By May, at the risk of violating state truancy laws, Wrobel had stopped fighting and let her kids log on (or not) whenever they felt like it. It was, she said, “the darkest hour before dawn.” That September, she started homeschooling. She . . . Continue reading →
Covid
Heidelcast 193: Taking Calls On Christian Platonism And Covid-19 Restrictions
We are taking a break from the series, What Must A Christian Believe to take some calls and answer some questions. The first question comes from Deborah in Chicago who asks about the trend among evangelicals to talk about “Christian Platonism.” What is . . . Continue reading →
Advocates Of Religious Liberty Should Care About Federal Vaccine Mandates
Although much of the rhetoric surrounding the new federal vaccine mandates focuses on individual rights—“how dare they force me to inject something into my body?”—the government can generally regulate its own employees, or those it funds with Medicaid/Medicare dollars, so the strongest . . . Continue reading →
Incremental Steps Toward Punishing Politically Incorrect Speech?
The San Diego County Board Tuesday evening adopted a resolution declaring misinformation a “public health crisis.”res Continue reading →
An Outline Of A Moral Objection To Vaccine Mandates
I am not arguing that those who have been or will be vaccinated are sinning but I am trying to sketch the outlines of a case for asserting good-faith moral objections to vaccine mandates. What should we conclude? Do Christians have a right to reject the vaccine on the grounds that it implicates them in the voluntary abortion of humans and the harvesting of biological material for medical use? Continue reading →
Paul, Philippi, And Mask Mandates
The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them . . . Continue reading →
Does The Analogy Hold Or How Does Science Work?
I am in the throes of trying to finish the third draft of the commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism (Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude), so I have not been listening to a lot of my podcasts. Mostly these days I hear myself say, . . . Continue reading →
Pandemic Living: Facts About Loneliness
Everyone likes to be alone; no one likes to be lonely. Being alone is fine. We need time by ourselves. Being lonely is not fine. We are made to be social. Large portions of Americans are disconnected from normal connecting institutions. And . . . Continue reading →
Reconsidering The Offering As An Element Of Worship After Covid
Introduction: The Hypothesis Tested Way back in 2008 I asked the question whether the offering is an element or a circumstance of worship or neither? I argued that the offering is neither an element nor a circumstance and thus raised the question . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Covid And Religious Liberty
The Covid crisis has been one of the greater challenges faced by the church in the West in recent years. In the USA and elsewhere it has divided congregations and probed weaknesses in our theology, piety, and practice. It has raised questions . . . Continue reading →
British Christians Object To Vaccine Passports
Dear Prime Minister, As Christian leaders across a range of denominations, we continue to pray at this time for your government “and all in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1 . . . Continue reading →
Living Through A Time Of Great Loss
Americans born after World War II, for most of that time, have experienced prosperity and medical progress hitherto unknown in human history. We have been led to expect that, given enough resources, medical science can conquer virtually anything. In an undated story . . . 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 →
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 →
Christian School In Oregon Sues Governor Over Unequal Treatment
After nearly two months of advising that Hermiston Christian School could provide in-person instruction to the 51 students enrolled in its K-12 program, Brown reversed course and, on July 29, ordered private schools in Umatilla County and elsewhere to remain closed while . . . Continue reading →
Fear And Power In Covidville
In the Watergate scandal two city-beat reporters for the Washington Post turned journalists into saviors. They saved us all from the evil Nixon. Covid-19 is a Watergate for hitherto obscure public health authorities. Mostly benched after WWII by vaccines and the wonders of modern medicine, the public health authorities have been like the Maytag Repairman, playing solitaire on their phones, until Covid.
Continue reading
11 Thousand Scientists And Medical Practioners: End The Lockdown
Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination . . . Continue reading →
Charges Possible After Saturday Fracas In Moscow, ID; Charges Against Kirkers Remain
A 59-year-old man punched a 55-year-old man multiple times in the face after the younger man threw coffee at the older man Saturday afternoon during a protest across the street from the Moscow Police Department, according to Moscow police Capt. Will Krasselt . . . Continue reading →
An Avoidable Stunt (Updated)
The City of Moscow, Idaho, which Christ Church (Moscow, ID) expects one day to transform into a bastion of adherence to the Mosaic judicial laws, reports (HT: Alexis Van Horn) about the recent publicity stunt and protests disguised as “Psalm sings:” From . . . Continue reading →