Contents
The Limits of Democracy
This all reminds me of a lesson I taught a few years ago to my 6th grade choir. The demographic of the group was 70% boys and 30% girls. While we sang 90% of the time in class, the other 10% was dealing with issues of the day. The majority of the children were first generation Americans (some by legal parentage and some by not. California, what can I say?). Trump had just been elected and many were upset because their parents were upset, and thus began the discussion about the kind of governance we have here. I tried to explain the difference between a republic and a democracy. I decided we would have a democratic vote in class ( 51% would rule 49%). The issue we would vote on would be this: “The boys will have free time today on their cell phones and the girls will have to sit quietly with hands folded and no cell phones”. We never got it to an actual vote because the girls went ballistic. The lesson was well learned.Melody
Melody, good one.
Psychotic Empathy & My Goals for the 19th
RE: Psychotic Empathy—Feminists: You can have Lindsay Clancy or you can have the 19th Amendment, but you cannot have both.fp
fp, perhaps a friendly amendment? You can have Lindsay Clancy’s defenders or you can have . . .
Thanks for the Norm MacDonald reference. I got a chuckle out of that. Made me remember my all time favorite Norm joke . . .
Never gets old . . .Ryan
Ryan, thanks.
I am only writing to thank Jane Doe, who you featured on your September 1 post, and to remind you that you will never succeed in the goals you hope to achieve regarding the 19th.
Enjoy your current proximity to our halls of power while you can, because this is the closest you will ever come. Women will never not vote, and the U.S. will never be a Christian nation.
Jane, if you’re reading: you’re in excellent company.
And finally, women do not owe you niceness when all you have for us is hatred.Jill Doe
Jill Doe, when you boil a simple disagreement down into “hatred,” you are illustrating why many people believe that politics ought not to float on the surface of a turbulent sea of emotions.
Training “Big Emotions”
In your video responding to tiktok parenting, one had a child screaming “no” loudly. I agree this folly needs to be trained. Do you recommend that always be done by spanking? And an additional question, how do you suggest handling “a live one” who really is kicking and fighting spankings with vigor (3.5 yr old)? Is there room to allow things to cool off and then administer discipline or is that just disciplining on their terms?Anon
Anon, it always needs to be successfully confronted and quelled, and no, spanking is not always necessary. If a cooling off period works before discipline, then okay. But I doubt that it would. Flipping out over discipline must also be disciplined.
Mohler and Christian Nationalism
I was pretty surprised to hear Dr. Mohler say that dispensationalism has timed out and has massively lost influence. Since you likely have his contact info, may I suggest that you ask him to do two things?
Apologize for fifty plus years of misdirection and cultural pessimism.
Have all the SBC churches print an announcement in their church bulletins letting their congregations know that dispensationalism has timed out.
Maybe Dr. Mohler could suggest that the Calvary Chapel folks do the same.Mark
Mark, unfortunately for that approach, the Baptists don’t have a pope. I believe the thing is turning around, but it pretty much has to turn around this way, which is to say, organically.
Debating a Torrent
Like Talking to a Fire Hose
Bravo for going toe to toe with Mehdi Hasan! You held your own against a constant onslaught of blah blah.
And I thought Cathy Newman was the champ at verbal assault . . . sheesh, Mehdi, take a breath!Jack
Jack, thanks.
Bad Words in Fiction
I hope you’re doing well. As mentioned before, I’m writing the first draft of a novel. While I write, I also read, as one must. I’ve had the pleasure of reading (listening to it on Canon+) your book, “No Such Thing As Bad Words.” It is a fun read/listen, and I’ve enjoyed your arguments within the book. I also recall listening to one of your son’s SASF episodes where he mentions that some characters in one of his books said either “gosh” or another actual curse word. This made a Canadian Dutch Reformed reader angry. In this episode, N. D. explains that authors can portray characters sinning. In those aforementioned moments in his book, those characters were sinning.
