We woke up yesterday to the horrific news that an alligator dragged a two-year-old boy into a lake at Walt Disney World Tuesday evening. Disney closed all the beaches at its resorts. More than fifty law-enforcement personnel searched the lake. They eventually found the boy’s body and presume that he drowned.

Some blamed Disney for not posting signs warning about alligators in the water. Others were quick to blame the parents. As with the boy who fell into a gorilla pit in Cincinnati, people on social media lambasted the mother and father who allowed their son to play in the water.

Why do we feel such a need to assign blame when tragedy strikes?

Moments after the Orlando shooting, the media began looking for motives. The investigation has continued all week—was Omar Mateen conflicted about his sexuality? Was he truly inspired by ISIS? Meanwhile, authorities are still seeking a motive for the killing of singer Christina Grimmie. Since the murderer killed himself, we may never know his reasons.

We want to know why tragedy strikes so we can prevent future tragedies. If Disney or the parents could have done something to prevent the alligator attack, people could be saved in the future. If we can understand why murderers kill, we could prevent homicides in the future.

But there’s more to the story.

According to the United Nations, 437,000 people around the world were murdered in 2012 (their most recent report). However, National Geographic reports that 725,000 people die every year from diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. Freshwater snails transmit schistosomiasis, which kills between 20,000 and 200,000 a year. Annually, snakes kill 94,000 to 125,000; scorpions kill 3,250; sharks kill six people. And there’s no one to accuse for any of these tragedies.

Continue reading Denison Forum – DISNEY TRAGEDY: BLAME AND REDEMPTION →

Last Monday morning I drove to the building where our ministry offices are located and rode the elevator to our floor. All the while, I thought about how easy it would be for another Omar Mateen to attack our building. After Orlando, many are thinking the same as they enter movie theaters, shopping malls, bars—anywhere a crowd is present but armed security is not.

The New York Times tells us that we can expect increased security at public events as a result of the Orlando massacre. Bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors, and searches will become more common. But experts question whether such measures really work. And how would we enforce them everywhere they’re needed? Would they simply drive terrorists from a guarded venue to a less secure one?

We can defer the question. Since I never go to gay nightclubs, I can feel safer than those who do. But Christianity Today’s Mark Galli is right: mass murderers can attack anywhere, any time. Nearly a year ago, nine people were murdered at a prayer meeting in a Charleston, South Carolina, church. On December 9, 2007, two people were killed at a ministry training center in Arvada, Colorado, and another two at a church in Colorado Springs.

I’ve been to prayer meetings, ministry centers, and churches. I’m guessing you have as well.

We can pray for protection, as people often do when they confront danger. The Washington Post has a wonderful story about a chaplain at Reagan National Airport who prays with those who worry before their flights. But the chaplain recently lost his ten-year-old son to brain cancer. I’m sure he prayed for his son to live.

I have prayed every day since our sons were born that God would protect them. Nonetheless, one of them developed cancer. He’s doing well today. But I still struggle with the fact that God didn’t prevent the cancer he used medical science to heal. If our son had died, I hope I would continue to trust God as the airport chaplain does.

Continue reading Denison Forum – WHAT WILL PROTECT US FROM THE NEXT OMAR MATEEN? →

What Satan uses for evil, God uses for good.

In the wake of the Orlando tragedy, investigators are trying to learn how Omar Mateen became radicalized. A key element is the Internet. Criminology professor Scott Decker: “The Internet has played a central role in the spread of terrorism, particularly individuals in the U.S. who have become radicalized or adopted extremist views.”

Jeffrey Simon, author of a book on “lone wolf” terrorism, agrees: “The Internet is really the game-changer in today’s terrorism, especially for the lone wolves.” He added that “ISIS has proven incredibly savvy in using social media and the Internet to spread their ideology, to call for violent attacks.”

That’s why the man at the top of America’s “most wanted” list is someone most Americans have never heard of. Abu Muhammad al-Adnani is director of external operations for ISIS. He is widely considered to be the author of a strategy that has murdered more than 500 people in attacks around the world since last October 10. Al-Adnani apparently helped inspired the massacre in San Bernardino last December. And he issued the call to violence during Ramadan that apparently inspired Omar Mateen to massacre forty-nine people in Orlando.

