My local library is apparently having a problem with youth gangs who are using the puters to access social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook. The hooligans are defacing each others sites, sending threatening messages, and causing other kinds of trouble. From the Wyoming Advance, “A place that should be safe for children has seen graffiti, assaults, loud and vulgar language, patron intimidation, public sexual encounters, carving gang symbols in furniture, and more.” What is the library to do?...

Readings in Social Ethics: Martin Bucer, De Regno Christi (selections), in Melanchthon and Bucer, Book I, Chapter XIV, “Care for the Needy,” pp. 256-59. References below are to page number. Bucer praises the deacon as an office of the institutional church and an artifact of the early mending it to reestablishment in the evangelical churches: “it was their principal duty to keep a list of all of Christ’s needy in the churches, to be acquainted with the life and character...

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a es into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes es in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and e judges...

Readings in Social Ethics: Martin Bucer, De Regno Christi (selections), in Melanchthon and Bucer, Book II, Chapter XIV, “The Sixth Law: Poor Relief,” pp. 306-15. References below are to page number. Giving aid to the needy in the church is a manifestation of an attribute of the church, for “without it there can be no munion of saints” (307).What the church and its representatives are and are not responsible for: “First, they [deacons] should investigate how many really indigent persons...

Richard John Neuhaus, over at the First Things blog On The Square, posts an excerpt from the ing print edition that excoriates the NAB translation (also noted at Mere Comments). Neuhaus writes of Jesus’ answer in Matt. 18:22 to Peter’s question, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” that “Jesus obviously intended hyperbole, indicating that forgiveness is open-ended. Keep on forgiving as you are forgiven by God, for God’s...

Today brings disturbing news of new consensus that seems to be developing: Modern women want men who are keen on recycling rather than good at making wisecracks, a survey said. The poll for men’s magazine Nuts said going green is now the main way to a woman’s heart, with a “good sense of ing in second. Oh great – a clean, tidy, and humorless future. Thanks, ladies. Thanks a lot. ...

Here’s the text of a letter sent this morning to the editor at Woman’s Day magazine (don’t ask why I was reading Woman’s Day. I read whatever happens to be sitting in the rack next to mode): Paula mentary on the Pledge of Allegiance (“Pledging Allegiance,” September 1, 2007) sounds incredibly McCarthy-esque. Are we to now believe that having qualms about mandatory recitation of the Pledge constitutes an un-American activity? Spencer dismisses the many reasons that one might object to...

Just when you thought America’s Rogerian culture of prostrated self-worship couldn’t get anymore nauseating…. ‘I boldly ask for what I want!’ ….Enter, the Affirmation Blanket. I am almost reluctant to give these people more publicity, but this is way too funny to pass up. Some of my favorite lines are, “I am perfect just the way I am,” (found on the “Serenity” blanket), “Success and prosperity follow me everywhere I go” (from the “Joy” blanket — because we all know...

Last week I linked to this R&L item, “The Leaky Bucket: Why Conservatives Need to Learn the Art of Story.” And two weeks ago, I discussed the relationship between environmental stewardship and economics. You may recall that the first story featured in Acton’s Call of the Entrepreneur documentary is that of Brad Morgan, a Michigan dairy farmer. Faced with huge costs to dispose of cow refuse, Morgan’s entrepreneurial vision took hold: “His innovative solution to manure disposal, turning it into...

The boy crisis is not a myth. David Von Drehle’s article, “The Myth About Boys,” in this week’s Time Magazine argues that the boy crisis of the 1990s has leveled off and is now improving. Not exactly. This assessment, however, pletely dependent on one’s moral framework. Boys are still in crisis, regardless of what feminists and other women, like some published in the Washington Post, are saying. It’s a crisis of morality. The ongoing crisis will have dire consequences because...