The UnChristian Quest for a Christian America
I am rather convinced that to conflate love of country with the myth—or the pursuit of—a Christian nation is bad news: bad for the country and bad for Christianity. To claim that the United States once was a “Christian nation,” or to seek to recover some supposedly lost “Christian nation” status, is bad news because it is historically false; misunderstands basic Christian theology and practice; and contends for a strategy that is sure to back-fire into resentment and hostility.
But according to the hokum of Left Behind and that ilk of egregious misinterpretation, Armageddon is a final and inevitable war in the Middle East that must occur before Jesus can return. This kind of reckless eschatology forces its adherents to be warmongers, not peacemakers. If you believe there must be a mega-war in the Middle East before Jesus can return, you’re going to be a lousy peacemaker! A fatalistic eschatology requiring end-time hyper-violence that slaughters hundreds of millions is more befitting of ISIS than the followers of the Prince of Peace!
7 Troubling Questions About Transgender Theories
- Do transgender theories undercut or contradict the idea that sexual orientation is unchangeable?
- If gender identity is fixed and unchangeable, why do many children who experience gender dysphoria lose these feelings after puberty?
- When a person feels a disjunction between one’s sex at birth and one’s gender identity, why is the only course of action to bring the body into closer conformity with the person’s psychological state, rather than vice versa?
- Is the higher rate of suicide among transgender persons due primarily to the inner tensions of experiencing gender dysphoria as a disorder, or are these acts motivated primarily by societal rejection?
- Why are the strongest critics of “gender binaries” the most likely to support gender stereotypes on display in transgender celebrities?
- Why must one’s declared gender identity be accepted without question, while other forms of self-identification can be dismissed?
- Without a settled definition in our legal system for transgender, how can we avoid all sorts of problems, including bathroom access?
Christianity’s Five Most Countercultural Virtues
Many Christians present the Gospel to non-believers using a strategy that emulates the secular world. They adopt trends, styles and behaviors to repackage biblical truths to fit cultural norms.
This isn’t all bad—and is sometimes even necessary for the advancement of the Gospel—but cultural accommodation can become so idolized that Christianity loses its uniqueness. But, the core of our faith produces characteristics that are entirely unique.
Study Finds Where You Lost Your Train of Thought
“The radically new idea is that just as the brain’s stopping mechanism is involved in stopping what we’re doing with our bodies it might also be responsible for interrupting and flushing out our thoughts,” Aron said.
“We are providing a neural mechanism by which that happens,” he added. “The same stopping system that gives you that kind of jolt when you are getting out of the elevator, and someone else is in your way and you have to stop, that same stopping system is stopping your train of thought.”
Debunking 3 Massive Misconceptions About The Spurs
As a whole, San Antonio ranks second in adjusted field goal percentage, overall field goal percentage and 3-point accuracy — the Warriors rank first in all three categories. The Spurs play a tremendous brand of team oriented, two-way basketball, and they’ve never been more entertaining to watch.
It takes a Village: School fits the bill for duck’s visit
Vanessa first flies into the closed-off courtyard, where kids in the surrounding classrooms can take a peek out the window to watch. She then crawls under a specific shrub, digs out her nest, lays her eggs and waits until they are hatched.
The momma duck isn’t the only one waiting. Teachers at Village count down the days until her ducklings are hatched as well.
When the ducklings hatch, Vanessa and her kids make their annual debut inside the school — and that debut took place this year at around 4 p.m. Thursday.