If, under the new covenant, the promises of Deuteronomy can legitimately be applied to a nation today, then it is possible for us to sort out what we should think about immigration biblically. If the promises of Deuteronomy do not apply, then we (and the refugees) are cast upon our own resources. The whole subject will then turn upon “American values,” whatever the heck they are. Some recent marches give us cause for hope, and other marches, the ones with the eff-bombing and bloodthirsty slatterns in vagina hats, give us cause for concern. American values could be noble, if they were to be based on Scripture, but will be hopelessly corrupt if they continue to be based on the balloon juice of our mighty bloviators.
When a nation or a civilization is confronted with a refugee column, there will be a host of difficult decisions to make. The fundamental question that must be asked and answered before we start making those decisions is this—by what standard? If we make the decisions based upon the pragmatic self-interests of bigoted nativists, then we will go far astray. If we make the decisions based upon the suicidal self-loathing that the left loves to exhibit, then we will go even farther astray. In short, if we make decisions like this without wisdom from above, then we will most assuredly make a hash of it.
When refugees flee en masse to another country, then one of two things is happening. Either they are fleeing to the gods of the host country, or they are bringing their gods to the host country. So when we see a massive column of refugees on the horizon, headed our way, we need to do a quick check. What shape are our gods in? And the answer is that they are in complete disarray. Go into the temple of secularism, and look around. There is refuse on the floor, the priests are all drunk, and the treasury is bankrupt. Look at the god shelf that runs around the circumference of their rotunda, and a good third of their statues are tipped over, surrounded with beer cans.
Now in that setting, when a people are uncertain of what they even believe anymore—except for porn on HBO, they believe in that—welcome into their midst a massive number of people who believe in something else, something definite and particular, then who is the head and who will be the tail? This is not a hard question. Determining who is the head and who is the tail is pretty easy . . . who are you not allowed to criticize?
That is correct. You are allowed to criticize the bigoted America-firster, and you are not allowed to criticize the refugees. Moreover, you are not even allowed to refine the question to a point where criticism of any kind is seasoned and reasonable. You are not allowed to point out that the number of those who want to get control of our border is enormous, and that it is a number that most certainly contains many different motives, including a large number of intelligent and noble ones. And the same goes for the refugees. That column contains some who just want to live in peace, and it also contains some who are bringing war. Some of the refugees are fleeing from terrorism, and are not advocates of it. Some of those who support Trump’s recent executive order are generous but prudential people. You are not allowed to refine the question, and you will be roundly condemned if you then say, “Well, then, we had better close the gates.”
Think it through. When Laocoön objected to the Trojan horse, it was not the horse that was the problem.
We have gotten to the point in our politics that there are two aspects of every question. 1. An action is taken. 2. The yelling starts. We have gotten to this point because our gods are dead. They cannot hear us anymore, not even when we are yelling. Our sacrificial fires ascend into an empty sky. Nobody is listening. Nobody cares. Secularism is just the blind end product of a blind evolutionary process, and as a blind end product it may fail to adapt to a new set of circumstances. It may fail to mutate the needed wings at the requisite speed, and thus go the way of the moa.
Whenever refugees are headed somewhere, it is because they believe that place to be a better place than the one they left. In this case, the place they left, the Middle East, was not on fire because of volcanoes, tsunamis, or famine. It is a smoking ruin because of the maladroit adventures of one President Obama and one Secretary Clinton. So there is a sense in which we do owe this refugees something.
What we owe them is our repentance. If we turned away from our failed gods, then a lot of things would change. If we turned back to the Lord Jesus, then we would repent of making a shambles of places like Libya and Syria. If we turned back to the Lord Jesus, we would then have a standard for accepting refugees, and it wouldn’t be our current, failed standard that consists of nothing more than whining that something or other is “not fair.” If we turned back to the Lord Jesus, then genuine faith would be the head and infidelity would be the tail.
All of this is to say that politics can ameliorate or exacerbate the situation. But politics cannot reach into the places necessary to transform a situation. For that, we need the Spirit of God. We need reformation and revival, and we need it in the worst way. We could end Roe tomorrow, but we still have the blood of 50 million innocents on our hands. We still require forgiveness. When we are brought to the point where we seek it, in whose name can we seek it? There is only one name that brings forgiveness, and that is the name of the Lord Jesus. There is only one message that declares remission of sin, and that is the message of the death, burial and resurrection of the Christ. Until we bring ourselves to name that name, America will be, of necessity, unforgiven.
