Issues In Perspective

With the death of Apple founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, and the subsequent release of the biography of Jobs by Walter Isaacson, we have gained a new insight into the mind and heart of this remarkable man.

That the Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno, has been fired is almost unimaginable! I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and in that state he is probably the most important single individual.

What are we to make of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement? What are its goals, its aspirations? Is it the left-wing equivalent of the Tea Party movement on the right? Is there any ideological coherence to this group?

The conventional wisdom is that the Supreme Court will soon agree to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare law passed last summer. Basic questions are at stake here:

Nearly two weeks ago, I read a book by sociologist Christian Smith while returning to Omaha on a plane. It was an astounding account of the cultural phenomenon called emerging adulthood.

Recently, I read a remarkable magazine on medicine and health care throughout history. What was most striking was the article on healthcare in the Roman Empire. In my opinion, nothing better illustrates the power of worldview in explaining social change than this article.

In the new book by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, there is a startling account of an offer Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, made secretly to Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in the summer of 2008.

Scripture teaches that humans, made in the image of God, have an innate sense of right and wrong, a moral monitor that either ?approves or accuses.? Conscience serves as an umpire, which disposes the human to view life situations in a moral/ethical light, thus judging/determining that some actions are ?right? and some are ?wrong.?

As Christians, how are we to treat the physical world, including animals? What is the value of non-human life? How much care do we as Christians need to take in relation to nature? How does God look at non-human creation? What are we to think about all of this?

If one is intellectually honest about what is occurring in western civilization, especially in the United States, one would conclude anecdotally that traditional marriage with one man and one woman, married and having children?is non-existent in major parts of the culture.

Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics expressed deep concern about the effects of exposure to ?screens? (i.e., TV screens, computer screens, monitors, iPads, smartphones, and other such devices) on children. In fact, the AAP called upon parents to place severe limits on the exposure of young children to such ?screens.?

Generally, when a 21st century person thinks of science, he/she thinks of certainty, truth or the realm of the absolute. One of the axioms of modern science that has been declared to be certain and absolute is the speed of light. And an absolute in Einstein?s theory of relativity is the absolute prohibition of speed faster than light.

Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute has written a most helpful article entitled ?Five Truths about Climate Change.? Because there is so much hype and emotional baggage surrounding this topic, it is always refreshing when you read something that is balanced and insightful. To that end, I want to use his essay as the basis for this Perspective.

One of the more perplexing aspects of our culture right now is the Occupy Wall Street movement. Questions about this movement abound, most important of which are what exactly does this movement want? What are the action points they are demanding?

With the rise of reproductive and genetic technologies, the world has increased the number of options people have when it comes to having children. Technology has enhanced the power of choice. What technology has not done is enable culture to live with the consequences.

One of the most important thinkers of the modern era was Karl Marx, one of the key founders of ideological socialism and communism. His Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital influenced the formation of the USSR, the Peoples Republic of China, Cuba, North Korea and many other smaller experiments in constructing a socialist / communist utopia.

One of the key founders of the Apple brand and product line was Steve Jobs, who died recently as a result of his struggle with pancreatic and liver cancer. His contribution to our technological society was truly revolutionary.

I just returned from conducting my annual study tour of Israel. As usual, it was an invigorating trip. While I was there, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, petitioned the 66th session of the United Nations to in effect unilaterally declare a Palestinian state. In this Perspective, I want to present a multifaceted analysis of this development.

Sociologist Christian Smith recently led a research team that conducted in-depth interviews with 230 young adults from across America, all of which focused on the moral lives of today?s young adults. The results are quite depressing. Columnist David Brooks summarizes several of the salient findings:

Christianity is not only a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ; it is a worldview. It is an entire way of thinking, covering not only theology, but how to think about ethics, history, science, literature, etc. Because God has revealed Himself verbally in the Bible, Christians have the answers to the most penetrating questions of life.

By the phrase ?genuine biblical Christianity,? I mean the faith clearly revealed in God?s Word, the Bible, and validated through human history. Using the seven questions of James Sire, let?s examine biblical Christianity as a worldview.

Mormonism is by far the largest and fastest growing worldview, with as many as 10 million adherents worldwide. I believe that it needs to be scrutinized and evaluated for its viability and its commitment to truth. Hence, this edition of Issues in Perspective will be devoted to such an analysis.

God. Mormonism teaches that God the Father was once a man, but became God. He has a physical body, as does his wife (the Heavenly Mother).

Mormonism has a strong commitment to the spiritual world, the realm beyond the physical; it is possible to connect with this spiritual world through the specific activities of the believer. As Bible-centered Christians, we believe that as well, but teach clearly that a relationship with God is possible only through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

Last weekend the USA, and indeed the world, remembered the horrors of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Today, ten years later, politically, financially and socially, America seems to have lost its way. That sense of fear, of anxiety, is real and at times almost overwhelming. It is this long shadow of fear that I seek to address in this Perspective.