Jochen Bittner is a political editor for the weekly German newspaper Die Zeit, and he has an editorial in today’s New York Times about the terror in Belgium.

Following a three paragraph introduction, Bittner says that “Everyone has his own solution, none of them good.”  He goes on to define as bad anything that weakens the centralized political power structure of the European Union.

Yes, there is a connection between Islam and terrorism, Bittner writes covering his political bases, but, he says, the real problem is that Europe’s Muslims continue to cling to their Korans instead of Brussels.

Official Europe has worked hard to move past nationalism, so that there is no German or French Dream. But there’s no European Dream, either, not yet. So new migrants have no spirit to tap into, as they do in the United States. Instead, some Muslims find it more attractive to give their loyalty to Allah, their fellow believers or the Islamic State.

I’m not sure what spirit he’s referring to in the United States, but I get the impression he’s not talking about the Holy Spirit.  Nonetheless, since I think what Islam says about Jesus is a lie, Bittner hasn’t lost me yet.  But as far as that European Dream goes, what’s his recommendation?  Bittner ends his editorial saying:

[Angela Merkel] should lead Europe past its outmoded data-protection concerns and push for coordination among security services. And she should make integration and opportunity a common value for everyone in Europe — a European dream that is more appealing to immigrants than any afterlife kingdom could possibly be.

So the solution is better surveillance systems and a more centralized military?  Oh that and a European dream more appealing than any afterlife kingdom could possibly be.  Thus spake The New York Times.

I’m reminded of something Ian Markham wrote some years ago: “You cannot assume a rationality and then argue there is no foundation to that rationality.  Either God and rationality go, or God and rationality stay.  Either Nietzsche or Aquinas, that is [Europe’s] choice.”

At our nation’s Supreme Court today, oral arguments will be heard in an important religious liberty case. This is the second “reproductive-rights” case before the Supreme Court in three weeks, and the stakes are great. The central question in Zubik v. Burwell is whether Mr. Obama’s Affordable Care Act improperly forces religious non-for-profit entities to compromise their beliefs by requiring them to provide employee health insurance to pay for contraceptives and abortifacients. This would cover the entire range of religious nonprofits from nursing homes, hospitals, and colleges and universities. The plaintiffs are numerous religious groups, including the Little Sisters of the Poor and Southern Nazarene University, which contend that even the simple act of signing a mandated bureaucratic form violates their core beliefs if it helps employees obtain birth control. You might think that this is a minor matter, but such is not the case at all. In fact, if the non-profits do not succeed before the Supreme Court, they will be forced to pay millions in fines annually if they fail to comply with federal regulations. Moreover, one could readily imagine a day in the not-far-distant future when mandatory health insurance coverage could be required, for example, for drugs needed for assisted suicide in those states that have legalized it, presuming that the Supreme Court does not find assisted suicide a fundamental constitutional right. On the other hand, if the religious groups prevail, one could also easily imagine that there would be challenges to laws intended to “protect” homosexuals and lesbians from discrimination by religious organizations and charities. So there is much more at stake here than simply providing birth control pills to a few employees.

Mr. Obama’s Affordable Care Act requires all employers and insurance companies to cover the costs of all forms of contraception: birth control pills, emergency contraception, hormone injections and implants, intrauterine devices and tubal ligations. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have declared that any type of birth control violates the teachings of the Catholic Church. Other religious organizations object to paying for so-called “abortifacients” that prevent fertilized eggs from implantation in the uterus, including the so-called “morning-after” pill. Thus, the religious organizations argue that by forcing them to cover birth control for their employees violates their First Amendment freedom of religion rights and their protection under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Among the plaintiffs in this case, the most prominent is the Little Sisters of the Poor, an international order of Catholic nuns that operates approximately thirty nursing homes for the very poor in the United States; another case was filed by the lead plaintiff Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. But federal appeals courts were unanimous in siding with the Obama administration. However, in September 2015, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis and encompassing seven Midwestern states, ruled in favor of the religious nonprofits. That set up what is known as a “circuit split,” forcing the Supreme Court to step in. So today, the Supreme Court will hear Zubik, which consists of seven consolidated cases, including the one brought by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February means that Hobby Lobby’s five-justice majority is no more. A 4–4 tie would leave the decisions of the different federal appeals courts in effect in those jurisdictions. And this raises a very important point about the upcoming presidential election in the United States. The next president is likely to nominate a number of Supreme Court justices over the next four to eight years, including the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. Presently, among the sitting justices of the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 83, Justice Anthony Kennedy is 79, Justice Stephen Breyer is 77, and Justice Clarence Thomas is 67. One could reasonably anticipate that one or more could retire during the next president’s term of office. And if the next president nominates some wrongful choices, then the fundamental, traditional freedoms in the United States may well disappear into history. Please pray today for God’s wisdom in the Supreme Court’s decision in Zubik v. Burwell.

