New Page for Pro-Existence

By Rick Pearcey

It's here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Pearcey Report in Yahoo! News

By Rick Pearcey

Somebody at Yahoo! seems to like some of our headlines.

The latest example of this is found at the bottom of a story titled, "Iran Call for U.S. to End Support of Israel."

See the section "Most Blogged - World" and click on "blogs about this story (5)."

Here's the headline that caught Yahoo!'s attention: "Iran Leader Demands Change: Says U.S. Must Apologize for Crimes."

That Ahmadinejad can manipulate "change" his way demonstrates how meaningless a linguistic symbol it is without a fixed and definite content rooted in reality.

That kind of rootless "change" can turn hopes and votes into plain old despair.

For more on the challenge of "change," see philosopher Angus Mengue on "Regarding Change: Liberals Drink Deeply From Fascist Well."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Gov. Palin Unveils "SarahPAC"

By Rick Pearcey

She can see 2012 from Alaska.

"Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has started a new political action committee," reports WorldNetdaily, "in a move that many are seeing as a precursor to a possible run for president in 2012."

Here's the official welcome at SarahPAC.com.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Christian Radio Network Revamps for "Talk" Lineup

By Rick Pearcey

Good move at American Family Radio.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Tour Rome, Florence, Paris With the Pearceys

By Rick Pearcey

We're finalizing the brochure for a European Christian worldview tour titled "From Plato to Picasso to You," to be held this summer, June 10-18.

We expect this to be a tremendous time of fellowship, on-site examination of significant venues in Western cultural history, and discussion of the relationship of humane and Biblical living across the whole of thought and life.

There will be much more to share about this "worldview conference on wheels" in the brochure. Meanwhile, here's a preliminary announcement:

You are invited to join worldview scholar and author, Nancy Pearcey, and writer-editor Rick Pearcey for a nine-day excursion through Rome, Florence, and Paris.

You will learn to “decipher” the meaning of the art and cultural artifacts that have shaped the Western mind -- and that continue to influence our lives today.

You will visit the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum, the David and the Uffizi, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and cruise the Seine in the City of Lights.

All of these will be illuminated by lectures and discussions led by the Pearceys. Cost of this 9-day tour is $3,899.

For more information, please call 215-702-4333. Or email Claire Johnson at cjohnson@pbu.edu.

Here is the announcement page for 2009 summer tours available via Philadelphia Biblical University, where Nancy is a professor of worldview studies.

Please stay tuned to Pro-Existence or The Pearcey Report for future updates.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Top News Examiner: Regarding \'change\' -- Liberals drink deeply from Fascist well, says review of \'Liberal Fascism\'

Top News Examiner: Regarding 'change' -- Liberals drink deeply from Fascist well, says review of 'Liberal Fascism'

Posted using ShareThis

Rick at CNSNews.com

By Rick Pearcey

This week (and next's), I've been helping out editorially over at CNSNews.com -- editing articles, posting stories and photos, and learning the ins-and-outs of their publishing system.

The CNSNews fun plus continued posting at The Pearcey Report and my page at Examiner.com make for a couple of rapid-fire weeks.

In a few minutes, I'm off to the "gym" (downstairs at the treadmill!) to make up for lost soccer time.

Consider yourself officially invited to check out CNSNews. Lots of great people there doing terrific -- and, I dare say, important -- reportorial work.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Top 10 Ways Sarah Palin Has Shaken Up the Race

By Rick Pearcey

Big political news of the day comes via USAToday -- namely, that the GOP "Convention Lifts McCain Over Obama."

This headline may be an understatement, for McCain now leads Obama by 54%-44% among "those most likely to vote," according to the results of a post-convention USAToday/Gallup poll.

Speaking of bounces, MSNBC has bounced "Incendiary Hosts" Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews "From Anchor Seat," reports the New York Times.

Perhaps not unrelated, the political and journalistic landscape has undergone these adjustments since the announcement of Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate Friday, August 29.

In "The Top 10 Ways Sarah Palin Has Shaken Up the Race," Jennifer Rubin takes notice of the Palin impact. Members of the national press may find Shake-Up No. 8 of interest:

She has dealt a blow, a big blow, to the credibility of the MSM. We witnessed a MSM feeding frenzy (ranging from spurious allegations about her support for Pat Buchanan to suggestions she was neglecting her family) the likes of which we haven’t seen in a presidential race. Surviving that, she and McCain will not only run against the media (to the delight of the conservative base) but will try to largely ignore them. And to the extent that their credibility has been wounded by a failed and vicious attack on her, the public will be less inclined to pay attention to their pearls of wisdom or to think it odd that Palin doesn’t appear as a guest on Hardball.

For the rest of Sarah's Top 10, go here.

Crossposted at Examiner.com.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Rick on Breaking News at Examiner.com

By Rick Pearcey

I've begun posting as a Breaking News Examiner at Examiner.com, which appears in more than 50 metropolitan areas across the United States.

Today's post, the first, is "The Speech Heard Round the World."

Gov. Sarah Palin's RNC address blew the rafters off the roof in St. Paul, but what's the response outside the U.S.A.? This inaugural post takes a look.

Visitors and comments are welcome.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Borrow, Read, Buy: New Amazon Review of Total Truth

By Rick Pearcey

An Amazon reviewer borrows, reads, and plans to buy Total Truth.

He writes:

In a postmodern age of conflicting World-views and relegated religious values, Pearcy's [sic] book hits hard with pinpoint accuracy. A diagnosis of modern thought, the history which led to it, and the schism of ideas that we now accept in the public sphere, Total Truth is not just a deconstruction of modern naturalism, it draws a picture of a completed Christian Worldview. I borrowed this book from a friend, but will soon add it to my library. I highly recommend "Total Truth."

75 reviews on Amazon here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Unethical Loyalty

By Rick Pearcey

This story about John Edwards and a former campaign aide raises the issue of misplaced loyalty.

Would you lie, nuance, cheat, steal or otherwise enable your compromised boss, candidate, cause, or trusted ministry leader?

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Tim Carney Honors Bob Novak

By Rick Pearcey

With Bob Novak's decision to retire, having been diagnosed with a brain tumor, Tim Carney is now editor of the "Evans-Novak Political Report" (see this publisher's note regarding ENPR at Human Events).

Both Novak and Carney are journalistic colleagues of mine from my tenure as managing editor of Human Events. ENPR, a sister company with HE in Eagle Publishing, Inc., needed an associate editor, and that became me. Carney came to Human Events as a bright, young reporter, and then later in a separate career move, he began working at ENPR.

In today's Examiner, Carney offers a moving tribute to Novak, "the hardest-working man I have ever known. . . . Privileged to call him my boss for half my (admittedly brief) career, I suffer an incalculable loss as Bob Novak sets down his pen, but millions of his readers are also saddened."

But while Carney suffers loss, some choose a different path, for example, the "Internet’s puerile purveyors of uninformed vitriol celebrate his retirement."

Others enjoy a gain, of sorts: "There is another class of people in this town who -- even if they admire the man -- benefit from the end of Novak’s column: The politicians, lobbyists, bureaucrats and operatives who want to work in peace and quiet, out of the public view."

Yes, says Carney, "this city" has lost something, but "what we’ve lost is not primarily a conservative voice -- Novak was one of many who clearly and consistently articulated the call for limited government and, later in his life, also the protection of the unborn."

What "we've lost primarily" is this:

A reporter who cast a cynical eye on the best-laid plans of bureaucrats, who took the same level of skepticism to his coverage of both political parties, and who was motivated, above all, by the desire to unearth information that powerful people would prefer remained buried.

To the detriment of the republic, there is now one fewer skeptic calling around Capitol Hill until he gets the real dirt; there is one fewer sleuth -- freed by his spot on the opinion pages from what Novak calls the “deaf-dumb-blind” sort of impartiality that often makes news reporting worthless -- exposing the true machinations in the government. This can be a cause for relief for many powerful people.

As a cancer survivor myself, I understand we inhabit a less than perfect world: My hopes and prayers remain with Bob Novak and family for the best possible outcome.

A word to Tim: One of the best ways to honor your boss is to give the rich, powerful, and infamous of Washington, D.C. -- religious, secular, or undecided -- a reportorial basis to greet the morning news, and each hour of the day, with fear and trembling. No peace, no quiet, for the corrupt and their enablers.

Read Tim Carney's entire column here.

Related
For a discussion on objective reporting and Christian worldview, see "Warren, Murdoch, Porn, and WND."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Has Anyone Read Total Truth?

By Rick Pearcey

A potential reader of Total Truth wonders:

In a couple of weeks, our adult Sunday School class will begin reading her book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005).

Has anyone read this book?

Can you discuss its pros and cons?

Send help here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Bible Not a "Religious" Book

By Rick Pearcey

Archaeological finds like this help remind people that what is given in the Bible is not "religious" in the contemporary sense of the word, in which "faith" and spirituality are privatized self-medicative theories to help individuals, groups, communities, and movements of various stripes advance agendas, gain power, and otherwise cope in a heartless world and indifferent cosmos.

Instead what we have is information from the Creator regarding the objective world of fact, reason, history, and evidence.

Holistic, Biblical "faith" is primarily a matter of trust, not epistemology. True enough, trusting information that is given by our true Maker helps unlock further knowledge (see the scientific revolution), but it begins with information rooted in the real world.

Thus, what we have in Old and New Testament history are not mere "stories" (as "believers" of atheistic, academic, or pastoral stripe sometimes like to phrase it) but rather accounts of events that occurred in this world.

This kind of concrete truth -- not private experiences created by drugs, "religious" encounters, a rich imagination, or deeply held personal desires -- is what sets people free to navigate as whole but imperfect beings in a broken world.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Presidential Elections vs. the Kingdom of God

By Rick Pearcey

A renowned pastor apparently cares little about the 2008 presidential election because such things have "nothing to do with the kingdom of God."

And yet Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor" (Matt. 22: 39).

Now, if you "love thy neighbor," do you not also care somewhat about the neighborhood of thy neighbor? It may therefore be a matter of godly and humane concern who is elected President, not just of the "neighborhood," as it were, but also of the country.

For if the King of the kingdom of God says "love thy neighbor" is important, and this love includes compassion about the real-world impact of concepts, practices, and leaders on the lives of our neighbors, is it not part of the kingdom of God to care somewhat about who is elected President?

Yes it is. This is part of the Total Truth of what it means to be a compassionate human being alive to fellowship with the Creator and newness of life, across the whole of life, in relation to our neighbors.

This is one of many reasons presidential elections matter not just now, but also in eternity.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Congratulations, Rush -- Now Shut Up

By Rick Pearcey

In today's Examiner:

As Rush Limbaugh and his estimated 20 million daily listeners celebrate the talk radio titan’s 20th anniversary on the air, Democratic leaders in Congress are moving to turn his mike off.

Their weapon is restoration of the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Even folks who would rather have a root canal than listen to Rush’s daily pronouncements should hope they don’t succeed. If they do bring back this bureaucratic relic from the days of Harry Truman, it won’t be just Rush’s voice that will be muted, it will be free and open political debate in general that will suffer.

Question: Where's the "off switch" for Congress? In the old days of freedom, we had the Constitution.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Bruni-Sarkozy and the Unbearable Lightness of Nudity

By Rick Pearcey

France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy seems to have second thoughts about having "posed for too many nude photos."

Good for her, and yet: How is this possible?

Is she no longer "proud of my body"? What? She wants something special, private, reserved, unknown to others, with her husband?

As if human love between husband and wife is more than the publicly accessible physics and chemistry of firing neurons.

Here's what may be bubbling to the surface: Despite the pronouncements of Darwinian and atheistic theory, human beings in fact are more than flesh, skin surfaces, and matter.

For all the MTV and artsy hype, the reduction of ethics and meaning to the raw power of individual choice diminishes the human being as a person.

Beauty may be skin deep, but privacy isn't. It goes to the heart of the living soul as a personal being who acts out into the external world.

Like an alienated man on a bridge in the dark of night, humanity screams out against the unbearable lightness of materialism and its inhumane orthodoxies, no matter how pleasing they may be to the skin trade or cash register.

Privacy is good. If it survives, we survive as free, humane beings. To be naked in love one must sometimes cover up.

See also
Rolled Model: Tennis Pro Harkleroad "Proud of My Body"

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Rick Warren Mesmermized

By Rick Pearcey

The not mesmerized David Bass over at the John Locke Foundation maintains a critical distance vis-a-vis Barack Obama.

Obama's attempted coup of the evangelical right is hardly a universal success. He continues to tick off conservative mainstays like James Dobson, who can see past the senator's rock star persona and occasional biblical references to his liberal core. But others are not so wise. Rick Warren, for example.

Not allowing one's mind and church to be taken over by alien thoughtforms is a good thing. "Sales resistance" in all things, including religion and politics, is helpful in this regard -- and it's profoundly humane and biblical.

While thinking through Bass's point above, free-thinkers and disciples of Jesus (who as human beings ought to be free-thinkers) may also want to consider the following 4 points:

First, be an old grizzled shepherd, not a smiley-faced “believer.” The shepherds of Luke 2 do not put God in a closet and say you can know him but only if you go in there and submit to some kind of privatized epistemological baptism that happens to “people of faith.” Yes, the Bible knows about “believers,” but that’s to emphasize the commitment of the whole person to truth-claims that are accepted on the basis of reasoning and information that make rational and evidential sense in the real world. Shepherds, grizzled or otherwise, do get to smile, but first they see the baby.

Second, develop sales resistance. Christmas is about individuals willing to evaluate things for themselves. There is no need to check your brains at the pasture gate just because of bright lights in the sky, fancy advertising, or manipulated symbols on CNN or in form letters from ghostwriters employed by respected bigshots, religious and otherwise. Question authority, think freely, foil the manipulators, eyeball the materialists, refuse the hypocrites, and take responsibility for your life as a choosing, thinking being made in the image of God.

Third, affirm the whole person. Reject the despair of a splintered secular existence where hope sinks like a lead balloon but we’ll pretend it floats because pleasing feelings attend a current holiday. Christmas is about fact and meaning together because the Savior of the world is a real baby in a real manger who lives a Gospel that touches the same ground we walk on every day. Celebrate the humane unity of life as a complete person liberated from brokenness and bad philosophy. Act coherently and authentically at work, in government, on campus, in church, before the easel, in the lab, and with your family. Embrace humanity in community with our true Creator and then watch love and truth burst out of the secular straight-jacket.

Finally, celebrate the individual. An individual named Jesus came to Bethlehem to live and die for people, not for useful cogs in a cosmic machine that burped a mass of humanity into being by accident. He chose a path leading from Bethlehem manger to Roman cross because, despite our choices to walk away from truth and love, flawed human beings remain magnificent creatures of great worth and significance, having been made in the image of God. The Nativity is about regular people, what Francis Schaeffer called “little people” in “little places,” who join with the Creator to rage against the machine, death, sin, and decay. The love of a parent for a child, of a living God for human creatures with particular names and life stories that matter, is not a cruel joke foisted off on us by our genes. Nor is this love of God and man to be disrespected or steamrolled to the ground by the demands of big government, big business, or big ministry. With God we revolt against any who would deify themselves or their groups to transfigure creatures of such great worth into enablers, minions, pawns, and alter egos for the rich, powerful, and hard-chargers of this world.

More . . .

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Setting the Schaeffer Record Straight

By Rick Pearcey

A reviewer writes:

As an admirer of Francis Schaeffer, one of the saddest things I have witnessed during the last few years is the attempts by both his own son and by other detractors to impugn his integrity or, at least, to redefine him as something he was not. Reading son Frank Schaeffer’s memoir, both father and mother are portrayed negatively, Francis as a reclusive, depressed, sometimes suicidal man and Edith as a perfectionist nut. Well, perhaps the title says it all -- Crazy for God. This book by biographer Colin Duriez, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life, should set the record straight.

More . . .

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

More on Benny Hinn's "Offshore Miracle"

By Rick Pearcey

A thinking pastor questions Benny Hinn.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Another Alternative to Girl Scouts

By Rick Pearcey

A reader recommends High Adventure Treks (HATS) for Dads and Daughters as another alternative to the Girl Scouts.

Here's a May 13, 2008, story from "Neighbors Go" of the Dallas Morning News.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

"Culture War Is Lost Unless . . ."

By Rick Pearcey

Seth Elliott of IHS has a word for delusional culture warriors lacking credibility:

The culture war is lost unless people begin to trust Christians more than secularists, atheists, communists, and radical liberals. To gain this social trust, I propose that Christians everywhere submit themselves to the Christian Credibility Creed.

Read the specifics of Mr. Elliott's Credibility Creed here. Do you agree with him -- in general, in particular?

Related articles:
* Dembski Questions Famed Healing Ministry
* What Is a Plagiarist?
* O'Reilly, Letterman, and the Culture War
* Francis Schaeffer: A Student's Appreciation of a Distinct Approach
* I'll Take Sartre

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

AC Milan: Official Ronaldinho Announcement

By Rick Pearcey

Italian soccer giant AC Milan has signed Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho to a 3-year contract. Here's the official announcement from the AC Milan website:

RONALDINHO: AC MILAN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

7/15/2008 -- AC Milan and FC Barcelona have reached an agreement for the transfer of Ronaldinho to the Rossoneri's club. Tomorrow the player will be in Milan for the medical and to sign the contract which will tie him to Milan until June 30th 2011.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Billions and Billions Insulted: Press Conference to Question McDonald's

By Rick Pearcey

As the press release below indicates, announcing an event to occur tomorrow morning, the movement to question McDonald’s and its embrace of the homosexual agenda continues to build.

Press Release

July 15, 2008

Liberty Counsel to Hold Joint Press Conference

to Address McDonald’s Anti-Christian Attacks

Chicago, Illinois – On Wednesday, July 16, at 10:00 a.m., Liberty Counsel will participate in a joint press conference with the American Family Association (AFA), Americans for Truth and the Illinois Family Institute in front of the McDonald's restaurant across from McDonald's' corporate headquarters in Oakbrook, IL. Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel, will address the media.

Recently, the McDonald's Corporation contributed thousands of dollars and joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, a radical homosexual activist organization that pushes the homosexual agenda, including calling for legalization of so-called "same-sex marriage." In so doing, McDonald's has publicly sided in the ongoing culture war against the majority of Americans who hold traditional family values. For this reason, AFA called for the boycott against McDonald's.

"Unfortunately, McDonald's has chosen to side with militant homosexual activists over people with traditional values," said Matt Barber. "The company has further escalated the controversy by lodging a personal attack against the tens of millions of Americans who support traditional sexual morality and legitimate marriage. While referring to Christians and other people with traditional values, McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman arrogantly told the Washington Post that, 'Hatred has no place in our culture,' thereby suggesting that people who support the historical definition of marriage are simply motivated by 'hate.' This insult is highly offensive, and anyone who supports traditional marriage should boycott McDonald's and tell the company why they’re doing so."

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented, "McDonald's should focus on food quality and safety issues instead of attacking the values held by the majority of people worldwide. Marriage between a man and a woman is the norm throughout the world. McDonald's' personal attack against those who support the traditional definition of marriage, while siding with a narrow group that promotes a radical redefinition, shows that company executives are out to lunch. McDonald's might as well change their signs to read 'billions and billions insulted.'"

For more information, contact Liberty Counsel public relations at 1-800-671-1776.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Unholy Matrimony -- Massachusetts Leads the Way, the Wrong Way

By Rick Pearcey

Coffee With Curt percolates with excitement over how Massachusetts continues to lead the way in advancing regressive, monosexed "unholy matrimony," to quote an email from one of our favorite Revs.

"This is nothing new," says Pastor Curt. "Massachusetts has been trying to lead the way in liberal, anti-family legislation for years. Even the (very, very few) Republican legislators have tended to go along with this trend. After all, they wouldn't want to bruise anybody's ego, or infringe upon anybody's 'rights' -- unless those anybodies happen to be Christians."

But don't blame this retrograde "leadership" only on the politicians, cautions the Coffeeman. "The church is supposed to provide a moral compass for the society. Yet, the church's position of moral leadership has been compromised by liberalism, Biblical illiteracy, scandal after scandal, and timidity (read that 'fear'). Many churches today have no moral compass themselves."

More here for a needed change in direction.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Dembski Questions Famed Healing Ministry

By Rick Pearcey

William A. Dembski of Intelligent Design fame questions the healing ministry of Todd Bentley down in Lakeland, Fla.

Such questioning is legitimate, Biblical, humane, and necessary. Humaness, worldview, and discipleship are cut from the single cloth of truth.

We await a reply to Dembski's question: "Faith and Healing -- Where's the Evidence?"

Meanwhile, one way to test the validity of an organization is to examine its methods. Not just the PR methods evidenced on websites with glossy pictures, wondrous bios, and a Herculean list of accomplishments and books, columns, etc., "by" the latest version of "renegade-turned-modern-day-St. Paul."

No, sadly, not the methods on display for public view, but the ones kept "in the basement," as it were. That's where, so often, in the dark, the real work is done.

In this regard, and in liberating contrast, the Lord's work is meant to be done the Lord's way, across the board, and with application to the nuts and bolts of organizations put forward as "Christian ministries."

This was a central concern of Francis Schaeffer, as seen in chapter 13 of the beloved True Spirituality. It is also the concern of chapter 13 of Nancy Pearcey's book Total Truth. The Lord's work is meant to be done in the light.

To follow truth is to embrace beauty. To fake it, "nuance" it, and spin it for "the sake of the Gospel" (i.e., fundraising, etc.) is to demean people and take the Lord's name in vain.

Dances with deception set forth in the service of Celebriantity and its hard-charging gods are a disaster, no matter how much noise is made about "worldview" or "reforming manners," no matter how much access to Big Media or the White House is gained, and so on.

You know the song and dance. It's underlined in hundreds of thousands of "Dear Friend" appeal letters strategically underlined in blue and signed by machines. One might be tempted to conclude that some evangelical marketers think Christians are idiots waiting to be led around by their noses.

"Test everything," says the real Apostle Paul (1 Thess. 5:21). "Testing everything" is key to embracing love and avoiding the cruelty and ugliness of a truncated Christianity and inhumane "ministry."

One more thing: If this isn't fixed, it matters little who wins the election. Politics follows culture. Methods matter. It's a warning and a promise.

* Update: See discussion at Dembski's site, here. "Dembski Questions Famed Healing Ministry" is referenced at response No. 44.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Question McDonald's

By Rick Pearcey

Question McDonald's.

That's what free-thinking Americans might want to do.

WND reports that McDonald's is now saying "Christian Boycotters 'Hate' Homosexuals."

First, McDonald's attacks family. Now, it attacks Christians. Big Mac is selling Big Bigotry in allowing itself to be coopted by an anti-family, anti-Christian agenda.

And if you question the wisdom of this corporate empire's new scheme, why, you're a hater. In fact, how dare you question the establishment, the worldwide Pink System!

This is yet another reason a free-thinking people may decide to spend their petro-dollars driving to a friendlier restaurant.

Perhaps a restaurant not at war with family or with the founding worldview of U.S. society.

Perhaps a restaurant where it's safe to question, to think, and demand reasonable answers -- without being slammed by a corporate giant as some kind of "hater." Please.

Another reason not to waste an ounce of gas driving to McDonald's.

Pro-homosexual fanatics may think everything is going according to plan, but something tells me McDonald's might regret its new line of attack. McDonald's may regret adding attacks on Christianity to its attack on family.

What's especially amazing is that McDonald's likes to hype itself as "socially responsible." Well, a thousand plaques on the wall are meaningless if you deny family, deny freedom of thought, deny the Creator's norms for life, and seek to cloak your denial in so-called "diversity."

If it's still OK at question authority, test everything, and think freely (as is our birthright as human beings created in the image of God) consider: Are these attacks really "socially responsible" -- or are they just good old secular fanaticism draped in focus-group-tested marketing language?

Is McDonald's really being "socially responsible"? Or are we witnessing pink fanaticism fueled by pink Kool-aid?

Something to think about.

But not at McDonald's.

It's hard to think when a "socially responsible" someone is yelling at you for not drinking their Kool-aid.

See also:
* No McDonald's Today
* WND's Farah Blasts Pro-Homosexual McDonald's, Joins Call for Boycott
* Reader Responds to "No McDonald's Today"
* National Radio: Rick Pearcey Discusses McDonald's Homosexual Alliance
* "Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America
* Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat
* O'Reilly, Letterman, and the Culture War

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Aborcentration Camp: If You Build It, They Will Die

By Rick Pearcey

No humane-thinking human being wants a Planned Parenthood aborcentration camp (aka "clinic") in his or her neighborhood.

Thus protesters have alerted the City of Portland, etc., with salutary results thus far.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Honor Killing in Ga. Reveals Weakness of Political Correctness

By Rick Pearcey

There's been an honor killing in Clayton County, Ga., just south of Atlanta. A Pakistani immigrant strangled his daughter to death. She, according to police, was planning to divorce the husband imposed upon her by an arranged marriage.

Rather than examine the link between Islam and parents killing daughters who question arranged marriages, "learned analysts search for clues in South Asian cultural habits and the practices of European royalty," writes Robert Spencer.

"The price of this politically correct refusal to confront the ugly realities of the Islamic link to honor killing will be, quite simply, more honor killings," Spencer warns.

But not in South Asia, in the south of Atlanta.

In university, from Hollywood, on newscasts, and in corporate cultures, Americans are instructed and goaded to embrace secularism, cultural relativism, and "diversity is our strength."

The upshot is not just wasted money, foolish schooling, dumbed-down adults, rootlessness, and social apathy in the face of evil.

People are dying. "These young women are the ulitmate victims of political correctness," Spencer concludes.

Honor killings help reveal the inhumanity and weakness of political correctness.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

WND's Farah Blasts Pro-Homosexual McDonald's, Joins Call for Boycott

By Rick Pearcey

Joseph Farah of WND has joined the call to boycott pro-homosexual McDonald's, formerly known as a family restaurant.

The American Family Association announced its boycott of Big Macs last week (July 3).

Judging by their reaction, many homosexual activists flipped into berserk mode in response to "No McDonald's Today," which announced our concerns and was published at Pro-Existence a few months ago (April 4, 2008).

For more on the homosexual reaction to "No McDonald's Today," see Andrew Sullivan, including his links.

See also:
* Reader Responds to "No McDonald's Today"
* National Radio: Rick Pearcey Discusses McDonald's Homosexual Alliance
* Court Watch: Does McDonald's Support This Lesbian Attack on Family?
* "Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America
* Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat
* O'Reilly, Letterman, and the Culture War

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Where Is Nancy Pearcey?

By Rick Pearcey

Julia Duin over at the Washington Times looks at the "world of religion" and wonders "What Happened to the Women?"

"In much of the church," she writes, "there is a whole gender missing."

Among the missing is noted professor, editor, scholar, thinker, musician, best-selling author, wife, and mother Nancy Pearcey.

Thus alerted, I conducted a bit of research and found her, here.

Needless to say, an impressive woman.

You can read more by Julia Duin here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

McDonald's, Rush, and the Mediterranean

By Rick Pearcey

In addition to the rescue of hostages down in Colombia, here are 3 other reports of good news to consider:

1) The American Family Association is calling for a boycott of pro-homosexual McDonald's, formerly known as a family restaurant. Maybe the AFA and others can help save the fast-food joint, formerly known as a family restaurant, from its politically correct, inhumane, and regressive concept of "social responsibility."

2) Rush Limbaugh is to get $38 million a year for the next 8 years, plus a 9-figure signing bonus, according to AP. Rush deserves it, and America needs his voice. PC diversity is a weakness, but true diversity of information that respects the individual's need for critical distance is a strength. Meanwhile, Rush, why only $38 million per year?

3) "Miracle Diet From the Med" tells us about the cancer-fighting benefits of a Mediterranean diet. Yet another alternative that beats McDonald's, bigtime. We at the Pearcey villa have recently enjoyed recipes and insights based on The Mediterranean Diet and The Mediterranean Prescription. Bon appetit!

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

White Pastor Acknowledges "Racism"

By Rick Pearcey

A high-test coffee-drinking pastor friend of mine finally acknowledges he's a "racist" and maybe even a Nazi. Apparently it all hinges on whether you're willing to vote for a certain candidate for president.

Thus spake Pastor Curt:

I heard it yet again this morning from a Barack Obama supporter. He said (on the radio), “I am suspicious of anyone who won’t vote for Barack Obama. He is at best a racist and at worst a Nazi.” So there you have it. I’m a racist (or Nazi). I guess there is no consideration given for viewing candidates on their records and beliefs. Barack Obama is a left-wing liberal. I’m a conservative -- too conservative for the Republican Party. I wouldn’t vote for Barack Obama if he was green, white, yellow or a combination thereof. To call me a racist is pretty stupid. Give me a break -- I grew up in South Providence!

Once upon a time in America it was OK to think before you voted. Once upon a time there was a black guy named King who talked about evaluating people on the basis of character, not skin color. But on this new line of thinking perhaps Herr King was a closet Nazi.

Apparently, in some minds, those regressive days are over. All you need now is a color chart and progressive people to point you in the racially correct direction.

As for King, Curt, and me, we're all racists. Maybe even Nazis. Heil Skin Color!

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

What Is a Plagiarist?

By Rick Pearcey

What is a plagiarist?

"First-class intellectual fraud" is how one newspaper describes a now-fired professor.

It seems rather odd, but there really are people who have no compunction about allowing their names to be slapped onto work done by others.

Sometimes it seems the bigger the name, the easier the slap.

It seems rather odd, but there really are people who knowingly and repeatedly allow themselves to be praised for work they did not do. And not just professors at universities.

"I love your commentary!"

"What a magnificent book on Christian worldview!"

"God has really used it."

"Thank you," says the ever-so-humble con artist.

But why the counterfeits? Perhaps money is to be made, reputations to be shaped, images to be projected, downfalls to be rehabilitated, legacies to protected, embarrassment to be covered.

But we can do better. Most people know this intuitively. It's the way we teach our kids: "Honesty is the best policy" and "tell the truth, even if it hurts you."

Some people are on a learning curve. Many simply haven't yet seen through illusion to the darkness and complicity. In certain respects, we've all been there. Sometimes we are not able to see the darkness until we are so far in that it seems almost impossible to escape.

