As everyone knows by now, one of my very favorite activities is defending myself against charges of racism and/or racial insensitivity on the Internet. I have decided that this will be periodically necessary, at least until I die, but I attribute this more to cosmic forces than to any nefarious plot on the part of …
More Than Some Overdue Library Books
Kudos to Rand Paul for the filibuster on domestic drone strikes. The thing we have to understand about slippery slopes is that, if you have a ripe one, it is slippery all the way down. The first thing to note is that Rand Paul was not engaging in a mere political stunt — he was …
Sex and Smithereens
The men who drafted the Westminster Confession believed, as do I, that a lifetime of celibacy for a man not specially gifted by God for that calling is an impossibility. They said: “No man may vow to do any thing forbidden in the Word of God, or what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or …
A Century of Sinkholes
Here are a few post mortem thoughts on the debate last Wednesday night with Andrew Sullivan. I’ll begin with some scattershot comments, and then get to others that go closer to the root of the matter. We had the privilege of having Andrew and Peter Hitchens as guests for dinner at our home, along with …
The Gist of My Prepared Remarks
Below are my prepared remarks for the debate this evening with Andrew Sullivan. I presented this (at the event) in two pieces, and didn’t quite get all of it in, but this does provide you with some idea. Good evening, all. I would like to begin by thanking the Lord for how everything has come …
The Goldfish Debacle
Homosexual radicals want to say that what they are about is simply trying to expand the size of the civil rights direct object in our sentences, when what they really want to do is completely alter the meaning of the verb. Before examining what this means for the future of marriage, allow me to illustrate …
No Bureaucratic Shadow
All the early returns indicate that the available supply of energy in North America is virtually inexhaustible. Using words like inexhaustible is problematic to Malthusians, but it looks to be a good description. Energy, it appears, is about as abundant as salt water. With the discovery of new reserves and the development of new technologies …
Your Average Evangelical Squish
Chesterton says somewhere that a courageous man should be willing to attack an error, however ancient it is, but he goes on to add that there are some errors too old to be patronized. This observation comes to mind this morning as I read about the resignation of Pope Benedict. As a classical Protestant, there …
Ubiquitous Goo-Rot
It has now started. The ubiquitous goo-rot of modern thought has advanced far enough that folks are now openly calling for a new sexual ethic among evangelicals. These new advances promise to be entirely exegesis-free, which in some quarters is quite a plus. For example, see Tony Jones here. And Rachel Held Evans sobs out …
The Conscription Question
A few weeks ago there was a flurry of concern over the possibility of daughters being drafted for combat roles. Now that women have been cleared for combat duty by the Pentagon, all that is now necessary for that monstrosity to happen is for us to abandon our commitment to an all-volunteer military. But this …