Unless something like that happens, all the refugees who make it here have simply moved from a place experiencing God’s judgment to a place that is about to experience it.
Most intelligent and deep comments I’ve ever heard on immigration.
This is absolutely a must-read by every Christian and Christian leader.
“Whenever refugees are headed somewhere, it is because they believe that place to be a better place than the one they left.” Not necessarily true. In the case of Muslims, their goal is not to assimilate, but to conquer. 1,400 years of history will bear this out. Muslims don’t even attempt to cover this up. They boast about it. Secondly, there are a multitude of facets to immigration and many are not “faith” based. Some are purely cultural. America has a “culture” of freedom. Immigrants may be Christian but may not understand the culture of freedom and self determination. I… Read more »
Welfare dollars are a different animal from open borders. It is possible to believe in open borders while being absolutely opposed to the welfare magnet that attracts the wrong kind of immigrant. If we were not a pre-existing nanny state for our own people then we would not attract those from other counties who want to be nannied. Then we would be able to open our borders to true refugees who want to live and work in peace, on their own dime or in association with private charity groups.
I get it and agree to an extent. However, we still have to deal with the cultural issues. I am all for eliminating welfare. I do not support open borders at all. A nation without borders is no nation at all.
“In the case of Muslims, their goal is not to assimilate, but to conquer. 1,400 years of history will bear this out. Muslims don’t even attempt to cover this up. They boast about it.”
Well said.
Well said, Doug. This is why I read you. I do want to commend this piece very much, but It is worth taking a small exception to this: It is a smoking ruin because of the maladroit adventures of one President Obama and one Secretary Clinton. So there is a sense in which we do owe this (sic) refugees something. No and No. If my neighbors are beating each other to a pulp and I step in to break them up and they both turn on me and tell me to get out, I am not responsible for the fall… Read more »
If the idea here is to allow immigration based on one’s Christianity, I object. I know too many American Christians who do not understand constitutional government and the concepts of freedom. We certainly do not need any more people of a similar bent, Christian or not.
I wasn’t suggesting anything in particular regarding the “advantages to the US.” I honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead. I simply meant that if Doug’s hypothetical America based on Scripture were to find immigrants that somehow improved the life of our citizens, while being compelled to conform to the biblical standards, as was the case with immigrants in Israel, then I would be fine with that.
I would agree with the Biblical Standards, but then, there are Constitutional/governmental standards as well. We are not ancient Israel. I am not necessarily anti-immigration. It’s just that at this point, immigration no longer makes sense, and as you already aptly stated, we do not owe immigrants or the world in general anything at all. We should mind our own business and let Islam and the rest of the world handle their own problems. And, we certainly should not be bombing the crap out of other countries because we don’t like their leaders, or more accurately, because we want to… Read more »
I don’t think we disagree at all. I was referring to Doug’s hypothetical, whereas you seem to be addressing the real world of today.
Exactly.
Yes, thank you for that point. I was thinking along similar lines. I realize America has had many foreign policy disasters, but it’s also become quite popular to act as if the entire world was once living in peace…until America showed up and trashed the place.
Are our hands really clean here? What about our installing the shah Mohammed Pahlavi to the throne in Iran?
No our hands are not clean, and I hope that was clear in my response to Demo D. But your example is a bad one. First of all, do you mean Britain when you say “we”? America was not really involved with Iran under the Qajar Dynasty, which lasted until the Pahlavi Dynasty took power under Reza Shah in 1925. At that time Iran was split between Russia and Britain. They were mostly fighting over oil and land control. Mohammed Pahlavi took over after his father circa WWII, but it was not America that was involved but Germany. The battles… Read more »
The maladroit adventures of Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton, AND Mohamed and those who accurately follow his teachings.
Secularism is just the blind end product of a blind evolutionary process, and as a blind end product it may fail to adapt to a new set of circumstances. More needs to be said here, and what is said needs some tweaking. As good as Pastor Wilson is at recognizing and pointing out the lunacy of secularism, I think he needs to give more than zero mention to the fact that demonic and even satanic activity is involved too. I’m not suggesting that any particular person is possessed, but that God’s judgment is being carried out by an adversary who… Read more »
If, under the new covenant, the promises of Deuteronomy can legitimately be applied to a nation today, then it is possible for us to sort out what we should think about immigration biblically. If the promises of Deuteronomy do not apply, then we (and the refugees) are cast upon our own resources.
