Ideas have consequences! Human beings are physical, spiritual, social, emotional and intellectual creatures. Humans respond to stimuli and react to that which both pleases and threatens. The complexity of humanity is reflected in the social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.), each of which attempts to explain why humans behave the way they do.

Several weeks ago in the weekly edition of Issues, I wrote a critique of the Bostock Supreme Court decision, which extended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and transgender status as worthy of federal protection against discrimination. I still regard this important decision as a potential threat to religious liberty in America. However, in early July, in two 7-2 decisions, the Supreme Court upheld “conscience protections for nuns and parochial schools,” producing a level of encouragement that the Court, as now structured, seeks to protect religious liberty.

Sociologists often organize populations according to the generational differences they observe and then create categories with labels and timeline distinctives.

Arguably, Abraham Lincoln was the greatest president in American History.  He led the nation through its greatest test—the Civil War (1861-1865).  As early as 1838, Lincoln argued that the Republic would not collapse from an outside invasion; rather, it would collapse from within.  He also believed that popular governments, which rest their sovereignty in the
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In June the Supreme Court handed down its major 2020 decision on LGBTQ rights in the workplace. Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia involved a man named Gerald Bostock—by all accounts an exemplary worker with a decade on the job—who was fired for conduct “unbecoming” a government employee shortly after he had started participating in a gay softball league.

In 1976, Newsweek magazine proclaimed “the year of the evangelical,” with a cover story on being “born again.” It charted the expanding influence of evangelical churches, which were theologically and politically diverse, and, the article argued, were positioned to have a major impact of the nation’s public morality. After all, evangelicals were strategically important in the election of Jimmy Carter, a self-professed evangelical who talked of being born again. Today, few would portray the evangelical movement with such positive qualities.

Most of us born in America think about truth and the Bible through the grid of Western rationalism and linear thinking. That reality informs how we interpret and apply the Bible, especially its teachings about Jesus and the ethical dimensions of genuine, biblical Christianity. I have been challenged by a recently released book, entitled Seeing Jesus from the East: A Fresh Look at History’s Most influential Figure by [the late] Ravi Zacharias and Abdu Murray.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many religious figures in all major world religions to think of end-of-the-world scenarios or what is also known as the apocalypse, from the Greek word, apocalypsis—also the title of the last book of the Bible, Revelation. There are crazy websites that see a worldwide conspiracy in the COVID-19 crisis; speculate that Bill Gates is the antichrist; and maintain that the government is trying to suppress religious freedom using the COVID-19 hoax. Our enemies are all around us, they exclaim, and we must be ready. Such teachings feed irrational fears in the midst of this crisis and are not really based on the authority of Scripture.

Telling the story of an individual is an important exercise, for a historical narrative often reveals the character of a person and the long-run effects of historical actors and events. We can learn much from narratives. The Bible is filled with historical narratives and, among other things, reveals the purposes and goals of God, who acts in space-time history to accomplish His redemptive plan. So, how culture tells a story—creates a narrative—is quite important.

The brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a city policeman comes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, massive unemployment and fear stoked by uncertainty and tragedy.  In addition, the nation lacks the calming moral leadership that can foster unity and oneness of purpose.  Instead, there is division and bullying.  The demonstrations that
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