Newsweek ran a 3-page story titled “I Don’t: The Case Against Marriage.” It’s in the issue where they put Sarah Palin on their cover like she’s at the Mount of Transfiguration.

 (When your mag is on the block and you’re desperately pimping for readers…any readers…go with the cheap shot: slamming religion and social conservatives, right?)  

Now remember this is the same publication that ran the cover story sometime back offering “The Religious Case for Same-Sex Marriage.”

So is Newsweek for marriage or not for marriage?

It’s exactly what my friend David Blankenhorn, who describes himself as an unapologetic marriage-nut, says, “It’s curious how some people never have anything nice to say about marriage unless it has ‘same-sex’ attached to the front of it!” Indeed.

Newsweek’s supposed case against marriage is really no case at all, but rather a pessimistic whine. It gets most of its facts wrong and deals with the wealth of strong points for marriage by simply ignoring them.  But it garners a response, not because of the merits of its argument, but merely because it’s Newsweek. So here we go.

“Marriage No Longer Practically Necessary”

They admit that “once upon a time” marriage did indeed make sense without telling us when that time was exactly. But now, they inform us that marriage, from a “practical standpoint at least, is no longer necessary.” Read that again slowly! Why isn’t THAT startling bit of news their cover story? And then they quote some social scientist no one ever heard of from a no-name university somewhere in Kentucky who warns, “Social science tells us fundamentally that this system is not working.” This man’s university bio says he’s currently working on a book on “marital deviance.” No wonder he doesn’t think it’s working!

But the social sciences, consistently for the past 100 years actually, tell us that marriage works quite nicely and efficiently at elevating the well-being of women, men and children in every important measure of human thriving. In fact, being married increases all the important well-being benefits more effectively than any other form of intimate or domestic relationship. Social scientists don’t really dispute this fact anymore. They are now debating why marriage improves well-being like it does. And most of them are concluding that it is because marriage uniquely makes demands upon us that benefit us, our loved ones and our communities. They call this the protection/support hypothesis.

Let me run through some of the most significant ways social scientists are finding marriage useful:

Young People Still Deeply Desire It: Regardless of what our sophisticated Manhattanite Newsweek writers have talked themselves into, research consistently shows that marriage is not only a deeply held life goal for young people today, but that it has actually increased in ranking (against other desires like “a good job,” “lots of money”etc.) and number of young people reporting its importance.^[1] This fact has led scholars to develop a new research construct entitled “Drive to Marry” (DTM) so this strong desire among young people to marry can be better analyzed and understood.^[2] But they are also deeply anxious about their chances of achieving this deep desire.

General Happiness and Life Contentment: A major study examined the link between personal happiness and marital status in 17 diverse industrialized nations, finding,

…married persons have a significantly higher level of happiness than persons who are not married. This effect was independent of financial and health-oriented protections offered by marriage and was also independent of other control variables including ones for socio-demographic conditions and national character.[3]

This multi-nation study also concluded that “although persons who are married and persons who cohabit have a live-in partner in common, marriage increases happiness substantially more than cohabitation.” The difference was 3.4 times greater for marrieds.[4] In fact, they report, “unlike marriage, cohabitation was negatively associated with both financial satisfaction and health.”[5] Increased levels of happiness among the married are found in a number of other studies as well.[6]

And this greater happiness is true for both men and women. Leading sociologist of marriage and family Linda Waite explains in her critically acclaimed book, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier and Better Off financially (which the Newsweek article didn’t mention):

In fact, virtually every study of happiness that has ever been done has found that married men and women are happier than singles. The happiness advantage of married people is very large and quite similar for men and women and appears in every country on which we have information.[7]

Increased Health: A UCLA review of more than 130 empirical studies published over the last 100 years on how marriage impacts well-being found “an intimate link between marital status and personal well-being” with marrieds having stronger health and well-being than those in any other relational category.[8] Scholars working jointly at Harvard University and in the United Kingdom observe,

There is remarkable evidence that marriage helps to keep human beings alive. People who are divorced or separated or widowed are at a particularly high risk of dying prematurely. Those never married face somewhat lower risks of death in any given period, but the married have easily the lowest risk of all the groups. Evidence for this is now widespread across the world.[9]

Unmarried women and men generally spend twice as much time as patients in hospitals than their married peers, and have lower activity levels.[10] Unmarried middle-aged men, be they single, divorced or widowed, are on average twice as likely as their married peers to die prematurely. Unmarried women are about one and a half times as likely to die prematurely as married women. These findings are internationally consistent.[11]

A report from a diverse and leading team of American family scholars explains, “Married people appear to manage illness better, monitor each other’s health, have higher incomes and wealth, and adopt healthier lifestyles than do otherwise similar singles.”[12]

Mental Health: Research conducted jointly by Yale University and UCLA reports:

One of the most consistent findings in psychiatric epidemiology is that married persons enjoy better health than the unmarried. Researchers have consistently found the highest rates of mental disorder among the divorced and separated, the lowest rates among the married and intermediate rates among the single and widowed.[13]

Very sophisticated research methodologies - capable of teasing out numerous confounding factors - reveal that male and female cohabitors have notably higher levels of depression (2.8 times) as well as greater levels of alcohol consumption compared to their married peers.^[14]

Domestic Violence: Data consistently shows that married women are victims of all forms of domestic violence at dramatically lower levels than women who are cohabiting or dating. And men who are married are 3 to 4 times less likely to commit violence against family members and strangers than their unmarried peers.[15]  Marriage is a key safety mechanism. Newsweek missed this.