Or?
How about the promises are specific to Israel, however the commands teach us what God thinks about these issues and we are left to use the Mosaic Law as a guide to the love, mercy and righteousness of God.
I think this bears more scrutiny; theonomist exegesis has drawn sharp distinctions between laws still to be directly obeyed and Promised Land-specific laws that are no longer in effect since the promise is now for the entire world.
It is really puzzling that so many American Christians seem to lift the promises God makes to OT Israel and apply them wholesale to the USA. I don’t know whether they actually believe that the USA is the new Israel but sometimes that’s the vibe. They seem to make the mistake of thinking of the kingdom of God as a geopolitical entity, rather than a spiritual one. I see people wanting to rewind the tape instead of tearing down a corroded kingdom to build a faithful one. People are putting their faith in political systems, in the constitution and the… Read more »
“The yelling starts.”
Yes. The strategy to oppose Trump seems to be based primarily on that concept.
If we were, perhaps, to let in a few more beer cans,
That might actually reduce the yelling, after a certain point! ????????????
True. But reaching that point is something not even my ear flaps would effectively deal with.
Good guess, but no. I was on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. It was glorious and wonderful, as is our todopoderoso God.
Thank you for asking.
I hope you tied up your ear flaps! Wonderful wonderful that you got to serve Him in this way.
Thank you, JL. No dead animal hat was required there. And yes, ALELUYA! All to His glory!
Wow! That’s wonderful. I love the Dominican people. Have you ever been there yourself?
I was in Sabana Perdida, a section of Santo Domingo. We also went to El Capotillo (formerly the most dangerous place in all of the DR) and prayed over some drug lords. (At their request!) Some of my Dominican friends posted pictures of flooding near Puerto Plata, so I assume the area you are talking about is in the north. Yes? If the Lord makes it possible, you should go. It’s a huge reality check and you will never think of the kingdom of God in the same way. Come to think of it, take 40 Acres with you. It’d… Read more »
True. The average Dominican lives on about $300 per month, which is actually below the poverty level. They survive because they love and support each other and the family unit is still intact for the most part. The US is actively involved in trying to change that, however, as our embassy actively supports and encourages the gay lifestyle. That’s also happening in another 50 countries or so.
Oh hey, our gay ambassador to the DR resigned the day after Trump was inaugurated! It happened while I was there and didn’t even know it. Wow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Brewster
Isn’t it standard for ambassadors to resign when a new President takes office? Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I thought.
You are correct, Dunsworth. I did not know that. The ambassador to the DR had aroused controversy for some time. http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/17/americas/dominican-republic-gay-us-ambassador/
An analogy: we are trying to decide whether to fix or replace a broken car. We talk about how the car came to be broken, consider principles with respect to fixing or replacing cars, and then … discuss the fundamental need to reform the transport industry. Which is a good and valid point, but doesn’t directly address the immediate decision about *this* particular car.
This is a very good post. I don’t wish to detract from that, but I’m going to offer my opinion here: “Unless something like that happens, all the refugees who make it here have simply moved from a place experiencing God’s judgment to a place that is about to experience it.” I see evidence all around me of God’s mercy, love, great tolerance, and steadfast hand on America. I believe we judge ourselves harshly because of that Hand, and so we hold ourselves up to a higher standard, to one we cannot possibly meet and the gap there is huge.… Read more »
“In the grand scheme of total human depravity, how bad are we here really?”
That’s a fair question. History has seen worse. Still, I’m inclined to think a good part of God’s judgment consists of giving over to depraved passions, with their consequences. Right now it seems to me America is the primary merchandiser of depraved passion. In the world temptations are bound to come, but woe unto the purveyors. Perhaps we would be less culpable if we were less powerful, wealthy, and influential. Being the successor to Nineveh and Tyre isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“Right now it seems to me America is the primary merchandiser of depraved passion” Hmm, I remain unconvinced. Child sex trafficking is big in much of the world, the ME has a thriving opium trade going on, Africa is a tragedy of arms deals and warlords, Mexico is run by drug cartels shipping mass amounts of meth into the US, and Iran is busy providing the second largest number of sex change operations in the world. There is the added evidence of people actually trying to get into our country. Very few people seem interested in seeking asylum in say,… Read more »
“…Iran is busy providing the second largest number of sex change operations in the world.”
My eyes about fell out of my head. I had no idea!
“Today, Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand.
