Last week the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision that Lorie Smith, a Colorado-based Christian graphic artist and web designer, did not have to create content that violated her beliefs. In response, the editor-in-chief of Mother Jones, tweeted, “perhaps gay stylists, designers, caterers, and planners should start withholding services from Christian conservatives and see where that goes.”

Kings and others have used the Bible and assumptions based upon narratives in it to support the divine right of monarchs, but their arguments were weak. History is largely the story of governments coming and going, kings and rulers rising and falling. It is a rather bleak narrative and is not complimentary to humanity. It begs the question, “Does the Bible address human government?”

Thank goodness it’s over. June. Formerly known as the start of summer, it’s been the time for vacations, picnics, baseball, and beaches. Often, the beginning of air conditioning season. Then came “Pride Month.”

In a world where bad news in reporting is the norm, a single piece of good news can feel like a rainstorm in the desert. I recently came across an encouraging piece of news in the form of a YouTube channel called Dude Perfect, and it’s good timing for parents with the disappointing news about Mr. Beast.

Propaganda has rather negative connotations. Because it is generally used in pursuit of an agenda, truth may be irrelevant or even an obstacle. Whether you agree with the terminology, it is considered propaganda when a country prepares its citizens and military for war. Because it is not generally acceptable to want to kill another person, the military mostly trains its soldiers to hate the enemy.

Did you know a lot of people on the left now deny wokeism exists? They are saying that it can’t be defined and just means whatever you want it to mean. Therefore, they say, wokeism is merely another conservative mantra for whatever policy one disagrees with. Politicians in Illinois have been saying that a lot these days in order to pass (you guessed it) woke legislation.

For many years I have been saying that LGBTQ+ activists will overplay their hand, resulting in a moral and cultural revolution in the opposite direction... The pushback is accelerating, and for good reason.

I grew up as a “Cashew.” For those who are unfamiliar with that term, a "cashew" is a person with one Catholic parent and one Jewish parent. Though in my case, neither of my parents practiced their respective faiths very often. I distinctly remember when I was a child, my mother taking me to church a couple of times on Christmas Eve for midnight Mass. On Jewish holidays, I’d sometimes go over to a cousin’s house the day after Yom Kippur to “break the fast” (even though we never actually fasted…but that was not brought up).

We are pleased to announce that former state legislator Peter Breen has been added to our line-up of speakers for the IFI Special Forum on Religious Liberty.  In addition to being a pro-life hero, Peter leads the Thomas More Society’s Legal Team in service of its Life, Family, and Religious Liberty missions.

Religious liberty is often called our “first freedom,” as all other human rights stem from it. It is an unalienable right given to us by Almighty God, who expects us to be good stewards of this gift, not only for ourselves but for posterity and as an example for the world and all those who yearn for true liberty.

Thursday, May 18, 2023 marks the 1,993rd anniversary of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. Unlike Christmas and Easter, this celebration of the culmination of our Lord’s earthly ministry does not receive much attention culturally. In some nations, Ascension Day was a public holiday, but in our post-Christian era, we have adopted new “holy” days.

God is loving, we are told, and thus accepts us as we are.  The idea that God will judge people for their sins is now so unpopular that few are willing to state it publicly, and many pastors have sadly bowed to the pressure to present a palatable God, a doting “Grandpa” who silently approves of His children regardless of their conduct. 

We've all seen the bumper sticker that spells COEXIST by combining the symbols of major world religions in a convenient order. The bumper sticker seems reasonable; after all, isn't it just representing the world as it is—people of many religions all existing side by side in the same space? If that were all the bumper sticker meant, then I might consider putting one on my car; it's an obviously true fact about the world. However, the sticker means much more than that...

On Tuesday, April 18th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for a monumental religious liberty case known as Groff v. DeJoy. At the heart of this case are the questions: do American citizens have Constitutionally protected rights under the First Amendment to the "free exercise" of their faith in the workplace, and; are employers obligated to grant reasonable religious accommodations.

Many years ago, I asked a gentleman from Japan why he had come to the United States.  His reply startled me. He said that he had come to the U.S. to find Christianity because it is the religion of love and therefore had to be the right religion!  He saw a connection between Christianity, the love it manifested, and the United States.