Ministers preach from the Bible, and so it is not surprising that the enemy wants to do what he can to dilute the source of all true ministerial authority. This is how we drifted from “thus saith the Lord” to “it seems to me.” Nowhere is this more evident than on the subject of feminism. …
A Silent God Would Be Silent on Rights
So I have made a distinction between certain negative rights (leave me alone in these specified areas) and positive rights (free chocolate milk for everybody). But surely it is more than how it is stated, whether negatively or positively. Couldn’t a master of circumlocution cast gay rights as a “leave me alone” issue? The answer …
The Chocolate Milk Test
In talking about gay rights, we have to distinguish between different kinds of rights. If someone tries to ramp up the stakes by saying that he is talking about human rights, then we have go on to distinguish between different kinds of human rights. The first kind of right is a liberty right — the …
Son of Bork
Yesterday I tweeted that Obama’s big challenge is this: “The chief tactical challenge for Obama is this: arguing for a second term without looking like he is arguing for a second chance. #please” My friend Frank Turk responded with a challenge. “@douglaswils well, as someone on-record as not being willing to vote for Romney, you …
Just One More Finger
David Lampo tries to convince us that conservatives, Republicans, and libertarians should rally around in support of gay rights. Unfortunately, in order to make this case, he does not advance a new argument, but rather doubles down on an old confusion about the “wall of separation” between church and state. So this is not the …
Get Him Winding Some Bandages
In this article here, Carl Trueman writes as a complementarian, but one who is wondering what the big deal is. Here is the money quote near the end: “It is thus not complementarianism in itself to which I object; I am simply not sure why it is such a big issue in organisations whose stated …
Homo Republicanus
I sometimes think that secularists, including the conservative ones, have never heard of Venn diagrams. The concept of overlapping spheres of thought continues to elude them. The idea of layered hierarchies is floating above their heads, just out of reach. If you point out the incoherence of secularism (or say that you do such a …
Larry, Moe and Curly in the Gates
In ancient Israel, the gates of the city were not just a point of entrance. They served the same function pointed to by our phrase “the public square.” When a virtuous woman was praised “in the gates,” this meant that she was publicly recognized (Prov. 31:31). When Boaz wanted to conduct an important financial transaction, …
Neighbor-Love in the Handbasket
Here are a few quick comments about how R2K theology is rapidly running out of options. A few months ago, Michael Horton explained how concervative Christians could (tentatively) support domestic partnerships for homosexual couples. If the culture wars were something that involved four walls and a paint can, this is what painting yourself into a …
With My Customary Mildness
Those conservatives who believe that the threat of same-sex marriage is coming solely from places like the gay pride parades of San Francisco aren’t paying close enough attention. A lot is going on, in the legal world, in the entertainment industry, in the crazy vanguards, and elsewhere. There is in fact a lot of pressure …