The government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change is recognised on your birth certificate.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7259057.stm
Aren’t those usually forced upon gay men so their bodies match their proclivities?
The point is not that America is worse than any other country, before, or now. But none of those other countries have the influence on the world America does. None of them are the cradle of contemporary global cultural trends. None model, encourage, and sometimes demand, repudiation of normal family relationships, along with affirmation of rebellion and perversion the way America does. None of them are the home of Hollywood and birthplace of Rock and Roll. If we actually have a standard on which to judge ourselves, perhaps so much the more are we subject to judgment. I believe America,… Read more »
Yes, to whom much is given, much is required. Trump may be a means of repentance that averts the judgment of God, or he may actually end up being an instrument of God’s judgment, time will tell.
And you didn’t even include that we are the largest arms dealer in the world, the largest purveyor of external military violence in the world, and the model for how might makes right. As well as propping up quite an array of violent dictators and using the CIA and other means to support almost countless very nasty revolutions and attempted revolutions.
Amen and Amen.
I look at what’s happening in the federal government today, and I know YHVH has heard our prayers and had mercy on us. This is why my heart breaks that so many have focused on the person who is in the White House, calling him a fool and a clown. Because of this blindness, they have failed to see the glory of YHVH playing out in our own time.
We are the people of the Creator of the Universe. Let’s act like it!
If one is unrepentantly failing to meet God’s standards in one way, it doesn’t matter if one’s neighbor is failing to meet His standards in another way.
Judgement is not meted on a curve.
I cannot disagree more with this argument. While I understand that your heart is in the right place, it sounds as if you’ve over complicated a simple problem. How is this not simply a good samaritan situation? A group of poor and abused people are suffering and in need of help, “what should Christians do”? Your answer appears to be, “we have a lot of porn here at home so until we’ve figured that out…” People fleeing a wartorn land need shelter and safety from violence, “what should Christians do…” Your answer appears to be, “Keep the gate closed, because… Read more »
Why don’t you start first, by being a good samaritan with those who “truly” are your neighbor? Perhaps you can’t discern that our country’s culture or rather salt, has lost its flavor?
No, our country’s salt has not lost its flavor. There is less good salt perhaps, but there is still plenty to preserve the Word of the Lord.
The culture and the church are two different things. What’s best for the church is not always what’s best for America’s checkbook. And if people explicitly ask us for help (which they are) we should do what we can to help them.
“And if people explicitly ask us for help (which they are) we should do what we can to help them.”
So we should help any nation that ask for a handout? And if the culture and church are two different things, don’t assume we that inviting refugees to our (increasingly anti-Christian) culture is a good thing.
The error in your logic, if I may be so bold, is to assume that the only solution is to bring them here. There are many ways we as Christians can help them without dislocating them from their culture. We can certainly, with the aid of nearby countries like Saudi Arabia, give them safe harbor until they can once again resettle in their homeland. This is both a Christian and rational response to their situation. In this way we can both minister to their needs and share the Gospel with them. Another difference is that it is quite possible and… Read more »
I don’t disagree that there are some “bad apples” amongst the refugees, but the Samaritan could have made the same argument. The innkeeper probably made the same estimation of Josef. You’re right to say that this is a fight between cultures, but how do Christians fight? Are we supposed to kill the muslims or are we supposed to convert/love them and/or die trying. The White European world was converted by suicidal missionaries. We seem to have lost the will for that. And I agree that in a perfect world they would be resettled somewhere else. But I don’t think waiting… Read more »
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/176/880/239.jpg
“You’re right to say that this is a fight between cultures, but how do Christians fight? Are we supposed to kill the muslims or are we supposed to convert/love them and/or die trying. The White European world was converted by suicidal missionaries. We seem to have lost the will for that.” The people called to die for Christ as missionaries have always been few. There are still people who either die or are willing to die in spreading the Gospel. There are many stories on the internet if you look. As to the question on how Christians fight, it depends… Read more »
Having a heart of compassion for the lost, or even being willing to die in order to spread the Gospel, does not mean that we should surrender our lives foolishly, or surrender our neighbors’ lives foolishly.
Prudence means looking at a lot of factors. Prudence means not judging someone merely because of race, or the religion of their grandparents, for example. But prudence doesn’t overlook the genuine violent streak that exists in the Muslim religion. Prudence doesn’t overlook the potential refugee’s Facebook history either.