In my story, my characters live in a culture/place where swearing/cussing/bad word usage is (almost) an art form. Obviously, I would not want to go overboard and portray everyone like they are a character in a Tarantino film. Rather, I would want to toe the line between accuracy and . . . well, pleasing our Lord. I do not think I should sacrifice the latter to indulge in the former. My intent is not “edginess,” but ensuring that I get my point across without having to alienate an audience, to displease our Lord, as well as to avoid making it sound like people in this culture are thugs, or like they’re all Ned Flanders. You can portray a character sinning without giving a “stamp of approval.” What might your suggestion(s) be?
Thank you for all you do, praying!ON
ON, I am not convinced of the argument that such language in fiction is necessary for the sake of “realism” or “accuracy.” Dostoevsky didn’t need to do that, and he got the human condition across quite well. In short, I don’t think it is necessary to reproduce everything “realistically” for the sake of realism. The realism of fiction is always, of necessity, artificial, and I believe that is a design feature. If a Christian writer includes something like that, I think there are two hurdles it needs to clear. First, it cannot be done in a way that entices the reader to sin. The effect should be to repel. And second, it should do something in the plot. It should move things forward, and not be mere decoration for the sake of realism.
Brilliant and Blind Hoffer
Have you read Jacques Ellul? I just finished his The Presence of the Kingdom which I think raises many similar points to this one, from a more Christian perspective, but not a very optimistic postmil one. I recommend it.Benjamin
Benjamin, I have some of his books, and may have dabbled many years ago. Thanks for the recommendation.
Enjoyed Both Brilliant and Blind very much, particularly “just raisins in the oatmeal” and “Alas for my interlocutors, it is not so.”Rob
Rob, thank you.
From Both Brilliant and Blind:
“So then, there is my mixed review, right up front. Hoffer is both brilliant and blind. We live in a time where we really need to profit from his brilliance, while never forgetting that it was the post-war secular blindness, which he represents very well, that created such vast opportunities for our current crop of mountebanks, scamps, charlatans, hustlers, and frauds.”
You forgot the poor quacksalvers. I’m sure they feel excluded.Nathan
Nathan, no, I didn’t forget them. That’s a new one on me. I like it . . . quacksalvers.
Pastoring Trump Derangement
I preach for a very small congregation in the Northwest Alabama Area. We generally fit the stereotypical small county church mold, with the exception of our politics. A little over half of the congregation are Trump-haters—not raving liberals but rather social conservatives gripped by a potent case of TDS. One man even went so far as to say, “In olden days, people worshiped a golden calf. Now, they worship an orange jackass.” He told me he can’t understand how any Bible-believing Christian could vote for Trump. I want to preach on God and the Polis, but I’m not sure which angle I should attack it from. On the one hand, people need to repent of their voting habits. Before they do that, though, they need to learn not to judge their fellow man. I know that the latter principle doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care how you vote, so I want to be sure I’m striking the balance between the two. How would you proceed?
Thank you,Crawford
Crawford, if you do that, it sounds to me like you need to take it down to the studs and build out from there. Don’t start with what a vote is, start with what it means. People on both sides of Trump share the same confusion, ironically. They both think voting for him means anointing him as “a man of God, appointed for this hour.” For some that is obviously ridiculous, and for others, they swallow the reductio, and they whoop and holler at Trump rallies. I think your stretch goal for your Trump haters is to get them to acknowledge that a Christian could vote for Trump while sharing their conviction that he needs to get saved.
The Facts of Life
Thanks for your ministry—especially your many fine works on the family. I need some family advice, and I have a feeling you have some wisdom to share.
My oldest child is now 9. She’s homeschooled and purposefully sheltered from the world’s influence. We read the Bible together everyday as a family, and we don’t skip the uncomfortable parts. That said, she’s never asked about sex, and we’ve never offered much more explanation than referring to sex as “a kind of closeness that is meant just for marriage” whenever it comes up in our reading.