What counts is what we do when we discover the emperor is rather naked indeed. Some turn around and move toward the light. Others move deeper into darkness. This can be a process that takes a moment -- or weeks, months, and years. By it, cultures are won or lost, lives lived fully or in vain.

When you move into the light, you get Reformation and renewal and humanity. When you persist in enablement, you get the status quo, enslaving praise, and mission failure.

Thus we witness intellectually and spiritually fraudulent books, articles, columns, film reviews, book reviews, blogs, blurbs, letters, and sermons.

Colluding in this con are the ghostwriters, who are paid to allow someone else to be credited with work that is not the putative "author's." Allowing someone to take your work and pretend it is theirs is just as much a form of plagiarism as when the other person steals it outright.

What the ghostwriter does is to join the fake "author" in defrauding the public. Both are stealing from the storehouse of the public trust. A contract simply legalizes the immorality and digs the hole of corruption that much deeper.

Thereby millions of unsuspecting people are involved in this deception. Publishers thereby sell more books, organizations thereby raise more funds. With particular callousness, an "author" might even boast of how royalties are donated to this or that ministry.

Should we ever be too important, too "Big," or too busy to tell the truth? Of course not.

We can do better. We can encourage authenticity in our own lives and elevate the individual and his creative gift instead of smashing him or her.

This is part of the high calling of "loving thy neighbor," of practising the truth that there are "no little people" and of doing "the Lord's work the Lord's way," as Francis Schaeffer so often emphasized.

It can be done with one word, a single phone call can get the ball rolling. Mere seconds can help change the culture and reform manners.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

"Home" Abortion and the Death of Privacy

By Rick Pearcey

A fact of life today is that the womb is not a safe space for pre-born humanity. It's clearly more dangerous there than in the less-efficient concentration camps that exemplify the recent Dark Ages of liberated, enlightened, post-Christian Europe.

The lack of privacy and protection in that erstwhile sanctified place located inside the body of a mother has been extended to "clinics" and hospitals. Aborcentration camps are well-neigh a global franchise.

Inhumane worldviews do not sleep or rest. They continue to unfold and impose their consequences, even if PR talking points distract and bait the hook with language of high self-esteem.

That, plus the patina of corporate sponsorship, may do the trick. As a test case, you might try knocking on the door of McDonald's, once known as a family-friendly restaurant.

"Safe" and "legal" choices abort the lives of millions red and yellow, black and white. Females are empowered by blood, their babies condemned to their freedom.

Now come reports that women are being offered "home" abortions. Humanistic regress thereby advances the concept of home invasions to new levels in a post-humane culture.

The Hollywood celebrities and paparazzi are right: Privacy is dead.

Related
* Habitat for Inhumanity
* Square Circle Watch: Pro-Life Christians for Obama?
* Abortofascism and Free-Market Homicide
* If Diversity Is King

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Race Horse Named "Total Truth"

By Rick Pearcey

The fun news is there's a race horse named "Total Truth." Someone clearly has stumbled into brilliance.

Well, almost.

Because said horse was discovered to have transgressed the legal limit for steroids and therefore scratched from a $500,000-purse race.

The above-linked June 16 news report makes no mention of home runs, triples, etc.

But there is this: Not long ago, in 2006, Total Truth, "with Ron Pierce at the controls," won a "thrilling victory at the $1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup."

Moral of story: Owners with a horse named "Total Truth" have big horseshoes to fill.

Please mind your race manners. Then run like crazy.

For the inside book on Total Truth, go here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Misplaced "Faith" Kills

By Rick Pearcey

In what appears to have been an avoidable tragedy, "Teen From Faith-Healing Family Refuses Treatment, Dies," according to AP.

In the midst of such a heartbreak, it must be said, with compassion: This outcome was avoidable not just medically, but also in terms of "faith."

For nothing in the information we have from the Creator suggests that living in community with him and each other requires living in alienation from medicine.

Just as the Biblical worldview is a science-starter and not a science-stopper, even so its high view of creation, the natural order of things, and then specifically of individual bodily existence, makes it a medical-science-affirmer and not a medical-science-denier.

Historically, this represents positive change. "Prior to Christianity," a book reviewer writes, "the Greeks and Romans had little or no interest in the poor, the sick and the dying." But a new and improved attitude was introduced into the stream of western culture when "the early Christians, following the example of their master, ministered to the needs of the whole person."

Reactionary attacks on Christians inhibited this progressive and humane effort. "During the first three centuries of the church they could only care for the sick where they found them, as believers were then a persecuted people. Once the persecutions subsided, however, the institutionalisation of health care began in earnest."

Nevertheless, the Biblical data consistently set forth a high view of the whole person and a revolt against the "plague," as it were. So while we are deeply thankful, we are not surprised by the emergence of a more humane approach in the care of people, such as when the "first ecumenical council at Nicea in 325 directed bishops to establish hospices in every city that had a cathedral."

Likewise fitting is that we see the construction of the "first hospital" in Caesarea, built in 369 "by St. Basil." With more to come: "By the Middle Ages, hospitals covered all of Europe and even beyond. In fact, 'Christian hospitals were the world’s first voluntary charitable institutions.'"

"Faith" means trust. It is not an end in and of itself. The proper object of one's trust should be truth, lest we fall blindly into a ditch.

The truth is: Both prayer (asking God to intervene) and medicine (asking God's servants to intervene) operate in the same, unified created order, without tension, without contradiction. It's a wholistic, humane response to death, disease, and decay.

Dr. Luke the physician, author of the Gospel of Luke, would have pleaded to see and help cure this unfortunate teen. He would do his part in fighting the plague.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Ghostwriter Causes Columnist to Resign

By Rick Pearcey

In an email titled "Ghostwriter Causes Newspaper Columnist to Resign," an alert reader sent us this amazing story of publishing malpractice:

Well-known San Antonio Express-News music writer and columnist Ramiro Burr, facing allegations that he hired a ghostwriter to produce more than 100 stories and columns since 2001, tendered his resignation Tuesday afternoon as the newspaper’s investigation into this and other violations of the newspaper’s ethics policies by Burr was drawing to a conclusion. Burr, 52, covered the local and international music scene for the past 25 years. He worked for the San Antonio Light from 1983 until the Light folded in 1993 and has been with the Express-News since. He is also a local correspondent for Billboard magazine and in 1999 wrote a book, the Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music.

“Ramiro caused the Express-News to unknowingly publish work under his name that was not, in fact, his own work,” said Robert Rivard, editor of the Express-News.

“It was the work of at least one other writer who did not receive credit and who we did not know about. Ramiro decided on his own to resign just as our investigation was concluding and we were preparing to take appropriate action. We have a zero-tolerance policy whenever someone on our staff presents work as their own that is not their own.” . . .

Simple honesty, not to mention respect for our readers, is one of the reasons The Pearcey Report and Pro-Existence are "Ghostwriting-Free Zones."

We do not knowingly publish or link to work in which the putative author has lied, cheated, or stolen to get his or her name on an article or book. Would that a similar principle affirming authorial integrity would apply to those (staff, free-lancers, "ministry partners," etc.) who enable this sort of regrettable, disrespectful, and regressive behavior.

And by the way, having a contract legalizing this unethical practice does not make it right. Rather, it just deepens the hypocrisy and furthers the corruption. Remember what your parents told you: Two wrongs don't make a right.

We are aware, of course, that this sort of deception happens outside of Christian circles, among the "pagans," as it were. We are also aware, from personal observation and via news reports, that this malpractice, unhappily, also occurs inside Christian circles. By this means, if unrebuffed or winked at, sin is introduced into one's methods of doing business. "Ministries" may be "blessed" as a result, but you may want to examine the source of the "blessing."

Faked blurbs, ghostwritten columns (and radio commentary), and pretend authorial masterworks are part of a spiritual dynamic decidedly unbiblical, inhumane, and ineffective. Not doing the Lord's work in the Lord's way in the area of publishing may help raise millions and create an empire for a "respected" Christian celebrity. But the Lord's name is taken in vain, and a watching world knowingly laughs and easily reduces Christian activism to just another play for power.

Want an example of a strategic spiritual blunder in the culture war? This is it. By no means is it alone among our challenges or the end of the world per se -- but it does indicate that the opportunity for a "Reformation of Manners" in Christian circles is rich indeed.

If the name of your favorite Christian "author" or "columnist" does not appear on the pages of The Pearcey Report or Pro-Existence, it may be part of our humble effort to show respect for work well done by real people, work that does not defraud readers and misdirect their time, money, and energies. Getting a momentary buzz because a "Big Name" "weighed in" doesn't cut it.

"Real work by real people" seems a sound principle flowing from a high view of truth, a respect for the individual, and a heartfelt desire to live with a measure of intellectual and creative integrity, and honest community, before and with the living Creator.

Related
Plagiarism: Pretend People, Fake Work
Oxford, Cambridge, Plagiarism, and Christian Worldview
I'll Take Sartre
Human Identity, Biblical Worldview, Creativity, and the Meaning of Work

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Steyn Notes Times Coverage of Canada's "Assault on Free Expression"

By Rick Pearcey

Mark Steyn writes today:

The Canadian state's assault on free expression has never made the front page of the Dominion's leading liberal newspaper, The Toronto Star, nor of The Globe And Mail, nor even of The Vancouver Sun, when last week's show trial was happening right under their noses.

But it is on the front page of today's New York Times.

Steyn fan and blogger Michael Graham is astonished to read "something nice" about America in the pages of the NYT.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Pearcey Report Offline

By Rick Pearcey

The world-famous Pearcey Report is currently offline. We hope to be up and running again as soon as possible.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Carol Kelly Dorn -- Portrait Artist

By Rick Pearcey

Artist Carol Kelly Dorn has launched a new, beautiful website.

Carol and husband Mike and family are long-time friends of the Pearceys.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Rick Pearcey on National Talk Radio Today

By Rick Pearcey

The national talk radio show Point of View, hosted by author Kerby Anderson, has asked to interview me today from 3-4 p.m. Eastern time.

Possible topics for discussion include:

* Habitat for Inhumanity
* Abortofascism and Free-Market Homicide
* Operation Marriage Crisis: Woman "Married" to Berlin Wall 29 Years

Listen online here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Operation Marriage Chaos: Woman "Married" to Berlin Wall 29 Years

By Rick Pearcey

A friend alerts us to a woman clearly ahead of her time.

According to the Telegraph, a Mrs. Berliner-Mauer, of Sweden, recently revealed that she "tied the knot" with the famous wall while visiting Berlin in 1979. The blissful creature-to-creature ceremony was conducted "before a handful of guests."

Clearly biased in its reporting, however, the Telegraph castigates the woman as having a "bizarre fetish for inanimate objects." Objectum-Sexuality, to be regressively clinical.

But please: Bizarre?

What's truly bizarre is the newspaper's own embrace of Objectosexophobia. Shame! Shame on all objectosexophobists!

No doubt "wall friendly" New York and California stand ready to grant Frau Berlin Wall renewed status as "member in good standing" of the human race (with the entire U.S. to follow in good order, out of compassionate legal necessity).

And for all you haters out there, just remember this: Love without limits, Matthew 7, diversity is our strength.

Who but the worst of brutes would deny any creature, human, animal, plant, or wall the right to marry, to commune, to couple, to partner, to triangulate?

Operation Marriage Chaos begins.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Pearcey Rocks Darwin's Boat

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy affirms free inquiry, critical thinking, and challenges to dogmatic instruction in Darwin, as noted in this mag's coverage of "Beyond Expelled."

See Also
Christianity Is a Science-Starter, Not a Science-Stopper
"Beyond Expelled" Upset in Florida
"Beyond Expelled" -- An Evening With Author-Speaker Nancy Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Rolled Model: Tennis Pro Harkleroad "Proud of My Body"

By Rick Pearcey

It's skin-baiting 101 all over again.

This time a 23-year-old female, Ashley Harkleroad, ranked 61 in the world in women's professional tennis but not exactly a house-hold name, will bare all in an upcoming sleaze mag.

Here's the shop-worn, braindead rationale: "I'm proud of my body."

Utter nonsense.

Does "proud" entail public display?

No.

For example, the human heart is a beautiful thing, but if a pretty girl pulls her heart out and shows it to a nice photographer, she's dead.

Even if her mom approves. Or Leno. Or Oprah.

Did you know that many beautiful things, many wonderful things of which one holds in high esteem, can be kept private -- and rightfully, fulfillingly so?

A confidence among best-friends. A loving glance between husband and wife. A good work done in secret so that PR machines and legacy-building do not take over to twist, finesse, and deceive.

Human creativity, too. As Camus said, "There is no true creation without secrecy."

Many, many private things of which we may all be proud and are quite beautiful are nevertheless destroyed when removed from their proper context.

Not just human hearts are destroyed. But we also lose that hidden place, shaped by the Creator, that all humans need if we are to unfold who we are as persons.

But the huckster comes and says, "Be proud. Show me everything!" Cha-ching!

Next!

An individual with no sense of privacy is functionally a nonperson. And that hurts because we are persons -- more than meat plus instincts -- and to destroy all boundaries, all limits, is to attack the center of who we are.

You can be No. 1 in the world and utterly dead inside. You died on the way to the top.

The best things in life aren't just free, they're hidden in secret places where respect is earned, not sold, revealed to the few, not to the many.

* See Also
Dungeon Incest Story Shocks
Rupert Murdoch: Satan or Savior?
Warren, Murdoch, Porn, and WND
Liberal Pundit: Child Porn Should Be Permitted

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Habitat for Inhumanity

By Rick Pearcey

This story says so much: Christian Ministry "Habitat for Humanity" Agrees to Work With Abortion Giant Planned Parenthood." The report begins:

Habitat for Humanity has verbally agreed to an arrangement that would help Planned Parenthood open an abortion facility in Sarasota, Florida. The agreement, which reportedly has not been finalized, would fulfill a city requirement that would allow Planned Parenthood to acquire the occupancy permit it needs to open.

“According to zoning regulations, Planned Parenthood cannot build their abortion facility in the planned location without the presence of a multifamily liner building,” said Jim Sedlak, vice-president of American Life League. “Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood found a creative solution to its problem and is using Habitat for Humanity to achieve its objective. Planned Parenthood plans to sell land to Habitat for $10 so it can meet city requirements.”

The Sarasota City Commission approved a plan on May 5, based on the agreement with Habitat that would allow Planned Parenthood to open their facility. A letter that Planned Parenthood filed with the city before the meeting said, "We are excited to have Habitat be a part of the Planned Parenthood team."

“Habitat for Humanity, which claims to be a Christian ministry, says that this was only a real estate transaction,” said Sedlak. “However, Planned Parenthood could not open its abortion facility without Habitat’s help." . . .

An erstwhile supporter of Habitat explains his disillusionment in "Why I Can No Longer Support Habitat for Humanity."

Another observer is subtle: "Talk about dealing with the devil."

A 4:09 p.m. search of the Habitat website yields no results for "Planned Parenthood." One wonders -- Where is the press release announcing this intriguing development, this brave partnership, this wondrous event?

While Habitat falls silent, Planned Parenthood unashamedly leads the way forward: The abortion industry giant reportedly is "excited to have Habitat be a part of the Planned Parenthood team."

