Christian Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Commentary: An Ancient Faith Grows in Modern Times

August 18, 2024 Minnesota Sun Staff

As a journalist, it’s easy to turn around copy on any of the public policy and political debates of the day, but I struggle to write about religious issues in a meaningful way. My American Spectator columns detail the usual insanity in the California Capitol and Washington, DC, but what can I say about matters of faith, where my usual tool — reason — isn’t entirely useful?

I grew up Jewish, the son of a Nazi Holocaust survivor. Our religion was important, but I was raised in a secular home where religious observance didn’t reflect any deep expression of faith. That led me on a journey to try to make sense of this inexplicable world.

Commentary: The Left’s ‘Christian Nationalism’ Fearmongering Is Untethered to Reality

March 3, 2024 Minnesota Sun Staff

Is America on the verge of establishing a theocracy? The Left’s recent warnings about the rise of “Christian nationalism” suggest that a powerful, conservative Christian cabal is pulling the strings behind the scenes to forcibly convert the entire nation, or something.

In the past week, Politico’s Heidi Przybyla has been hammering the drum on this issue, first claiming—apparently without concrete evidence—that former Trump administration official Russell Vought has prioritized “Christian nationalism” by name in documents for a potential Trump second term, and then defining Christian nationalism as the doctrine that rights come from God, not government.

Commentary: Terrorist Attack Heightens Fears for the Future of Turkish Christians

February 4, 2024 Minnesota Sun Staff

On Jan. 28, two terrorists wearing black balaclavas attacked Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkey. The assailants entered the church as approximately 40 people were attending Mass. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the gunmen began firing. Tragically, Tuncer Cihan was killed. He was about to become a Christian, attended church regularly, and was described as “a good person.”

Thankfully, no one else was injured, as the terrorists fled due to one of the guns miraculously jamming.

Biden Admin Targets Largest Christian University in U.S.

December 29, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at the largest Christian university in the U.S. in a new lawsuit.

Grand Canyon University (GCU) is the largest Christian university in the U.S. with over 100,000 students enrolled and over 85,000 online students as of fall 2022, according to their website. The FTC alleges that GCU engaged in deceptive business practices with its doctoral programs and that it also engaged in illegal telemarketing practices, according to the federal complaint filed in the District of Arizona.

Over 40 Percent of Colleges Closed Since COVID-19 Are Christian

August 27, 2023August 27, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

Over 40% of the colleges that have closed or consolidated since the start of the pandemic are Christian colleges, according to a report

Christian college closures noted in Higher Ed Dive’s public and private nonprofit college tracker include Cabrini University in Pennsylvania and Alliance University (AU) in New York, which will close Aug. 31.

U.S. Supreme Court Again Vacates Judgement Against Oregon Bakers

July 3, 2023 The Center Square

For the second time, the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a lower court decision against a Christian couple in Oregon who were punished for not making a cake for a same-sex wedding.

In an orders list release Friday, the nation’s highest court vacated the decision against Aaron and Melissa Klein in their ongoing litigation with the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries.

Library Group’s ‘Intellectual Freedom’ Director Tells Libraries How to Censor Christian Story Hours

June 29, 2023 Just the News

The American Library Association is offering guidance to public libraries on how to prevent events like an upcoming one by leading Christian children’s book publisher and marquee author Kirk Cameron, arguing they’re an attempt to “censor” or “silence” LGBTQIA library-users and their materials.

The guidance came from Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the association’s director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, during a virtual library conference earlier this month.

Virginia Hair Salon Fires Christian Stylist for ‘Homophobic’ Post Criticizing Disney Plus on Facebook

June 10, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

A Virginia hair salon fired a Christian stylist over a Facebook post criticizing the streaming movie service Disney+.

“My Facebook is my page,” Sidney York, the fired stylist, told The Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday. “I understand it’s a touchy subject and people may be offended over it, but it had nothing to do with my job.”