Neither my wife or I ever got a sex talk from our parents. Nothing. We’re completely in the dark as to when to do so and how to go about doing so. Please guide us! We don’t even have a frame of reference, so as many practical details as you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks much, and may God bless you.John & Naomi
John & Naomi, you will have a very natural on-ramp in just a few years when her body starts to change. Without a talk from mom, this could well be a real source of consternation. This would be a straightforward talk on what to expect. And right next door to this topic is why. “Why does my body need to be doing this?” Just give her the broad outlines, and then take questions.
Tattoos as Failed Adornment
RE: tattoo musings
I’ve been thinking about your statement the tattoos ate a failed attempt at adornment. Then Sunday I was again confronted with grand old hymns bastardized with pointless modern choruses, and I spotted the connection—a failed attempt at adornment . . . like outfitting a cathedral with an oil change pit.
I confess that I don’t sing most of the songs in church because we’re not supposed to sacrifice the blind and the lame, and they’re mostly lame.Craig
Craig, perhaps this is what Wesley was anticipating—”leap ye lame for joy.”
Family Size
Good morning, I enjoy reading your blog and listening to your interviews and YouTube videos on a variety of subjects.
I have a question for you regarding family size. My husband and I have been married for four years in October. We have three-year-old twins. We had no debt when we were dating and got engaged and married within a year of dating. We had a small wedding to avoid debt, and it ended up being a wise decision because I became pregnant with our twins shortly after getting married.
They are a blessing and we love them very much. However, I would like to have another baby. My husband always said before we were married he would be happy with two children, but I am one of eight children so I always thought I would have at least four. Perhaps that is my fault for not realizing he was serious about two. There have also been hard moments with our twins. We went from dating, to married, to two premature infants very quickly. My husband assumed the responsibility well and has worked hard to provide and discipline them well. I’m very appreciative of him and respect him greatly. I have also grown in my understanding of the husband and wife dynamic and submission over the last few years. I was raised in churches that were certainly affected by latent feminism and egalitarianism. The topic of submission was always approached very cautiously in church, especially as it pertained to women.
Perhaps I am rambling on here, so I will get to my point. If my husband is satisfied with two children and doesn’t desire more, should I not ask for more children and simply submit? Part of me thinks, “well, we need more strong believers having children.” But I also do not want to be a nagging, unsubmissive wife.
Could you provide me with a biblical answer?
Thank you and have a blessed day.Abby
Abby, I would only adjust just one thing. Instead of “not ask for more children and simply submit,” I would suggest that you “ask for more children and simply submit.” He should know what your desire is, and that you are willing to surrender it once he has decided.
A Marriage on the Rocks
I’m struggling so much right now. How do I live in the reality that I can’t trust my husband, but I’m supposed to respect him? How do I live in both the reality of having my heart repeatedly crushed by his sinful choices and still want to be with him? If my husband was David-like repentant and making every effort to do things differently, I think I’d be confident he was going to slay the dragon this time, but I’m losing hope. I’m trying not to, but I am. He has all of these hopes and dreams to serve and preach in church and then he does this. We’re 12 years into marriage with 10 of it being spent with him struggling with lust/pornography issues and sometimes lying about it for months. I’m tired. Tired of it all. I know I’m wrong in my response. My heart is struggling to forgive fully because it hurts so repeatedly. I don’t believe he believes he’ll ever be free. I feel he has self-sabotaged. We were in such an incredible place (or so I thought) right before it happened this last time. He premeditatedly chose to do it too while on a trip, while I was at home newly pregnant taking care of our 5 children in the middle of an actual southern storm. I’m being dramatic I’m sure. But, I’m just feeling emotionally lost at sea, like I can’t find my bearings and don’t know how to be me anymore. I know that must mean I’m not setting my eyes first on Christ. My heart is just aching. Please give me some advice on how to get through this. Thank you.KM
KM, my advice is that you decide as a couple to get marriage counseling from your pastor. If you don’t have a pastor, then find a church that has a pastor who is willing and able to help you. There are a lot of variables that a counselor would be able to get into. How often does this happen? Does he confess or is he caught? How dark is the porn? Etc. But regardless, you need help and encouragement on the ground there.
