Which of these two trucks do you suppose was cited for violating the city of Gouverneur, New York’s billboard ordinace? They are both parked on property adjacent to city roads. One has a religious message; the other advertises a drug company. One truck owner was cited, the other wasn’t.
Read the full story here.
Some conservative evangelicals are miffed with Dr. Ravi Zacharias, the honorary chair of this year’s National Day of Prayer. Dr. Zacharias will be present at an interdenominational prayer gathering in Washington, DC today where he will conclude his written prayer, not “In Jesus’ Name,” but rather “In God’s Holy Name.” At least one evangelical group suggests that by not mentioning the name of Jesus Dr. Zacharias is compromising the gospel and violating the explicitly Christian orientation of the National Day of Prayer intended by the Founders…
Zacharias’ prayer stands in stark contrast to the first prayer of the Continental Congress, which was delivered on September 7, 1774 by Reverend Jacob Duché. That distinctly Christian prayer ended with the words: “All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen.” It is the name of Jesus that separates the Christian faith from non-Christian faiths.
Non-Christian religious groups are claiming that the National Day of Prayer, first declared by a joint Congressional resolution and signed by President Harry Truman in 1952, has been “hijacked” by evangelicals who are excluding non-evangelical and non-Christian groups from their observances of the day.
Jews on First: National Day of Prayer is a Subsidiary of Focus on the Family
Christian Science Monitor: How inclusive is the National Day of Prayer?
The National Day of Prayer Task Force has responded to their critics with the following statement on their website:
The National Day of Prayer Task Force was a creation of the National Prayer Committee for the expressed purpose of organizing and promoting prayer observances conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values. People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate. It is that broad invitation to the American people that led, in our case, to the creation of the Task Force and the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is based.
You have noticed there has been minimal activity on the blog for the last few weeks. I’ve been travelling and preparing to travel, but hope to get more active with posts in the next few days.
Pixelmaster rightly points out that I have been slow to approve comments, for the same reasons as those cited above, and suggests that I allow comments without approval so that they can appear immediately. I am making this change with the hope that the community that posts here will police the comments and notify me of anything inappropriate.
I value the debate and dialogue this blog generates and hope to continue to faciliate it. Thanks for your patience.
Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL is one of conservative Christianity’s premier schools. It is, after all, the alma mater of Billy Graham. This week it has stood by its conservative Christian principles and fired a 20 year English professor after it was determined his divorce wasn’t “biblically justified.”
The issue emerged after the professor notified administrators that he and his wife, Lynelle, had filed for divorce last month.
Many theological conservatives say the New Testament permits divorce only in cases of adultery or desertion. Wheaton requires faculty and staff to sign a faith statement and adhere to standards of conduct in areas including marriage, said Provost Stan Jones.
Still, every year, the college has dealt with several cases in which it must evaluate the divorce of a job applicant or a staff or faculty member and consider whether it matches the exceptions laid out in Matthew 19 and the writings of the Apostle Paul.
“And if it does, we stand by the applicant,” Jones said. “In cases where it doesn’t, it’s a tragic instance where we have to say, because of the nature of the institution, we can’t employ you.”
UPDATE: The title of this post was changed to reflect that techincally Professor Gramm resigned his position rather than pursue options to fight for his job.