Moral Compromises Have Become Tony Campolo's Stock in Trade

Liberal cleric Tony Campolo, still a popular speaker with some evangelical audiences (audiences who are largely unaware of his leftist political and social opinions) is a member of the Democrat Party platform committee whose language change on abortion has been the subject of a couple of recent Vital Signs posts (1 and 2).

This Kristin Jensen story on the matter for Bloomberg concludes with a couple of very telling quotes from Campolo:

...Religious leaders who consulted on the platform said they expect Republicans to use abortion as a ``wedge issue'' in the way they used gay marriage to turn out evangelical voters in 2004. That's why finding a middle ground was so important, said Reverend Tony Campolo, a platform committee member.

``This doesn't solve the problem, but it certainly moves in the right direction,'' said Campolo, 73. ``We're a diverse party, and we ought to have room ethically for each other.''

In other words, Campolo is dedicated heart and soul to the Democrats winning elections. That the Democrats have been for years (and more than ever remain) the party of abortion and homosexual privilege doesn't bother him.

But what does bother him is that other evangelicals and serious Catholics are not as progressive, enlightened, and open-minded like he is. They remain too doggone stuck on those biblical values they were raised with.

The trick then is to pry these Neanderthals away from the Bible's teachings about such gross immorality as abortion and gay marriage -- to give them, as the soft-headed Florida preacher Joel Hunter openly admits earlier in the article, "an excuse to vote for Obama.''

Campolo, Hunter and Jim Wallis all are part of this shameful shell game with the Democrat platform. For they are attempting not to persuade their fellow Democrats about the rightness and seriousness of what the Bible says about sin. Rather, they are conniving with them in ways to hoodwink religious citizens.

Rev. Hunter knows quite clearly that Barack Obama has boldly and repeatedly defied the Bible's position on these crucial moral issues. But does he tell his congregation that? No; he instead tries to finagle "excuses" for people to still back Obama.

Rev. Campolo is frantic to get rid of the "wedge issues" and find "a middle ground," though he too knows to what purposes Obama and the modern Democrat Party are committed. Therefore, his "middle ground" is an illusion. Nothing has changed. Nothing will. It is but a mean and disgraceful act of obfuscation on his part.

There is a lot of ridicule heaped on those lavish-living televangelists who, rather than leading the sheep, simply look to fleece them. But the Campolo bunch may be even more ignoble and dangerous. For they want to shear from the sheep not their money...but their principles.

Reviewing Lambeth: Does Orthodoxy Have a Chance in the Modern Anglican Church?

For those interested in figuring out what just happened at Lambeth (and what it means for the future of the Anglican Church and its battle to restrict, even eliminate, biblical orthodoxy in the life of its churches), I suggest David Virtue's clever post/riposte approach to Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's article in the Guardian.

Democrats Try to Sell Abortion Shell Game: "New Evangelicals" Join in the Con

The Democrats continue to play word games with the sanctity of life, suggesting that they're seeking "common ground" on the abortion controversy.

But all the while they support as much as ever: 1) the unqualified right to abortion; 2) the elimination of all restrictions on abortion; 3) the promotion of abortion overseas; 4) abortions performed in military hospitals; 5) the funding of abortion through tax dollars; and 6) the insistence of the immoral (and demonstrably counter-productive) Planned Parenthood-style "sex education" programs in schools and government sponsored agencies.

So who is foolish enough to buy into this claptrap?

Perhaps the more accurate question would be -- who is disingenuous enough to join in this sleazy charade, even being sinister enough to try and persuade the naive and gullible that the Democrats really are coming round?

Try the regular crew that's been pushing a liberal agenda among the religious for years including "new evangelicals" like Jim Wallis and Joel Hunter.

Here's a couple of stories about this sad sell-out, one from MediLexicon and the other from the Washington Times.