A Courtship Dilemma
I need help with my relationship. It’s almost been 10 months of courting, with my father overseeing the courtship. Recently my father asked him to write a contract saying he would not force me or my future daughters to go into the workforce, a value my boyfriend already holds to. My boyfriend will not, he sees it as a way my father is trying to give himself authority in our future marriage. Is it in some way giving my father authority in my future marriage? My dad see it as a way of protecting his daughter and future granddaughters. My boyfriend thinks when it’s a contract between my father and his, the relationship isn’t between him and me, it’s between him and my father, which is kind of what my father wants. He wants Timothy (my boyfriend), to court my dad, so that my dad knows who he is. I need advice, please. I really need it. I would also love it if you could answer me this, are women property? Does a husband have ultimate authority over his wife other then making her do something the Bible says is wrong? I really need help. My dad respects you a lot, so advice from you would be great. I was planning on marrying this man, and now everything is falling apart. I know whatever happens is God’s will. But we definitely need advice on what to do. I beg you to give us advice.Ellie
Ellie, here it is. No, women are not chattel property. I believe that both your father and your boyfriend have a point, and I think you should be able to resolve this. I hope so anyhow. It is legitimate for your father to ask your boyfriend to promise that he will not force you or your daughters into the workforce. But the key word there is force. That is something a good Christian man can promise to do. But I think your boyfriend is right to resist signing a contract, as though there were an ongoing legal relationship between him and your family. That really would skew the lines of authority in your family. For example, suppose one of your daughters twenty years from now really wanted to go to nursing school, and was pleading for it. Would that be a violation of the terms of a written contract? Far better for your suitor to promise before God and these witnesses to treat you right.
A Delicate Question
I am 15, and find sexual temptations hard. I don’t watch porn, but find the temptation to masturbate strong. I just wanted to know if it is biblical, and whether or not its a sinful act.E
E, I would recommend my book Fidelity, which has a chapter on this question. I will just say this much here. For a young man in your position, it is lousy preparation for marriage, and the fuel for it is almost always overtly sinful. But there is a lot more in the chapter.
Defining Households
Grace and peace to you pastor as you minister to many in Idaho and others through your online and writing ministries.
First, I’d like to extend my appreciation to you and your bride Nancy for your written works. Many of your books have blessed my family in numerous ways and we are incredibly thankful. I pray your health sustains and you are able to continue in your assignments.
Secondly, I am writing to ask a question I am struggling to find a clear and concise answer for. I’ve been married to my bride for 23 years and we have six children ages 11-20 years. We are members of a Reformed Baptist church in central Arkansas who votes by households. I am not an elder but am helping our two elders formulate a working definition for what a “household” is.
As I am sure you are well aware, the word household is found many times in the scriptures and I’ve struggled with formulating a definition that is not only helpful but Biblical.
We are a small church that is made up of about 20 families. 80% of the souls are aged 2-20, while 20% are 21-85. With that we are facing many who are coming of age and in need of a better defined use of the word household, assuming that it is more than just 4 walls and a roof.
If you are able to share how you and your church defines the word I would be grateful.
In Christ,Stephen
Stephen, the metric we use is that of a stand-alone economic unit, which can include a household of one. We are a college town, so we have a lot of college kids. If one of them wants to join our church, and his parents are putting him through school, he can join as a non-voting member. He is not yet a stand-alone household. But if he is out on his own, and paying his own way, he is counted as a household.
Blended Families
I hope this message finds you well and thriving in the grace of God. I hope this is an appropriate channel to contact you on with the requests that I have.
I am writing from the UK. I’ve been a believer for 9 years, my wife for 14 years, we’ve been married for nearly 4 years, and have 2 children. I also have a 9-year-old daughter, from before conversion, who was born of a highly unstable, non-marital relationship.
