TOPIC: Sin, As Defined by Americans
From Albert Mohler.com
As is so often the case, research comes with both good news and bad news. Ellison Research conducted a survey of representative Americans to find out what the public believes about sin. The good news is the simple part -- the vast majority of Americans believe in sin.

According to the Ellison Research study, 87% of Americans believe in the concept of sin, defined as "something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective." That is good news of a sort, since the absence of any notion of sin would spell social and theological disaster. It is somewhat reassuring to know that most of our neighbors believe that at least some acts are "almost always considered wrong." It is hard to imagine how we would sleep at night if a majority believed otherwise. But all that reassurance quickly dissipates when the rest of the data are considered. It turns out that Americans do not have a very clear idea of which acts are sin.

A significant majority of Americans were agreed that the following are sins:

• Adultery - 81%
• Racism - 74%
• Using "hard" drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc. - 65%
• Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change back - 63%
• Having an abortion - 56%
• Homosexual activity or sex - 52%
• Not reporting some income on your tax returns - 52%

A "significant percentage" of Americans agreed that these acts are also sinful:

• Reading or watching pornography - 50%
• Gossip - 47%
• Swearing - 46%
• Sex before marriage - 45%
• Homosexual thoughts - 44%
• Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to - 43%
• Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment - 41%
• Smoking marijuana - 41%
• Getting drunk - 41%
• Not taking proper care of your body - 35%

A much smaller percentage believed that these acts are sins:

• Gambling - 30%
• Telling a "little white lie" to avoid hurting someone's feelings - 29%
• Using tobacco - 23%
• Not attending church or religious worship services on a regular basis - 18%
• Playing the lottery - 18%
• Watching an R-rated movie - 18%
• Being significantly overweight - 17%
• Not giving 10% of your income to a church or charity - 16%
• Drinking any alcohol - 14%
• Working on Sunday/the Sabbath - 14%
• Spanking your child when he/she misbehaves - 7%
• Making a lot of money - 4%
• Dancing - 4%

There are surprises here, at least as measured against similar surveys. The Ellison Research survey indicates that only 52% of Americans believe that homosexual acts are sin and only 45% defined sex before marriage as sin. These two data points may indicate the evaporation of biblical morality in the worldviews of many Americans -- at least when it comes to sex. The worldview of personal autonomy, wedded to the Sexual Revolution, may have produced a moral reversal on these matters of sex. Homosexual acts and extramarital heterosexual acts are clearly identified as sins in the Bible. This research indicates that only adultery is generally understood to be sin.

The spread of legalized gambling goes hand-in-hand with the fact that only 30% of Americans believe that gambling is a sin. America is becoming a continental Las Vegas. There is more to the data, of course, and the full report makes for interesting reading.

For Christians, a few observations are in order. First, we do not find out what acts are sinful by asking our neighbors. Christians believe that God alone has the right to determine sin, and that the ultimate authority for determining sin is the Bible -- not a poll. Second, these data seem to indicate that Americans think of sin only in terms of what we do, not in terms of who we are. The Bible reveals sin to be what we are as fallen humanity, not merely the acts we commit or fail to commit. Third, Christians understand that sin is, most importantly, an act of rebellion and disobedience against God himself. Surveys like this point to the fact that most Americans think of sin as acts against other humans or acts against the self (as in gluttony). When sin is seen only in this perspective, all that remains is a negotiable social etiquette. Fourth, this report reminds us of the evangelistic challenge we now face. The loss of a deeper sense of sin means that many (if not most) Americans see themselves in no need of salvation. As a previous generation of Christians knew so well, we have to communicate the "sin word" before we can explain the "grace word" in evangelism. Keep these points in mind as you take a look at this report -- and be reminded why we lock our doors at night.

TOPIC: Obama and the Minister - Anti-American?!?
OpEd piece by Ronald Kessler
Photo from WSJ.com
In a sermon delivered at Howard University, Barack Obama's longtime minister, friend and adviser blamed America for starting the AIDS virus, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society that would never elect a black candidate president.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., pastor of Mr. Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, gave the sermon at the school's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel in Washington on Jan. 15, 2006. "We've got more black men in prison than there are in college," he began. "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body." Mr. Wright thundered on: "America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."

His voice rising, Mr. Wright said, "We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic. . . . We care nothing about human life if the end justifies the means. . . ." Concluding, Mr. Wright said: "We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . ."

Considering this view of America, it's not surprising that in December Mr. Wright's church gave an award to Louis Farrakhan for lifetime achievement. In the church magazine, Trumpet, Mr. Wright spoke glowingly of the Nation of Islam leader. "His depth on analysis [sic] when it comes to the racial ills of this nation is astounding and eye-opening," Mr. Wright said of Mr. Farrakhan. "He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest."

Hearing Mr. Wright's venomous and paranoid denunciations of this country, the vast majority of Americans would walk out. Instead, Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle have presumably sat through numerous similar sermons by Mr. Wright. Indeed, Mr. Obama has described Mr. Wright as his "sounding board" during the two decades he has known him. Mr. Obama has said he found religion through the minister in the 1980s. He joined the church in 1991 and walked down the aisle in a formal commitment of faith. The title of Mr. Obama's bestseller "The Audacity of Hope" comes from one of Wright's sermons. Mr. Wright is one of the first people Mr. Obama thanked after his election to the Senate in 2004. Mr. Obama consulted Mr. Wright before deciding to run for president. He prayed privately with Mr. Wright before announcing his candidacy last year.

Mr. Obama obviously would not choose to belong to Mr. Wright's church and seek his advice unless he agreed with at least some of his views. In light of Mr. Wright's perspective, Michelle Obama's comment that she feels proud of America for the first time in her adult life makes perfect sense. Much as most of us would appreciate the symbolism of a black man ascending to the presidency, what we have in Barack Obama is a politician whose closeness to Mr. Wright underscores his radical record. The media have largely ignored Mr. Obama's close association with Mr. Wright. This raises legitimate questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country. Those questions deserve a clearer answer than Mr. Obama has provided so far.

TOPIC: Sex, Drugs And Alcohol: Parents Still Influence College Kids' Risky Behavior, Study Shows

Article from ScienceDaily.com

New research shows that parents influence their child's likelihood of involvement with drugs, alcohol and risky sexual activity even after their child leaves for college. In an upcoming issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Brigham Young University family scientist Laura Walker’s study found that parents’ knowledge or awareness of what’s going on in their child’s life at college is associated with fewer risky behaviors.

Specifically, students who said their fathers were in the loop had a lower likelihood of doing drugs or engaging in risky sexual behaviors. When mothers were in the know, students were less likely to drink alcohol.

“For parents, the fact that closeness plays a strong role is a message to not be overbearing,” Walker said. “Having a close relationship promotes the child wanting to open up and share what’s going on rather than the parent having to intrusively solicit the information from the child.”

Similar research by Walker and her colleagues finds that delaying the transition to adulthood involves experimentation of a positive nature, indicating this life stage is not simply a period of risk-taking and delinquency.

“The assumption too often is that delaying adulthood is automatically a negative thing, dominated by exploration with risky drinking, drug use, and sex,” Walker said. “However, these findings suggest that young people are also exploring positive behaviors and participate in society to the same degree as those who have already established their identity.”

The title of the paper is “Looking on the Bright Side: The Role of Identity Status and Gender on Positive Orientations during Emerging Adulthood.” Professor Larry Nelson is also a co-author on this study along with Professor Jason Carroll of BYU’s School of Family Life.

Adapted from materials provided by Brigham Young University.

Photo Credit: iStockphoto/Lise Gagne