There is no real understanding of modern politics possible that does not take into full account the deep and pervasive presence of envy. And such a broad cultural understanding will not come about until there is a reformation in the church, and my current suspicion is that it will have to be the kind of …
Laugh Like a Developmentally-Challenged Hyena
One of the things a lot of people need to learn how to do is make political determinations, whenever possible, based on the undisputed out-in-the-open facts. This is possible a lot more than is pretended otherwise. The alternative is to try to make determinations based on the contested behind-the-scenes-facts, and this is an invitation to …
Lobbying for Vanilla Bleh
I recently received a good set of questions about Christian political activism from a gentlemen I met at the Desiring God conference, a man engaged in the noble work of Christian activism. Since the questions have broad relevance for many others, I thought it would be good to attempt to set forth my answers here, …
Gakkk
Soft despots love “the fact that the citizens enjoy themselves provided they dream solely of their own enjoyment. It works willingly for their happiness, but it wishes to be the only agent and sole arbiter of that happiness. It provides for their security, foresees and supplies their needs, guides them in their principal affairs, directs …
Tackle Gear Attached to Head and Neck
Just a few more comments about The Manhattan Declaration. I was asked to respond to John Stackhouse’s dismissal of the whole thing as just one more iteration of “been there, done that” Religious Rightism. There are two things to say about his reasoning. The first is that he maintains that he is on the side …
Getting Our White Little Buns Into Heaven
Okay, then, the Manhattan Declaration. Things have been busy, and I just now got around to reading it. I want to take the odd stance of applauding and supporting something that I could not sign. In order to make sense of this, I have to dump a few things out on the table first. I …
Sweet Defiance
Why sweet defiance? In Psalm 119:23, we are told, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Now these are wonderful words in every believing ear. We could do some nice graphics work with it, no doubt — along with a picture of a beautiful sunset and beach, have …
Four Years to Go
I have recently posted on the revolutionary nature of industrialized education. The modern university system was born in the revolutionary era, and was a function of people abandoning the historic Christian forms of higher education, and trading them in for a style more in keeping with what they thought was promised by the Industrial Revolution. …
An Edifying Use of Bandwidth?
We would be interested in some feedback, if you all wouldn’t mind. Not on the sermon itself, actually, but on the vehicle of delivery. We know that a number of you listen to Christ Church messages via audio download, or by having them mailed to you. The elders of Christ Church recently approved an experiment, …
College as a Counter-Revolution
My colleague Roy Atwood is fond of reminding people of the revolutionary origins of our modern system of higher education. We don’t think much about it anymore, and simply describe it as “going off to college.” But going off to college now is quite a different thing than what it once was, and the difference …