The terrorists’ strategy to gain followers is clearly working. Bangladesh has detained more than 5,000 people in efforts to counter extremist violence in that country. Israeli authorities continue to investigate last week’s attacks in Tel Aviv that killed four and wounded sixteen. Suicide bombers struck a Damascus suburb last Saturday, killing at least twenty and injuring dozens more. ISIS immediately claimed responsibility.

But there’s good news in the news.

Continue reading Denison Forum – GOOD NEWS IN THE WAR ON TERROR DR. JIM DENISON →

I am writing this Cultural Commentary on Sunday morning as reports continue to come in from Orlando. At this point, we know that the Pulse nightclub tragedy is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. We know that the shooter has been identified as Omar Mateen and that authorities are investigating his possible ties to Islamic terrorism.

Tomorrow I will write another Cultural Commentary on this horrific event, perhaps looking at possible ISIS-inspired motivations and future attacks on the West. For now, I feel compelled to write this essay from my heart.

As I have watched the news reports, I have sensed the grief of our Father for his children. While Pulse is one of the best-known gay nightclubs in Orlando, Baptist ethicist Russell Moore was exactly right when he tweeted, “Christian, your gay or lesbian neighbor is probably really scared right now. Whatever our genuine disagreements, let’s love and pray.”

Here’s how you and I can “love and pray” for Orlando right now:

One: With hearts broken as God’s heart is broken. Scripture is clear: “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18; see Psalm 147:3).

Our Father wants us to love all our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). If people had to be perfect to deserve our intercession, for whom could we pray? Who could pray for us? We are all broken people who need each other and our Lord.

Two: With honesty as we share the pain of those who grieve. David prayed, “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also” (Psalm 31:9).

We can be this honest with God. In fact, it is biblical to pray words of anger and frustration. If Jesus could cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), we can ask our questions and express our pain. The Lord already knows our hearts. He wants us to open them to him and to each other.

Three: With hope as we trust the redemptive power of God. The psalmist proclaimed, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way” (Psalm 46:1–2).

Whatever comes of this tragedy and others that may come in the future, our Father is still our Father. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He loves us as much today as when he died on the cross for us. Our Lord promises, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2). No matter how deep the river, his love is deeper still.

As he stood at the grave of Lazarus, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). I am convinced that he weeps today over Orlando. Let us join him now.

Denison Forum

A bill working its way through the California legislature would drastically undermine the religious liberty of Christian universities in the state. If passed, it could become a model for attacks on Christian schools across the country.

In recent years, the government has required that educational institutions not “discriminate” against LGBT students lest they lose federal funding. However, religious schools have been exempted from this requirement if their “religious tenets” affirmed biblical sexuality and marriage.

Now this exemption is at risk.

If Senate Bill 1146 is enacted, the religious liberty exemption would apply only to “educational programs or activities . . . to prepare students to become ministers of the religion, to enter upon some other vocation of the religion, or to teach theological subjects pertaining to the religion.” In other words, only theological seminaries would retain their religious liberty protections.

As Biola University warns, the bill “functionally eliminates the religious liberty of all California faith-based colleges and universities who integrate spiritual life with the entire campus educational experience.” It would “eliminate religious liberty in California higher education as we know it and rob tens of thousands of students of their access to a distinctly faith-based higher education.”

All this to fix what Andrew Walker correctly calls a “non-existent problem.” As he notes, “Students who apply and attend colleges do so voluntarily. There are no victims here—unless victimhood is measured in terms of institutions singled out for their countercultural religious convictions.”

There’s even more to the story.

Continue reading Denison Forum – LEGISLATION ATTACKS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS →

Last Thursday, a former Stanford student was sentenced to six months in prison for sexual assault. A week later, the public is still outraged.

It’s not just the facts of the case. (For more, see Nick Pitts’s The Need for and Loss of Sacredness.) Brock Turner was found guilty on three felony counts, but this story is, tragically, not unique on America’s campuses. Nearly 100 colleges and universities had at least ten reports of rape on their main campuses in 2014; at Stanford alone, there were twenty-six reports of rape that year.

The case is generating headlines for a number of reasons.

