the destruction and looting of the town, including its homes, hospitals, schools, government buildings and electrical, telephone, and water capabilities. St. Theodore’s Syriac Orthodox Church and a number of the 4,000-year-old Assyrian town’s 14 other churches and a monastery have been desecrated.

Some 2,500 Sadad families have fled so far and ten others are missing.

Syriac Orthodox archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh remarked that this was the deadliest single attack against Syria’s Christian community of the civil war and ranks close to the massacre at Baghdad’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic church by jihadists during Sunday Mass on October 31, 2010, when 58 were killed.  

 According to international media reports, rebel shelling has increasingly hit several majority-Christian districts in Damascus. Together with a devastating siege on Maalula that Lela Gilbert reported on last month, this has heightened fears among Syria’s Christians that they are being targeted for religious reasons by Islamist extremists in the rebellion.

FOX SPORTS SACKS OUTSPOKEN CHRISTIAN

From Family Research Council:

As a former quarterback, Craig James isn't used to being on the defensive. But unfortunately, that's exactly where Fox Sports is putting him in a story that should rock the football world. The retired Pro-Bowler became the latest face of the war on religious liberty, when -- after one day on the job -- Fox Sports gave James the boot for his conservative views on marriage. And here's the kicker: he made the comments, not at the sports desk, but during last year's Senate campaign!

Apart from being a popular analyst, Craig also had political aspirations -- aspirations he followed to Texas in an unsuccessful bid against Ted Cruz during the primary. In the course of the campaign, Craig was asked -- as all candidates are -- about his views on marriage and sexuality. James's opinion happens to coincide with the research, which is that no one is born gay. And, as an orthodox Christian, he didn't shy away from the eternal consequences of this sin or any other. "...[T]hey are going to have to answer to the Lord for their actions," he said before pledging not to support same-sex unions.

According to Sports Illustrated, the regional affiliate of Fox hired Craig without involving upper management. "Fox Sports executives were not happy with the hire by the regional network," sources explain. High level executives felt he hadn't been properly vetted (or, properly excluded, depending on how you look at it). When the news broke, a Fox Sports spokesman tried to explain away the network's religious profiling. "We just asked ourselves how Craig's statements would play in our human resources department. He couldn't say those things here."

PENTAGON MAY COURT MARTIAL SOLDIERS WHO SHARE THEIR CHRISTIAN FAITH

- Note:  See Update below

- Has it come to this?  Ken Klukowski reports:    (HT Drudge)

The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: "Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense...Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis...”. 

The statement, released to Fox News, follows a Breitbart News report on Obama administration Pentagon appointees meeting with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein to develop court-martial procedures to punish Christians in the military who express or share their faith. 

(From our earlier report: Weinstein is the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and says Christians--including chaplains--sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of “treason,” and of committing an act of “spiritual rape” as serious a crime as “sexual assault.” He also asserted that Christians sharing their faith in the military are “enemies of the Constitution.”)

Being convicted in a court martial means that a soldier has committed a crime under federal military law. Punishment for a court martial can include imprisonment and being dishonorably discharged from the military. 

So President Barack Obama’s civilian appointees who lead the Pentagon are confirming that the military will make it a crime--possibly resulting in imprisonment--for those in uniform to share their faith. This would include chaplains—military officers who are ordained clergymen of their faith (mostly Christian pastors or priests, or Jewish rabbis)--whose duty since the founding of the U.S. military under George Washington is to teach their faith and minister to the spiritual needs of troops who come to them for counsel, instruction, or comfort.

This regulation would severely limit expressions of faith in the military, even on a one-to-one basis between close friends. It could also effectively abolish the position of chaplain in the military, as it would not allow chaplains (or any service members, for that matter), to say anything about their faith that others say led them to think they were being encouraged to make faith part of their life. It’s difficult to imagine how a member of the clergy could give spiritual counseling without saying anything that might be perceived in that fashion.

In response to the Pentagon’s plans, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who is now executive vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC), said on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning:

It’s a matter of what do they mean by "proselytizing." ...I think they’ve got their defintions a little confused. If you’re talking about coercion that’s one thing, but if you’re talking about the free exercise of our faith as individual soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, especially for the chaplains, they I think the worst thing we can do is stop the ability for a soldier to be able to exercise his faith.”

FRC has launched a petition here which has already collected over 60,000 signatures, calling on Secretary Hagel is stop working with Weinstein and his anti-Christian organization to develop military policy regarding religious faith.

**Update: 5/2/13 - From Family Research Council

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 2013
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Darin Miller, (866) FRC-NEWS or (866)-372-6397 

FRC Gathers Nearly 110,000 Petitions in less than 72 Hours Urging Defense Secretary Hagel to Disavow Demands by Anti-Christian Activist

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  Family Research Council (FRC) announced that almost 110,000 petitions have been gathered - all within the last 72 hours -  in response to last Friday's Washington Post report stating that anti-Christian activists had met with senior Pentagon officials to press for the court martial of Christians in the military who "promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates or to extend preferential treatment for any religion."  According to the Post, the activists were given assurances that an instruction booklet on proselytizing would be forthcoming within the next few weeks.

On Monday, the Pentagon followed up on The Washington Post report by releasing this statement: "Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense.  Court martials and non judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis and it would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome in specific cases."  Today the Pentagon released another statement claiming to have made "reasonable accommodations" for religious practice and that "service members can share their faith (evangelize), but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs (proselytization)."

General Jerry Boykin, Family Research Council's Executive Vice President made the following comments:

"We are deeply concerned that senior Pentagon officials not only met with an extreme anti-Christian activist but reportedly provided assurances to him that Christians in the military could face court martial for 'promoting their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates.' 

"Both the Pentagon and Mikey Weinstein can't be right.   The Pentagon must set the record straight about what Mikey Weinstein was assured in his meeting with Pentagon officials.  The Pentagon should categorically disavow Mikey Weinstein and any assurances made to him regarding court martials of chaplains and service members who share their faith.

"Today, the Pentagon released a statement that claims to have provided 'reasonable accommodations' for religious practice. However, the statement is not supported by the reality of recent incidents of religious hostility in the military.   This religious incoherence is not limited to the Air Force, but has become widespread under the Obama Administration."

• In 2011, Air Force General Schwartz issued a stern warning that proselytizing would not be tolerated in the Force. Instead, Gen. Schwartz urged 'neutrality'--which has since turned to hostility--on faith.
• Air Force suspended a 20-year-old class on 'Just War Theory' because it included scriptural references.
• Next came the stripping of 'God' from the Rapid Capabilities motto and the purging of Bibles from Air Force Inn checklists.
• At Christmas, the Academy ordered cadets to stop promoting a Christian charity for needy kids. Leaders even removed an article from a Squadron Office School curriculum for referencing chapel.

