On the Mosque at Ground Zero

Though I personally oppose the building of the mosque near ground zero that has been in the press of late, John Mark Reynolds at Scriptorium Daily has a very interesting contrary take on the issue that I think is worth conisidering. A key comment from his post reads:

Americans instinctively oppose the 9/11”mosque,” because we don’t see fair
play from the Muslim world. We must overcome this justifiable irritation,
allow it to be built, and then trumpet our demands for equal treatment using
it as an example.

Read the whole post here.

Nullification is the Solution

The more I read and study constitutional law and politics, the more convinced I am becoming that the best solution to contemporary federal tyranny, is the practice of nullification. This is an old and venerable strategy of state governments which believe that federal laws and policies are unconstitutional (which usually means that they are overstepping the bounds of their enumerated powers). In nullification, the state government simply declares the federal law unconstitutional, ignoring and refusing to obey or enforce it.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison advocated nullification in their famous Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in the face of John Adams' Alien and Sedition Act. They called upon states to reject the requirements of the Act. In recent times, states have forgotten this strategy, but modern libertarians are trying to bring it back as the best and most efficient way of resisting the ever-expanding power of the federal government. Derek Sheriff has recently written and editorial outlining some of these efforts and explaining the importance of convincing our state governments of its contitutionality and usefulness. You can read his article here. I encourage all freedom-loving people to read more about it and contact your state legislators to let them know that you want them to use the strategy of nullification. You can also visit the Tenth Amendment Center and NullifyNow websites to learn more:

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/

http://www.nullifynow.com/

Public University Attacks Religious Freedom

An even worse judicial atrocity than the injunction of Arizona's immigration law today was the ruling (read it here) of a federal judge upholding the expulsion of a grauduate student from Eastern Michigan University. The student was expelled from the school's counseling program because she believes that homosexuality is morally wrong and therefore refused to counsel homosexual clients.

Critics of the ruling are saying that it will undoubtedly lead to other Christian students who have the moral sanity to oppose homosexuality will also be dismissed from state universities. Is this what the 1st Amendment is all about? Will the political ideologies of left-wing crazies drive Christians completely out of the public square? I dare say that such an outcome would be welcome to many liberals in our society. The student's lawyers intend to appeal the ruling. We should pray for their success.

Federal Judge Issues Injunction on Arizona Immigration Law

Today a Federal Judge decided in favor of the Obama administration and issued an injunction to halt enforcement of the most controversial features of the immigration law recently passed by the Arizona legislature (read about it here). The law requires that people stopped by police for other legitimate reasons can be asked about their immigration status if police suspect they are illegal immigrants. The injunction places a hold on the law until other courts can decide its constitutionality.

The injunction is patently absurd since the law does nothing more than allow police to enforce federal laws already on the books. Moreover, the injunction is an egregious encroachment on states' rights, using unconstitutional federal power to prevent a state from protecting its citizens.

Some Arizona sheriffs have vowed to enforce the Arizona law despite the injunction. To them, I say "Hurrah!" More power to them. My advice to the Arizona governor and legislature is to publicly repudiate the injunction and exercise their constitutional right to nullify federal laws and rulings they deem to be unconstitutional violations of the 10th Amendment (which this injunction is). The time is now to put an end to the blatant over-reach of the federal government in the last 100 years!

Lame Duck Nightmare

Commentator Charles Krauthammer has made some scary predictions about what a lame-duck Democratic congress could and possibly would do after being slaughtered in the upcoming November elections. Read the article here.

DeYoung Reviews Platt's Radical

Kevin DeYoung has recently written a review of David Platt's new book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. As one who has been a bit suspicious of the new call for "radical Christianity," I appreciate DeYoung's balanced but serious criticism. You can read the review here, together with a charitable response by Platt himself.

ARC Podcast

The Apologetics Resource Center (to which I belong) has started a new monthly podcast entitled Faith, Truth, and a Can o' Worms. Our first cast discusses, among other things, the question, "Is Islam a religion of peace?" Here's the iTunes address:

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/faith-truth-and-a-can-o-worms/id378689415

Colson on Avatar

I want to encourage all readers to take a look at Charles Colson's blog today entitled, "Waiting by the Phone: Avatar and Salvation from Beyond." He provides a short but very poignant Christian assessment of the recent Avatar film. Here's the link:

http://www.informz.net/pfm/archives/archive_956798.html

New Name for Blog

Hey, Here's an idea for your few readers out there. Help me come up with a new name for this blog. I've never really liked "Cowan Chronicles"--it's kinda lame and it's not a chronicle anyway. Ideas???

Blogging Blues

I've decided that if I'm gonna have a blog, I oughta post new stuff on it more often. When I first started this blog, I had a good amount of stuff to post, but as any readers I have out there know, it's defintely slowed down in the last couple of years. I really do think that blogging is a good forum for discussing important things and getting out one's ideas. Of course, it presupposes, too, that one has good ideas in the first place that others will want to read (though the lack of good ideas doesn't seem to prevent many people from blogging away almost everyday!). And I suppose that maybe it's my conscientiousness about wanting to make sure that I have something worthwhile to say and not just put out a bunch of meaningless drivel that keeps me from posting more often. Well, I do really want to post more often and I am determined to do so. I hope to have something worthwhile to say when I do, too, though of course I can't make any promises. If any of you out there have some suggestions for things I might talk about on this blog, please feel free to make them.