“The culture wars are being fought in virtually every sphere of life—government, business, law, politics, commerce, education, the sciences, media, the arts, entertainment, religion, marriage, family, health care, and popular culture to name just a few. Each of these spheres produces seemingly unrelated instances of cultural conflict. Yet, it is in the accumulation of such present-day moments of conflict that we gain an understanding and direction of the cultural drift. The purpose of these posts and the books I have written is to participate in the redemption of culture in all institutions of American life through sharing the truth of the biblical worldview which was at the heart of the nation’s founding and formed the central cultural vision by which it is to be governed.
Over the last 15 years I have written and posted many articles about American culture from the perspective of the biblical worldview. Therefore, I have selected a few of the posts that continue to offer time-tested answers to the questions of life and the turmoil found in modern society that we encounter every day.”
Larry G. Johnson
Marriage – Part II – Origin of Marriage
In Part II we will examine the origins of the marriage relationship. Much of the material for this series has been excerpted from Ye shall be as gods which succinctly frames the opposing Christian and humanist worldviews with regard to human relationships in general and marriage specifically. [Johnson, Chapter 20, American Family – Marriage and Family.] As one reflects on how humans have organized themselves over time, there is and has been a great diversity of societal forms in various cultures and periods of history. However, underlying this variety is a structured order or arrangement that reflects the “creational givens.” One of these givens is that the family structure is a societal institution established by the creator. And the family structure consisting of “…a father, […]
Marriage – Part I – Two Views of Human Relationships: Christianity and Humanism
This is the first of a five-part series on marriage. In Part I we will examine the underlying worldviews of Christianity and humanism as it applies to humankind’s relationships in the broader sense. Part II will more specifically examine the origins of marriage. In Part III we turn our attention to the nature of marriage under the Christian and humanistic worldviews. In Part IV we will examine the assault on the divine concept of marriage and the pathologies of marriage and relationships under the dominant humanistic worldview in America. In Part V, we will examine the consequences to society under the humanistic worldview of marriage and relationships. The reader is cautioned to not consider Parts I and II as merely an academic and therefore optional […]
Christianity in the Public Square – Part II – The Founders’ Establishment Clause v. the Modern Secularists’ Separation Clause
In Part I we examined statements made in a newspaper article by a Baptist minister and a retired school teacher who support a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) seeking removal of a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments located on the State Capitol grounds. [Hoberock, 9-9-13] In opposition to the monument, the minister and teacher made a series of comments which serve as a basis for examining the larger issue of Christianity in the public square. Part I dealt with the legitimacy or right to express one’s faith in the public square. In Part II we shall move to the larger issue of what the Founders meant by inclusion of the Establishment clause in the First Amendment. To help us do so, […]
Christianity in the Public Square – Part I- The Constitution and the Ten Commandments Monument
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the Capital Preservation Commission of the State of Oklahoma, seeking removal of a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments located on the State Capitol grounds. The suit states that, “This piece of public property, placed upon public property, conveys an explicit religious message that supports and endorses the faiths and creeds of some churches and sects.” Brady Henderson, Legal Director with the Oklahoma ACLU, stated “Our constitution makes it clear you cannot use state property and state resources to support a particular religion and this monument does just that.” [foxnews.com] A recent newspaper article featured the opinions of a Baptist minister and a retired school teacher, both of whom support the lawsuit. [Tulsa World, […]
Thrill killers, the ACLU, Benjamin Spock, and C. S. Lewis
Two young men and their driver (all ages 15 to 17) residing in a small rural town in southern Oklahoma allegedly killed a twenty-two year old college student from Australia by shooting him in the back while he jogged down a road. The only motive mentioned by one of the alleged perpetrators was “boredom”. Within a week another random attack killed an 88-year-old World War II veteran in Spokane, Washington. The two 16-year-old killers’ only motive was robbery. The man was only slightly above five feet tall and died of severe head injuries. What threat could this diminutive 88-year old man have posed to cause the 16-year-olds to beat him to death? These are but two instances among hundreds if not thousands occurring in the […]