Paineful Truth

This week, the Pope visited President Obama at the White House. He gave a speech and addressed some very pressing issues facing both America and the world as a whole. In his speech he lent his support to President Obama’s regulatory program aimed at climate change. He avoiding spending much time on social issues (e.g. abortion, marriage) instead offering an endorsement of Obama’s policies on the environment. Pope Francis said, “I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution. Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation. When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history.” Yes, climate change. An issue that many are saying could end the Republican party’s hope for the presidency in 2016. A few of the candidates have received criticism for remarks on this subject at the last presidential debate...

Did you know…. -The Amish are not required to complete the standard compulsory twelve years of education. -Jehovah’s Witnesses are not required to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, or in the production of war materials. -Christian Scientists are not forced to have their children vaccinated or undergo medical procedures often required by state laws. -The vast majority of states have a religious exemption for vaccines. -Quakers are not forced to fight in wars. -Conscientious objectors are exempted from the draft for both religious and nonreligious reasons. -Muslims are allowed to wear head coverings in driver’s license photos. Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (or RFRA) give religious objectors a statutory right to exemptions from certain governmental laws. Unless, that is, if the government could show that denying the exemption was necessary to serve a compelling government interest. The claimant must also show that the law they want an exemption from “subst...

Our problem is not with guns. Guns are merely inanimate objects. If a demented person is bent on destruction and murder, they will find a way to accomplish their goal. Our problem goes much deeper than the mere weapon used to carry out the crime. No one has ever seen a gun and then decided that they would like to kill someone with it. It has never happened. The decision to cross that line happens much sooner. Make no mistake, the heart is where these problems come from. The shootings, the murders, the violence, it all begins and ends with the individual’s heart. The reason government is impotent when it comes to actually preventing these kind of crimes is that it cannot govern the heart. If every single gun and sharp object was confiscated from every single resident of the United States, are we really naive enough to believe that murder would suddenly cease? I certainly hope not. However, if you listen to the proposed solutions to these tragedies, one would th...