“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 …
Doctor, You’re Cutting Too Deep. You’re Scratching the Table.
One of the temptations that comes to people who learn how to see and identify “deep structures” in a narrative — adeptly twirling chiasms they have found, or anticipataory foreshadowing motifs, or whatnot — is that they sometimes lose their ability to read what is right there on the page. They know that the Mississippi …
The Coming Tax Revolt
Tax revolts are funny things. The powers that be are lulled into complacency, for increased taxation is inevitable, for do we all not know that progress is inevitable, and so the grinding business of governmental coercion as usual must continue on unabated? But this is like the man who was striving to live to be …
Regardless of Real Amounts
There is no real understanding of modern politics possible that does not take into full account the deep and pervasive presence of envy. And such a broad cultural understanding will not come about until there is a reformation in the church, and my current suspicion is that it will have to be the kind of …
Laugh Like a Developmentally-Challenged Hyena
One of the things a lot of people need to learn how to do is make political determinations, whenever possible, based on the undisputed out-in-the-open facts. This is possible a lot more than is pretended otherwise. The alternative is to try to make determinations based on the contested behind-the-scenes-facts, and this is an invitation to …
Lobbying for Vanilla Bleh
I recently received a good set of questions about Christian political activism from a gentlemen I met at the Desiring God conference, a man engaged in the noble work of Christian activism. Since the questions have broad relevance for many others, I thought it would be good to attempt to set forth my answers here, …
Gakkk
Soft despots love “the fact that the citizens enjoy themselves provided they dream solely of their own enjoyment. It works willingly for their happiness, but it wishes to be the only agent and sole arbiter of that happiness. It provides for their security, foresees and supplies their needs, guides them in their principal affairs, directs …
Sweet Defiance
Why sweet defiance? In Psalm 119:23, we are told, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Now these are wonderful words in every believing ear. We could do some nice graphics work with it, no doubt — along with a picture of a beautiful sunset and beach, have …
A Few Trillion Back
So I watched Hannity’s interview with Sarah Palin last night, and had a few brief thoughts. No detailed defenses of anything here, although I am pretty sure we will all get into the deep weeds of that discussion again sometime. Here are just a few quick takes. First, she is clearly a very nice Christian …