• A Fort Leavenworth War Games scenario identified Christian and Evangelical groups as potential threats
• The U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center released a study linking pro-lifers to terrorism
• Evangelical leader Franklin Graham was uninvited from the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service
• At the National Cemetery in Houston, Christian prayers were prohibited at the funeral services for military veterans
• Distribution of Bibles was banned for a time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
• Christian crosses and a steeple were removed from a chapel in Afghanistan because the military said the icons disrespected other religions
• Catholic chaplains were prohibited from reading a letter to parishioners from their archbishop regarding the Obama HHS mandate.

"Nearly 110,000 people have signed this petition because they know if Christian chaplains and other troops are censored from offering the full solace of the Gospel, there is no religious freedom in the military," concluded General Boykin.

The petition to Secretary Hagel can be accessed here.

** Previous related posts:

    -  HAVE SEGMENTS OF THE U.S. MILITARY TURNED ANTI-CHRISTIAN?

   - AIR FORCE CENSORS EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

    - EFFORTS TO STRIP CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN THE U.S. MILITARY CONTINUE TO SUCCEED

    - A GENERAL LOST HIS JOB FOR OPPOSING CHANGING "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"

    - TIMOTHY DALRYMPLE - "FAITH AMIDST THE BATTLE"

    - HOW PACIFISM VIOLATES THE COMMAND, "THOU SHALT NOT KILL" (CHARLES WILLIAMS)

HAVE SEGMENTS OF THE U.S. MILITARY TURNED ANTI-CHRISTIAN?

Carefully ponder the following FRC collation of recent actions of the U.S. military.  Unless our Senators and Representatives step in and call a halt to this trend, the future look ominous for Christians in the United States.  

What are America's biggest threats? Hamas? Al Qaeda? According to recent statements by U.S. military officials--including an Army briefing on "religious extremism," the military should be just as concerned with Evangelical Christians and Catholics as threats to America.

In another example, it was discovered that Lt. Col. Jack Rich of the U.S. Army highlighted FRC and American Family Association (AFA) as specific groups who do not share "our Army Values." Rich warned his subordinates "When we see behaviors that are inconsistent with Army Values--don't just walk by. Do the right thing and address the concern before it becomes a problem." The 14-page email goes on to smear FRC and AFA by name, lumping us in with the real extremists of the Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, and neo-Nazis--as labeled by the anti-Christian Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which was connected in court to the terrorist shooting at Family Research Council's headquarters on August 15.

This type of inflammatory rhetoric is not isolated. As Fox News correspondent Todd Starnes reported this week, these incidents follow a long line of recent military missteps:

• A Fort Leavenworth War Games scenario identified Christian and Evangelical groups as potential threats
• A 2009 Dept. of Homeland Security memo identified Evangelicals and pro-life groups as potential threats to national security
• The U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center released a study linking pro-lifers to terrorism
• Evangelical leader Franklin Graham was uninvited from the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service
• At the National Cemetery in Houston, Christian prayers were prohibited at the funeral services for military veterans
• Distribution of Bibles was banned for a time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
• Christian crosses and a steeple were removed from a chapel in Afghanistan because the military said the icons disrespected other religions
• Catholic chaplains were prohibited from reading a letter to parishioners from their archbishop regarding the Obama HHS mandate.

A number of lawmakers, led by Congressman Doug Lamborn (R- Colo.) are demanding answers. In a letter to the Secretary of the Army, he and other Members of Congress are calling on the Army to apologize for attacking Christians and labeling them as extremists.

Join us in standing by these lawmakers by co-signing the letter to the military and show these officials that Evangelicals and Catholics should not be marginalized as "extremists."

WE'RE NOW IN THE POST-CHRISTIAN AMERICA FRANCIS SCHAEFFER PREDICTED

John Stonestreet reflects on recent events and counsels that though we've entered post-Christian America, we should not become silent and retreat from the public square.   I agree.  Listen Now | Download

Stonestreet writes:  [I've offered personal highlights in bold print]

Last Friday on BreakPoint, I suggested that we must face the facts that we are now in a new era: the post-Christian America that Francis Schaeffer, Chuck Colson and many others predicted would come.

I was referring then to Hobby Lobby facing millions of dollars in fines for refusing to obey the HHS mandate.  If any further proof is needed, last weekend’s broo-ha-ha over who’s praying at the presidential inauguration is exactly that.

A rock-solid evangelical pastor who has mobilized thousands of young people to campaign against human trafficking was invited by the White House to give the benediction at the inauguration. But within hours, a small handful of homosexual activists hit the roof, because the same pastor, years prior, had the gall to say in a sermon that homosexual activity was sinful.

Thoroughly tarred with the “hater,” “bigot,” and “anti-gay” labels, this pioneer for human rights, Pastor Louie Giglio of Passion City Church, respectfully stepped aside.

 

CHRISTMAS REPUDIATED IN EUROPE

Elizabeth Kendal of the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin offers a summary of a longer survey:

Whilst public schools in Sweden are by law non-confessional, Advent services are part of the compulsory curriculum. This year, however, the government has ruled that, though the Advent services are still compulsory, in public schools they must be Christ-less and prayer-less, to try to balance Sweden's Christian cultural tradition with the 'new secularism'.  Last year the Scottish government promoted all Scotland's winter festivals except Christmas. This year the European Union Commission published three million secondary school diaries that detailed the feasts, festivals and holidays of all faiths except Christianity, even omitting Christmas and Easter. The West has forgotten the Lord. Revival and returning to him are urgent or else anti-Christian repression, intolerance and hostility will only escalate.  Please pray for a Christmas awakening in the West.

Me: Will we heed Kendal's admonition to pray?  We must make prayer a daily discipline that the true meaning of Christmas will be recovered in the West.  We must guard against succumbing to apathy and/or defeatism.  And that goes for our own government's hostility to Christian expression as well.  From the FRC:

For our troops in the Middle East, it's not away in a manger -- it's away goes the manger! After years of celebrating Christmas with a live nativity, the U.S. Navy is ordering military families to tear down its display on a Bahrain base. Service members were stunned. The news was most upsetting for the kids, who look forward to playing their parts all year long. "It was devastating," one officer told Fox News. "Here we are serving in the Middle East, defending our country and other people's religions... and we can't even enjoy our own."

The order came down just days after a secular group, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, complained that the nativity somehow endangered U.S. lives. "It's unconstitutional," the group argued, "it's bad for the military, and in a Muslim country, it's dangerous."

Funny , that didn't seem to matter when our troops flew rainbow flags over camps in Afghanistan -- or hosted gay pride parties at our Baghdad embassy. Where was the concern for Muslim sensitivities then? These sailors are thousands of miles from home sacrificing their Christmases to defend the freedoms and the rights of people as misguided at MAAF. The least we can do is respect the Constitution they're defending, and give these troops the same freedom that's been afforded every American since the Supreme Court ruled on nativities in 1984.