Many of us have been deeply saddened at the plight of Christians who have been martyred and persecuted throughout the Middle East and in parts of Africa. And we have further been frustrated and made angry by the inattention that has been paid by Obama Administration to the situation facing our Christian brothers and sisters overseas. In Syria alone, since the war began in March 2011, more than two-thirds of the 1.5 million Christians have left the country. Christians (and millions of other Syrian civilians) have left Syria to escape the ongoing civil war being waged between the government of President Bashar al-Assad, aided by Russia and Iran, various Islamic rebel groups seeking to overthrow President al-Assad, and Islamic State terrorist organization (“ISIS”), which seeks to establish its version of the caliphate.

Yesterday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced that he finally came to the important conclusion that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East. Secretary Kerry declared, “In my judgment, [ISIS] is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control, including Yazidis, Christians and Shia Moslems.” He further accused ISIS of “crimes against humanity” and “ethnic cleansing.” In making his decision, the Secretary determined that ISIS terrorists met the definition of genocide, which, according to the 1948 United Nations Convention Against Genocide, are “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” Sadly, Secretary Kerry’s pronouncement does not obligate the United States to take any additional action against ISIS terrorists. Why? Because he urged that others join together to hold ISIS “accountable,” and called for an “independent investigation” as well as a court or tribunal to take action against ISIS. (Good luck in finding those judges.) So Secretary Kerry’s determination carries no legal implication of a guilty verdict on genocide because State Department lawyers decided that the Convention Against Genocide does not require countries to prevent genocide outside of their territory. Rather, Secretary Kerry is calling for the United Nations Security Council to appoint a commission to investigate ISIS, and then take appropriate legal action, presuming that the commission agrees with the genocide determination. (This will make the feckless Security Council “investigation” a mere paper tiger given that Russia holds a veto in the Council.)

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution by a vote of 393-0 condemning ISIS atrocities as genocide. Many other international bodies, including the European Parliament and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Liberty, have previously condemned the genocide at the hands of ISIS, which has killed, raped, tortured, kidnapped, and bombed Christians, and then further destroyed religious property and monuments. In the past few years, these Christians have cried out for the world’s attention as they have been driven out of their ancient homelands. I draw your attention to a powerful and heart-breaking 278-page report by the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians, available here. This well-researched and footnoted report describes in great detail the first-hand accounts of Christians suffering for their faith in the Middle East. We must continue to pray for these brothers and sisters, and then, in accordance with the teaching of Galatians 6:10, join together to support those organizations that are working in the Middle East to meet the basic needs and to provide sanctuary for our brothers and sisters in Christ. These organizations include Samaritan’s Purse, Open Doors USA, and The Voice of the Martyrs, among others. On Sunday, April 17, 2016, many churches will highlight our suffering Christian brothers and sisters in a nationwide “Stand With The Persecuted” event. It is my hope and prayer that when the Obama Administration ends 307 days from now, our government’s long pattern of paralysis and ineffectiveness in combating the genocide of Christians (and others) by radical Islamist terrorists will come to an end. May it be so, Lord Jesus.

