Culture Briefs

‘Sin brings death’

“For many of us evangelicals, who have watched smugly for decades with folded arms as gay-rights theologians and feminists forced the main-line denominations into apostasy and schism, the fall of Ted Haggard is a wake-up call. …

“Too often, since the so-called ‘sexual revolution’ began in the 1960s, we have allowed the accuser of the brethren to use this issue to distract us, and silence our witness and faithfulness to Christ and the Gospel.

“As older denominations have found out, churches who allow themselves to be compromised and divided over immoral behavior almost immediately cease to have any missionary zeal. …

“Sin brings death to churches, missions and individuals. …

“Will a choice for God be made, or will evangelicals continue to surrender to secular culture as have the mainline churches?”

— Bill Bray, writing on “Haggard scandal: Wake-up call for evangelicals?” Monday in WorldNetDaily at www.worldnetdaily.com

Free minds

“Asking why academic freedom is important is like asking why love is important, or why it’s important to eat when you’re hungry. …

“OK, why is academic freedom important? Because in order to think, in order to exercise your freedom, you need to be educated — and in order for people to be educated they need to have the freedom to consider a very wide range of ideas, to have their own preconceptions questioned, and questioned vigorously. They have to learn how to tolerate ideas that are really abhorrent to them. … They need to learn that people can have very different ideas, and they can debate them without coming to blows.

“You know, in our world today, one way you can stop people from coming to blows about their conflicting ideas is by teaching them how to argue, and teaching them not to be afraid of argument. There’s an important difference between being embarrassed or feeling intellectually or emotionally wounded because you’re at the losing end of an argument, and actually being physically assaulted. I think it’s incredibly important for students to learn how to argue, and to learn how to appreciate and even enjoy argument.”

— Wendy Kaminer, interviewed by Brendan O’Neill, Oct. 27 in Spiked Online at www.spiked-online.com

Yuppie revenge

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