The Point

I normally wouldn't have much to say about reality television shows because I don't watch them, but the dreary news about a certain couple with eight children, and their decision to divorce, has been everywhere, and I haven't been able to escape it. 

Colleen Caroll Campbell, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, maintains that the repercussion of reality shows are far larger than the individual lives of the people being filmed and the kids being exploited.  

Campbell discusses a new book called The Mirror Effect, which shows that the more time a person spends watching this degrading behavior, the likelier he or she will be to "mimic that behavior."

She offers a curative to this effect, but I'll let you read what it is.

(Image © TLC)

What is this?

• "For 'Modern Gals,' Religion as Off-the-Rack Therapy"
• "Reverse discrimination ruling leaves confusion"
• "Evangelical concern for Jon and Kate"
• "Partnership rights in place for gay couples by end of year [in Ireland]"
• "Review of India's gay-sex laws"
• "The Woman in the Picture"
• "When Love Turns to Scandal"
• "Obama reaffirms support for gay-rights activism"
• "Pride Parades, Mark Sanford and 'Fear and Ignorance'"
• "Jackson, Sanford and weirdness"
• "How God Converted an Atheist"

What is this?

I haven't yet had the chance to see My Sister's Keeper, the new movie based on the bestselling book by Jodi Picoult, but I understand that it is an important film in the ongoing discussion of bioethics.

The film deals with the real issue known as "savior sibling." In the U.S. today it is legal to select an embryo so that it will be most compatible genetically to a sibling who may need medical attention. The first documented case in the U.S. was with Adam Nash in 2000.

Of course, there are not only ethical issues involved with using a child as a donor, but also the ethical issues involved in what happens to the many embryos who are not "selected." We euphemistically dodge those. We'll be featuring a great article on the subject in the next few days from Jennifer Lahl, the Director of the Center of Bioethics. In the meantime, I was reading a fascinating interview with author Jodi Picoult about how she came up with the storyline for the book. Here's what she has to say:

I came about the idea for this novel through the back door of a previous one, Second Glance. While researching eugenics for that book, I learned that the American Eugenics Society -- the one whose funding dried up in the 1930s when the Nazis began to explore racial [hygiene] too -- used to be housed in Cold Spring Harbor, NY. Guess who occupies the same space, today? The Human Genome Project… which many consider "today's eugenics". This was just too much of a coincidence for me, and I started to consider the way this massive, cutting edge science we're on the brink of exploding into was similar… and different from… the eugenics programs and sterilization laws in America in the 1930s. Once again, you've got science that is only as ethical as the people who are researching and implementing it -- and once again, in the wake of such intense scientific advancement, what's falling by the wayside are the emotions involved in the case by case scenarios. I heard about a couple in America that successfully conceived a sibling that was a bone marrow match for his older sister, a girl suffering from a rare form of leukemia. His cord blood cells were given to the sister, who is still (several years later) in remission. But I started to wonder… what if she ever, sadly, goes out of remission? Will the boy feel responsible? Will he wonder if the only reason he was born was because his sister was sick? When I started to look more deeply at the family dynamics and how stem cell research might cause an impact, I came up with the story of the Fitzgeralds.

You can read the rest of the interview here. A trailer for the film is below the jump.

What is this?

As I read Catherine’s book As We Forgive, it reminded me of the forgiveness issues I have in my life that I daily bring to the foot of the cross. The men and women in her book suffered a great deal; by comparison, my own experiences are nothing. They all have to come to terms with people who did horrific things to them, and I only have to deal with forgiving myself for the poor choices I’ve made in the past.

It made me reflect on the question "How do I know if I have forgiven?" And it revealed once again some of my flawed understanding of forgiveness. Unfortunately, all of us are guilty of such flaws. I wrote down some things to remember about forgiveness:

I know I have forgiven if...

I no longer have feelings of anger or bitterness.
I have asked God to forgive the other person.
I have asked the other person to forgive me.
I have confronted the other person.
I have attempted reconciliation.
I am willing to allow time to heal the wound or get on with life.
I can say “let's just forget about it.”

What's comforting to realize is the fact that I don't have to be flawless to experience God's forgiveness. No one is required to change to be proven worthy of His forgiveness. The only evidence needed is my life submitted to the presence of Christ.

What is this?

I think Mary DeMuth may have invented a new subgenre.

What is this?

You are not alone.

(Image © Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)

What is this?

