“God wants lush gardens, and the devil wants a moonscape.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 91
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
“That means embracing the biblical doctrine of the nature of man, which means limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism, which in turn means a removal of many of the temptations to bring in the kingdom with a sword.”
I’ll Bet He Doesn’t Have Any Notes
Wrecking the Ego Car
“Let go of that steering wheel on your ego. Your car is upside down in the ditch and is not moving at all anymore. It won’t hurt anything to let go of the steering wheel. Are you still afraid of Christ taking control of your life? What? Are you afraid He might wreck it? Are you afraid He might flip your car and leave it upside down in a ditch? Isn’t that where you are now?”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 87
The Right to Define
“Those who want the government have the right to kill blasphemers are also asking for the government to have the right to kill those who rebuke their blasphemies.”
Levels of Light, Levels of Guilt
“Ultrasound technology was just coming in Nancy and I were expecting our third, and the level of technology at that point, speaking of smudge, was not all that great. The ultrasound image looked like a bad xerox copy of a black and white photo of a distant galaxy. But today the images are strikingly good, and you can even see that your son has his grandfather’s dimples. In short, the ‘clump of cells’ argument has now been revealed for what it is, a murderous lie, and it put a lot of people in the position of having to sin against far more light than they were yet prepared to sin against.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 82
Christ, a First Table Convict
“And we should never forget that Christ was convicted on a first table offense. This should give us pause, not because it should never be applied, but rather because of how easy it is to be misapplied.”
The Ultimate Point
“Because we are smashmouth incrementalists and not of a mind to share Jerusalem with the Jebusites, we must never forget that our final objective has to remain a total ban on all human abortion.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 80
Sexual Sanity
“Assume with all the cool kids that your grandparents’ sexual mores were infra dig (as the kids say today) and terminally unhip, and the end results will be dottier than a three-day convention of Dalmatian owners.”
Virgins and Volcanoes, p. 78
Reactionaries and Their Discontents
Introduction: In times of turbulent churn, one of the things you can usually anticipate is even more turbulence, especially from young men. Their reactions are often predictable, and therefore rational in one sense, while their selected scapegoat targets, upon which they vent, are often arbitrary and capricious. In other words, you can look at the …