Sexual Satisfaction: The largest and most sophisticated study conducted on sexuality in the United States found that people who reported the highest levels of both physical and emotional sexual satisfaction are married couples who came to marriage with no previous sexual experience. In fact, sexual satisfaction tended to diminish as the number of partners in a lifetime increased.[16]  This does not bode well for our Sex and the City gals who have fabulous shoes but less-than-fulfilling love lives. And married women are significantly less likely to be forced to do something sexually against their will and also reported the highest interest in sex.

Poverty: One of the most important indicators of well-being is financial security, and marriage makes a large and practical difference here. U.S. Census data shows us that women and their children are three times less likely to ever live in poverty if married compared to their single or cohabiting peers.[17] And married folks make more money on average than their unmarried peers, save more money and are more likely to be and stay employed.[18]

Infidelity: The Newsweek article offer readers this whopper as fact: 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women will be unfaithful to their spouse. Not even close to being true! The General Social Survey reports that on average, 79 percent of men and 86 percent of women are faithful to their spouse, and that number has improved for men in the 2000s over the ‘90s and has stayed the same for women. What’s more, marrieds are far more capable of being faithful than their cohabiting peers. 

The National Sex Survey reports that cohabiting men are nearly four times more likely than husbands to have cheated on their partner in the past year, and while women are generally more faithful than men, cohabiting women are eight times more likely than wives to cheat.[19]

Well-Being of Children: The Newsweek piece made no mention of the needs of children in making its case against marriage.[20] Do they assume marriage is only about adult wishes or desire? The well-being of children cannot be discussed apart from marriage. The data on how marital status affects the physical, psychological and academic health of children is diverse and robust. The non-partisan, child-advocacy organization Child Trends, examining the question of how family structure impacts child well-being, concludes,

First, research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage. Children in single-parent families, children born to unmarried mothers, and children in stepfamilies or cohabiting relationships face higher risks of poor outcomes than do children in intact families headed by two biological parents.[21]

The more left-leaning Center for Law and Social Policy examined the same question on family status and child well-being, reporting,

Over the past 20 years, a body of research has developed on how changes in patterns of family structure affect children. Most researchers now agree that together these studies support the notion that, on average, children do better when raised by two married, biological parents who have low-conflict relationships.[22]

Conclusion: So what we have here is Newsweek seeking to make a case against what the overwhelming majority of young adults strongly express as a desire for themselves, as well as what is evidently very good for them.

I trust the masses, their natural heart which yearns for the commitment, rewards and sacrifices of marriage, as well as the army of social science, psychological and medical scholars who have conducted the research on whether marriage serves any practical purpose.

The verdict is clear, impressive and overwhelming: Marriage still yields important and valuable practical benefits for women, men, their children and our communities.

Perhaps this is part of the reason the ancient wisdom of Scripture exhorts that “Marriage should be honored by all.” (Hebrews 13:4, NIV)

essay in Phil Inquirer...

Was invited to provide an op/ed on my thoughts on same-sex marriage for the Sunday edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Dylans's Christmas Album

News has been circulating that Bobby D was doing a Christmas disc with all of our favorites.

I heard it today.

I agree with one reviewer who said he was the biggest Dylan fan in the world, and if  Bob were ever arrested for serial murder, it would figure he probably had a good reason for such behavior. In our eyes, Dylan can do no wrong, including Planet Waves.

This is worse.

At least you have to give him credit for giving it a shot.

Sen. Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

Last night, Jackie and I were watching a re-run of Boston Legal, where guest star Alex P. Keaton made some snide comment about "No Child Left Behind" as an unabashed slam on the legacy of - what everybody "obviously" believes - the jug-headed W's presidency. I reminded Jackie that Ted Kennedy had a huge hand in passing that legislation also, causing her to ask: "How is he doing now?" I responded, "He's counting his last days."

We wake up this morning to find he passed last night, and the legacy of a truly remarkable family in American history ends. It truly saddens me.

But I do believe that Senator Kennedy single-handedly ushered in the recent era of political low-ball with his very dirty political campaign against the nomination of Judge Robert Bork. I am not sure if we have seen anything that nasty since, and that is saying a great deal indeed. So notable was this obscene trashing that his name became a political verb. Clarence Thomas' high-tech lynching did rival Bork's assassination.

Ted Kennedy should be remembered as a man who served his country publicly as long as anyone has, as well as the patriarch of a family that saw far too many personal tragedies. I think of him being the called to identify John Kennedy Jr's body after it was retrieved from the Atlantic after his fatal plane crash. But he should also be remembered - along with the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick (for which he served no jail time and was only given a traffic citation and a driver's license suspension) - for these words that dramatically set our nation's political discourse on a mean and petty downward spiral by distorting Judge Bork's view beyond any realistic recognition in the following way:

"Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions,
blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters,
rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids,
school children could not be taught about evolution,
writers and artists could be censored at the whim of government, and
the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens of whom the judiciary is -- and is often the only -- protector of the individual rights that are at the heart of our democracy."

 

Solidarity...

 In solidarity with all those who are denied the inalienable right to see a Brad Pitt movie because of age, geographic limitations or financial inability, I, Glenn T. Stanton, pledge that I will not see a Brad Pitt movie until ALL people can see a Brad Pitt movie. I encourage others to do the same, regardless of how difficult that might be.

beer with Obama...

 I wonder if the good professor will make a second wild assumption: that the only reason this policeman is sitting down in a civil way with two black men is that it is the only way he could get to the White House? I hope the police officer explains to Professor Gates that he made it very difficult for him to do his job, making sure the situation was all safe and this man's house secured.