• "NKorea threatens US; world anticipates missile"
• "The Political Enclave That Dare Not Speak Its Name"
• "I'm Tired of Sex Scandals. Aren't You?"
• "Arab Activists Watch Iran and Wonder: 'Why Not Us?'"
• "Gay DNC Fundraiser Filled with Frustration: 'No One Is Happy Now'"
• "The boy who never grew up: Michael Jackson, 1958-2009"
• "Poverty of thought"

What is this?

Gov. Mark Sanford's press conference yesterday reminded me (as sex scandals often do) of a quote from Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre:

"I had not, it seems, the originality to chalk out a new road to shame and destruction, but trode the old track with stupid exactness not to deviate an inch from the beaten centre."

Speaking of Sanford, posters at The Corner are arguing, here and here, over Chuck Colson's definition of integrity and how it applies to this situation.

(Image © Str/Reuters/Corbis)

What is this?

• "Gov. Sanford admits to extramarital affair"
• "Giving the green light to suicide"
• "Huckabee and Stewart on abortion"
• "Tenn. Planned Parenthood loses gov't funding"
• "I Would Die for You: Life and death of a 15-year-old missionary"
• "Selflessness Amid Tragedy Offers Solace"
• "Ideas Online, Yes, but Some Not So Presidential"
• "The uninsured: A bogus excuse for trillions in new welfare spending"

What is this?

The opera Perelandra, based on the second book in C. S. Lewis's space trilogy, will premiere this week at Oxford. If you get to go, have a great time, and try not to think of all of us over here who are green with envy.

(And Brits are in luck this week for other reasons as well.)

(Image courtesy of The Perelandra Project)

What is this?

• "George Tiller, Abortion, and Moral Clarity"
• "The Mr. Potato Head Constitution" (via Wittingshire)
• "PBS Blesses Old Religious Shows, but Bans the New"
• "Have we given up on the two-parent family?"
• "Signature in the Cell by Stephen Meyer"
• "President Obama's Adams quote" (via The Corner)
• "Marilyn Monroe and the Cheapening of Women" (sexual themes)
• "Don't Worry, the Post-apocalyptic Costner Stuff Is Still a Few Months Away"

What is this?

Naysayers are predicting the end of Christianity in America, and since their pessimism is repeated incessantly, many people have come to believe it. Is their prediction true? World magazine editor Marvin Olasky says the predictions don't match reality. Find out why.

What is this?

Mary DeMuth has a really good article in the current issue of BreakPoint WorldView Magazine on how fiction can bolster our faith, make us think about eternal truths, and generally be in step with a Christian approach to life. Mary just happens to be one of those rare individuals who can successfully write both fiction and nonfiction. I have a copy of her novel Daisy Chain on my reading pile right now and can't wait to get to it. 

I thought about this topic of fiction's impact last night as I finished up a Jodi Picoult novel, Perfect Match. The story involves a parent who kills the man she believes has molested her young son. Picoult manages to walk the reader through the process of thinking about whether something could be morally just and legally wrong at the same time without coming off as preachy and while resisting the temptation to spoon feed the answers. She does this by using a lot of first person narrative and showing her characters wrestling with their decisions.

I picked up Perfect Match because my library didn't have Picoult's book My Sister's Keeper, which is hitting the big screen later this month. My Sister's Keeper tells the story of a girl who was genetically engineered to donate any number of possible things (platelets, bone marrow, a kidney) to her older sister who is battling cancer. It looks like a tear-jerker of a movie, but it also looks like the kind of story that will find moviegoers leaving the theater to find a good restaurant where they can sit and talk for hours about ethics and family and love.

And that, to me, seems to suggest another reason why fiction is important. Imagine debating the topic of medical ethics with your neighbor or co-worker or friend who rejects the notion of a just and good God. Now, imagine how that conversation might be different after reading a book like My Sister's Keeper in your neighborhood book club, or watching the movie with a group of friends.

(Image © Simon and Schuster)

What is this?

• "Ukraine's other crisis: Weak currency, cheap flights spur 'sex tourism'"
• "Psychobabble child of divorce"
• "Outrageous Mercy"
• "'16 & Pregnant' Deftly Plumbs the Parent Trap"
• "News Finds Fresh Niche on Twitter/Not Safe for Work"
• "Weekly Standard may have been shooter target"
• "Beach Buddies"

What is this?

Reading Wendy Shalit's review of the book Dirt got me thinking again about an ongoing interest of mine. That is, the role of women. 

