After a military junta seized power in 2021 , the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar has seen an escalation of violence, ethnic conflict, and religious persecution. With a long history of internal conflict, observers have long hoped for democratic reform and increased freedoms. That now seems more improbable than ever. The country's ruling junta is waging war against an opposition government consisting of multiple ethnic groups. Civilians are caught in the crossfire, and the religious—especially ...
Sep 21, 2023•1 min
Pixar's Wall-E has proven to be among the most profound and prophetic films of the last 20 years. After hopelessly polluting the Earth and leaving an army of robots to clean up the planet, humans now live aboard a giant ship built by a company that promises to take care of all its passengers' needs. Thus, humans are left with nothing to do but amuse themselves and eat a lot. Many Christians wrote off the Pixar classic because of its hyper-environmentalist message. However, the film's commentary ...
Sep 21, 2023•6 min
The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute recently released abortion estimates for the first six months of 2023. Using these numbers, media outlets quickly announced that pro-life laws after the demise of Roe have been ineffective . Ironically, abortion proponents lament restricted access to abortion while claiming pro-life laws don't work. However, according to Dr. Michael J. New of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, these numbers "reflect a great deal of potential variance." "[T]hese new abortion est...
Sep 20, 2023•1 min
In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that to deny a church "an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status" is to violate the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution. In that case, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer , a Missouri church that operated a licensed preschool and daycare facility, applied for state "funds for qualifying organizations to purchase recycled tires to resurface playgrounds." Trinity Lutheran met all the qualifications of the program, but th...
Sep 20, 2023•6 min
The government of New South Wales in Australia is contemplating a bill that would make it illegal to counsel an individual to "change or suppress" their sexual orientation or gender identity. But the Anglican Diocese of Sydney is refusing to comply. Last year, Anglican leaders there issued a statement on concupiscence , an aspect of the doctrine of sin having to do with fallen desire, clarifying its relevance to same-sex attraction. Archbishop Kanishka Raffel remarked , "Probably in our culture ...
Sep 19, 2023•1 min
If all there was to go on were sitcoms, movies, and mainstream editorials, we'd have to conclude that marriage is a direct path to misery, the "old ball and chain" that only ties us down, limits our freedom, and cramps our sexual fun. Many people now think of marriage less as "settling down" and more as "settling." Young people are told, "You've got plenty of time, live a little, first," as if life ends after the wedding. The truth about marriage, however, is that it is, statistically, the singl...
Sep 19, 2023•6 min
A law in St. Louis banning so-called transgender care for minors can now take effect after a judge struck down a lawsuit challenging it. In a two-page order, Missouri Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer wrote that the lawsuit, which was brought by the ACLU, lacked sufficient evidence to delay the legislation: "The science and medical evidence is conflicting and unclear. Accordingly, the evidence raises more questions than answers." Activists claim that the science in favor of transgender "care" is settle...
Sep 18, 2023•1 min
September 18 is the anniversary of the death of a mathematical and scientific genius, an outspoken Christian who defended the faith during the Enlightenment, when Christianity was under attack by much of the intellectual elite in Europe. Leonhard Euler was the son of Paul Euler, a Reformed Church pastor in Basel, Switzerland. He began study at the University of Basel at 13 and completed a master's degree in philosophy at 16. Though he originally intended to become a pastor, once his mathematical...
Sep 18, 2023•4 min
Hospitals across the nation are facing litigation concerns tied to their gender clinics. And John and Maria discuss the devastating effects of pornography on children. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org
Sep 16, 2023•1 hr 4 min
After claiming the U.S. Open's Women's Singles championship this week, Atlanta-born tennis star Coco Gauff paused to, in the words of ESPN's SportsCenter , "soak it all in." What she was really doing was kneeling with eyes closed and head bowed. In other words, she was praying, or as she told reporters later , "just saying thank you." At just 19 years old, Gauff is only the third American teenager to win the U.S. Open, the most recent being Serena Williams in 1999. She broke onto the tennis scen...
