Breakpoint

Mark Twain famously said that "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does often rhyme." The new film, Golda, starring Helen Mirren, provides evidence of that maxim.

A surprise Arab attack is carried out on the nation of Israel in the first week of October. An embattled Israeli Prime Minister fights to secure American support. There are whispers of Russian involvement and atrocities in Ukraine. Golda is not a film about 2023, but it does recall the remarkably similar story of 1973.

In fact, the history of Israel and the wider story of the millennia-long persecution of Jews can feel somewhat like a broken record. No matter the era, no matter the region, no matter the culture, Jacob's children find themselves in the crosshairs of their neighbors' hatred.

In the 5th-century BC, the royal advisor Haman whined to his king: "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them."

Haman was, of course, speaking of the Jewish people.

Jewish historian Josephus described the tensions that simmered between Jews and Greeks in Egypt since the 4th century. Conflict erupted in his day into riots that, before the slaughter stopped, left some 50,000 Jews dead. In a remark that could be taken from today's headlines, the historian declared,

"Some were caught in the open field, others forced into their houses, which were plundered and then set on fire. The Romans showed no mercy to the infants, had no regard for the aged, and went on in the slaughter of persons of every age."

Over the next few hundred years, this antisemitism was, with some notable exceptions, sadly baptized by an emerging Christian culture. Some of this can be attributed to an accommodation to the cultural norms, some to seeking revenge for earlier Jewish persecutions of Christians, and some to significant theological issues that continue to affect Jewish-Christian relations even today.

In a tragic replaying of the persecution inflicted on the Early Church by Roman pagans, Christians scapegoated Jews for bad harvests, plagues, and political misfortune. Across Europe, especially Russian-controlled areas, pogroms were unleashed against victims with nowhere to go, at least until the rise of America and Israel.

Attacks against the Jews only increased with the evolving of a more secularized, modern age. Ancient prejudices took on modern forms, fed by conspiracy theories held across various segments of society. Jews were thought to be both in absolute control of world events and bent on world destruction. The horrifying capstone of antisemitism in the modern era was given the name the "Final Solution" by the Nazis.

Sadly, the story of Jew hatred continues today, in the conspiracy junkie who sees the Rothschilds behind every event and in the equally abhorrent Critical Theory claims about Israeli occupation and oppression. From these two ends of the Western political spectrum, the Jews have once again been cast into a villainous role they've never deserved.

Despite being an emotionally heavy movie, Golda ends with an optimistic note. Through the peace that ended the war between Israel and Egypt, steps began which, 50 years later, have led to an increasing number of treaties between Arabs and Israelis. Though we are rightly outraged by the vile comments of some in the West in support of the atrocities of Hamas, nearly every Western government has stood up for Israel in this situation. And many Muslim states have either stayed quiet or even voiced support.

Will this current crisis lead to greater stability as the crisis told about in the film? We don't know. What we do know is that this history did not begin yesterday, nor will it be fixed tomorrow. But, even when history does rhyme, it doesn't necessarily have to repeat. We live in God's world. He promises to "make all things new." That will be how the story ends.

This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave a review on your favorite podcast app.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

As the world continues to learn the disturbing details of the Hamas atrocities against Israeli women, children, and other civilians, an added horror is the thousands of people around the world, even in the West, publicly supporting those doing the killing. While many have stood up for the Jews, many others have taken to the streets, celebrated the evils, protested Israel's justified retaliation, and even called for "Jihad."

As Lois McLatchie Miller noted, this is particularly galling in the U.K. where pro-lifers have been arrested for silent prayer while this rank antisemitism is protected:

"A police force that sends six officers to arrest a silently praying Christian woman, but lacks resources to stop our streets from flooding with violence, is not one that reflects the values of a Western democratic society."