Rather than making a one-size-fits-all statement, I think it best to consider the underlying problem. Why, specifically, are women sometimes discontented at the thought of having to keep house and home, cook and clean, and worry about how to balance tasks such as vacuuming with a career? We live in a day when there are endless ways to organize and "simplify," yet our lives are often busier than ever. With all of this "help" many women are overwhelmed with the task, or even reject the idea that homemaking should be part of their role.

Rather than assuming homemaking is a demeaning task, let us consider that it is a glorious task to serve. Service does not equate to debasement; rather, serving others in love is a testament of freedom. If you are able to make the choice, is it better to live in a home of chaos or guide your home toward peace and order?

Having a well-rounded education and making an impact in your field are both important callings. Learning to keep order in the home does not contrast with either of those, but rather, it holds its own important place in the whole of life.

(Image © Seal Press)

What is this?

• "Study: Megachurch crowds tend to be younger"
• "Pastor's comments on Tiller 'unbiblical'"
• "The Virtual Public Square"
• "Why aren't women happy? Who knows?"
• "Green Beret Loses Race and Wins a Battle"

What is this?

Since we have been talking about our summer reading, I thought some of our Pointificators might enjoy seeing Henry Blackaby's recommended reading list. One thing you'll note right away: there are no "beach books" here! In fact, working your way through this reading list, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, just might change your soul forever. 

A few of my favorites from the list (beyond the obvious, Blackaby's own Experiencing God) are these:

George Müller, The Autobiography of George Müller
Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

What are some of your favorites from Dr. Blackaby's list?

What is this?

We're in the middle of what always seems to me like the most patriotic of seasons. Memorial Day was just a few weekends ago, this Sunday is Flag Day, and just a few weeks after that, we'll be eating watermelon and watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. As a card-carrying Daughter of the American Revolution, I couldn't be happier. Bring on the flag bunting and red, white and blue jello parfaits.

Getting me in the mood for the season is a book I picked up at the library. God in the Foxhole details dozens of stories from the frontlines of American conflicts. Author Charles Sasser (a Navy and Army veteran) includes anecdotes from the Gulf Wars, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea, the two World Wars, the Civil War, the Alamo, the Revolutionary War, and even the French and Indian War and King Philip's War (both fought on American soil before we were independent of those tea-taxing Brits). 

Included among the stories of ordinary and even anonymous soldiers are the stories of some not-so-anonymous men and women, including Sen. John McCain, Clara Barton, and George Washington.

Washington's story comes not from the Revolutionary War, but the French and Indian War, when he was a young colonel in the Redcoat army. During a battle to capture the French Fort Duquesne, Washington rallied an outnumbered Virginia regiment and left the battlefield unharmed--but with a coat full of bullet holes. Fifteen years later, in 1770, an Indian chief who, during that battle at Fort Duquesne, had assigned his best sharpshooters to fell the Redcoat who fought like an Indian caught up with Washington to tell his side of the story and to deliver a message:

...a power mightier far than we shielded you. Seeing you were under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you. I am old and soon shall be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of shades; but ere I go, there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy. Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man [pointing at Washington] and guides his destinies. He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire. I am come to pay homage to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven and who can never die in battle.

Indeed, the Father of Our Country died in his bed in 1799 at the age of 67 after a sudden illness.

What is this?

From a very young age I regarded pimps as modern-day slave-masters, thinking of them as yellow-bellied bullies who are the boils and plagues of society.  What I never thought possible happened: In some circles I am considered a pimp.  

Many years ago, Jean Bethke Elshtain reviewed Katie Roiphe's book The Morning After, which is about the problem of feminists' quest for power. I think the review is germane in light of a recent Point post about Pixar Studios and girl power. In a nutshell, the problem is that while attending institutions of higher learning, women like the Mad Typist (author of that article about Pixar) have imbibed the noxious notion that they're victims and men--all men--are villains.  

To empower women is not a bad thing. As Elshtain says, the empowerment of women and men is creative because both sexes bring something to the table which would not be "brought alone." But what the zealots want is for women to dominate men. This kind of power, asserts Elshtain, "is...of the most unredeemable variety." 