Newsweek and the Death of Christian America?

 Here is my analysis of Newsweek's silly cover story this Holy Week explaining the supposed death of Christian America. Don't believe it folks for even, as I show, Newsweek's own data tells a different story.

He is Risen...even in America.

Dylan's Renaissance...

 Anyone who knows me knows I am - and have long been - a huge Dylan fan. My interest in him has nothing to do with him being a hip 60s icon, but primarily as an amazing writer and heart-felt performer. And anyone who loves his music has not be disappointed by his last ten years.

In a 2006 interview in Rolling Stone, he said he was going to produce a trilogy of ground-breaking albums that surpass or at least rival the best of what he had done previously...big talk for a performer his age.

And what was most notable was that he said the trilogy wasn’t going to start with Time Out of Mind, which as most would agree, was the start of his amazing renaissance in 1997. It earned him album of the year! He said the start of this re-emergence, his “coming out of the corner” like a boxer as he explained, was Love and Theft, which debuted literally on 9/11. It took me two weeks to garner the spirit to go out and get the new album, not being in any mood to celebrate anything, like most Americans at that time. This meant, according to Dylan, that he was going to be producing two new great albums in the coming years. Wow!!

Well, not long ago (2006), he came out with Modern Times, the second of this trilogy and it far surpassed expectations: a remarkable piece of work with fantastic energy in the music and great depth and fun in the lyrics. And now, he has just announced another fresh album in a relatively short period of time. Together Through Life is that new work and it is due out at the end of April. Can’t wait!! He pre-released a single from it, "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"and it is WONDERFUL.

I don’t know of any other musician who has had such a long career and is still producing amazing, fresh, creative work. That’s Dylan at 68.

.

A Gay-Marriage Compromise?

David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch proposed an ambitious and bold idea in the NYTs toward relieving some of the pressure in the same-sex marriage debate. Essentially their proposal is this:

Congress would bestow the status of federal civil unions on same-sex marriages and civil unions granted at the state level, thereby conferring upon them most or all of the federal benefits and rights of marriage. But there would be a condition: Washington would recognize only those unions licensed in states with robust religious-conscience exceptions, which provide that religious organizations need not recognize same-sex unions against their will.

The likelihood of creating a win/win for both sides in this way is as unrealistic as it is creative, and for reasons deeply unacceptable to both sides.

1)     Same-sex marriage laws have just recently been established in various states in our nation on the very reasoning that full legal access to every marriage benefit, but calling it something other than marriage is unjust, relegating same-sex couples to second-class citizenry. The back of the bus is still the back of the bus, even it is actually the front of the bus, but called something different, the reasoning goes. If I understand the ssm proposal as it has been argued over the past few years, it’s advocates can only accept this as a momentary and disingenuous stepping stone. Besides, would such a federal law overrule CA’s ssm laws given it was granted on the rejection of this very “separate-but-equal” foundation? Moreover, would it overrule all current and future laws granting ssm, by declaring federally that civil unions are the best its advocates can get? If this idea has any realistic merit, it is for the natural marriage crowd in that it would reveal the “all-we-want-is-legal- protection” advocates really want something more than legal protection. But I trust that is not its authors’ intention.

 2)     How many religious people or groups concerned about their religious freedom in the face of the political advances of the gay community would trust the current or future Congress (or any one of the past 20 years for that matter!) to protect their rights to robust religious freedom? It would nice to believe such a thing were possible, but if such religious beliefs are built on bigotry anyway – for this is precisely the script of most gay- and much mainstream-commentary on Prop 8 -- how rigorously can such rights be protected?

Blankenhorn and Rauch are two very smart thinkers, but on this one they simply failed to consider some larger and immediate obstacles to their peace plan.

Lowering the bar...

 Dear President Obama:

I have paid all my taxes to date. Looks like you could use people like me. I am awaiting your call for a Cabinet post.

glenn

Suze Rotolo...

 You only recognize that name if you are a big Dylan fan.

She was his first real girlfriend and is the girl walking with him down the middle of a snowy, slushy Greenwich Village street on his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.



She finally wrote a book about her life during those times and her years with Dylan. It is a very good book and I think she does a masterful job of not making the story about the relationship. She writes freshly about her life in those times, growing up in the 50s and 60s as a "red diaper baby." She explains how it intertwined with Dylan, his utter genius, how they grew together and how their relationship was shattered by his rocket-ship shot into the stratosphere of fame in the span of a few short months.

I would have liked to learn more about her life today, and hoping that it is happy. I'm glad she wrote it.

Into the arms of Christ...

 

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a great man, a faithful leader in Christ's Church and a brilliant and very funny writer went to go be with Jesus this morning.

Here is a nice, short remembrance.

He will be sorely missed.

My wife and I were reading his latest installment in the new First Things  just Tuesday night and enjoying his razor sharp wit. She wondered what his daily life was like.

We all wonder about his daily routine now.

Glory!

a new year...

 full of new opportunities and great possibilities.

what will we make of it?

hotdogs...

 I am a hot dog fan and if you name a city in the contiguous US, I can tell you if it has a reputable hot dog stand and the pertinent details behind it.

On a recent trip to Hollywood, I had to stop by the famous and historic Pink's Hot Dog stand in West Hollywood. Got there mid-afternoon, waited in line with some local high school students and tried to decide what I wanted. I KNEW I didn't want the Rosie O'Donnell Dog, regardless of what it might have been. I didn't even actually want any kind of dog named after a star. What do movie stars know!

