Just in case you were in need of more reasons to have trouble sleeping at night, consider this: The North Koreans are saber-rattling over nuclear weapons, and one of the men advising President Donald J. Trump on the matter is a Christian fundamentalist pastor who believes the biblical book of Romans gives Trump the authority to “take out” North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
For political junkies, the Super Tuesday results offered a sumptuous repast.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continue to duel for the Democratic nomination, although Clinton appears to be pulling away. On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) remained alive with victories in Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) looks to be on life support after winning only in Minnesota. Ohio Gov. John Kasich failed to carry a single state but has not dropped out. Ben Carson is an afterthought.
Today is Darwin Day, which some people observe in order to celebrate Charles Darwin’s contributions to science. So this seems like a good opportunity to remind everyone that even 156 years after the publication of On the Origin of Species, some politicians are still struggling with the concept of evolution – and trying to force creationism into public schools.
The ongoing scandal over the Internal Revenue Service’s heightened scrutiny of Tea Party groups took another twist yesterday when evangelist Franklin Graham complained that the ministry founded by this father, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), was also investigated by the tax agency.
A letter drafted by Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family (FOF), has been getting some attention on social media sites and blogs lately.
In the missive, Dobson, a child psychologist who founded what has become one of the largest and most powerful Religious Right groups in the nation, surveyed the results of the November election. He’s not happy.
I’m not really a fan of professional or college sports and don’t normally look at the Sports page of the newspaper. But a recent New York Times piece about Liberty University’s football program did catch my eye.
Like a lot of you, I got way too many political calls in the lead-up to the election. In fact, I stopped answering the phone.
I spent Friday and Saturday observing the Values Voter Summit (VVS), an annual Religious Right gathering in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, the Heritage Foundation, Liberty University and other groups.
I attend every year. It’s educational! Here are some things I learned this year:
It seems Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. just can’t help himself when it comes to political endorsements.
At the Lynchburg, Va., school’s graduation ceremony over the weekend, Falwell made sure to say that inviting Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP candidate for president, in no way constituted an endorsement by the tax-exempt institution. He even said nonprofits like Liberty can’t endorse candidates for office, which is exactly right.
So what did Falwell do next?
Every morning, it seems, I pick up The Washington Post and read another article or column about President Barack Obama’s decision to require employers to provide free coverage of birth control in their health insurance plans.
The move, announced on Jan. 20 by the Department of Health and Human Services, has sparked some controversy because, while it exempts houses of worship, it doesn’t exempt church-related institutions. Thus, church-owned hospitals, colleges and other entities will have to buy insurance plans for their employees that include contraceptive coverage.
