“It once was considered immoral to take a person’s property for the benefit of others by threatening the use of force, but now inequality is advanced as a greater evil than theft” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 181).
William Wilberfarce
I turned on the news this morning only to see Jeremiah Wright giving a talk at the National Press Club, followed by a particularly fruity question and answer session. There is no question but that Wright is bright, quick on his feet, well-read, smarter than almost all his questioners, funny, capable of handling himself in …
Compassion Radar in the Private Sector
One other comment is necessary on my interaction with Jim Wallis a few posts ago. He said that the abortion debate had grown “stale,” and that we ought to concentrate on reducing abortions instead of outlawing abortion. As I was thinking about it, this question occurred to me — “where has he been?” He speaks …
The Pope and Climate Change
Careful readers of this blog will recall that I had a little fun at the Vatican’s expense some time ago on the issue of global warming. In the article I linked to at that time, it mentioned that the pope was going to use his speech at the UN (just now past) to press for …
A Brick Through the Windshield
Ted Olsen at CT asks Jim Wallis some pointed questions. HT: Justin Taylor And I am afraid I have to make a few comments about his pathetic answers. When Olsen asked him about his stance on abortion — “protecting unborn life in every possible way, but without criminalizing abortion,” Wallis responded by saying that the …
Institutionalized Strife
“The alternative to free economic activity is not cooperation but coercion . . . Redistribution is absolutely incompatible with peace. Accepted as a norm for civil life, it means that social strife is inevitable” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 134).
Penalties for Do-Goodery
I take it as a given that Christians are called to be a force for good and for decency in the world, and that this good and this decency are best exhibited face-to-face with people you know and live with. The debates that arise when I write about what I am going to write about …
Here’s An Idea
Refugees are now pouring out of Zimbabwe, former Rhodesia, and I have a modest proposal. Let’s have a moratorium on all new proposals about international affairs, proposals designed to improve the lot of others and end injustice forever, until all the people who insisted on the course we followed with Rhodesia (for foundational moral reasons) …
Velcro Candidate
This is about the time in the campaign season that I start wishing that I could bring myself to vote for McCain, if for no other reason than to irritate the handwringers and Europeans. But alas, I am a man of principle. McCain would only irritate them for about 20 percent of the right reasons. …
Some Transactions Are Zero Sum
“But only redistributive processes are zero-sum games; protective tariffs, mortgage subsidies, and armed robberies all transfer wealth forcibly from one person to another. Economic transactions are voluntary exchanges, which means that both parties perceive themselves as benefiting. A given economic transaction is zero-sum only if one party has miscalculated or been deceived” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols …