President Humperdinck

Last night our president said the following in response to a question about being the (main) shareholder in the auto industry:

"I don't want to run auto companies. I don't want to run banks. I've got two wars I've got to run already. I've got more than enough to do. So the sooner we can get out of that business, the better off we're going to be."

It reminded me of a great scene from The Princess Bride, when the evil Count Rugen and Prince Humperdinck are in the midst of a nefarious plot, which includes the torture of Wesley, the hero.

Count Rugen: Ah. Are you coming down into the pit? Wesley's got his strength back. I'm starting him on the machine tonight.
Prince Humperdinck: [sincerely] Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.
Count Rugen: Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything.

My advice to President Obama: Don't be a Humperdinck. Get some rest, then strap on your helmet and shoulder pads. Remember, you volunteered for this job.

Christian Book Expo Nixed for 2010

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association has decided to not stage another consumer-focused Christian Book Expo next year. This year's event, held last month in Dallas, drew only 1,500 of an anticipated 10,000 to 15,000 attendees and left the ECPA with $250,000 in bills. Christianity Today participated in the event by convening five author panel discussions on topics such as "Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?" (Podcasts and videos of these discussions are available.) Mark Kuyper, ECPA's president, told Publishers' Weekly, "“We want to clean up the debt before we consider future options."

Ending Poverty and Abortion (Correction)

Today Sojourners (which has finally admitted it is part of the Religious Left) and other evangelical groups are wrapping up a big meeting during which they have strategized about "ending poverty." This is a lofty, noble goal, one we would all like to see. Of course, like all Religious Left groups, the solution will probably come down to the moral imperative of spending more government money-that is, money taken from taxpayers and given to non-taxpayers.

I don't expect the theme of personal responsibility will get a lot of prominence in the closing press release. That's all right; political power exercised in the service of ending poverty (especially given the friendly response the newly emboldened Religious Left anticipates receiving from the Obama administration) is a virtue, or at least the cost of doing God's business, right? Of course, when members of the far more numerous Religious Right attempted to exercise political power in defense of the unborn, that was wrong. Right?

Interestingly (to me, at least), many of these Obama supporters (who for years proclaimed they were neither Republicans nor Democrats but said they were only following the red letters of Jesus) who say that we can end poverty are the same ones counseling us that we can only reduce abortion. Poverty is such a moral evil that we must eradicate it, no matter the cost. Abortion, however, is bad, but not so bad that it must be ended. We can live with "abortion reduction" (even if some of the unborn will not).

Despite the fact that Jesus said (in red letters, no less) that the poor we will have with us always, they think we can go him one better and eradicate it through more deficit spending. Meanwhile, Jesus also told his followers to suffer the little children to come unto him (also in red letters).

Perhaps the Religious Left would have more credibility if its members, who sniff that they are "consistently prolife," would take unborn human life as seriously as they do born human life.

Correction: In my grumpiness this morning I assumed that the Sojourners meeting on poverty would give short-shrift to issues of personal responsibility. But in the preconference write-up we get the following:

Personal and Community Responsibility

Marriage and Family. There must be commitments to education and action on reducing teen pregnancy, strengthening marriage and family formation, in-home parenting coaching and support, encouraging responsible fatherhood, preventing domestic violence, and preventing the abuse and neglect of children.

Asset Creation. The wealth gap is even greater than the income gap, especially among minority families. Families should be assisted in asset and wealth creation that provides security and freedom.

Job Training. In an increasingly complex marketplace, the will to work must be accompanied by desirable skills. Needed training includes basic education and spiritual formation about a work ethic along with the specific knowledge and skills needed to compete for employment.

Government and Religious Partnership. Government and religious partnerships should be entered into with a respect for the law, and safeguards to prevent use of direct government funding for spiritual activities should be in place. Efforts of religious groups can be strengthened if given greater resources and respect, but faith-based service providers should not be expected to replace the role of government in addressing social needs.

Neighborhoods. There should be more support for community-based policing, after-school programs, and Community Development Block Grant funding.

Racial Justice. We need a more honest discussion about policies that foster or ignore racial inequality. We need reconciliation with one another and greater respect for basic human rights.

While I might quibble with some of the details, I stand corrected. Sojourners says it is focusing on both the public and private spheres. Good for them.

Obama and the Bush Conscience Regulations

By E. Christian Brugger

Most are aware that the Obama administration has taken aim at conscience regulations passed in the waning days of the Bush administration protecting health care workers from participating in abortions and sterilizations. Some however might be confused as to the precise nature of the new administration’s initiative.

