As you consider the death penalty, it's important to make a distinction between the role of an individual and the role of government. If someone murdered your child, should you forgive them or should you fight to have them prosecuted? The answer is: both. The Bible commands us as individuals to forgive those who harm us. But as members of society, we're called to uphold standards and to protect others from harm to the extent we can. This is the first role of government, and government is given certain authority that individuals don't have.

For instance, when someone commits a crime, we as individuals do not have the authority to lock them up for a long period of time, or condemn them to death; in fact, it would be a crime for us to do so. But if we were members of a jury, we would not only have the authority but the responsibility to send them to prison - or to death, if that's what the law calls for. So, it's entirely consistent to forgive one who harms you and at the same time work to see that they are punished by the government.

If we want a just society, we must understand the distinctions in the roles we are called to fill.

A new organization is being created to inform people of Mississippi whether their legislators are voting to quote "fully fund education." In announcing this group, its founders implied that the only measure of whether a legislator supports education is if they vote to fund the current system of public schools, regardless of how the money is actually spent. They seem to be for more spending, even if it doesn't produce better results. (more…)

Did you know that you are paying for the Spanish-American War? That's right, every month on your phone bill, you are paying a tax that was specifically created to pay for the war that began and ended in 1898. That year, Congress imposed a so-called "temporary" tax of one cent per telephone call to help pay for our expenses in the war. By 1990, that once cent per call had increased to three percent of your phone bill. (more…)

Public school spending in Mississippi increased by more than a billion dollars from 1996 to 2005. But test scores just released by the U.S. Department of Education show that science scores over that same period of time have not changed at all in Mississippi. (more…)

Competition is the essential element in improving the price and quality of goods and services. It's a curious thing to me how many business leaders believe this principle until the topic turns to education. For some reason, they treat education as if it were immune to the benefits of competition. They defend the current system rather than embracing an approach that would allow parents to choose schools that best meet their children's needs. (more…)

In the past 15 years, the number of charter schools in the United States has grown from fewer than ten to more than 3,600, and the number of students attending these schools has gone from hundreds to more than a million. (more…)

Unemployment benefit programs were created to help people who have lost jobs due to no fault of their own, and to help them for a short time until they could get other work. Many hard-working people still use it that way, but others see it as an entitlement program, where, for six months, they don't have to work. (more…)

Mississippi is known for having some of the strongest laws in the nation regulating abortions. But this year, the state House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal one of the most important of those laws - the law that requires a twenty-four hour waiting period and requires abortion clinics to provide information to women about the procedure itself, the stage of development of their unborn child, and other important information. (more…)

The one topic that has hovered over the legislature this year is not helping south Mississippi recover from the hurricane, but how to increase the cigarette tax and reduce the sales tax on groceries. (more…)