Although American civilization manifests a radical pluralism when it comes to worldview choices, secularism is the preferred face of this culture. As a culture, we respect the right of a person to choose, but we do not like to discuss the nature of those religious choices. Instead of engaging in the implications and the consistency of a worldview choice, our culture prefers silence. When worldview choices are discussed, it quickly drifts to politics, not theology. The end result is that the public square in indeed naked (to use the late John Neuhaus?s words.) As a Christian, I find all of this especially disturbing.

Without question, Jerusalem remains the most controversial city in the world. It has played a decisive role in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. . . Jerusalem was the center of Jesus? final days for it was there He was crucified, buried and resurrected in AD 33. But it was not until Caesar Constantine in AD 313 and the subsequent developments under him and his mother, Helena, that the sites associated with Jesus? life became major points of Christian pilgrimage. The Church of the Holy Sepulchere and other churches were built over key places associated with Jesus; thus Jerusalem became a critical center of organized Christianity until Islam conquered it. It is to that block of history we now turn.

In early August 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it was planning to lift its ban on funding some research that injects human stem cells into animal embryos. This rather remarkable decision involves growing human tissues or organs in animals to better understand human diseases and develop therapies to treat them. That scientists are placing human cells into animals is not new; this has been a common practice for years. What is new here is that such implantations involve human stem cells being placed in animals. Human stem cells are placed into developing animal embryos where they can become any type of cell?for organs, blood or bones. The larger goal of such a practice could be, for example, growing a human kidney in a pig for a transplant back into a human.

Genuine biblical Christianity rejects the proposition that humans are basically good. The Bible affirms that every human being is born with the guilt and sin of Adam (see Romans 5). The Bible also affirms that humans are capable of the most egregious evil and despicable violence. Theologian Wayne Grudem writes: ?. . . every part of our being is affected by sin?our intellects, our emotions and desires, our hearts (the center of our desires and decision-making processes), our goals and motives, and even our physical bodies? (see Romans 7:18, Titus 1:15, Jeremiah 17:9). Ephesians 4:19 declares that humans ?are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in [us], due to the hardness of [our] hearts.? Apart from the work of Jesus Christ in our lives, there is no hope and no purpose, and can do no spiritual good.

The civil war in Syria has been raging for over four years and, until Russia intervened last year, it looked as if the Assad regime would fall. Russia under Vladimir Putin has intentionally linked itself with Iran to preserve the Assad regime. The costs of this civil war are absolutely horrific: Nearly 500,000 have been killed in Syria and somewhere close to 2.5 million+ refugees have fled the slaughter. The nation state of Syria really no longer exists. The nation of Syria is now a devastated landmass of competing militias and terrorist groups that are bent on destroying the nation for their own ideological ends.

One of the most precious terms of the American Republic is liberty. The founding documents of this Republic are anchored in the articulation and defense of individual liberty. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson argued as a ?self-evident truth? that we are ?endowed by our Creator? with certain ?inalienable rights? and among those are ?life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.? The Bill of Rights (actually the Constitution?s first Ten Amendments) articulate and guarantee a set of rights each citizen enjoys. ?Liberty? is indeed a precious and unique dimension of this Republic. But, in 1992, Justice Anthony Kennedy, in the famous Casey abortion ruling, posited a re-definition of human liberty: ?At the heart of liberty is the right to define one?s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.? That re-definition is quite extraordinary. . .

For the advanced nations within this global economy, economic growth has been weaker for longer than it has been in the lifetime of most people alive today. Although the American economy is growing at a faster pace than others, it is still lagging and taking much longer to recover from the 2008 Great Recession than many anticipated. . . These new realities are hitting the citizens of western civilization particularly hard and creating a degree of tension and dissatisfaction not seen for decades. To a degree, these new realities are behind the Trump (and Sanders) phenomenon in America, the Brexit vote in Europe, and the growth of nationalist parties in other nations of Western Europe. Is there a reorientation of politics occurring in western civilization?

An interesting dimension of the current US presidential campaign is Vladimir Putin. The nation he leads is in economic and financial freefall. In many ways it is a third-world nation, with deep problems including significant corruption, pervasive bureaucratic inefficiencies and inept financial managers. Yet, it is an intensely nationalistic nation, with a resurgent Russian Orthodox Church and a determination to be recognized as a world power. Despite its shortcomings, it remains a nuclear power, with a capable military evidencing cutting edge military technology.

In Matthew 5:13-16, the Lord Jesus issued a series of shocking declarations about His disciples: After his discourse on the Beatitudes (5:1-12), he announced, ?You are the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world . . . a city set on a hill [that] cannot be hidden.? These metaphors used by Christ are rather striking, for they reject any sense of a group of secret, silent, secluded disciples. A city resting on top of a mountain (as most cities of the ancient world did), cannot be hidden. It is unabashedly conspicuous, visible and can be seen by everyone. Light is impossible to hide; it penetrates even the smallest crack or crevice. And salt, whether as a seasoning that adds flavor or as a preservative that prevents decay (the likely meaning in the ancient world), is unique and distinguishable. Jesus? disciples are distinct in the way they live their lives; they are genuine and exceptional. Why?

Perhaps the most important rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights (the Constitution?s first Ten Amendments) are two of the four listed in the First Amendment?the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion (?the free exercise? of religious beliefs and conscience). Both of these precious freedoms are under significant stress today and in fact are threatened by the realities of this Postmodern, post-Christian era in which we live. Both need rigorous defense and protection, and, according to the Constitution, it is the state that is to offer the foremost protection of these two rights. Let?s examine the nature of this stress.