Franklin County, Tennessee, is named for Benjamin Franklin, is located in southern Tennessee, and has a total population of approximately 41,000 souls. However, today may be among the most important days in its history. This evening, there will be an important showdown at the county school board about whether a “Gay-Straight Alliance” (“GSA”) club at the Franklin County High School will be allowed to operate. Ostensibly, proponents of the GSA want a “safe” environment to talk about issues affecting homosexuals and lesbians, especially “bullying.” But local parents have objected to the establishment of the GSA and are now taking steps to remove it. Tonight the school board will take a vote to ban the LGBTQ+ club.

This saga began a few months ago, but now involves hundreds of persons. LGBTQ+ activists from the nearby University of the South, founded by the Episcopal Church, as well as homosexualists from other states, have converged on Franklin County to demonstrate (and some would say to intimidate) the local townspeople. A social media campaign orchestrated by homosexualists and their allies has attacked outspoken parents and students, their families, and as is the wont of homosexualists, against their businesses as well. Some homosexualist blogs and websites have obsessively written about this dispute.

The GSA club is not quite like your high school golf, debate, or engineering club, and are not student-run clubs the way most of us remember high school clubs. First, GSAs are the product of the national homosexualist activist organization Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (“GLSEN”). GLSEN is the largest homosexual and transgender activist organization working inside thousands of high schools (and some middle schools) in all 50 states. GLSEN actively promotes a wide range of psychologically penetrating homosexual and transgender programs and activities into the schools, including the annual “Day of Silence.” It also directly organizes and trains teachers to integrate its techniques throughout the curriculum. It has a large budget and is funded by corporate America, including such major companies as AT&T, IBM, Kellogg’s, HBO, Disney, McDonalds and Johnson & Johnson, among others. GLSEN’s website provides instructions and “curricula” for GSAs, and further emphasizes strategies for creating and running these clubs, as well as how to deal with recalcitrant and uncooperative school officials. You can read more here. The typical GSA clubs are first organized by activist adults, and are then supervised by homosexualist teachers. As one can well imagine, GSAs attract deeply troubled young people, and try to make them comfortable with homosexuality and transgenderism. GSAs further connect students with outside LGBTQ+ activities, where schoolchildren are introduced to homosexual behavior through adult-youth “community” gay clubs, which are run, of course, by homosexual and transgender adults. GSAs also promote the distribution of anti-Christian propaganda. Here is a sample of some publications that GLSEN chapters have distributed to students in recent months: (1) History of Saints Servius and Bacchus, which claims that these saints were homosexual lovers, (2) Catholic Theological Defense of Same-Sex Marriage, (3) the utterly blasphemous “Reading the Bible with New Eyes,” (4) Queer Spirituality, and (5) Embraced for a Spiritual Journey. I am sure that my readers can readily find these spiritual gems, but if not, please write to me at Mere Comments and I can send you links to the materials.

Since the GSA started at Franklin County High School in January and began to put up signs at the high school, some Christian students started posting “straight pride” signs. However, homosexualists and their allies demanded that these signs be taken down as “hate” speech (under the Leftist constitutional dogma of “free speech for me, but not for thee”). (Now who is bullying whom?) Anyway, we will see later tonight whether the local school board will take into consideration the wishes of this community. Some school district officials have said that, because of federal funding, they “cannot” ban the GSA. To buttress this point of view, the American (Anti-Christian?) Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) sent an infamous lawyer letter to each school principal in the county advising them that they had no legal recourse but to allow GSA clubs. The ACLU further warned that they would sue the school district if they hindered the current GSA club at the high school in any way. But the ACLU is wrong again, and the Federal Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. Section 4071, available here, does not require equal access in the case of national GSA-like clubs. In the meantime, however, please say a prayer today for great wisdom and discernment for the school board at tonight’s meeting, and for the troubled teens involved in the GSA at not only Franklin County High School, but for all teens involved in GSAs throughout the United States.