Fears of Muslim Violence Cause Random House to Pull Novel

Sherry Jones, a correspondent for the Bureau of National Affairs, was all set to receive the first copy of her new book from Random House. Entitled The Jewel of Medina, the novel takes as its protagonist A'isha, the child bride of Mohammad. But Jones insists, the novel is not a "bodice-ripper." Indeed, there are no sex scenes at all. Says, Jones, "I have deliberately and consciously written respectfully about Islam and Mohammad...I envisioned that my book would be a bridge-builder."

But then she learned that her publishers at Random House finally remembered that there's one religious group that no one messes with nowadays. Even "deliberately, consciously, respectfully" messes with.

And they pulled the publication.

Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry said in a statement the company received "cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment. In this instance we decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel."

Now unless this is a clever enough publicity stunt (and that's certainly possible -- generate a lot of controversial, but free, publicity and then publish the novel a bit later on), the Random House execs have shown not only an inexcusable naiveté about Muslim intolerance but an unconscionably weak dedication to the freedoms of thought and speech they have always claimed to champion.

Does Sherry Jones' The Jewel of Medina deserve to be published? I don't know. It certainly doesn't sound like anything I'd ever have an interest in reading. In fact, maybe the world of letters will be better off for not having it clutter up the shelves.

But not for this reason.

Why the Faithful Forewent Lambeth

I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I love the Anglican Communion. So, why did the bishops of the Church of Uganda and I decide not to attend the present Lambeth Conference? Because we love the Lord Jesus Christ and because we love the Anglican Communion...

In this moving Times (U.K.) article, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, explains the tragic story of how apostasy captured the Anglican Church hierarchy. He pleads with the erring brethren to pursue sincere repentance and spiritual obedience to Holy Scripture. But he knows that faithfulness requires purity -- and that is why those who yet embrace orthodoxy must go it alone.

It is important that our decision not to attend this Lambeth Conference is not misunderstood as withdrawing from the Anglican Communion. On the contrary, our decision reflects the depth of our concern and the sober realisation that the present structures are not capable of addressing the crisis.

How can we go to Holy Communion, sit in Bible study groups, and share meals together, pretending that everything is OK?, that we are still in fellowship with the persistent violators of biblical teaching and of Lambeth resolutions?

The Bible says: “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” The Archbishop of Canterbury has asked us to “wait for each other”. But how is it possible when we are not travelling in the same direction?

The Church of Uganda takes its Anglican identity and the future hope of the global Anglican Communion very seriously. We love the Lord Jesus Christ, and we love the Anglican Communion. Lord, have mercy upon us.

A Swift Smattering of Salient Somethings

* Roy Spencer celebrates 2o years of Rush Limbaugh in this National Review Online article.

* Linda Chavez suggests that a high regard for President Bush will eventually be secured not only by the success in Iraq but because of his record of "compassionate conservatism" regarding Africa, education and homelessness.

* Investor's Business Daily examines Barack Obama's strange, alarming and definitely Orwellian plan to "force volunteerism" onto the American people.

* One of the leading liberals in the "Emergent Church" movement, Brian McLaren has not only joined the Matthew 25 Network and its campaign to put Barack Obama in the White House, he's found other frightening ways to dis the Lord he claims to serve. Read more here.

Liberal Religious Group to Run Obama Ads on Christian Radio

In an effort to peel Catholics and evangelicals away from such issues as abortion and homosexual marriage, the Matthew 25 Network plans to run ads for Barack Obama this fall on Christian radio stations and in newspapers and magazines that appeal to Christians.

Among those involved in the Matthew 25 Network are leftist preacher and confidant of Bill Clinton, Tony Campolo, and Democrat Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, a former staff member for NARAL.

Here's more.

What Christian Worth His Salt Buys Into Barack Obama's Schmooze? Well, Count Rick Warren As One.

The American Spectator's David Bass weighs in on the Barack Obama schmooze campaign aimed at America's evangelicals, It's what I'm nominating as the must-read of the day.

