The enormous billboard loomed above me as I sat in late-afternoon city traffic. It featured a scantily-clad woman with dark red lipstick and air-brushed-to-perfection curves. I stared at it transfixed. I’m sure she was meant to be selling some sort of perfume or lingerie. It’s hard to remember because what she was really selling was far more destructive. I thought to myself, “This billboard was designed by Satan to tempt men,” and I blamed it for playing its role in promoting the veritable addiction to pornography that plagues our modern world. I looked away, disdainfully.

Responding to a question on NBC’s Meet the Press, presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson raised controversy with his statement, “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” Is Carson’s perspective correct? What is the Christian perspective on this matter?

“About 90% of seabirds have eaten plastic and are likely to retain some in their gut, a new analysis estimates. The study concludes that matters will only get worse until action is taken to stem the flow of waste to the oceans. Researcher Erik Van Sebille says the oceans are now filled with plastic and it is ‘virtually certain’ that any dead seabird found in 2050 ‘will have a bit of plastic in its stomach’” (BBC, August 31, 2015).

“As the region, which is home to over 350 million people, begins to recover from a series of deadly heatwaves…  the World Resources Institute (WRI) claims water shortages were a key factor in the 2011 Syria civil war. ‘Drought and water shortages in Syria likely contributed to the unrest that stoked the country’s 2011 civil war.

Animosity and persecution against Christians are rising again around the globe. “A persecution watchdog group is warning believers that statistics suggest a Christian is martyred for their faith every five minutes somewhere around the world” (Christian Post, September 16, 2015). Religious attacks are increasing in non-Christian nations.