How to respond when the mental health epidemic becomes personal

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, a mother accused of murdering her three young children, just wrapped up its fifth week, and continues to stir heated debates on social media. Countless women who’ve experienced postpartum depression, anxiety, or psychosis shared their stories online. Psychiatrists are sharing facts about mental health during the postpartum period, along with varying opinions on whether she received adequate treatment or not.

Conspiracy theorists have also entered the conversation, stringing together theories to “prove” that the killer was really her husband, Patrick. On the other side of the spectrum, conservative social commentator Matt Walsh called her a “selfish, evil witch,” condemning her and anyone else who excuses her alleged actions.

This case has stirred up a lot for me personally as well. I’m a health coach working at a counseling center alongside a team of therapists (one of whom is my husband). I’ve coached over a thousand clients with varying physical and mental health concerns. I’m also a survivor of PTSD, depression, and bipolar disorder. I’ve been symptom-free for almost 20 years.

I haven’t expressed my thoughts publicly until now. To start, as a mother of three, I have found the trial clips hard to watch. It’s a gut-wrenching tragedy.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A Christian response to the Lindsay Clancy case →

Why this story is more complicated than it seems

When McKenna West, a cardiac nurse from Alaska, agreed to become the surrogate for a California couple late last year, she had no way of knowing that the decision would put her name in national headlines. However, when the baby she was carrying was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) in April, that all started to change.

The biological parents—Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed—pushed for an abortion and, initially, West agreed. However, she had a change of heart before going through with it and eventually sought refuge in Texas to ensure the child could be born and would be well-positioned to receive the necessary surgeries to save his life. The day before she gave birth, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened, and a judge in Dallas ruled that the baby must be given the necessary treatment and remain in Texas while also granting the biological parents’ request that West not be allowed to make medical decisions for the child or be around him.

The baby boy—who was named Rumi by his birth parents and Gabriel by West—has since received the first of those surgeries and is recovering. Details are sparse, though, and representatives for Gilkar and Ahmed have said they don’t intend to offer any further updates on the situation. However, the parents are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, at which point a judge will rule on the temporary restraining order they filed against West, so it’s likely they will have to provide updates at that point.

Until then, the story is likely to continue generating controversy, particularly because few seem to be able to agree on the details of what actually precipitated West’s flight to Texas.

Why the truth is hard to find

One of the most difficult parts of discerning fact from fiction in this story is that most of the details trickled out after the headlines had already been written. The largest point of contention surrounds the initial push for an abortion.

Court documents filed in Alaska on July 20 stipulate that Gilkar, Ahmed, and West were all in agreement on an abortion initially. However, the later-term nature of the pregnancy (West was at twenty weeks at the time of diagnosis) meant that she would have to travel from Alaska to Seattle to find a doctor willing to do it. While she waited for her appointment, she researched hospitals that treated HLHS and found that a Dallas hospital had a 100 percent success rate with the initial round of three surgeries.

She then decided against an abortion. When the biological parents learned of her decision, she claims they stopped covering her doctor’s visits and surrogacy payments while threatening to sue her if she refused to comply. They’ve since made good on that threat, suing West for $100,000 for an alleged breach of contract and emotional distress.

Eventually, both sides seem to have agreed to forgo abortion, and the primary point of contention shifted to where the child should be born. The parents pushed for California, while West was adamant that the hospitals in Texas were better suited to the necessary treatments.

At this point, it’s hard to know whether her highest priority was ensuring that the pregnancy would continue in a state where abortion is illegal or getting to a place with the highest quality of care. Perhaps both played a significant role in her decision.

Again, everyone has said the right things about wanting what’s best for the child in the days since this story became public, but the biological parents have to know that doing anything to jeopardize the health of the child now would look awful.

At the same time, West is now seeking parental rights and custody of the baby under the belief that Texas law “recognizes anyone who gives birth in Texas as the legal mother of the child.”

Where this story goes from here is anyone’s guess, but there are a few takeaways that we cannot afford to lose sight of amidst the conflict.

