When I stand in defense of liberty, as I do, it is fairly easy for those on the Christian left to see and describe this as a concession to, or holdover from, certain Enlightenment ideals, owing more to Adam Smith than to the Pauline sentiment that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. I can say, no, no, no all I want, it’s not that way at all, but it does no good. I am not fighting for abstract nouns, even though I use them sometimes. Doesn’t everybody use them sometimes?
But when I object to Obama coming into the hospital room of my household finances, and standing on the oxygen hose like he is doing, with the result that I am not as able to provide for those that I am called to provide for, does my reaction mean that the charge of abstraction is withdrawn? Actually, no. Now I am a moneygrubber, and it is all kind of tawdry, you know? I am probably one of those tea party people. Not a very intellectual movement. They don’t use enough abstract nouns.