The Health-Care law of the Obama administration has caused no small controversy. Most recently, the provision that all employers must provide contraceptive products to their employees as a health care benefit regardless of the religious convictions of that institution is one of the most egregious. This provision and the subsequent discussion and debate within our culture gets to the heart of conscience, a precious biblical concept and a precious concept central to religious liberty in the American culture.

By definition, dictators are not voted into power. They do not rule by consensus developed within a legislative body. They do not run for the political office they hold by making promises or developing a campaign platform. They rule by raw power, usually military in nature. Such rulers often take on the image of divinity or at least quasi-divinity. Historically, one thinks of the Caesars of the Roman Empire.

In a recent article in Time magazine, David Von Drehle posits that there is a conservative identity crisis in America today.  The term “conservative” is a popular term in America.  Indeed, Von Drehle shows that according to polls, conservatism is the most “popular philosophy in the US:  2 in every 5 Americans say they embrace
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Fear of a new war in the Middle East is growing. Only one year ago, there was hope of a new Middle East. The Arab Spring was dawning, with the promise of democracies across northern Africa and into South West Asia. It would seem that 2012 will be a dark and dismal sequel to the hope of 2011 in the Middle East.

Near the end of January 2012, an extraordinary development affecting the cause of religious liberty occurred and the media hardly reported on it. In my judgment, it is one of the most underreported stories in recent memory. For the first time in American history, the state is ordering religious institutions to provide insurance coverage for employees that must include contraceptives, including those that may induce abortion.

Since World War II, the federal government has been distributing more benefits to more people without mandating higher taxes. The result is a welfare state with ever-growing dependency on the government—at all levels. As public policy, this formula is now bankrupt—and will soon result in the bankruptcy of this nation.

The rather shocking outcome of the South Carolina primary is a metaphor for the state of the Republican Party. During the campaign in South Carolina and especially during the major debate right before the primary, the wealth and taxes of Mitt Romney seemed to be the primary issue.

Jon Meacham, associated with Time magazine and an important American writer on religious issues, has written that Tim “Tebow is perhaps the most significant Evangelical Christian in the country. Depending on your point of view, his rise is a thoroughly American story of honest conviction or of ostentatious piety, of faith and family or of aggressive sectarianism…”

The US Postal Service is in trouble. It has urged Congress to allow it to cancel Saturday deliveries, with discussion about the possibility of moving to three-days-a-week delivery of the mail. In the last fiscal year, it lost $5.1 billion, with total losses exceeding $14 billion—an amount larger than the budgets of 35 states of the US!!

Oil consumption in America remains an important issue for our economy and for our national security. Our nation, however, has become more efficient in its use of petroleum and has secured new energy sources, as shown recently by Daniel Yergin. How did this startling development occur?