But enabling abortion -- what journalist and author Peter Hitchens (atheist Christopher's brother) just two days ago calls a "massacre to suit the selfish" -- hardly seems consistent with the humane thought and practice that accompanies the proper application of Christian thoughtforms across the whole of life.

One might also ask, paraphrasing, What does it profit an organization, a volunteer, a "Christian," a "ministry" to build houses for the whole world, but lose its own soul?

Then again, if church-state separationists are correct, transactions such as real estate deals and other acts in the public sphere have nothing to do with the Gospel in the first place. For the secularist and bifurcated "believer," holiness and its attendant humanity stop at the church door.

For an alternative to the problem of an inhumane secularism and its echo in a fragmented spirituality alienated from the concreteness and wholeness of life, consider this.

* Update
Here are the Sarasota City Commission minutes, May 5, 2008. See page 10, item 12. ht: Kevin Bussey

* See Also
Abortofascism and Free-Market Homicide
Fascism Is Back
Square Circle Watch: Pro-Life Christians for Obama?

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Hannitizing the GOP: Sean's Top 10 Steps to Victory

By Rick Pearcey

Sean Hannity offers the GOP something it lacks: A unified platform for victory in 2008.

Back-sliding Republicans co-opted by the ways of Washington would do well to consider adopting something like this 10-point plan.

But for a strategic solution to what ails the GOP, a 12-step program may be in order.

Thus, to Sean's Top 10, consider adding these 2:

1. Attention to the issues of life, family, and marriage, so that human beings from biological conception onward and their foundational, God-given social institutions are afforded a dignity and respect consonant with science and with inalienable rights endowed upon each individual by the Creator.

2. Renewed commitment to the U.S. Constitution and the Founding worldview, centered on that very Creator affirmed in the Declaration of Independence and set forth in the verifiable data of the Biblical information.

Note: The dream of freedom, shining cities on a hill, and last best hopes for mankind is not just for Republicans or Americans. It is for all people and all times.

America didn't make it; it made America. And it can make any nation, any people, exceptional. American exceptionalism is not exceptionally American.

And America at her best is great insofar as she realizes, and insofar as individual Americans act upon, that dream as an information-rich vision of a liberated humane existence, a vision that springs forth from the Creator, from the mind of God.

To the degree that Ronald Reagan understood and articulated this, to that degree he inspired.

Question: Do Republicans "get it"? Not yet, if you go by GOP House Leader John Boehner's interview with Hannity on radio yesterday.

Here's the interview, from YouTube. Boehner's webpage excerpts are here.

Boehner appears a likeable fellow, but his performance reminds one of an actor sleep-walking through a role. His message is uninspiring, to say the least.

Prediction: If present trends continue, the GOP will be thumped mightily in the House and Senate. Any "Conservatism" worth advancing will remain in exile and fighting a losing battle until it finds its way home via points one and two above. "Conservatism" may be too tame a word for what's needed.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

McDonald's "Clarifies" Homosexualist Support

By Rick Pearcey

McDonald's, the fast-food eatery formerly known as a family restaurant, is still trying to "distort their support for the homosexual agenda," according to this Action Alert from the American Family Association.

Here's a McDonald's commercial in proud support of the homosexualist agenda.

See also:
* No McDonald's Today
* Reader Responds to "No McDonald's Today"
* National Radio: Rick Pearcey Discusses McDonald's Homosexual Alliance
* Court Watch: Does McDonald's Support This Lesbian Attack on Family?

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Square Circle Watch: Pro-Life Christians for Obama?

By Rick Pearcey

Talk show host Janet Folger of Faith2Action challenges Christians to line up their political priorities with information from the Creator.

On the question of human dignity and the sanctity of life, for example, Folger argues over at WorldNetDaily against the notion that one can be an evangelical and yet also vote, with consistency, for Barack Obama. CNSNews Editor in Chief Terry Jeffrey argues Obama is the "most pro-abortion candidate ever."

To quote Folger:

We need to prioritize when it comes to our policies and our politics. Take a bunch of "evangelical Christians" who, according to Sunday's Seattle Times, claim to be pro-life Christians and for Obama. No matter how slick the slogans or how "cool" the candidate, you can't be both.

Look, to be a Christian means you have to follow Christ. What did Christ say? "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." And what were some of those commandments? God prioritized them for us, and "Thou shalt not kill" made the top 10. It wasn't "change" or "diversity" or "tolerance" or "government programs" that made the list; it was the protection of human life.

Folger concludes:

We need to prioritize our policies and our politics before the house burns down or we face our deathbeds. The house may not be burning down just yet, but in September 2001, there were some buildings that did. We may not be on our deathbed, but there are 4,000 American children today who are – because of the policies and the deadly philosophy of Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. We can't be a pro-life Christian and support either one.

To those who are confused about the candidates and the culture, I have one word for you: prioritize.

Is there a consistent case rooted in Biblical information and principle that would allow pro-life Christians to vote this year for a pro-abortion candidate such as Obama or Clinton?

Are you a pro-life Christian planning on voting for Obama or Hillary? Why? How would you answer Folger?

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Abortofascism and Free-Market Homicide

By Rick Pearcey

In a column titled "Atheism and Child Murder," Dinesh D'Souza comments on his recent debate with Princeton ethicist and atheist Peter Singer:

Some of Singer's critics call him a Nazi and compare his proposals to Hitler's schemes for eliminating the unwanted, the unfit and the disabled. But as I note in the debate, Singer is no Hitler. He doesn't want state-sponsored killings. Rather, he wants the decision to kill to be made by you and me. Instead of government-conducted genocide, Singer favors free-market homicide.

Singer as an individual may or may not approve "state-sponsored killings," but his worldview nevertheless demands obedience. This is what worldviews qua worldviews do as presumed guides to living in the real world.

What counts here, in Singer's case, are not the desires of a particular professor, but rather the imperative mobilized by atheistic presuppositions that give rise to a materialistic and inhumane philosophy of life.

People desire many things, but the actual direction of their lives and of their cultures is set in many ways by directives consistent with their philosophy of life, their worldview.

A denial of the dignity of Man and the sacredness of the individual pushes people downstream into currents of inhumanity that allow no adequate ethical opposition to radical dehumanization, up to and including concentration camps and abortion chambers.

Even "nice" people, regular folk, can be caught up in this dynamic if they allow others to do their thinking and evaluating for them.

You can be a materialist even if you're a hippie and have only one quarter in your pocket (as Francis Schaeffer observed on occasion). In similar fashion, you can be a fascist and have only one baby, one person, one slave, one Jew in your power, your pocket, at your mercy, in your womb, subject to your autonomous choice.

State machinery may or may not be involved in Singer's current thinking or at a particular moment in history. But this doesn't get us out of the woods.

For if the naked secular state is the de facto ultimate political power (because God does not exist, and the impersonal cosmos is indifferent), then even the putatively "empowered" individual really functions more as something akin to an NGE (nongovernmental entity), enacting that which the state allows and the Darwinian struggle for existence compels, excuses, and forgives.

This is a delegated fascism -- from the secular state to the secularized individual and his or her own personal will-to-power. "Freedom" and "empowerment" become PR symbols to help grown-ups feel better about imposing their values on pre- and post-natal children. This scheme works best if the grown-ups remain unaware of their subservience to the state establishment.

It is important to not be confused or distracted by the struggle between the fascism of the one (naked, personal choice and the individual will-to-power) and the fascism of the many (naked, political choice and the raw communal will-to-power).

One need not reduce Singer to Hitler to recognize Naziesque applications that emerge naturally and logically from an inhumane, Singeresque worldview. We are condemned to repeat the past if we ignore its dangerous presuppositions.

Related
* Dawkins: Nazi Eugenics "May Not Be Bad"?, by Rick Pearcey
* Fascism Is Back, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

"Beyond Expelled" Upset in Florida

By Rick Pearcey

Amid pounding and shouting over at a blog titled "Florida Citizens for Science," one might think that Fort Walton Beach and perhaps Western Civilization may never be quite the same again after Nancy Pearcey shows up and gives a talk on the topic of "Beyond Expelled" this week.

This group, this blog, announces itself dedicated to the defense and promotion of "sound science in Florida." Yet the tone of that site seems inconsistent with such a laudable goal.

In its aggressiveness and bluster, one detects a certain lack of confidence, defensiveness, and lack of encouragement to let people think things through for themselves. A bit of "sales resistance," and perhaps ear plugs, seems in order. (For more on "sales resistance," etc., see the conclusion of "Christmas Spirit in the Dirt.")

Truly free thinkers, let us also say, welcome the kind of reasonable dialogue that Nancy's lectures invariably exhibit and invite. In many ways, this humane approach goes back to her own agnosticism and willingness to consider basic questions from all angles.

Throw in a little respect for the individual, as well as critical distance vis-a-vis contemporary fantacisms and accepted orthodoxies, and you've got the makings of a terrific evening.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

"Beyond Expelled" -- An Evening With Author-Speaker Nancy Pearcey

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy Pearcey will be in the Fort Walton Beach, Fla., area May 8, 2008, to speak on the topic "Beyond Expelled."

Expelled is the excellent, controversial film starring Ben Stein.

John Derbyshire scorched the film over at National Review.

David Berlinski suggests Mr. Derbyshire might have been well-served to see the film first, and ask questions later (in fairness, a lesson, sadly, some "worldview" Christian bigshots might consider regarding books and film in general).

Nancy will be speaking at the Mattie Kelly Fine & Performance Arts Center of Okaloosa-Walton College in Niceville.

Daily News of northwest Florida published yesterday a story about Nancy's upcoming lecture.

Here's a WFTW radio interview.

Nancy will speak at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information see the Beyond Expelled webpage of Westminster Presbyterian Church, located in Fort Walton Beach.

Related
* Christianity Is a Science-Starter, Not a Science-Stopper, by Nancy Pearcey

* Why Intelligent Design Will Win: 5 Reasons to Keep an Open, Educated Mind, by Nancy Pearcey

* Darwin Meltdown Reaches England, by Rick Pearcey

* Secularism Takes Hit at British Airways, by Rick Pearcey

* I'll Take Sartre, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Victory Over Victim Demagogues

By Rick Pearcey

As columnist Ralph Peters sees it, Barack Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright "is only one of many demagogues in all races and creeds who foster cults of victimization around the globe."

The demagogue succeeds by shifting blame: "Your failures aren't your fault -- it's all their fault. Whitey's to blame, or people of color, or the Jews (those Elders of Zion sure do stay busy) or black helicopters from the UN. It's a formula for the perpetuation of failure."

The solution? "Fortunately for us," says Peters, "this paralyzing cult of victimhood is the antithesis of the ethic that allowed the United States to achieve the quality of life the vast majority of us enjoy today. What built our country was the get-up-off-your-butt belief that God, by any name, helps those who help themselves" (italics added).

It is true that God helps those who help themselves.

This is clear in the data we have from the Creator, who informs us from Genesis onward that human beings made in His image indeed are significant creatures able to make choices, shape history, form cultures, build civilizations, and otherwise develop creation in ways that honor the Creator and demonstrate respect for nature and our fellow human beings.

Of course, we're sinners; that's something we did, in our infinite wisdom. But the "scientists" and atheistic materialists need to go back to the drawing board. We're not space junk or cosmic victims. That's why no one, including a Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, wants to be thrown into a trash can or live in a garbage dump.

But not any name will do, just as not any "God" will do. Try calling your wife Mary when her name is Susan and you'll see what I mean.

Names matter. Not as arbitrary signs plastered onto meaningless globs of human flesh (Sartre was wrong) or as merely religious symbols stuck onto some kind of unknowable spiritual being (Kant was wrong, too).

As far as I am aware, only the Creator Deity set forth in the Biblical data and self-identified as Yahweh, verified in history and available to rational investigation, qualifies as a being who thinks, acts, and cares about what happens in this world, including how we treat the planet and how we treat our brothers and sisters "red and yellow black and white."

This Creator is not a mythological Zeus, distant Allah, impersonal "All" of pantheism, or an eternally existing Darwinian cosmos that couldn't care less whether Whitey lynches blacks or an Austrian nut case kills off 7 million Jews.

This Creator acts in history. This Father stands up, sends prophets, and allows his Son to subvert evil, judge hypocrisy, slap religious leaders upside the head, die on a cross, rise from the dead, and smash the gates of Hell.

Why? So people can have an ethical and juridical basis for renewed community with their Creator, each other, and the world in which we are to work, live, and play.

That's a full plate. Not a lot of time left over to play the victim.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Dungeon Incest Story Shocks

By Rick Pearcey

"Woman Held in Dungeon for Two Decades," screams the headline at Der Spiegel. "Incest case shocks Austria." Lead paragraph:

An Austrian woman was kept in her father's basement for 24 years behind a concrete door locked with an electronic code. She bore seven of his children, but relatives, neighbors and officials all deny any knowledge of the case. Many are wondering how that was possible. . . .

Shocking, yes. But for how long?

Imagine a different scenario. Imagine there were no religion, no heaven above, no oppressive structure below.

Imagine just you and me and “love,” as defined by the latest scientific study, poll, or 60s-style focus group, massaged by San Fran marketers and pushed by big money, big celebrity, big ads, and energetic websites.

What if, in this kind of secularist spirituality, the daughter “loved” the incestuous father, the children were well-cared for, and choice was at the center of the relationship?

Would this be love, tolerance, diversity, strength, progress, liberation, family? “Love without boundaries," as it were?

Or might “love without boundaries” really mean passion, yes, but also an autonomous will-to-power in an ethically indifferent universe? A kind of trendy t-shirt fascism from the ground up, imposed from below -- one person, two partners, and several social groupings (aka “families”) at a time.

So why not two incestuous fathers and two incestuous mommies, and 14 sons and 17 preteen daughters? Not in an ugly, uncool Austrian basement, but openly, honestly, proudly, and with "dignity" in a really rich Hollywood suburb.

Or maybe a ranch in Texas.

Maybe “incest” is just another word for nothing left to lose. Just one more hangover from the Dark Ages when words had meaning, love had content, family had form, and kids had childhoods.

Granted, there may be an evolutionary adjustment period during which young sons and daughters appear to struggle with advanced and advancing understandings of tolerance and progress.

But the schools can fix them. Either that, or Mr. Orwell’s Ministry of Love.

Related
* Court Watch: Does McDonald's Support This Lesbian Attack on Family?, by Rick Pearcey
* "Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America, by Rick Pearcey
* O'Reilly, Letterman, and the Culture War, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Beyond "Expelled" -- Nancy Pearcey on NewsTalk Radio This Morning

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy is appearing on NewsTalk 1260 WFTW radio this morning. The station is located in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and you can listen live locally or online here.

Time: 9:30 am EDT, 8:30 am CDT.

The station talk lineup includes Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage.

Nancy will be speaking in the area May 8. She'll discuss "Beyond Expelled," at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center of Okaloosa-Walton College.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Ronaldinho Too Expensive for AC Milan?

By Rick Pearcey

Barcelona soccer genius Ronaldinho may be too expensive for Italy's AC Milan. Let's hope not.

Here's the latest from GOLTV:

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said Monday the club's bid to lure Ronaldinho to Italy was far from being a done deal.