And if Trump had said simply that he will delay allowing entry to refugees then I wouldn’t object to Christians agreeing with him. But Trump has gone much further than that. He has placed an arbitrary cap on the numbers allowed in (50k) despite the fact that Syrian refugee women and children alone far exceed that number. Furthermore, it seems to be the stance on this board and in many churches that this is not a problem for the Global church when in my opinion this is one of the most important problems facing the global church. The answer to… Read more »
You make a good point.
Perhaps the best solution would be to make Iraq and Syria official US territories, like Guam. Make Islam illegal, provide official protection for the Iraqi and Syrian churches.
loganvance wrote:
I made no reference to Trump. I acknowledge that he is full of arbitrariness. Wilson didn’t vote for Trump, and neither did I. Better to address what people here actually said.
loganvance wrote:
Loganvance is incorrect, and should be more patient so as to avoid jumping to conclusions.
“He has placed an arbitrary cap on the numbers allowed in (50k) despite the fact that Syrian refugee women and children alone far exceed that number.”
Not to be agreeing with Trump, but if you are opposed to a cap on the number of refugees are you in favor of taking ALL of the refugees from everywhere?
He’ll need a big house.
If Hurricane Katrina 2.0 hits tomorrow one would hope the USA would expand its hurricane funding. If there was another ebola outbreak I would hope we would increase our funding to the CDC. We are in the middle of an unprecedented global refugee crisis caused by the rise of ISIS and the Syrian civil war. These refugees are arguably in more danger than refugees normally are (ISIS is extra crazy). In response to this crisis Trump and many Christians (to my dismay) are advocating policies that limit rather than expand how many refugees we take in. I understand how a… Read more »
“I understand how a nation might selfishly decide against taking in Refugees.”
But do you recognize any reason for not taking refugees other than selfishness?
I think you have totally missed Wilson’s argument. He is not saying the right answer is to close the gates to the refugees, he is just pointing out that unless America repents and turns back to Christ, opening our borders to a flood of refugees will be bad for them and for us. And you seem to be confusing what should be the response of individual Christians and churches to hurting people that come into their neighborhood, and what is the responsibility of the civil magistrate to ensure that we are not bringing an enemy force into our nation under… Read more »
Oh Please! Don’t pretend this is about what’s good for them. I know you don’t actually believe it’s better to be in Syria right now than the USA. “And you seem to be confusing what should be the response of individual Christians and churches to hurting people that come into their neighborhood, and what is the responsibility of the civil magistrate to ensure that we are not bringing an enemy force into our nation under false pretenses. They are two very different things” Some intellectual consistency from Pastor Wilson here would be appreciated though. He can’t say that in a… Read more »
loganvance wrote: Some refugees are even dangerous, but a church advocating against helping fleeing families from Syria because they might hurt us is a church that hasn’t got its priorities straight. This is false piety. Billtownphysics is correct, the Church is not authorized to bring dangerous or criminal elements into a community on the pretense of evangelizing them. The civic magistrate would rightfully have something to say about that, as God’s minister of justice and vengeance. It seems loganvance has absolutized evangelism to the point of death, for every Christian (and possibly their neighbor). That is simply not what God… Read more »
“It seems loganvance has absolutized evangelism to the point of death, for every Christian (and possibly their neighbor). That is simply not what God requires of us.”
First of all, evangelizing to the point of death is EXACTLY what God requires us to do. It’s very clearly stated in the New Testament in almost every single book (and no that’s not an exaggeration). Second of all, how can Doug, this community, and evangelicals comfortably say that God has an opinion on tax policy in the USA but his words don’t apply to our stance on refugees seeking asylum?
Do (or will) you send your kids to public school?
I was homeschooled and I suspect my children will be but we’re not there yet.
loganvance wrote: First of all, evangelizing to the point of death is EXACTLY what God requires us to do. It’s very clearly stated in the New Testament in almost every single book (and no that’s not an exaggeration). First of all, loganvance will need to cite some actual specific passages so we can see which one he is abusing. loganvance wrote: Second of all, how can Doug, this community, and evangelicals comfortably say that God has an opinion on tax policy in the USA but his words don’t apply to our stance on refugees seeking asylum? Second of all, Doug… Read more »
“First of all, loganvance will need to cite some actual specific passages so we can see which one he is abusing.” Matthew, Mark, Luke and John = The story of Jesus’ suicidal mission to redeem the world. The story ends with the “Great Commission” which is Christ’s directive for us to spread the Gospel to all nations. I don’t remember there being an exception for the spooooky Muslims. Acts: The story of Paul’s suicidal mission to expand the early church despite constant threats to his life. Spoiler alert (he dies expanding the early church) Romans: Paul, a man executed for… Read more »
loganvance seems to have lost focus on what he was supposed to show. First of all, loganvance still didn’t provide any specific passages, but from what he wrote it seems he didn’t understand what is needed to make his case. It’s not enough for him to list some evangelist missionaries who were called to give their lives on the front lines. No one disputes that God calls some into the lion’s den. However, loganvance needed to cite a passage that requires every Christian, including all women and children, to head out to the lion’s den. loganvance didn’t provide such a… Read more »
Help them where they are.