Some people, like Newsweek's David Sessions, think the war on Christmas is over. "Christmas won," he says. That may be true in the retail world, where American Family Association points out that an overwhelming number of stores are chucking their holiday-neutrality in favor of Christmas greetings. "We've gone from 80% politically correct ads four years ago to 80% pro-Christmas messaging [today]," said AFA's Randy Sharp. Bill Donahue also senses the shift at the Catholic League, where the usual flurry of discrimination cases is at a minimum.

And while the commercial world may be catching on, the government is more hostile than ever -- not just to Christmas, but to Christians. In the last few weeks, the Left has gotten away with plenty of seasonal censorship-from Illinois water towers to a senior center's Christmas tree. Even President Obama couldn't throw a bone to Christmas on his official White House card -- and instead threw one to Bo, whose picture is featured. Inside, the dog's paw print appears, along with the message "May your home be filled with family, friends, and the joy of the holidays." Move over, Jesus -- the Portuguese water pooch is here!

Meanwhile , the war on Christmas isn't over -- it just expanded into a broader, 12-month battle over religious expression. And Christians will continue having success in it the more comfortable they are standing up -- and speaking out -- for truth.

QUICK TAKES

- - Newt: Would ABC ever air a show that portrays Muslims the way "GCB" portrays Christians?

         - - George Will - As Government becomes bigger, it becomes more lawless.       

         - - Tina Kobe (a sharp young commentator at HotAir.com), takes Bill Maher to task for his vicious, ignorant attack on homeschoolers. This is a MUST READ if you want to know about homeschooling successes.

- - Newest Limbaugh advertiser: Twitchy.com   (Twitchy.com is a social media aggregator started by Michelle Malkin, a cracker jack of a blogger who began HotAir and has now added Twitchy to her entrepreneurial effort.    The full announcement of her new Twitchy.com ad buy with Rush Limbaugh is here.)

MEDIA BIAS CALLED OUT BY REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association writes:

During last Saturday's Republican Presidential Debate on the ABC television network, hosts Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos directed a lot of attention to the issues of contraception and homosexual marriage.

In rebutting an obvious attempt by the debate panel to spin the issues, some candidates took the liberal media to task by correctly identifying their bias against people of faith.

 

BIBLE BAN AT WALTER REED MEDICAL CENTER?

This is unbelievable.  Even if the ban is rescinded, what does it say about an Administration that would allow such a ban to be put into an internal memo in the first place? From FRC:

The Walter Reed Medical Center is where our wounded soldiers go for their bodies to be healed, but are their souls left out in the cold? Last week, FRC obtained an internal memo in which Navy officials had announced that "no religious items (including Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit." The new orders are buried in a four-page document about patient care, which an Army officer forwarded to us in disbelief. Effective immediately, families, friends, and even pastors would have to check their beliefs at the door to visit one of the largest military hospitals in the United States.

We immediately brought this memo to the attention of Congress. After working with concerned leaders like Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and talking with staff at Walter Reed, we were assured that the Navy was rescinding the policy. Todd Starnes at Fox News also contacted hospital officials and was offered similar assurances.

While we're glad that hospital officials are working on changing the policy, the change has yet to be implemented. Given the recent track record of the Obama Administration's disrespect for religious liberty in the military, nothing is certain. We need your help to show military leaders that the American people will not stand for Bible bans such as the one at Walter Reed. Our brave wounded warriors are worthy of the same religious freedom that they themselves fought for.

Sign our petition today to help ensure that Bibles and other religious materials are not banned from Walter Reed Medical Center.

Sincerely,

Tony Perkins
President

 

ANTI-CATHOLIC, PRO-ABORTION BIAS AT SABELIUS' HHS

From FRC:

Starting Thursday morning, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will try to get to the bottom of some pretty serious allegations at Health and Human Services (HHS). Did Kathleen Sebelius's Department give the order to slash funding from a Catholic program because of its pro-life views? The Committee on Government Oversight aims to find out in "HHS and the Catholic Church: Examining the Politicization of Grants." Chairman Issa has been pressing Sebelius for information on the controversy for weeks. In two letters--one from Rep. Issa and one from Senate Republicans--leaders asked the Secretary to turn over a series of internal documents on her agency's grant review process, which even HHS staffers called "unfair."

According to the Washington Post, the decision to pull the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) funding wasn't based on agency reviews, but on religious bias. Under HHS's own evaluation process, the USCCB scored "excellent" marks for its effectiveness. As it should. In just five years, its program helped more than 2,000 sex slaves find food, shelter, and medical care. But instead of renewing the contract, HHS redirected its grant to abortion-friendly organizations that scored "significantly below" the USCCB. When the President's political appointees suddenly inserted themselves in the funding process, suspicions grew. To the surprise (and later outrage) of agency officials who oversee the grants, their recommendations to partner with the bishops were ignored. "In the case of the trafficking contract, senior political appointees at HHS stepped in to award the new grants to the bishops' competitors, overriding an independent review board and career staffers who had recommended that the bishops be funded again..."

Enter Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In an unusual move, her office also used its influence. Insiders say that "HHS staffers objected to the involvement of the Secretary's office, saying the goal was to exclude the Catholic bishops..." In other words, this administration not only manipulated the funding process. It was willing to give less qualified groups money just to satisfy their abortion agenda. If that means victims of sexual exploitation don't receive the best care possible, then that's a sacrifice this administration is willing to make. Ironically, it was President Obama who said funding decisions "must be free from political interference... and must be made on the basis of merit, not on the basis of the religious affiliation..." Obviously, his senior officials didn't get the memo, or they're reflective of a much bigger problem: an administration that's increasingly hostile to faith. Either way, they made a mistake--one we hope Darrell Issa can help correct.

See also:

Chuck Colson - "A Very Unhealth Situation"

Jason Tomassini - "Catholic bishops say religious freedom waning"   Reuters | November 14, 2011

Michael Gerson - "Obama turns his back on Catholics" Washington Post | November 14, 2011

Michelle Bachman - "Administration drops Catholic humanitarian work that provoked ACLU"  Catholic News Agency | October 13, 2011

Update:  Steven Wagner - "Kathleen Sebelius' Gruesome Moral Calculus"  Nov. 29, 2011  This article lays out the issues of sex trafficking and Sebelius' HHS with particular clarity. 

