by Richard Nelson | Apr 4, 2015 | Blog
Frank Bruni New York Times columnist Frank Bruni doesn’t believe that Christians who are opposed to same-sex marriage are genuine. That’s the obvious upshot of his new piece “Bigotry, the Bible, and the Lessons of Indiana.” Rather than building...
by Richard Nelson | Apr 2, 2015 | Blog
To say that something more important is happening in Indiana than the Final Four, may sound like heresy to the faithful congregants of the Big Blue Nation in this sacred week of NCAA tournaments. But the uproar over the recently passed Religious Freedom...
by Richard Nelson | Apr 2, 2015 | Blog
The United States and Christianity have long been synonymous with one another. The nation's founding documents are filled with references to the Christian God and his providence. As a result, the protection of religious freedom in the U.S. has been a long-held...
by Richard Nelson | Apr 1, 2015 | Blog
To say something is happening in Indiana bigger than the Final Four, may sound like heresy to the faithful congregants of the Big Blue Nation in this holy week of NCAA tournaments. But the uproar over the recently passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 31, 2015 | Blog
If there’s anything in store for American political discourse more absurd or uninformed than the arms race over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, I cannot fathom what that might be. The entire kerfuffle is pathetic, from the blatant...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 30, 2015 | Blog
It's difficult to believe five years have passed since the Affordable Health Care Act was signed into law by President Barrack Obama. Even with the passage of time, many of the details of “Obamacare” seem to be shrouded in mystery. As if a piece of...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 26, 2015 | Blog
Last week, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) officially amended its constitution to expand marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.” The decades-long battle inside the largest Presbyterian...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 24, 2015 | Blog
For the past 23 years I have been writing about the social consequences of expanded gambling. The “fruit” of gambling is very public: jobs and revenue. The pain of gambling caused by the addicted and the problem gamblers is mostly private,...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 23, 2015 | Blog
Is it even possible that my generation, which sends 6 billion text messages per day and 6,000 thousand Tweets per second, is fatally lonely? Not only is that possible, it’s increasingly the consensus of social and behavioral scientists. Carolyn Gregoire at...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 19, 2015 | Blog
The line between practicing tolerance and concession is a difficult one to walk. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has attempted to extend an olive branch the LGBT community in Utah by helping to craft anti-discrimination legislation specifically...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 17, 2015 | Blog
The concept of Chinese water torture is a relatively simple one: The repetitive, slow drip, drip, drip of water onto a restrained person's forehead will allegedly drive them insane. It is a concept that can be found in nature as well, as the slow dripping of water...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 16, 2015 | Blog
Hard times hit Kansas. Government leaders sold their soul to the casino business and lost. In March 2007 the legislature passed and Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed a bill to approve the first “government owned” casinos in the country. Casino...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 15, 2015 | Blog
I’ve found myself thinking about one particular classmate from my undergraduate years. We entered around the same time. He was able to graduate much sooner than I, though, mostly because his Sallie Mae loan covered enough of his college bill so that he could...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 12, 2015 | Blog
Have you heard the news about the woman in the Planet Fitness locker room who objected to another man being there? Instead of the man being asked to leave, the woman was kicked out of the club because of the way she objected. Planet Fitness has a...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 11, 2015 | Blog
An increasing number of legal cases are being filed against casinos and lotteries in efforts to make them responsible for the damage they cause, A recent very interesting case has arisen in Portland, OR involving the dishonest presentation of a lottery game....
by Richard Nelson | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Obedience to the law is demanded as a right, not asked as a favor.” Traditionally, those who uphold the law receive benefits, while those who skirt it do not. House Bill 267 in Kentucky, however, aims to undermine the law...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog
Opponents of expanded gambling in Kentucky have been battling Instant Racing (brand name) for over four years. On one side are the opponents including individuals, the Family Foundation of Kentucky and the Kentucky Council on Alcohol and Gambling Problems and...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 4, 2015 | Blog
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the joint session of Congress might have been one of the most important speeches in our day. It was monumental for a number of reasons. In plain-spoken terms, he challenged radical Islam in general and Iran in...
by Richard Nelson | Mar 3, 2015 | Blog
What exactly is goverment's role in reducing poverty among its citizens? According to recently published statistics, it may just need to get out of the way more. The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal’s 2015 Index of Economic Freedom is showing...
by Richard Nelson | Feb 27, 2015 | Blog
Fairness Campaign director Chris Hartman called passage of SB 76 which maintains single-gender restrooms in Kentucky public schools "prioritizing discrimination.” He’s right. Requiring girls to use the girls room and boys to use the boys room is...