Three points to remember

First, human lives should never be used as political props. 

While Ken Paxton and his office may have genuinely had the best interests of West and the baby she carried at heart when they interceded on their behalf, abortion has become such a political issue that it’s easy for people like Lee Budner, the lawyer for the biological parents, to denounce it as “political theater” when that’s how the issue of abortion has been used by other politicians in the past.

It’s great when governments—state or federal—pass laws that make it easier to protect life. But neither side wins when the actual lives at stake are lost in the shuffle. We cannot afford to forget that there are real people suffering and dying because of our culture’s inability to see that life is important at all stages.

Second, neither side is above making that mistake. 

When those on the pro-choice side dehumanize a baby in the womb in order to advocate for its mother’s rights, it’s tragic and indefensible. However, when those on the pro-life side automatically villainize the mother when studies show more than three-quarters of them don’t want to get an abortion, we’re also in the wrong.

The truth is that all of us who care deeply about this issue are guilty of allowing emotions to narrow our focus to the point that we assume the worst of those who disagree with us. That’s not a good way to change hearts and minds, which is the only way we’ll ever see a real change in our nation’s approach to abortion. That doesn’t mean equivocating on the facts or budging on the truth, but God’s call to “speak the truth in love” is just as relevant to this topic as it is to the broader work of ministry (Ephesians 4:15).

Lastly, this story is still a cause for celebration. 

For all the fighting, lawsuits, and discrepancies between each party’s account of what happened, a baby that would have died is now alive, and that’s important. While the child still has a long path ahead of him, for now at least, it appears he will receive the care he needs.

When dealing with a problem as vast as abortion, where more than a million lives are lost every year before they even get a chance to take their first breath, it’s easy to get discouraged. After all, more children are lost to abortion now than before Roe v. Wade was overturned. And when even the moments that feel like progress don’t seem to make much of a difference, remembering that every life saved is important can help us not lose hope. At the end of the day, that’s what I’m taking from this story.

So, while we should continue to pray for the baby, his biological parents, and for West, let’s also take a moment to rejoice in the simple fact that he is alive. Praise God for that.

Quote of the day:

“Words not spoken in love are like knocking on the door of an empty house. You can make a lot of noise, but no one will respond.” —T. J. Greene

Our latest website resources:

• God’s presence for postpartum depression: A guided prayer
• Kathryn Krick’s viral “healing” videos, why Gen Z wants old-school worship & the Lakers’ shock sale | Ep. 82
• What comes after postmodernism? A Review of “Based on a True Story” by Paul Anleitner
• What is the “Vibe Shift” and does it point to revival?
• We need to have a conversation about suicide

Denison Forum

If you’re like me, you have NAG Syndrome today. I’m not talking about a problem in my marriage (though anyone who knows my wife would blame me, as they should). Rather, I’m referring to No Authority Gauntlet Syndrome, which is when you have accountability without authority. You see a problem that needs to be fixed, but you don’t have the agency or resources to do so. It’s even worse when you’re not sure anyone else does, either.

Here are some examples in the news I’ll list without a lengthy description lest I discourage you before I have the chance to encourage you (the latter of which is the purpose of today’s article):

• The US debt crossed the $40 trillion threshold for the first time yesterday.
• The West is running out of interceptor missiles that are crucial in defending against attacks from Russia, China, or other adversaries.
• A “mind-blowing” El Niño is setting warm water records in the Pacific and increasing the chances that 2026 will be the warmest year on record.
• Some geopolitical analysts say Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz without controlling it and receiving war reparations, an end to sanctions, and a US military exit from the region. It could strike US military targets in Europe if the US escalates the war.
• Cyber warfare is increasingly targeting US water supplies. According to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, “A teenager with a laptop, a Starlink connection, and an open-weight AI model can now disrupt a municipal water or power system by identifying and exploiting old software vulnerabilities.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Hope for those of us with “NAG” Syndrome →

Why are Eastern Orthodox and other “high church” denominations seeing a surge in attendance? Why has the growth of atheism and secularism plateaued in the West? Why do some films coming out feel so sincere and nostalgic?