[...] The Church’s victims’ services program is not the only faith-based agency affected by HHS’ new requirement that victims receive the “full range of family-planning services,” including abortions and contraception. The Salvation Army — a huge presence in the trafficking-services arena — and the expanding membership of the Christian Trafficking Shelter Association also will undoubtedly decline to participate in the HHS program. Instead of expanding the pool of organizations working to “rescue and restore” victims of human trafficking, Kathleen Sebelius is advancing a policy that will diminish the reach of these vital services. But that’s okay with our secretary of Health and Human Services who holds that the “positive good” of abortion trumps all other considerations.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINIAN-HELD BETHLEHEM

From Family Research Council:  (my bolding)

The current town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, is anything but the peaceful town that we sing about at Christmas each year. Bethlehem--now under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA)--is in the area that Jordan labeled the West Bank after it took control of a swath of land known as Judea and Samaria in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. During the six-day war of 1967, the Israeli military regained control of the area, but Jordan didn't relinquish its claims on the region until 1988, when it ceded authority to the PLO. Today, the PA, underwritten by the U.S., has governmental and security jurisdiction in several West Bank cities, including Bethlehem. In fiscal year 2010, America funneled more than $500 million dollars in economic support to the PA--nearly half of what the entire international community provided to prop up the fledging authority.

Knowing that the PA couldn't exist without U.S. funding, it was particularly disturbing what our delegation heard last week when we met with Pastor Naim Khoury at the First Baptist Church in Bethlehem. Pastor Khoury is a Christian Palestinian who recognizes and supports the right of Israel to live in and control the land God gave to them. His church of about 300 has seen tremendous growth as he boldly preaches the gospel to Jesus Christ in an area now dominated by Muslims.

Unfortunately, his courage has come at a steep price. The church, with worship banners adorning the walls, resembles a church you'd find in America's heartland. But looks can be deceiving. The church has been bombed 14 times and Pastor Khoury has been shot at four times during the course of his 32-year ministry. What's most troubling is the fact that the PA is trying to shut down this thriving evangelical church by refusing to recognize it. To us, that doesn't sound like a big deal. After all, who needs government approval? But this isn't a matter of tax-exemption, as some in the U.S. might be concerned with. In this Muslim-dominated region, as with most, you have to declare your religion or church (which, by default, is Muslim). If you worship in an unrecognized church, the consequences are astonishing. Parents can't obtain birth certificates for their babies, couples who want to get married cannot get a license, and congregants of an unregistered church will find employment hard to come by. (That explains why Pastor Khoury's church has almost 70% unemployment.)

The intent is obvious: to drive people away from churches in the very city that gave birth to the hope-filled, life-changing message of Jesus Christ. If the U.S. continues to prop up the PA with financial support, we are complicit in this discrimination and the hostile environment created by the PA toward these evangelical churches. While discrimination against Christians may not be troubling to the Obama administration, it should be to us as Christian taxpayers.

frc home > washington update ShareThis   -->           --> Washington Update  Baker Won't Play Flour Girl at Gay 'Wedding' She may be a baker, but Victoria Childress isn't in it for the dough. At her Iowa Cake Cottage, she knows the recipe for success is sticking by your convictions--even if it costs you some business. So when two lesbians asked Childress to make their "wedding" cake this fall, she politely refused. "She introduced herself," Childress told Fox News, "and I said, 'Is this your sister?' She said, 'No, this is my partner.'" At that point, Victoria knew what she had to do. "I was straight-forward with them and explained that I'm a Christian, and that I have very strong [beliefs]." When the couple went to the press with their story, gay activists launched a boycott. "It's not to discriminate against them," Victoria explained on TV. "As I keep saying, it's not so much to do with them as it's to do with me and my walk with God and what I will have to answer for." The two lesbians don't see it that way. "It was degrading," they told KCCI. But apparently, calling Victoria a bigot is not? Obviously, the only form of discrimination that's acceptable in this country is directed at men and women of faith. Whether this couple likes it or not, religious freedom is for everyone--including Christian business owners. Just because Victoria runs a bakery doesn't mean she has to check her conscience at the kitchen door. Childress is well within her rights to decline an order that would force her to join in the assault on marriage. Usually, homosexual activists like to sugar-coat their agenda--but not these two. The couple came right out and admitted that this controversy " is not about cake or someone's right to refuse service to a customer." It's about running Christians out of business. Unfortunately, Americans don't seem to understand that religious freedom and same-sex "marriage" can never coexist. Why? Because the Left's definition of "tolerance" is surrender. And until more people like Victoria dig in their heels and refuse, homosexual activists will continue to bully anyone who disagrees with them. Despite the threats and hate mail, Victoria has no regrets. "People are telling me they were proud of me for standing up for my beliefs because not many people do that these days," she said. "Business people are afraid to because they're afraid to lose money." At the Cake Cottage, Victoria isn't worried about her profits getting battered. This baker's here to serve Jesus. What Liberals Aren't Telling You about the Defense Bill... The fiscal year may have kicked off on October 1, but the Senate is just now getting around to funding its departments. After the Armed Services Committee approved the Defense Authorization bill back in June, our sources tell us that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could bring the spending measure to the floor as early as this week. Unfortunately for our troops, the bill hides a lot more than appropriations. Buried deep in the Pentagon's budget is one major change in Defense policy. As part of the mark-up, the Senate included language repealing the military's sodomy ban. That's right. While liberals couldn't be bothered to consider amendments protecting religious liberty or marriage, they did find time to advance the President's perverse agenda. If the bill passes, our troops will have Congress's approval to introduce sodomy in the ranks. There's also a distinct possibility (as we mentioned last week) that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) could try to sneak an amendment onto the Defense bill to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). While there's no confirmation that she'll go through with it, Feinstein would have to scrounge up 60 votes just to attach the anti-marriage bill onto the final legislation. That's a tall task in this Senate climate where many incumbent Democrats don't want to be seen voting for sodomy and against marriage! If those developments weren't disturbing enough, rumors are circulating that the Pentagon is quietly planning to move forward with its first-ever policy to place women in combat roles. While the life of any deployed soldier is tough, the growing number of female recruits means even greater sacrifices on the home front, as many cope with long tours in the Middle East. Women historically have played a vital role in America's military, and they should continue to serve where appropriate--but not on or near the front lines. FRC will keep you posted on these rumblings as we have more details. For now, it's just speculation. Let's hope it stays that way. Woe Little Town of Bethlehem The current town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, is anything but the peaceful town that we sing about at Christmas each year. Bethlehem--now under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA)--is in the area that Jordan labeled the West Bank after it took control of a swath of land known as Judea and Samaria in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. During the six-day war of 1967, the Israeli military regained control of the area, but Jordan didn't relinquish its claims on the region until 1988, when it ceded authority to the PLO. Today, the PA, underwritten by the U.S., has governmental and security jurisdiction in several West Bank cities, including Bethlehem. In fiscal year 2010, America funneled more than $500 million dollars in economic support to the PA--nearly half of what the entire international community provided to prop up the fledging authority. Knowing that the PA couldn't exist without U.S. funding, it was particularly disturbing what our delegation heard last week when we met with Pastor Naim Khoury at the First Baptist Church in Bethlehem. Pastor Khoury is a Christian Palestinian who recognizes and supports the right of Israel to live in and control the land God gave to them. His church of about 300 has seen tremendous growth as he boldly preaches the gospel to Jesus Christ in an area now dominated by Muslims. Unfortunately, his courage has come at a steep price. The church, with worship banners adorning the walls, resembles a church you'd find in America's heartland. But looks can be deceiving. The church has been bombed 14 times and Pastor Khoury has been shot at four times during the course of his 32-year ministry. What's most troubling is the fact that the PA is trying to shut down this thriving evangelical church by refusing to recognize it. To us, that doesn't sound like a big deal. After all, who needs government approval? But this isn't a matter of tax-exemption, as some in the U.S. might be concerned with. In this Muslim-dominated region, as with most, you have to declare your religion or church (which, by default, is Muslim). If you worship in an unrecognized church, the consequences are astonishing. Parents can't obtain birth certificates for their babies, couples who want to get married cannot get a license, and congregants of an unregistered church will find employment hard to come by. (That explains why Pastor Khoury's church has almost 70% unemployment.) The intent is obvious: to drive people away from churches in the very city that gave birth to the hope-filled, life-changing message of Jesus Christ. If the U.S. continues to prop up the PA with financial support, we are complicit in this discrimination and the hostile environment created by the PA toward these evangelical churches. While discrimination against Christians may not be troubling to the Obama administration, it should be to us as Christian taxpayers. More Washington Updates       frc home > washington update

PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN MOTHER, ASIA BIBI, SENTENCED TO DEATH (VIDEO)

Imprisoned for two years, and  separated from her husband and two children with a death sentence hanging over her head, Asia Bibi needs our prayers.  CBN News reports (text below):

 

HARRY POTTER & JESUS & ANCIENT MYTHS

Charles Colson does an excellent job sorting out the question:

This month, the final Harry Potter film had the most successful opening weekend of any movie ever. Among the fans who lined up for the opening midnight showing were Christians, many of whom see striking similarities between the story of Jesus -- with its sacrificial death, burial and resurrection -- and the story of Harry Potter.

But at least one atheist has also noticed these similarities, and he’s written a book about it. In the newly-released (and blasphemously-titled) "Jesus Potter Harry Christ," Derek Murphy makes the case that J. K. Rowling -- the author of the Harry Potter series -- achieved her success by tapping into some of the deepest and most ancient longings of the human heart. These same longings, Murphy argues, compelled first-century pagans to construct what he calls “the Jesus myth.”

Murphy writes, “Jesus and Harry Potter are both...fictional...characters which incorporate classical (pagan) spirituality and religious ideology...I start by using the similarities between Jesus and Harry to raise the question, ‘how can Jesus be historical if Harry is fictional?'"

Murphey points to similarities between the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ virgin birth, His passion and His return from the grave with the myths of pagan idols like Isis, Sarapis, Horus and Apollo, Murphy hopes to convince his readers that Jesus -- just like the gods of mythology -- is fiction. In fact, he believes that Jesus is just an amalgam of history’s best myths.

Well, Murphy is certainly right in recognizing a common thread through pagan religious beliefs. As C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, the heathen religions are full of “...those queer stories...about a god who dies and comes to life again and, by his death, has somehow given new life to men.”

But what Murphy misses -- and Lewis got -- is the fact that the human longings for sacrifice, resurrection and redemption are stamped on our hearts for a reason: They point us straight to the God who stepped into history to fulfill them!

 

O'REILLY DISGUSTED WITH MEDIA CALLING NORWAY TERRORIST "CHRISTIAN"

Bill O'Reilly has every reason to be outraged that the New York Times headlined: "Norway Charges Christian Extremist."  Click here for video.  Text is below.

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: "Impact" segment tonight: mass murder in Norway. A vicious killer, Anders Breivik, has murdered at least 76 people in the Scandinavian nation of Norway. Breivik is a brutal fanatic who apparently objects to the presence of Muslims in Europe.

Last Friday he bombed buildings in Oslo and then took an automatic weapon to an island a few miles away gunning down 68 people. Norwegian authorities couldn't get to the island because they didn't have a helicopter, if you can believe it.

Now, on Sunday, the "New York Times" headlined "As Horrors Emerged, Norway Charges Christian extremist". A number of other news organizations like the "LA Times" and Reuters also played up the Christian angle. But Breivik is not a Christian. That's impossible. No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder. The man might have called himself a Christian on the net, but he is certainly not of that faith.

Also Breivik is not attached to any church, and in fact has criticized the Protestant belief system in general. The Christian angle came from a Norwegian policeman not from any fact finding. Once again, we can find no evidence, none, that this killer practiced Christianity in any way.

So why is the angle being played up? Two reasons: First, the liberal media wants to make an equivalency between the actions of Breivik and the Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh and al Qaeda. The left wants you to believe that fundamentalists Christians are a threat just like crazy jihadists are.

In fact, in the "New York Times" today an analysis piece says that some believe we have overreacted to the Muslim threat in the world. Of course, that's absurd. Jihadists have killed tens of thousands of people all over the world. The Taliban, Iran and elements in Pakistan use governmental power to support terrorism by Muslims. But the left-wing press wants to compare nuts like Breivik and McVeigh to state-sponsored terrorism and worldwide jihad.

Again, dishonest and insane.

The second reason the liberal media is pushing the Christian angle is they don't like Christians very much because we are too judgmental. Many Christians oppose abortion. Gay marriage and legalized narcotics, secular left causes. The media understands the opposition is often based on religion. So they want to diminish Christianity and highlighting so-called Christian-based terror is a way to do that.

FOX REJECTS JOHN 3:16 SUPER BOWL AD

Shirley Evans writes:

There are no preachers or ministers in the ad, no church or even a cross. The ad shows sports fans wondering aloud what the phrase "John 3:16" painted on a football player's eye black could mean, followed by a simple response: look it up.

Here's the ad:

 

The 31 second ad was produced by Fixed Point Foundation.  It steers viewers to lookup316.com

Evans comments further:

GAY MARRIAGE ADVOCATES ROUTINELY TAR OPPONENTS AS "HATERS"

(Also see "Faith and Reason" posts here.)

- Matthew J. Franck wrote an outstanding article in the Washington Post titled, "In the gay marriage debate, stop playing the hate card."  His article adds substantively to an earlier post I had offered on the same subject.

Marginalize, privatize, anathematize: These are the successive goals of gay-marriage advocates when it comes to their opponents.

Franck writes:

In the debates over gay marriage, "hate" is the ultimate conversation-stopper.