...Granted, Obama's attempted coup of the evangelical right is hardly a universal success. He continues to tick off conservative mainstays like James Dobson, who can see past the senator's rock star persona and occasional biblical references to his liberal core. But others are not so wise.

Rick Warren, for example.

The purpose-driven pastor is hosting a two-hour forum August 16 for both Obama and McCain. According to a Saddleback Church press release, topics of the day will include "poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights."

What a lineup. Obama will have yet another opportunity to espouse his Marxism-couched-in-religion talking points, and Warren a chance to solidify his role as the "new evangelical," concerned more with global warming than abortion (it's only the slaughter of 47 million cellular globs, after all).

Warren says he's organizing the event to bring light instead of heat to the political process, but what's the real message the world-famous pastor is sending to evangelicals, many of whom respect him as a legitimate, Bible-believing minister of the gospel? It's that Obama may be liberal on abortion and marriage redefinition, but he's still a great guy. Maybe you should even vote for him.

The rub is that some evangelicals will buy the line, and Obama is a master at delivering it...

The facts, however, are oh-so-clear about Obama's extremism on abortion, homosexual marriage, experimentation which destroys human life, and many other crucial moral issues. Where then do guys like Warren find the gall to soft-pedal them...or ignore them altogether? Bass continues --

So, what would "common ground" on abortion look like in Obama's administration? He answered that question later in the speech. "The first thing I'd do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act," he said, referring to legislation that would wipe out all state and federal abortion restrictions, even the partial-birth abortion ban supported by the vast majority of Americans.

Way to reach out, Barack.

Later, he showed again his magnanimous olive branch to conservatives by pledging to gut federal abstinence education programs and indicating that sex education for kindergarteners "is the right thing to do." After a pause, he qualified the statement with the terms "age-appropriate" and "science-based" (I wonder if Obama thinks those terms apply to Planned Parenthood's explicit website for teens, crammed with how to's on an assortment of sex acts?).

Such examples show Obama's duplicity. He tries to snooker evangelicals into believing he's a different kind of candidate, but when it comes to actual policy, he's just as liberal as the next guy. Even more so.

To some evangelicals, though, it won't matter. He talks a good talk, and that's enough for them. Warren, for one, is doing his part to give Obama a platform. It's part of a strategy that might work, given the current state of Christianity in America. Obama might be the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever nominated, but that's all right because he's a smooth talker...

Here's the whole article.

What's Falling Off at Lambeth (Besides Orthodox Christianity, That Is)

For those interested in the battles underway for the soul of the Anglican Church (and those battles, of course, are but a part of culture wars that envelop us all), here's David Virtue's ongoing reports of the event. Those reports are detailed, insightful and cover even the very important "unofficial" activities. And they're all viewed from Virtue's own enduring commitment to orthodoxy.

With Friends Like This: Severe Religious Intolerance from America's "Ally"

Anne Applebaum, a weekly columnist for the Washington Post, knows a bit about freedom issues around the world. After all, she has served as a correspondent for The Economist in Warsaw; was foreign editor and then deputy editor of the Spectator magazine in London; and she won the Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust award for journalism in the ex-Soviet Union. Applebaum is also the author of Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe and the Pulitzer Prize winner for non-fiction in 2004, Gulag: A History.

Therefore, when she perused the latest publication of the Hudson Institutes' Center for Religious Freedom, the 91-page Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance, she knew she had found an important and alarming study.

Here is a portion of her subsequent op/ed column:

Because they are so clearly designed for the convenience of large testing companies, I had always assumed that multiple-choice exams, the bane of any fourth-grader's existence, were a quintessentially American phenomenon. But apparently I was wrong. According to a report last week by the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, it seems that the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education finds them useful, too.

Here, for example, is a multiple-choice question from a recent edition of a Saudi fourth-grade textbook, "Monotheism and Jurisprudence," in a section that attempts to teach children to distinguish between "true" and "false" belief in God:

Q. "Is belief true in the following instances:
(a) A man prays but hates those who are virtuous.
(b) A man professes that there is no deity other than God but loves the unbelievers.
(c) A man worships God alone, loves the believers, and hates the unbelievers."