Following Milan's 5-1 thrashing of Reggina on Sunday, Galliani claimed that Milan had failed to agree a fee for Ronaldinho with his Spanish club Barcelona.

The news comes just over a week after Galliani said that were Ronaldinho to move from the Catalan giants, it would be to Milan.

More . . .

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Reader Responds to "No McDonald's Today"

By Rick Pearcey

A reader named Julie responds to "No McDonald's Today":

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is it that you mean by "homosexual agenda"? Do you believe that homosexuals are trying to turn your children into homosexuals? If that's the case, then do you reject any evidence that homosexuality is biologically based, and believe anyone can choose to become a homosexual? Or do you think it is biologically based, but that those who have those tendencies should suppress them because to follow through would be sinning?

I don't mean to be rude; I'd just like to better understand your opinion as it's not one I'm familiar with (I'm a homeschooled high school student with scientist parents; they always told me homosexuality was linked to certain hormone levels during pregnancy). I don't agree with some things the organization in the article supports (like hate crime laws, which seems too close to legislating thought), but I was confused by the fear for your children you and other commentors expressed. Sorry to be so long winded; any clarification you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

My response:

Thank you for writing. As to the homosexual agenda, I recommend that you do your own research, fact-checking, etc., and think through for yourself the basic questions this issue raises.

My own approach is that of a free-thinker, following the evidence, the data, etc., wherever that might lead. With that qualification in mind, you may find "Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat" an article of interest insofar as her approach reflects such an agenda. Here's the link.

As to your misstatement regarding "fear for your children," etc., I should report that you're talking to the wrong person and the wrong family. We're about enjoying a full and challenging life as individuals and as family -- violin, blues guitar, frogs, snakes, dog, piano, art, museums, film, soccer, discussion, questions, ideas, people, different cultures, languages, etc.

Yes, there's a healthy concern to leave the world a better place than you found it -- and this suggests the need to question authority, rebel against evil, challenge the status quo, religion, mysticism, scientism, the peer group, PR machines, whatever happens to be "in," etc.

This too is part of being human, exercising a critical distance vis-a-vis the challenges of life, and cultivating a positive, humane existence. Where there is much joy and love, there's not a lot of room left over for their opposites.

Related
* Court Watch: Does McDonald's Support This Lesbian Attack on Family?, by Rick Pearcey
* "Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America, by Rick Pearcey
* O'Reilly, Letterman, and the Culture War, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Court Watch: Does McDonald's Support This Lesbian Attack on Family?

By Rick Pearcey

Will homosexualist ally McDonald's support a lesbian's attempt to separate mother and daughter? Does "Big Mac 'Social Responsibility'" mean inflicting this kind of family damage is OK?

Below is a CWA press release announcing a "Prayer Rally for Virginia Supreme Court" in support of "Parental Rights and Traditional Marriage."

The rally is tomorrow (Thursday, April 17) at 8 a.m., at the Old Bell Tower, SW corner of Capitol Square at 9th and Franklin in Richmond, Va. CWA says the event will be followed by a press conference.

Here's the press release:

Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, April 17, the Virginia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Lisa Miller custody case. Concerned Women for America (CWA) and our supporters will be present to rally for prayer outside the capitol courthouse.

Lisa Miller is a born again Christian who is faithfully working to raise her child according to Biblical principles. Janet Jenkins, Lisa’s former partner from a previous homosexual relationship, has diligently worked to destroy this bond and undermine Lisa’s faith. Jenkins, who is neither an adoptive nor biological parent, filed papers to gain full custody of Isabella Miller, Lisa’s daughter. Since then, both Virginia and Vermont courts have ruled in the case.

The Virginia Supreme Court must decide whether it will respect the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Virginia’s own constitution or allow Vermont to redefine marriage and family in the Commonwealth. In 2006, Virginia decisively passed (with 57 percent of the vote) a constitutional amendment which was designed to protect families against just such an attack. The amendment specifies that Virginia “shall not create or recognize” “civil unions” or “same-sex marriages” from other states, nor can it recognize rulings which stem from such “unions” (like Vermont’s custody ruling).

Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, “This case is of paramount national importance. Not only is a little girl’s spiritual, emotional and physical well-being at stake, the Virginia Supreme Court will essentially be signaling whether states like Vermont and Massachusetts get to radically redefine marriage and family for the rest of the country.”

CWA of Virginia State Director Janet Robey said, “We’re asking for people to join us in praying that the Virginia Supreme Court will protect little Isabella, her mother Lisa and the bedrock institutions of legitimate marriage and family. We’re also asking for people to join in praying, as little Isabella has requested, ‘that Janet Jenkins would ask Jesus into her heart,’ and then with God’s help, deliverance from homosexuality is possible.”

* For more information, contact Natalie Bell at 202-488-7000, ext 126.

Related
* No McDonald's Today, by Rick Pearcey
*"Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America, by Rick Pearcey
* Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

National Radio: Rick Pearcey Discusses McDonald's Homosexual Alliance

By Rick Pearcey

On Friday, April 11, 2008, I was interviewed on Point of View, a national radio talk show hosted by Kerby Anderson and Kelly Shackford.

We discussed my "No McDonald's Today," which roiled homosexualist circles and attracted comment from leaders such as Andrew Sullivan. "No McDonald's Today" was published at Pro-Existence the previous Friday (April 4).

The well-nigh universal diatribic response from the monosexists was in keeping with the PR strategy outlined in The Marketing of Evil, by David Kupelian.

Here's the first chapter, "How 'Gay Rights' Is Being Sold to America."

You can listen to the POV program at the radio archive, here.

Also on that day's radio program:

* Jordan Lorence, senior counsel, Alliance Defense Fund
* Gary Bauer, president, American Values
* Brent Bozell, president, Media Research Center

Related
* Chicago radio host Sandy Rios and I discussed "No McDonald's Today" at 4:35 p.m. Monday afternoon, April 7, 2008. More here.
* See also, "Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America, by Rick Pearcey
* See also, Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat, by Rick Pearcey

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Ventura Art: 3 From Elyane

By Rick Pearcey

The joy of art is one of life's brilliant necessities. Here are three pieces by Elyane, who lives in Ventura, Calif.


Elyane is French.

She specializes in landscapes.


Thank you, Elyane, for sharing your life and your creative gift.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Antony Flew Over America

By Rick Pearcey

I enjoyed reading There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind, by Antony Flew (with Roy Abraham Varghese), on a recent trip to Santa Barbara.

My brother works at UC Santa Barbara as a computer analyst. A lovely campus. The photo above was taken during the return flight back to the East Coast.

By the way, one of the reasons jets fly is because they are intelligently designed. And they're maintained by flight mechanics, not by rolls of the dice nor by impersonal laws that unaccountably popped into existence out of sheer, absolute nothingness.

These kinds of facts give free-thinkers such as myself lots to think about. It's a willingness to think freely about the basic philosophic questions that led me to consider secular, pagan, and biblical data with an open mind.

The atheistic, naturalistic case is just too weak intellectually -- the theory of the world required by the mobilization of its presuppositions does not accurately describe the actual external world in which all people must live, atheist or not. There are no atheists in jets formed out of nothing by chance or impersonal law.

The Flew book itself will help you see why. So will this review essay by Gary Habermas of the philosophy and theology department at Liberty University.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Rick on Chicago Radio at 4:35 p.m. CT to Discuss "No McDonald's Today"

By Rick Pearcey

Chicago Radio host Sandy Rios and I are scheduled to discuss my article "No McDonald's Today" at 4:35 p.m. Central Time today.

Listen live here.

Here's the WYLL-AM call-in number: 847-956-5042.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

How to Have a Race War

By Rick Pearcey

From Frontpage:

If whiteness stands for all that is evil, blackness symbolizes all that is good. “Black theology,” says [black liberation theologian James] Cone, “refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.” Small wonder that some critics have condemned black liberation theology as "racist idolatry” and “Afro-Nazism."

Before you can have a race war in America, you must first set forth an ideology that legitimizes race hatred and keeps that kind of hatred at a boiling point. The theology of Cone seems to be on this path, absolutizing "blackness," which in turn gives the KKK, Aryans, and kindred spirits an excuse to absolutize "whiteness."

The result? Two gods vying for supremacy, locked in mortal combat, with no possible resolution, even if by fire, as some groups seem to want.

For neither god can afford rational discourse by free-thinking individuals who question authority. Such gods rooted in creation place skin color, race, or group hatreds above rationality, evidence, consideration, and discussion. Lost is the Biblical responsibility to ask questions, wonder, examine evidence, subject theology and putative prophets to information from the Creator. Instead, we see a media dash to charges of bigotry and other attempts at verbal terror and intimidation, all of them beneath the dignity of Man.

The only possible outcome of this recipe, if consistently pursued to its logical conclusion, is race warfare.

If you use racism to drive out racism, what you have is not a solution, but a new racism taking over from the old. This is called regress not progress. And it has nothing to do with information given by the Creator about all people having been created in his image and that the dilemma we all face is ethical not pigmentary.

Black liberation theology? White liberation theology? It's hard to imagine a better recruitment tool for fascists of every hue or stripe. Red, yellow, brown, pink -- the entire rainbow.

Related:
* Black Jesus Does Not Exist
* Church of Oprah Exposed

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Nancy's No. 1

By Rick Pearcey

DL, a blogger, writes:

Mrs. Clinton is next on my list of Women Changing the World for Better or Worse!

But the good news is . . . your wife is the first on my list for women changing the world for better. The article is, at the time of this writing, the most popular one on my site and has the potential to be viewed by thousands of bloggers.

Two comments seem in order:

First, DL is clearly a blogger of great insight!

Second, Nancy is No. 1 on my list as well. She officially started changing my world for the better in August 1976.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

No McDonald's Today

By Rick Pearcey

My son and I often stop by McDonald's for a bite to eat after homeschool bowling on Fridays.

But not today.

I first heard about McDonald's in 1963. I was a kid. Kennedy had been shot. I heard the news on the radio in a new white Ford station wagon while crossing a D.C. bridge.

We were returning from having been stationed in Germany. The Cuban missile crisis had come and gone. I saw the howitzers in Gelnhausen, lined up and ready to roll.

Sometime later, stateside, we were in Columbus, Ohio. Twenty-five cents, I think, for a McDonald's hamburger. What fun! A great welcome home!

But not now.

Not today, in light of reports that McDonald's has decided, apparently, to declare war on my family. And to declare war on the civilization of liberty, independence, creativity, and humanity under God that my Dad fought for in World War II.

Reports such as this -- "Pink Arches? McDonald's Buys Into Homosexual Agenda."

And reports such as this: "McDonald's Gives Support to Homosexual Agenda."

And this: "McDonald's Signs Onto 'Gay' Agenda."

For Christians, this is a matter of stewardship and "loving thy neighbor" -- Why spend good money on a morally and socially corruptive business?

For families, this is a matter of child protection -- Why support a business that helps fund organizations that disrespect the heart of family life?

For human beings, this is a matter of liberty under God -- Why help finance groups that turn their backs on the Declaration of Independence, the Founding vision, and the living Creator who holds it all together?

If you say you can do without all of that, then I say we can do without McDonald's.

Why, apparently, those McDonald's people can't tell the difference between right and wrong.

Between the wrongness of discriminating against someone on the basis of his or her beautiful and God-given skin color and the correctness of rejecting trumped-up victimhood and pretend discrimination based on membership in an ethically challenged but politically powerful interest group.

Information from the Creator, not to mention simple lessons in biology, says there's a difference between diversity and perversity, between being pulled over for driving while black and being guilty of sinning while human.

A hamburger's worth giving up and giving in to all that?

Hardly.

McDonald's is now on trial.

The fries are good. Even great. But the worldview they support isn't fit for human consumption.

Maybe we'll stop by Chick-Fil-A instead. It's a little out of the way, but I hear they like families.

Real families -- not ones made up by the ACLU last Tuesday.

And what's an extra mile or two to vote with your pocketbook? One way or another, you always pay for your convictions.

* Update: Chicago radio host Sandy Rios and I are scheduled to discuss "No McDonald's Today" at 4:35 p.m. Monday afternoon, April 7, 2008. More here. Central Time.

** Update: See also, "Faggot" Easy to Defend: Surprising Help From Secular America

*** Update: See also, Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Modern Secularists Not So Brilliant

By Rick Pearcey

The Founding Fathers understood that human rights are rooted not in the state but in the Creator, in whose image all people are made.

Thus, the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.

The Founders were brilliant in that they understood that a humane balance of form and freedom in society and governance could be achieved if "we the people" as individuals self-consciously built our polity upon information given by the Creator.

Not so brilliant are modern secularists, who reject the truly progressive Judeo-Christian concept of a Creator whose liberating norms speak to all of life, public and private.

Now comes this today from AP, "Clinton promises to expand homosexual rights":

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would defend and expand homosexual rights as president.

Clinton said states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts are extending rights to homosexual couples "and the federal government should recognize that and should extend the same access to federal benefits across the board. I will very much work to achieve that." Clinton's comments came in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay
News that was posted on its website Thursday.

The problem, in a word, rogue government. Rogue, as in "vicious and solitary."

Vicious? Yes, for few things are as savage and destructive and hateful as the "gay" attack on family, freedom, and human nature defined not by the subjective imaginations and pretended "rights" of finite interest groups pushing private agendas, but by verifiable, empirically vouchsafed data from the Creator himself.

Solitary? Yes, for what the Hillarys of the world are pushing is a social order alienated from the Declaration, alienated from community with our true Creator, and alienated from our true selves as amazing creatures male and female created in the image of God. How dark and confining and inhumane is the "light" of secularism.

It demands that human beings reduce themselves to the embrace of genes, groups, genitalia, and skin color under the power construct of an autonomous federal government cut loose from the spiritual-intellectual framework that lifted the U.S. up from the Greeks, Romans, and barbarians not so long ago. Against this human nature properly and necessarily rebels.

Far better to rebel for God, man, and neighbor. Far better to say yes to love, but no to an expanding vicious "rights regime" imposed by a temporary power establishment. Yes to community, yes to humanity, but no to the loneliness of the empty, secular soul.

It's how you keep a republic.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Church of Oprah Exposed

By Rick Pearcey

A friend writes via email:

I think most of you know how I feel about "forwarded messages." This one was so striking, however, that I felt I needed to pass it on. I recommend that, if at all possible, you spend 6 minutes looking at this You Tube video. It is startling.

The video is titled "The Church of Oprah Exposed," and it runs approximately 7 minutes.

In it is an Oprah quote regarding Jesus: "There couldn't possibly be just one way." (She says it, that settles it.)

Oprah discusses "God" with an author of one of her book-club selections: "God isn't something to believe; God is . . . and God is a feeling experience, not a believing experience . . . . If God for you is still about a belief, then it's not truly God . . . " (But what if God is a fact of life -- say, of the sort that could be born in a place called Bethlehem?)

Also noted is Oprah's endorsement of Barack Obama for president.

The YouTube video concludes by pointing viewers to a website that promotes a new book, Don't Drink the Kool-Aid.

Biblically, of course, the data demonstrate that God is a rational, personal, objective being who thinks, acts, feels, and has spoken in history, space, and time so that human beings as thinking people do not have to escape from the facts of reality to affirm meaning in life, the dignity of man, or solid answers to moral dilemmas in an ethical universe.