I decided to write to you as your books and sermons on family life have have been a major source of help to us. We are truly thankful to the Lord.
I am writing to enquire about the issue of step-families. I have sought to extrapolate the Bible’s teaching on this subject, but fear I may be missing a good deal of its teaching still. I’ve also looked for sound writing on the subject, but have found precious little; a couple of paragraphs from William Gouge, and a couple of sentences from William Perkins.
I hope you don’t mind me asking whether you’ve dealt with such issues as a Pastor, and whether you’ve studied the issue biblically? If so, I wonder if you’d be willing to correspond a bit, on a confidential basis, to learn more of the specifics of our situation, and offer any thoughts, advice or teaching you may have. It would be greatly appreciated, but I would understand if for any reason it wasn’t possible.
In addition, would you be able to recommend any resources I could study on the subject? Relevant passages of scripture would be greatly appreciated, as would good books. I think my wife and I need a solid doctrinal understanding of this complicated issue.
May our Lord be with you,Nick
Nick, I have dealt with blended families a fair bit, but not a ton. As for written resources on it, let me ask our readers. What have any of you all found helpful?
Challenging Family Drama
How would you counsel adults to interact with (even more adult—almost 80) parents who have alcoholism/addiction to pain killers? We just discovered that my mother-in-law has been struggling with drunkenness and addiction for years and my father-in-law has been dealing with it in silence at best, enabling it, at worst. The last few years there has been a noticeable shift in my mother-in-law, which I met with sympathy and love because I actually thought her symptoms were signs of dementia. I actually began hosting a weekly family dinner to help them out, knowing how hard it must be with a dementia diagnoses. Fast forward to a few months ago—when she came to family dinner totally OUT of it—her eyes were barely able to be opened a crack, she could barely walk, her speech was slurred . . .and it all came out. All the adult children confronted her about the need to get help, to which she refused. She recognizes there is a problem and admits it—but refuses to get help, saying she can just stop on her own. (Since that confrontation, we have all been on high alert, and there have been several other instances that question whether ‘stopping’ has happened.) How should we interact with them? We love them so much! We want to help them spend these last few years of their lives enjoying God’s good gift of local family—but it is actually driving the family apart. One particular adult child is bitter and angry, blaming her for decades of sin (we do not know how long this has been a problem) and is refusing to spend ‘extra’ time with them. One particular family loves them and worries about them, but acts like nothing is wrong. And one particular family wants to HELP them get better, love them through it, and not be bitter toward their behaviors (she drove our children in vehicles while intoxicated)—but don’t know how to address it, in love and in wisdom. All the grandchildren are old enough to notice the tension and are watching closely how we deal with this. Should we insist upon getting her into a program by ‘force’ : i.e. we don’t spend time with her? Should we just keep forgiving and praying that the Lord work in her life? PLEASE HELP! (I just finished reading Addict in the Family and, while helpful, left me with still more questions.)R
R, the only “enforcement” from your family I would recommend would be with things like not allowing her to drive your kids. For the rest, make your strong recommendation that she get help, leave the door open to talk at any time, and carry on. I wouldn’t cut her off from family time. I would say no to family responsibilities, e.g. watching the kids.
Crawford: re Christians voting for people of other worldviews, I see Paul doing that, after a fashion, when he “voted” to be judged by Caesar, by Nero, rather than by old Jerusalem, when he appealed to Caesar. FWIW.
(To be sure, I think our brothers at Still Waters Revival Books do NOT see that as an example of [something like] voting to an unbeliever. FW that’s W.)