The correct answer, of course, is (c): According to the Wahhabi imams who wrote this textbook, it isn't enough to simply worship God or just to love other believers; it is important to hate unbelievers, too. By the same token, (b) is wrong as well: Even a man who worships God cannot be said to have "true belief" if he also loves unbelievers.

"Unbelievers," in this context, are Christians and Jews. In fact, any child who attends Saudi schools until ninth grade will eventually be taught outright that "Jews and Christians are enemies of believers." They will also be taught that Jews conspire to "gain sole control over the world," that the Christian crusades never ended, and that on Judgment Day "the rocks or the trees" will call out to Muslims to kill Jews.

These passages, it should be noted, are from new, "revised" Saudi textbooks, designed to be less harsh on the infidels. After an analysis of earlier textbooks caused an outcry in 2006, American diplomats approached their Saudi counterparts about modifying the more disturbing passages, and the Saudis agreed to conduct a "comprehensive revision . . . to weed out disparaging remarks toward religious groups."

The promised revision -- hailed at the time as a great diplomatic success -- was supposed to be finished by the beginning of the 2008-09 school year and was accompanied by a Saudi public relations campaign. Among other things, the Saudis sponsored an interfaith dialogue this week, one that all participants hailed as a great breakthrough -- despite the fact that the meetings took place in Spain, apparently because it would be too embarrassing for Saudi Arabia to host Christian and Jewish religious leaders on its own soil. But now the beginning of the 2008-09 school year is nearly upon us, the only textbook revisions have been superficial and the most disturbing part of the books' message -- that faithful Muslims should hate Jews and Christians -- remains...

More on the Girls Scouts' Embrace of New Age Nuttiness

Last Friday I linked you to an important World Net Daily column by Jane Chastain dealing with the weird New Age activities being embraced by, of all groups, the Girl Scouts of America. It was a pretty alarming article -- and not just if you happen to have a daughter or granddaughter involved in the organization but if you're simply concerned about how these cultic doctrines can twist a young person's soul.

Well, here's Jane Chastain's follow up column about how the Girl Scouts are brazenly maintaining their connections with the Ashland Institute (its focus being Transitional Awareness) and the Oxford Leadership Academy.

Chastain points out that the Ashland Institute is led by Michael Cecil, the former leader of the Emissaries of Divine Light, a cult founded by his dad. Although Michael has officially left the EDL, he still accepts most of his father's views. And he recently described to a newspaper how he "devotes his energies to teaching chanting, meditation, dialogue, 'attunement,' community building, aligning the world with the planetary system and assisting a large men's organization called The Mankind Project."

Apparently, Mr. Cecil wasn't finding enough fellas interested in attuning, chanting, or aligning with the planetary system. (They're too caught up in working, mowing the lawn, watching baseball -- that kind of thing.) So, Cecil is turning instead to attuning the minds of impressionable young girls. A gallant move.

And let's not forget the Oxford Leadership Academy. Chastain explains that its leader is one Brian Bacon, a practitioner and teacher of the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga who is also a proud "senior member" of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a cult which has, for its 70 years, emphasized mediumship and channeling.

According to a web site run by former members of the group, the cult's foundation "is the idea that God incarnated into their founder to teach them alone, thus making them the elite souls of the world. They also believe that they are the future deity princesses of Heaven, that the world is about to end and that world history repeats identically every 5,000 years."

"The BKWSU have beliefs that are unique to them in every way. Notably this includes the deeply held and dominant notion that world history repeats identically every five thousand years. They refer to it as ‘the Cycle’. In essence, they say that every 5,000 years God comes and purifies the world which is impure and corrupt, through the efforts of His ‘special, long lost and now found children’. The result is a new Golden Aged world in which all those ‘special’ souls will live as deities. According to the amount of effort those special souls made, they will become the kings and queens of Heaven. This usually means the BKWSU seniors."