So unless Pixar produces a movie which reduces males to stupid brutes and raise females to the status of goddesses, feminist zealots rate the creators as chauvinists. Furthermore, unless all women agree with this radical stance, they, too, are considered pimps: "Catharine MacKinnon, the eminence grise behind this movement, claims that women who argue against the 'all men are rapists' formulae are also 'pimps,' they and their male colleagues who worry about the civil rights of the accused and other such 'bourgeois niceties' readily dispensed with for the sake of the greater cause."

Comparing worldviews between the Mad Typist and people like Elshtain is useful. In a short bio, Mad Typist states that she's a secular humanist. Her worldview denies the goodness of God and the goodness of His creation. She believes in a dog-eat-dog world. Elshtain's a Christian who believes that both men and women are created in His image and both sexes have something to contribute. Along with a high view of men and women, there are also standards of how to treat one another and ourselves which handily matches our design. Elshtain calls this Ethics. 

In the final analysis, we must resist the urge to engage in this power-playing nonsense. Regarding women like the Mad Typist, I concur with Elshtain and Roiphe: "Grow up."

(Image © Pixar)

What is this?

Check out Jim Tonkowich's review of A Crisis of Saints: The Call to Heroic Faith in an Unheroic World. The book's author, Fr. George Rutler, evidently has much to say about "saintliness" -- which Tonkowich defines as "the God-given ability to exercise heroic virtue in the face of cultural breakdown." If we want to heal our culture (and I suppose most of us Pointers and Pointificators do), then we must begin with the spiritual renewal of the Church. Rutler claims that "any crisis in culture is a crisis of saints, and no reform is radical enough unless it is a redemption from sin."

The final essay in the book deals with G. K. Chesterton, who was able to demonstrate his saintliness in, "of all places," the journalistic world. The difference between Chesterton and modern media types, according to Rutler, "is Chesterton's subordination of the self to truth. This is far more significant than the breath of knowledge" (though, goodness knows, Chesterton had that, too). 

In closing, Tonkowich offers these encouraging words from Rutler's book: "If there were giants in the land then, there can be giants now. It is, after all, the same land, and we are of the same human stock, and the times and issues are certainly no less important. And God is no less faithful to those who ask...."

What is this?

• "Is Pain a Moral Good?"
• "Yes I Can"
• "Stop, in the Name of Love"
• "Sonia Sotomayor and bootstraps"
• "Classic"
• "Clinton Invites Controversial Muslim Leader on Conference Call"
• "People Choose News that Fits Their Views"
• "Megan Fox: Another Nail in the 'Movie Star' Coffin" (some vulgarity in comments)

What is this?

Fittingly, while I was contemplating starving men, I received an invitation to the American Chesterton Society's 28th annual conference. It’s being held in Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium, and includes intriguing topics like “Chesterton and Alfred Hitchcock” and “The Dangers of Trifling with Chesterton.”

I’m sure, if you go, you will be ingesting ideas of meaty substance.

(Image © American Chesterton Society)

What is this?

• "Sarkozy: 'The Islamization of Europe is inevitable'" (via Five Feet of Fury)
• "Teen's tale of escape from Rwandan genocide to high school graduation in America"
• "Preacher Don't Publish"
• "Antiabortion Efforts Move to the State Level"
• "Court rejects challenge to 'don't ask, don't tell'"
• "'Do you really believe anything happens after you die?'"
• "Daddy Can't Come Home: He's in Jail"
• "Hollywood, Music, and the Death of Class" (contains vulgar terms and images)
• "Of God and Politics"

What is this?

Author Marilynne Robinson has won yet another prestigious award, Britain's Orange Award for a novel written by a woman. 

Robinson was typically modest about the award, saying, "I always suspect that there's someone in some obscure place who has five unpublished novels in a box in her closet. She will die and her executors will publish her novels and she will become the great spirit of the age, and all the rest of us will fall into her shadow."

Perhaps, but in the meantime Robinson stands alongside writers like Flannery O'Connor (another award-winning female) who have managed to write about faith with such artistry that they transcend the usual sacred/secular divide.

Robinson, a professed Calvinist, says:

One of the things that I like about the theology is the assumption that one is flawed. You never do anything exactly right, you never achieve what you aspire to.

That tension, she says, makes great story fodder. Let's hope it inspires her to a few more novels.

(Image © Reuters)

What is this?

• "Accommodations I"
• "That old devil race, &c."
• "The Gospel and the Gosselins"
• "As the Myths Abound, So Does Islamic Outreach"

What is this?