When Red Is Red

In October 2007 I wrote a column entitled "When Red Is Blue." In it I took Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, Sojourners, and other assorted Christians to task for claiming the political and theological middle ground while actually being in the hip pocket of the Democrats:

Of course, while Christians should not be beholden to any political party, our politics must be informed by our faith. Unfortunately, the platform of Red-Letter Christians always seems to come out of the wash blue, just as some other "nonpartisan" Christian groups consistently align with the Republicans.

If you believe ending poverty requires more government spending and a higher minimum wage; if you believe in a manmade global warming crisis; if you oppose school vouchers; if homosexual marriage is no big deal (and in fact a civil right); and if you are tired of talking about the 50 million unborn human beings lost to abortion since 1973, then you know which lever to pull.

The Red-Letter Christians vigorously protested. CT allowed Rev. Campolo to post a reply at the end of my column, in which he said:

You got us RLCs right again when you suggested we were anti-war, pro-environment, and deeply committed to ending poverty primarily because we believe Jesus is anti-war, pro-environment, and deeply committed to ending poverty. The only mistake you made was to imply that thinking this way—or trying to influence our government according to these values—makes us the Religious Left.

Well, now that a political liberal occupies the White House, the polite fiction of nonpartisanship has been dispensed with. Sojourners is coming into the open to say what many have long suspected, that it is a religious tool of the Left. Jason Gedeik, deputy press secretary of Sojourners, yesterday notified my colleague Ted Olsen and other members of the religious media:

I wanted to gauge your interest in the first big mobilization of the Religious Left in the Obama era — a signal of the shift in power dynamics. Sojourners is mobilizing over a thousand Christian activists and 70 religious and anti-poverty groups at a conference next week in DC to prepare a new poverty coalition for legislative battle this year. This is the Religious Left filling the hole created by the decline of the Religious Right but now we have the political power and ear of the White House — definitely a new trend and a “first” within this new political era.

As Ted correctly notes, "For decades, Sojourners founder Jim Wallis has repeatedly argued that neither he nor Sojourners are part of the Religious Left."

Actually, the only thing that has changed with this open political mobilization is the Religious Left's willingness to admit where it really stands. I wonder if the Red-Letter Christians will sell themselves out as much as the Religious Right, at times, has, in their lust for political power. If so, then it will be likely true that red is not only blue. It will also be red-with embarrassment.

Thinking about Heaven on Earth Day

When Frodo sailed into the West, never to return to a Middle Earth that was itself slipping away, I got choked up. When Narnia was no more, I felt a longing of regret:

The spreading blackness was not a cloud at all: it was simply emptiness. The black part of the sky was the part in which there were no stars left. All the stars were falling: Aslan had called them home.

As a billion people observe the 40th Earth Day today and think about the noble goal of preserving (and for Christians, stewarding) the planet on which we live and move and have our being, I am thinking about heaven.

There’s a reason the Bible promises us a new heaven and a new earth. This world, as seemingly solid and as breathtakingly beautiful as it is, is transient beyond our comprehension. And despite our best (and sometimes misguided) efforts, this pale blue dot in a sea of inky blackness is headed for extinction. That’s not a world-denying premillennial eschatological perspective that cannot be verified. It’s the latest findings of the new science of astrobiology.

According to Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee, life on earth is the result of a precarious—and temporary—balance of air, rock, and solar activity. In The Life and Death of Planet Earth, They write, “Our neighboring planets, Venus and Mars, one blisteringly hot and the other frozen, have provided valuable insights into how rare, unique, and wonderful our own home is.”

Ward and Brownlee, authors of Rare Earth, say the planet is already in decline and make the following predictions related to earth’s eventual demise:

- The long-term climate threat to human civilization comes not from global warming, but from a new ice age: “Human civilization has arisen in a brief ‘interglacial’ that has lasted only about twelve thousand years and may already be ending.”
- The loss of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 100 million years will spell the end of plant life (meaning the Age of Plants is 95 percent over);
- All life, even microbial life, which most scientists believe began 3.4 billion years ago, will be extinct in a mere 500 million years;
- When earth, currently estimated at 4.5 billion years old, is 12 billion years old, it will be swallowed by an expanding sun.

Given these projections, the old hymn, “This World Is Not My Home,” resonates with me on this Earth Day.

This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

Yes, while we pass through this world, let's take care of it for our good and for God's glory. But let's remember that Jesus has promised to prepare an even better place for his followers. For us, the end of the world represents the beginning of something far better.