"In order to transition from this old, impure world to the new, golden aged world the world as we know it must be destroyed. A key element of BKWSU belief is that the world is about to end. Over the next 5,000 years the world becomes impure and corrupt as it descends through the Silver, Copper and Iron Ages. (These ages are common to Hinduism, but Hindus neither mention 5,000 years or identical repetition.) At the end of the 5,000 years, God Shiva comes again, and the same special souls will join Him again, exactly as they did in the previous cycle. This is predestiny taken to the extreme. The very dangerous implication here is that if a member fails, they fail forever. This is the concept that killed Ranjana."

And this goofiness is what the Girl Scouts want to buy into?

Chastain's column adds, "Management leadership, peace of mind and values education is the stock in trade of the Brahma Kumaris practitioner, and Bacon is no exception. He got his foot in the door with the Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council when leadership began contemplating their navels in search of "self."

Bacon told the Arizona Business Gazette that he made the connection with Cactus-Pine "after experiencing too many adults in leadership positions unable to make fundamental changes." The paper said, "He was looking for young people to counsel. … It's about how to lead others from that place within." Ahhhhhhh!"

Ahhhhhhh indeed. And yipes!

It certainly seems that since the Girl Scouts have abandoned their historic religious values (i.e. exchanging their vows for moral relativism, deciding that the word "God" was not necessary in the Scout's pledge, getting involved with nefarious groups like Planned Parenthood, etc.), the Scouts' leadership is looking for new gods to serve, even if those gods are to be discovered within one's own mind. Or in the predestiny of a Hindu god who remakes the world every 5,000 years.

As I mentioned in last week's post, "be sure to remember these spooky things the next time cookie-selling season and, for that matter, the coercive United Way drive comes round." Well, add to those admonitions a suggestion to write to the Girl Scouts and politely tell them what you think of this dramatic shift in their values. Let them know that until there is a frank and complete apology for these cultic connections and a bold move back to their traditional perspectives that you cannot support them. Indeed, explain to them that you will enroll your daughters in wholesome organizations like American Heritage Girls Legacy Clubs (see also this 2005 Vital Signs post) and that you will suggest to your friends to do the same.

Religious Robbery

Here's yet another example of the teachings of Christianity being wildly distorted and then exploited by malicious men of the cloth. This story involves a couple of the usual characters, the egocentric (and eerie) televangelists Benny Hinn and Todd Koontz, shepherds whose lavish wealth has come from their manipulative talents not to lead the sheep...just to shear them.

Pastor Tommie Ferreira of the AGS Church in Johannesburg, who was himself helping out in Hinn's grandiose event said one of Hinn's American guest speakers, Pastor Todd Koontz, spoke about financial burdens and said 500 audience members would receive "an exceptional blessing". "He said the service would yield millionaires and billionaires within 24 hours. Everyone had to donate $1,000 because an exceptional blessing rested on $1,000." Koontz apparently really had the congregation scrambling when he said, "This blessing will be poured out for only two minutes." Ferreira said: "People stormed to the front - poor people, rich people, people from all sections of our society."

Hinn's co-pastors apparently had credit-card machines ready with which they could take donations. "He (Koontz) said God would bless the people's credit cards and they would be able to rule over South Africa with their money."

"Eventually there were no fewer than 1,000 people who made such donations."...

The Lord hasn't yet made millionaires out of any of these people, though two have come forward to testify they soon will be. It seems they received e-mails from "the widow of a Nigerian prince" promising them $200 million if they would only send over a $500 administration fee.

They did.

Gullibility is a hardy vice.

These Sure Aren't Your Mom's Girl Scouts!

Former Girl Scout Jane Chastain is shocked, disappointed and angered at the transformation of that once-noble organization, particularly at their embrace of the eerie New Age doctrines of Transitional Awareness.

