The Doomsday Seed Vault Was Tapped; On the Reading of Books...more

Abortion, Suicide, And Same-Sex Weddings Are Now Your Job ...But progressives gotta’ progress. The Left’s ultimate objective is not merely to legalize abortion, assisted suicide, or same-sex marriage. It is to weaponize government to coerce your participation. If you don’t “do your [newly and arbitrarily redefined] job,” you will suffer severe consequences: You will be fired. You will lose your law, medical, or other professional license. You will be ineligible to run for public office. You will be unable to earn a living for your family by running a small business...

Albert Mohler: Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books  ...As Solomon warned, “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecc 12:12). There is no way to read everything, and not everything deserves to be read. I say that in order to confront the notion that anyone, anywhere, can master all that could be read with profit. I read a great deal, and a large portion of my waking hours are devoted to reading. Devotional reading for spiritual profit is an important part of the day, and that begins with the reading of Scripture. In terms of timing, I am somewhat unorthodox. My best time for spending time in the Word is late at night, when all is calm and quiet and I am mentally alert and awake. That is not the case when I first get up in the mornings, when I struggle to find each word on the page (or anything else, for that matter).

In the course of any given week, I will read several books. I know how much I thrive on this learning and the intellectual stimulation I get from reading. As my wife and family would be first to tell you, I can read almost anytime, anywhere, under almost any kind of conditions. I have a book with me virtually all the time, and have been known to snatch a few moments for reading at stop lights. No, I do not read while driving (though I must admit that it has been a temptation at times). I took books to high school athletic events when I played in the band. (Heap coals of scorn and nerdliness here). I remember the books; do you remember the games?...

Churches in Ruin
It’s estimated that every year between 4,000 and 7,000 churches close down in the USA. In Europe, the statistics vary by country: approximately 20 Church of England churches are closed per year in the UK; in Holland, the statistics are much higher, at around two per week.

There are ongoing debates about what to do with all these unused churches. In some instances, they have been repurposed: churches have become bars, skate parks and art galleries. But some churches do not get to have a second life. Many are abandoned to deteriorate slowly. Photographer Hans van Vrouwerf has a fascination with lost faith and forgotten places of worship, and has visually documented about 20 abandoned churches around Europe...

Taxing Churches Would Marry Church And State   A spate of articles in prominent venues (such as Time and the Washington Post) have argued we should do away with “tax exemptions” for churches. In the most recent volley, David Niose claims that religious tax exemptions equal religious subsidies. Since fewer Americans are going to church, he suggests it’s time to stop subsidizing religion.

 

The claim that tax exemptions for churches (or for religious organizations more broadly) are just the same thing as subsidizing religion is absurd. As our friend Francis Beckwith points out, that’s a lot like saying the government subsidizes each of us because it doesn’t tax our income 100 percent (there is a formal equivalency in the two positions). But for the sake of argument, we’ll put the absurdity of the position to the side....

Whistleblowers claim Obama White House uses ‘doctored’ intel reports  Some of the U.S. intelligence community’s top analysts reportedly informed the Pentagon watchdog that their reports have been systematically edited to backup President Barack Obama’s—and his national security team’s—assertions that the war on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as more successful than it actually is, according to news reports from outlets such as The Hill.

Not Good: The Doomsday Seed Vault Was Tapped Due To The Syrian Civil War   In the arctic, there is a vault 500 feet into a mountain that house hundreds of thousands of seeds in case of a catastrophic human event, or natural disaster, which threatens the biodiversity of the planet. It’s our saving account against starvation. National Public Radio reported last week that the first withdrawal was made due to the brutal war in Syria...

Migrant Crisis Update: “No End in Sight” to influx
“This is a continental transfer”


‘Ashokan Farewell’: The Story Behind the Tune Ken Burns Made Famous