This is not about big or small churches, big or small TV ratings, mesmerizing gurus, pantheistic celebrities, private belief systems, or private faiths where "God" is no longer in a "box" but can be whatever floats your boat, diet, gender, weekend, or TV show -- whatever you want he, she, it, or all of the above to be, since rational categories no longer apply.

But if rational categories no longer apply, how do we rationally conclude that Jim Jones and his suicidal Kool-Aid theology were wrong? His "god" was out of the "box" and people died. If rationality is irrelevant to spirituality, then we cannot say Jones was "wrong," for the word "wrong" is a meaningful linguistic symbol bound to the box of rationality beyond which certain gods, apparently, live.

Yes, there were warning signs, but the cult leader preached community and "welcomed people of every race and ethnicity," notes a PBS story. Apparently the Kool-Aid reverend did nice things for lots of people before the real world came crashing down upon his private theology and those who drank deeply of it.

The humanness of the Biblical data provides a way out. Here, human beings get to ask tough questions and resist sales pitches. Here we observe a concern for objective truth, fact, evidence, and that which accurately describes the world in which all people must live irrespective of their subjective imaginations, bank accounts, or political affiliation.

"Test everything," says 1 Thess. 5:21. That includes celebrity, religion, prophetic wannabees, presidential hopefuls, "God," etc., etc. It's the Biblical, humane, and wise thing to do.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

We Challenge Chuck Norris

By Rick Pearcey

UC Santa Barbara -- Working on The Pearcey Report today, I'm in my brother Terry's office here at UCSB, where he's a computer analyst.

I read him the conclusion of the Norris commentary titled "Bruce Lee vs. Me."

Says Norris, "So, would I have beaten Bruce Lee in a real competition or not? You'll forgive me for answering with another Bruce-ism: 'Showing off is the fool's idea of glory'."

That answer may be just a bit too humble. In any case, Terry suggests a way to settle the question: "Computer simulation."

That seems doable. And imminently watchable. Video, cable, gaming?

I believe the kick is in your corner, Mr. Norris.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Baylor and PBU -- Tale of Two Universities

By Rick Pearcey

The Baptist Press is reporting that 40% of Baylor University faculty up for tenure this semester have been denied:

An unusually high number of faculty members at Baylor University have been denied tenure this semester, and one former Baylor professor believes the denials reflect the school's decision to turn away from its Baylor 2012 campaign to establish Baylor as both a Christian university and a top-tier research institution.

The former Baylor prof who thinks the university may be rejecting its Biblical heritage for a bowl of secular soup is William Dembski. Dembski is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

As Dembski sees it, "All the junior faculty denied tenure appear to have strongly supported enhancing Baylor's Christian identity, an aspect of Baylor 2012 that many of the established professors at Baylor reject, preferring instead that Baylor become secular."

"This scandal is terrible news for Baylor and the wider Baptist world," Dembski says. "It indicates that Baylor's vision for restoring its Christian identity is on the way out and sends a message to top young scholars not to come to Baylor, because whether you get tenure is based not on merit or Christian commitment but on the whim of a capricious president."

But even as March doubts about Baylor's intellectual and Biblical commitment surface, a February press release from Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU) demonstrates an alternative for thinking Christians.

Newly inaugurated PBU president Dr. Todd Williams "Seeks to Establish Model for a Biblical University" even if that means causing a "positive disruption" to the status quo.

"We must have the fortitude and diligence to cut a new path through the landscape of contemporary higher education . . . to define and establish this model of a biblical university and thereby create a positive disruption in the academy," said the new PBU president in his Inaugural Address.

"We must engage more effectively the broader evangelical and academic communities. . . . Like the apostle Paul on Mars Hill, we must enter the marketplace, and the marketplace of ideas, and speak. If our goal is to elevate the profile of the University -- and it is -- then we must elevate our level of participation."

One indicator of the school's positive direction is that it brought aboard author and thinker (and wife) Nancy Pearcey as professor of worldview studies (she's also a fellow at Discovery). Here's the PBU press statement announcing Nancy's appointment.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Who's Worse? Son of Schaeffer or Obama Pastor?

By Rick Pearcey

In case this is your question: Who's worse, Frank Schaeffer or Obama's pastor Rev. Wright?

Or is this question unfair and totally misplaced?

The younger Schaeffer's columns at the Huffington Post are here. More on Rev. Wright here.

See also: "Francis Schaeffer 'Worse' Than Obama Pastor?"

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Francis Schaeffer "Worse" Than Obama Pastor?

By Rick Pearcey

Is evangelical thinker Francis Schaeffer "worse" than Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright?

Schaeffer son Frank says, yes, according to this report in WorldNetDaily.

"When Sen. Obama’s preacher thundered about racism and injustice, Obama suffered smear-by-association," writes the younger Schaeffer. "But when my late father -- religious right leader Francis Schaeffer denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr."

For background, see:

* Rick Pearcey on "Black Jesus Does Not Exist"
* Os Guinness on "Fathers and Sons"
* Os Guinness on Obama "Better Than His Pastor"
* Douglas Groothuis on "Franky Plays the Schaeffer Card Again"
* Ranald Macaulay on "What Can We Learn From Francis Schaeffer?"
* Rick Pearcey on "Francis Schaeffer: A Student's Appreciation of a Distinct Approach"
* Rick Pearcey on "Francis Schaeffer, Mother, and Monkey Blood"

Finally, light a candle: Buy the Complete Works or other great books or videos by Francis Schaeffer.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Black Jesus Does Not Exist

By Rick Pearcey

Barack Obama says he is "proud of my Christianity," and that he appreciates his spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. For one thing, says Obama, the reverend introduced him to Jesus Christ.

One does not doubt the sincerity of Obama's feelings. But which Jesus is he talking about?

Rev. Wright preaches that Jesus was a "poor black" man. And yet if we go by the data of the Biblical record, the historical Christ is nothing of the sort.

Poor? As the Son of the Living God, Jesus of Nazareth had and has untold wealth at his fingertips. That he chose not to avail himself of these vast riches says more about his sacrificial mission than about the political implications of his earthly bank account.

In fact, Jesus of Nazareth was and is rich beyond measure. And yet this same Jesus was no sellout to economic greed. Nor to economic guilt. He was not captured by class warfare or by any impulse that smacks of Karl Marx.

But what about a "Black" Jesus? Well, being Jewish, it seems a little more likely that his skin color was olive. Genetics and all that.

But maybe Jesus was "black" culturally, standing in for the weak, the pure and poverty-stricken, the oppressed, the "scum of the earth" who in fact are the apple of God's eye.

I'm not so sure. His message is that moral failure is an equal opportunity society. Or, as Paul put it in an "obscure" verse in the book of Romans, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

Demagogues and race hustlers black or white may be offended by what follows, but this "all" includes rich man, poor man, oppressor and oppressed, Jew, Greek, Gentile, American, and African. Just look in the mirror.

The historical Jesus transcends religion, elections, and personal theologies. He stands as an objective phenomenon before all humanity and all subjective "faiths," unshackled by the dictates of group identity, race politics, liberation theologies, church cultures, and class warfare.

It is true: Power elites will "employ malleable symbols of religion and politics to manipulate money and masses towards results that overturn the original content of words and action rooted in history" (more).

But we don't have to play along. We can resist the myth. We can shock the world and say out loud: Jesus of Nazareth is the biological son of Mary, the adopted son of Joseph, the begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, verified in history, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.

This Jesus is no victim, he needs no liberation, and it is the height of idolatry to try to reduce him and those who trust him to pigmentation, class, race, or any other kind of category that excuses the worship of the creature instead of the Creator.

I wouldn't blame Mr. Obama if he wanted a reintroduction.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Juan Williams React: Did Obama Pass the Test?

By Rick Pearcey

Juan Williams reviews what Obama did and didn't do in today's speech (video): "I think he had to take responsibility . . . that's what he didn't do."

It's a question that goes to Obama's "judgment and character."

Fox: "Is the damage done and that's it?"

Williams: "It goes on."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Os Guinness -- Obama "Better Than His Pastor"

By Rick Pearcey

When asked on C-SPAN yesterday about the legitimacy of Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue, author and social critic Os Guinness said that, from what "I know of Obama," the Democratic presidential hopeful is "better than his pastor."

The question arose as part of a more general discussion on religion, politics, and the culture war in relationship to Guinness's new book, The Case for Civility.

A few areas Guinness addresses during this program:

• Jeremiah Wright as a legitimate campaign issue
• The strengths and weaknesses of the Religious Right
• The meaning of the 1st Amendment

Quote: Civility is a "standing or falling issue for the American republic."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Spitzer's Daughters

By Rick Pearcey

Speaking of the Bible, prostitutes, and the NY Governor, Cal Thomas asks:

"Shouldn't there be a law against the injured wife appearing with her husband at these media events?"

But if the humiliated wife is expected to show up, let us ask: Why not the children? That, at least, might have a positive impact on Dad in the days that come.

Seeing pain and injury in their downcast eyes might remind a hard-charging father and governor of who he is supposed to be.

Basic realities matter.

Being a father is more important than being a governor.

If he forgets that, not much else is worth remembering.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Spitzer Dominoes?

A reader comments --

Now that we know the name of the organization -- Emperors Club -- I hope the investigation broadens (pardon the choice of words) to see who else has poor judgment and probably shouldn't be in power.

Free Thought on Darwin at Union-Tribune

By Rick Pearcey

There's an uncivilized outbreak of intellectual freedom re Darwin over at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

A guy with two science degrees has a column explaining why "Darwinists confidently assert there is no controversy over evolution: They actively shut down such scientific debates from taking place."

Nice work, if you can get it funded.

Clearly, this fellow is a danger to the public peace, secular agenda, last Saturday's living Constitution, and the post-American way.

Union-Trib editors ought to be praised. But are they ready for the 3 a.m. materialist knock at the door?

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Remembering Larry Norman

By Nancy Pearcey

I had been a Christian only a few months in summer 1971, so I knew nothing about the young man a few feet away plucking his guitar except that his name was Larry Norman.

Tall, lanky, with sweeping blond hair, Norman was in town for a concert and had dropped by the Christian commune where I was staying. No one had invited him.

Apparently he had learned via the grapevine that our little household, known as His House, was the gathering place for Jesus Freaks in Albuquerque.

Only a few of us were in that night, so we sat comfortably on the floor quietly talking, praying, and singing in the soft lamp light.

Norman played a few of his trademark songs like “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” and “We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock and Roll).”

Larry Norman went on to be hailed as the founder of Christian Rock Music (and the owners of His House, Denis and Margie Haack, went on to found a ministry called Ransom Fellowship).

Norman defended his work as a musician by invoking a basic Christian worldview principle: “I think everybody should be a full time Christian, even if they work on cars or sell insurance” (quoted in American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon).

When Norman died last Sunday, the obits began pouring in. Here are some links:

* From Steve Turner, Guardian
* From Chris Willman, Entertainment Weekly
* From Mark Joseph, Huffington Post
* From Charles Norman, Brother, LarryNorman.com

Update: Larry Norman on Youtube.

HT: Mark Joseph; photo: amazon

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Nancy Pearcey is editor at large of The Pearcey Report.

Examiner.com: Tribute to the Empyreal Buckley

By Rick Pearcey

Examiner.com today has published my tribute to William F. Buckley, Jr.

WASHINGTON -- "In St. Louis in the late 1970s, my wife Nancy and I were students at Covenant Seminary. Nancy was still in her 'feminist' stage, and when a fellow student gave her a copy of William F. Buckley Jr.'s magazine National Review as a source for a paper she was writing, she was too embarrassed to be seen carrying such a 'reactionary' publication. She hid it among her school papers. . . ."

To see the entire commentary at the Examiner, go here.

Novelist and son Christopher Buckley: Father died "with his boots on."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Plagiarism: Pretend People, Fake Work

By Rick Pearcey

White House aide Timothy Goeglein has resigned over admitted plagiarism.

The links below contain facts and may suggest a few whys and wherefores:

* White House Aide Resigns Over Plagiarism
* Blogger Spots "Copycat" Goeglein
* Goeglein Column: "... Honesty of Reflective Thought"
* Goeglein: "I Am Entirely at Fault"
* WPost: 20 Out of 38 Columns Tainted
* NYT: "Familiar Figure" to "Evangelical Christians"

Meanwhile, a passage from this February 28 tribute to William F. Buckley seems apropos. Regarding Buckley:

"In several respects one is reminded of Francis Schaeffer and C.S. Lewis -- deep, quick, sharp, but also humane in their brilliance, also caring for the human being next door, also real people doing real work. The contrast with the opportunistic 'mover and shaker' of Big Government, Big Celebrity, or, sadly, Big Christianity, encourages us to push forward to a higher calling,
a nobler practice, a loving dream awalk in the world."

Here are two dreams -- doable, humane, inspired by God: 1) Real work by real people, 2) Market the truth truthfully. Trot them out at the next big meeting of marketers, publishers, ghosters, blurbers, fundraisers, and other affiliates of Big Name, Inc. Then duck.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Tony Snow to Radio Factor

By Rick Pearcey

Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow will be joining the Radio Factor as Bill O'Reilly's permanent fill-in host.

First Program: Today, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. There's more at the O'Reilly blog.

Blog Reax:

* LoRiseAntlers over at Huffington Post digs deep: "It's really too bad there's no such thing as Hell, because these two morons would definitely have a special place reserved for them."

* Limpidglass at DailyKos is thankful for little things: "Well, one day of the week without O'Reilly is a start."

* Bigdadgib is glad it's snowing again.

* A humane being showed up over at Chickenhawk Express: "Thrilled . . . great to see him doing so well after his cancer treatment."

Photo: paul morse

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

McCain Helped by NYT Attack

By Rick Pearcey

Sen. John McCain may want to thank the New York Times for its attack story "For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk." The story hit the net last night and the papers today.

I have read the Times report and watched coverage of this story by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, as well as the response of McCain lawyer Bob Bennett on Hannity & Colmes.

The explosive charge of a possible romantic relationship between McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman is not substantiated, in my view.

This does not mean it didn’t happen; it does mean the Times has taken an unfair swipe at McCain and thereby justly suffers another blow to its credibility.

Click here to continue reading "McCain Helped by NYT Attack."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Jai and Rene's Baby Shower

By Rick Pearcey

While Obama was making it 10 in a row over Hillary last night in Wisconsin, I was in northwest Washington, D.C., for a baby shower in honor of Jai and Rene, who have little Isaiah on the way.

Jai and I are soccer teammates on 2 indoor teams. He was born in Ghana and educated in England and the U.S. (Atlanta), where he played on a championship high school soccer team. I have gotten to know sweet Rene through Jai, and both attend nearby Howard University.

Here they are, holding an autographed copy of what I've heard is a pretty good book. We await a review from young Isaiah.

On the wall above Jai's piano and next to the kitchen:

My 3 soccer amigos, all of Howard U. Left to right: Derrick (from Trinidad), Kyle (from Trinidad), and Jai.

A wonderful time with friends old, new, and yet to arrive.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Movable Type Expert Wanted

By Rick Pearcey

If you are an expert in Moveable Type, please contact us at The Pearcey Report.

