The atrocities occurring in Syria defy all comprehension: Over 100,000 killed, over 2 million refugees, and a quarter of the population displaced. On 21 August, in the suburbs of Damascus, the brutal Assad regime killed over 1,000 of its people via rocket-launched chemical weapons. In addition, hundreds were burned by the chemical weapons, while others inhaled the gas with horrific consequences. Many of the victims were children. It is all unimaginable! Bashir al-Assad now joins the ranks of Mussolini, Hitler and Saddam Hussein, barbarians who used poison gas against their own people.

Recent polls now show that a majority of major Christian denominations, including Catholics, support legalized same-sex marriage. This is a tectonic shift: In 2004, 36% of Catholics and 34% of mainline Protestants supported legalizing gay marriage; today 57% and 55% of mainline Protestants do so. Among evangelical Protestants, the shift has been less dramatic?11% in 2004 to 24% today. Molly Bull in The Atlantic writes that ?[This shift] is the fruit of an aggressive campaign by a determined gay-rights movement that realized, particularly in the wake of the 2004 elections, that you cannot win politically in America if you are arguing against religious faith.? Until recently, religion was on one side, while gay rights was on the other. Central to this strategy was the effort to redefine the issue.

Many today speak of the ?New Atheism,? which is best represented in the writings of the Four Horseman of the New Atheism?Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel C. Dennett and the late Christopher Hitchens. In many ways, they are not making any new arguments in their defense of atheism, but there is militancy about these individuals, especially Richard Dawkins. One of the more significant dimensions of this phenomenon is that former Christians, or at least emerging adults who came from Christian homes, are expressing an interest in atheism. To that end, Larry Alex Taunton of the Fixed Point Foundation endeavors to bridge the gap between Christians and atheists in a spirit of gentleness and mutual respect. (Taunton attended Grace University in the 1980s).

Detroit is the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy. The Economist summarizes the details: Its long-term debt is estimated to be $18.2 billion ($27,000 per resident). Of this amount, about $9.2 billion is in unfunded retirement benefits. Since 2008 the city has spent about $100 million more each year than it has brought in. Attempts to solve these monumental challenges have been hampered by a feeble-economy, a shrinking population and rapidly increasing ?legacy costs.? Property-tax revenues have declined by 20% since 2008; income tax revenues by 30% since 2002. Fifty years ago the city was rich: GM, Ford and Chrysler made nearly all the cars sold in America. Detroit?s population was 1.8 million people. Today, it is 700,000?many of those are poor and poorly educated (e.g., 82% have no more than a high school diploma).

It is obvious to everyone: Something is occurring in America right now. There is a sense that things are out of control. What had always seemed right is now called wrong. What had always been considered wrong is now considered right. Language that was once unacceptable for use in public is now common and accepted. Evidence of this cultural upheaval is in the language we use. Presbyterian minister John P. Sartelle writes: ?We are witnessing the deconstruction of a civilization. Across our land, the major institutions that are foundational to any nation are in a downward spiral, whether we speak of education, government, business or the family. Isaiah and Jeremiah were observers of a similar deconstruction of their nation and wrote about it. One of the characteristics of that fall was the decline in the civility of everyday language.?

I just finished reading a book by media theorist Douglas Rushkoff entitled Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. It is a penetrating and thought-provoking book. [The title is an obvious play on the Alvin Toffler?s 1970 classic book, Future Shock.] To me, it captures quite brilliantly the unsettledness and disorientation that many feel as we begin the 21st century. It offers an analysis of our culture unlike any other I have read recently. Yet, with his analysis, Rushkoff offers few solutions and little comfort. So, in this Perspective, I seek to summarize the principal arguments of the book and add a biblical response to each major point, for I believe that God offers a cure to the ?disease? called ?Present Shock.?

Last week, George Zimmerman was acquitted of charges of murder and manslaughter in the 26 February 2012 killing of 17-year old Trayvon Martin. The trial and the circumstances that led up to the trial were filled with intense emotion, controversy and ethical meaning. It should foster some soul-searching on the part of the nation, especially for Christians. Arguably, this was an extremely difficult case for the prosecution. . .

That marriage and family are changing is now a given. Law, insurance practices and government policies all reflect this change. Both are defined in many different ways and marriage is no longer solely heterosexual in its nature. Furthermore, Stephanie Coontz of Evergreen State College in Washington recently observed that ?marriage is no longer the central institution that organizes people?s lives. Marriage is no longer the only place where people make major life transitions and decisions, enter into commitments or incur obligations??

Many remember this tragic 2010 story: In Gainesville, Florida, Pastor Terry Jones threatened to burn copies of the Qur?an on 11 September 2010 (he called it ?International Burn a Koran Day?). He said that his purpose was to ?bring awareness to the dangers of Islam and that the Koran is leading people to hell. Eternal fire is the only destination the Koran can lead people to so we want to put the Koran in its place?the fire!? Although I believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), I question whether Pastor Jones was laying out an effective strategy to give witness to the truth about Jesus. I find nothing in the Bible that would view this as an effective kind of witness. Let me suggest two thoughts:

Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body. Stem cell research has enormous potential to deal with disease and various genetic disorders. The most controversial aspect of stem cell research is embryonic stem cells, which necessitate the killing of the embryo to retrieve the stem cells. In 2010, scientists reported on a new technique that provides an alternative to using human embryonic stem cells for research. Basically, the process enables scientists to convert ordinary skin cells into cells that appear virtually identical to embryonic stem cells. This same strategy can then be used to ?coax? those same cells to morph into specific tissues that would be a perfect match for transplantation into patients.