Here’s the fourth in the repeat of my Sunday series during the month of December on the fascinating abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. (Also see Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “O Holy […]

Here’s the third in the repeat of my Sunday series during the month of December of the fascinating abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. Last week I posted the story behind “O Holy Night,” and the week before, “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” This week…

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

In December 1863 poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was still grieving the death by fire of his wife Francis 2 years before when receiving word their oldest son Charles had been seriously injured as a Union soldier in the Civil War.

A fierce abolitionist, Longfellow awakened in despair that Christmas morning, unsure of both the fate of his son and his country. It was against this backdrop Longfellow wrote the melancholy poem “Christmas Bells” when hearing church bells peel throughout Boston proclaiming the birth of Christ. Two of the middle verses were later dropped to adapt the poem into a Christmas carol, which composer John Caulkin set to music. Those 2 verses give the current verse 3 (the last verse below) much more context:

Every year during December I have been posting the surprising abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. This Sunday, Wk 2 of 4, we examine… O Holy Night In 1847, his parish priest asked French poet Placide Cappeau […]

by Carder All in the name of freedom. Party like a rock-star while little ones are dying. Silent screams from injected saline and dreams you will never hear because little lungs were punctured before they could fully function. Who will be a voice for the voiceless?… How many freight trains of injustice will roll by […]

There is a mesmerizing time-lapse video at the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois, that in four minutes shows the North’s four-year takeover of the South during the Civil War (screen shots above – view a video clip here).

I was reminded of that video when viewing this GIF from Planned Parenthood. Click on the image to launch…

Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and express gratitude for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives. We recognize that all of these blessings, and life itself, come not from the hand of man but from Almighty God. Every […]

Oddly, at its root, abortion really isn’t a political issue at all. It’s a cultural revolutionary ideal and tactic. It has been indispensable in advancing radical feminism. It becomes political to the extent that it was thrust on this nation by the US Supreme Court in one of the most raw acts of judicial activism. Strictly speaking, it is a state’s rights issue, and the people have been robbed of their ability to decide this at the ballot box, or through their elected representatives.

Here’s the third in the repeat of my Sunday series during the month of December on the fascinating abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. (Also see “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and […]