Mt. Vernon, TX - In this small Texas town, Drummond’s Bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. Almost immediately, the local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up until the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The parishioners were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that it was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or involvement in the building’s demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made its way to trial, the judge reviewed the briefs submitted by both sides. At the preliminary hearing, he commented, “I don’t know how I’m going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and an entire church congregation that does not…”

Thanks Mike!

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday in May, inviting people to pray for the nation. The day was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. The theme for this year is “Prayer! America’s Strength & Shield.”

If there is a service in your community, you might consider attending. Our country could use some extra prayer right now. For more information, visit nationaldayofprayer.org.

The YFZ Ranch story, originally centered on child abuse, has reopened a Pandora’s box of confusion and misinformation about the legal and moral issues surrounding polygyny, polyandry and polygamy.

In the strict legal sense, polygamy is illegal in the United States. Yet enforcement has become touchy because of challenges based on Constitutional equal protection.

When the courts said it was alright for two consenting adults to live together (as if married) under a “contract” other than one of marriage, they opened the door, some argue, for a man and multiple women to also live together under a slightly different “contract”. And following that line of reasoning, a woman would likewise be able to take multiple “husbands” under a “contract”. The fine point in this argument is that, as long as the participants don’t call their arrangement “marriage” and don’t apply for a marriage license (or call themselves husband and wife), they shouldn’t be prosecuted for polygamy.

The YFG Ranch story has rekindled the debate. I doubt we’ll ever accept polygamy in the U.S. — it doesn’t fit well with our culture and history — but unless we take some legal position against “what” is being done and stop dancing around what it’s “called,” cults like this one will continue to spring up under the guises of religion and equal protection.