Of course, that depends on which values are currently prevailing, something constantly in flux in societies that have rejected their moral foundations.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Few people, particularly in the U.K., have shown the kind of courageous, tenacious commitment to truth as media personality, minister, conservative commentator, and Anglican deacon Fr. Calvin Robinson. In 2020, after discerning a call to church ministry, Robinson left a career in teaching to pursue a degree in theology through St. Stephen's House, Oxford. In 2022, he applied for a curacy within the London Diocese of the Church of England.

Robinson, a British citizen of mixed race, learned that his application had been held up due to his opinions on Critical Race Theory. Earlier, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby declared that the Church of England was "deeply institutionally racist," a statement with which Robinson took issue. When it became clear that church leaders were dragging their feet over his placement, Robinson requested access to the files pertaining to his case. He learned that the Church of England, not the "broad church" many assumed, was rejecting him for his outspoken conservative views.

Describing a conversation with the Bishop of London, Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally, Robinson reported:

"I said as a mixed race person I don't feel like the church is institutionally racist. I think it's wrong for the Archbishop of Canterbury to stand up on a pedestal to announce, 'We are racist.' I think that's wrong. I think individuals are racist and they need to be held to account for it, but to say that we as an institution are, that's unhelpful. I don't think it's statistically true.

And she said to me, 'Well I think we are, and as a white woman I can tell you that we are, and I've seen it.'"

His view on racial issues is not the only area in which Fr. Robinson found himself in conflict with the Church of England. As he put it,

"It seems the Church will affirm any liberal progressive secular view, but clamp down on conservative views, either political or theological. If you defend family values, the sanctity of marriage, all human life being sacred, or the fact that God made us male and female, you'll face opprobrium."

Ousted from the Church of England, Fr. Robinson became a deacon in the Free Church of England instead, a church that aligns with the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON, an international body committed to biblical orthodoxy. Until recently, he hosted a popular show on GB News and now serves as minister-in-charge in a local parish.

Fr. Robinson recently defended that the church should not perform or bless same-sex "marriages" in a debate at the Oxford Union, one of the world's oldest institutions of public discourse. His opponents were three progressive bishops. In each of these experiences, Robinson has demonstrated the kind of courage required for Christian faithfulness today. This begins, as Robinson put it, with a commitment to truth:

"People are looking for the Truth. It is our job as the Church to proclaim the Truth from the rooftops and let people know there is another way; that Jesus Christ is the truth and the way, and the life. If that means being counter-cultural, so be it. It is not our job to chase societal norms, it is our job to live a life rooted in the Scriptures. We cannot chase fads in order to attract numbers, bums in seats are a side-effect not the objective. … [W]e are called to disciple the nations—but I do not believe that means obsessing over attracting new demographics; that means obsessing over preaching the Good News, doing it well and faithfully. If we do that, people will come, and Christ will convert them."

Courage, specifically how Christians can have a courageous faith, is the theme of the 2024 Colson Center National Conference, to be held May 30-June 2 in Arlington, Texas. I'm very pleased to announce that Fr. Calvin Robinson will join us for this event as a speaker along with an amazing lineup of others, such as Drs. Sean McDowell, Kathy Koch, and Neil Shenvi.

To register, go to ColsonConference.org.

This Breakpoint was co-authored by Kasey Leander.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Some 1,700 years ago, Armenia became the very first nation in history to adopt Christianity as the official religion of the state. That long history is fast disappearing. A photo recently posted by the Christian Emergency Alliance records the last clergy of an ancient monastery, forced to flee from the Azeri advances, which are often accompanied by desecrations of Christian sites by Muslim soldiers.

In ancient times, the Armenians endured a precarious existence, with Rome to the west and Persia to the east. Today, U.S. ally Turkey backs the Muslim Azeri while Moscow has been an unreliable protector of Armenia.

Whatever the causes of this strife, an ancient Christian society sits on the edge of destruction, which means that our prayers and political actions cannot be constrained only by geopolitics.

Pray to God for our brothers and sisters, and appeal to our political representatives for their relief.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Every autumn, in a sort of seasonal ritual, the leaves start turning, the air turns chilly, and Christians argue over whether to celebrate Halloween. While I've never been a huge fan of the dark, sketchy costumes (and I'm talking about what adults wear), there's a whole history to this day, unknown to most people. In fact, there's an even more amazing history behind tomorrow, All Saints' Day.

