There is clearly a “Christian Left” growing among evangelicals in America. We have heard a great deal about the “Christian Right” for more than two decades. I frequently critique this movement unfavorably. But what is the Christian Left? The Christian Left is almost as hard to define, in one certain sense, as the Christian Right. And it is equally hard to tell, at least at this point, how many people actually fit this new designation and just how many potential...

In between jokes, Gore called for a change in thinking about climate issues and the pollution that causes global warming. He was especially critical of the munity’s current focus on quarterly profits at the expense of sustainable business practices. “That’s functionally insane, but that is the dominant reality in the world today,” Gore said. Functionally insane? Found this at EPA today: Since 1970 (the year EPA was established by President Nixon), gross domestic product increased 203 percent, vehicle miles traveled...

e to the latest edition of the PowerBlog’s GLOBAL WARMING CONSENSUS WATCH, a weekly news recap where we highlight the continuing strength and enduring permanence of the universal scientific consensus on the causes and effects of global warming. THIS WEEK: A fungus among us – again; more on Mars; are weather satellites creating more hurricanes?; Live Earth isn’t totally worthless; Laurie David is the GREATEST HERO IN AMERICAN HISTORY; and human sacrifice on the altar of environmental religion. All this...

This morning Karen Weber and I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of pastors and church leaders organized by a local ministry, Project Hope Annetta Jansen Ministries, based in Dorr, Michigan. We were hosted in the group’s new building, which opened late last month. I outlined and summarized some of the basic theological insights and implications for passion, focusing especially on the relationship between and the relative priority of the spiritual over the material. Karen Weber, who is...

The Acton Institute is looking for great charities. The Samaritan Award is a $10,000 award given to a charity that is primarily privately funded and whose work is direct, personal and accountable. There are also second and third place prizes of $1,000 as well as a special edition of WORLD Magazine that will feature the top 10 charities in the United States. All programs that apply for the Samaritan Award will be entered into the Samaritan Guide which is prehensive...

A new initiative pioneered by Sojourners/Call to Renewal is called “Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” Included in the platform are “calls for bills that would push for border enforcement while improving guest worker programs and offering chances for illegal immigrants to obtain legal status,” according to the NYT. The NYT piece points out the potential for this to be a unifying issue for evangelicals, even though few if any prominent politically conservative evangelicals are overtly associated with Christians for Comprehensive...

Last Friday, the New York Times editorialized in critique of American tariffs, which it says “raise the price of goods and are all too often based on outdated political considerations that defy logic and good sense.” Huzzah! ...

A few books that have recently crossed my Journal of Markets & Morality reviews editor desk, and that may be of interest to PowerBlog readers: Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, edited by Edward P. Stringham. A reader of classic and other essays from a libertarian perspective—authors include Murray Rothbard, David Friedman, Hans Hoppe, Lysander Spooner, and Robert Nozick. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Utility: Happiness in Philosophical and Economic Thought, by Anthony Kenny and Charles...

The nation’s news outlets picked up the story quickly last week out of downtown Los Angeles, where an immigration rally at MacArthur Park sparked a violent police reaction. The LAPD police chief, William J. Bratton, was quick to express his displeasure. “Quite frankly, I was disturbed at what I saw,” Bratton told KNX-AM. He said the actions of some officers “were inappropriate in terms of use of batons and possible use of nonlethal rounds fired.” It looks from reports like...

…at least not yet. Check out this disheartening AP story, “Judge: Cleaner owes me $65 million for pants; 2 years of litigation x 1 pair of trousers = headaches for family business.” The US court system shouldn’t be a venue for the pursuit of a personal vendetta. This case clearly shows how lawsuits can be used to bring incredible expense and stress on the defendant, regardless of his or her guilt or culpability. And unless things change, like moving to...