Moral issues
Pity the Postmodern Cultural Elite
7/20/2010 – Victor Davis Hanson –
I think most of our problems transcend politics, which is increasingly a reflection of an elite, insider culture that is completely at odds with the majority of the country that it oversees.
So what is a cultural elite?
It is a sloppy term that might include the academic class in the university that educates our children in college. The upper echelons that run government departments constitute part of this cultural elite. So does an entertainment cadre that oversees television and Hollywood. Corporate managers are elites as well.
There is no racial, regional, religious, or tribal commonality. One shared allegiance perhaps is to higher education that certifies the cultural elite by diplomas of all sorts from a “good school,” as well as a respectable salary and a nice home with appurtenances. The good life of the elite is defined by both the absence of worry about necessities, and a certain status that accrues from properly recognized advanced education and sensitivity. [Read more…]
Read the Label
7/19/2010 – Chuck Colson –
Everywhere you turn, someone is warning Americans about the dangers of childhood obesity. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver toured the country preaching the gospel of healthier school lunches. The first lady has made fighting childhood obesity her top priority.
While I’m all for healthier eating and exercise, I can’t help but think, however, that in our concern over our kids’ waistlines, we have overlooked a far bigger threat—the one to their souls.
The threat I’m referring to is pornography. [Read more…]
An Independent Witness to Marriage
7/16/2010 – Stuart Koehl –
In the pending court case for overturning California’s Proposition 8, which banned “gay marriage,” two leading conservative legal scholars face off: Charles J. Cooper, taking the classical conservative line that organic social institutions such as marriage have an inherent value and cannot be redefined by legal fiat, and Theodore Olson, taking the more libertarian line that government should simply regulate contractual relationships between individuals and not become involved in private matters. [Read more…]
The Character Deficit
6/22/2010 – Steve McCann –
When the framers of the United States Constitution completed their work in 1787, they acknowledged that the success and future of the republic as established by that document was dependent on the honor and integrity of its leaders and citizens. As John Adams wrote: “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Today, the Obama administration, the majority of the members of Congress, much of the Judiciary, academia, and the media represent the culmination of the degradation of ethics and character, which has put the United States in the nearly inevitable position of joining the annals of the rise and fall of great nations.
The die was cast in the early part of the 20th century, when Congress and the president discovered that they could bribe the public with the public’s money. The focus of politics began to shift from public service and adherence to the Constitution to seeking, centralizing, and maintaining power, as well as amassing individual wealth. [Read more…]
Dennis Prager: The Greatest Threat Facing America
Dennis Prager explains what is the greatest threat that America faces today: “We have not passed on what it means to be an American to this generation.”
[Read more…]
Crime and Character
6/16/2010 – Chuck Colson –
Two weeks ago, I told you that crime rates are falling—despite the fact we’ve been enduring tough economic times for three years.
Obviously, this flies in the face of the liberal belief that the cause of crime is poverty. And one liberal columnist, Richard Cohen of the Washington Post, dared to look at the facts and ask the question, “Did Liberals Get It Wrong on Crime?”
Cohen has this to say about falling crime rates: “Surprisingly, this has happened in the teeth of the Great Recession, meaning that those disposed to attribute criminality to poverty,” which was his view at one time, he says, “have some strenuous rethinking to do.” [Read more…]
Knight: We’re Smarter Than God
6/7/2010 – Robert Knight –
Sexual morality is over. That’s the conclusion of one of the smartest men in Washington, the estimable columnist George Will. On ABC’s “This Week” on May 30, Mr. Will agreed with colleague Matthew Dowd that apart from a few glitches, homosexuality will soon be a nonissue in the military. They are wrong, but let’s look at their argument.
The men cited young folks’ liberal attitudes and recent polls as evidence that morality is no longer a factor. Mr. Dowd: “It’s long been decided in the public’s mind. I think the Republicans are so far out of step on this…”
Mr. Will: “For people of Matt’s son’s generation, being gay is like being left-handed. … The Supreme Court has a famous phrase it used in some opinion, the evolving standards of decency that mark a maturing society. Clearly these are evolving, and the case is over, basically.” [Read more…]
What a Difference Christianity Makes
6/3/2010 – Chuck Colson –
A recent issue of Time magazine tells the story of Nirupama Pathak, an Indian journalist murdered by her own mother. Being charged with killing your own daughter by itself is enough to make the news. But what makes this story especially compelling for the Indian media is that Pathak’s mother is alleged to have killed her to avenge her family’s honor.
By some estimates, dozens of such “honor killings” occur in India each year. It’s a crime that rightly shocks the Western conscience. It’s also a reminder of the way Christianity transformed the Western world.
According to prosecutors, Pathak was murdered because she wanted to marry a man who belonged to a lower caste. She then compounded her offense by becoming pregnant with his child. [Read more…]
Crime and Recession, It’s Not What They Think
5/27/2010 – Chuck Colson –
The evidence shows over and over that crime is not caused by deprivation, but by depravity. And the answer is conversion.
The statistics are startling. Across the United States, crime rates are dropping—for the third year in a row. According to the FBI, violent crimes like murder and rape were down 5.5% in 2009. Property crimes were down 4.9%. Amazingly enough, crime rates dropped more in big cities than in smaller cities.
The media is having a hard time explaining why crime rates are dropping. As one major paper put it, the drop in crime is “challenging the widely held belief that recessions drive up crime rates.” But “challenging” puts it too mildly: Since the economic collapse, the rate of decline in crime rates has actually accelerated!
So where does the “widely held” belief that recessions fuel crime come from? [Read more…]
