The Middle East is in chaos right now. The political/military nature of this chaos also has a religious dimension to it. There is an intense persecution of Christians that accompanies this chaos and this persecution is causing a massive displacement of populations in areas associated with the early church. Further, this chaos is spilling over into Europe where there is a growing anti-Semitism. There are several interconnected developments that resemble Europe before World War II or the Middle East before World War I.

The war of attrition being waged by Hamas against Israel grinds on. There is every evidence that Israel is clearly winning this war, but it grinds on nonetheless. In this conflict, the world?s response to this war of attrition is interesting. In fact, the world?s response is a study in hypocrisy, for it holds Israel to a standard to which it holds no other nation.

One of my favorite columnists is New York Times columnist David Brooks. In one of his columns in May he wrote: ?In 1966, 86% of college freshmen said that developing a meaningful philosophy of life was essential or very important. Today, less than half say a meaningful philosophy of life is that important. University of Michigan studies suggest that today?s students score about 40% lower in measures of empathy than students did 30 years ago.?

As I am writing this, the Gaza war between Hamas and Israel is in a quasi-ceasefire mode, but some fighting has resumed in Gaza. Difficult negotiations in Cairo have begun over the major issues that brought about the conflict. It is a complicated set of issues with many layers and tentacles that connect most of the major players in the Middle East. In addition, there is evidence that this Gaza war has further isolated Israel, especially when it comes to Western Europe.

Robert Kagan, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, recently wrote that ?the willingness of the United States to use force to defend its interests and the liberal world order has been an essential and unavoidable part of sustaining the world order since World War II. It is also an essential part of effective diplomacy . . . The question today is finding the right balance between when to use force and when not to.?

The recent Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case is a momentous and welcomed decision upholding religious liberty in America. But in many ways, the media and many politicians have distorted the case itself and the implications of this Supreme Court decision. First, a review of the case itself and the substantive aspects of the Court?s decision.

Genesis 1:26ff explains that humans are God?s dominion stewards over His world. In fact, as this text makes clear, this stewardship responsibility is part of being in the image of God. Humans are accountable to God for this stewardship. It is therefore only common sense that it is not good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Managing the environment is important and to wantonly destroy or do harm to God?s world is irresponsible and hardly pleasing to God.

Two and a half years ago, President Obama declared, as America exited Iraq, that Iraq was now a ?sovereign, stable and self-reliant? state. Today, radical jihadists are destroying Iraq. Over the last two weeks, Iraq has been invaded by fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Steven Wise, a 63-year-old animal rights legal scholar, and the Nonhuman Rights Project (Nh.R.P.) are seeking to establish the legal personhood of animals. It has only been in the last 30 years that the distinct field of animal law (i.e., laws and legal theory for and about nonhuman animals) has emerged.

May 22, 2014, marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s ?Great Society? address, delivered at the spring commencement for the University of Michigan. Johnson?s speech remains the most ambitious call to date by any president to use the power of the national government to effect a far-reaching transformation of American society.