Some stories from recent months: A religion instructor at a midwestern state university explains in an e-mail to students the rational basis for Catholic teaching on homosexuality. He is denounced by a student for "hate speech" and is dismissed from his position. (He is later reinstated - for now.) At another midwestern state university, a department chairman demurs from a student organizer's request that his department promote an upcoming "LGBTQ" film festival on campus; he is denounced to his university's chancellor, who indicates that his e-mail to the student warrants inquiry by a "Hate and Bias Incident Response Team."

CHUCK COLSON - HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS SEEK TO SHUT DOWN DEBATE

- Update 12/15/10 - Sign the "Start Debating/Stop Hating petition."

- To tar as "hateful" and "bigoted" any person or organization that continues to define marriage as one man and one woman is disgusting.  "Hate" is a word thrown around much too much, and especially as a tactic to shut down debate.   Anyone using it must now be regarded with suspicion, for in 9 times out of 10, the one doing the accusing turns out to be the genuine "hater."  Charles Colson spotlights the latest "hate" attack, this time by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Colson writes:

What’s the easiest way to shut down a debate? Well these days, just label your opponent a hate-filled bigot. . .

In its newly-released Winter Intelligence Report, the Southern Poverty Law Center labels eighteen Christian organizations as “anti-gay groups.” The charges? “Pumping out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities.”

And which Christian organizations engage in those activities? None other than the American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage, and the Family Research Council! For heaven’s sake! The report also announced that 13 of these organizations will be added this January to its list of official “hate groups.” They join the likes of Neo Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan!

BEST DEFENSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

So says Gordon Wenham and Christopher J.H. Wright of Paul Copan's Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Baker, 2011).  Wenham and Wright are Old Testament scholars of the first rank.  Their opinion carries weight, as does the exuberance of a galaxy of other excellent scholars found at the end of this blog post.

Gordon Wenham says:

“Lucid, lively, and very well informed, this book is the best defense of Old Testament ethics that I have read. A must-read for all preachers and Bible study leaders.”

Christopher J. H. Wright says:

“This is the book I wish I had written myself. It is simply the best book I have read that tackles the many difficulties that the Old Testament presents to thinking and sensitive Christians and that give such ammunition to the opponents of all religious faith. Paul Copan writes in such a simple, straightforward way, yet covers enormous issues comprehensively and with reassuring biblical detail and scholarly research. Use this book to stock your mind with gracious but factual answers in those awkward conversations. Better still, give it to those who are swayed by the shallow prejudice of popular atheism without reading the Bible for themselves. I strongly recommend this book. We have wanted and needed it for a long time.”

I learned about the book from Justin Taylor who links to a synopsis found in Copan's own blog post:

QUICK TAKES ON FAITH AND REASON (APOLOGETICS)

Recent discoveries:

William Lane Craig on the Flying Spaghetti Monster (3 min 39 second video)

Tawapologetics:  Did Jesus Really  Say that?  The Reliability of the New Testament Gospels (Web article) 

Wintery Knight - The Case for Christian Theism  (Web links to articles and debates)

Book (ed. by John Piper and Justin Taylor): The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World.  Video and audio of the talks here.

Truthbomb Apologetics: Free Apologetics e-book library

Wintery Knight (On Intelligent Design) - Audio of Debate Between Stephen Meyer and Peter Atkin

Note: Charles Colson has important things to say about Stephen Meyer's book Signature in the Cell   Dr. Douglas Groothuis, for his part, rhapsodizes:

The book is no less than magisterial, an adjective that curmudgeons such as myself seldom use. At every level--philosophical, scientific, historical and literary--it is a superb treatise.    Reading every word of its 508 pages of text (not counting end notes)--as I did--repays the reader greatly.

ARE "Google" AND "YouTube" PRO-ISLAMIC AND ANTI-CHRISTIAN?

It sure seems that way.  When the Google story broke -- "Google Blocking 'Negative' Stories on Islam," Google said it was just a snafu.  But now, as Pamela Geller points out, YouTube is operating in exactly the same manner. (Google owns YouTube).  Check it out.

I discovered the bias independently.  For a long time (throughout most of 2009), anyone who googled "Muddling Toward Maturity Blog," would be taken to "Muddling Toward MaturityBlog: Anti-Christian" - one of the subcategories on my blog!  I had to write the following message, dated May 26, 2009, to those who used Google to come to my blog:

WEIRDNESS WITH THE GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE AND "MUDDLING TOWARD MATURITY"

For those who have ever used the Google search engine to find "Muddling Toward Maturity," you are probably aware that Google always brings people directly to one of my sub-topics, "Anti-Christian."  I wonder why that is so.  Does Google have a bias?  I don't know, but be that as it may,  I have many other topics!  If you have newly arrived at the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, please check current posts here.

(This message was first posted January 19, 2009.  Because Google continues to send searchers to the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, it requires reposting.)

Today things are better.  Now if you google "Muddling Toward Maturity Blog," you are taken to my home page.  But the 2nd item listed on Google is "Muddling Toward Maturity Blog: Anti-Christian."  I have scores of sub-categories on my blog, many with more posts than "Anti-Christian."  So why does the Anti-Christian category come up as the second listed?  You answer the question.

SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO HEAR CASE OF SILENCED CHRISTIAN VALEDICTORIAN

Wintery Knight has the full story. Valedictorian Brittany McComb's microphone was cut off when she began talking about Jesus in the  midst of her 2006 graduation speech.  Below is a video of that event.  What has happened to America?  Wintery Knight is right:  "If this young lady were gay or a Muslim or anything else, she would have been allowed to speak about that, and Christians would have remained silent and respectful. Only Christians are suppressed . . .

SELECT POSTS FROM WINTERY KNIGHT BLOG

I have some catching up to do with what Wintery Knight has been up to.   Following is a selection.  All are worth "clicking through" to read:

-  How good are the arguments in the new book by Richard Dawkins?

-  Skincare company uses aborted fetal tissue in anti-aging cream

-  American Library Association silent as librairies ban books about ex-gays

- UK Woman gets police visit after writing letter protesting gay pride parade (Must read)

- Hindu/Christian debate on anti-conversion law in India

- New books of interest to Christian apologists

         Update:  One of the books listed is Dr. Stephen Meyer's Signature in the Cell about which Charles Colson has important things to say.  Dr. Douglas Groothuis, for his part, rhapsodizes:

The book is no less than magisterial, an adjective that curmudgeons such as myself seldom use. At every level--philosophical, scientific, historical and literary--it is a superb treatise.    Reading every word of its 508 pages of text (not counting end notes)--as I did--repays the reader greatly.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Atheist Christopher Hitchens offers this discovery as a result of his numerous debates with theists:

I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.

Me:  That comes as no surprise to me.  I am glad that the Christians he has debated, and those in the audience,  have displayed manners.  Hitchens, of course, has much more to say.