Sorry, voting FOR an unbeliever. Some other considerations, mostly re choosing a job–choosing a boss–is, like voting, a choice that puts one under someone else’s authority. Christians convinced it’s a sin to vote except maybe in a confessionally Christian country (classic RPCNA?), or sin to vote for Trump[, or sin to vote for a Democrat, MIGHT yet be willing to work for a company whose boss, or board, is as wicked as Trump (unGodly adulterer and greedy liar), or as wicked as a liberal Democrat (greedy, power-hungry racist babykiller) , or freely does business with or under wicked governments; might… Read more »
Ellie that part of a prenup
ON the big issue on writing for me is when I write a period piece set before the 60s. Do I reference Black people as Negroes or Coloreds? I don’t think modern terms are appropriate. If the Black readers would throw in their opinions, I would appreciate it.
There’s a ton of factors involved there Jake, and the decision you make will impact how people read your story. Who is the target audience? What are you hoping for them to get from your story? Do you expect them to be informed on the language of that era? If I were writing about Andrew Young for young kids in Idaho, I might consider historical accuracy in language to take a back seat to using words they’ll understand. But if I were writing to older adults who may even have lived through that era, I may want to be more… Read more »
WW2 domestic life in Minnesota.
I looked it up. “Negro” was considered the respectful term from the 1930s until the end of the 1960s. It was how black writers, journalists, politicians, and civil rights advocates like Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to themselves.
Thank you
John and Naolmi, When I was a kid, I remember my grandmother casually mentioning to my younger sister how her breasts would someday grow. It was in the kitchen while cooking. Every little kid knows that much will happen.
True, but I agree with Doug that we shouldn’t push them. Unless there is a good reason why they might need to know, children, even teenagers, probably don’t need to be told the facts of life unless they ask, and, preferably, though this may not be possible in this society, ones who have not reached puberty should not be told how babies are made–maybe I’m being a little prudish. Amy Carmichael may not have known of the facts of life, some friends said she never knew–with single women of her era, that was possible. But it didn’t keep her from… Read more »
Don’t overload children, but do please make sure they know enough to refuse, scream for help, and tell parents (etc) later even if told to keep a secret, if anyone tries to touch what their underwear covers. I had received no such training at 7 or 8 that I recall when a teenager asked if he could touch….I wasn’t comfortable, but didn’t refuse. (Touching was as far as it went.) And told no one for more than a decade. So give them at least basic training to apply the commandment against adultery and to “flee fornication,” and of holy matrimony… Read more »
Don’t disagree there. But I have felt that I heard the facts earlier than I needed to. (Led to nothing worse bad thoughts, I was in seventh grade, no abuse intended.) Maybe I feel that way because I’m not yet married and I am no longer a very young man, so I haven’t got to the point where I’ll use the facts, and I am almost certain that none of the girls who I ever had access to as a teenager would have tried to seduce me, and I don’t remember anything that suggested any of them were. Maybe I’m… Read more »
If you agree with the example given in the first letter, then why shouldn’t minority groups (like say Black people) get proportionally more representation, to protect their own interests? Instead, we’ve gone in the opposite direction – the groups that already have power use the representative system to gain even more disproportionate power, and in many states they’re currently doing all they can to ensure that minority voters (particularly Black) have no meaningful representation at all.
Proportionally more than they now have, or proportionally more than their percent of the population? Never mind, it would amount to about the same thing. I don’t doubt their are “groups” the have disproportionate power, but who do you think they are? Just don’t say “whites” because white isn’t a group. White nationalists are wrong about that too. For that matter, I doubt black people are all in a same-boat group with common interests that need representation.
About 12-15 percent of the population is black, and about 14 percent of the house of representatives, and it is increasing. Two of the nine supreme court justices are black. (22 percent of the court). It is true that only five of our 100 senators are black, (we’ll probably get at least one more soon ) but one has to consider that there are no states where blacks are the plurality, and I don’t think any states have more blacks than whites, though in the 1880s they were the majority in three or four states. (By whites, I mean European… Read more »
You didn’t address the question at all. The letter writer argued that minorities need more power than their #’s to protect their rights. Yet Black people are never given that, and in fact conservatives have been overtly arguing for the last two years that Black people don’t need to have any representation at all. You didn’t address that contradiction. And then you tried to play identity politics, which I had assumed you’d be against. The # of Black people in power is not the question (though it is indeed significantly below population #’s when senators and governors are considered). Suggesting… Read more »
Wow, you really are obsessed with blacks, aren’t you? Why do you think blacks as a group are so different from anyone else that they require special representation?