Sep 15, 2023•1 min
For over 30 years, my friend Greg Koukl has taught Christians how to engage with people across worldview lines by asking questions. His first book Tactics has equipped thousands of Christians to communicate with wisdom and passion. This month, Koukl is releasing a follow-up to that book, entitled Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges . Among the goals of the book is to make evangelism a less intimidating and more successful endeavor: "There are few things th...
Sep 15, 2023•6 min
A California law decriminalizing loitering went into effect in January. When Governor Gavin Newsom signed it last year, neither its supporters nor its opponents attempted to hide what it was really about: prostitution. Police previously could stop and question people they suspected of soliciting. This led to, advocates agreed, discrimination against so-called "transgendered adults." What wasn't said out loud is that transgendered adults apparently present themselves in ways that lead them to be ...
Sep 14, 2023•1 min
In a recent piece in The Atlantic , Tyler Austin Harper, a black professor from Bates College, argued that so-called "anti-racism" has gone too far. "In their righteous crusade against the bad color-blindness of policies such as race-neutral college admissions, these contemporary anti-racists have also jettisoned the kind of good color-blindness that holds that we are more than our race, and that we should conduct our social life according to that idealized principle. Rather than balance a criti...
Sep 14, 2023•5 min
For a lot of people, writes Angela Chen in The Atlantic , "[s]ibling bonds are the longest relationships of our lives. We know siblings before we meet our partners (and before we have our own kids), and we'll know them after our parents die." Some research even suggests that siblings have a higher impact than parents on whether teens do drugs and alcohol. Another study found that "subjects who had conflict or distance in their relationships with siblings before age 20 were more likely to be depr...
Sep 13, 2023•1 min
According to the Associated Press , nearly 50,000 people committed suicide last year, an absolute record in terms of raw numbers and the highest rate in nearly a century. Though, as one scholar noted, there's always the chance that the numbers are up on account of better reporting, that doesn't explain the consistent increase in these numbers over the last two decades. Something is broken in the United States, and it's us. Why, in the most prosperous time to be alive in human history, do so many...
Sep 13, 2023•4 min
According to the editors at The Economist, "Republicans used to extol the benefits of free trade and free markets," but now, many support barriers to international trade, generous government spending, and condemn corporate America. At least part of the shift is corporate America's leftward lurch , especially the trend to enlist the marketplace in woke causes while threatening the freedom of speech. Still, the urge to paint capitalism as the root of all evil is misguided. As civic education in th...
Sep 12, 2023•1 min
On September 26, the Colson Center is launching Breakpoint Forums, digital discussions about topics that matter. The first Breakpoint Forum will deal with this contentious idea of Christian nationalism. Joining me for this online discussion will be R.R. Reno, the editor-in-chief of First Things, an important journal of Christian thought, and Hunter Baker, professor of political science and dean at Union University. This online event will be September 26 at 8 p.m., ET. Registration is free, but y...
Sep 12, 2023•6 min
Ever since the COVID-19 lockdowns, there's been an increase in disruptive behavior at public events and spaces. Concert attendees have disrupted performances. One fan threw water on rapper Cardi B, and a couple of fans distracted country singer Miranda Lambert with selfies. Movie theaters are increasingly lit by those scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, and ignoring or yelling at anyone who protests. These incidents are the latest examples of how our private digital lives shape how we live p...
Sep 11, 2023•1 min
A year ago, The Economist urged readers not to bring their "whole selves" to work. While some corporate gurus suggest that we make work feel more like home, the authors beg to differ. "Your professional self displays commitment to the job and eats lunch at a desk. Your whole self is planning the next holiday and binges ice cream on the sofa. Your professional self makes presentations to the board and says things like: 'Let's get the analytics team to kick the t[i]res on this.' Your whole self ca...
Sep 11, 2023•5 min
John and Maria discuss the new relaxed prostitution laws in California. As Tolkien's appeal continues to grow, we discuss the biblical roots of his writings. And trying to reign in a culture that seems to be accepting and promoting suicide. — Recommendations — Tactics by Gregory Koukl Street Smarts by Gregory Koukl Section 1 - California's Relaxed Prostitution Laws "Pimps and Traffickers Get a free pass under new California law protecting 'sex work'" "New California Law Decriminalizing Loitering...