• "Can a Black Man Stand for Truth?"
• "This Is Elevated Discourse?"
• "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Teleprompter"
• "Fairfax High's prom queen is a guy"
• "Playboy: In Like Flynt" (strong sexually violent themes, profanity)

What is this?

What happens when a liberal student from Brown enrolls, secretly, at Liberty University? That's the subject of a new book, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University.

Anyone who grew up in the Christian culture might have to stifle a guffaw at that description of the Lynchburg college. No offense to "Jerry's kids," but we've heard the stories. And besides, we're all sinners.

Still, I loved that the NPR article about the book included this snippet about the reaction author Kevin Roose got when he told his new friends about his undercover assignment:

He expected them to feel betrayed — and expected to do a lot of apologizing. Instead, he says, something amazing happened.

"Everyone forgave me — immediately," he says. "It was unreal how quickly their surprise turned to real compassion and excitement."

Good for them. Although the best part of their reaction followed:

But there was just a little disappointment. "They thought, given the semester with me, that they would have done a better job of converting me," Roose says.

(Image © Kevin Roose)

What is this?

'Tis the season for digging up some good books for vacation reading. Here at BreakPoint, we're working on our new book lists, which will be out about the middle of next week. But in the meantime, we'd like to hear your suggestions. What good books have you been reading lately that you'd like to recommend?

What is this?

If you think the cross isn't an offense, just wait until the Gideons show up at school. 

One Texas school district is hearing complaints from parents because the Gideons were allowed to leave a stack of Bibles on a table in the school's office where literature and brochures from numerous community organizations was available for students to take. Never mind that the school district was following the law in this matter.

As for the Gideons, I think this is what Jesus would call being "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

What is this?

When Billy Barclay's mother saw her son's killer on TV singing praise songs, the only thing she could find in her heart was disgust. Apparently, convicted killer Garry Brotherston became a Christian in prison and is now openly discussing his conversion on Christian TV. But, for Billy's mom, it doesn't sit right.

“There is nothing that he can say that will convince me he’s a Christian," she told the Clydebank Post.

If we believe anything at Prison Fellowship, it's that people can change--that bank robbers can become philanthropists, that drug dealers can become pillars of society, and that murderers can become peacemakers. But ... it must start with repentance. And that means not simply repenting before God, but also repenting before those one has most grievously injured--in this man's case, to the family of his victim.

Brotherston's transformation might indeed be sincere, but the proof lies in actions of remorse and repentance. In an interview, Brotherston claimed to think of his victim's family every day. But has there been a letter of apology? Nada. Has there been any attempt at communication? Zip.

In Catherine's As We Forgive, we learn of a man named John who waits more than 10 years to seek forgiveness from a woman whose father he had murdered during the Rwandan genocide. At first, the woman--Chantal--rebukes him in her anger, accusing him of false repentance. But John doesn't leave the apology there--he follows up by visiting Chantal to help her cultivate her land, demonstrating by his actions that his remorse is linked to his soul. Over time, Chantal finds the strength to extend forgiveness to John, and she, herself, is transformed by the freedom it brings.

Conversion must be punctuated by remorse. I don't blame Billy's mom for her skepticism. I'd probably doubt the man's sincerity too.

(Image courtesy of the Clydesdale Post)

What is this?

This Memorial Day, columnist Diane Evans reminds us of the point of the holiday: "Take time from whatever you're doing to remember those who went before you, without whom you wouldn't have the opportunities you have today." And she suggests some good reading to help us do just that.

Have a blessed Memorial Day, and make sure to take time to remember.

What is this?

• "Calling All Abolitionists"
• "Muslim activists demand special treatment in U.S. workplaces"
• "Obama's Faith-Based Adviser Urges Challenge to 'Heteronormative' Fatherhood"
• "State of the Industry report details 'volatile' year"
• "Short(est) Stories"

What is this?

The other day, in an essay on Dante's Divine Comedy in C. S. Lewis's Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature, I ran across this sentence:

. . . We include every appeal to the imagined exercise of the five senses, always excepting those images which are directly represented as parts of Dante's story and which would appear on the screen if anyone (which God forbid) made a film of it.

Poor Lewis. I hope he's really busy with heavenly matters and doesn't have time to follow what's going on here.

(Image © Electronic Arts)

What is this?

• "Atheists: No God, no reason, just whining"
• "Coal Dust and Foot-Washing"
• "Bringing Up Baby in the Big House"
• "Let Them Eat Arugula"
• "'Me So Holy' App Too Much for Apple"
• "My Personal Credit Crisis"

What is this?

