Hot Topic Issues

Many Christian pacifists cite the words of Jesus to argue He would never condone any kind of deadly force (in spite of the obvious justifications for killing allowed by the Old Testament Law). They typically cite the following passage (from the Sermon on the Mount) to make their case: Luke …

At a time when the world is still divided by war and conflict, Christians have a duty and responsibility to examine our position related to the use of deadly force. As a homicide detective, this issue has been at the center of my professional life for over twenty-five years. In …

For most of my life, I have been unabashedly and unflinchingly pro-choice. For many years, I saw abortion as little more than another form of birth control. Today, I am pro-life. What changed my mind? It wasn’t my conversion to Christianity. My position changed when I started to think carefully …

When the Kermit Gosnell trial came to an end, the death penalty debate once again captured the attention of the nation. Gosnell was sentenced to several life terms in prison and avoided execution; but the trial caused many Christians to re-examine what they believe about the use of deadly force. …

When I first started working as a police officer, DNA evidence was extremely rare. Criminalists, when processing crime scenes, relied far more on fingerprints to identify suspects than they did DNA. Over the years, forensic criminalists improved their ability to collect and process DNA evidence. Today, DNA evidence is commonplace. If I’ve got a piece of evidence at …

Life begins at the moment of conception. We know this to be true due to the unique genetic nature of every fetal human. I didn’t always accept this truth, however. In fact, for most of my life, I was pro-choice. I came to this realization about the nature of human …

A recent Washington Post article celebrated the naming of Lucas Warren as the 2018 Gerber baby. Every year, the Gerber Products Company selects an infant “who best exemplifies Gerber’s long-standing heritage of recognizing that every baby is a Gerber baby.” What makes Lucas unusual and particularly news-worthy is the fact …

Americans are accustomed to being technological leaders in a variety of disciplines, but our nation may fall behind other countries in the field of genetic technology – if current activities in China continue. While that may sound like a challenge we should embrace and correct as a nation, there’s actually …

When I was a new homicide detective, much of the science and technology we now take for granted was unavailable. While fingerprint analysis was common, forensic DNA technology was still in its infancy. In addition, few locations around the country were monitored by surveillance cameras, and even fewer victims or …

In a recent article posted on the National Public Radio (NPR) website, Tom Gjelten wrote about the “collision of two core American values — freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination,” and predicted this collision would prompt a “showdown in legislatures and courts across the country.” This is undoubtedly true, …