Chuck Colson often described the importance of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 2009, Chuck, along with fellow authors Dr. Timothy George and Dr. Robert George, cited Dr. King in the Manhattan Declaration , a statement of conscience regarding life, marriage, and religious liberty in the United States. In 1955, after only a year of pastoring a church in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King was selected to lead an organization that boycotted public transportation. This was in respons...
Jan 15, 2024•5 min
Trans rights are becoming the latest state-by-state issue dividing America. The Vatican releases a very pointed condemnation of surrogacy. And the Biden White House declares abortion is the number one issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. Recommendations Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn A Quiet Mind to Suffer With by John Andrew Bryant Segment 1: States vs. the Feds on Trans Policy How Democrats Set the Stage in 2023 for an LGBT Onslaught I...
Jan 13, 2024•1 hr 1 min
After securing his team's place in the NFL playoffs, Texans' rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud was asked by a reporter to respond to the moment. In a brief statement that has now made rounds on social media, he expressed gratitude for the city of Houston, honor for his fellow players, and, most of all, praise to Christ for saving him and choosing him to be in this role. More than a typical generic thanks to God for a win, Stroud spoke with grace and humility, noting the Scriptures written on his wr...
Jan 12, 2024•57 sec
Seven years ago this month , National Geographic published an issue that they now refer to as "historic." With a cover featuring a young boy with long pink hair and pink leggings, they announced a "Gender Revolution." The newsstand edition featured a different cover, a child and a collection of hip young people with identifying labels, such as "transgender female," "androgynous," and "bi-gender." Our perceptions of those who are transgender, these covers suggested, should not be simply men with ...
Jan 12, 2024•5 min
Anxious or depressed? Now you can download a digital therapist to your phone. According to The Wall Street Journal , "Chatbots that hold therapist-like conversations and wellness apps that deliver depression and other diagnoses or identify people at risk of self-harm are snowballing across employers' healthcare benefits." On one hand, given the erroneous beliefs of many human therapists, how bad could it be? It's kind of like driving in Colorado since the legalization of pot. Maybe self-driving ...
Jan 11, 2024•1 min
Many Christian parents worry about how best to pass faith onto their children. Tragically, statistics suggest they are right to worry. In 2020, the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that just 2% of millennials , a generation now well into adulthood, have a biblical worldview. That is the lowest of any generation since surveys on the topic began. According to a Lifeway Research report , two-thirds of those who attend church as teenagers will drop out of church as adul...
Jan 11, 2024•5 min
A recent study highlighted by King's College London suggests that, wait for it, sex is a greater predictor of athletic performance than gender identity. The study found that in the "nonbinary" category of races, men outperformed women. The researchers were careful to note that not much research has been done in this area ... unless I'd add, you consider the history of sport. That we need this study reveals much more about our cultural moment than it does about runners. To say that men and women ...
Jan 10, 2024•1 min
If you're interested in discovering how to develop the wisdom and skills needed to walk wisely in this cultural moment, then the Colson Fellows program might be for you. This ten-month program combines theological, spiritual, and worldview formation through a carefully curated combination of readings, daily devotions, live webinars, and monthly meetings with your peers. With both in-person and fully online offerings, you can choose the format that works best with your stage in life. Interested i...
Jan 10, 2024•7 min
Since Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned over accusations of plagiarism, many in the media have defended her. The Associated Press , for instance, tweeted : "Harvard's president's resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism." It's not clear how Gay's lack of academic integrity could be a conservative "weapon," but, according to Neil Shenvi, this willingness to ignore or defend plagiarism reflects how Critical Theory "has saturated our culture." In a thread on...
Jan 09, 2024•1 min
Seventeen hundred years ago this year, Constantine defeated his co-emperor Licinius, ending a series of civil wars and consolidating power as sole emperor of Rome. At the time, Christians saw this as the defeat of old pagan ways and the triumph of a new Christian vision of Rome. Constantine's turn to Christianity began before he abandoned Roman paganism. His children had been tutored by Lactantius, a Christian who opposed coerced worship and argued for religious liberty as long as a religious pr...