In part, it’s because the crime was so horrific, a fact made clear by the victim’s extremely moving letter, which she read aloud to her attacker at his sentencing. Her letter describes what happened in graphic detail, giving voice to her horrible trauma and ongoing suffering.

In part, it’s because the perpetrator was a member of the Stanford swimming team and has been viewed as a child of privilege. His father’s claim that his son should not have to go to prison for “twenty minutes of action” was especially reprehensible to many.

But I think the continuing outrage over this crime has to do especially with the sentence imposed. Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara County Superior Court sentenced Turner to six months in jail and three years probation. Turner should have received between eight and twenty years in prison for his crime, according to recommendations from the United States Sentencing Commission. The judge cited mitigating factors and determined that a longer jail sentence would not suit Turner’s rehabilitation as a sex offender.

Continue reading Denison Forum – WHY OUTCRY OVER STANFORD ASSAULT CASE CONTINUES →

Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. She won last night’s primaries in New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, and California. CNN estimates that she now has 2740 delegates, far exceeding the 2383 needed to win.

So much of life is unpredictable. Who would have imagined a year ago that Donald Trump would clinch his party’s nomination before Hillary Clinton won hers? When Golden State was down three games to one against Oklahoma City in the NBA playoffs, who would have predicted that they would now be up two games to none in the finals? Who would have thought that a tech giant like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could have his Twitter and Pinterest accounts hacked?

While change seems to be the unchanging principle of the universe, human nature doesn’t change. We still feel the same fears our ancestors felt. We still cherish the same desires for ourselves and our families. We still fight the same basic temptations. And we can still choose to live by God’s unchanging, perfect principles for our lives.

Consider the changing sexual ethics of our day. It’s conventional wisdom today that premarital sex is morally acceptable. However, a new study shows that women who were virgins when they married are far less likely to divorce than those with multiple partners.

Only six percent of women who were virgins when they married were divorced within five years. But thirty-three percent of women with ten or more sexual partners before marriage were divorced within that time. God can redeem our mistakes, but these findings reinforce the wisdom of his perfect will for us.

Continue reading Denison Forum – HILLARY CLINTON WINS NOMINATION—WHAT’S NEXT?          →

Neveah Thompson is a student at Liberty Middle School in Spanaway, Washington. She was being interviewed for a video on classroom technology, or so she thought. The topic turned to her mother, 2nd Lt. Cherie Thompson, who had been gone for seven months of military training. The interviewer asked Neveah if she’d seen “surprise military” return videos, and she said she had. Then he asked if she’d like to be in one. She quickly said she would.

At that moment, Neveah heard the door close behind her. Her mother had entered the room holding a bouquet of roses. She flew into her mother’s arms and the two embraced and cried together. The fact that Neveah couldn’t see her mother in the room made her presence no less real.

The video makes a point that is larger than the moving story it tells.

It’s easy to be discouraged in times like these. Voters are increasingly frustrated by the presidential race. The economy may be slowing, as last Friday’s bad employment report indicates. Atheists gathered over the weekend in Washington, DC for another so-called “Reason Rally.” (For more, see Nick Pitts’s Thousands of Atheists in DC for Reason Rally.) ISIS is shooting civilians trying to flee Fallujah as fighting intensifies there. There’s much bad news in the news.

But here’s the truth: When it seems that good is outnumbered by evil, it’s not. When it seems that God is absent, he isn’t. You may not see him in the room, but that fact makes him no less present.

Continue reading Denison Forum – AN ENCOURAGING VIDEO YOU NEED TO SEE   DR. JIM DENISON →

The date was October 29, 1974. My brother and I were in Houston’s Astrodome along with 50,000 others, there to watch a closed circuit telecast of Muhammad Ali’s fight with George Foreman. Even though Houston was Foreman’s hometown, ninety percent of the crowd chanted “Ali! Ali! Ali!” through the entire fight.

Such was the global celebrity of Muhammad Ali. As the world knows, Ali died last Friday at the age of 74. Testimonials about his life and significance made global headlines across the weekend. Born Cassius Clay, he converted to the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s and to Sunni Islam in 1975. He was perhaps the most famous American convert to Islam in our nation’s history. (For more on Ali, see Nick Pitts’s The Fight and Faith of Muhammad Ali.)

As many as 20,000 Americans convert to Islam every year. However, it is estimated that seventy-five percent of new Muslim converts in the U.S. leave Islam within five years. Meanwhile, more Muslims are coming to Christ than ever before, many after seeing visions and dreams of Jesus. (For more, see my friend Tom Doyle’s excellent book, Dreams and Visions.)

Muslim authorities in Indonesia are warning that two million Muslims in their country convert to Christianity every year. At this rate, the world’s largest Muslim nation will be mostly Christian by 2035. Over six million Muslims in Africa convert to Christianity every year. More Muslims around the world have become Christians in the last fifteen years than in the previous fifteen centuries.

Here’s how you can help.

Continue reading Denison Forum – MUHAMMAD ALI AND GOOD NEWS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD   →

The Baylor University Board of Regents reportedly fired school president and chancellor Ken Starr today. The university is refusing to comment on these reports, though a variety of sources have confirmed the president’s dismissal.

Baylor has been accused during Starr’s tenure of failing to respond to rapes or sexual assaults reported by at least six female students. At least eight former Baylor football players have been accused of violence against women. Two of the players were convicted of raping Baylor co-eds. Critics allege that President Starr’s response to the victims has been muted and legalistic.

Baylor is the world’s largest Baptist university and the oldest continuously operating university in Texas. The school has committed $5 million to efforts to change how it responds to reports of sexual assault. Baylor also hired the Pepper Hamilton law firm to investigate the scandal; regents received the firm’s report on May 13.

Sources indicate that head coach Art Briles and athletic director Ian McCaw will continue at the university barring evidence that they were engaged in a cover-up. Apparently the regents concluded that the president should be held responsible for the scandal.

Continue reading Denison Forum – BAYLOR UNIVERSITY REPORTEDLY FIRES PRESIDENT →

Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow is writing a book on how to handle success and disappointment. Titled Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life’s Storms, the book will be published this October.

We can use his advice.

Researchers are warning today that antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as “superbugs” could kill ten million people by 2050. Scientists say this issue is “as big a risk as terrorism” and could cost world economies nearly $100 trillion. According to one expert, “If we don’t solve the problem we are heading to the dark ages.”

If you’re like me, however, you’re less than alarmed by this news. The reason: 2050 is a long time off. Over the next thirty-four years, surely scientists will find solutions to this problem, we assume. We have more pressing problems, it seems.

For instance, authorities are still searching for the cause of the EgyptAir Flight 840 tragedy, but many remain convinced that a terrorist bomb destroyed the airplane. Meanwhile, ISIS is calling on followers to attack the West during the month of Ramadan, which begins in two weeks. According to CNN, the group has conducted or inspired at least ninety terrorist attacks in twenty-one countries other than Iraq and Syria.

Continue reading Denison Forum – TIM TEBOW WRITING BOOK ON ‘LIFE’S STORMS’     →

Passengers on a recent JetBlue flight from New York to California cheered whenever a baby cried. In my experience, this is not typical airline passenger behavior.

Their motivation, however, was simple: the company offered a twenty-five percent discount each time a baby started crying. It wanted to make the point that passengers should be more understanding of parents traveling with young children. Unfortunately, JetBlue is unlikely to make the promotion a regular feature of its flights.

The only passengers who needed no such motivation were the babies’ mothers. The closest humans get to unconditional love is a mother’s love for her child. In fact, I can’t think of a closer analogy to our Father’s love for us.

So, how should we express our gratitude on Mother’s Day?

Continue reading Denison Forum – WHY AIRLINE PASSENGERS CHEERED CRYING BABIES →

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday that commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 defeat of France at the Battle of Puebla. This victory, where a rag-tag force of 2,000 overcame 6,000 well-trained French troops, bolstered the Mexican people in their resistance against the French. Six years later, French forces withdrew. Cinco de Mayo remains a symbol of the Mexican people’s struggle against imperialistic forces.

Celebrations will be held in Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and other cities with large Mexican-American populations. Today’s festivities will include parades, mariachi music performances, and street festivals.