These and many other cultural signs, says Paul Anleitner, point to a new wave of cultural change, something beyond the cynicism of postmodernism: Metamodernism. And this shift has massive consequences for faith, America, and culture moving forward.

Cultural Theology 

Paul Anleitner, like Dr. Jim Denison, is a cultural theologian. At first glance, this is a strange label; what does it mean to be a cultural theologian? Cultural theology is less about engaging in academic debate or biblical scholarship and more about integrating theological insight into contemporary cultural commentary. It’s a shift in focus that, while relying on the biblical, focuses on its application and relevance to the trends of modern society.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What comes after postmodernism? A Review of “Based on a True Story” by Paul Anleitner →

In June 2026, the Pew Research Center released its annual report on global restrictions on faith. The findings were staggering. According to their research, roughly three-fourths of the global population live in nations that limit the free practice of religion due to government restrictions, social hostilities, or both.

It’s a mind-boggling statistic, and an increase since their last report. The stark reality is that billions of people from all faiths or none are susceptible to persecution every day. It should spur new action.

However, these findings come at a time when the priorities of the United States and Europe are shifting, resulting in reduced political and financial support for defending religious freedom worldwide. To discern a way forward, we at the Everett Center for Global Religious Freedom at Dallas Baptist University undertook months of research, interviewing advocates from across the religious and political spectrum.

Based on our findings, no easy or quick answers exist. Yet our report, International Religious Freedom Advocacy in a Time of Disruption, does see a way forward for civil society and faith groups.

Continue reading Denison Forum – How to respond to global religious persecution →

The US Supreme Court ruled yesterday that President Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages, finalizing a verdict that found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse. My response today has nothing to do with partisan politics or the merits of the case and everything to do with the system that led to the verdict.

By way of background: The justices denied Mr. Trump’s initial request to take up the case in June, leaving the verdict against him in place. He asked the court to reconsider that decision, but it refused Monday. Mr. Trump now has no more options to appeal the ruling against him, ensuring that the $5 million in damages he has been ordered to pay Carroll will stand.

She received $5.6 million in the case—the $5 million award plus interest—through a court-controlled account in July. The latest ruling will give her the freedom to spend this money and ensure it is no longer tied up in legal proceedings.

I believe America’s founders would be extremely pleased and perhaps surprised by this news, for reasons that are vital to the democratic republic they envisioned.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Why the Supreme Court ruling against Donald Trump is good news →

Three stories from the weekend caught my eye:

• According to The Hill, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now leads the field for the Democratic presidential nomination on the two best-known betting markets.
• According to MS NOW, an outlet known for its liberal leanings, “military families are outraged” by conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln. According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, such reports are “completely misrepresented.”
• Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director David Venturella said agents will be equipped with body cameras by the end of the month. Some say they are needed to hold ICE agents accountable; others say they will protect agents from false accusations by critics.

How did these stories make you feel?

If you’re on one side and vehemently think the other side is wrong, that makes you typical in a time when, as John Mac Ghlionn writes in The Hill, “Americans now hate each other more than ever.” The reasons point to a fact about our faith that is relevant to our souls and to the future of our nation.

Continue reading Denison Forum – AOC for president? Body cameras on ICE agents? →

A solar eclipse and the power of faithful suffering

A single ticket in Illinois won the eighth-largest Powerball jackpot in history last night. We may never know the winner’s identity, however. In Illinois, a person who wins a prize of $250,000 or more can choose to remain anonymous. And unless you live in that state and purchased a ticket, this story is likely to be more interesting than relevant to you.

The same is true of much of today’s news:

• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her role at the end of the month.
• Home Depot’s chief executive, Ted Decker, is stepping away from his role for medical reasons but is expected to return in a few months.
• Toyota is recalling 655,000 Camrys globally.
• Soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo married his long-time partner in Portugal.
• Goldfish Gluten Free will be available this November.

