“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—     Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—     Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—     Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller penned those words in the aftermath of World War II. Initially a supporter of the National Socialist Party,...

Have you ever seen or experienced one of those moments when you hear an utterance that makes you cringe? Like that time in church when the soloist was so off-key that it quenched the Spirit and made the congregation break out in empathy-sweat. “Ol’ boy was operatin’ outside his gifts!” as the saying goes. Sometimes folks get way outside their gifts, saying or doing more than they should. This has a way of robbing the moment of its expected impact. Politicians participate in such verbal...

Is anyone else tired of liberals crying wolf? We’ve all heard of Aesop’s famous fable. As the tale goes, a young boy cried wolf, alarming villagers who came running to protect their flocks. It was a lark, and the boy laughed at their panic. Enjoying himself, he cried wolf a second time, and once again the villagers rushed out to the field only to see the boy laughing at them. Then a real wolf came, but when he cried, “Wolf!” the third time, no one believed him, and the boy became wolf food....