I thought Point readers might be interested in hearing an interview I did recently with theologian and radio personality, Steve Brown, about my book, As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda. You can download it to your iPod or MP3 player or just listen online. I talk about forgiveness, reconciliation and the Rwandan genocide.

If you haven't heard of Steve Brown or his Key Life Radio program before I hope this will be a good excuse for you to get acquainted with him. He's one of the most authentic yet grounded Christian radio personalities you'll find. And he's always delightfully entertaining to listen to.

Also, if you are interested in seeing the film by Laura Waters Hinson which inspired my book, it will be airing on PBS this month on quite a few stations across the U.S. So if you haven't had a chance to attend a screening or buy a copy yourself, you'll get the opportunity to check it out for free.

Lastly, an interview I did with Ed Gilbreath over at Urban Faith is available. Ed used to work for Christianity Today and is the author of the book Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's View of White Christianity.

(Image © Zondervan)

What is this?

• "Mideast's Christians Declining in Influence"
• "Gay marriage activists target California Catholics, Mormons"
• "Naked in the Naked Public Square"
• "Blume 101"
• "A Shotgun Blast to the Face of the Green Movement"
• "Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care"

What is this?

• "Christians in Gaza Make Their Appeal to the Pope"
• "The best critique yet of Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons'..."
• "Going Up"
• "Same-sex marriage pits blacks against gays in test of liberal 'tolerance'"

What is this?

• "God is Back: How Ned Flanders won the evangelical crusade"
• "'China' Stuns with Power & the Pity"
• "The beauty pageant where looks don't matter but respect for parents does: Welcome to Saudi's 'Miss Beautiful Morals' contest"
• "Today's tykes: Secure kids or rudest in history?"
• "Our Father, Who Art in Flagrante: Passion Pics Bestir Celibacy Debate"
• "'Outrage' Drags Politics' Conservative Wingtips out of the Closet"

What is this?

Here's a collection of full-length articles recently published by your Point bloggers:

• "The Great Exchange: How Deep the Father's Love" by Stephen Reed
• "Love Worth Trusting" by Roberto Rivera
• "Staring down Facebook" by Zoe Sandvig
• "Restoring What the Locusts Have Eaten" by Kristine Steakley
• "Ready to Serve: Caesar's Due, Part 6" by T. M. Moore (previous installments available here)
• "Interview with John Stonestreet, Executive Director of Summit Ministries" by T. M. Moore
• "The Science of Teen Sex: An Interview with Dr. Freda McKissic Bush" by Gina Dalfonzo

What is this?

. . . and other unexpected results of the swine flu.

(Image courtesy of WORD)

What is this?

• "Friends, Foes of Same-Sex Marriage Monitor District's Legislative Moves"
• "That Familiar Ring"
• "Princess Like Me: Questions Raised by Disney's 'Princess and the Frog'"
• "Presidential prayers"
• "Going Dutch? No Thanks"
• "DENIED: Biogtry of the Obamatrons"

What is this?

Catherine has written before about Mary DeMuth's new book, Daisy Chain. Now, in today's BreakPoint commentary, Chuck Colson weighs in on this sad but inspiring novel.

DeMuth is a Christian and an award-nominated novelist whose books often deal with issues of abuse. Yet at the same time, they intertwine themes of grace and hope. Daisy Chain tells the story of a young boy named Jed who’s struggling with both his best friend’s disappearance and his father’s abuse. On the surface, Jed’s father looks like the model pastor and family man. Only his wife and children know what happens at home when his rage spirals out of control.

DeMuth herself is a survivor of a different kind of abuse, having been molested as a child. Her goal in writing about abuse, she once said in an interview, is “to show folks two things: That God can heal even the most horrific abuse. And to educate parents and professionals about abuse.”

I’m not a big fan of “message” books, where the writer neglects his or her craft and just concentrates on pushing an agenda. But Mary DeMuth is not that kind of writer. Her books are beautifully and sensitively written, and her characters are realistic and well-developed. She has a true gift for showing how God’s light can penetrate even the darkest of situations, and start to turn lives around. Even her villains are not beyond the reach of God’s grace.

Read more.

(Image © Zondervan)

What is this?

I've long been fascinated with Vincent Van Gogh -- his life, his work, his art, his faith. One historian is now claiming that evidence shows that Van Gogh never cut off his own ear, but instead lost it in a sword fight to his friend, renowned artist Paul Gauguin, and then decided to cover for him. It's an interesting twist.