Each story is more relevant to some of us than to all of us. For something to affect a response from us, it has to affect us.

This is a simple principle with eternal significance.

“How do you know it’s from the moon?”

The moon passed in front of the sun yesterday, as it does every eighteen months or so. If you happened to be where the solar eclipse this produced was visible, congratulations. Folks in Spain were especially excited to be in the “path of totality,” since they had not experienced a total solar eclipse in more than a century.

About 230 million people were able to see 90 percent totality, including those in the UK, where the Telegraph reported that “eclipse fever has hit Britain.” Up to 94 percent of the Sun was covered there. Since the next total eclipse in Britain will not be until 2090, people tried to make the best of it.

I don’t live in the UK or even in the parts of the US that saw a very partial eclipse, so I’m taking the word of those who do. I’m reminded of my aunts Daisy and Clella, who were convinced Americans never went to the moon. The whole thing was staged on dunes in Arizona to bilk the taxpayers, they claimed. When I told them that I had seen a moon rock in a museum, they asked, “How do you know it’s from the moon?” It was a good question.

I could have watched the eclipse online, but my aunts would have asked how I knew what I saw on my screen was real. In this day of AI and fake videos, their skepticism is more warranted than ever.

The faith of three faithful friends

If I had accompanied Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface, I could more easily have persuaded my aunts that people walked on the moon. Personal endorsements are always the most powerful marketing, which is why so many ads feature celebrities.

The more someone I admire demonstrates a trait I do not have, the more I will want what they have.

In yesterday’s article, I mentioned a friend who is facing his ALS diagnosis with such courage and good humor that I find my own faith greatly encouraged. He’s not the only person who has blessed me in this way recently.

I also heard from a friend who was at a hospital undergoing cancer treatments. She was excited to tell my wife and me that she had been able to share her faith with other patients twice during the day. She had promised the Lord that she would not miss her cue if he would give her a chance to glorify him. He did what she asked, and she did what she promised. Only the Lord knows the eternal significance of her present-tense faithfulness.

Another friend is facing another cancer surgery. But every time I check on him, he wants to know how I am doing and how he can pray for me. His selfless faithfulness demonstrates the reality of Jesus’ living presence in his life.

“He put a new song in my mouth”

This pattern of faithful witness in painful times is evident across Scripture. For example, David reports in Psalm 40 that he had been in “the pit of destruction” and “the miry bog” (v. 2a). But in such hardship, he “waited patiently for the Lᴏʀᴅ” and cried to him (v. 1), and God drew him out of the pit and “set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (v. 2b).

What’s more, David adds, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” (v. 3a). Now comes my point: “Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ” (v. 3b).

Paul made a similar point in his second letter to the Thessalonians: “We ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring” (2 Thessalonians 1:4, my italics). Their afflictions made their faithfulness more powerful and persuasive.

When we trust God in hard places, others see the reality and relevance of our faith as they can in no other circumstances. If all is well with us, of course we will worship and serve God, they say. But when times are difficult, when we are in “the miry bog” but we trust God even there, others see that our faith is genuine and transforming.

In Acts 16, after Paul and Silas had been beaten and put into prison, we read that “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (v. 25, my italics). Picture the scene: You’re chained in a cell alongside other prisoners. None of them can leave of their own volition. They are the definition of a “captive audience.”

If you praise and worship God at midnight, those in the dark with you cannot help but hear and see your faith. And as you glorify Jesus, they are drawn to the One you worship.

What “new song” will you sing to God today?

