As the campaign unfolds, I will be writing more about all of this, but let this serve as a basic orientation. This November, we are facing a choice between disaster A or disaster B. We are piloting a plane that is going to crash, and we have the choice of crashing in the sea or …
Not Neutral At All, As It Turns Out
My nephew Davis Wilson recently had a paper published in the Seton Hall Law Review, a paper entitled “Judgmental Neutrality: When the Supreme Court Inevitably Implies That Your Religion is Just Plain Wrong.” The paper exhibited clear thinking in a straight line from beginning to end, and for those who want to read the abstract, …
Let Me Think About It, No
Today is the last day of primaries in the Democratic contest for the presidential nomination, and it looks like Hillary will be out of that contest this week. It is possible that she will stay in formally in order to be able to challenge the Michigan and Florida apportionment of delegates, but whether she gets …
Pleasant Daydreams
Just rolled back into Moscow yesterday, and am still getting situated. I believe the Idaho primary (Republican side only) is today, so I am going to toodle on down to cast my vote for Ron Paul. Why? say you. It’s all over, isn’t it? Well, anything that we can do to remind John McCain that …
Fourth of July Uplift
Here is a photo of Obama’s chum, William Ayers, taken from a profile on him in Chicago Magazine. There are about five reasons why I believe Obama cannot win the general election in the fall, and this is one of them. HT: The Pearcey Report But here is the problem for Christians. We are commanded …
Twenty Days to a Smoke Free Tomorrow
I have been asked what I think of An Evangelical Manifesto, and so I read through it this evening. A short twenty pages, it was mostly magnificent. I read into it for sixteen pages without reading anything I differed with, and I was reading much that was weighty, solid, good, and desperately needed. But if …
The Bulldozers of God
This morning while preaching an Ascension sermon from Philippian 3:20-21, I went on a brief detour to speak about the various ways in which biblical writers relate to empire. This is relevant to us because the New Testament was given during the heyday of the Roman Empire, and we are seeking to live as Christians …
Secular Conservatives and Real Ones
I take it as a given that our standard right/left political dichotomy does not represent a Trinitarian approach to politics at all. I have argued this for quite a number of years now, with no appreciable sign that anything is getting through to anybody who is actually running the show. Nevertheless, let us keep on …
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 …