"Back in 1995, the Girl Scouts put an asterisk by the word "God" in the Girl Scout Promise, which allowed members to tell the Almighty to take a hike. It's been downhill ever since."

Read Jane's description of just how steep and slippery that slope has become right here. And then be sure to remember these spooky things the next time cookie-selling season and, for that matter, the coercive United Way drive comes round.

And You Thought "Planet of the Apes" Was a Fantasy

"I am an ape," declared Pedro Pozas, a Spanish animal rights activist, in 2006. The Spanish parliament, which apparently has come to see things Pozas's way, is now poised to endorse the Great Ape Project, granting chimps, bonobos, apes, and orangutans some of the same rights that Jefferson once rooted in the human condition.

The Great Ape Project was launched just 15 years ago by Princeton utilitarian bioethicist Peter Singer and Italian animal rights philosopher Paola Cavalieri with the stated goal of obtaining a United Nations declaration welcoming apes into a "community of equals" with humans. In a kind of parody of the Declaration of Independence, the project's "Declaration on Great Apes" asserts that "all great apes: human beings, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans" have basic rights including "the right to life," the "protection of individual liberty," and the "prohibition of torture," construed to include "deliberate infliction of severe pain for an alleged benefit to others," clearly aimed at the use of apes in medical research.

But why grant apes rights? After all, if the Spanish parliament deems these animals insufficiently protected, it can enact more stringent protections, as other countries have. But improving the treatment of apes--of which there are few in Spain--is not really the game that is afoot. Rather, as Pozas chortled after the environment committee of the Spanish parliament passed the resolutions committing Spain to the Great Ape Project, this precedent will be the "spear point" that breaks the "species barrier."

And why break the species barrier? Why, to destroy the unique status of man and thus initiate a wholesale transformation of Western civilization.

Specifically, by including animals in the "community of equals" and in effect declaring apes to be persons, the Great Ape Project would break the spine of Judeo-Christian moral philosophy, which holds that humans enjoy equal and incalculable moral worth, regardless of our respective capacities, age, and state of health. Once man is demoted to merely another animal in the forest, universal human rights will have to be tossed out and new criteria devised to determine which human/animal lives matter and which individuals can be treated like, well, animals...

Read the rest of Wesley J. Smith's cogent commentary here.

A Behind the Hype Look at a Faith Healer

Divine healing?

Religious philosopher William Dembski is also a loving dad who wants whatever help he can find for his autistic son. In this Baptist Press story, Dembski gives an enlightening (and very personal) look at how one rich and famous "healer" (and, sadly, there's more than a few of these hustlers out there playing the crowds) conducted his show.

In reading Dembski's experience, I was reminded of a "Vital Signs" radio commentary I did several years ago which dealt with this matter. I print the transcript of that brief program below:

Faith Healing VS Divine Healing

There is an important and very distinct difference between faith healing and divine healing.

That’s what I said – these are not synonymous terms.

Faith healing is a phenomenon known even in the general culture for it centers upon the actions of the sick person himself or, in some cases, upon the person who claims to have special gifts or a unique connection to higher powers. The field of faith healing thus includes psychotherapy, hypnosis, placebos, positive thinking, and the theatrical productions that glorify celebrity healers.

But divine healing is radically different. Divine healing is God supernaturally reaching down and healing someone. And when God heals, it is He and He alone Who gets the glory. There’s no human healer on stage standing in the glare of a spotlight to confuse the issue.

Furthermore, God doesn’t need you to somehow work up enough faith (or money) to get Him on the job. When God heals, He does it in His way, in His time, and, make no mistake about it, for His glory alone.

And despite the unbiblical claims of many prosperity preachers, God frequently (I would even say usually) decides not to heal. Remember the Scripture – “It’s appointed unto men once to die”? That’s all men. "The wages of sin" inescapably involve decay and death. But this simple truth is frequently forgotten in many Christian circles and the results are disastrous.

