It was 32 years ago that Vice President George H. W. Bush made the pitch for “a kinder and gentler America.” As well intentioned as he may have been, the idea did not catch on with very many people. In the three decades that have followed, a lot of people in politics and in the media have done just the opposite. They exude anger and exhibit harsh, hateful hostility constantly. On the street, in the mall and even at church we are observing a continuing demonstration of vicious

Although Thomas Paine was not a Christian, he was an American patriot who played a major role in the Revolutionary War days of 1776–1777. President John Adams later said of him, “Without his pen, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.” Just two days before Christmas in 1776 Paine wrote these now famous lines. These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; bu

Whom can you believe these days? the media? the political voices? the educators? the pulpit? And what about you and me? A few years back there was a TV game show called Truth or Consequences. It was a funny program where you either answered a silly question correctly or you had to pay the consequences by per forming a stunt of some kind. In such situations we all laugh because, after all, it is only a game. But in the January through December world where we all live, truth is