Approximately 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are thought to be infected with the HIV virus. Unlike the West, from the start, HIV/AIDS in Africa has ravaged the non-drug-using heterosexual population. Let me put it this way: People whose Western counterparts are not at risk for HIV/AIDS have been the epidemic’s principal victims in Africa. […]

Last week, 40 million TV viewers watched Barack Obama become the first African-American nominee of a major political party.
And 24 hours later, Republican candidate John McCain set the political world on its ear by selecting a little-known woman governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.
Either way the election turns out, history will be […]

There is a fascinating website called “Long Bets.” There, people-usually experts-make specific predictions that will come true by a specific date. If somebody disagrees, the parties make a bet, with the proceeds going to charity. Current bets include “routine” commercial flights in “pilotless planes” by the year 2030 and that someone alive today will still […]

If you saw the movie The Passion of The Christ, you no doubt remember the film’s powerful and overwhelming depiction of Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion. But the film does contain one humorous moment, which hints at the high value God places on work.
The scene, you may remember, shows Jesus at work as a carpenter, finishing […]

You may have seen ads for an insurance company touting its commitment to responsibility. They feature people doing the right thing, such as returning lost property and helping strangers, simply because it is the right thing to do.
The ads have struck a nerve with the public-probably because personal responsibility is not one of the defining […]

On the surface, with its period settings and costumes, the new film Brideshead Revisited looks like a faithful adaptation of the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh. Underneath, it is anything but faithful. On the contrary, it presents a deeply flawed and inaccurate picture of the Christian faith that Waugh embraced.
Brideshead Revisited tells the story of […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
In the July/August edition of the Atlantic Monthly, there is a fascinating feature story by Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains.”
There is no question about it, Google is a marvelous tool. The entire planet uses it, and […]

If you have been watching the Olympics, you cannot help but be awed by the strength, speed, and skill of Olympic athletes. Take Michael Phelps, the phenomenal American swimmer who took gold in event after event. Or Dara Torres, a 41-year-old American swimmer who bested much younger athletes, winning a silver medal.
These men and women […]

Note: The following commentary contains information that may not be suitable for children.
CBS is nostalgic this summer for the good old days that never existed. The network’s summer series Swingtown examines the lives of three suburban couples in 1976 and their experiences with drugs and “swinging”-or, what was called then, “wife swapping.”
Before I go on, […]

I know President Bush to be a man of courage and of deep Christian faith. So several weeks ago, when I read press reports that he was going to the Beijing Olympics merely as a “sports fan,” I was dismayed. And I said so over the airwaves.
Echoing Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.), one of the most […]

The faculty of Harvard University admired Alexandr Solzhenitsyn for his literary achievements, so they were thrilled that he agreed to deliver the university’s 1978 commencement address. But almost as soon as he began to speak, the professors changed their minds: too late. As I wrote this month in Christianity Today, they realized that Solzhenitsyn was […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
Just recently, three suicide bombers killed 52 people in Iraq, 30 in Pakistan, and a police officer in Yemen. If you pay attention to the news, you cannot help but notice what radical Islamic groups call these suicide bombers: They call them martyrs. But for Christians, […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
It no longer costs taxpayers $23,000 a year to house, feed, and incarcerate Eddie McNeil. Instead, he pays taxes. His wife, Connie, does not need welfare support-as do many women who divorce their imprisoned husbands. No, she is happily married to Eddie. Eddie’s children, rather than […]

As she sat in her boyfriend’s car, a young Texas woman named Dee Dee Washington was shot and killed-an innocent bystander of a drug deal gone bad. For 14 years, the man who fired the shot, Ron Flowers, never admitted to killing her-not until, that is, Ron was admitted to the InnerChange Freedom Initiative® (IFI), […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
According to a recent report by the Pew Center on the States, there are more than 2.3 million people in American prisons and jails: one in every 99 adults. We are by far the world’s largest jailer. Our closest rival, China, has a third fewer prisoners […]