I decided on three with chili, mustard and onions...nice and classic, but also with slaw on them...a Southern classic.

Well, I got my dogs with their quick service and went to sit down under autographed pictures of Nipsy Russell, David Hasselhoff and Rachael Ray. I check out the slaw and it was not even slaw really...or at least not the kind you would put on a hot dog. The difference between vinegar-based slaw and mayonaise-based slaw is the difference between something else and shinola. Pink's serves vinegar-based slaw.

How could they NOT know!

The best thing you can do is just scrap it off, which is what any self-respecting, hot dog loving Southerner would do.

Having removed the "slaw" I enjoyed the three dogs and my Coca-Cola in the can.

As I was leaving the famous establishment, I thought how much better the Varsity is at delivering a dang good hot dog. I haven't found better!

Newsweek, the Bible and SSM...

 Newsweek -- which I think is generally a very good magazine, with a great editor in Jon Meacham -- recently published an stunningly bad cover story trying to make a biblical case for same-sex marriage.

Instead, it demonstrated author Lisa Miller's (also the magazine's religion editor!) complete lack of understanding why an evangelical Christian might oppose ssm the arguments they actually make for their opposition.

The article is really worse than you might imagine, something I would expect from a smartypants college student newspaper or our own local leftist rag, the Independent. It is SO embarrassingly bad.

Citizen magazine asked a few writers to respond to various sections of Newsweek's article. This collection of short essays will appear in a coming issue, but have been posted online here.

The two articles I contributed are here and here

Why are the loving people so hateful?

 Taped my second episode of a Dr. Phil show yesterday in Hollywood. They put you up in a very nice hotel and schlep you around in limos, not a bad life for a day or so. I am very impressed with Dr. Phil's team, and him as a man and professional.

This second show was on the same topic as the first, on gender confused kids, and I was on this time with a good and long-time friend, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi.

It was essentially 40 minutes of two people -- a  mother of a young boy living as a girl and a UCLA professor -- making up things about what Joe and I believed and then attacking them. The mom spewed nothing but hate and contempt for the both of us, folks she knew very little about or what we actually believed. All she knew was we weren't affirming of her decision to let her pre-adolescent boy live as a girl and that was enough for her to respond with sarcastic comments at every turn, before we even got a chance to answer her previous accusation.

Your faith in thoughtful dialogue, if even disagreeable, is stronger some days than others. This was not one of them.

Civil Debate; Curious Friendship

 Two articles have appeared recently on my friendship with Professor John Corvino, a gentleman with whom I regularly debate the issue of same-sex marriage on university campuses. The comments to each article are interesting and span gamut.

Here is the one I wrote for Christianity Today. It will appear on the January print copy.

Here is the one John wrote for 365gay.com.

Just wondering...

 ...how the word "genius" could be used in anyway in connection with george carlin.

That word could more aptly apply to the woman who ran the lunch-room at my elementary school.

to the angry Prop 8 protestors...

 ...take up your anger with Democracy.

And forget the lame excuse that the majority should never use democracy to repress the minority. The Courts should not legislate! Prop 8's victory was much more about checking imperialism than your false narrative of "hate."

Stop victimizing yourselves.

President Elect Obama...

He ran a smart and disciplined campaign and obtained an admirable victory.

I will pray for him, support him as the leader of our troubled, but great nation and hope that he proves me wrong in my fears about him.

Has our Democracy...

 ...been served well by the media and Obama?

The MSM made such a big deal about not being able to "vett" Palin because she was being protected by McCain. They blew multiple gaskets because the American people needed to KNOW her story and that analysis wasn't allowed.

But can anyone point to an interview that Obama has done with a serious journalist where he was asked good, tough questions about his policies and then pressed to explain his answers?

We are about to elect a man to run our country that the media has really protected has not felt it necessary to ask him any tough questions. Well, just as long THEY don't think it is necessary, I guess we shouldn't worry.

But I would like to know if any such interviews exist. I haven't seen them and I pay pretty close attention.

the vice presidential debate

Two observations about Thursday night's vp debate:

First, Gov. Palin showed strong leadership by answering the questions  asked of her -- sometimes in a word -- and then moving on to talk about things she felt the American people want to hear about. What she choose to talk about might have been right or wrong, but she charted her own course and followed it. That is confident leadership. Biden asked permission to talk about certain things. It might have been polite, but this is not what this test is about. It is about confidence and leadership.

Second, I think she could have used the words "joe sixpack" and "maverick" a few times less, but I LOVED the way she spoke and the confidence with which she did it...ending her "ing" words with the more causal "'n". And I loved it because it ticked off the arrogant folks from both coasts (like here) who think only the fictional Beverly Hillbillies talk that way and that no one really does all their shopping at Walmart. They "Tina Fey" her to their own peril...and the irony here....THEY are supposed to be the really smart people here.

For all the other positive things about her, I think Palin has single-handedly driven a stake in the heart of radical feminism as well as has the msm crying into their double-mocha, skinny lattes, whinning "why isn't she following our lead? Doesn't she know the American don't know how navigate these deep issues without our brilliant insight and guidance?"

They might even call her unAmerican.

my book "banned"

The Washington Post reports that my book, Marriage on Trial, (coauthored with my good friend, Bill Maier) was involved in little intellectual freedom dust-up in some Virginia public High Schools. Our book -- after being donated to the libraries in an effort to offer intellectual balance to the already present shelves of pro-gay books -- was rejected by the librarians because it didn't meet their standard for what a library book should be.

