John Stonestreet – Page 61

John Cena and the House of Rock

Jun 7, 2021John StonestreetChinaChina

*John Stonestreet, Radio Host and Director of the Colson Center*

John Cena has built a persona, both in the wrestling ring and on the silver screen, as a tough guy. Last week, however, Cena made headlines for contritely apologizing to China for referring to Taiwan as a country. And he did it in Chinese, even.

As tempting as it is to get snarky about the whole scene, this story is about far more than one celebrity. Millions of dollars are on the line with a new Fast and Furious film, and Hollywood hasn’t been willing to criticize Beijing since Seven Years in Tibet twenty-four years ago. Beijing’s oppression of Taiwan and Hong Kong and Christians and Muslim Uyghurs has only gotten worse since then. Yet Hollywood and much of corporate America turn a blind eye, while criticizing Georgia and North Carolina.

Of course, the pressure of having to choose between your career and your convictions is very likely in the future for every Christian. As Christ warned, our faith won’t survive unless it is built on the Solid Rock.

The Population Bomb Bombs

May 24, 2021John StonestreetCulture, Current EventsCulture, Current Events, Family, Marriage

Recently, the New York Times reported that U.S. population growth is now at its second lowest rate in history. Lower birth rates devastate a country’s ability to ward off labor shortages, compete economically, and take care of its elderly.

The question is, why is this happening now?

One overlooked factor is the power of bad ideas: particularly the treatment of sex as a commodity, commitment as optional, and children as a burden. Children are often seen today as obstacles, not blessings, getting in the way of making money and satisfying our desires.

But this view misses the awesome responsibility and source of immense joy children are. Every person bears the image of God, so whenever families produce children, they mirror God to the world. Sure kids are sometimes irritating, but they’re often hilarious, and they always remind us that life isn’t about ourselves.

That’s a message a culture on the brink of a demographic crisis desperately needs to hear.

New York Celebrates Death with Abortion Exhibit

May 18, 2021John StonestreetAbortionAbortion, Arts & Entertainment, Culture

Sociologist Philip Rieff wrote about “death works”—cultural activities or expressions that serve no purpose except to tear down tradition and belief in the sacred.

Recently, Culture of Life Africa founder, Obianuju Ekeocha, took to Twitter to highlight an especially appalling death work. Bloomberg Quicktake featured a video on an art exhibit in New York City called “Abortion is Normal,” in which over 50 artists celebrate and defend the so-called “right to choose,” in bizarre and even grotesque ways.

The exhibit is described as a way to push back against abortion restrictions, but the pieces really speak to the central place death plays in the pro-choice movement.

For Rieff, abortion itself was a death work. It ends not just a life but a culture’s belief in life and that sex has a necessary connection with new humans. As Obianuju Ekeocha reminds us, “Abortion is vile and ugly.” That can’t be covered up with paint or anything else.