Marco Rubio Announces Religious Liberty Advisory Board

At least Rubio has better taste than Ted Cruz in historians.
World magazine has the list of Rubio’s religious liberty advisory board members. Seriously, Thomas Kidd’s presence in this group makes me feel better about Rubio.

  • Carlos Campo—president, Ashland University
  • Vincent Bacote—associate professor of theology and director of the center for applied Christian ethics, Wheaton College
  • Kyle Duncan—former general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead counsel for the Green family in the Hobby Lobby case
  • Tom Farr—director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and associate professor of the practice of religion and world affairs, Georgetown University
  • Kelly Fiedorek—legal counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
  • Wayne Grudem—research professor of theology and biblical studies, Phoenix Seminary
  • Chad Hatfield—chancellor, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary
  • Thomas Kidd—distinguished professor of history and associate director, Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University
  • Daniel Mark—Villanova University and commissioner, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
  • Michael McConnell—Richard and Frances Mallery professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center, Stanford University Law School
  • Doug Napier—senior counsel and executive vice president, Alliance Defending Freedom
  • Samuel Rodriguez—president, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
  • Meir Soloveichik—rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel and director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, Yeshiva University
  • Rick Warren—founding pastor, Saddleback Church
  • Thomas White—president and professor of theology, Cedarville University

Institutional affiliations for identification purposes only

Source: Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign
Whatever one might think about any one person on this list, I appreciate the number of academics on the list. Now, let’s see if they really help inform his public policy proposals. 

Top Ten Posts in 2015

The ten top posts during 2015 are as follows with the most popular first:
1. Open Letter to Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris from a Former Member of Mars Hill Church – This was posted on November 2, 2014 but remained popular throughout 2015. Driscoll recently joined Jimmy Evans as a director to form The Trinity Church in Phoenix.
2. Former Chief Financial Officer at Turning Point Claims David Jeremiah Used Questionable Methods to Secure a Spot on Best Seller Lists – This story about David Jeremiah’s questionable tactics from a former insider was a scoop but not one which stuck to Jeremiah like  a similar scandal did to Mark Driscoll.
3. Hillsong’s Brian Houston Interviewed Mark and Grace Driscoll After All (VIDEO) (AUDIO) – First, he said he would interview Driscoll, then he said he wouldn’t, then Brian Houston aired an interview with Mark and Grace Driscoll. It was great theatre but didn’t draw good reviews from former Mars Hill leavers.
4. A major study of child abuse and homosexuality revisited – This post from 2009 is one of the most popular articles in the history of the blog. In it, I demonstrate a key mistake in a journal article often used to link homosexuality and child abuse.
5. Southern Baptists Say Enough to Perry Noble and NewSpring Church – I am surprised that this post got so much attention.
6. Gospel for Asia Faces Allegations of Misconduct; GFA Board Investigation Found No Wrongdoing – The GFA story received the most attention from me this year.
7. Pastor of Willow Creek Presbyterian Says Church Reaction to Hiring Tullian Tchividjian is “Overwhelmingly Positive” – I briefly covered Tullian Tchividjian’s comeback as a development minister at a PCA church in FL.
8. A Few Thoughts on The Village Church Controversy – Village Church’s leadership apologized for their response to a young woman who sought a divorce from her husband who had admitted having child porn.
9. Hillsong Founder Brian Houston Issues Statement On Mark Driscoll at the Hillsong 2015 Conference – Mark Driscoll’s return to the spotlight garnered much reader attention.
10. Gospel for Asia’s K.P. Yohannan and the Ring Kissing Ritual – While the financial scandals were of interest to readers, this article ranked higher than the money problems.
To fully capture activity on the blog, one should consider the Gospel for Asia scandals (Patheos considered my coverage as a part of one of their top ten Evangelical stories of 2015).
It has been a good year and I thank my readers and those who support the blog with their comments and regular visits.

Ted Cruz to Meet Pastors at Event Organized by His Super PAC

Christian Post has the story.
Cruz will be there. The Super PAC is organizing the event at the home of one of the major donors to Cruz’s Super PAC.
How is this not coordination of the Cruz campaign with the Super PAC? Someone who knows these matters better might want to weigh in but to me this looks like the Cruz campaign is coordinating efforts with the supposedly independent Super PAC.
 
 

Rubio Maintains Lead but Cruz Gains in World's Evangelical Insider Survey

In this months survey, the gap between evangelical insiders in World’s poll and GOP survey respondents remains wide on Donald Trump. No participant in World’s survey chose Trump as first choice for president.
Ted Cruz gained ground and Marco Rubio remained first in the results.
As I noted yesterday, it worries me that support for Cruz is rising. His views lean toward the Christian dominionist wing of religion and that is just one reason I believe he cannot appeal to independents and moderates.
His governmental experience is very limited. He was elected to the Senate in 2013 and if elected will have been a Senator about as long as Barack Obama was before his first term. Republicans were rightly worried about Obama’s lack of experience in 2008. Cruz will face the same attacks from the left. In a time when fear seems to be prevailing emotion, Cruz’s thin resume’ does not inspire confidence.
Rubio has a bit more experience in the Senate but much more previous experience in state politics. Of the two, Rubio seems more electable. While he may hold similar positions as Cruz, he articulates them more frequently in general political terms rather than apocalyptic religious ones.
While I have not and probably won’t endorse a candidate until much later in the process, I know what concerns me and I know what I can’t endorse. Right now, Cruz falls into that category.

Donald Trump Calls for Ban on Muslim Travel to the U.S.

From Donald Trump's Twitter page.
From Donald Trump’s Twitter page.

Well, of course he did
Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore is all over it and calls Christians to condemn the idea. I agree the idea should be condemned, but in fact, it would never happen. One doesn’t have to be an expert to know the Constitution would never allow it.
Trump is good at exploiting fear. He probably hopes fear of Muslim terrorism will make him seem like a savior. However, fear can work against him. Many people who value the First Amendment are afraid that a Trump presidency will be a disaster. I believe the latter fear will win out. Daily, Trump is creating a back lash that will undo his chances. At least I hope so.
The Republican front runner is all about keeping even Muslim U.S. citizens out of the country if they travel. He wants to keep them out until we can understand the problem of terrorism which might take awhile.
Where are all of his celebrity pastor supporters now?