Whether it’s the heartbreak of someone like Joni Eareckson-Tada being pushed out of healing crusades still in her wheelchair, the dangerous confusion which results when believers seek miraculous manifestations more than they do their daily responsibilities to live in holiness and compassion, or the dishonor brought to Christianity when the world discovers the many frauds in the faith healing biz – we’ve clearly got things out of whack.

It’s way past time to quit making up our own religious doctrines and get back to diligently studying the Good Book…serving Jesus by His rules, His priorities, and for His glory.

(H/T to this Pearcey Report post for drawing my attention to Dembski's moving story.)

"The Real Test Now is How Many People Will Leave" -- Anglican Church Votes to Ordain Women Bishops

Well, the Anglicans have taken yet another bold step into heresy -- and thus deeper into religious irrelevance as well -- by the decision of the Church of England's General Synod to allow the ordination of women bishops.

Here is a brief video report from Sky News correspondent Mike McCarthy. Interestingly, it includes a report of many priests (even of at least 6 bishops) believing this is the last straw of an arrogantly erring denomination and who will probably convert to Roman Catholicism. It also has the frank analysis of Mr. McCarthy, "The real test now is how many people will leave. There are certainly going to be many individuals...wrestling with their conscience, asking of themselves in the months and perhaps years to come, 'Do I have a place within the Church of England?'"

The Synod's decision isn't a big surprise, of course; the drift towards modernism has, in recent years, denigrated into a dramatic lurch leftwards with an ever-increasing hostility to tradition, to the Bible's authority, and even to polite dissenters within their ranks.

One such dissenter is perhaps the foremost orthodox theologian in the Anglican Church, Dr. J. I. Packer. Packer, a prolific writer and lecturer, seminary professor, an executive editor of Christianity Today, named by Time Magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America, and and the author of one of the late 20th Century's most influential religious books, Knowing God was, in fact, booted out of the Anglican Church because he would not cave in to modernist revisions.

After having his ministerial license revoked by a liberal Canadian bishop, Packer became a part of the Anglican Network in Canada, an alternative (no, make that rival) organization which decided that persuading the Anglican Church to hold the line against secular acculturation just wasn't working. Believing Christian orthodoxy too precious a thing to waste, they, like other Anglicans who retain a deep respect for the Bible's instructions, created a structure more in keeping with traditional Anglican teaching.

Dr. Packer recently made a public call for Dr. Rowan Williams, the controversial and wildly heterodox Archbishop of Canterbury, to resign. Packer explained that Williams has grievously helped lead the Anglican Church into the deep, dangerous waters of heresy. But Williams isn't alone. Indeed, Packer said that the Anglican bishops leading the Church are no longer just theoretical heretics, but are heretics in practice.

In this article, David Virtue summarizes a presentation Dr. Packer recently gave at Holy Trinity in Eastbourne, England. At that gathering, Packer delineated the specific errors made by the Anglican hierarchy in four issues: Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Liberalism and Homosexuality. Virtue posts a link at the end of the article to a MP3 recording of Dr. Packer's remarks but, even if you don't have the time to listen to the sermon, Virtue's summary will leave you with several important points to ponder. Here are a couple:

* On Anglicanism, Packer highlighted two different views - those who saw Anglicanism as being bound up with historical practices (defined by traditions) and those who saw it being defined by principles contained in the Creeds, Prayer Book, The 39 Articles etc. Packer made it clear he stood in the second camp - Anglicanism is based on principles. He also stated that he believed Anglicanism is "the richest version of Evangelicalism that the world has seen".

* On Liberalism, Packer used the 4 S's to define liberalism.
Subordinates Scripture to the culture and individualistic Christian experience;
Sanctifies the Secular;
Scales down the Supernatural; and
Sweeps away Biblical Standards On Homosexuality

"Religious Justice" As Enacted by the Taliban

Below is described an example of how "religious justice" is meted out by the Taliban in Pakistan. Be forewarned, it's brutal. And yet, because of how rarely such stories make their way to the front pages of Western newspapers, it's important to read. Only through facing these outrageous horrors will Americans understand the true nature of radical Islam.