Quote for the day:

“Nothing good has ever come into the world without opposition, and that is especially true in spiritual matters.” —James Boice

Our latest website resources:

• Trump, Xi, and two empty chairs: remembering the persecuted
• Heaven on Earth: what the Bible really promises about the new Earth
• Researchers taught AI to create novel viruses. What’s next?
• God and griefbots: a theological look at the digital afterlife industry
• From the depths of gambling into the love of Christ: My story (in four verses)

Denison Forum

It seems rare these days to find an issue that crosses party lines, but a shared distrust of the Flock Safety system that police swear by and the general public has increasingly sworn off seems to do just that. The Flock system comprises more than 120,000 license plate readers and surveillance systems across 49 states. They contract with more than 7,000 law enforcement agencies—roughly 40 percent of all departments in the country—to offer access to a nationwide tracking network.

While other companies offer similar surveillance services, what sets Flock apart is how every photograph or data point is uploaded to a searchable cloud database that can be shared with any of the company’s other clients. Now they’re developing a system of drones that can automatically deploy to the site of a 911 call, in response to gunfire, or when one of their license plate readers detects a vehicle of interest. And were it not for a Super Bowl commercial that freaked out enough of the nation to get the contract canceled, Flock would have added Ring doorbell cameras to their arsenal as well.

If all of this sounds a bit dystopian and creepy, you’re not alone in coming to that conclusion.

Its cameras are in more than 6,000 communities, and many of those residents are starting to push back. Some have voiced their protests in heated city council meetings or by contributing to DeFlock, a site that tracks Flock cameras and is pushing to see them removed. Others have been a bit more direct in their response, destroying cameras, covering them with bags and paint, or even cutting down the poles on which they stand.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What are Flock cameras, and why do so many fear them? →

Toward the end of their summit in Beijing this past May, President Donald Trump and Chairman Xi Jinping fielded questions on matters ranging from trade to tech to Taiwan while seated in plush chairs on a gold-and-white embroidered carpet.

At the same time, hundreds of Christians in the United States focused their attention not on the two world leaders in those chairs, but on two other individuals not present: Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of the large underground Zion Church in China, and Ilham Tohti, a prominent Uyghur economist and professor.

Both men have faced the consequences of standing for their distinct faiths under the grip of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Pastor Jin, a Christian, was detained in October 2025 as part of a nationwide crackdown on unregistered “house churches.” Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur Muslim, has been serving a life imprisonment since 2014 after peacefully advocating for his community.

Tohti’s case is emblematic of the growing repression toward ethnic minorities in China. Specifically, Uyghurs, a Turkic people in western China and predominantly Muslim, are an ethnoreligious group that the first Trump administration identified as suffering a genocide.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Trump, Xi, and Two Empty Chairs: Remembering the Persecuted →

AI pioneer Demis Hassabis believes artificial intelligence will be “the most important invention that humanity will ever make.” Whether its importance will ultimately be positive, negative, or both is, of course, still to be determined.

For example, in an article titled “AI’s Scariest Week Yet,” the Wall Street Journal reports:

In tests, AI models have been foiling attempts at constraining them and behaving in unforeseen ways. In the past month, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms all reported serious breaches: their AI models escaped contained environments, got onto the internet, and hacked other companies. Anthropic’s Mythos practiced deception, while OpenAI models swapped tips on a secret message board for future exploits.

This sounds bad, doesn’t it? But what does any of it actually mean? And why does it matter so urgently to all of us?

Continue reading Denison Forum – “AI’s Scariest Week Yet” and three practical responses →

My Story (in Four Verses)

The weight of a double life

On January 19, 2015, I boarded a plane headed home from West Palm Beach. I boarded that plane a dead man. What I professed with my mouth was in direct contradiction to how I was living. I was lying and deceiving everyone in my life.

For the previous seven years, I had willfully given my heart over to gambling. No one in my life knew anything. And worse still, in order to fund my gambling habit, I stole money from my company.

I was a fraud – in every sense of the word. It was the activity that I was perpetuating at my company. I am a thief. I am a white-collar criminal.

Yet, even in a larger sense, my entire life had become a sham. I was stuck in a Psalm 40 pit of miry clay. I had gotten to where I couldn’t stand to hear anyone praise me, for I knew the real truth about myself. I struggled to accept relational intimacy with my wife, for I was an unworthy husband. I couldn’t even accept the hugs of my four young children (at the time), for I knew who their daddy truly was.

