The sexual revolution and society's descent into darkness; Potty Mouthed Kids Trash Trump...more

Obama Administration Paid for Research Using Intact Human Brains From Aborted Babies Thousands of tax dollars were used to pay for intact aborted babies’ brains used in research at the University of Connecticut, the Washington Free Beacon reported today.

Under the Obama Administration, researchers bought up to two fetal brains per month using taxpayer dollars through the National Institutes of Health, according to documents the news website obtained through a public records request...

The Long Shadow: The sexual revolution and society's descent into darkness less than a generation the Christian moral vision - that human beings flourish when sexual interests are boundaried in life-long covenant between a man and a woman – has seen a profound loss of cultural power. Across Western Europe, those who hold to traditional Christian sexual ethics not only find themselves on the wrong side of popular opinion, but allegedly on the “wrong side of history” too. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Christians with conservative views on sexual ethics to navigate the relationship between private and public spheres of faith.

It is not my purpose, however, to address pressing issues of rights legislation, reasonable accommodation and freedom of religion here. Instead, I want to take a step back to address the impact of the sexual revolution on evangelicalism itself. The reality is that traditional biblical ethics have not only lost cultural power in wider society, but are now seriously weakened within evangelical communities too.

The sociologist Peter Berger argued that unless “cognitive minorities” (those who hold views dissonant with wider society) take active steps to sustain their internal plausibility structures (the ideas and hidden social interactions that support their particular way of life), they are destined to implode. This, I believe, is what is happening in many areas of modern evangelicalism.

Evangelical leaders seem poorly equipped to deal with the complex ethical, biological and social questions inherent in conversations about marriage and human sexuality. Despite their tradition of “Christian mind”, with some notable exceptions, they have displayed little serious academic engagement with these areas...

Enthusiastic Episcopalians Install Their New Leader ...Concerns about syncretism in the U.S.-based church (showcased in a 2006 Time magazine interview in which Jefferts Schori claimed that saying Jesus Christ was the only way to salvation was “to put God in an awfully small box”) also remain fresh. Those concerns won’t be disappearing anytime soon: Sunday’s ceremony included an interfaith prayer led by an official from the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Mohamed Elsanousi, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Shariah from the International Islamic University in Pakistan, prayed, “Help us to understand what You have told us in Your Holy Quran” at the ceremony, with the congregation affirming “amen” at the conclusion of the prayer. Nevermind that Christians do not regard the Quran as Holy Scripture, or that Muslims do not consider Jesus Christ the son of God, or even acknowledge his death on the cross. These were all deemed as trivialities to sweep aside in favor of interfaith hand-holding...

Houston Rejects Special LGBT Privileges By Huge Margin  
One local Houston election item from yesterday received national attention, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO to its supporters. Early results with more than two-thirds of precincts in showed it losing, 62 to 38 percent, despite having passed the City Council 11-6.

HERO did not grant any rights. It added an avenue of recourse for discrimination. Anyone in a protected class who thinks they are being discriminated against can sue in federal court. HERO added an option to complain to the City of Houston. File a complaint and someone would investigate, like calling about pot holes. This was supposed to be more effective than a suit, though goodness knows Houston officials haven’t done a great job responding to pothole complaints.

When HERO passed City Council in May 2014, many Houstonians worried it would be another selectively enforced regulation. Again, using the pothole comparison, neighborhoods in preferred parts of town get street repair, while streets in other areas drive like you are on the moon. (This is Houston. We like lunar analogies.) Similarly, we worried that if you ran a not-preferred business, HERO might cause you to find your business subject to discrimination investigations and fines. Particularly easy would be sting operations, such as transgender males claiming discrimination if an establishment did not allow them to use women’s restrooms.

The ordinance originally contained specific language about this scenario, but that was dropped to assure the City Council would pass it. Still, the bathroom example was particularly vivid and believable with all the national news and sensational stories concerning gender issues...

Feds Give School One Month to Open Girls' Locker Room to Transgender Student

Islamic State behind Russia plane crash: Britain  British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday it was increasingly likely that a bomb brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt with the loss of 224 lives, setting him at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Britain, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands have suspended flights to and from Sharm al-Sheikh, leaving thousands of European tourists stranded in the Red Sea resort where the doomed airliner originated.

Egypt, which depends on tourism as a crucial source of revenue, said the decision to suspend flights was unjustified and should be reversed at once. It said there was no evidence a bomb was to blame...

Video: Potty Mouthed Kids Trash Trump
(I listened to the first 10 seconds with disgust. Read the comments and you'll see how well this is (not) working. -PD)