Update 10/27/09 - Something of the flavor of the Hitchens - Doug Wilson debates can be found in this Huffingtron Post exchange.

HUGH HEWITT INTERVIEWS RICHARD DAWKINS

Some might find this transcript of Hugh Hewitt's hour interview with Dawkins interesting. To me, who knows something about the impressive manuscript evidence for the New Testament versus other classical documents, this segment proved especially interesting:

HH: On the person of Jesus Christ, did He exist?

RD: I suspect He probably did. I suspect there are lots of itinerant preachers, and one of them was probably called Yehoshua, or various other versions of Jesus’ name, but I don’t think that a miracle worker existed.

HH: How do you rate the evidence for Christ’s existence, manuscript evidence, eyewitness evidence, things like that?

CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP MOCKED BY WRITER IN HARPER'S MAGAZINE

"Breakpoint's" Ralph Early has the story.  Key quote:

Sadly, instead of an objective look at the work of CEF, Aviv’s article is what I would call a prime example of “othering”—of defining some individual or group as being different in some fundamental way and therefore not belonging. In history this “otherness,” often based on race, religion, behavior, or appearance, has often led people to view these “others” as less intelligent, subhuman, or having strange and threatening worldviews. For Aviv, it appears that Christians are that strange “other”—they’re exotic creatures to be put under the microscope and feared.

. . . worrisome is the history of what this kind of “othering” produces: it’s dehumanization.  And that’s only one small step removed from oppression, disenfranchisement, and frequently even violence. That’s one slippery slope I hope we never see our culture go down.

Read the whole article.

BEN WITHERINGTON EVALUATES DAN BROWN'S NEW BOOK "THE LOST SYMBOL"

Dan Brown is the author of the best-selling The Da Vinci Code (2003).  Concerning Brown's latest book, The Lost Symbol, Ben Witherington writes,

Its Number One on Amazon, and has gone to the top of several best seller lists, and the reviews are pouring in for Dan Brown's latest blockbuster novel, sure to be made into a movie.  But even Mr. Brown's fans, reviewing the book on Amazon, are about equally divided as to whether this novel makes Mr. Brown a dude or a dud.

Witherington comments on the book's literary worth, its historical accuracy (or inaccuracy), and Brown's treatment of the Bible and orthodox Christianity.  On this, Witherington offers an important critique:

In his attempt to explain why the Bible has endured through the ages  Peter Solomon, Robert Langdon's mentor and a Mason says the following: "The reason...is that there exist powerful secrets hidden in the pages of this ancient book... a vast collection of untapped wisdom waiting to be unveiled." (p. 489) The hidden meanings in the Bible are the reasons why the finest minds have pondered this book for so long. 

RANDY ALCORN'S BOOK: "IF GOD IS GOOD . . . FAITH IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING AND EVIL"

From Between Two Worlds:

Randy Alcorn's new big book on the problem of evil and suffering is now available: If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil (Multnomah).

You can read the table of contents and some excerpts at EPM's page, read an interview that Andy Naselli did with Randy here at Between Two Worlds, or read a review of the book by Tim Challies.

Me:  I've clicked through the links.  This book looks tremendous!  I'm reminded of his earlier blockbuster, Heaven, which I have on my shelf and need to get to soon.

Faith and Reason (Apologetics): More Resources

The following comes courtesy of Wintery Knight blog.  He spotlights a recent apologetics conference held at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church.  For a video and audio of the following lectures, click here.

• How Can I Know God Exists? – Dinesh D’Souza
• How Did the Universe Begin – William Lane Craig
• If God Exists, Why is there Evil? – Norman Geisler
• Has Science Made Belief in God Obsolete? – J.P. Moreland
• What Do the Gospels Really Say About Jesus? – Darrell Bock
• How Can I Defend My Faith Without Sounding Defensive? – Greg Koukl

Wintery Knight also includes the following new audio lectures and video from William Lane Craig:

Can We Be Good Without God? (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008)  Audio

Why Does Anything at All Exist? (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008)  Audio

Healthy Relationships (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008) Audio

Who Does Jesus Think He Was? (National Faculty Leadership Conf. 2008)  Audio

Why Does Anything at All Exist? (Wake Forest University)  Video

Response to Richard Dawkins book, The God Delusion (University of Florida) Audio

One Question: The top 3 questions Univ. of Florida students are asking God (University of Florida)
Audio

SUGGESTIONS ON PREPARING TO MEET ACADEMIC INTIMIDATION

After linking to one of my posts, Wintery Knight (whose blog should be read on a daily basis) went on to offer advice to prospective conservative and Christian students.   One would do well to click through to the links embedded in his post.  He wrote:

. . . young conservatives and Christians need to get used to staying calm while ideas that they don’t agree with are shouted in their faced in the typical vulgar, abusive manner that secular leftists seem to find so fetching these days. The best way to do that is to watch as many debates as possible in advance and get used to sitting still and disagreeing while someone else explains their point of view. . .

Other points of view are only annoying if you have lousy reasons for your own point of view. If you put the time in learning your arguments and evidence, and the best that could be argued against you from the other side, then there should be no problem. . .

We need to start making it common knowledge that atheism does not ground morality and that is a worldview that is responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths in the last 100 years alone.  That point must be made over and over – that when someone claims to be an atheist it should be immediately put to them that meaningful morality is not rationally grounded by their worldview. Don’t let them make any moral judgments without challenging them on the foundations of morality.  . . .

ARE JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AS VIOLENT AS ISLAM?

This is a tremendous article by Raymond Ibrahim.  It appears in the Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2009.   (HT: Michael Rubin)   If the subject interests you even moderately,  Ibrahim's article would be well worth printing for handy reference.  It begins:

"There is far more violence in the Bible than in the Qur'an; the idea that Islam imposed itself by the sword is a Western fiction, fabricated during the time of the Crusades when, in fact, it was Western Christians who were fighting brutal holy wars against Islam."[1] So announces former nun and self-professed "freelance monotheist," Karen Armstrong. This quote sums up the single most influential argument currently serving to deflect the accusation that Islam is inherently violent and intolerant: All monotheistic religions, proponents of such an argument say, and not just Islam, have their fair share of violent and intolerant scriptures, as well as bloody histories. Thus, whenever Islam's sacred scriptures—the Qur'an first, followed by the reports on the words and deeds of Muhammad (the Hadith)—are highlighted as demonstrative of the religion's innate bellicosity, the immediate rejoinder is that other scriptures, specifically those of Judeo-Christianity, are as riddled with violent passages.

Ibrahim tackles the issue competently and lays to rest egregious misrepresentation and propaganda against Christianity.  Read the article for the clarity and insight that is hard to come by in popular media.  Ibrahim offers accurate history and theology. 

