A couple of years ago I wrote about what I then called “Methodism at the Tipping Point”, the split in the worldwide United Methodist Church that has been festering for several decades over the phrase in its doctrine that reads “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” and the prohibition of same-sex weddings […]

Say what you want about President Trump’s lack of intellectual and policy depth and the fact that, like other presidents, he doesn’t write his major speeches, but he delivered a major teaching moment in his Warsaw speech in early July.  Here is a sample: “Our defense is not just a commitment of money, it is […]

In another campaign promise fulfillment, President Trump signed an important executive order reassuring that his administration will “honor and enforce” protections of religious freedoms in the First Amendment.  Of its key points, probably the most important is that it directs the Department of Treasury to “not take any adverse action against” any religious institution or […]

Pope Francis is reaching Donald Trump levels with some of his “back of the plane” media commentary.  On his return flight to the Vatican from Poland last week, just days after extremists slit the throat of an elderly priest celebrating Mass in a French church, he was asked why he doesn’t identify such violence with […]

It’s pretty simple–I will just have to get used to the fact that, as attractive and engaging as he is in many ways, Pope Francis is not John Paul II or Benedict XVI.  He is obviously not cut out to be the philosophical intellect or to man the barricades of challenge, confrontation, and resistance against […]

The free exercise of religion has been called the first freedom, that which originally sparked the development of the full range of the Bill of Rights………What this law basically says is that the government should be held to a very high level of proof before it interferes with someone’s free exercise of religion.  This judgment […]

The Supreme Court took a necessary step to preserve one of the most basic foundations of our liberty in its 5-4 decision in favor of Hobby Lobby and the Green family.  At the same time, it severely damaged the Obama administration’s push to very narrowly restrict our First Amendment right to religious liberty to non-profit […]

How would you like to be the attorney who is directed to sue the Little Sisters of the Poor?  Not a fun assignment and it’s interesting that Obama’s Attorney General has chosen this particular organization as the opponent in the enforcement of the mandate for abortion and contraception coverage under ObamaCare.  I think it illustrates […]

Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s—Matthew 22:21 Last month, the National Council of Churches, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the National Association of Evangelicals, along with a few other religious organizations, sponsored a “Faithful Filibuster” to encourage Congress to protect programs “that […]

From what I have seen and read, I like the new Pope.  I am not a Catholic, but I recognize the significant leadership potential that resides in the papacy, and I have been a huge fan of the last two incumbents, who have each in their own way had enormous influence on world events. Obviously, […]