Jan 09, 2024•5 min
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson promised to not eliminate Chicago's selective-enrollment public schools, which require entry by test and target high-achieving students. However, in the name of "equity," he is now proposing ending the selective process to get them in. Decades ago, in an essay called " Democratic Education ," C.S. Lewis described why this understanding of "equity" is doomed to fail: "[A]n education which gave the able and diligent boys no advantage over the stupid and idle ones, wou...
Jan 08, 2024•1 min
It's not uncommon to hear artificial intelligence described as a new "tool" that extends and expands our technological capabilities. Already there are thousands of ways people are utilizing artificial intelligence. All tools help accomplish a task more easily or efficiently. Some tools, however, have the potential to change the task at a fundamental level. This is among the challenges presented by AI. If in the end it is not clear what AI is helping us to achieve more efficiently, this emerging ...
Jan 08, 2024•4 min
Harvard president Claudine Gay steps down over charges of plagiarism. John and Maria talk about the fallout for higher education. They also discuss the ongoing attacks on Christians in Nigeria and the expectation that billions will vote worldwide in 2024. Recommendations The New Book of Christian Martyrs by Johnnie Moore and Jerry Pattengale ICON: International Committee on Nigeria Bethel McGrew on Substack Segment 1: Claudine Gay Resigns from Harvard Claudine Gay hit with six new charges of pla...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 1 min
According to the Pew Research Center , 2023 marked a record high of Americans over 40 who have never been married. In a related study earlier in the year, a majority of Americans said that an enjoyable career and friendships were at the top of the list of things that would provide a "fulfilling life," but thought that having children or being married was "not too or not at all important." This while plenty of other studies are showing that these expectations are not yielding the expected results...
Jan 05, 2024•1 min
Two hundred and thirty-one years ago this month, King Louis XVI of France lost his head. His execution by guillotine was a precursor of the Reign of Terror, a 10-month period from 1793 to 1794 when French Revolutionaries executed nearly 17,000 of their countrymen. Tens of thousands more died in prison or were murdered without a trial. The French Revolution, one of history's most profound examples of the power of ideas, erupted out of the Enlightenment. In the mid-eighteenth century, philosophers...
Jan 05, 2024•5 min
Recently, the University of Washington offered a girls' volleyball scholarship to a 16-year-old boy. Swimmer Riley Gaines, perhaps the nation's top advocate for female athletes, broke the news. In response, UW allegedly rescinded the scholarship offer, claiming that they didn't know the recipient was male. Some parents of girls who play in the same high school league as the boy have said that their daughters didn't realize they were being forced to compete against a male until matches were under...
Jan 04, 2024•1 min
Recently in Vox , journalist Rachel Cohen attempted to explain how "millennials learned to dread motherhood." Noting the troubling drop in global fertility rates , Cohen spoke to dozens of women about whether they hoped to become or hoped to avoid becoming moms. "Today, the question of whether to have kids generates anxiety far more intense than your garden-variety ambivalence. For too many, it inspires dread. I know some women who have decided to forgo motherhood altogether—not out of an empowe...
Jan 04, 2024•6 min
A year after a middle school in Minnesota banned phones , the principal is reporting students are "happy." Phone-related problems before the ban included "interactions of bullying, of setting up fights, (and) the gambit of a lot of the negative things ..." but that's all changed. One parent says that because of banning phones, her son "is thriving and really focused and doing really well." He even "[p]articipates in class discussions." As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt said on X, "What paren...
Jan 03, 2024•1 min
In what has become a dark annual tradition, Islamic militants in Nigeria carried out targeted attacks on Christians on Christmas Eve. Up to 200 are confirmed dead and about 300 injured in the attacks that were carried out in 20 villages across the north-central state of Plateau. Islamic militants have carried out similar Christmas attacks for at least the last four years. The population of Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians , a religious split that largely follows ge...
Jan 03, 2024•6 min
Christian faithfulness, especially at a time of cultural chaos, isn't really about trying to do great things for God. In a tweet, my friend Katy Faust of Them Before Us explained: "Afraid for the nation? Buy a house. Plant a garden. Get married. Have lots of babies. Help your children marry well, be great grandparents. You needn't run for office, start a podcast or lead a thinktank. The most powerful & countercultural work happens in your home." Amen. She then cited Jeremiah 29:5-6 , in whic...
