News

Earlier this year, thousands of workers crowded into a huge building known as the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This building housed several clothing factories, where workers endured deplorable working conditions not uncommon in many developing countries. As the workday unfolded, the building suddenly began rumbling and shaking. However, this was no earthquake, but the imminent collapse of the shoddily constructed building itself!

Many historians have written about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. From Edward Gibbon’s epic work to modern books on the subject, numerous reasons are offered for Rome’s decline that offer interesting parallels to America’s declining power and prestige. Could America also fall?

From the barbarian hordes and the over-extension of the military to moral and political decay, the reasons given by historians for the Roman Empire’s decline and fall are wide-ranging.

In striking down the “Defense of Marriage Act,” the United States Supreme Court today has made a ruling that virtually ensures the spread of the vile practice of “same-sex marriage.” Something that practically no one would even have dreamed of 20 or 30 years ago—the idea that two men or two women can have a valid “marriage” receiving the same benefits as a traditional marriage—has now been established as the law of the land in the United States.

“I have bad news and good news. Which do you want to hear first?” This is a premise of some jokes and also of some serious diagnoses. No one wants to hear bad news, while we all love good news. Prophets of God and Jesus Christ Himself delivered both bad news and good news.

A much-beloved Protestant hymn asserts, “This Is My Father’s World.” The song has a beautiful melody, and the sentiment is tempting. Yet, the reality of the matter—as so pointedly shown by the many sudden and destructive events caused by natural disasters—is that our world today is not our Father’s world.