What does it mean to be pro-life? Time and again, I find that Christian conservatives seem to endorse a pro-life vision that is almost completely limited to the fetus-in-utero. Consider, for example, this tweet from Michael Brown: I was just interacting with a pastor friend who referenced a mega church in his area that supported […]
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz Behaving Badly? Ms. Manners vs. Moral Obligations
Ted Cruz has been lambasted for refusing to nominate Donald Trump at the GOP Convention yesterday. The most persistent criticism I heard is that Cruz violated a rule of etiquette. As one pundit on MSNBC put it, “Ms. Manners would not be happy.” But what is the problem, exactly? In short, Donald Trump extended hospitality […]
Ted Cruz’s Five Most Beautiful and Powerful (but very UnChristian) Words
So I’m watching Ted Cruz’s speech at the GOP Convention tonight when he says the following: “Our nation is exceptional because it was built on the five most beautiful and powerful words in the English language, ‘I want to be free.’” Really? Those are the five most beautiful and powerful words? Wait, I thought Ted […]
Should a Christian support a pro-choice candidate? Should a Christian support a pro-torture candidate?
Occasionally I encounter Christian conservatives who insist that a Christian should not support a pro-choice political candidate. As a pro-life Christian, I agree with those Christian conservatives that Christians ought to be pro-life. But I don’t agree that a politician’s position on abortion can serve as a litmus test for a Christian’s support or opposition. In Canada’s most recent national […]
Republican presidential candidates on torture: Ted Cruz really is a liar and Donald Trump is a brute
At the Republican Presidential Town Hall this week Donald Trump talked about the new moral climate that has been introduced by ISIS: “They’re chopping off the heads of people. This hasn’t happened since medieval times. We need a certain toughness….” First off, if Donald Trump believes the kind of barbarism being perpetuated by ISIS has […]
Ted Cruz and Climate Change Denial
The documentary Merchants of Doubt provides an excellent primer explaining how spin doctors propagate misinformation. What is especially interesting is the close parallel between the methods of big tobacco and of big oil. For years, the former denied a link between tobacco and cancer. The latter has similarly denied a link between the burning of fossil […]
You can dis the minorities, but don’t mess with Ted!
On Saturday night while speaking at an event in South Carolina, Donald Trump turned his criticism on Ted Cruz. He denounced Cruz for criticizing New Yorkers and their values. And he lampooned Cruz for failing to declare a 2012 loan from Goldman Sachs. One can safely assume two things about Trump’s audience: first, they are largely Christian; and […]
