Signs and Wonders: More pet idolatry, religious liberty, same-sex 'marriage,' and Chick-fil-A

More pet idolatry. A Chinese man has sued a Beijing animal hospital over the death of his dog during plastic surgery, according to the Global Times. A Chinese animal welfare association said the surgery was a doggie facelift performed on a Tibetan Mastiff. Mr. Yu (as the media are referring to him) owns a Beijing dog farm. Yu is demanding 880,000 yuan ($141,240) in compensation for the dog's death. The Tibetan Mastiff has become a status symbol for China's growing class of nouveaux riche. One sold for 20 million yuan last year. That’s about $3 million. However, the prices have been artificially inflated by dog breeders and speculators who will bid up the prices of dogs at auctions. Also, some buyers report getting their dogs home, bathing them, and having hair dye and extensions come out in the wash.

Religious liberty. I’m in Nashville, for the annual National Religious Broadcasters Convention. One of the topics taking center-stage is religious liberty. Lots of religious broadcasters think that if the federal government can compel Christians to comply with mandates related to contraception, same-sex marriage, and abortion, then the possible restriction of religious broadcasting as “hate speech” is not merely a paranoid delusion. Among those leading the charge is The Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which led a panel discussion on the topic this morning featuring best-selling author Eric Metaxas and NRB General Counsel Craig Parshall.

The forgotten corporation. The Obama administration has thrown its weight behind same-sex “marriage” by asking the Supreme Court to overturn California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage. Much was made last week of an amicus brief in favor of same sex marriage signed by less than 300 corporations. However, little has been made of the fact that millions of corporations did NOT sign the brief, and that many of those that did sign are companies that have ongoing relationships with the homosexual community. One example: Distinguished Gay Men, a professional matchmaking service based in San Jose, Calif. Another example: Bigelow Villa LLC, which operates a “cocktail lounge that caters to the diverse Seattle community.” This amicus brief is pure propaganda, designed to obscure the fact that the majority of Americans, when allowed to vote on the subject, vote for the definition of traditional marriage.

Eat Mor Chikin. Chick-fil-A will continue serving University of New Mexico (UNM) students. The Student Union Building (SUB) Board voted 8 to 3 last week to keep the fast food chain in the SUB. Rebecca Vanucci, the SUB board president, voted to get rid of Chick-fil-A. "If someone is telling me they feel unsafe then I feel I should respect that and that's why I wanted them removed," she said. But Steven Ybarra, a UNM senior, said, "I feel business has the right to do business regardless of personal beliefs. They provide a good product with a good price in clean facilities." Some also expressed concern that if Chick-fil-A could be thrown off campus for the beliefs of its owners, other business might ultimately have to comply with a wide range of ideologically driven conditions before doing business on campus.