I would assume that most of you reading this article are not familiar with and perhaps have never heard of the case of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, now on trial in Pennsylvania for the murder of one woman and seven infants. As Conor Friedersdorf in the current issue of The Atlantic argues, this is the most under-reported story in recent memory. In fact, he reports, he was not even aware of the story until last week when he saw it reported in USA Today. It is a grisly, horrific tale of the murder of infant babies, of an unspeakably filthy abortion clinic and of a man who should have been placed in jail many years ago. No major news organization has reported on it in detail and few Americans are aware of what occurred. Only in the last few weeks have Fox News and the Wall Street Journal begun regularly reporting on this grisly trial. Perhaps it is a metaphor for the state of abortion politics in America.

Whatever your view of the role biblical Christianity played in the founding of America, intellectual honesty demands that one recognize that religion, religious values and specifically Christianity have all played a defining role in the development of American civilization. . . Whether one agrees with all of these various American developments or not, biblical Christianity was central in explaining each one of them. But there is growing evidence that that central role of biblical Christianity no longer exists in America. Is America becoming increasingly secular, with little or no religious influence in ethical, social, economic or political decision-making?

Over two years ago, Syria was a relatively stable nation and Damascus, its capital (the world?s oldest continually inhabited city), was a stable city with a mixture of Christians and Muslims who lived reasonably well together. Since 1973, Syria and Israel had agreed to tolerate one another and the result was a stable border along the Golan Heights. Much of this stability was due to the brutal rule of the Assad family, an Alawite clan family that has ruled Syria since 1970. . . But that Syria no longer exists.

Twenty-five years ago, same-sex marriage was a ?thought experiment? in our culture. It was an idea promoted primarily by those on the left and other cultural radicals who saw few boundaries to personal freedom and behavior. But as the gay and lesbian movement re-framed human sexuality as a matter of personal freedom and liberty, not ethics, legitimizing same-sex marriage was not far behind. It was only 17 years ago that Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) decisively. Only a year ago, President Obama still opposed same-sex marriage. But, today, all the national momentum is behind same-sex marriage. It is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia. . . .In effect, the definition of marriage is now on the line and legitimizing same-sex marriage seems imminent. How should we think about this momentous set of developments?