Ugly Tactics at a Beauty Pageant

Carrie Prejean, 21, says her honest answer about whether she supports marriage by homosexuals cost her an opportunity to win Sunday's Miss USA pageant. The question came from gay judge Perez Hilton, who apparently set her up.

In an appearance Monday on MSNBC, Hilton said he was absolutely "shocked and incredibly frustrated and disappointed" with Prejean's stance.

"That's not the kind of woman I want to be Miss USA," he said. "Miss USA should represent all Americans and, with her answer, she instantly alienated millions of gays and lesbians and their friends."

Earlier, Hilton had said on his video blog he would have run onstage and ripped the tiara off Prejean's head had she won the title.

And the blogger would not have been the only member of the Miss USA family to go apoplectic had Prejean advanced in the competition. Keith Lewis, executive director of California's Miss USA operations, said in a statement released to Hilton that "religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family."

Prejean Monday said she was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything.

...

Prejean said she has received 2,000 friend requests on Facebook since the weekend controversy began unfolding.

Where Their Treasure Is

Sarah Pulliam has an interesting post on the CT Liveblog. Last year Barack and Michelle Obama gave over $172,000 of their massive joint income to charity-a hefty 6.5 percent. But far less than 1 percent went to religious organizations.

A couple of quick comments and a question about the Obamas' giving:

1. 6.5 percent overall giving off a handsome income adds up to $172,000 or so. That's quite a lot. I wonder how it stacks up to other rich Americans' charitable giving?

2. The .3 percent given to churches and the like is definitely much smaller than the average for Christians, which, according to empty tomb inc., is somewhere between 2 and 3 percent. It's obvious the Obamas believe they can do more good with their money through nonreligious charities than through religious ones.

3. I don't see any listing for Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. The reverend was our president's spiritual mentor and adviser until they parted ways during the campaign. Is it possible Barack Obama gave nothing to his former home church?

Dinesh D'Souza vs. Peter Singer

The video of the Christian apologist verbally sparring with the atheist professor at Princeton is finally available. Here is D'Souza's March column, "Staring into the Abyss," for Christianity Today, based in part on their debate.

The Decline of Christian America, or Objective Reporting?

By Glenn T. Stanton

Here we are, getting ready for our big week, reflecting on our Savior’s death for humankind and celebrating the triumph and miracle of his resurrection, and then we get the news from Newsweek that we as a movement are now dead. Well, not quite dead, “but less of a force in U.S. politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory.”

Pizza Putdown

How quickly people forget where they came from. President Obama likes to brag about how they do things in Chicago, but apparently his favorite pizza comes from ... St. Louis. Say it ain't so, Barack!

The president has tapped a chi-chi St. Louis eatery called Pi (get it?) to cater a White House dinner tonight for 140 people (Recession? What recession?) instead of a pizza purveyor from Chicago, which is world famous for its deep-dish pies.

This is the biggest coup for St. Louis since the hated Cardinals swept the Cubs.

"They were very excited," said Pi assistant manager Lindsey Tornetto, who gloated that Obama requested Pi's pizza after remembering it from a St. Louis campaign stop in October. "No hard feelings," Tornetto said. "I guess he likes the cornmeal [crust]."

Chicagoans, who take their pizza seriously, are trying to put a brave face on it.

Marc Malnati, owner of 30 Lou Malnati's Pizzerias across the Chicago area, said he'd never heard of Pi and had to assume Obama's choice came from lack of experience.

"I like his economic policy—I think he's going to get us out of trouble. I like his foreign policy—he's making friends around the world. His pizza policy is going to have to change," Malnati said.

I have more bad news for Malnati. He's not going to like the president's economic policy when he gets his tax bill.

Will Islam Return Obama's 'Respect'?

By Daniel Henninger

In short, the "respect" Mr. Obama promised to give Islam is going only in one direction. And he knows that.

Thanks to You-Know-Who

Remember when Candidate Barack Obama ran against "Bush's war"? Here's what the new president said to the troops yesterday:

Under enormous strain and under enormous sacrifice, through controversy and difficulty and politics, you've kept your eyes focused on just doing your job. And because of that, every mission that's been assigned -- from getting rid of Saddam, to reducing violence, to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections -- you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement, and for that you have the thanks of the American people.

Does that mean he now regrets his politicization of the war and is giving credit to President Bush? I doubt it. While on the White House site's presentation of the speech, I typed "Bush" into my search tool and was greeted with "Phrase not found." Oh well. It's a start.