Jan 02, 2024•1 min
Each of the Apostle Paul's letters to different first-century churches contains robust explanations of complex theological concepts, such as justification, sanctification, the connection between faith and works, and the role of Jewish law after Christ. In more than a few places, however, Paul drops punchy and simple statements such as, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" ( 2 Thessalonians 3:10 ). That's straightforward. Or how about this one: "If anyone does not provide for his r...
Jan 02, 2024•6 min
Recently, scholars announced another breakthrough discovery relating to Israel's King David . The Mesha Stele , a nearly 3,000-year-old Moabite artifact, has long divided historians, particularly a section that some claim refers to Moab's victory over "the House of David" and others think references the Moabite King Balak. Recently, however, researchers André Lemaire and Jean-Philippe Delorme examined composite images of both the stele and a paper "mask" once used to preserve it. Three deeply fa...
Jan 01, 2024•1 min
This Breakpoint was originally published on February 21, 2023. ___ Two weeks ago, what started as a routine (and, according to the preacher, "lackluster") chapel service at Asbury University became something remarkable. Instead of heading off to classes, students stayed to pray and worship. Services have continued ever since, with people traveling from near and far to join in prayer, repentance, and song. What is being called a "revival" by some and an "awakening" by others has now spread to oth...
Jan 01, 2024•5 min
On our last program of the year, John and Maria talk about the most important cultural moments of 2023. If Breakpoint has helped you think clearly in 2023 about this cultural moment, you can support the work at colsoncenter.org/give . Recommendations The Colson Fellows Program What Would You Say? Videos Segment 1: The Attack on Israel The Attack on Israel Barbaric Norms: Hamas, Israel, and Just War Israel, Hamas, and Just War: Interviews with Joel Rosenberg and Eric Patterson Just War Doctrine, ...
Dec 29, 2023•1 hr
In response to Critical Race Theory, Tennessee lawmakers have introduced a list of " divisive concepts ," which, under a law passed last year, are prohibited from being taught on college campuses. The banned concepts include ideas that cause an individual to feel discomfort, guilt, or another form of psychological distress because of their race or sex, or the idea that the state of Tennessee or the United States of America is inherently racist or sexist. Students can report professors for correc...
Dec 29, 2023•1 min
Saint Augustine famously observed that the human heart is restless until its rest is found in God. That applies not only to individuals but also to cultures and entire generations. Practically speaking, this "restlessness" can take many forms, including an unprecedented mental health crisis. The recent and much talked about report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes precisely that. As a CDC spokeswoman bluntly stated, "young people"—especially young women—"are in crisis...
Dec 29, 2023•6 min
When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday, several sports analysts called it the scariest scene they'd ever seen on a football field. Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest after a routine tackle and remains in critical condition. As ESPN analyst and former player Ryan Clark described in an emotional segment , no one had prepared for this, not Hamlin, not the other players, and not media personnel. But ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky knew what to do when he didn't know what else t...
Dec 28, 2023•2 min
Not that long ago, culturally speaking, someone known throughout the world for being neighborly said some things that most likely would have gotten him fired today. And, believe it or not, he said these things on public television! Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood often performed songs he wrote to address issues that confused children or caused them to struggle. One of these songs, " Everybody's Fancy ," was featured in numerous episodes of his hit show from 1968 to 1991. He hoped to h...
Dec 28, 2023•7 min
Canada's campaign to normalize suicide as a viable and even preferred medical treatment continues to escalate. Already, patients have been pressured into physician-assisted suicide because of psychological pain, and even because they were too poor to pay for medical care. Last summer, Canadian Virtual Hospice released what can only be called "death ed" for kids 6-10. The Medical Aid in Dying Activity Book for kids explains why a loved one might want to die and how the process works. It's thick w...
Dec 27, 2023•2 min
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns seems, at least to most of us, like an extended nightmare of yesterday. However, some of the ways that our lives changed have stuck with us. For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans working primarily from home has tripled since 2019. Many people will never go back to full-time commuting, nor do they want to (though there are signs of a reset on the horizon). Another change, one even more consequential for indi...
Dec 27, 2023•6 min