Continue reading Denison Forum – From the Depths of Gambling into the Love of Christ →

The Senate voted early Saturday morning to confirm acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to permanently lead the Department of Justice. The decision was controversial and largely along party lines, as expected.

One aspect that has received less attention, however, was Blanche’s recent statement on a private call hosted by the White House Faith Office. Blanche assured faith leaders that the Justice Department is “working hand-in-hand” with federal health agencies and the White House “to get permanent solutions so the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every single state.”

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, returning abortion legislation to the states, the Biden administration in 2023 permanently ended an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortion. The Trump administration left these regulations in place.

Consequently, mail-in pharmacies have been dispensing abortion medication even in states that have banned or severely limited access to abortion clinics. According to Blanche, the administration is “putting practices and policies in place so that other states and other organizations” cannot send abortion pills to states where they are banned.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Todd Blanche’s DOJ confirmation and the rise in abortion →

Why the fate of the Cuban people will not match the fate of their government

Shortly after US forces removed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, many began looking closer to Cuba as the Trump administration’s next target for a change in leadership. President Trump even said as much back in March. And while the war with Iran has delayed such a move, recent reports indicate that Cuba’s time may be coming soon.

Earlier this week, news broke that the CIA has established a task force in Cuba in an attempt to pressure the government into accepting a number of political, economic, and social reforms. Should Raúl Castro and others decline, their secondary purpose is to lay the groundwork for a more forceful change in leadership. Coupled with the Justice Department bringing formal charges against Castro back in May, it’s an eerily similar playbook to the one used in the buildup to January’s assault in Venezuela.

A timeline for any such move remains unclear, with conflicting reports on whether the war in Iran would need to be wrapped up first. While fighting on two fronts would be far from ideal, President Trump is said to be “running out of patience with Cuba’s regime,” while the island remains a “huge priority” for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose family came from Cuba.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Inside the CIA’s new task force targeting Cuba →

I hope you’re not reading this article on your smartphone. New research shows conclusively that IQ scores have been declining in recent years. Social scientists focused on nearly four hundred thousand people aged eighteen to ninety who completed questions from an open-source intelligence test. Across the thirteen-year study period, they found that cognitive scores declined over time.

This decline began well before AI was commonly available and prior to the pandemic. But it aligns with the time smartphone use began to rise.

One analyst thinks the switch from reading in print to consuming content on smartphones has led to the degradation of intellect. “Print requires us to make a logical case for a subject,” he noted. “You can’t just assert things in the way you can on TikTok or on YouTube.”

He adds, “Print privileges a whole way of thinking and a whole way of processing the world that is logical, that is more rational, that is more dense information, that is more intellectually challenging.”

“We are God’s fellow workers”

Apart from reading content in print, I’m not sure what we can do about this trend. In fact, much of the day’s news, however we consume it, can make us feel impotent.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Are people getting dumber? Are smartphones to blame? →

Iran says an agreement with Oman on a route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is “in the final stages.” Oil prices held steady this morning, however, as investors remained cautious over the outcome of the talks. The agreement would allow Iran to control ships entering the Persian Gulf through the strait, though such control is yet to be defined.

This deal could ease pressure on the global economy and perhaps help bring an end to the war. “A lot of progress has been made,” President Trump said recently. However, the current agreement represents just one factor with regard to one of the most complicated and conflicted waterways in the world. (For the website article I wrote yesterday explaining the history of the Strait of Hormuz, its global significance, attempts to close and reopen it, and biblical principles for negotiations, please go here.)

The Islamic Republic of Iran poses an ongoing threat to the Middle East and to Americans as well, but it is only one such threat in the news. For example, a new study warns that a major California earthquake could hit sooner rather than later, causing hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage. And, according to the Washington Post, a biological attack “could trigger a global pandemic, mass death, widespread insurrection, and ultimately societal breakdown.”

