Archive for the 'Christians' Category

God is weak — or, should I say, Muslims worry about Allah’s strength

Longtime readers know that one of my favorite book series is C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series. In the Narnia series, my favorite book has come to be The Last Battle — which is the Biblical end of the world, Narnia style. Within that book, my favorite scenes take place after the Apocalypse, when the [...]

A most amazing man

I read two articles today that dovetail beautifully, by showing words spewing meaninglessly into the ether and by showing words used bravely to make big changes.
As for the meaningless spew into the ether that is, of course, Barack Obama, he of the sonorous (or, to my mind, soporific) voice, the big, meaningless ideas, and the [...]

Gorbachev and God

Reagan gave him the opportunity, but it was Mikhail Gorbachev who personally wielded the power that destroyed the Soviet Union.  Many have wondered what gave him the insight and the courage to do so.  Maybe this is the answer.

Sphere: Related Content

Praying for the Jews

Perhaps it’s because I’m not very religious, but I’m completely unoffended by the Pope including this language in his Good Friday prayer: “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men.” As long as [...]

Religious hate crimes in England

No comment:
A vicar was in hospital last night after being attacked in his churchyard by two youths in what is being treated as a ‘faith hate’ crime.
Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, was kicked and punched in the head as one of the attackers screamed “f***ing priest”.
He was left lying on the ground with deep cuts, bruising [...]

Bishop warns of the Islamification of England and the death of the C of E

Is he an hysteric, a prophet, or a tragically doomed Cassandra? Time will tell if Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England, is correct to warn of the end of the Christian faith in that country, something he already sees happening in various British communities:
In fewer than 50 years, Britain [...]

Bloody Mary’s revenge

Bloody Mary — or Mary I, her more official title — was Henry VIII’s oldest daughter by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Raised by staunchly Catholic parents, she too was staunchly Catholic. By the time she was about 16, however, Henry VIII was troubled by Catherine’s inability to bear a son (because [...]

Judeo-Christian doctrine and moral freedom

I did a post yesterday in which I quoted from an interview with Michael Cappi regarding the fact that Islam, unlike Judaism or Christianity, is not a religion that concerns itself with broader moral issues that rise above mere tribal law. I’d actually made precisely the same point in an earlier post, here. [...]

Thinking like the master — before the master did

On May 23, 2007, I did a post in which I looked at Mitt’s Mormonism, and concluded that it shouldn’t matter because his values are what counts, not the path he took to arrive at those values. Based on comments left in response to that post, I updated it to explain that, as far [...]

And now a few words on Islam

The teddy bear scandal put Islam on the front pages again as a religion whose practitioners are so insecure that they cannot accept anything that they might perceive as critical or demeaning. As have most conservative bloggers, I’ve written periodically about Islam’s misogyny, its cultural insecurity, its intolerance, etc. I’ve quoted my cousin [...]

Tony Blair is converting to Catholicism

I have no comment to make about this, but I nevertheless find it interesting:
Tony Blair is to become a Roman Catholic within weeks.
The former prime minister will be received into his new church in a mass at the private chapel of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.
He [...]

Ecumenicalism where it counts

Americans like to talk about ecumenicalism, which is an idea that concerns itself with “establishing or promoting unity among churches or religions.” We in America have proven to be very good at it, so much so that we think nothing of little news stories about the rabbi giving a talk to his neighbor’s church, [...]

May I recommend to you. . . .

. . . . a wonderful opinion piece that Cinnamon Stillwell wrote about the San Francisco drag queens dressed as nuns who took Holy Communion, not as an act of faith, but to ridicule the Church.  Not only does Cinnamon expose the fundamentally anti-Christian attitude behind this attack on the deepest principles of the Church, [...]

Ann — an open mouth is not a resting place for your foot

Courtesy of the Anchoress, I’ve learned that Ann Coulter has done it again, this time coming out with remarks that are going to sound anti-Semitic. Here’s what Ann said during an interview with Donny Deutsch:
DEUTSCH: Christian — so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: We [...]

Death and the moonbat

All religions, at all times, in all places, have one of two goals: to give meaning to life, something usually tied to morality, or to allay the fear of death. Some religions, of course, serve both goals. It is the second goal — defusing death — that I write about today.
People who do [...]

Thinking like a conservative

John Hawkins, at Right Wing News, sent out a poll to conservative bloggers asking them about political issues of the day, such as Larry Craig, the 2008 elections, patriotism and religion. You’ll find the results here. Would you have answered the questions as the majority of responding bloggers did? I did, although [...]

Orkin’s okay

Hey, everyone.  I wanted to let you know that you can stop calling Orkin now about CNN’s “God’s Warriors” series, since Orkin has been helpful, honest and responsive regarding this show.  Here’s their representative’s latest missive:
Just want to circle back to give the final update from Orkin. We had purchased advertising that was supposed to [...]

Watching CNN

UPDATE:  Hey, everyone.  Thank you so much for taking this post to heart.   You can stop calling Orkin now, though, because Orkin has been helpful, honest and responsive regarding this show.  Here’s their representative’s latest missive:
Just want to circle back to give the final update from Orkin. We had purchased advertising that was supposed to [...]

Fear of death and the failure of secularism

Many of us on the conservative side bemoan the decline of religion on moral grounds.  The Judeo-Christian tradition spells out moral absolutes, so that we don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel to figure out the big “rights” and the big “wrongs.”  (David Klinghoffer points out the disaster that happens when you keep having to [...]

Really stupid question from an ignorant person

I have a really ignorant question for my Christian friends. I am under the impression that, if you are a fundamentalist Christian, accepting Christ as your savior is the one and only road to salvation. I think I’ve read this described as “faith, not acts.”
If I’m correct about this basic principle, and it’s [...]

About Harry Potter

I wouldn’t normally be in a bookstore at midnight, even for Harry Potter, but I was boarding a plane early Saturday morning and worried that I wouldn’t have the book on vacation. It was kind of fun at the store — lots of positive energy — but I was tired and I knew [...]

Canadian nut TV confronts wise woman

I don’t need to tell you how about Islamism (that is, extreme Islam aimed at reinstating Sharia law worldwide), nor how dreadful I think it is. I also don’t need to tell you how I admire Ayaan Hirsi Ali.  Nor do I need to tell you that many in the media today, all evidence [...]

The Pope

Ignatius Insight Scoop explains why you don’t want to go to The New Yorker for a reasoned critique of the Pope.  (Hat tip:  Paragraph Farmer.)  Then, just to round things out, CDR Salamander offers a video explaining what the Pope actually said last Fall that excited so much Muslim outrage, and why he said it.  [...]

The Islamist War on children continues

Childhood is a modern construct.  Before the Victorian era, children were perceived as mini-adults, albeit with a higher mortality rate.  Since the early Victorian era, however, all Western nations have recognized and cultivated the special bond between a parent and a child and, more importantly for purposes of this post, the special responsibility society’s bear [...]

Fascinating stuff in an Israeli online paper

Sometimes, you open a web page, and find the most interesting things.  Today, I found slightly heartening (the first two stories) and definitely heart warming (the last story) three of the stories at YNet news, as of 8:13 PST (some of the others were less than thrilling).  Briefly:
Arabs are talking peace with Israel.  That’s the [...]