Commentary: The Long Road to Confronting China’s War on Religion Part One

May 6, 2023 RealClearWire

In 2016, when President Xi Jinping delivered a speech calling for the “Sinicization of religion” in a nation of one billion, he was espousing a century-old impulse among his people while also inadvertently underscoring a persistent paradox that Chinese Communists brought with them when they took over the country in 1949 – and have never shaken.

The impulse is that the major faiths observed in China are not indigenous to the world’s oldest civilization. Buddhism was imported from India and Tibet. Islam arrived in overland trading routes and human migration from the Middle East, while Christianity, another Abrahamic faith, came across the ocean from Europe and America. To Communist leaders, and many Han Chinese civilians, these traditions represent potentially destabilizing foreign influence.

Commentary: Cake Maker Jack Phillips Is STILL in Court

October 10, 2022October 9, 2022 Admin

The endless travails of the Colorado Christian baker Jack Phillips are a measure of America’s pathetic descent into coercive secularism. Phillips has spent at least a decade in court, beating back the ludicrous claims of ACLU-style militants who can’t rest until everyone has been dragooned into the LGBTQ revolution. Phillips was at first persecuted for declining trolling customer demands that he design cakes for gay nuptials. He survived that assault, but now faces fallout from the transgender lobby’s mau-mauing of his business. In 2017, a man pretending to be a woman sued him for not designing birthday cakes in honor of “gender transitions” — an obvious nuisance suit that the state of Colorado and activist judges have humored. Phillips is back in court fighting it.

Commentary: The Rise of Conservative Christian Right-Wing Latinos

August 29, 2022August 28, 2022 Admin

My father taught me that we came to this country to work. I refuse anything that is free, and I don’t leech from anyone.

I remember him with pride in his eyes, his head held high, and determination in his soul. When he would drive me to school in his 1979 Super Sport El Camino—loaded down, as it was, with two lawnmowers, one Weed Eater, and the other essentials of a small mowing business—those quick 10-minute drives were often filled with gems of wisdom.

Christian Student Silenced by School Receives Settlement

June 27, 2022June 26, 2022 Admin

A college student will receive a massive settlement from his school after it tried to silence him from speaking about his faith, according to a Wednesday press release from Alliance Defending Freedom.

Georgia Gwinnett College settled with Chike Uzuegbunam for $80,000 six years after the lawsuit was first filed, which alleged that the school repeatedly denied him the right to speak about his Christian faith to other students, the press release said.

REPORT: More than 18 Christian Universities Actively Promote Abortion Providers

February 1, 2022January 31, 2022 Minnesota Sun Staff

Person sitting down. Praying hands on a Bible

Students for Life of America’s (SFLA) recently documented dozens of Christian-affiliated schools that maintain ties with or reference to Planned Parenthood.

Campus Reform found many of these schools are also tied to abortion in other ways. Below is a sampling of Christian-affiliated universities and colleges that promote abortion advocacy and providers.

Texas Christian University

Affiliation: Disciples of Christ

Washington Florist Who Declined to Arrange Flowers for Same-Sex Wedding Settles Lengthy Lawsuit

November 21, 2021 Admin

A Christian florist in Washington settled a legal case Thursday centering around her refusal to provide custom floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding.

“I have put to rest the last legal considerations for a decision my husband, Darold, and I made nearly a decade ago,” Barronelle Stutzman said in a release from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

The public-interest law firm that represented Stutzman stated that the legal battle that started in 2012 will end with a $5,000 payment to Robert Ingersoll, the customer she turned down.

Commentary: No Reason for White Guilt

October 20, 2021October 19, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Recently, Ibram X. Kendi was chosen as a recipient for the 2021 MacArthur Genius Fellowship. This event has been met with resounding applause on the Left as it is presumed to be both a well-justified instance of reparative justice and a logical continuation of the 1960s Civil Rights movement. In truth, this event constitutes neither of these things.

In recent years, we have seen increasing instances of anti-white rhetoric within America, exemplified in the rise of critical race theory, Black Lives Matter, and the writings of folks like Kendi.