Back in 2007, Chuck Colson described that history in a Breakpoint he called, "Honoring the Witnesses." Here's Chuck Colson:

"It is Halloween again, and to be frank, I really don't look forward to talking about it on Breakpoint every year. At best, Halloween has become an excuse to ask total strangers for candy. At worst, it's a celebration of the mindless paganism our ancestors wisely turned their backs on. So, this year, I'd like to turn your attention to the often overlooked celebration that Halloween calls to mind. In case you've missed it before, the name Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Eve and signifies the night before All Saints' Day. For centuries on All Saints' Day, the Church celebrated the lives of Christians who went before us. And rightly so: We can learn so much from those whom the author of Hebrews calls that great cloud of witnesses.

The tradition of remembering the Church triumphant dates back to the time of the first Christian martyrs. When soldiers of Marcus Aurelius Verus came to arrest Polycarp, a beloved church leader, Polycarp greeted them kindly. According to the third-century historian Eusebius, Polycarp 'ordered a table to be laid for them immediately, invited them to eat as much as they liked, asking in return a single hour in which he could pray.' When Polycarp later stood in the coliseum, accused and surrounded by the jeering crowds, the governor pressed him to recant his faith. Instead, this man, who himself had been discipled by the Apostle John, said this: 'For 86 years, I have been [Christ's] servant, and He has never done me wrong: How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?' As they were preparing to burn him alive, Polycarp offered up prayers of faith and praise.

In the years following Polycarp's death, Christians would gather annually to take communion beside his grave. There they would remember his brave witness and take courage from his example. As the years passed, the day shifted in focusing from remembering Polycarp to honoring all martyrs. By the seventh century, the Church created a holiday to honor all of God's saints—heroes of the faith. One of my favorite heroes was a woman named Monica, who lived during the fourth century. She would never face flames or jeering crowds, as did Polycarp, but she did face testing. That testing came in the form of her own longing for the return of her prodigal son, Augustine. His licentious lifestyle made this Christian mother weep. Later, when Augustine, who is now known as one of the foremost theologians of Christianity and scholars of Western civilization, did come to Christ, he wrote this prayer: 'My mother, Your faithful servant, wept to You for me, shedding more tears for my spiritual death than others shed for the bodily death of a son. You heard her."'

I could tell you story after story like this, from Justin Martyr to Martin Luther to Amy Carmichael. But let me encourage you to do something this All Saints' Day. Take the lead in your church to honor the great saints who set examples for us. Reacquaint your children with Halloween's Christian origins. Research together and talk about the lives of Christian heroes. Sure, go ahead and let the kids dress up like Batman and hit up your neighbors for candy. But when the hoopla of modern Halloween is over, encourage your kids to imitate some real heroes—not in what they put on, but in how they live their lives."

That was Chuck Colson, from October 31, 2007, describing the rich history behind All Saints' Day.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

This Breakpoint was originally published on October 31, 2022.

In her new tell-all memoir The Woman in Me, Britney Spears reveals that she was pressured to have an abortion by Justin Timberlake when they were a celebrity couple. "Justin definitely wasn't happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren't ready to have a baby in our lives." She concluded, "If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn't want to be a father."

Her experience is shared by millions. As an article in Christian Newswire put it, "[N]early 70% of the women who had abortions described them as being coerced, pressured, or inconsistent with their own values and preferences."

Many feel like Spears, who wrote, "To this day, it's one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life."

Abortion is a lie. Far from securing the rights and autonomy of women, abortion pressures women to cater to male desire and irresponsibility.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Every year around this time, the ritual begins anew. The weather cools off, the leaves change color, and Christians start arguing about Halloween.