What is this?

Here are a few encouraging words from C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity to inspire you this week: "Though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him."

What is this?

This week I'm talking with Dan Cruver at Together for Adoption about As We Forgive. Here's a little from their website on what they are all about:

Together for Adoption (T4A) sponsors adoption conferences that focus primarily on vertical adoption (i.e., God adopting us in Christ), with a secondary focus on its implications for orphan care and horizontal adoption (i.e., couples adopting children). In fulfillment of our objectives, we desire to see conference attendees walk away from a T4A event:

• understanding why it is that vertical adoption is the highest blessing of the gospel
• rejoicing afresh in the gospel
• moved to act on James 1:27 both locally and globally

I'm giving special emphasis in this interview to the stories in the book that center on the lives of Rwanda's orphans.

Also, yesterday, the book got a mention at Touchstone's Mere Comments. Thanks to Jordan Ballor of the Acton Institute for the shout out!

What is this?

• "Swine flu and a calm, reasonable, rational Church"
• "God Talk"
• "Hare-Brained Kansas Planned Parenthood Employee Covers Up Rape"
• "Scottish Report on Gay and Lesbian Parenting"
• "Outrage over primary school's plan for disabled dress-up"
• "Children's book features lesbian mums and sperm donors" (sexually explicit language)

What is this?

• "BREAKING: White House Overrides FBI and DHS on Gitmo Release"
• "Why Are Christian Movies So Bad?" 
• "Heroic Hollywood: American Exceptionalism and the Hollywood Hero"  
• "Newsweek: Bias? It's Your Eyes That Lie, Young Jedi"  
• "Johnny's dogs"  
• "Recovering sinners"  

What is this?

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the greatest novel ever written,* and the big event is being commemorated at you-know-where. If you're a fellow Tale of Two Cities fan, head on over!

*Of course, you're free to disagree with me on which novel is the greatest. But let us have no smart-aleck attempts to complete my (mis)quotation above with ". . . it was the worst of books." I am not above asking Roberto to sic his whale on you. 

What is this?

I'm not sure if I'm ready for the revolution. Here are just a few implications this WSJ piece points out:

• exacerbating our already short attention spans
• more book buying, less book finishing
• chatter in my novel?

(Image © Geoffrey A. Fowler for the Wall Street Journal)

What is this?

While I'm skeptical that the swine flu will ever reach truly pandemic proportions, it's still a good time to stop and brush up on Christian emergency preparedness. I dusted off my volume of Eusebius' History of the Church, and give you excerpts here from the time of the reign of Maximin, who ruled between 286 and 305 AD. 

Notice that when pestilence and famine come, Christians do not a) run, nor b) hoard. Instead, they stay and tend the sick and dying. They also give of what they have. I know that if such times ever come to us, there will be a cloud of witnesses cheering for us to act with such self-sacrifice.

Hundreds were dying in the cities, still more in the country villages, so that the rural registers which once contained so many names now suffered almost complete obliteration; for at one stroke food shortage and epidemic disease destroyed nearly all the inhabitants. ... Some people, shrunken like ghosts and at death's door, tottered and slipped about in all directions till, unable to stand, they fell to the ground; and as they lay face down in the middle of the streets, they implored passers-by to hand them a tiny scrap of bread, and with their life at its last gasp they called out that they were hungry--anything else than this anguished cry was beyond their strength. ...No less terrible was the pestilence which consumed every household, particularly those which were so well off for food that famine could not wipe them out. Men of great wealth, rulers, governors and numberless officials, left by the famine to the epidemic disease as if on purpose, met a sudden and very swift end. Lamentations filled the air on every side, and in all the lanes, squares and streets there was nothing to be seen except processions of mourners with the usual flute-playing and beating of breasts.

Such was the reward for Maximin's loud boasts and the cities resolutions against us, while the fruits of the Christians' limitless enthusiasm and devotion became evident to all the heathen. Alone in the midst of this terrible calamity they proved by visible deeds their sympathy and humanity. All day long some continued without rest to tend the dying and bury them--the number was immense, and there was no one to see to them; others rounded up the huge number who had been reduced to scarecrows all over the city and distributed loaves to them all, so that their praises were sung on every side, and all men glorified the God of the Christians and owned that they alone were pious and truly religious; did not their actions speak for themselves? (p. 366-367).

What is this?