A roundup of news and commentary from around the interwebs.
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Tim Keller, a well-known public Christian and the author of The Reason for God, recently tweeted that Christians should be able, in essence, to agree to disagree on issues like the legality of abortion—an act of violence that destroys a developing human child. Nathan Apodaca responds to him point-by-point at the Human Defense Initiative.
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Over at The European Conservative, there’s a wonderful essay by Mark Dooley on Roger Scruton as a journalist. Those of you who miss conservatism’s most eminent man of letters will enjoy it.
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There are plenty of abortion activists melting down over the potential overthrow of Roe v. Wade, insisting that poor people will now be denied access to feticide. Interestingly, what none of them will acknowledge is that it is primarily wealthy people who support abortion as a moral good. Darel Paul has a great essay on this in First Things titled, “Abortion and Class.”
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Dr. Karen Swallow Prior has written a lovely column on the leak of the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Read it here. For those who disagree with her on some issues, here is my defence of her lifetime of pro-life witness.
A new Barna study reveals some interesting but unsurprising facts: “Many self-identified Christian parents hold views that contradict the teachings of their faith, raising concerns about their ability to provide their children with an upbringing grounded in authentic biblical teachings, according to a new survey.” Parents who take a pick-and-choose attitude to Christianity, in short, are likely to see their children—who sniff out the inconsistencies—drift away from a faith their parents never seemed particularly committed to in the first place.
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R.R. Reno has a scathing rebuke of the Roe leak at First Things. An excerpt:
The authority and dignity of the United States Supreme Court is being attacked. It beggars belief that the leak was the action of a single individual. In all likelihood, it involved consultation with and encouragement by media bigwigs, activist organizations, Democratic politicians, and perhaps individuals in the White House. This attack is far more consequential than the rhetorical rotten tomatoes that Donald Trump regularly lobs. Those behind the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs are certain to insist that they leaked it in order to save “our democracy.”
This, from John Sikkema of the Acacia Group, is a very important analysis of Canada’s recently-passed “conversion therapy ban.” An excerpt:
The federal government under Prime Minister Trudeau repeatedly promised to criminally ban “conversion therapy” and finally did so by passing Bill C-4 in December 2021 (in effect as of January 2022).
Even if prosecutions are very rare in the early years, as we expect, Bill C-4 is momentous nonetheless. It prohibits, in some contexts, the teaching of certain beliefs about human sexuality, gender, and related conduct. The bill also introduces several new, ideologically loaded terms and phrases into the Criminal Code.
Bill C-4 has had a chilling effect on many churches, private Christian schools, and other Christian organizations. They fear that they will be prosecuted for preaching or proclaiming a biblical view of sexual morality to their members.
The Acacia Group encourages churches and other Christian organizations to review and update their internal and public policies on counselling. We also encourage organizations that do not already have such policies to develop them.