Uhm, isn't that the problem under discussion, someone determining for us what we should have access to in a library?

The librarians said the books weren't "research-based" enough. Well, Marriage on Trial is full to the gills with leading social science research, fully cited and documented, and not one reviewer of the book -- even among the hostile reviews we got -- has challenged our use of the research presented there. In fact, our publisher (InterVarsity Press) has a solid reputation for doing academically serious books and sent the book out to a number of academic reviewers prior to it being published. The librarians also said that the book might also make students feel bad about themselves.

So that is the new criteria for what gets placed in a library? It is nice to know that all the books in the Fairfax County libraries will make all of us feel good about ourselves, no small task.

These super-smart students pulled the cover off of the American Library Association's "Banned Books Week" and revealed it for the paper-thin sham that it is.

During this particularweek, every year, I am tempted to go into my local bookseller, pick up one of the so-called "banned" books on deviantly placed on display, take it to the manager and bemoan the fact that this book cannot be obtained by me for my own intellectual growth and how I am a poorer man for it.

I am imagine she would respond say, "Oh no sir, I can ring you up right over here!" without her sensing any disconnect.

California Pastors and Prop 8

I was in SoCal this week to be apart of a simulcast to over 100 CA churches to educate voters on the importance of Prop 8, the measure that would allow to CA citizens to return marriage to its original definition of a male/female union after four Supreme Court Justices radically redefined it for everyone.

I was VERY impressed with the intelligence and passion of the pastors and citizens working hard to pass Prop 8. The other side has already shot its wad and their message is pretty predictable (people should be able to marry who they love!) and the pro-marriage side is just starting to role out its very smart education and mobilization plan.

My visit and talking the pastors there about their plan was very encouraging.

Wither Feminism...

Radical feminism -- of the Steinem/Friedan flavor -- was completely obliterated (not an overstatement!) over the 20 minute period Sarah Palin gave her acceptance speech as the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican ticket.

How?

She realized the dream while categorically and roundly rejecting the the two fundamental tenets of radical feminism -- the acceptance of abortion and the rejection of motherhood. The last kick to the stomach of that still quivering corps is that she does not feel her beauty and physicality is something that needs to be subdued.

RIP.

worth knowing...

I really do love chocolate milk!

The surprising dishonesty of Obama...

It was a historic speech to be sure -- from many angles -- most of all seeing a Black citizen accept the nomination of a major political party in America, especially on the anniversary of MLK's great "I Have a Dream" speech.

That is something we all should celebrate and explain to our children -- beyond our particular partisanship – based on the substance of our common humanity and the opportunities our great country affords to anyone willing to work hard to seize them.

But there was much that was very disturbing in last night's speech, even for the most ardent Obama supporter.

Last night's speech raises serious questions about this "new kind" of candidate's own fundamental honesty as he starts his campaign in earnest.

Let me start with two of the most patently dishonest statements last night, much less that they were personal rather than idealistic, attacks on his opponent.

1) Yes, one of McCain's "chief advisors" did make the stupid "mental recession" and "nation of whiners" comments, but Phil Gramm was summarily and immediately denounced by McCain. Gramm was also removed from the campaign for the comment. To leave the impression that this is the position of the McCain campaign is simply dishonest by any account.

2) Obama -- both in last night's speech and in a current Obama televison ad -- says McCain believes people who make $5 million are middle class. Good Lord!

This comes from a throw-away joke McCain made in the Saddleback Forum earlier this month and he said he wasn't serious when he made it. He also lightly observed it would probably be distorted. Anyone who saw the Forum knew it was a joke (as poor as it was!) and Obama's current use of it can only be described as knowingly dishonest. The fact that he was not called on it by any msm commentator that I saw last night was remarkable.

(Curious aside, Obama did say -- in his repsone to the same question asked of both candidates at the Forum by Rick Warren --  [as cut and pasted from the official Forum transcipt] -- "I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT EVERYBODY THAT IS MAKING OVER $250,000 IS LIVING ON EASY STREET...")

Later in the speech, Obama calls into question McCain's seriousness about the vital national mission of bringing Osama bin Laden to justice by saying McCain "won't even go to the cave where he lives."

Well if Obama knows where this cave is, it would have been very impressive had Senator Obama ended his Party's Convention by going there and dragging Osama's murdering, sorry self back to Denver for all to see. If Obama wants to call into question McCain's resolve for capturing Osama, he is free to do so. But do so fairly.

Of course, there are plenty of additional, more partisan concerns, but these are the inexcusable comments from last night that any American interested in assuring that our important political discussions are marked by honesty should be deeply concerned about. And a particular candidate's smoothness is no excuse for this shortcoming.

reporting on what matters...

I have read two articles in the last two weeks, here and here, concerned about McCain's lack of experience with the internet. I have not read one article in the msm about Obama's lack of experience on a slightly deeper issue: actual real-world leadership. Talk about straining at gnats and swallowing camels.

Why is this not a story? Obama is a walk-on Senator, the position was handed to him by his good fortune of having two Republican opponents, one morally-challenged and the other THE model non-candidate. He is yet to complete his first term in his first real leadership job of managing a Senate office. It takes more than tele-prompter skills and the audacity of hope to move up in pay grade to leader of the greatest nation in the world.

facebook

I have become a late fan of facebook. Set up a page about three weeks ago and I love it.

I don't get those creepy, sleezy invitation to be friends with weirdos who want to show you their photo-spreads, like on myspace!

Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends from around the country and the world!

check out FB if you haven't already.

obama, citizen of...

Assumptive President Obama told the world this week of his citizenship...

"I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen -- a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world."

If he is a citizen of the world, why is he bothering running for President of our little country?

And I don't think citizens of the world can VOTE in our elections, much less RUN for it's highest office.

I think this young fount of hyperbole is going to catch up with himself and this trip might be the tipping point.

President Obama...

Goodness, why don't we just save all those silly voters some of their hard-earned tax money and go ahead and just crown Mr. Obama President. The impression one gets from the coverage of his overseas trip is that he already is President. I was struck by this over the last week, then saw Jon Stewart making the same point, but with more humor and raunch.

It is amazing to me how too many liberals -- who let's not forget are the nation's real critical thinkers -- just swoon over someone who can string nice words together well, and go no further in their evaluation.

How would Obama do in another 9/11? A good place to start might be to expect him to answer a tough question or two from the Press and see how he handles it. But that day has not yet come.

Black Night....

Adam West IS Batman, damn it.

what do we make of this?

...man has a womb and he's not afraid to use it.

"But mommy, don't only women have wombs?"

"Yes, but some women still like to play make-believe dear."

Might it be true...

Last night at a ssm debate at the University of South Florida a student asked me when I was "going to come out of the closet." When asked by me to clarify, he responded, "Well, you are obviously a very sharp dresser and your gentle mannerisms... I think it is very obvious. When are you going to admit it?"

Ok, I admit it.

I AM a stunningly sharp dresser and I do have very gentle mannerisms.

Boy, that DOES feel good.

I was wondering...

...why bill gates is the guy who gives much of his billions to people on the other side of the world who have nothing and very little hope, but it is steve jobs who is the cool one.

are we really so fooled by people's own image manipulation and their hip gadgets?

Sunday's tragedy in my church...

Last Sunday a man came to my church, possessed with anger, bitterness and hatred. Possessed by evil. Armed with multiple guns and a thousand rounds of ammunition he opened fire, intending to kill as many of my church family as possible. He killed two teenage girls, seriously wounded their father, shot another woman and a man. How could Mr. and Mrs. Works imagine they would not leave their safe church that day without their two darling daughters? Never to see them again in this life.

This man started his terror in the parking lot where my family usually parks. He entered our building through the same doors we typically use to come to church. We go to this later service, but Sunday, we were there earlier in the morning.

It was in that long hallway, where we walk our children to their Sunday School classes, that his rampage ended with the heroic and skilled actions of a volunteer security guard at our church. She had recently dedicated her life to serving Christ and, no doubt, ever imagined her skills as a police officer would serve her so dramatically in her new service to God.

Last night New Life held its first service following Sunday's nightmare. It was an AMAZING experience for me.

The sanctuary was packed to the gills and it was stunning to see thousands and thousands of hands raised in energetic worship in the shadow of such a personal and devastating tragedy. Pastor Brady went to the pulpit, asked these thousands to hold hands and said with quiet confidence to hushed crowd,

"New Life Church! Let me tell you something as your pastor. Everyone look at me and hear me clearly.

WE WILL NOT BE GOVERNED BY FEAR! Our faith is in the living God."

And then he went through and told the story of what happened in our church just three days earlier. He talked about the Works sisters that were killed. We looked at their pictures on the screens in silence for a few minutes, realizing they were here with us on Sunday, and gone from us now. Pastor Brady told us as we worshiped God here tonight; they were worshipping Christ in His presence. Those were not just warm sentiments, but a real hope that touched me deeply.

He told us about how their father, still hospitalized, is doing. He told us about the brave first-responders who came to help us that morning. These police, firemen, EMS workers received VERY long, VERY loud, standing ovation. I am so proud of how polite and appreciative my church is to visitors.

Lastly, we were all invited to make use of the throng of the counselors that where there last night to help. For those who did not need counseling, Pastor Brady encouraged us all to walk through every room and hallway of our campus and pray, touch the walls and ask God to make these safe places for people to worship, minister and learn about God. To take them back from the spirit murder that invaded on Sunday. We were dismissed with a powerful, emotional time of worship.

Just a few days ago a mad man, eaten up by bitterness and confusion, tried to do serious harm to a part of the Body of Christ. Last night, I was part of that very body worshiping in incredible numbers and passion, with profound sadness and thankfulness, overcoming great evil with unnatural grace and hope. It was one of the deepest experiences I have had.

As I left the church last night, I prayed over two particular physical places on our campus: the hallway where we enter our church and where the gunman's rampage and life were ended. And the playground outside where the kids play.

I prayed that this church would be a safe place where young people could continue to learn about loving God and receive direction and hope from Him and the Body of Christ in a world that can be very difficult, as it has been for our church family.

Whom shall we dread?
When evildoers came upon us to devour our flesh,
Our adversaries and our enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against us, Our heart will not fear;
Though war arise against us, In spite of this, we shall be confident...
                                              Psalm 27

Poor Elvis...

E.C. has always been right up front about his very liberal politics....evidenced early by a very mean song about Margaret Thachter, (to which I ask, "what's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?) but here he is just plain goofy, if not creepy, in his tribute to another lady politician.

There was this movie I seen one time...

In Brownsville Girl...a great, rambling story of a song...Dylan starts out talking about a movie he "seen one time and it starred Gregory Peck."