What’s the definition of racism again?
If you were quicker on the uptake, you’d have noticed that I was baiting you into an argument ad absurdum. I knew for a fact that y’all would never support greater representation for Black people. I showed that your justification for disproportionate representation to White rural people was not an ethical position at all, merely a tribal one.
Now, you agree with me that everyone’s vote should count the same and we should eliminate these ridiculous advantages for certain groups over others?
You know who Koinonia is, right? He probably posted more comments (and definitely a higher word count) than anyone else on this blog from 2016-2020. He had a hissy fit when DW began censoring/deleting his spam-like, endless comment streams. I think he may have been banned (not sure about that). But now he’s back, returning like a dog to his vomit. I called Koinonia out on last week’s blog. He admitted he used to post here but claims he doesn’t remember what name he used. Yeah, right. Always lie, always double down, always project. If you catch him lying he… Read more »
It’s absolutely wild, in the land of slavery and segregation, while watching the Civil Rights Act get rolled back before our very eyes, to suggest that Black people don’t have common interests that need representation. 90-95% of Black folk would think you an absolute fool to suggest that. Even Doug has no problem talking about *Black subs” and “slave mentality”, so I’m his own way he sends to clearly acknowledge commonalities. Senate and Electoral College composition was designed by a small number of very powerful White landowners, who were negotiating how to divide power among themselves and their kin. The… Read more »
I’ll let Melody elaborate on her story if she wants, but you’ve essentially hijacked the illustration to serve as a soapbox for your pet topic. You racialize everything. It’s hard to tell if you are railing against wealthy, powerful men, or railing against white men. 90% of white men would think you an absolute fool to suggest their interests coincide with those of every other white man on the basis of mutual whiteness. Nobody *openly* disregards black voters. In fact, politicians openly court black voters all the time. They might do it with fingers crossed behind their back for all… Read more »
But I didn’t suggest that all White men’s interests coincided. I didn’t say that anywhere…..even though I live in a community where people still alive today were involved in shootings and firebombing of WHITE people for the mere sin of hiring Black people for the same wages, where White kids still alive today were barred from attending the White public schools because their families ate at the same dinner table as Black people, and where White ministers were kicked out of White churches solely because they were pro-integration in their private lives, even without being activists about it. That community’s… Read more »
Then leave white out of it. Most lower income whites have some idea, and often a very good idea, the moneyed and political establishment doesn’t serve their interests. At the same time, part of the problem is that rich white men have long been playing poor white men with regards to race. Don’t aid and abet the kind of men who do that. In our time some black folk very much are among those pushing those lines. You are pushing those lines. Do you really not see that at all?
It may be getting to a point where you have to stop arguing with Koinonia. Many of his posts, here and before, show that he has an axe to grind (in favor of equality) and that he will not listen to logic or even respect people who disagree. When I tried to argue with him, on a considerably different subject, he got harder to understand rather than easier. It was about wealth, at first I assumed he supported socialism for the benefit of the poor, but later he seemed to be saying that wealth was wrong, period, based on a… Read more »
You’re correct. Koinonia has been on this blog before even though he lied and said he didn’t remember what name he posted under. He literally posted thousands of comments under his old name. He apparently had endless time to write comments, while most of us have work, family, church and other things to tend to. His game is to push his leftist, woke views and support them mostly with poorly interpreted “teachings” of Jesus (so-called “Red Letter Christianity.”) He likes to quote “respected” academics like Richard Hays who supported female clergy and same-sex marriage. (He spoke of Hays under his… Read more »
But they don’t leave race out of it, John. Why do you think my community’s schools, churches, and businesses are still segregated? Why do you think the federal government is openly rolling back civil rights laws and enforcement? Why are state governments divvying up every district with a Black majority to take away their voting power wherever they can? Why has Trump stopped accepting Black refugees no matter how hard their situation, but made a point of letting in White South Africans and saying we need more Norwegians? Why did over 90% of the White populations of the Deep South… Read more »
If discrimination is wrong on account of ethnicity, then it is just as wrong to discrimimate against whites as it is blacks.