Sep 08, 2023•54 min
Last month, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the FDA wrongfully removed critical restrictions around access to chemical abortion. In 2021, the Biden administration decided to make mifepristone, the first of two drugs used to terminate pregnancies, permanently available via mail. Moreover, it eliminated the requirement for a doctor's visit. According to the 5th Circuit, the FDA policy violates longstanding federal law, and the FDA must discontinue mail-order abortion. Even more sh...
Sep 08, 2023•1 min
The most recent installment in the What Would You Say? video series looks at an idea that is increasingly popular, often repeated, and surprisingly believable: that sex is "assigned" at birth. Most of us have or will encounter this phrase, which no one would have uttered throughout most of human history. But not all of us know how to respond. After all, the idea that sex is something merely "assigned" at birth is taken as truth by college professors, media pundits, and medical professionals. We ...
Sep 08, 2023•4 min
Christians in Pakistan face increased threats to their lives and livelihoods. The most recent round of persecution started a few weeks ago when two Christian youths were accused of damaging a Koran. In response, mobs descended upon churches and the homes of Christians , destroying buildings and forcing thousands of believers to flee. This has continued for weeks. In Pakistan, Christianity predates Islam by centuries , but the Muslim majority has long oppressed the Church with overly broad and dr...
Sep 07, 2023•1 min
Back in 2021, news outlets around the world announced a scandal involving Canadian government schools and missing indigenous children. Starting in the 1800s, Canada built and opened a series of boarding schools where children from local native people could be educated or, more accurately, assimilated into modern Western culture. A majority of these institutions were operated by the Roman Catholic church and, before they were shut down toward the end of the twentieth century, tens of thousands of...
Sep 07, 2023•6 min
Recently, author Christopher Rufo tweeted an excerpt from a 2018 publication of the American Psychological Association citing a litany of outlandish terms, including "gender smoothies," "gender prius," "gender minotaur," and more. In its typical cyber-censorship fashion, Twitter quickly attached a "fact-check" note that states these labels are only a list of "descriptions" offered by young patients, not actual diagnoses. However, the social media giant wrongly obscured Rufo's legitimate concern,...
Sep 06, 2023•1 min
When I was a college student in eastern Tennessee, classmates who felt called to teach in inner-city schools would take on student teaching practicums in the small town of Graysville. On the surface, a big city like Detroit could not seem more different than the tiny mountain town that was racially not diverse and overwhelmingly white. However, the issues that afflicted both were largely the same: a lack of upward mobility, extraordinary rates of fatherless homes, poorly performing schools, high...
Sep 06, 2023•6 min
According to pro-life group Live Action , British authorities have arrested a Canadian man for selling hundreds of "suicide kits" online. Kenneth Law was implicated in the deaths of at least 88 people, one only 17 years old. When interviewed, Law explained, "I need a source of income—I hope you can understand that—I need to feed myself." It's horrifying enough that this happened at all, but thinking that helping people end their lives is a way to make a living should shock us all. Something like...
Sep 05, 2023•1 min
As a thank-you for a gift of any amount to the Colson Center this month, we'll send you a copy of Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges. The book is a guide through the hot-button issues with wise responses to arguments against Christianity. Give today at colsoncenter.org/September . __ It can be intimidating to engage our neighbors on cultural issues these days. It seems that every conversation is a potential minefield where the slightest wrong word can get...
Sep 05, 2023•4 min
Before you fire up the grill one last time for the summer on this Labor Day, here is Chuck Colson describing the dignity of work. Work embraced as a calling expresses the glory of God, and it's part of—very literally—following Jesus. Through our work God provides for us and for our families, contributes to the common good, and also gives us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. He has given us work as the way to fulfill His mandate to us … to take dominion over the world he has created. Chuck...
Sep 04, 2023•1 min
Physical labor was devalued in the ancient world. The exception, in classical Greece and the early days of the Roman republic, was farming, which was considered the proper pursuit of citizens. All other labor was viewed as demeaning. In the later days of the republic, as plantation agriculture replaced small farms, the work of farming was also seen as demeaning and relegated to slaves. By the time of the Roman Empire, all physical labor was only thought proper for slaves and lower classes. Thoug...
Sep 04, 2023•6 min