Georgetown University is our nation’s oldest Roman Catholic university. I am an alumnus of the law school at Georgetown, and was blessed by the opportunity to study with many outstanding fellow students and faculty. For a number of years, I also served as one of the alumni interviewers for prospective students, and was impressed with the caliber of younger people who wished to attend its law school. Although my Georgetown education opened many doors for me, I am not a financial supporter of the University presently because the University has taken positions on issues that I believe are antithetical to traditional Christian teaching. A recent case in point arose when Planned Parenthood Federation of America (“PPFA”) President Cecile Richards was invited to speak at Georgetown next month. Since Ms. Richards became president of the PPFA in 2006, according to its own annual reports detailing “abortion services” (meaning the number of preborn babies murdered), more than 2.8 million babies have been killed in the womb by its staff, a number greater than the entire population of Chicago. (To put that number in some perspective, PPFA alone has killed more babies since 2006 than were killed during the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1920, and far more than the estimated 1.7 million killed by Pol Pot in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.) It should be clear that Ms. Richards and the PPFA promote positions that directly contradict Catholic Church teachings on the dignity of human life. In fact, in the past, Ms. Richards has been strident in attacking the U.S. Catholic bishops for opposing abortion and for defending Church teaching. However, as Ms. Richards and the PPFA kills babies and sells their body parts, it continues to outrageously receive over $500 million in taxpayer funds each year.

On March 3, 2016, Georgetown issued a statement confirming the invitation to Ms. Richards, and defended the decision to offer Ms. Richards a platform on campus, citing a commitment to “the free exchange of ideas.” In its statement, Georgetown made the following defense:

We respect our students’ right to express their personal views and are committed to sustaining a forum for the free exchange of ideas, even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable to some. Student groups may invite any outside speakers and guests to campus. An appearance of any speaker or guest on campus is not an endorsement by the university.

The scourge of abortion-on-demand is the most heinous act in our society; the notion of abortion as birth control, with no limits permitted on the woman’s ability to end her baby’s life. At church this past Sunday, a set of newborn twin boys came to the church I attend. The boys were only a few weeks old, and they were beautiful in every sense of the word, and a great joy to their family. I delighted to see these handsome twins. But in this evil generation, I was aware that a mere few weeks earlier, it would have been completely legal to murder the babies in their mother’s womb. The more than sixty million legal abortions in the United States since 1973 has certainly killed millions of leaders, pastors and priests, artists, intellectuals, scientists, teachers, musicians, and just plain ordinary people who will never be, and who will never contribute to society thanks to abortion-on-demand. At the end of the day, Ms. Richards may decide that it will not be prudent for her to speak at Georgetown University. There is already outrage and anger about her being given a platform at the University. Although I am not Roman Catholic, I don’t think that she should be allowed to speak at Georgetown, or any other Roman Catholic or Christian college or university. I will let them know my views at the alumni relations office, and continue to withhold my financial support. But this entire situation is actually a great pity because Georgetown University could be such a great, shining light for the Lord Jesus Christ.

NBA star Manute Bol mixes it up with his fellow jockeys.

I was caught off guard this weekend when a new Touchstone reader told me she was a little put off by the magazine, saying she found it “a little too negative.”  Too negative?!  It was Flannery O’Connor who advised us to “push back against the culture as hard as it pushes against you.  What people don’t realize is how much religion costs.  They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.”  Well Touchstone pushes back.  

But my friend makes a good point.  When we stop and think about all we have to be thankful for, it’s astounding that we (not Touchstone) let ourselves sometimes slip into worry and even despair.

Manute Bol goes up against William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

So as I was still mulling over my friend’s demand for something more uplifting, my mind went to a joyous story I stumbled across in the Wall Street Journal from some years back about the 7-foot, 7-inch Manute Bol, who played in the NBA from 1985-1995.  If you are wondering what the title of this post, and the pictures above are all about, you’ll have to read the story.  And after you finish the WSJ story, go to Manute Bol’s Wikipedia entry and read the section titled “Activism.”   I don’t know if I’ll ever hear the words “fool for Christ” again without thinking of Manute Bol.

