The preacher in Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything. There is a time for birth and a time for dying. There is a time to mourn and a time to dance, and so on. Of interest to us here is that there is a time for tearing down and a time …
My Militance
One of the stockbook arguments that liberals use is that conservative militance is “offputting.” By “liberals” I am referring both to those who are openly so, as well as those who have that crisply moderate evangelical shell surrounding a gooey center. A sure way to identify a liberal disposition is to listen for warnings about …
Adorned Clean Through
The Bible teaches that the woman is the glory of the man. This is why she takes what the man provides and glorifies. She is a glory, and she is a glorifier. The man brings home a paycheck, and she turns it into a living room, or bacon and eggs in the morning. Adornment is …
Surveying the Text/Amos
Introduction: Now let us consider the prophecy of Amos. Apart from what is revealed in the course of his writing here, we know nothing about the man. Among the minor prophets, he occupies the vanguard in this period of Israel’s history, even though he is placed third in the canonical order. He is very much …
How Blue the Sky Was
All right. I suppose I should explain to you all what was up with my near-week-long involuntary hiatus from blogging. There were various factors in play, but the central one was my misguided belief that I was somehow included in all that free speech business that Madison wrote about in the First Amendment. You see, …
Ickybod
Usually Jonah Goldberg talks good sense, but yesterday I heard him defending the Indiana law as nothing more than a pitiful little consolation prize for the religious right. He was saying that the same sex mirage juggernaut has carried the day, and all conservatives are asking for now is the right to be left alone. …
Making John Knox’s Bones Twitch
Rachel Marie Stone wrote an article for Christianity Today urging us to “reconsider” Margaret Sanger. The point was that while Sanger was emphatic about the personal and social good that comes from freely available contraception — contraception that was under the control of women — she was also opposed to abortion. I learned about this …
Ukraine #3
We have already noted how complicated things in Ukraine are, and I trust I have cast suspicion on any approach that wants to reduce everything to clear and simple (and therefore ideological) talking points. To the extent we are involved in this kind of thing at all, our chief job is to stay out of …
The Prophet Sober and the Culture Drunk
Well, it is Monday morning, so let me write something outrageous. We can sweep up the pieces later. But also keep in mind the fact that just because something is outrageous, it does not follow that it is untrue or unnecessary. In fact, now that the cultural headquarters of our republic has been transferred to …
Twinkies in Tight Tops and the Regime Illogiqué
One easy mistake to make in reasoning is called Affirming the Consequent. Suppose the initial axiom is “if P then Q.” The next statement is made, which is Q, and the conclusion is then drawn, which is “therefore P.” There are times when this structure might seem plausible enough, at least at first glance. “If …