Commentary: Christian Schools Vastly Outperforming Public Schools During COVID-19, According to New Survey of Parents

August 29, 2021August 28, 2021 RealClearWire

Among last year’s other lessons, none may be more important than this: Our taxpayer-funded education establishment cares more about adults than children.

Consider the evidence: public school union bosses pressured officials to close schools and keep them shuttered beyond what medical authorities recommended. In spite of the obvious harm to children of school closures, unions throughout the country lobbed threats and issued demands. In Chicago, the union went so far as to sue the Mayor to keep schools closed; in San Francisco, the city had to sue its school board.

A public education system that failed to do right by our children has kept union bosses empowered and politicians cowed. Thankfully, our country offers an alternative—one that proved its mettle this past year. In a recent survey of public school and Christian school parents, the Herzog Foundation found that parents of children who attended a Christian school were vastly more satisfied with their school experience.

Student Government Nominee ‘Canceled’ over Social Media Posts Expressing Conservative Values

August 23, 2021August 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A junior nominated for a position on Auburn University’s student government was successfully shot down because he expressed Christian and conservative beliefs on social media.

Stephen Morris was nominated for the position of chief justice of Auburn University’s Student Government Association. To his surprise, at the session where his nomination was to be taken up, held remotely over video, several members of the student senate strongly opposed his nomination.

‘The Time Has Come for ‘Gaytheism’:’ Library Promotes Radical, Anti-Christian Books

July 28, 2021July 27, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Rider University is promoting a book in their online library that, according to the publication description, “Argues that homophobia will not be eradicated in the United States until religion is ended.”

“Slouching Towards Gaytheism: Christianity and Queer Survival in America,” written by W.C. Harris, a professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, can be found in Rider’s library research guide for “Christian and Religious Privilege.”

The “Christian and Religious Privilege” guide is a subcategory of Rider’s “Privilege and Intersectionality” web page.

Legal Group Intervenes After University Bars Christian Student from Classes over Refusal to Take Vaccines

May 25, 2021May 24, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A Christian nonprofit legal group has sent a letter to the University of Alabama-Birmingham after the public university blocked a student from registering for classes because she would not take vaccines.

The letter from First Liberty Institute asks university officials to follow the religious exemption it granted Jackie Gale for her first year at school. The university does not currently mandate the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Due to Ms. Gale’s religious beliefs, she cannot receive the childhood immunizations UAB requires under its immunization policy,” Christine Pratt, counsel for First Liberty, wrote in a May 13 demand letter.

Students at Christian University Call on School to Turn Away from ‘Falsehood’ That Is Critical Race Theory

May 19, 2021May 18, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Two students for the University of Northwestern – St. Paul have launched a petition calling on the school to turn away from Critical Race Theory and other progressive ideologies, arguing that such theories run counter to the school’s Christian foundation.

Students at Northwestern St. Paul University Hayley Tschetter and Joshua Feland created a change.org petition warning the community about “destructive” concepts that are becoming commonplace in higher-education.

“Intentional or not, exchanging the biblical worldview and faithful Christian teaching for those worldviews rooted in anti-biblical ideologies such as Marxism, Postmodernism, Social Justice Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Intersectionality leads down a destructive one-way road from which you cannot return.”

Conservative Clergy of Color Offers Corporate Training Program As Alternative to Racist Narrative Pushed by Black Lives Matter

September 18, 2020September 17, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

The Conservative Clergy of Color wants businesses to know they have an alternative to the racist rhetoric being thrown around for diversity training.

The organization this week announced the “Getting to All Lives Matter,” a fact-based, six-step training program that operates on the assumption all Americans want to build a better society. This is an alternative to the rhetoric pushed by Black Lives Matter, which attempts to scare businesses, they said.

