We need to start thinking about church/state relations in eschatological categories. If we think of them in static categories, the Christian church will find it hard to avoid becoming reactionary. That kind of conservatism is the way of death. The Marxists know what they are supposed to be doing right now because they have an …
With Twice As Many Fireworks
Here is a small hodge podge of discussion starters for when you next divvy up your seminary class into small encounter groups. To head off your curiosity, they are all in praise of Christendom. 1. The radical two kingdom approach within the Reformed world represents a fundamental capitulation to one of the central tenets of …
A Conservative What?
Somebody, I think it was William James, once referred to the scramble for the good words. And because words go in and out of fashion, the scramble can get pretty tangled and pretty interesting. People get tired of the liberals, and so everybody wants to be conservative, whatever that means. When they get tired of …
Free Speech That Does Not Fall Under the CO2 Regs
I have a lot to learn around here. Let’s see if I can post a picture.
War on Overworked Metaphors
Just a quick, additional example of how we should draw political conclusions from what everybody knows, this time with some criticism for the neocons. What with the Christmas Day bomber guy and all, we are seeing another round of debate between the neocons, who say we need to treat this thing like a war, and …
Timber Wolf Poo and Rabbit Poo
This post was originally titled “The Way of the Cross and Constantine,” but this is more interesting, don’t you think? Jesus died outside Jerusalem two thousand years ago. That death was not only the hinge upon which all history turns (although it certainly is that), it is also the hinge in the story of every …
Yeah. Like That.
The president said that the health care package that cleared the Senate was the most important social legislation since Social Security. Which was, as my daughter Rachel put, like saying we haven’t had weather this good since Katrina.
Stirring the Pan Ever More Vigorously
As I have written before, there are many political assessments that should be made on the basis of what everybody can see, and not on the basis of esoteric “insider” knowledge. Further, these judgments should certainly not be made on the basis of a paradigm powerful enough to invert what is obviously happening — powerful …
A Carnival of Pillage
“And thus all have confessed that no government can be happily established unless piety is the first concern; and that those laws are preposterous which neglect God’s right and provide only for men” (Calvin, Institutes 4.20.9). And, as we see unfolding in Congress right this minute, a group of men who have no fear of …
A Pre-existing Condition
Now that the brigands of the Senate have successfully doubled down in order to get their 60 votes for cloture, they can now amend the bill at their pleasure, and part of their pleasure will be double-crossing the people they bribed to get their cloture vote. Did we say the people of Nebraska would never …