A news report from the Netherlands points to a form of theological insanity that is spreading far beyond the Dutch.  Ecumenical News International reports that church authorities in the Netherlands have decided not to take action against a Dutch pastor who openly declares himself to be an atheist.

Even as Californians await the decision of their state Supreme Court on the same-sex marriage issue, momentum toward the legalization of gay marriage has now shifted to New England, where several states are poised to approve some version of homosexual marriage in coming weeks.

Give Fred Barnes credit.  He knows a good idea when he sees one.  Writing for the “Houses of Worship” column of The Wall Street Journal, Barnes tells the story of how he and his wife came to leave The Falls Church near Washington, DC and then to join another congregation.

For well over a century, many prophets of doom have predicted world overpopulation would lead to ecological disaster, famine, poverty and other woes.  As Philip Longman points out in the March 24, 2009 edition of USA Today, the world’s population is expected to hit 7 billion by 2012, up from the 6 billion mark set in 1999.  So, is overpopulation a real threat?

If this article had appeared in a newspaper less illustrious and authoritative than The Wall Street Journal, I would have assumed it to be a hoax.  Evidently not.  It seems that a couple of intrepid transhumanist artists have lost their funding, thanks to the fact that their investments had been managed by Bernard Madoff, the investor who just admitted to running what may well be the largest Ponzi scheme in history.