I would not object to humanitarian intervention on the ground over there rather than an importation over here. But doing neither is unconscionable.
Get on a plane and go. Who’s stopping you?
Compare and contrast: immigrant, refugee, invader.
An immigrant leaves his country seeking economic opportunity. A refugee flees his country to avoid death. An invader chooses to enter another nation to steal/rape/pillage/capture.
If the churches position was, “women and children only”, then I’d disagree vehemently, but it’s at least biblicaly defensible. But the amount of otherwise reasonable people who are genuinely afraid of a bunch of unarmed women and children is quite strange.
Children of immigrants are more prone to mass violence than first-generation immigrants.
When did “but doing that is super dangerous” become a trump card (pun intended) to biblical directives?! And when did Christians become afraid of children? How many instances of mass slaughter are there anyway, I suspect that a simple google search will reveal that the beer cans referenced in Doug’s title are more likely to kill you via drunk drivers. Heck, heart disease is a more likely killer. And if you’re genuinely afraid of children then how can you minister to homeless people or follow through on any biblical command?
Meaning 0.001% as opposed to 0.0001%?
Doug writes, “It is a smoking ruin because of the maladroit adventures of one President Obama and one Secretary Clinton. So there is a sense in which we do owe this refugees something.” A common trope of non-interventionists (particularly the ideological ones who populate the paleo right and the libertarian right) is that when something blows up in the Middle East, it must be somehow the fault of American foreign policy. In the case of Libya, I think that’s a fair conclusion. In Syria, it’s much less clear. One could argue persuasively that Obama caused more harm by not intervening.… Read more »
I think you missed the description of “Ron Paul types.” You liked my post below, apparently not knowing that a “Ron Paul type” wrote it.
I am not sure who all you would place into this category, but as one who is very theonomic in my thinking, I have never really understood the libertarian spin on it. Theocratic Israel was nowhere even close to a libertarian utopia. No matter how one specifies Theonomy, it seems to run quite contrary to the idea of a depraved sinner being free to sin openly and proudly as long as he is in his own house.
“paleo right and the anarcho-libertarian right…Many of them blame Britain for World War II because Britain didn’t appease Hitler enough. If only Britain had appeased Hitler more, let him have more territory, war could have been avoided. The West is to blame for World War II, not the Axis Powers.”
Sources, please. I’ve never read any known Libertarians (Ron Paul, Tom Woods, Mises.org writers, etc.) who have said that. There appear to be a lot of straw men in your post.
Carmack wrote:
Citation needed. Can Carmack give some examples? How does theonomy connect with anarcho-anything? Recognition of God’s authority over statecraft (the principle at the heart of theonomy) assumes that there is an authoritative magistrate, which has been established by God.
Carmack wrote:
Who is “they”?
In this case, the place they left, the Middle East, was not on fire because of volcanoes, tsunamis, or famine. It is a smoking ruin because of the maladroit adventures of one President Obama and one Secretary Clinton. It just staggers me to see how mind-blowingly partisan you have to be at times. First off, from your perspective, what action by President Obama and Secretary Clinton do you believe would have resulted in Syria NOT being a mess right now? Or the violence in Egypt? Or Yemen? Second of all, would it really have been so hard to recognize that… Read more »
Since comments have bumped this post back up I’d like to comment on Wilson’s historical/theological theory that as a nation is obedient to God it is materially blessed and the nations flow in to enjoy the blessings. Let me propose a theory. Civilized men, through hard work and payment of opportunity costs through living by the rule of law, build resources over generations. Barbarians see this, because they live nearby or because North African tribesmen now have cell phone and youtube, and are drawn by the promise of a higher standard of living (be it from wages, welfare, or plunder).… Read more »