Many people love this night. It gives them an excuse to host parties, kick off the holiday spending season, and provide economic stimulus for the dental industry. Others use it as an excuse to flirt with things much darker than plastic skeletons and creative jack-o'-lanterns. Too many adults use Halloween as an excuse to throw out common standards of modesty.

What is the history behind Halloween? What's all the decoration and tradition really about? Is there something spiritual behind all the ghoulishness?

When I was a kid, a series of comic-book-style tracts went around claiming that Halloween was a pagan holiday called Samhain, when ancient druids used to carry out human sacrifice under a full moon. That story, as even modern pagans who love Halloween admit, is mostly made up.

The very name "Halloween" means "holy evening." It was a throwback to when Catholic Christians prepared for the Feast of All Saints on November 1. A few years back, Kirk Cameron urged Christians to make the most of Halloween's Christian origins, and to throw "the biggest Halloween party on [the] block." Not only is it a great way to make fun of the devil, he argued, but it offers Christians a wonderful opportunity to proclaim Jesus' victory over sin and death to our neighbors.

Our Christian forebears might have agreed. In his book, For the Glory of God, historian Rodney Stark argued that Christians in the early centuries of the Church frequently reacted to pagan practices like fortune-telling, alchemy, and even sorcery, by not taking them seriously. Augustine, for example, myth-busted astrology by pointing out how twins born under the same star sign were often very different in personality. St. Boniface taught that "to believe in 'witches' is un-Christian." Pope Gregory the Great even advised a missionary to Britain to destroy idols but to re-purpose pagan temples for Christian worship.

A few years ago, Steven Wedgeworth offered another perspective in an article at The Calvinist International. After providing a helpful overview of the history of Halloween, he concluded that though there are echoes of paganism and Christian re-purposing in Halloween, the holiday of today, especially the costumes and trick-or-treating, is a recent invention. Like the commercialized secular Christmas, Halloween as we know it has more to do with department stores than druids.

No matter what day it is, Paul's instructions in Philippians 4 should guide our celebrations. Christians should think on "whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable." Axe-murderer get-ups and sexually provocative costumes fail to pass that test. And, we should consider Paul's teaching on meat sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8. Idol worship is always wrong, but eating meat sacrificed to idols is a matter of conscience.

If you are unable to participate in Halloween with a clear conscience, there are plenty of other things to celebrate this time of year, from Reformation Day to All Saints Day, to the beauty of fall's changing colors, to, as always, the sovereignty of God and the victory of Christ over everything. And, if kids will be knocking at your door on Halloween night, you can always put on a wool tunic and nail 95 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to your door.

If you and your kids do enjoy a little spooky stuff, just remember, as Paul Pastor wrote over at Christianity Today, "monsters point us to God." "No story worth listening to," he says, "lacks a villain. And no villain worth fighting lacks monstrosity." No story has more monstrous villains or darker darkness than Scripture. We do have an enemy, an enemy of our souls. At the same time, Scripture describes evil as not just "out there," but also in our own hearts.

And yet, evil does not have the final say, either in the world or in our own hearts. Evil is a real foe, but because of Jesus Christ, evil is a defeated foe. So, fear not.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

This Breakpoint originally aired October 31, 2014.

John Stonestreet and Maria Baer discuss the worldviews behind recent tragic headlines, including the shooting in Maine and the war in Israel. Alliance Defending Freedom is being targeted with a false narrative about their mission.

- Recommendations -

Golda

The Narrative: Peace and War in Israel with Michael Mistretta

All Israel Will Be Saved

Segment 1: The Worldviews Behind Tragedies

U.S. Sees Spike in Anti-Semitic Incidents Since Start of Israel-Hamas War

ALVIN PLANTINGA: The Dawkins Confusion

Segment 2: Israel and Hamas at War

Israel, Hamas, and Just War: Interviews with Joel Rosenberg and Eric Patterson

Segment 3: NPR's Coverage of ADF

How One Christian Group is Shaping Policy, from Abortion to LGBTQ Rights

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

On October 22, 2020, 34 countries signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family. Though it lacked any legal obligations, the statement was intended to express that it was indeed possible to advance the health and wellbeing of women and protect the lives of the preborn at the same time.

