Children of "Unstable" Marriages

Ed Whelan of NRO has a three part article about the recent study of children of various alternative forms of marriage published by the academic journal Social Science Research.  The study has caused a fair amount of buzz on the web with opponents of gay marriage quoting it and supporters of gay marriage trashing it.  Interesting that there is a secondary conclusion that is suggested by the study.  (More)

Another Reason to Oppose Government Controlled Medicine

A number of sources report this case of a Chinese woman forced into the abortion of her baby in the seventh month of her pregnancy.  While the Chinese government is apparently "investigating" the officials who had five men forcibly hold this 23 year old woman down to give her an injection that resulted in the birth of a dead baby two days later, it has been pointed out that the officials were simply enforcing the Chinese national policy of one child per family. 

For context, remember that Joe Biden has expressed sympathy for the Chinese one-child policy, and the president who has forced a number of health care mandates on us was once a champion of live-birth abortion.  When efforts in our country were made to reduce the horror of partial birth abortion, the party of Biden, Clinton and Obama could do nothing but spout talking points to ignore the substance of the issue.

Health care is too important to leave in the hands of power brokers with political agendas and collectivist tendencies.

There Aren't That Many of Us

David French blogs at Patheos under the blog name The French Revolution.  He recently wrote An Open Letter to Young, “Post-Partisan” Evangelicals.

In the article he describes his own journey of rebellion, young idealistic political views that focused on justice and the poor and eschewed the culture wars - until gradually he came to a place where he became a full fledged conservative.  It is worth a read.  A couple of highlights:  (More)

Christian Unity - And the Son...

Interesting little post at the Anglican site Virtue Online about the filioque clause in the Nicene Creed.  For those unfamiliar, the filioque controversy surrounds a single phrase in the Nicene Creed.  In the original version of the Creed, the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father".  But at the council of Toledo in 589, the phrase was added that in English is translated "...and the Son", meaning that in some sense the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son.

The issues are two:  Does the Holy Spirit originate from the Son?  Is the existence of the Holy Spirit contingent on the Son?   (I'm not sure most who use the latter version of the Creed would assert that).

Why I Am a Conservative - Health Care

My first thoughts about health care go back about 29 years when I went to a dentist in California for a toothache.   I had signed up for an HMO, which seemed like a great program.  Pay a small set fee and everything is covered!  Wonderful.  The dentist in question was part of that HMO plan and I could only go to a dentist "in plan".  After an X-ray revealed that I had swollen sinuses from a sinus infection that was causing the pain in the roots of my teeth I went to a regular doctor - in plan - and after an antibiotic I was good to go.  So I decided to take advantage of the plan and schedule a normal dental checkup.

I expected what I had always experienced - that I would sit down in a chair, a dentist would poke and prod at my teeth, they would take some X-rays and if necessary I would return to have a cavity filled - one visit or maybe two.  What happened opened my eyes to the realities of what is now a health care mess.  First I came in for the checkup.  Cha-ching!  (More)

Why I Am a Conservative - The Poor

Maybe no other issue divides the Christian left and right more than the care of the poor and downtrodden.  I suppose it is true that some on the right who are more adept at generating heat than light caricature the more liberal views as coddling the lazy or something like that.  I know it is true that the secular left has for decades repeated the same phrase election cycle after election cycle "tax breaks for the rich" while accusing conservatives of being heartless and greedy.

In the end, both sides agree there needs to be a safety net.  People lose jobs through no fault of their own.  Illness and misfortune can happen.  And yes, people make bad choices leaving spouses and children in difficult circumstances.   A safety net is needed and that includes some provision for job loss, for income loss and for catastrophic medical needs.  (More)

A Glimmer of Hope

Watching the news of the recall election in Wisconsin, one little tidbit caught my attention.  Apparently a number of Democrats who were not Scott Walker supporters voted for him.  Why?  Apparently because they disliked the recall process.  Normally a recall is held when there some sort of malfeasance on the part of an elected official.  Recalls are not intended to be a "redo" of an election simply because someone dislikes the outcome.

So apparently, a number of Democrats took the position that we have regular elections every four years and having a recall over policies is not the intent of the law - the rule of law needs to hold so they voted to reaffirm the lawful election rather than vote party line on something they found wrong on principle.  

That kind of stand for principle gives me a little bit of hope not all is lost on the left side of the aisle.  Whatever one thinks of Walker or his policies, the recall seemed out of line from the get go.  Glad a new precedent was not set.  

Why I Am Conservative - Economics

I find it odd that issues surrounding macroeconomics divide Christians.  The Christian left seems primarily concerned with social justice issues and the disparity between rich and poor and the Christian "right" seems more concerned with personal responsibility and limited government.  To be clear, neither side thinks the poor should be ignored, the question is how to best manage a national and global economy - debates about helping the poor are about the balance between government program and private charity and that would require a different post.

For me, the matters related to economy and government are fairly simple.  But I need to be clear that I do not believe there is a prescribed economic system in the Bible.  The Old Testament deals with Jews under a theocracy, the New Testament deals with Jews and Christians living under Roman rule. Neither is directly parallel to being citizens of a constitutional democratic republic.  Theories about Capitalism, socialism, Marxism, had not been developed.  Neither Adam Smith nor John Maynard Keynes  nor Milton Friedman were around in the 10th century B.C.  (More)