My wife often complains about how quotas for women insult women. It means some attain a position just because they are women, not because they are competent.
So you think that extra representation for the people of small states is insulting, and implies they’re not competent?
And this you reject his story about the boys and the girls then, and why the girls need representation?
And I assume you’re happy with the White governments in Southern states who are gerrymandering their Black populations into ridiculous pieces to ensure that Black people of those cities don’t get to pick a single representative at all?
The answer to one injustice is not to implement a further injustice. I get why some people advocate for so-called positive discrimination to attempt to put right former injustice, but it is better to give everyone an equal chance and let the problem correct itself rather than promote incompetent people to a place of responsibility.
So you would disagree with Melody’s hypothesis about representative democracy protecting minorities, and instead agree with me that we should make everyone’s vote worth the same. Thus the advantages given to certain politicians by the Electoral College and Senate should be eliminated in favor of equal representation, and House districts should be remapped in the fairest, most non-partisan manner possible.
Whether or not the Electoral College and Senate should be eliminated, how is it you’re thinking equal representation would help black people anyway?
Our nation’s fathers started an entire war over the feeling that they weren’t fairly represented. “No taxation without representation!” You were taught that, right?
Those who lack representation and feel the system is rigged against them doubt the validity of the system, and feel that nothing can change. I think there’s a better chance of positive change if, at the least, Black folk are fairly represented than Black folk getting the short end at every level.
I think Doug should use his own argument for Christians voting for trump when discussing Christians who don’t vote for trump. Is there any room, or grace, for someone who does NOT support trump? Can you really not see how a Christian in good conscience could not vote for or support trump? I think your “stretch goal” should be to acknowledge that Christians can be and vote Democrat…and still be Christian/christ-followers…or are we dealing with a god-complex?
Do not turn to the right or the left. Prov 4 : 27
Problem sorted.
I agree with that, but that’s not the attitude displayed here. If you don’t vote “for the babies”/republican, you’re not really a Christian. Maybe I misinterpret, but…
There is a huge cultural distinction between the States and the UK on this. Whilst there is no law against it, it is absolutely not done for the minister of a church to tell the members how they should vote in an election.
This is considered a matter of personal conviction and conscience.
My answer above was obviously somewhat tongue in cheek, but politicians ultimately do not have the answer to man’s deepest need.
I, and I think this is also true of Doug, grant that a Christian in good conscience could choose not to vote for Trump. I do not grant, however, that a genuine Christian can in good conscience vote for a Democrat candidate for President, for multiple very obvious reasons.
Doug, do a Clown World video about how Mehdi Hasan beclowned you. Really missing the regular political commentary on that channel. Beginning to wonder why you haven’t had much to say there recently…
Abby – Feel free to remind him that his body is not his own. Unless there is some confusion about what part of his body you’re referring to. Silly boy. “Give me children, or I die!” Genesis 30:1
Sex is a two way street. Not a one way street. If women wanted the same thing as men the verse would not be needed. Sex is transactional by nature.
to KM, We feel for you, as you have expressed yourself in your current situation dilemma. One thing I can add to say, is that – your situation is much more common among christian marriages than you may ever know. You are in a situation in which you are aware of the struggle and sins – so many women are not even aware this is happening in their marriage with their husband (as it is hidden). Please make your decisions slowly and carefully. Utilize all available wisdom resources: please be praying that Father reveals to you how to specifically respond.… Read more »