The original list of countries included the United States. In fact, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo helped to architect the project. Eight days after becoming president, Joe Biden removed the United States from the list of signatories in line with the foreign policy of the last two democratic presidents, who used access to U.S. aid to advance abortion and LGBTQ ideology around the world.

On Wednesday in Washington D.C., seven U.S. Congressional leaders and ambassadors from Guatemala and Hungary hosted 36 original signatories to the Geneva Consensus Declaration, to reaffirm the commitment to protect "both the rights of women and unborn children." Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma put it bluntly: "When families are strong, nations are strong. When families are weak, nations are weak."

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A new California law signed by Governor Newsom on October 7 will enable strangers to lead children 12 and older on matters of mental health and their home life without requiring any parental consent. It's a bizarre irony for a state that's also suing the corporation Meta for harming children under age 13 through its social media platforms, based on the assumption that children are too vulnerable to resist the effects of social media. Evidently, children can't resist their phones, but they should be able to make massive decisions about their minds, bodies, and family relationships without their parents' consent.

The new law, Assembly Bill 665, expands an existing law that only applied to minors aged 12 and older with private health insurance. The new law includes minors aged 12 and older who are covered by publicly funded health insurance. Additionally, this new law broadens the list of professionals able to treat such minors from not only mental health professionals, clinical psychologists, and other licensed counselors, but also a "registered psychological assistant, a psychological trainee, an associate clinical social worker, a social work intern," and more. The law also permits minors to pursue mental health services and residential shelter services without having to "present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others, or be the alleged victim of incest or child abuse."

LGBTQ activists are celebrating the law as a huge victory for empowering at-risk "queer" youth. Director of California Policy Kim Lewis commended Governor Newsom for signing the new law, which will address "disparities" and provide "critical mental health services" for youth, "especially youth of color and LGBTQIA+ youth."

However, far from empowering young people, California's new law is rooted in a lie about what it means to be human. At the core of this bill is an idea that humans, including young people, are self-determined, self-defined beings who should have no restraints on what they desire or believe. Most importantly, the bill undermines the parent-child relationship, the most vital relationship for a child's health and wellbeing. In its place, the law offers absolute autonomy to young people, despite their youth and immaturity.

This view of people, especially children, is deeply flawed. As Scripture teaches and reality confirms, our existence is owed to others–to God, first and foremost, and to mothers and fathers, according to God's design. Mothers and fathers are those tasked with and best able to provide care for children, who are born vulnerable creatures dependent on love and nurturing in order to become healthy, independent adults.

Policies like AB 665 are predicated on "empowering" children by denying this dependence on parents, as well as the limits imposed by our Creator. In between the parents and children, this bill places agents of the state, who are allegiant to ideologies about children rather than the children themselves.

One California mom, Abigail Martinez, lost custody of her daughter after school counselors and the Department of Children and Family Services determined that she was not properly supporting her daughter's transgender identity. The state agents claimed to know her daughter better than Abigail did, but they were tragically wrong. Months later, Abigail's daughter took her own life.

Similar stories are found in other states. In fact, according to a new groundbreaking study, states where minors are free to consent to health services without parental permission experience higher youth suicide rates. And the consequences won't end here. Bad ideas beget worse ideas. The only way to truly empower children is by protecting the rights of parents to protect their hearts, minds, and bodies. No other relationship can replace parental protection and guidance. Certainly the state cannot. This law leaves young people vulnerable to the malpractice of the Dr. Frankensteins of our cultural moment and will pave the way for further exploitation. The law claims to recognize that kids are capable of consent, but in reality it lets off the hook those adults who influence them.

Kids don't need "empowerment." They need parents. The way to help kids struggling with their mental health is by preserving and strengthening their relationships with those who, in most cases, know and love them best.

This Breakpoint was co-authored by Jared Eckert. To help us share Breakpoint with others, leave a review on your favorite podcast app.

For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org