On these pages over the years, I have written a number of articles about the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (“MRFF”). The MRFF is, according to its website, “the sole nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantee of both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, to which they and all Americans are entitled.” (Emphasis added.) Many have observed that the MRFF’s goals seek to take away the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of religion for Christian believers in our nation’s military. The MRFF has reportedly been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize numerous times, but has not won yet. The MRFF founder and president is Michael L. (Mikey) Weinstein, Esq. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mr. Weinstein is the author of several books that describe his fight against “coercive” Christian practices in the military. In 2012, Defense News named Mr. Weinstein as one of the 100 most influential members of today’s military-industrial complex. (However, Mikey has not been named to this honor since then, so perhaps his influence is waning.)

Mikey does quite well at his “foundation,” as he is the sole reported employee of MRFF. Mikey Weinstein’s salary from the MRFF in 2011, 2012, and 2013, as reported in its Form 990 tax filings, were $263,098, $284,009, and $299,634, respectively. (Did you get a $21,000 raise in 2012, plus an additional $15,000 raise in 2013?) Moreover, this is quite an excellent salary given that MRFF annual revenues are in the low $700,000 range for 2013, and much less in earlier years. Nevertheless, although Mikey’s annual salary might seem high to some, Mikey affirmed in his tax filings, under penalties of perjury, that his average work week is 105 hours (that’s 15 hours each day for a seven-day workweek).

In his latest effort to protect American veterans from the dangerous evils of the Christian faith, a Bible and Bible verse were removed from a POW/MIA display inside a Veteran’s Administration outpatient clinic in Akron, Ohio, following a complaint by Mikey. The Bible and Bible verse were part of a “Missing Man Table” erected by volunteers. Why was the Bible and Bible verse removed? Well, Mikey alleged the inclusion of the Bible and Bible verse was a violation of the U.S. Constitution, and he said that he only intervened at the request of nearly a dozen, mostly Christian, military veterans who utilize the clinic. However, clinic administrator Brian Reinhart said that, to his knowledge, no one ever complained about the display, and so, Mikey’s allegations are dubious at best. Nevertheless, being a good VA bureaucrat focused on providing excellent care to his patients, Mr. Reinhart relented and evicted God’s Word from the volunteer display table. Following the removal, Mr. Reinhart wrote the following to Mikey, “I just wanted to let you know that the Bible has been removed from our POW table and the Bible verse has been removed from the framed scripture.” Mikey was quite overjoyed that someone paid mild attention to his rant. He issued the following in his statement about this important fight for the freedom of the American veteran:

MRFF’s veteran client soldiers and we at the MRFF as well, applaud this VA Clinic Administrator’s sage wisdom and courage in recognizing that the U.S. military is comprised of hundreds if not thousands of diverse faiths as well as no faiths. We heartily commend his taking decisive and swift action to remedy the situation so that the MIA/POW table truly honors all.

Captain Ron Crews, a retired Navy chaplain and executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty stated, “MIA/POW tables have been part of military tradition for generations. They have always included certain elements, including a Bible.” Further, the official Navy blog clearly identifies the Bible as a significant part of the Missing Man Table & Honors Ceremony. The text of the Navy ceremony proclaims, “The Bible represents faith in a higher power and the pledge to our country, founded as one nation under God.” And the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia has similar wording in its ceremony of remembrance: “The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain us and those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God.”

Many brave men and women died to protect the right of all Americans to have and read the Holy Bible. At the beginning of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote the preface to a Bible that was given to millions of American military personnel during that war. In his preface, President Roosevelt wrote the following:

To the Armed Forces: As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul. Very sincerely yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

I suppose that the Lord Jesus was not politically incorrect in 1941. But today, our society has evolved (devolved?), and it would drive Mikey to apoplexy if Mr. Obama (or a future President Trump) would authorize Bibles for our troops and veterans. Mikey and his allies say that they wish to be more “inclusive,” which is a euphemism meaning that Christians must be silenced.