Thirty-three years ago, after serving seven months for my role in the Watergate scandal, I walked out of prison a free man. Not entirely free however, because I just could not get out of my mind the men I had met in prison-the hundreds of thousands like them in prisons across the country.
So, in 1977, […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
For most Americans, prisoners and their families are an example of “out of sight, out of mind.” But every once in a while you come across a story that forces you to look.
One such story recently ran in USA Today. It told the story of three […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by PFM President Mark Earley.
From Starbucks, to Red Bull, to No-Doz, Americans are showing signs of addiction to caffeine. Sixty percent of us drink a cup of coffee a day. On average we will drink 52 gallons of soda this year. And Starbucks-they get a whopping $5.3 billion of our […]

According to the Washington Post, President Bush “does not see the Olympics as a good opportunity to make political points . . .” He “has repeatedly made clear . . . that he is going to China as a sports fan.”
With all due respect, the president of the United States cannot be just another “sports […]

You have probably heard a sick or dying person say, “What I wouldn’t give for one more day. . . .” Regardless of the setting, the meaning is the same: Life is priceless, something worth fighting for.
It turns out that “priceless” and “worth fighting for” may have their limits, at least measured in dollars and […]

Presidents can say the strangest things in front of an open microphone, especially if he thinks the mic is not on. Take President Reagan’s famous quip back in 1984, when he said shortly before his weekly radio address, “My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia […]

It was the most infamous Super Bowl halftime show in history: In 2004, pop stars Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, bumping and grinding their way through a racy routine, had a raunchy finale planned, which they rehearsed two days before. In front of 90 million viewers, including many children, Timberlake yanked off a section of […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
Followers of Jesus are being asked by politicos, pundits, and even some pastors, to abandon abortion as a decisive and vital issue in this year’s election. Instead, we are being urged to cast our votes based on other justice issues such as poverty, protecting the […]

The news is filled lately with stories about the promise of adult stem-cell therapy. Last fall, for example, researchers reported they successfully produced stem cells from adult skin cells, bypassing the need for embryonic stem cells. The Los Angeles Times reported recently that treatment using umbilical and marrow cells healed a boy of a fatal […]

Spain’s 1-to-nothing victory over Germany in the finals of the European Soccer Championship marked her first major title in 44 years. Well, now Spain has gotten the proverbial monkey off her back-just in time to make the monkey a Spanish citizen or the next best thing to it.
The same week that Spaniards were busy watching […]

In Michigan, a homosexual man is suing two Christian publishers-Zondervan and Tyndale House-for $70 million dollars. Bradley Fowler claims they violated his constitutional rights and caused him “emotional distress” by publishing versions of the Bible that call homosexuality a sin. In my view, Fowler is suing the wrong party, but perhaps he realizes he is […]

How is this for irony? Recent actions by Canadian human rights groups have observers alarmed for the state of human rights in Canada. That is because the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal do not give a fig about protecting human rights. Their mission is suppressing free speech.
Maclean’s magazine was […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
At the beginning of his administration, President Bush established the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The idea was as simple as it was controversial: The federal government would work with faith-based groups to tackle tough social problems.
Last June, at a conference attended by 1,500 […]

The recent “Group of Eight,” or G8, summit of the world’s leading economies produced a pledge to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050. G8 leaders also “called for an increase in oil production and refining capacities . . . .”
As a newspaper editorial-from, ironically enough, the Middle East-noted, there was a seeming […]

Less than a month from now, the 2008 Olympic Games will take place in Beijing. The Olympics have been front-page news this time around-and not because people are more interested than ever before in swimming, gymnastics, or pole-vaulting. From the moment Beijing was awarded the games, angry protests have come from all over the world.
The […]

According to a recent Reuters report, a leading Senate Democrat “would consider supporting opening up new areas for offshore oil and gas drilling.”
Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip, said that, subject to certain conditions, he-and possibly even Majority Leader Reid-are “open to drilling and responsible production.” Until now, they have been adamantly opposed.
Reuters is […]

In late June an angry crowd, estimated at 10,000 people, set fire to a government building and police cars in southwestern China. More than 150 people were injured, and it took 1,500 paramilitary and riot police to restore a semblance of order.
The crowd was protesting the “alleged cover-up of a teenage girl’s rape and murder” […]

[Last week on] Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued guidelines, urging its members to “aggressively screen and medicate for high cholesterol in children.”If the prospect of commercials featuring child actors hawking cholesterol-reducing drugs seems outlandish, it should not come as a surprise-not in a culture that looks to pills as saviors.
Citing “growing evidence […]

