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WORKING ON THE HILL: What A Conversation Today Between Thomas Jefferson And Martin Luther King Jr. Might Be Like

By Bret Bernhardt

Bret Bernhardt, former chief of staff for senators Don Nickles and Jim DeMint.

Working on Capitol Hill provides many opportunities unlike those found in other workplaces.  Recently, my wife and I along with a close friend took a bike ride around the Tidal Basin where the monuments of Martin Luther King and Thomas Jefferson stand.

It struck me that these two men now stand juxtaposed via their monuments across from one another and I wondered what conversations they might be having.

Jefferson, the father of the Declaration of Independence championed the ideals of freedom and equality, yet was a living contradiction as a slave-holding Virginian.  While he attempted to reconcile this glaring incongruity, he died without doing so. Continue reading “WORKING ON THE HILL: What A Conversation Today Between Thomas Jefferson And Martin Luther King Jr. Might Be Like”

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QUICK TAKES: What Is The Truth About Christianity And Slavery?

Without Christianity, there is no anti-slavery movement in the world. Think about that. It’s only in Western civilization beginning in the early years of the church that we find stirrings of anything resembling anti-slavery thinking and action. Slavery remains to this day a feature of life in many parts of Asia and Africa where Christianity has little impact.

It was Great Britain that led the way in abolishing the slave trade, thanks to William Wilberforce, the Parliamentarian whose life as a passionate follower of Christ, was devoted to the anti-slavery cause. Like so many in America’s Great Awakening, he was deeply influenced by George Whitfield and evangelical Christianity.

Similarly, the Abolitionist Movement in America during its formative years prior to the Civil War was driven primarily by leaders whose roots were in Puritan Christianity and the culture that evolved out of the Great Awakening.

Bill Walton asked me about this during our recent interview:

And of course, it is impossible to conceive of Martin Luther King Jr. leading the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s apart from his roots in Christianity. This is made crystal clear by this passage from his epic “Letter from a Birmingham Jail:”

“I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”

As for the pre-Civil War Southerners (perhaps including some of my ancestors in Virginia) who used the Bible to justify slavery, they were reading into it what they wanted it to say for them instead of listening to what it actually said to them at, for example, Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” That statement was, in the context of the ancient world, unheard of and profoundly revolutionary. And it still is.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

“Why Did Some Christians Promote Slavery While Others Condemned It?” – J. Warner Wallace, coldcasechristianity.org

Does the Bible Condone Slavery? – Frank Turek, crossexamined.org

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WHAT DO YOU THINK? Are All Christians Intolerant Bigots?

Yes, there are people who call themselves Christians who are intolerant of all kinds of things. But don’t confuse them with the biblical faith defined by Jesus Christ, who saves men and women of all races, nations, creeds and ideologies.

Josh, left, and Sean McDowell, co-authors of “The Beauty of Intolerance.”

The truth is that bigotry and intolerance are found among individuals of both genders, who are from all races, nations, creeds and ideologies. Some are more intolerant and bigoted than others and some are waaay more.

But does being tolerant require approving of every single thing any person ever does or says, even if what they do or say is an expression of something  that would absolutely repel the rest of us? Of course not, tolerance is not an absolute. Continue reading “WHAT DO YOU THINK? Are All Christians Intolerant Bigots?”

Here’s One Photo That Shows Why Partial-Birth Abortion Is Wrong

Two things have long puzzled me about the abortion issue. First, everybody in the political debate on the issue knows, whether they publicly admit it or not, that unborn human beings are always the victims, whether they are killed 12 weeks into a pregnancy, 25 weeks or one minute before birth.

Second, if no human being has the right to enslave another human being, why does any human being have the right to destroy another human being at any point prior to its birth?

