In these consolidated cases, a coalition of entities affiliated with the Catholic Church and the State of North Dakota challenge the implementation of Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), a statute that prohibits certain forms of discrimination . . . Continue reading →
Civil Life
Heidelcast 172: With D. G. Hart On American Catholic: The Politics Of Faith During The Cold War (Updated)
What can confessional Presbyterian and Reformed folk learn from the history of Roman Catholicism in America? Quite a lot as it turns out. We are continuing our brief hiatus from the series, As It Was In The Days of Noah to talk with . . . Continue reading →
Orwell: On Opposing Hitler At The Price Of Accepting Stalin
Secondly there is the fact that the intellectuals are more totalitarian in outlook than the common people. On the whole the English intelligentsia have opposed Hitler, but only at the price of accepting Stalin. Most of them are perfectly ready for dictatorial . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 171: What American Christians Can Learn From Black History
For much of the history of North America, Christianity has been the dominant religious group and a major culture-shaping force. In the USA it, as I have noted regularly here, until quite recently people spoke of the USA as a “Christian nation” . . . Continue reading →
Next To Be Banned?
There would be no end to what could be censored. Trans-sceptical feminists, already victims of Silicon Valley’s woke purges, would be completely wiped out on the basis that some idiot might interpret their intellectual, non-bigoted critiques of genderfluidity as an instruction to . . . Continue reading →
A Little Wisdom Might Help Us Love Our Neighbor
Two Albuquerque, NM megachurches are being fined by the governor for disobeying regulations on gathering for worship. Both held Christmas Eve services with crowded auditoriums. In one video there are few masks evident. KOAT has the story. One congregation claims to have . . . Continue reading →
On “Safetyism”
But these same scenes present an affront to the organs of social control. There would seem to be an inherent tension between the spirit of play and “safetyism” (I parse this tension more fully in my book Why We Drive, which will . . . Continue reading →
Did Abraham Kuyper Become An Anabaptist? Updated With A Postscript
Is theocracy, i.e., an state-established religion and the state enforcement of religious orthodoxy essential to Reformed theology, piety, and practice? That is the question asked and answered recently by Craig Carter, a former Anabaptist turned Particular Baptist theologian in response a recent . . . Continue reading →
SCOTUS Applies Brooklyn Diocese v. Cuomo: Strikes Down Limit On Number Of Worshipers In Church
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a northern Colorado church that sued Gov. Jared Polis over capacity limits on religious gatherings, reiterating a stance the highest court took in a similar case last month. High Plains Harvest Church . . . Continue reading →
Judge Pulskamp: If People Can Gather In Costco, They Can Gather In Church
Defendants’ efforts to distinguish the permitted secular activity from the prohibited religious activity are not persuasive. For example, Defendants contend that the congregations of shoppers in big-box stores, grocery stores, etc., are not comparable to religious services in terms of crowd size, proximity, and length of stay. To the contrary, based on the evidence presented (or lack thereof) and common knowledge, it appears that shoppers at a Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. may —and frequently do—congregate in numbers, proximity, and duration that is very comparable to worshippers in houses of worship. Continue reading →
Douthat: America Needs St Paul More Than St Benedict Or Constantine
And to the extent that conservative arguments about the culture war seem polarized between Saint Benedict and Constantine, between the monastery and the crusade, perhaps the synthesis, the change of fortune, will arrive when God sends America a Saint Paul. Read more» . . . Continue reading →
This Is An Important Film
What Killed Michael Brown? from ManOfSteeleProductions on Vimeo.
11th Circuit: A Ban On Therapy For An Unwanted Sexual Attraction Is Unconstitutional
We understand and appreciate that the therapy is highly controversial. But the First Amendment has no carveout for controversial speech. We hold that the challenged ordinances violate the First Amendment because they are content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny. . . . Continue reading →
Norway Criminalizes Private Speech Against Transgendered People—Turley Warns That It Could Happen In The USA
The most chilling fact is that European-style speech controls have become a core value in the Democratic Party. Once a party that fought for free speech, it has become the party demanding Internet censorship and hate speech laws. President-Elect Joe Biden has . . . Continue reading →
Angela Davis Is Not A Hero
A hardline Communist, Davis supported the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and relished being a guest of Fidel Castro in Cuba — where she went immediately following her acquittal. But her greatest love was for the Soviet Union and the Eastern . . . Continue reading →
SCOTUS: Exactly The Kind Of Discrimination Forbidden By The First Amendment
…The applicants have clearly established their entitlement to relief pending appellate review. They have shown that their First Amendment claims are likely to prevail, that denying them relief would lead to irreparable injury, and that granting relief would not harm the public . . . Continue reading →
Federal District Court Strikes Down KY Pandemic Restrictions On Private Religious Schools (Updated)
If social distancing is good enough for offices, colleges, and universities within the Commonwealth, it is good enough for religious private K–12 schools that benefit from constitutional protection. Continue reading
Your Neighbor Has Everything But Hope
“Day one. Day one. Four weeks. I can do it. Day one. Day one.” She wore a wool hat pulled down low over her forehead, and a giant mask, which covered everything but her eyes, and gloves. She moved to the furthest . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On A Source Of Political Correctness, Critical Theory, Screaming Yale Undergrads, And The Impulse To Destroy The Past
Perhaps pride of place in the intellectual pantheon of those who helped give a rationale for the rejection of history goes to Karl Marx. That might strike the reader as rather strange, given that Marx was himself steeped in history. His materialist . . . Continue reading →
Biden Administration To Restore “Dear Colleague Letter” Versus Christian Schools And Colleges?
Traditional Christian Ethics To Be Punished?
Language regarding accreditation of religious insti- tutions of higher education in the Higher Education Opportunity Act could be interpreted to require accrediting bodies to accredit religious institutions that discriminate or that do not meet science based curricula standards. Continue reading →