Author Archives: Francis

Fantasy as Faith ~ A Mormon Odyssey

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Mark Twain famously joked about the Mormons, “Their beliefs are singular ─ but their wives are plural.” Since Twain’s day though, mainstream Mormons have officially renounced polygamy (as a necessary condition of statehood back in 1896). But one can still strongly make the case that the beliefs of the Latter Day Saints remain quite singular, one might even say fantastic. I will get into more specific details presently, but first it may help to explore the idea of fantasy as faith, an American phenomenon which is in no way intended to cast dispersion on denizens of the Beehive State. In fact most tenets of the Mormon religion are surprisingly rational when set against many newer cultish practices, both secular and religious, that have proliferated since the advent of the 20th century. Continue reading →

Refugees in Crisis

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This column attempts to avoid engaging in political topics in order to focus on the truth of Christianity. That is why I hesitate to tread into the contentious topic of immigration which has become so politically charged lately. But there is a particular subset of immigration policy that I believe has clear moral dimensions, aside from purely political considerations, which is the refugee question.

Refugees are a special type of immigrant ~ not of their own making but forced to migrate elsewhere under the compulsion of war, persecution, even hostile governments. For that reason all Christians should have a special compassion for their plight. In fact, we must remember that Christ himself, as a mere infant, became a refugee and was forced to flee into Egypt. In that sense he became the blessed type and patron of all refugees. Continue reading →

Christmas 2015

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I thought that I might share with you a small excerpt from my forthcoming book, Word Without End, which is due to come out sometime out this spring. The book treats the Splendor of the Incarnation (as I call it) in depth and, since Christmas is the celebration of the God’s Incarnation as man, I thought a sneak preview might constitute a nice Christmas meditation. The following section is taken from Chapter 2 of Word Without End:

Every person must answer the question, “who is Jesus Christ,” for himself or herself. Unless we affirm in our hearts that Jesus is the Incarnate word of God then his work of redemption has little effect on us. The world today would like to reduce Jesus Christ to a Continue reading →

An Advent of Peace ~ or War?

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This Advent begins a new liturgical year which Pope Francis has proclaimed to be a “Year of Mercy.” Certainly our world, beset by terrorism and frightful intolerance on many fronts, is in great need of mercy. But there is an added dimension to the pope’s plea. Quite recently the pontiff remarked that the world has already entered into “Piecemeal World War III,” a frightful prognosis, to be sure. Is the world, in fact, sliding headlong into an extended period of chaos and conflict from which only God’s mercy will be able to deliver us? And is mercy only the province of God, or do human beings also share some obligation to participate in the extending of mercy?

Civilization itself is tottering on the brink as 2016 dawns, and yet our leaders, rather than trying to pull us back from that cliff, seem content to push mankind ever closer to the precipice. Continue reading →

In Thanksgiving ~ Lest We Forget

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The best kept secret in the media over the past few years has been the 150th anniversary of the most significant event in American history. The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, yet there has been a strange, deafening silence and the absence of any fanfare commemorating that bitter conflict fought to end racial slavery. One would assume, with the first ever black president in office, that the costly struggle which initiated the long journey toward full civil rights for every American would merit a little official attention. Alas, nobody in today’s smug political establishment seems overly concerned that a few million white guys and several hundred thousand black ones fought and made heroic sacrifices to remove the canker of slavery from our land, while also preserving a tottering Union mortally threatened by sectional strife. In short, this was a war that cemented what the American Revolution had only begun, thus insuring the continuation of the greatest human experiment in self-government that history has ever seen. Continue reading →

Equality ~ A Hobbesian Siren Song?

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    The Supreme Court is in the habit these days of mandating “compulsory equality,” essentially the kind  of equality enjoyed by hapless conscripts (as in the army owns you now). It seems today that when any social conflict arises, it is invariably liberty which must stand aside to make way for some judge’s concept of equality. One example should suffice: the recent ruling that universally affordable health care justifies what can only be described as the ultimately regressive sales tax, i.e. a tax levied on individuals for NOT purchasing a product (insurance). But if the price of equality is compelling those who do not wish to participate in a particular marketplace to do so under coercion, then freedom has been thrown under the bus; there is no apparent limit to state power over the individual. To be sure, Americans have been passionate about the idea of “equality” from the moment the ink first dried on the Declaration of Independence, but equality often proves to be a two-edged sword which, unrestrained, slashes indiscriminately against the competing claims of personal liberty. A conundrum thereby arises, how are we to achieve absolute equality among the peoples without infringing upon our cherished personal freedoms?

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A Sign of Contradiction

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It is interesting that Jesus Christ referred to himself as a “sign of contradiction” unto the very world he not only first caused to exist but then came to deliver from its ancient nemesis, namely sin. Yet no figure in history has generated quite as much controversy as this so-called Prince of Peace. Even among his own Christian followers some have denied his divinity outright, others have insisted that his humanity was merely a cloak concealing his divine origins, while others go so far as to speculate that he was unaware of his true identity. For 20 centuries now this charismatic historical figure has stirred unceasing controversy, bloody feuds, and countless persecutions. Continue reading →

Radicalizing Johnny / The Choice to Surrender

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I have two (blessedly) short meditations today. Each is addressed to a skeptical age which has little time or inclination for the beauty of Christian Faith. But perhaps that explains why so much of today’s world is such a seething cauldron of hatred, alienation, and dissent

Radicalizing Johnny

The world today is being dangerously radicalized on many fronts by every cause from feminism and environmentalism to religious fundamentalism all of which distort the truth about who we are. Ultimate truth cannot be found in ideological “isms” or new technologies but only in the search for God. Continue reading →

The Man Behind the Curtain

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What do people generally mean when they use the word evolution? Today that debate rages with heated intensity among academics, especially since the advent of a modified theory of evolution in the natural world called Intelligent Design, or simply ID. On the face of it ID seems to be a rather innocuous, common sense sort of approach to physical science, the development of life, and even the cosmos. After all, everything around us seems to exhibit certain intelligent patterns that are difficult to explain by theories of randomness, just as a visitor from outer space to our planet might observe automobiles, computers, and skyscrapers and realize that they are very different in structure and form from ordinary rocks, hills, and trees. Even assuming that humanity had gone extinct, our interplanetary alien would rightly assume that some intelligent agent played a part in developing these artifacts just as anthropologists infer that the presence of cave paintings and sharpened tools are sure indicators of ancient cultures. And our alien would be correct in his assumptions because we already know that intelligent human life is the only reason that cars, computers, and skyscrapers happened to come into existence. Continue reading →

The Lord of History

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History, when it is not being distorted to fit some progressive political narrative, is otherwise dying of slow neglect among the people. For Americans more interested in futuristic technologies than understanding their own culture, history is in grave danger of becoming the forgotten subject in both our educational system and our national consciousness. And since historians, unlike their “techie” colleagues don’t make the six figure salaries, there seems to be little economic incentive for pursuing history as a profession.

That’s too bad, because the value of history lies in its ability to provide a verifiable framework upon which to understand and hopefully direct not only social policies but one’s own personal life with true wisdom. Absent history we are attempting to fly our star-ship without a navigator ~ or even a decent map. Continue reading →