Email: pearcey@thepearceyreport.com.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Why Con Men Live in Fear

By Rick Pearcey

Why con men live in fear, even if they have a lifetime of records, resumes, PR, and "good friends" to back them up.

Here's the story from AFP:

"A 70-year-old Italian man who had been pretending to be blind for 40 years to get an invalid's pension was arrested as he drove his car, Sky TG24 television said Thursday . . . ."

More here.

He had everything going for him but the truth.
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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Pro-Abort Ad Helping John McCain?

By Rick Pearcey

Gary Bauer says McCain is pro-life. So does Planned Parenthood. Here's the pro-abort group's radio ad, just in time for today's Potomac Primary.

"With enemies like this, who needs friends?," asks an "Embed Producer" over at the Fox News blogs.

The only thing missing: "I'm John McCain, and I approved this ad."
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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Nancy Pearcey Speaking at Philadelphia Biblical University

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy Pearcey will be speaking at Philadelphia Biblical University this Wed., February 6.

Her talk during the 10 a.m. chapel is part of a series of events and activities celebrating the inauguration of Dr. Todd J. Williams as the 5th president of the university.

For a schedule of PBU inaugural events, driving directions, and additional information, please go here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

The Coulter Gambit

By Rick Pearcey

Yesterday author and commentator Ann Coulter upset the political world by asserting on “Hannity and Colmes” that she would “vote for” and “campaign for” Hillary Clinton if the former First Lady wins the Democratic nomination and the GOP picks Sen. John McCain as its standard-bearer for President in the November elections. Coulter argued that Clinton is more conservative than McCain in several respects.

What to make of this? Go here for the rest of the article.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Radio Alert: Nancy Pearcey on "Prime Time America"

By Rick Pearcey

Interviews with Nancy Pearcey will air on Moody Radio’s "Prime Time America" this week Monday-Friday, January 14-18.

These interviews are scheduled for broadcast at 4:46 p.m. Central Time.

To listen live or locate a local station on the Moody Broadcasting Network, please visit this page. Audio archives are here.

Nancy Pearcey is author of Total Truth, editor at large of The Pearcey Report, and professor of worldview studies at Philadelphia Biblical University.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

The Most Manipulative Time of the Year

By Rick Pearcey

"The joyous Christmas season has become increasingly secular, religious, and fragmented, helping make the most wonderful time of the year perhaps also the most manipulative. We celebrate, and that is good, even healing. And given the hectic pace of life in America, there is much to admire in our ability to rise to the occasion of Christmas festivity every December.

"But on a deeper level, the awe and cheer that attend a Holy Night and a Christmas Day seem more than ever to rest upon cultural understandings weak and eroding. Consider how fact today is alienated from meaning, “faith” from life, spirit from matter, and wonder from the real things of life in a searching, troubled world. The optimism of a new beginning in a New Year fades when we lose touch with secure points of reference by which to measure hope and find comfort in progress. Power elites employ malleable symbols of religion and politics to manipulate money and masses towards results that overturn the original content of words and action rooted in history.

"There is a remedy for this, and it is found in the humane and concrete realities of the events that started it all some 2,000 years ago. . ."

For more, please see my "Christmas Spirit in the Dirt Means Good News for New Year," at The Pearcey Report.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Groothuis Reviews "Crazy for God" at The Pearcey Report

By Rick Pearcey

"Those of us deeply touched by the life and writings of Francis and Edith Schaeffer may be interested in Crazy for God, a memoir by their son and youngest child, Frank (formerly Franky), who is now in his mid-fifties," writes Douglas Groothuis in a review of the new book. Groothuis is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary.

"Given my interest in all things Schaeffer," Groothuis continues, "I found the book in turn fascinating and infuriating. I first learned of it by reading a cynical and sneering review in The Nation, a secular leftwing publication. The reviewer took the book to be a repudiation of evangelical faith, the Christian Right, and an expose of the hypocrisy of many Christian leaders, most notably, Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

"That review outraged me, but also piqued my curiosity. What had become of Franky Schaeffer, the producer of two significant film series featuring the ideas of his father -- How Should We Then Live? and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? -- and a man whose own books I had read in the early 1980s? Could Frank offer some insights into the life of his family and about the evangelical world he left behind?"

To see how Groothuis answers these questions, read the entire review of Crazy for God here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Nancy Speaking at Princeton

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy is speaking at Princeton University this Saturday, November 10, at a conference on "The Christian Worldview and the Academy."

Here is the schedule and lineup of speakers. The conference is hosted by the Witherspoon Institute.

For more information, please contact Partrick Hough at 609-688-8779, ext. 310 (email: worldview.conference@gmail.com).

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Guinness Blasts "Crazy" Journalism in "New Statesman" Schaeffer Article

By Rick Pearcey

In "Holy Fools," New Statesman writer Jeff Sharlet describes Francis Schaeffer and L'Abri Fellowship in ways that are perhaps unrecognizable to many. You might even say "crazy," to borrow a word from the title of a new book, Crazy for God, by Schaeffer's son, Frank (aka Franky).

"I lived with Francis and Edith Schaeffer in their home for five years, and with Frank too for much of that time," says author and lecturer Os Guinness in a reader comment at the end of the article.

"What you have written is a tissue of falseness, distortion, and unchecked allegations -- in short of shoddy journalism. Write if you want a more accurate account."

The New Statesman article is here. It contains vulgar language. Also, don't miss the reader comments by "JimBerkley" and "mmarc."


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Chattanooga Nancy at Bryan College

By Rick Pearcey

Nancy is honored to participate in the Distinguished Speaker series this Friday, October 26, under the auspices of Chattanooga Matters.

Here's the announcement from the Chattanooga Matters website:

"Nancy Pearcey, the acclaimed author of Total Truth, is the next in our Distinguished Speaker Series.

"She will appear at a Chattanooga Matters event being held on Friday, October 26th at 12 Noon on the campus of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. Nancy will speak and then take questions over lunch.

"The cost is $12 per person so please join us for this rare opportunity to hear from one of the leading Biblical Worldview speakers in the nation today. Seating is limited so make your reservations today at: info@chattanoogamatters.org."

For more information, contact Chattanooga Matters at 423-756-0410. Or visit the website.

Speaking of Bryan College, Nancy will also deliver remarks this Friday at the college chapel (11:00 a.m.) as part of the International Leadership Forum.

Go here for a review of Total Truth that appears on the Bryan College website. The main Bryan phone number is 423-775-2041.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

New Chancellor, President at PBU

By Rick Pearcey

On Sept. 5, 2007, we announced Nancy's new position as scholar for worldview studies at Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU).

There are continuing developments at PBU, which now announces the appointments of a new chancellor and president.

"The Board of Trustees of Philadelphia Biblical University is pleased to announce the appointment of President W. Sherrill Babb as Chancellor effective January 1, 2008. Succeeding Dr. Babb as President will be Dr. Todd J. Williams, Sr. Vice President and Provost of the University since 2005," says the university.

“The appointments of Dr. Babb as Chancellor and Dr. Williams as President were confirmed by the Board in recognition of the gifts, experience, and leadership acumen they will each bring to their new roles,” says Mel Nace, who is chairman of the board.

“These transitions are very timely and appropriate as the University seeks to further define and establish itself as a premier institution offering a distinctive biblical worldview education,” says Nace (emphasis added).

"Dr. W. Sherrill Babb served as President of PBU for 28 years," says PBU. "He became the University’s 4th President, assuming the role when the institution moved from Center City Philadelphia to Langhorne in September 1979 . . . . During his tenure as President, Dr. Babb conferred degrees upon 5,823 graduates. One of those was Todd J. Williams, a cum laude graduate of the Class of 1992. . . .

"Dr. Williams has inspired students and faculty with his passion for an enlarged academic vision that includes scholarly endeavors such as the newly established Center for University Studies and appointment of Worldview Scholar Dr. Nancy Pearcey, graduates who demonstrate an ability to engage in the cultural discourse of the day, and pursuit of academic rigor and curriculum that will establish PBU as a premier institution of Christian higher education that is distinctly and intentionally biblical in its approach."

The full announcement is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Generation Next: BBC Interviews Young Co-Authors of "Conspiracy of Calaspia"

By Rick Pearcey

There's a delightful "Generation Next" BBC radio interview with the two young co-authors of a new work of fantasy titled Conspiracy of Calaspia. This is Book One in a planned series of six called the Insanity Saga. The BBC program includes readings, an overview of the book, and background on the co-authors.

Speaking of which, they are Suresh and Jyoti Guptara, a set of twins from Zurich. Their collaboration is a 21st century phenomenon, with Suresh attending school in England (with designs on Oxford), and Jyoti a freelance journalist in Switzerland.

I read aloud a portion of the book last night to our son Michael -- and we both look forward to completing it. Michael's review: "It's good."

Readers of The Pearcey Report may recall "Koran Does Not Forbid Images of Muhammad -- What's Really Going On?," by the twins' father Prabhu (website).

To learn about a writing contest based on the book, go to the Conspiracy of Calaspia Literary Competition.

The twins' website is here. More about the book at Amazon, here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

PBU Releases Nancy Pearcey News Advisory Via ChristianNewsWire

By Rick Pearcey

ChristianNewsWire has published a media advisory from Philadelphia Biblical University regarding Nancy's new position as professor of worldview studies at the school's Center for University Studies.

"Over 900 public policy groups, government agencies, PR firms, religious organizations, think-tanks, watchdog groups, advocacy groups, coalitions, foundations, colleges, universities, activists, politicians, and candidates use Christian Newswire to distribute their press releases," says the newswire's website.

Here's the announcement.

For a list of search engines and news outlets reached by ChristianNewsWire, go here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Does God Ordain Evil?

By Rick Pearcey

Udo Middelmann's new book The Innocence of God: Does God Ordain Evil? is due to go on sale Oct. 10, 2007, at Amazon.com.

Having read through most of an uncorrected proof of the manuscript, I would highly recommend this book as a creative and thoughtful engagement of issues such as the sovereignty of God, the significance of man, and resistance to evil, with special attention to the kinds of determinism that emerge from secularism, paganism, Islam, and hyper-Calvinism.

Amazon lists the publisher as Paternoster, which is a division of STL (Send the Light). What follows is from the publisher's website:

*About the Book: "The Bible teaches us that God is sovereign over all. Does that mean in his sovereignty and foreknowledge, all events are determined? What about evil and the choices of man to disobey God or not to believe in him at all?

"What a choice! Between a good but weak, or bad but strong, God. The sovereignty of God, the existence of evil, the responsibility of man: How do these work together to explain human history and the reality of the world around us?

"Belief in the sovereignty of God has led to extreme forms of determinism, while a rejection of God's sovereignty has resulted in an openness view of history, which assumes the idea of a God with limited power and knowledge.

"In The Innocence of God Udo Middelmann critiques both positions and demonstrates the continuing battle of a good and powerful God for his creation. God admonishes us to seek justice, goodness, and mercy in the continuing struggle against evil. The truth of God's patient, yet powerful battle for redemption is absent when everything has already been determined."

* About the Author: "Udo Middelmann was born in Germany and has lived in Switzerland for over thirty years. He is a university lecturer by special invitation in various countries, a consultant, and principal speaker on 'Ethics for a Civil Society' for the Russian Ministry of Education, and is currently president of the Francis Schaeffer Foundation in New York and Switzerland."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Humane Truth: Trinity as Model for Human Social Life

By Rick Pearcey

A blog entry over at "Hanz" is titled "Christian Social Theory: The Trinity as a Model for Human Social Life."

First sentence: "Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth is to today as Francis Schaeffer's books were to 20 years ago."

What follows at "Hanz" is a brief excerpt from Total Truth, here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Nancy Pearcey Speaking in Tampa Area

PBU Professor of Worldview Studies Dr. Nancy Pearcey will speak next week at the Cambridge Study Center, Lakeland Christian School, and Berean Academy, all three located in the Tampa, Fla., area.

* Cambridge Study Center: She will speak under the auspices of the center in Lakeland, Fla., Thursday and Friday, September 20-21. For more information, see the website here or phone 863-686-4862. The Cambridge announcement is here.

* Lakeland Christian School: The venue of the Thursday evening September 20th event is provided by cohost LCS (website). For additional details, see the school announcement "Award-Winning Author and Speaker to Appear at LCS"; phone: 863-688-2771.

* Berean Academy: Nancy will speak at the academy in Tampa, Fla., Friday and Saturday, September 21-22 (website). For more information, see the academy announcement page here or call 813-932-0552.

An updated bio on Nancy is available here. Press announcements concerning Nancy's recent academic appointment are located at The Pearcey Report and this PBU "News and Events" page.

Warning -- Fascist Robots Reading Nancy Pearcey, C.S. Lewis

By Rick Pearcey

A website alerts readers that the Minnesota Family Council (MFC) is up to no good.

The first paragraph sets the tone: "The Minnesota Family Council is a spawn of Dobson (it's got 'family' in the title, so you know it's got to be evil), and it's usually one of those organizations that lobbies to get legislative support for their hatred of women and gays. They are not nice people. If you're ever in this state and want to see some splendid examples of calcified brains, this is the group you want to track down."

2nd paragraph: "They're starting a new training program: the Minnesota Worldview Leadership Project. It's the weirdest thing. Apparently, it's a seminar and discussion series that is supposed to turn you into an even more fervent theocrat, ready to shape the United States into a more Christian nation. And, as you might guess, they don't like evolution."

To make matters worse: "They're reading Nancy Pearcey" (formerly an agnostic and still a free-thinker) and, next paragraph, C.S. Lewis (formerly an atheist and still a free-thinker).

I know nothing about this MFC program, but I highly recommend the writings of Nancy and Jack. Some secularists know whom to fear.

The Minnesota Family Council website is here. More insights from a self-described "godless liberal" are here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Nancy Pearcey Accepts Scholar for Worldview Studies Position at PBU

By Rick Pearcey

We thought you might enjoy hearing about the latest in Nancy's work. What follows is from the press statement, released today, on her new position as "Scholar for Worldview Studies":

Sept. 5, 2007 -- The Pearcey Report is pleased to announce that editor-at-large Dr. Nancy R. Pearcey has accepted a position as Scholar for Worldview Studies with the rank of professor at the Center for University Studies at Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU), based in Langhorne, Pa.

Dr. Pearcey is the “first-ever faculty scholar to be appointed to the Center for University Studies, which PBU established to advance scholarship and cultural engagement,” says a soon-to-be-released press statement by the university. She will teach, speak, and write on the relevance of the Judeo-Christian worldview as a humane and verifiably true alternative to secular, pagan, and humanistic philosophies set forth in the academy, politics, society, and popular culture of today.

“Her distinguished education – which includes studying under the late Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer of L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland – and her extensive work in bringing Christian worldview perspective to important issues of the day make Dr. Pearcey uniquely qualified for this position,” says PBU Provost Todd Williams.

The entire press release appears here. PBU's website is here.

Updates:

* "Dr. Nancy Pearcey Named Worldview Scholar at PBU's Center for University Studies" (PBU)
* "Hats Off to Nancy Pearcey" (Alex Chediak)

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Kick Mayor Off the Board for Anti-"Gay" Remarks?