...In any event, loudspeakers in mosques called the faithful to witness the brutality that was to follow. A crowd estimated at 5,000 or more assembled. The Afghans were dragged out of a car. Masked militants pulled the two blindfolded Afghans from a car and forced them to kneel on the ground.

Waliur Rehman, a local Taliban commander, told the crowd that the two men had confessed to aiding in the strike on a house in the border town of Damadola that killed 14 people last month. The men disclosed the names of others accused of involvement, who would be killed as well, Rehman said. ...

"Whoever, for the sake of money, for the sake of America, harms the interest of the Islamic world will meet the same fate," Rehman said. Gunmen with daggers then pounced on one of the men—identified as Jan Wali, 36—decapitated him and waved his bloody head to the cheering crowd....

The crowd cheered "Allahu akbar," or "God is great." You can see how this would be a religious experience. The assassins then debated whether the second man should be decapitated, since he may not have been of age. One of the gunmen settled the issue by shooting him in the head...

(Sources: Power Line via the Associated Press via BreitBart.com)

Global Warming as a "Sick-Souled Religion"?

Bret Stephens has an enlightened, distinctly international perspective on political and economic affairs. Born in Mexico City; educated in Britain and the U.S.; the youngest ever editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post; and now an editorial writer and news commentator for the Wall Street Journal based in Brussels -- Stephens' observations are always worthwhile to consider.

And among the many important things on his mind these days is the mania surrounding global warming.

Here, in this important WSJ article, Bret Stephens shares some of the most insightful, most disarming arguments against the "sick-souled religion" that is global warming that you'll find. His examination of the mania deals with its ideology, theology and psychology -- an unusual approach which makes for really excellent reading.

Bret Stephens' "Global Warming as Mass Neurosis" is certainly a "keeper article" and another good one to e-mail to friends.

Israel Cave-In: Terrorists Returned to Hezbollah

It's a strange and ominous pattern nowadays that sees the stronger force surrender to the weaker, even when the weaker forces are those fomenting the grossest immoralities, injustices and even terror.

The latest case in point from Israel? A deal approved by the Israeli cabinet (22-3) which awards Israel 2 corpses and what P. David Hornik calls "partial, inadequate information on Ron Arad, the airman shot down over Lebanon in 1986." In turn, Israel gives away to Hezbollah classified information about four Iranian diplomats and five, very much alive, terrorists.

Among the sadists being returned to Hezbollah is Samir Kuntar, highly-praised by his terrorist peers for savagely murdering a four-year old Jewish girl in 1979.

Here's Hornik's report of this sordid political cave-in affair from Front Page Magazine.

Michelle Obama Promises Homosexual Audience Her Husband's Full Support of Gay Agenda

Oh yes; about those Christians who are saying they will vote for Barack Obama in November...do you think they'll be at all bothered by his aggressive support of the homosexual agenda? Or have they pushed the Bible's clear and very serious teachings about homosexuality so far aside that they can applaud Michelle Obama's speech before the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee last night? A speech, by the way, for which she was given a standing ovation after promising that her husband would do everything he could to fight discrimination and promote equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered.

Specifically, Michelle Obama promised her husband would:

* support a complete repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

* support a complete repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward homosexuals in the U.S. military.

* oppose a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

* support full family and adoption rights for homosexual couples.

* oppose any interference by the federal government regarding states who legalize domestic partnerships, civil unions or civil marriage among homosexuals.

* oppose homophobia, especially in the African-American community.

“Nothing we have to do over the next four or eight years is going to be easy," Michelle Obama concluded. "There will be powerful forces who believe that things should stay just as they are, that everything is fine, and that’s where you all come in. Your voices of truth and hope and of possibility have got to drown out the skeptics and the cynics.”