SAN DIEGO COUNTY TRYING TO STOP HOME BIBLE STUDIES

- Update 6/4/09 - San Diego withdraws Bible study warning 

According to 10 News in San Diego:

SAN DIEGO -- A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, 10News reported.  [more . . .]

The Family Research Council comments:

Where two or more are gathered in Christ's name, there San Diego County officials will be also. For a suburban California family, this was the shocking reality during last month's Good Friday holiday. A local pastor and his wife invited a dozen or so people to their house for a Bible study, only to be interrupted by a San Diego employee who threatened to fine the couple for breaking an obscure County land code.

People at Pastor Jones's church are stunned by San Diego's actions, particularly its investigation of the group's activities. According to the family's attorney, Dean Broyles of the Western Center for Law & Policy, the officials asked pointed questions such as, "Do you have a regular meeting in your home?" "Yes." "Do you say amen?" "Yes." "Do you pray?" "Yes." "Do you say, 'Praise the Lord?'" "Yes."

What business is it of the county's how the Joneses' worship? This is not communist China. The Joneses aren't operating an underground church in violation of state law. This is their home! And

WEIRDNESS WITH THE GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE AND "MUDDLING TOWARD MATURITY"

For those who have ever used the Google search engine to find "Muddling Toward Maturity," you are probably aware that Google always brings people directly to one of my sub-topics, "Anti-Christian."  I wonder why that is so.  Does Google have a bias?  I don't know, but be that as it may,  I have many other topics!  If you have newly arrived at the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, please check current posts here.

(This message was first posted January 19, 2009.  Because Google continues to send searchers to the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, it requires reposting.)

FOUR-MINUTE OVERVIEW OF 11 ARGUMENTS FOR CHRISTIANITY BY WILLIAM LANE CRAIG

Wintery Knight Blog has much outstanding material, especially on Christian apologetics.  I am indebted to that blog for the video of William Lane Craig's interaction with Christopher Hitchens mentioned in the title of this blog post.  The short video clip offers a well-done "taste" of the solid, persuasive material William Lane Craig brings to his dialogs.

WHO DESIGNED THE DESIGNER? DOUG GROOTHUIS RESPONDS TO RICHARD DAWKINS

Douglas Groothuis, aka "the Constructive Curmudgeon" and Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary writes:

My paper in "Think: Philosophy for Everyone" (a publication of The Royal Institute for Philosophy) is now on line (Spring, 2009 edition, pages 71-81). It is a secular journal, which encourages creative forms for doing philosophy that will reach past the purely academic world. That doesn't mean it is dumbed down. Some very prestigious contributors have been featured. For my paper, I designed a discussion between a Christian, an agnostic, and an atheist partial to Richard Dawkins. (In 2004, I published a paper in Think that featured a posthumous report from Pascal about the errors made in a Think paper criticizing his wager argument.) 

Some days later Groothuis posted  the following:

 John Loftus, host of Debunking Christianity and author of Why I Became an Atheist, kindly asked me if I wished to submit an essay to his blog. I chose a short and fairly popular piece first published at True U called, "Understanding the New Atheism: the Straw God." His fellow atheists have weighed in immediately with more posts that I have time to respond to. So, I encourage some of you apologists to read their responses and to respond in turn: politely and smartly.

DAVID HART'S BOOK: "ATHEIST DELUSIONS: THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION AND ITS FASHIONABLE ENEMIES"

R.R. Reno offers a review of David Hart's Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies (Yale University Press).  Here's an excerpt from Reno's review:

“But,” as Hart writes in one of those sentences that makes the writer in me jealous, “atheism that consists in vacuous arguments afloat on oceans of historical ignorance, made turbulent by storms of strident self-righteousness, is as contemptible as any other form of dreary fundamentalism.”

So, yes, the modern era presents Christianity with deep and profound challenges, challenges we should engage, because they have the power to reform and deepen our faith. Hart points to David Hume and Edward Gibbon, and especially Friedrich Neitzsche. But it seems that our postmodern age has seen a definite drop in the quality of unbelief. “By comparison to these men,” writes Hart, referring to the serious atheists, “today’s gadflies seem far lazier, less insightful, less subtle, less refined, more emotional, more ethically complacent, and far more interested in facile simplifications of history than in sober and demanding investigations of what Christianity has been or is.”   [more . . .]    HT: Between Two Worlds

Me:  It looks like Hart's book reaches a new level of sophistication and depth and that he wields his verbal sword with notable dexterity.

TOO CHRISTIAN FOR THE CHRISTIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA

Edward Feser reports:

Last Wednesday I reported on a controversy involving the decision by academic press Wiley-Blackwell to suspend publication of the Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, allegedly on the grounds that it is “too Christian.” The editor of the Encyclopedia, George T. Kurian, has claimed in a memo sent to the work’s contributors that the press intended to pulp the entire initial print run of the work and demands that it be revised so as to make it less pro-Christian, more friendly to Islam, and in general more “politically correct.” 

More . . .

Illinois moment of silence ruled unconstitutional

I am filing this in the "hard to believe department."  According to Mike Robinson of the Associated Press,

A federal judge [Robert W. Gettleman] has ruled that a state law requiring a moment of silence in public schools across Illinois is unconstitutional, saying it crosses the line separating church and state.

"The statute is a subtle effort to force students at impressionable ages to contemplate religion," U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman said in his ruling Wednesday.  [more. . .]

Me:  Has it come to this?  What manner of insanity grips the radical left?  I am wondering when the sane people of the land will rise up against this madness . . .

Weirdness with the Google Search Engine and "Muddling Toward Maturity"

For those who have ever used the Google search engine to find "Muddling Toward Maturity," you are probably aware that Google always brings people directly to one of my sub-topics, "Anti-Christian."  I wonder why that is so.  Does Google have a bias?  I don't know, but be that as it may,  I have many other topics!  If you have newly arrived at the "Anti-Christian" sub-topic, please check current posts here.

MATTHEW PARRIS: "AS AN ATHEIST, I TRULY BELIEVE AFRICA NEEDS GOD"

What a stunning article!    (HT: Hot Air)    This is a "must-read," a great conversation starter.  After reading this article, it is hard for me to understand how Matthew Paris remains an atheist.  I'll give him credit for this: he is extraordinarily objective in his observations and perceptions. This may be one of the best pieces of Christian apologetics I have read in a long time.   Read it!

DESTROYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WEST

A friend sent me a link to the Bill Muehlenberg essay, "Destroying the Foundations of the West," which I am glad to be aware of .  (He cites sources on my shelf I have wanted to read more thoroughly, rather than only dip into!).  I poked around Muehlenberg's website, "CultureWatch," and found much of interest there.  He has written an astonishing number of essays, plus a great number of book reviews.  He is a Christian writer attuned to the cultural challenges facing the modern world.  American-born, his wife is Australian and they make their home in Melbourne, Australia.  A short bio can be found here.