After listening to this song for years, I always wondered if it was a real movie. I finally looked it up and it is real: The Gunfiighter. Filmed in 1950, it is a great movie and pretty true to the way Dylan describes it in the song. Sure enough, the Peck character is seen "riding 'cross the desert" and the "hungry kid trying to make a name for himself" that shot the gunfighter (Peck) is a smarmy "Eddie Haskell" kind of know-it-all punk character. He just doesn't know when to shut up.

The Peck character, Jimmy Ringo, is a famous aging gun-slinger who just wants to live a quiet life and has come to town to look up a woman who is the mother of his child. But he is dogged constantly by young guns who want his title.

The only thing Dylan mentions that is not in the movie is where the marshal "beat that kid to bloody pulp." I wanted to see that... but the marshall only smacks him a couple of times real good.

The only way I could get the movie was through interlibrary loan. :-)

It just occurred to me...

...that some of the things in life I enjoy are....

• skateboarding....something done alone.
• reading....something done alone.
• moutain biking....something done alone
• writing....something done alone.
• business travel...something done alone.
• research in my work...something done alone.

...and here I am being someone who believes that relationships are the most important things going on in the world and connect us to what is ultimately at the core of the universe.

Some of the best things in life are contradictory and the best advice is not to loose sleep over it.

Prospect of female-only human reproduction

Summary from the Article:

Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today.

Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce synthetic sperm cells from a woman's bone marrow tissue after showing that it possible to produce rudimentary sperm cells from male bone-marrow tissue.

Quote of the day....
"Theoretically is it possible," Professor Nayernia said. "The problem is whether the sperm cells are functional or not. I don't think there is an ethical barrier, so long as it's safe. We are in the process of applying for ethical approval."

Consider Professor,  that there just might be a small ethical problem in socially reducing men to sperm donors, then taking that minimalist contribution away from them, thus completely alienating the male side of the species from family life.

Science fiction is becoming reality and we must be ready to respond for why this might be humanly problematic. It is largely a question of what it means to be human, which I believe is the fundamental question of the 21st Century. But we understand this by appreciating how humanity, in both male and female, uniquely reflect God's nature in the world and how we ignore this anthropology at humanity's peril.

God has placed us in this age and we must be faithful to defend the humanity He has bestowed upon us, but to do so with intelligence, compassion and conviction, not just heated rhetoric.

Rick Warren vs. Sam Harris

a letter I sent to Pastor Rick Warren re: his Newsweek discussion with Sam Harris on the likelihood of God...

Harris' crusade fails to appreciate that the human quest for God is basic to our being human and the hunger for the transcendent will not be denied. I think Harris's most fundamental hurdle is that his strict empiricism cannot give an answer to the deep human need to give, receive and be touched by love.

Here is what I said to Pastor Warren...

Pastor:

 

I read with great interest your dialogue with Sam Harris in Newsweek. Before I dove into the piece, I wondered how you would handle him, hoping your wouldn't "McDowell" or "Strobel" him with all the persuasive facts we have on our side. Evidence doesn't demand a verdict. The human heart does.

 

I want to tell you I think you were brilliant! Primarily because you answered him the way I would have. :-)!

 

Seriously, at the bottom of page 59 when he said "Let me be the first" non-angry atheist you ever met, the thought in my head screamed, "Read your own books!". I turned the page and you replied, "I think your books are quite angry." You are exactly right. Atheists are some of the most angry folks and a Bob Jones grad could never compete with their unbending dogmatism. I honestly have met only one who wasn't angry and he is a good friend of mine.

 

I loved your simple observation..."I disagree with you. You're quite dogmatic." He asked for an example and he need look no further than his assertion that teaching belief in God to our children is to lie to them. A gentler atheist might say it was merely delusional or misguided.

 

I also very much liked how you asked him if 96 percent of the world were idiots. That is exactly what I thought when I read his books. He presents such nasty arrogance. Did MLK, Mother Theresa, Wilberforce or Ghandi just happen to trip upon their little dreams of a better humanity inspite of their faith, or perhaps because of it.

 

Another interesting point about Sam, is his seemingly solipsistic epistemology..."I think there is an absolute right and wrong" but could not point to any external, authoritative reference point for such a statement, only his belief that "honor killing is unambiguously wrong". Well, so let's go to those cultures and get them to stop their bad practices by telling them Sam Harris, the famous atheist (and Ph.D student in neuroscience!), thinks that what they are doing is a wrong. But later he complains that anyone's opposition to stem cell research is merely motivated by very dangerous and antiquated religious dogma rather than, oh say, the idea that to commodify one part of humanity, no matter how young, for the service of another is always wrong.

 

He asked you what it meant when you say you talk to God and He talks back, as if that couldn't possibly be understood by the rational mind. Later he talked about it being possible to "feel yourself being one with the universe"  Say what? Being so big on evidence, what is his evidence that there is any empirical support for his "feeling one with the universe." He sounded like Shirley McLain.

 

Sam Harris, from reading his books, strikes me, not as a kind person, but as an intellectual thug and as such is not helping the atheist PR problem he bemoans. I think you handled him excellently. Thank you!

 

Christ's peace,

 

glenn

What is Holiness?

In preparing for a weekend conference I will be speaking at in mid-April, I have been thinking about the issue of holiness and what that means.

On this track, I have also been thinking a great deal over the past few years about the fact that beyond all reality for Christians is the reality of Trinity, a dynamic, eternal community of loving, intimate and self-giving Divine Persons.  This means that relationship is metaphysically foundational to all humans who are created to reflect the image and nature of this Divine reality.