Contrast today in Mexico and the U.S. with May 5 in Israel. Holocaust Memorial Day, known as Yom HaShoah, begins each year with sundown on May 4 and concludes at sundown on May 5. I have been in Israel on this day several times over the years. It is always one of the most solemn experiences of my year (For more on Tom HaShoah, see Nick Pitt’s article Why it’s so important to take time out to remember the Holocaust).

Continue reading Denison Forum – A TALE OF TWO HOLIDAYS →

Ted Cruz ended his campaign last night. He noted that Indiana voters “chose another path,” effectively ending his chances of winning the nomination. His withdrawal leaves John Kasich to contest Donald Trump for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Seventeen candidates began the process; who would have predicted that Mr. Trump would win the nomination and that Mr. Kasich would be his lone opponent at the campaign’s end?

I am writing today to voice three responses: one positive, one negative, and one hopeful.

Let’s begin with the positive: our process still works.

The Constitution requires that a candidate for president be a natural-born citizen who has been a resident of our country for at least fourteen years and is thirty-five years of age or older. It does not require previous political experience.

Mr. Trump is the first major party presidential candidate not to have served in political office since Dwight Eisenhower, a five-star general who led the Allies to victory in World War II. While many view him as unqualified to be president, clearly many Republican primary voters see him as the best candidate to lead our nation. With virtually no party support, he is on his way to achieving a historic victory.

Continue reading Denison Forum – TED CRUZ: ‘THE VOTERS CHOSE ANOTHER PATH’ →

A massive teacher sickout shut down ninety-four Detroit public schools yesterday. The teachers have been told that unless the state Legislature approves more money for their district, there are not enough funds to pay the teachers their salaries past June 30.

The teachers’ union clearly believes their action will motivate legislators to approve an education reform package being debated in the Michigan House of Representatives. The state’s governor disagrees: “That’s not a constructive act with respect to getting legislation through.”

If you were a teacher in Detroit, what would you do?

This is not an isolated situation. According to New York Times columnist David Brooks, the popularity of the Trump and Sanders campaigns “has reminded us how much pain there is in this country.” He notes that the suicide rate has surged to a thirty-year high. A record number of Americans believe the American dream is out of reach, while social trust for millennials is at historic lows.

Continue reading Denison Forum – TEACHER SICKOUT SHUTS DOWN DETROIT SCHOOLS →

The Large Hadron Collider is the world’s most powerful particle smasher and the largest machine on earth. Last Friday, a weasel wandered into a 66,000-volt transformer, causing a “severe electrical perturbation.” The collider will be shut down for several days. The weasel did not survive.

The previous Sunday, a man shot and killed a fellow worshiper after fighting over a seat in the church sanctuary. Last Friday, two teenage girls were launched off a carnival ride at a Texas fair; one of them was killed, while the other suffered minor injuries. The next day, a woman in Boston was struck and killed by an amphibious sightseeing vehicle known as a duck boat.

What has most surprised you lately? Was it something in the news? Something in your personal life? Unpredicted events are a symptom of the fact that we live on an unpredictable planet. From severe weather to previously-unknown diseases to fallen people who act like fallen people, we live in a world that requires courage.

Continue reading Denison Forum – WEASEL SHUTS DOWN THE WORLD’S LARGEST MACHINE →

The first round of the NFL Draft is over. Jared Goff was drafted first by the Rams, followed by Carson Wentz, drafted by the Eagles. (For more on the latter, see Nick Pitts’s The Life and Faith of Carson Wentz.) Both teams gave up a great deal to be in position to choose them. Will they become Pro Bowl quarterbacks, or will they soon be forgotten?

NFL teams do their best to draft the best players for their teams, but no one knows if their best will be good enough. Of the eighty-one players chosen number one, only fourteen have made it to the Hall of Fame so far. No team has drafted number one and won the Super Bowl the same year. Only eight have even made the playoffs that year.

Now consider this miracle in God’s word: When the priests of Israel stepped into the flooded Jordan river, “the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan” (Joshua 3:16). The town of Adam was twenty miles upstream. It took several hours after God stopped the river there for the rest of the water to reach the place where the priests stood.

But the moment they set their foot in the flood, the last of the river reached them. God began this miracle hours before his people knew it or could participate in it. They did their work while trusting God to do his.

Continue reading Denison Forum – IS THERE A SPIRITUAL LESSON IN THE NFL DRAFT? →