The downgrading of the US credit rating from AAA to AA+ is significant, yet troubling. That different political groups within the US are trying to make ?political hay? out of this is obvious. But this nation cannot permit politics to determine our response.
As I am writing this, congressional leaders and the president have presumably reached a last-minute agreement on raising the debt ceiling of the United States in exchange, among other things, for a reduction in future spending of the US. In this Perspective, I hope to provide some important background and analysis to the crisis.
As is so often the case, history gives us increased understanding about events of our day. For that reason, I think it helpful to explore how the generation of Arab dictators came to power into the Middle East. To have that background brings an understanding to the current ?Arab Spring? unfolding before our eyes in 2011.
Broadly speaking, our evangelical culture in America is dumbing down doctrine and theology. Rarely in the typical evangelical church in America will you hear sermons or teaching sessions on God as Trinity or the importance of the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. In this Perspective, I want to illustrate the importance of sound doctrine to our lives.
One of my favorite columnists is Joe Klein of Time magazine. Although decidedly liberal in the political sense, Klein is honest and straightforward. I respect that about him. For that reason, his most recent column on Head Start was intriguing.
America has been experiencing a crisis for some time now in the area of its immigration policies and practices. In this Perspective, I want to add a biblical perspective to the discussion.
On 8 July 2011, the US space shuttle program came to an end. The shuttle Atlantis was the last operational shuttle to be launched into space; its mission was to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The space shuttle program lasted for 30 years and involved 135 launches and two tragic disasters.
Nearly two weeks ago, my wife and I were watching ABC evening news and an ABC investigative reporter was summarizing a piece on Michele Bachmann?s husband, who runs a Christian counseling center in Minnesota. One of the goals of his center is to help counsel homosexuals who desire to change their lifestyle. The report was cynical and filled with innuendo and criticism from other professional counselors.
One of America?s premier corporations, Boeing, has built a second production plant in South Carolina (its other one is in Washington State) for its 787 Dreamliner airplane, creating over 1,000 jobs so far. But the National Labor Relations Board, created in 1935 by the Wagner Act, has taken exception to Boeing?s decision.
Sexual scandals seem to abound right now in our culture: politicians, media leaders and former presidents, as well as the normal sexual perversion emanating from Hollywood. Are our expectations about fidelity in marriage too high and, in fact, unrealistic? Will this same expectation of basic fidelity in marriage now be extended to same-sex marriages?
