Politics, Culture, and Faith

Watchdog Alert: Is Legal Pot A Good Thing?

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Elton John says legalizing marijuana was a mistake

There’s an interesting news piece on CNN reporting on Elton John’s view of weed.

In an interview with Time magazine as part of their Icon of the Year coverage, the legendary singer shared his thoughts about the legalization of cannabis in parts of the US and Canada.
“I maintain that it’s addictive,” he said. “It leads to other drugs. And when you’re stoned—and I’ve been stoned—you don’t think normally.”
“Legalizing marijuana in America and Canada is one of the greatest mistakes of all time.”

This is a bigger deal than it appears at first blush. Sir Elton is a living legend with tons of influence globally, and his statement about marijuana addiction and it’s effect on one’s thinking abilities is worth noting. Is the cultural landscape as it relates to marijuana legalization shifting?

School shooting at Wisconsin private Christian school

What a brutal, sad, and tragic day on Monday. One student dead. A teacher dead. Teen shooter dead. Six more injured.

Fox News report and updates here.

There are lots of questions that come to mind about this horrible incident, but the obvious one is: Why does God allow this kind of evil to happen?

The world is a dark and broken place. Evil is real. It’s all too obvious that the ‘Christian’ designation on a school, or church, or person doesn’t provide an automatic exemption from the harm our spiritual adversary always seeks to inflict.

God can and does protect his people, but that requires an intentional applied faith through ever vigilant prayer on OUR part.

We are also advised to be wise as serpents. It is reported that the Wisconsin Christian school doesn’t have metal detectors or a school resource officer.

What’s The Latest From Various Denominations?

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Catholics

Well, according to the Catholic News Agency, in his Wednesday message at St. Peter’s Square Pope Francis said he wants preachers to keep their preachin’ to 10 minutes or less.

Here’s an excerpt from the recent CNA article which you can find here:

“Preachers must preach an idea, a feeling, and a call to action. Beyond eight minutes the preaching starts to fade, it is not understood,” Pope Francis said to applause from some pilgrims.

I kind of like that idea for the most part, because most of the sermons I’ve sat through in my life bored me to tears because they were too long. I can’t imagine someone telling Jesus to “wrap it up” after 10 minutes into the Sermon on the Mount, though. 😉

Evangelicals

There’s an interesting piece in First Things about Trump’s support among evangelical Christians:

Though evangelicals are theologically unified in certain respects, they can be divided sociologically into three categories: Jacksonians, who generally exhibit low social capital; Tocquevillians, who exhibit high social capital; and elites, who live at the heights of American culture. As in 2016 and 2020,  Trump carried the Jacksonians and Tocquevillians while losing the elites.

Hmmm, “elite evangelicals” should sound like an oxymoron but somehow it kind of doesn’t.

Mormons

From the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints news bulletin:

The Old Brewery Mission (OBM), one of Canada’s oldest and largest homeless shelters, recently inaugurated new living spaces at its men’s shelter due to a C$1 million donation (US$769,230) from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The renovation project was part of the OBM’s vision to phase out dormitories at its facilities, transforming them into semi-private rooms, or chambrettes in French.

Say what you want about the Mormons and those magic glasses J. Smith wore, the LDS Church walks the talk for the most part when it comes to giving.

Methodists

There are some ongoing debates and structural changes in the United Methodist Church:

  1. Disaffiliation Updates: After years of division over LGBTQ+ inclusion, approximately 7,500 UMC congregations have disaffiliated, often joining the conservative Global Methodist Church. New proposals aim to extend or revise the guidelines for disaffiliation to accommodate ongoing tensions. Some petitions suggest expanded reasons for disaffiliation and altered voting procedures, extending deadlines to 2027 or later ​Christian Post​The United Methodist Church.
  2. Structural Reforms: The UMC recently approved measures to restructure its global operations. While five out of eight reforms were passed, the remaining ones focus on the U.S. and are still under review. These changes aim to address the denomination’s governance amid ongoing debates over human sexuality and other theological issues ​RNS.

One has to wonder how close we are to our Savior’s return.