If you’d like your bad news to be a little less catastrophic, consider the toxic caterpillars currently spreading across Europe. As the New Yorker reports, oak processionary caterpillars are covered in “wiry white hairs that look like the whiskers on a witch’s warts.” When threatened, they emit not only these visible hairs but also eight hundred thousand microscopic hairs. Contact with them causes severe rashes, itching, and stinging.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Iran agrees to deal with Oman to reopen Strait of Hormuz →

If you’re like me, the word “socialism” carries connotations of the Soviet Union’s oppression of its people and Cold War nuclear threats. You’re aware that China’s Communist government operates a socialist market economy and that Cuba and North Korea are led by “socialist” dictators. During my frequent visits to Cuba over the years, I often saw billboards proclaiming “¡El socialism vive!” (Socialism Lives!).

Those who call themselves “Democratic Socialists” in America would decry all of that. They are adamant that they are not Communist or in favor of authoritarian dictatorships. The word “Democratic” is important to their self-understanding.

So, what is “Democratic Socialism”? What does it want to do? Why is it growing more popular in the US? And what does the Bible say about its beliefs and cultural relevance today?

What is Democratic Socialism?

As Time reports, “There isn’t one universal definition of democratic socialism.” The writer is correct: it would take many pages for me to describe in detail the various versions of this movement. We can, however, find a succinct description on the website of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA):

Continue reading Denison Forum – What does the Bible say about Democratic Socialism? →

A twenty-four-year-old gunman opened fire in a crowded In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, last Saturday. He killed three people and wounded seven others; two of the injured were in critical condition as of Sunday. He then took his own life after coming under fire from a bystander and an off-duty Idaho state trooper.

At this writing, authorities have not yet established a motive for the shooting. But they are praising thirty-five-year-old Jordan Salinas of Kimberly, Idaho, who returned fire after the shooting began. “He did not like it when bullets started firing both ways,” Salinas said. “There’s a task that needs to be done, and we’re the ones who need to do it,” he added.

Police said Salinas and the off-duty trooper who responded “are true heroes in our community. They diverted the shooter and without a doubt saved many lives.”

If you were at the restaurant last Saturday and the heroism of the two men saved your life, you might be thanking God today for their bravery and his protection. If you love one of the people who was killed or wounded, however, you might be grateful for the men who protected others, but grieving that their protection and God’s providence did not extend to the ones you lost.

We have all been in both groups. I thanked God when our older son and youngest grandson survived cancer, but still grieve that my father died of heart disease at the age of fifty-five. You can cite times when God acted with benevolence in your life and times when it seemed he did not.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Bystander saves lives at In-N-Out Burger shooting in Idaho →

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is one of the best-known players in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a committed Christian. She was re-baptized as an adult prior to this season and regularly speaks up about her faith on social media.

She has been in the news recently, however, for a subject that is relevant whether we follow women’s basketball or not. In a long profile published by ESPN, a few sentences in a single paragraph caused a cultural uproar. Here’s the quote:

I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, “I never once said that.” I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Sophie Cunningham and the transgender sports controversy →

If someone asked you, “Are you addicted to your phone?” you might feel a bit defensive. “Addicted” sounds like such a strong word and holds many negative connotations. However, when you break it down, the definition of “addiction” is simply “a strong inclination to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly.” For most people, that is exactly the power their phone holds over them.

The reality is that the average person spends over five hours per day on their phone. Many would likely claim that a lot of those five hours are work-related. Yet, the truth of the situation remains. People are still spending five hours of their day locked in, staring at their phones.

Whether decompressing, doomscrolling on social media, responding to emails, or talking with friends, our relationship with our phones has created a seemingly unbreakable tension between connection and isolation. Our phones provide us with instantaneous connection, yet the mental health crisis of our day rages with more fury than ever. People are feeling lonely, burnt out, anxious, and depressed with no hope of escape.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Lots of people are “Bricking” their phones. Should you? →