In this post, Russell Moore makes a sharp distinction between Christianity and almost-Christianity. He did so in a way that made me think of the distinction between a great point and almost-a-great-point. Moore is talking about the results of a Pew Center study which shows that nominal Christianity is taking it on the chin. Christians …
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 …
So, About That Blasphemy . . .
In the aftermath of the Islamic attack on the free speech/draw a cartoon of Mohammad contest, I think it is time for us to review what we think about blasphemy laws. I want to argue that events like the cartoon contest should be protected speech, but I also want to argue that life is not …
The 5 Smooth Stones of Theocratic Libertarianism
Things in our public life together are gummed up enough that I believe we can openly call for radical reform. Whether we do or not, I think we are going to get the same treatment. We might as well respond with something that might actually help. Whatever the case, we will not be able to …
Bard Still Has an Arrow Left
As I watch the evening news, night after night it appears to me that our nation is being ruled by men who are hellbent on destroying us before they leave office. Either we are dealing with malevolence of a high order or incompetence of a higher order, and quite possibly both. Now I say this …
The Biggest Donut Hole of All
Radical Muslims are quite energetic in their blasphemies. They want their blasphemies to come across as blasphemies. Like a toddler in the middle of an epic meltdown, they know what they want and they know how to get it. Secularists are quite tepid in their blasphemies. I mean, cartoons? But immediately I must correct myself. …
Something to Use, Something to Risk
I have written critically in the past about James Davison Hunter’s approach to not really changing the world. In the last analysis, his tag phrase “faithful presence” ought to be a means to victory, not a goal in itself. If we make it a goal, it is as though the coach settles for getting his …
Withershins
C.S. Lewis observes somewhere that there are two different motivations for spreading the political power as thinly as possible. The first is the motive of the sunny democrat, one who believes that man is the repository of wisdom, and that before we do anything of a civic nature, we ought to check in with as …
The Problem of Tiffany Sugartoes
Scripture refers to that kind of ruler who frames “mischief with a law” (Ps. 94:20). Those who do this kind of thing are men who sit on thrones of iniquity, and God refuses His fellowship with any such thrones. There are many ways to frame mischief with a law. Everyone grants that one example would …
Property and Love for the Poor
I have written a great deal on how the framework provided by biblical ethics honors and preserves the institution of private property. The argument is not complex. Just as “thou shalt not commit adultery” presupposes and honors the institution of marriage, so also “thou shalt not steal” presupposes and honors the institution of private property. …