The Public Square (Community)

Why would someone be buried with a fork in their suit coat pocket? When the mourners came to the casket at the wake, they were more than puzzled to find a fork prominently displayed in his suit coat pocket. Was this a restaurant owner or a food critic, or perhaps a bit of belated humor? I heard this story in church the other daytrue story. A member passed away who was a dear friend of church potlucks. Whenever the servers would come by to clear his plate they would always tell him to keep his...

Chuck Colson has a problem and it might impact you. A lot of people know Chuck Colsons story as the Chief of Staff in the Nixon Administration. And most people know how Chucks life was dramatically changed by a personal encounter of faith in Jesus Christ. The ministry Chuck founded at Prison Fellowship is a testimony to the power of the Gospel in changed lives, beginning with the Founder. Now a federal judge wants Chuck and Prison Fellowship out of federal jails. The Americans United for...

There is another step to protecting marriage that we can do today. The Federal Marriage Amendment is going to take a while. In the process, we must find candidates willing to work for marriage in both parties and fund them. We can also pay very close attention to state marriage amendments. A few key states like Florida and Pennsylvania are still without them. Not good. Pennsylvania still does not have the ballot initiative which means only the legislature can pass this amendment. That makes...

Is there any chance for a federal marriage amendment? The next step in passing the FMA should actually have been the first step. Unfortunately, marriage backers got things a little out of order. If we learn anything from the history of amendments we learn that, short of having a civil war, the only way to pass constitutional amendments is with a broad base of support that must be translated into both political parties on Capitol Hill. One party cannot make a constitutional amendment happen,...

Lets say our federal marriage amendment is the right thing to do, and the language makes sense. Is there a smart way to get it passed? Take a look at your US Constitution. You will find 26 amendments since 1787. Now ten of those are the original bill of rights, so in reality the US Constitution has only been amended 16 times in history. Three of those amendments were the result of the Civil War. Two dealt with prohibition and cancelled each other out, so we are looking at 11 times the nation...

Lots of people want to change the US Constitution to protect the definition of marriage. I agree that the legal definition of marriage is under attack and must be preserved, but when I crack open a copy of that old document I see some things that make me wonder. First off, if we're being honest, the US Constitution was not designed for the practice of family law. Try to fit marriage into the existing document and its a pretty tough fit. OK, thats what amendments are for. The problem is, this...

How important is your right to vote? Lets imagine you did not get to vote on who your US Senators would be. The Constitution provides that every state gets two Senators no matter how large or small. But lets say that you didnt get to vote on them. Lets say a private club or corporation appointed them. How would you feel about the US Senate? Would you believe Senators were looking out for you? My guess is you probably dont feel much like that right now. After all the US Senate is the most...

When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. Thats a popular quote from what period of history? When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule the people groan. Sounds pretty Biblical right? In fact, it is a quote from the wisest man in world history, King Solomon of Israel. Easy for him to say after all he was the King. This verse from the book of Proverbs long outlived King Solomon. In fact, according to historian David Barton,...

Whats the problem with kids today? Back when I was a kid, there was a song by a guy named Mike Douglas. Whats the problem with kids today? I hated that song. I swore that if I ever grew up I would never attack kids or look down on them. Especially not just because I could drive a car and do all that other adult stuff. The other day I was talking with a national journalist and college professor. He told me about his students and their profound lack of passion. Like me, this journalist grew up...

Are you in trouble for registering someone to vote? Politicians, we cant live with them or without them. Every now and then, it seems like we might want to try. Incumbent partisan politicians are honked off that so many people and groups are working on voter registration, so they are tightening the rules. Now this is just plain dumb. It is so difficult to get people registered and keep them motivated to participate in the first place why would any decent citizen do anything to discourage...

If you don't know your rights is it more likely someone can take them away? When I talk to "new" Americans-people who have come to this country legally and become citizens-I am often reminded of how much we take for granted. Especially when it comes to the right to vote and the right to take good ideas to the ballot. Most of us have no clue how this concept of ballot access came into being. Since we have heard about "ballot issues" all our lives, we just figure they have always been around....

There was a great victory you should know about. Term limits is a national issue. Holding state lawmakers accountable to the constitutional authority vested in the people is an essential principle to civil government. Said more simplyif we are going to continue to live together under the same laws we have to know that lawmakers are playing by the same rules as the rest of us. So when Florida lawmakers tried to pull a fast one on the people by switching out 8-year term limits for a faulty...

The experts said it would never happen. The Florida legislature decided to place an amendment on the ballot to wipe out 8-year term limits and pass a convoluted plan to give state lawmakers 12 years or more. The idea was poorly written, defied the direct wishes of the voters, and messed up the balance of powers in state government. But lawmakers were determined to break out of term limits. But then the people got involved. Lots of people began calling and emailing their elected officials....

Like the jelly of the month club gambling promoters always need a new hook, a new spin, a new con to make people believe gambling serves a public good. This year the hook appears to be educationat least that is the promise being made in a major campaign to open casino gambling in Ohio. The gambling moguls are promising to give high school students college scholarships if their moms and dads will legalize casinos. Heres the math: The casinos will drain $2.5 billion from the Ohio economyat...