No Anti-Christian Hostility Among Elites?

From NewsMax:

A tenured college professor is set to be fired for simply sending out an e-mail to colleagues containing George Washington’s "Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of 1798.”

Already professor Walter Kehowski at Glendale Community College in Arizona has been placed on forced administrative leave and the school’s chief has recommended his termination.

On Nov. 22, 2006, the day before Thanksgiving, Kehowski, a professor in mathematics in the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) sent the e-mail containing Washington’s message to all MCCCD employees, using a district-wide service designated for "announcements.”

Recent e-mails sent out using this service include an advertisement for purchasing goats for orphans in Uganda, quotes about Women’s History Month, and a reminder about the health benefits of eating bananas.

Professor Kehowski must have forgotten about the Double-First Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing the right not to be offended...unless you're a heterosexual Christian.

(I wonder if any of the complainers--or the school's chief--celebrate Thanksgiving...and if so, to whom do they give thanks?)

Read the whole story here.

No Milquetoast Christians Here

CBS13.com has a story and video about some Christian students who were suspended for wearing t-shirts at school that told the truth about homosexuality. Instead of wilting like flowers as many Christians do these days, they protested in front of the school principal's church ("You teach the Bible in your church and censor the Bible in your school") and his home.

I don't know if I'd advocate the church protest (the church may not have endorsed the principal's actions), but it's wonderful to see some young Christians who aren't afraid to take a stand for what they believe in.

This news story was, typically, full of bias, talking about how the church was "turning the other cheek" and the message on the t-shirts was "anti-gay", etc., but that's the norm.

If the majority of Christians (or even 1/3 of them) would take a stand like these young people, ours would be a very different country. Liberalism and secularism wouldn't have made the inroads they have in the last 50 years, and our culture wouldn't be alienated from its Christian heritage.

Could this be a sign of a turnaround? Are Christians ready to quit cowering and start being "light and salt" again? We can always hope...

HT to Constitutionally Correct.

Capital Punishment on the Decline

Another sign that our society no longer has the will to see justice done, and no longer places the proper value on human life.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, capital punishment is on the decline:

LINCOLN - Capital punishment is legal in 38 states. But the death penalty has been used less and less in the past decade, as states execute fewer criminals and fewer are sentenced to die.

Since the mid-1990s, the death penalty has undergone more scrutiny in courtrooms, legislatures, governors' offices and, to a degree, in the court of public opinion.

Jurors and judges have handed down dramatically fewer death sentences; 102 people were sentenced to die last year, compared with 317 in 1996.

Is it any wonder that the deterrent effect of the death penalty is dubious?

Nationally, it takes an average of 11 years before an inmate is executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The average was higher in Nebraska, where it took about 15.5 years to execute the three inmates who died in the electric chair in the 1990s.

Moore, who killed two Omaha cabdrivers in 1979, has been on death row 27 years.

If you hardly ever impose a punishment, and when you do there's an 11-year gap between the crime and the punishment? While some reports do indicate there is still a deterrent effect, it's a wonder it would have any effect at all.

Regardless of whether it deters crime or not, it remains a matter of justice. Anything less than the forfeiture of the murderer's life says the life of the victim was worth less than the perpetrator.

Starbucks: Pro-Homosexual, Anti-God

From WorldNetDaily, here's what was printed on the side of a cup of coffee a woman in Ohio received:

"Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."

Starbucks has already been identified as being pro-homosexual.

Dirty Dancing, Indeed

ON THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY

By Raymond J. Keating

Nostalgia just ain’t what it used to be.

That’s clear from the flurry of activity surrounding the fact that the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing” marks its twentieth anniversary in May.

Various theaters across the country showed the film on May 1 and 2. A new DVD version arrives in stores on May 8, along with a new CD. For good measure, “Dirty Dancing” is on stage in Europe and is headed to the U.S. next year.

All of this is strange enough, but even more bewildering is the reminiscing, as if it were some kind of classic. (Full Story)