Cross-examined.org’s Dr. Frank Turek — co-author with Dr. Norm Geisler of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist” —addressed some key aspects of the abortion issue in this recent video, with one photograph that ought to remove any remaining doubt in anybody’s mind that it is human beings who are being slaughtered in the name of convenience:

 

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” — John 3:16-18

Photo by Melanie Sosa on Unsplash.

And C.S. Lewis said:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s Movin’ On Up The Hill This Week

Courtesy of Legistorm:

Austin Heitzinger is the new Staff Assistant in the office of Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). Austin was previously a Public Affairs Intern for SKDKnickerbocker. He also has extensive campaign experience in Oklahoma. He earned his BA from Central State University in Oklahoma in Political Science and Government in 2018, and he will complete his MA in Strategic Public Relations from George Washington University in 2021.

Mollie Cramer (Screenshot from Facebook).

Mollie Cramer moves up from an Internship to Press Assistant for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). She previously did an Internship in 2017 with Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL). Mollie graduated this year with a BA in Political Science and Government from Cornell.

Mark McKinnon is now National Security Adviser to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL). Previously, Mark was an adviser to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in the Pentagon. He is a University of Mississippi graduate. Continue reading “STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s Movin’ On Up The Hill This Week”

Consider The ‘Seven Diversities’ Of Jesus’ Appearances After Being Resurrected From the Grave

Jesus died as the Lamb of God. When He returns to Earth, He will be the Lion of Judah. (Photo by Jeff Rodgers on Unsplash)

We hear about “diversity” frequently in the public forums these days, but rarely is that quality of people and things considered in the context of historic events such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But, as J. Warner Wallace of Cold-Case Christianity notes, there are seven diverse factors in the resurrection — let us refer to them as the “Seven Diversities.” For example, Wallace points to the fact that “Jesus appeared after the Resurrection to single eyewitnesses, to small groups and to huge crowds.”

Similarly, Wallace reminds us that “Jesus appeared and stayed with the eyewitnesses for different lengths of time. Some of his appearances were little more than a few minutes, others for hours. He stayed with the believers in Jerusalem for forty days.” Continue reading “Consider The ‘Seven Diversities’ Of Jesus’ Appearances After Being Resurrected From the Grave”

10 Things About Your Brain That May Blow Your Mind!

Did you know, for example, the evidence is mounting that it is realistic to envision in the not-too-distant future being able to control a prosthesis for a lost limb with nothing more than thoughts?

Or that, while there are some striking similarities between the human brain and computers, assuming that neurons are like microprocessors and that therefore computers will someday be able to “think” like people is a dangerous path for materialists because microprocessors require programmers?

An intriguing post in Mind Matters today further includes this observation in asking if there are any neurosurgeons who think the brain and the mind are two distinctive things:

“Yes, the great mid-twentieth century neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield offered three lines of reasoning for such doubts, based on brain surgery on over a thousand patients. A number of other neuroscience pioneers, some of them Nobel Laureates, arrived at that position due to their research.”

And that’s just a sample! For more on the 10 things Mind Matters discusses, go here.

 

FAMILY: New Study Finds Covid Quarantining Has Mixed Effects On American Teens

A new study produced some unexpected results in assessing the effects of the national lockdown on American teenagers beginning in March in response to the Covid crisis, including the fact teens did less gaming.

The study by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and the Wheatley Institution was authored by was authored by Jean Twenge (San Diego State University), Sarah Coyne (Brigham Young University), Jason Carroll (Brigham Young University and Wheatley), and W. Bradford Wilcox of IFS.

Among the findings were these: Continue reading “FAMILY: New Study Finds Covid Quarantining Has Mixed Effects On American Teens”

THINK ABOUT THIS: Why Doesn’t Everybody Agree About God?

Take two people of equal intelligence, similar life experiences and educational attainment, and in the same level of professional success, then hand them the Bible and what happens?

Don’t be surprised if one of them believes the Bible and the other doesn’t. Why does that happen? How can two similarly situated intelligent people reach diametrically opposed conclusions about the same book?