Commentary: It’s Time for the Samuel Adams Option

August 29, 2020August 28, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

In 2018, Rod Dreher published The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians Living in a Post-Christian World. In it, he argued that Christians needed to recognize that this is a post-Christian society, and that they should withdraw as much as possible from it and build up private Christian communities. His inspiration for this concept is Saint Benedict of Nursia, who founded 12 different communities for monks, which became repositories of learning and civilization during the barbarism that ensued after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Herman Cain Is Mourned, Celebrated at His Funeral in Atlanta

August 9, 2020August 8, 2020 The Associated Press

Herman Cain, the former Republican presidential candidate, businessman and close ally of President Donald Trump, was guided by his Christian faith in politics, business and his personal life, his pastor said at his funeral Friday.

Cain “made his mark on this world” and his life will be celebrated for years to come, the Rev. Kenneth Lamont Alexander of Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta said.

Report: 44 Percent of Twin Cities Residents Considered ‘Post-Christian’

June 24, 2019June 23, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

A new study released this month found that the Northeast region of America is the most “post-Christian” area of the country. The study, conducted by Barna research, is part of an ongoing survey of Americans based on a random sample of 21,378 adults conducted over a ten-year period. To…

Commentary: Yes, Christians Can Support Trump Without Risk to Their Witness

May 10, 2019May 9, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Chris Buskirk Can an adulterer be a great surgeon? If your child needed care and the best surgeon had cheated on his wife, maybe more than once, would you let him operate? What if you are a Christian and he is not? Does that matter? Should it? In…

Chinese Police Raid Children’s Bible Study, Shut Down Third Prominent Underground Church This Winter

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Joshua Gill Chinese police shut down a third prominent underground church this winter Saturday after raiding a children’s bible study and confiscating over 4,000 Christian books. Authorities in Guangzhou raided the Rongguili Church at 10 a.m., announcing to parents and children at the Bible study that all activities…

Minnesota Media Ignores Story of Ex-Muslim Who Was Arrested at Mall for Sharing Christian Faith

November 30, 2018November 30, 2018 Anthony Gockowski

An ex-Muslim turned Christian pastor was arrested at the Mall of America in August for holding a private conversation about his faith with two consenting passersby, and now faces a formal trial if the charges against him aren’t dropped. Ramin Parsa, a Muslim from Iran who fled his home country…

Fire Chief Who Was Fired for Marriage Views Wins Major First Amendment Victory

October 21, 2018October 21, 2018 Admin

by Monica Burke In a major victory for free speech, the city of Atlanta has awarded former Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran with $1.2 million after violating his First Amendment rights.Cochran was a highly decorated firefighter who served as the U.S. fire administrator after President Barack Obama hand-picked him for…

Commentary: Christian Cake Baker Turns the Tables, Sues Colorado for Anti-Religious Bias

September 4, 2018September 4, 2018 Admin

by Thomas Jipping Jack Phillips owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, and is himself a master baker. He’s in trouble with the state of Colorado for declining to create a custom cake for an event because doing so would violate his religious beliefs. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Phillips…

Trevecca’s Shining Star: Dr. Suzann Harris

July 29, 2018July 28, 2018 JC Bowman

Professional Educators of Tennessee recognized Dr. Suzann “Suzie” Barker Harris with one of our prestigious “Friend of the Educator” Award. She is a shining star for Trevecca and a model for people of faith who is worthy of distinction to all educators.

VP Pence Visit to Conservative Lee University Triggers Left Wing Lunacy

July 21, 2018July 21, 2018 Julie Carr

Conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill of The Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, stated in disbelief the left’s infiltration into Lee University, one of Tennessee’s top Christian schools – and in particular one Lee University student’s petition to cancel a Vice…

The Supreme Court Rules 7-2 for Baker Jack Phillips in Gay Wedding Cake Lawsuit

June 4, 2018 Admin

In a closely watched decision Monday, the Supreme Court found the Colorado owner and master baker of Masterpiece Cakeshop was within his rights when he refused to make a custom wedding for a same-sex wedding, saying that to do otherwise was against his moral and religious convictions. (Full decision embedded…