By Rick Pearcey

"The mayor of Fort Lauderdale has been removed from the local tourism board because local officials feel his comments regarding homosexual activity in the area threaten the tourism industry and the billions of dollars it brings to Broward County," reports OneNewsNow today.

"Earlier this summer, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle apologized to parents for not realizing the extent of homosexual sex in public restrooms. He also said a pro-homosexual library should not be housed in a city building because it included pornography."

Comment: One is mystified as to why Mayor Naugle was kicked off the tourism board. Perhaps he was simply (though admittedly awkwardly) pointing out ways in which homosexuals are just like everyone else, including parents with vacation dollars.

"Sameness" has been a major theme in reimagining America according to the pro-homosexual songbook, and it'd be a shame if the board balked at singing this time around.

First, am I wrong, or doesn't world know that both homosexuals and heterosexuals are always having sex in public restrooms -- airports, train stations, McDonald's, etc., all conveniently located close to your local theme park with special days for special people? This basic human right is what the Founding Fathers and Mothers fought for, along with the right to abortion.

Second, am I wrong, or doesn't the world know that both homosexuals and heterosexuals have no problem in allowing city buildings to house pornography? Just ask any mayor of any city. Any parent of any child.

Just like there's no problem with that long line curving around the block for access to the kiddie porn stash in your local mayor's and tourist board's offices.

It's free expression. It's creating a safe place for the recognition of basic human needs. Take a picture of that curvy line, and you could call it art.

The Broward County Tourism Development Council should relax. Vive la sameness.

The report at OneNewsNow is here.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Believe Not Thine Own Press Release

By Rick Pearcey

A OneNewsNow report on divorcing televangelists makes clear that bad things happen when certain Christian leaders begin believing their own press releases.

Of course, many people secular or otherwise achieve great heights (thinking of "greatness" superficially) by methods less than honest. So practiced are these personalities, so successful, so rewarded in this life, that it comes as a great shock to them and their enablers when reality hits, the fruit is examined, and they are exposed as frauds.

One can almost imagine some of these movers-and-shakers first in line on Judgment Day, telling the Lord, "Did we not cast out demons in your name, hug AIDS victims, and author awarding-winning best-sellers setting the Christian world on fire?" (see Matt. 7:22,23)

Jesus answers: "That may work on the ga-ga crowd. But No. The exorcisms were faked, the hugs were for PR, and the books where ghosted. I don't know you."

"But Lord, we took you at your word when you said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, except of course in matters regarding PR, book sales, image creation, legacy enhancement, damage control, and marketing.'" (quote from The Celebrity-Driven Bible)

"Depart from me, you worker of lawlessness." (see Matt. 7:23)

The report in OneNewsNow is titled "TV Ministry Watchdog Calls Televangelists' Divorce Terrible Testimony." It's here.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

If Diversity Is King

By Rick Pearcey

"Diversity" is one of secularized America's favorite pretended absolutes. God has been declared dead to public life, including learning, so something has to take His place. Human beings and human societies, atheist or otherwise, cannot operate without a center of gravity.

"Diversity" is making a go of it. A host of freethinking worshippers have bowed the knee, in the name of education, the group, "my truth," tolerance, and humility. Some apparently do not realize that diversity without unity leads to chaos. It is anything but a strength.

For one thing, it ontologizes evil in all its multiplicity. Moral categories disappear in the diversity of bare existence with its impersonal particles, compounds, heat, cold, solar systems, and galaxies. As such, it is impossible, on the basis of sheer diversity, to make morally humane discriminations that protect civilization from barbarism and destruction.

The PR for this approach offers comforting words about "tolerance." Enlightened people, it is said, can relax in "safe" places where differences can be explored. We can live at peace knowing that what's true for "my morality" may not be true for yours. There is no judgment in the bliss of ethical humility.

Except that if diversity is king, there is no way to discern morally sporting activity from terror activity; football or soccer from abortion and dogfighting; Vince Lombardi from Saddam Hussein. The moral element of crime also disappears. Every loophole in court is technical only.

In such a setting, who are we to impose our diversity of feelings on the private inter-species canine entertainment activities of Michael Vick and company? Diversity is a weak god. It protects neither Man nor Man's Best Friend.

This brings us to "Multiculturalism's War on Education," an article that appears in today's Frontpage magazine.

The article begins: "Back to school nowadays means back to classrooms, lessons and textbooks permeated by multiculturalism and its championing of 'diversity.' Many parents and teachers regard multiculturalism as an indispensable educational supplement, a salutary influence that 'enriches' the curriculum. But is it?"

Education should be about questioning, including questions regarding the pedestal upon which multiculturalism now rests in the public schools and elsewhere. The article makes several good points, and I am happy to recommend it.

But it stumbles, it seems to me, when it asserts: "The American republic, with an elected government limited by individual rights, was born not of stone-age peoples, but primarily of the European Enlightenment."

It is true that the American republic was not born of stone-age peoples. But it was born of peoples rooted in the concept of the Judeo-Christian Creator, not in the secular Enlightenment per se, which rejected the Creator for a naturalism that founded human rights in, among other things, the secular state. (Put differently, there is a continuity from Reformation freedoms and the English Revolution of 1688 to the American colonies of 1776, but a real difference in worldview between the French and American Revolutions.)

I touch on this here: "On one side of the culture war are people who understand that this nation is founded upon the governing principle of independence under God. This position is clearly set forth in the Declaration of Independence, which is based on a framework in which there is a Creator from whom all human beings, by virtue of creation, are endowed with inalienable rights. This particular worldview orientation is what dramatically sets the American experiment apart from ancient Greece, classical Rome, the French Revolution, National Socialism, Marxism, and the anti-Christian secularism that rose up in America in the 1960s.

"On the other side of the culture war are people who reject this founding framework in favor of a concept of independence apart from God. This view emerged on the Western political landscape during the French Revolution. Instead of a Creator God as the basis for human rights, people on this side of the struggle have come to see humanity as the product of an impersonal nature that has produced autonomous human beings who look to themselves (their choice, power, genes) or their groups (race, class, gender, party) or the impersonal natural order itself as the final reference point for human rights and identity."

The entire Frontpage article by Elan Journo is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Dock the Pay of Obese Politicians

By Rick Pearcey

"Companies seeking to cut rising health care costs are starting to dock the pay of overweight and unhealthy workers," reports the Washington Times.

Among these companies is "Clarian Health, an Indiana hospital chain, [which] will require workers who smoke to pay $5 out of each paycheck starting in 2009. For workers deemed obese, as much as $30 will be taken out each paycheck until they meet certain weight, cholesterol and blood pressure standards."

Should companies impose their business policies on the private lives of workers? I have my doubts. Americans suffer already from too much corporatism.

However, there may be a lesson here for the federal government, which is immensely overweight and unhealthy, due largely to acts of unconstitutional gluttony performed on the pocketbooks and freedoms of American citizens.

What to do? Try docking the pay of politicians and cutting the budgets of programs -- and even programs themselves -- until political health is achieved, as measured by the scales of constitutional standards.

Some on Capitol Hill may scoff, you say.

We can fix that, too. Fatcat scoffers of constitutional government should be sentenced to unending appearances and gnashing of teeth on NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

Finally, a program they disapprove of.

"Firms Dock Pay of Obese, Smokers," by reporter Gregory Lopes, appears here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Congratulations! University Position for Nancy Pearcey

By Rick Pearcey

Congratulations to Nancy on accepting a new position in higher education. A few administrative details have yet to be worked out, so we'll hold off on a fuller announcement until then (stay tuned).

Meanwhile, we thought you'd like a kind of minimalist sneak preview of recent developments. The new position allows Nancy to teach and write in a university context. There are smiles all around.

Nancy has enjoyed her tenure as the Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar at World Journalism Institute and now looks forward with thankfulness to this new challenge.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Rupert Murdoch: Satan or Savior?

By Rick Pearcey

"Before Fox News Channel was born," writes Cal Thomas in his latest column ("Rupert Murdoch: Satan or Savior?"), "I met with several network news presidents, telling them that someone was going to go after a demographic that felt shutout by the mainstream media.

"These people, I said, go to church, fly the flag, respect the nation's traditions and institutions and hate the liberal media. They feel censored, or stereotyped, by the media elites. I told them the person who recognizes that demographic and gives them a voice would reap a huge reward.

"That person is Rupert Murdoch. He is not the media Satan, as the left likes to portray him. Some of the offensive (to me) tabloid stuff notwithstanding, he just may be the media's savior. The elites hate him, but growing numbers of people are buying his products."

Murdoch may not be the "media Satan," but who today would place him on the side of the angels, given his deep involvement in broadcasting pornography (See "Murdoch Pastor Gets Heat for Mogul's Porn Channels," WorldNetDaily)?

The point here is not a simplistic moralism. One can appreciate the competition in news and opinion that Murdoch brings to the table. This is very hard work and should be respected. Not to mention the creativity and risk-taking that reflects so much of what it means to be a human being. This is for the good, even though the product can stand improvement.

How unfortunate, however, that Murdoch also trafficks in unloving entertainment offerings so barren in thought, humiliating to the human person, and harmful to the family. It reflects a profound alienation from a nation whose ethos is rooted in verifiable information given by the Creator as a map to humane living in a broken world in all spheres of life.

Let me suggest two marks that will attend a structural reformation of journalism and entertainment: 1) respect for the objectivity of truth, 2) respect for the dignity of the individual.

This kind of reformation won't yield a perfect society, people, or media, but the core principles won't be corrupt and it will be a hedge against fascism and nihilism. That would be a good beginning.

Neither Man, news, or entertainment lives by market share alone.

The entire Cal Thomas column is here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Pearcey Report Website Update

The Pearcey Report website is down and will return online as soon as possible.

Update: Thanks for your inquiries regarding The Pearcey Report.

When accessing the main page of the website, you may see an older page, or in some cases, no page at all.

There is no need to adjust your computers. We are working on a solution to this challenge and will publish again as soon as possible.

Update: We expect to publish again Thursday, June 7, 2007.

Warren, Murdoch, Porn, and WND

By Rick Pearcey

In a post titled "Rick Warren's & Rupert Murdoch's Porn Problem," Kevin McCullough, author of Musclehead Revolution, writes at his Townhall blog, "One thing is certain, [WND Editor] Joseph Farah and Rick Warren will never be buddies."

Should the two Christians be "buddies"?

McCullough's comment is occasioned by today's story at WND, titled "Murdoch pastor gets heat for mogul's porn channels."

"Mega-pastor Rick Warren is being challenged by other Christian leaders for not disciplining a prominent member of his California Saddleback Church flock for being one of the world's leading pornographers," the WND report begins.

The "prominent member" at Saddleback "would be Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., which, in addition to building a media empire on the chests of topless models and edgy, pushing-the-envelope Fox TV network shows, recently began building a stable of hard-core porn channels for its BSkyB subsidiary."

Comment: As Christians move out into the culture and into "full-time ministry" as reporters in newsrooms (as they should), it is important to understand that the Christian journalist has an obligation to report the news objectively and factually.

If being a "buddy" means you are someone who can be trusted to shave the truth to protect a powerful figure or a celebrity minister's image, then, of course, that kind of friendship is out of bounds both ethically and professionally. Neither ministry staffers nor reporters should corrupt themselves in this way.

Instead, there is to be a critical distance from personalities in the news (even likeable ones), and the coverage must be rooted in facts and evidence. Just as the Judeo-Christian worldview gives a philosophic basis for rationality, evidence, and objectivity, even so the biblical information calls for a journalism committed to rationality, evidence, and objectivity.

The primary challenge is to report truth. The aim is not to become buddies with the rich, famous, influential, or powerful. It certainly is not to cultivate friendships among the celebrities of Evangelicaldom who can then endorse your media product. Or help sell your books.

That kind of inbred corruption of vision, whether applied to personalities or issues, is part of what is leading to the decline of so-called mainstream journalism. Of all people, Christians in journalism should avoid it like the plague.

Friendship for journalists and nonjournalists alike should always be on the basis of truth. Genuine love and friendship always operate within the circle of truth. Unfortunately, there are other kinds of relationships and other kinds of reporting.


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Rick Pearcey is editor & publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).

Oxford, Cambridge, Plagiarism, and Christian Worldview

By Rick Pearcey

Those who care about authentic living and the life of the mind may want to consult a report in today's Guardian. (See Pearcey Report link here.)

In a story titled "Their Dark Materials," readers will learn that the universities of Oxford and Cambridge are attacking plagiarism, ghostwriting, and "essay mills." Among other things, the universities condemn the practice of students who buy from -- or work for -- services such as Oxbridge Essays.

Sensitive people are concerned about the presence of this sort of unfortunate behavior not just on the so-called secular campus, but also in Christian circles (as has been reported on from time to time).

One might consider what would happen if one day the Bible-affirming world woke up and all the pretend authors, columnists, "thinkers," publishers, etc., and their staffs of enablers had disappeared. One wonders who in "Celebrianity" might be suddenly missing and how many real books and articles would be left on shelves if works by these "authors" departed along with them.

Imagine also that Jesus of Nazareth said, "OK, people -- from here on only real work by real people is acceptable. Anything else and you get a one-way ticket to AnaniasandSapphiraville." See the unhappy outcome of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.

One way you know the flesh-and-blood Jesus meant business is that he applied truth to both the ends and the means of his methods of ministry. Even if that meant dying painfully and nakedly on the cross as a common criminal and apparent failure.

Nevertheless, he didn't cut corners to win influence, gain a wider audience, achieve access to power, protect his image, or enhance his resume to shape future biographies and the opinions of posterity. He practiced the truth the right way and was killed for it. It was ugly. It was right. And he won.

In contrast, how many books, essays, speeches, blurbs, magnum opuses, and so on would disappear if that same Jesus applied that principle of authentic living retroactively? "Lord, Lord, did we not 'write' wonderful, quiet-time inspired worldview books for you?," might protest the high and mighty after receiving a rejection slip from the Living God.

It's a sobering thought, but there may be some in this world who've so long succeeded at conning others that they even try it out on the Son of God. After all, the well-honed techniques of manipulation and PR have worked on just about everybody else (not really, of course, but in the tiny world of tin-horn celebrity, it may seem that way). "Dysfunctional systems are well-defended," says a book on abuse.

Perhaps the better path is to pull the plug on pretend authorship. Yes, the anti-intellectual money machine may grind to a halt, but a door necessary to a renaissance of authentic thinking (not to mention living) would be opened. The current strategy raises money in the millions, but it's misdirected and loses the spiritual-cultural battle.

What's especially interesting is that similar doors need to be opened in the face of similar challenges in so many other areas of life in this broken world. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves along the way, even if honest growth encounters big shots who resist change and try to redefine Biblical challenges and accountability as personal squabbles.

Publishing is just one area among many. In electoral politics, public policy, the arts, philanthropy, and many spheres of life and ministry, authentic Christian worldview remains in its infancy. One hopes it needn't run away from home to survive childhood. Oxford and Cambridge could be just the place for those kind of people.

Additional Resources
Pizza With Michelangelo, by Rick Pearcey
A Review of The Da Vinci Code, by Rick Pearcey
Francis Schaeffer: A Student's Appreciation of a Distinct Approach, by Rick Pearcey


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

Middelmann Reworking "Pro-Existence"

By Rick Pearcey

Udo Middelmann's small classic