In the following video, former NBC “Dateline” cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace talks about the three reasons that typically explain why an atheist rejects God and how that happens. Wallace, who is the founder of coldcasechristianity.com, also includes some fascinating information about him and his father, who remains an atheist:

 

HARD FACTS: Humans Have Killed 33 Unborn Babies For Every One Covid-19 Death

It is said “a picture can be worth a thousand words,” but it can often be far more true (and hugely significant for those working on Capitol Hill) that a few numbers can save millions of lives.

Consider the following worldwide data from Worldometer, from Jan. 1, 2020 to  Oct. 12, 2020, as of 10:36 GMT:

Covid-19 Deaths Worldwide: 1,081,944

HIV/AIDS Deaths: 1,313,556

Alcohol Deaths: 1,954,324

Smoking Deaths: 3,906,180

Cancer Deaths: 6,417,459

DEATHS BY ABORTION: 33,254,430

Covid-19 kills primarily among the elderly and those with underlyng health conditions that compromise their immune systems. There are still noticeably more HIV/AIDS deaths worldwide than Covid-19 deaths, and nearly twice as many alcohol-related deaths.

And look at the figures for deaths by smoking and cancer — the former has taken the lives of nearly four times as many people as Covid-19, and the latter more than six times!

But none of those begin to compare with the number of deaths caused by abortion, the willful destroying of innocent life in the womb. To date this year alone, we human beings around the world have killed 33 unborn boys and girls for every one person who has succumbed to Covid-19.

Psalm 139:15-16 tells us that God formed each of us while we were yet in our mother’s womb. And more than 33 million times this year alone, we have told God to step aside because we are going to kill another one of His creatures.

HELP HILLFAITH SHARE THE GOSPEL ON THE HILL

WHAT IF ALL OF THE BIBLE IS AS ACCURATE AS THESE PROPHECIES?

HERE’S WASHINGTON’S MOST INVISIBLE POWER GROUP

Federal Judge Tells D.C. Mayor She Cannot Ban Meetings of Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Historic congregation located a few blocks from the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Trevor McFadden ruled late Friday in favor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) in its request for a preliminary injunction against the District of Columbia government’s ban on congregational meetings of more than 100 people.

“The Court determines that the church is likely to succeed in proving that the District’s actions violate [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act  of 1993] RFRA,” McFadden wrote.

“The District’s current restrictions substantially burden the church’s exercise of religion. More, the District has failed to offer evidence at this stage showing that it has a compelling interest in preventing the church from meeting outdoors with appropriate precautions, or that this prohibition is the least-restrictive means to achieve its interest. The Court will therefore grant the Church’s motion for injunctive relief,” McFadden continued. Continue reading “Federal Judge Tells D.C. Mayor She Cannot Ban Meetings of Capitol Hill Baptist Church”

FAMILY: Data-Driven Studies Show Fathers Are Massively VIP To Kids

When federal policymakers named one of the most important social welfare efforts aimed at helping feed children in poverty, they dubbed it the “Women, Infants and Children” (WIC) program.

Fathers somehow were left out.

Father and daughter. Priceless. (Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

At one level, that title simply reflected the depressing reality that millions of fathers sire children, then fail to support them financially, much less emotionally or in any of the multiple other ways revealed by data-driven studies highlighted earlier this week by Dr. Patrick Fagan on Marripedia.

For congressional staffers in positions to influence federal policymaking on families, these studies offer strong evidence of why the greatest failing of present government social welfare initiatives may well be the glaring lack of coherently integrated efforts to support fathers and encourage them to be there for their families. Continue reading “FAMILY: Data-Driven Studies Show Fathers Are Massively VIP To Kids”

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and He will be mocked, insulted, spit on; and after they flog Him, they will kill Him, and He will rise on the third day.” — Luke 18:31-33

Photo by Melanie Sosa on Unsplash.

And C.S. Lewis said:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

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