worldview

The nationwide “loneliness epidemic” that was the subject of a recent surgeon general report can be traced to America’s rejection of God, rocker and author John Cooper says.

“Romanticize your life” is a phrase you’ll see in the captions everywhere. The posts feature young women drinking luscious matcha lattes, putting on facemasks, lighting candles in their bedrooms, or journaling in nature. The idea is to care for yourself so fully that you feel like the main character in a movie. The more you cherish and celebrate the little things in your life, the more you fall in love with it and yourself. You start to notice the good all-around you and make every day meaningful.

It really is a whole mindset that someone can take on. And as a 20-something Instagram junkie, I am inundated with these images constantly. But I wonder if it’s something that Jesus would get behind if he were living today – or even if it’s something he did when he roamed our earth!

For years, JPMorgan Chase has had its thumb on the scale of the culture wars through an unfair practice called “de-banking.” By rejecting payment processes and closing accounts of politically conservative and religious organizations and individuals, Chase has attempted to silence those voices and views from public debate.

In response to institutions like Chase, the Alliance Defending Freedom has developed the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index.

There is ultimately only one cure for the sickness of sin and the depravity of the human condition. Being religious is not enough—many churches and church leaders in Germany tragically and heretically supported Hitler’s regime. Trying harder to do better is not enough—despite the laudatory and courageous fight against anti-Semitism being waged by Yad Vashem and many others, this scourge continues to grow in America and Europe. But when Christ rules our heart, we love everyone he loves and hate everything he hates. 

Best-selling novelist Karen Kingsbury says she believes her books have succeeded because they include an element – faith – that many other novels omit.

Collectively we can do better. Nearly every week, we read a new tragic headline and story of unaccompanied children and youth from Central America meeting some horrific end while attempting to immigrate to the US. In the previous few months alone, there have been reports of mass abductions, a deadly fire at a Mexican migrant detention center, heat stroke deaths in abandoned cargo boxes and videos of tiny children being left at the border wall by smugglers called “Coyotes.”

As a leader of a major project aimed at identifying causation and potential solutions to this challenge, there are two obvious truths we must face. One, the national conversations we are having about this challenge are shaped by wildly inaccurate rhetoric that is frankly not helping. And secondly, the major efforts by both faith-based and government agencies alike are insufficient, dated and in need of fresh and more sophisticated approaches to the challenge.

A bill currently on the desk of the governor of the state of Washington would, if he signs it, allow homeless shelters and youth homes to hide runaway youth from their parents, if those parents will not help them obtain gender-based medical interventions. The law would not require shelters or law enforcement to investigate if parents are abusive or neglectful, or if the young person is in danger. All that would be required is for young people to claim that their parents do not support their intent to take cross-sex hormones or obtain dangerous surgery.

This is the latest and most alarming example of an often-portrayed conflict between the rights of a child and the rights of parents. 

For many years, my Israeli friends have taught me the importance of resilience as they refuse to allow threats of violence to change their lives. They take shelter when necessary, but they choose not to live in fear because this gives the “terrorists” (“those who cause terror”) what they want.

When violence does strike, they return to normal as quickly as possible. While Americans might turn the site of a terrorist attack into a memorial to those who died, Israelis typically do not. They do not want to memorialize the crime, believing that they pay tribute to their dead by living well. I witnessed such courage in Israel last week. 

You may not have heard of it yet, but there’s a new approach to parenting. It’s called “gentle” parenting. It emphasizes the emotions of the child. The parent is a coach rather than a disciplinarian.

Recently, an article in Nautilus magazine touted the benefits of play. Authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross conclude, “Play … is universal to our species, and when humans play, it positively influences both their cognitive development and their emotional well-being.” This is particularly important for developing what experts call “the 6 C’s”: collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence.

But today’s kids aren’t playing. Instead, the generation of human beings with more leisure time than at any other moment in history is spending it on screens.