You are probably familiar with the expression “like moths to a flame.” It refers to the way people are attracted to those things that can harm them. As Shakespeare put it in The Merchant of Venice: “Thus hath the candle singed the moth.”
What’s true of people as individuals is equally true of them collectively. Take, […]

He has been called “demonic,” “barbaric,” and has been compared to Nazi doctors. And when you read about his work, it is easy to see why Americans are so outraged. Dr. Norman Spack is a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. Not long ago, he opened a clinic for what he terms “transgendered” children. Incredibly, […]

A few years ago, a good friend of mine decided to buy an old country campground, enlarge it, restore it, and invite inner-city children to use it. It was, for him, the beginning of a nightmare that would last for years.
In order to proceed with the camp, numerous permits, clearances, and approvals were required by […]

It is easy to grow weary over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As for me, a former Marine, I ache for the families of the men and women who have paid the ultimate price. But I also know why our military personnel are doing what they are doing. They enlisted, as I did many […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
The latest in a string of superhero movies hit the silver screen this week: Hancock. It features Will Smith as a superhero who falls out of favor with the public, and ends up an alcoholic, homeless man who even does some jail time. But, like […]

It is all about equal rights, the gay “marriage” lobby keeps telling us. We just want the right to marry, like everyone else.
That is what they are telling us. But that is not what they mean. If same-sex “marriage” becomes the law of the land, we can expect massive persecution of the Church.
As my friend […]

This week, America celebrates another birthday. Americans are hoisting their flags, marching in parades, and setting off fireworks. I get a thrill every time I hear the band strike up “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” And I get a lump in my throat whenever I join in singing “America, America, God shed His grace on […]

It was one of the more awkward moments in the presidential campaign. Senator John McCain was appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and she was asking why McCain did not support same-sex “marriage.” A well-prepared DeGeneres made the usual arguments about inclusiveness, and compared those who reject same-sex “marriage” to those who once refused to […]

Alice Walker, best known as the author of the novel The Color Purple, is one of the most renowned feminist authors and activists of her generation. She is also a mother, and that fact brought her public and private lives into direct conflict.
That is because Alice Walker’s brand of feminism was the kind that taught […]

“Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance” was the headline of a New York Times article about the Pew Forum’s survey of America’s religious landscape. It found that Americans have a “non-dogmatic approach to faith.” In fact, 70 percent of Americans who claim affiliation to a religious body-including Christians-agreed that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” […]

The past few months have been a rude reminder of just how dependent our way of life is on foreign oil. The skyrocketing price of crude oil has affected more than our driving habits and vacation plans-no doubt you know this if you have looked at your last grocery bill!
What is almost as bad as […]

In early June, the German television network ARD aired a film called “God and the World: The Persecuted Children of God.” The “children” referred to are Iraq’s largest Christian community: the Assyrians. While any attention to the plight of Iraqi Christians is welcome, I only wish that the film could have aired in the country […]

Children learn many useful things from television shows and cartoon characters. They learn letters and numbers from the characters on Sesame Street; Dora the Explorer helps them hone their reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Now, a cartoon character is telling them when they should die.
He’s a dog in a lab coat named “Professor Schpinkee.” He is a […]

With all the hype over the presidential election, it is easy to think that that the nation’s future hangs in the balance. Sure, the election is important, and your vote is important; but the battle for our culture is really fought by what 18th century English statesman Edmund Burke called the “little platoons”-private, voluntary groups […]

The housing report could hardly have been grimmer: “U.S. Home Sales Fall off a Cliff,” reported CBS News.
Great, just what we need-more bad housing news on top of skyrocketing gas and food prices. The economy hovers near recession, and polls tell us that the majority of Americans think we are on the wrong track. Citizens […]

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
You have heard us talk before about the monstrous problem of human trafficking on “BreakPoint.” The scope of this human tragedy is mind-boggling. Experts estimate that there are 27 million slaves in the world today-the greatest number in history.
A common form of slavery is sex […]

Here is a little secret I have discovered over the years: Government does its best when it lets faith-based groups do what they do best. But, usually, this does not happen until government admits that it cannot do everything on its own.
Hurricane Katrina showed the State of Alabama that churches and faith-based groups know their […]