Obama's Muslim Slander

By Mona Charen

Lest this slander pass into conventional wisdom, it must be protested. George W. Bush was never disrespectful to the Muslim world. He was extraordinarily careful to telegraph his respect for the Muslim faith — some thought to a fault. (“Why is it,” asked one wag, “that the only people who say Islam is a religion of peace are Christians?”) Bush made the Feast of Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan, an annual White House celebration with prominent Muslim guests. He arguably saved more Muslim lives through the African AIDS initiative than any other world leader could claim. Mrs. Bush made improving the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan her special project. In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when this was not an obvious move, President Bush visited the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. to telegraph to the nation that anger toward American Muslims would be a misplaced response to the atrocity.

The caricature of Bush as a heedless militarist and xenophobe — which no one is doing more to promote than the current president — is a libel.

Capitalistic Religion

Some observers point to the new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) as evidence that religion is finally in decline in the United States. However, John Miclkethwait and Adrian Wooldridge say the nation's free-market principles of innovation and competition help keep religion vibrant.

Religion, no less than software or politics, is a competitive business, where organization and entrepreneurship count. Religious America is led by a series of highly inventive "pastorpreneurs" -- men like Bill Hybels of Willow Creek or Rick Warren of Saddleback. These are far more sober, thoughtful characters than the schlock-and-scandal televangelists of the 1970s, but they are not afraid to use modern business methods to get God's message across.

The authors, who this week are releasing their book God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World (Penguin), have nothing to say in their Wall Street Journal article about how the forces of capitalism may affect orthodoxy for good or ill. But it is probably fair to say that reports of religion's death have been greatly exaggerated.

Hitchens vs. Craig: Round Two

On March 21, William Lane Craig and Christopher Hitchens were part of a larger, CT-sponsored panel discussion on "Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?" After listing multiple argument's for God's existence that he said Hitchens failed to address, in his closing statement Craig, author of Reasonable Faith and a CT cover story on arguments for God's existence, warned Hitchens, author of God Is not Great, to come better prepared to deal with the arguments at their scheduled debate at Biola University on April 4, on the question, "Does God Exist?"

That Biola debate was indeed held this past weekend, drawing thousands of spectators (confirming a CT report on the popularity of such events). The Evangelical Philosophical Society provides a helpful roundup of the coverage.

Who won? Read the summary transcript and coverage and decide for yourself. Biola prof Doug Geivett had this to say in his snap analysis:

[T]his debate exposed a difference in preparation on the part of these two debaters. This is far more significant than it might seem at first. William Lane Craig has debated this topic dozens of times, without wavering from the same basic pattern of argument. He presents the same arguments in the same form, and presses his opponents in the same way for arguments in defense of their own worldviews. He’s consistent. He’s predictable. One might think that this is a liability, that it’s too risky to face a new opponent who has so much opportunity to review Craig’s specific strategy. But tonight’s debate proves otherwise. Hitchens can have no excuse for dropping arguments when he knows—or should know—exactly what to expect. Suppose one replies that William Craig is a more experienced debater and a trained philosopher, while Christopher Hitchens is a journalist working outside the Academy. That simply won’t do as a defense of Hitchens. First, Hitchens is no stranger to debate. Second, he is clearly a skillful polemicist. Third—and most important—Hitchens published a book, god Is Not Great, in which he makes bold claims against religion in general and Christianity in particular. With his book, he threw down the challenge. To his credit, he rose to meet a skillful challenger. But did he rise to the occasion? Did he acquit himself well? At one point he acknowledged that some of his objections to the designer argument were “layman’s” objections. His book, I believe, is also the work of a layman. It appears to have been written for popular consumption and without concern for accountability to Christians whose lives are dedicated to the defense of the Gospel.

UPDATE: CT plans to post podcasts of the five author panel discussions starting later this week.

Wonder-filled Travel

By Mark Galli

Stan Guthrie, managing editor of special projects, had an extraordinary experience on a mission trip.

CT Author Panels Available

UPDATE:

The five videos of the CT-sponsored author panels at the Christian Book Expo

Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
What Is the Gospel?
Living Christianly in a Post-Christian Culture,
The Emerging Church, and
A Guided Tour of Heaven and Hell


are now available at the CT Liveblog site. Please feel free to promote them and link to them. They are between 90 and 120 minutes each. If you would like to broadcast them, in whole or in part, we can arrange it, so please let me know. Thanks very much for your interest and help.

Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?

Here's the video of the CT-sponsored panel discussion on the topic "Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?" On the panel were William Lane Craig, Christopher Hitchens, Douglas Wilson, Lee Strobel, and Jim Denison. I served as moderator. The event occurred at the Christian Book Expo on March 21 in Dallas. My question to Christopher Hitchens starts at about the 30-minute mark.