Anyway, I am thinking about the topic of "holiness" being fundamental to God's nature and what the means in light of the above...particularly in Isaiah's vision where the Seraphim proclaim "Holy, Holy, Holy" as a fundamental declaration of who and what God is.

As a good evangelical, this tends to mean moral purity as if God doesn't smoke, drink or go to picture shows. But God being eternally Holy and sin NOT being eternal, there must be a meaning to holiness that isn't contrasted with "sin" but speaks of some other deeper quality of God.

Not to overly psychologize, but could it also mean, in the biggest sense of the word, being internally rightly and properly integrated? More properly something like being in line with one's own essence, as God alone is. Were Adam and Eve holy before the fall because they were perfectly in line with what God created them to be?

Anyway, I am not sure if I am veering off the road of orthodoxy or coming closer to it.

I will continue to think on this, for when we are told in Scripture to be holy as God is holy, we better know what that means...and what it doesn't.

ever notice?

...that the London Calling album cover is similar too...











Oh my, look how he swivels his hips!
Oh my, look how he smashes his guitar!

one cool girl...

It is an amazing thing to watch your children grow and develop.

I take my 12 year old daughter to school every morning. It is a great time for us to spend together, talk, jive and listen to music. She is a much different kid than I was when I was at that age. 

She is very much in the "in-crowd"  amazingly confident, busy with all kinds of school activities, crazy smart, funny and has all kinds of friends. I was a very shy skater-punk without a clue. Where did she get this confidence from?

Every morning she MUST listen to the one of my favorite bands growing up: the clash. Specifically, the morning routine must include rock the casbah and london calling.

Her mother asked her recently..."Do you have to listen to the Clash every morning?" Liv said, "No mom! I GET to listen to it every morning!"

I tell her she is easily the coolest kid in her whole school. She makes it fun to be a dad. All my kids do.

Another pastor...

Another high-profile pastor is torn from his flock by his struggles with homosexuality. I suspect this is just the beginning of some very dark days. Christ's Bride is being ravaged by vicious wolves of sexual brokenness, gender confusion and most troubling...personal isolation. The Church must develop a deeper understanding of sexual wholeness and how to live in and proclaim it.

The Nativity Story

I went to see The Nativity Story with my 10 year old twins on Sunday night. It has received a number of poor reviews, but I don't know what movie these folks saw! I thought it was a wonderful film, the kind where you just sit quietly and watch the credits roll by.

The movie wasn't exciting, hyper-spiritual or overly sensational, but displayed the simple humanity of each character. That is its strong point for that is the wonder of the Christmas story.

And that is what the incarnation -- which Lewis called "the grand miracle" -- is all about...God became human. And He did this grand thing at the intersection of two very common people that no one really took any notice of at the time doing the very "unholy" thing of paying their taxes. They were common, poor, quiet and humble, but had the special favor of God. It shows how God became one of us, in the embryo that grew in Mary's womb, in the infant that was delivered to them in an out-of-the way manger. The nativity story does not allow us to be flesh denying spiritualists. It allows no room for docetism. Christianity embraces both the spirit and the flesh and this movie shows us why.

See it and let it give you a bit of the glory of Emmanual, God with us.

thanksgiving... movie week

A week off and I am catching up on some movies...

For some reason, I am in interested in movies of darkness of late. I watched two of particular interest this week.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a story -- based on true events -- of a college-age girl who develops some serious problems that are either medical or spiritual in nature. This is a very scary movie, but not one that is overly gruesome like The Exorcist. It is a movie that takes the spiritual realm very seriously. The primary conflict, beyond the obvious issues with Emily, are between two lawyers: one, a man of faith, who is trying to prove that Emily's problems are strictly physical. The other, a spiritual skeptic, is tasked with proving her problems are from demonic possession. This lawyer begins to believe in the possibility. The movie is based on the life of Anneliese Michel, a German Catholic girl who died in 1976 from her ordeal at the age of 23. She was absolutely ravaged, physically and psychologically, by the experience. It is a remarkably intense story. But is demonic possession real? It depends, I guess, on how you view the world.

As a Christian who doesn't think a great deal about demonic activity, this movie and other things in my life of late have me rethinking this.

If God's Spirit is active in the world, as I believe He is and experience Him, why is God's adversary not active in the world also? This is a movie that takes that possibility very seriously and shows how diabolically evil it is and how much it hates God's creation, humanity. Satan and his demons are not merely otherworldly troublemakers. They play very nasty ball. In this movie, these six demons who torment her will not let up until they have killed Emily/Anneliese. It has me reflecting a good bit on John 10:10. 

There are some interesting books on this subject. Scott Peck wrote People of the Lie and Glimpses of the Devil. One of the best known writers on this subject is Fr. Malachi Martin, author of Hostage to the Devil, the story of the exorcism of five contempory Americans. There is also a book about the story of Anneliese Michel written, I believe, by an anthropologist who testified in her trial about the reality and her experience with cross-cultural and cross-religious demon possession.

One Hour Photo is another dark movie I saw this week, but in very different ways. It the story of a man (Sy, the photo guy played by Robin Williams) who works the photo counter at a stark, sterile, Walmart type store. He is a mouse of a man lives in his little mouse apartment and comes out only to go to work to get his cheese. He has no life. But he obsesses about a family who frequents his counter for years and he come to idenitfy himself as a part of their family. In accidently finding out this "picture perfect" family is not so perfect, he starts to flip out. The end of the movie, similar to Mystic River, shows how much damage can be done by abusing a small child and the ripple effects this can have all through a life. It is a chilling movie about what sins committed against us can do and how we don't get over them by shutting them out.