opinion

Growing anti-religious sentiment is not behind church shootings, but it is clear who is to blame for the others.

As I have noted often, LGBTQ advocates have been implementing a decades-long strategy to normalize LGBTQ behavior through popular media and culture, legalize it in the courts, stigmatize those who disagree as “homophobic” and “dangerous,” and then criminalize such disagreement. All four phases of this strategy are clearly at work in our society today.

On Tuesday, the misleadingly named “Respect for Marriage Act” was passed by the Senate. Twelve Republicans and every Democrat voted yes for the bill, whose name makes it sound as if it affirms and supports marriage. In reality, however, it further enshrines a redefined understanding of marriage into law. According to this bill, marriage is nothing more than the legal affirmation of adult desires, rather than a  bedrock for thriving civilizations, built on the realities of who men and women are and oriented around the needs and best interests of children. This new bill replaces the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

The God who came at Christmas comes again into the lives of all who trust him as Lord and Savior (John 1:12). As we have noted this week, he loves you not because you are lovable but because he is love (1 John 4:8).

 In recent years, Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research have documented the theological decline among evangelical Christians. According to the most recent edition of the survey, a stunning 43 percent of today’s evangelical Christians believe that “Jesus was a great teacher, but not God.” Like in 18th-century England, Arianism is alive and well today in our a-theological approach to faith. Neither cultural darkness nor theological apathy is new. Often at the darkest times, God chooses to renew His people and light the world. 

Billy Graham was right: “Many of us have put our faith in money, jobs, status, gadgets, pleasures, and thrills. Many of us—and society as a whole—have tried to bypass God, and now we are paying the inevitable price. We are in trouble because we have left out God; we have left out the Ten Commandments; we have left out the Sermon on the Mount. Now we as individuals and as a culture are reaping the tragic results.” The answer to our cultural crisis is found at Christmas.

Each and every Christian should be clear on this point: Anti-Semitism in any and all forms is a despicable evil. Last month, Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye, made antisemitic remarks on social media about going “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” and while he’s apologized for those specific words, he’s not letting up on other antisemitic comments. And earlier this month, the FBI located the source of a threat to a New Jersey synagogue. These events are occurring against the backdrop of antisemitic behavior rising by a record-high 34% in 2021 from 2020 according to the Anti-Defamation League. Jews are only 2% of the American population, but the FBI has stated they account for more than half of the targeted hate crimes.

When we believe no matter which way the wind blows that “God is love,” we learn that we can see his presence with us in the hardest places and times of life. We personally experience his promise, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2). We discover that we can say with David, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). And we trust that he is redeeming our pain in ways we may not understand on this side of glory, so we rest in the fact that one day “I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The Republican Party has no excuse for its failure to win control of the Senate in this year’s midterm elections. Facing record-high inflation, an unpopular President, and a general malaise across the country, the GOP should have gained control of the Senate, racked up a sizeable majority in the House, and flipped Governorships all across the country. Instead, Democrats remain in control of the Senate, the House majority will be slim at best, and won several Governors’ races that should have gone to the GOP. Like a football team that blew a winnable game, the GOP needs to sit in the film room and figure out what went wrong.

The days before and after Thanksgiving make for an odd holiday. Most Americans barely sit down to dinner before Elvis, Santa, and Mariah Carey invade their lives. Then comes the corporate fever dream known as “Black Friday,” followed by its digital sequel “Cyber Monday.” In all that time, there is precious little room left to be thankful as citizens of the wealthiest nation, or consider how to give back in light of that reality. Another tradition, however, offers the opportunity to buck the trend. Falling on November 30 this year, Giving Tuesday is a chance to celebrate the abundance so many enjoy and pass it along to others.