One of the testing points of wisdom is the matter of identifying what the real issue is. In ancient rhetoric, this is what stasis theory was about — what is really at issue? What is the hinge upon which all turns? Luther complimented Erasmus at the conclusion of The Bondage of the Will because he …
War, Theft or Fraud?
Bush the Second is responsible for many Problems in Our Midst, but one of the worst of them is the legacy of “compassionate” conservatism. Conservatism with a heart is the kind of conservatism that won’t ever veto anything, no matter how financially insane it might be, and consequently is the kind of conservatism that doesn’t …
Either Way, Not Yet Viral
This is an odd one on a number of levels. The central oddity is why this isn’t found in all the regular news outlets and blogs. If you google “Supreme Court,” “Souter,” and “Obama’s birth certificate,” you will find the information in a bunch of cyber-backwater places. I haven’t found this discussed in any of …
Our Secularist Mammon-Monkeys
The Persian Empire was what it was, but it still mattered whether Hamaan had the emperor’s ear or Esther did. In that case, Hamaan was bad for the Jews, and in ours Obama is bad for the unborn. On that front, we are still in a plot line waiting for the eucatastrophe. But for those …
The Creed and the Pledge
Many thanks for the good discussion on the previous post. Obviously more is needed. In fact, when I consider the shape we’re in, more is desperately needed. I say the Apostles’ Creed far more often than I say the Pledge. And when I say the Pledge of Allegiance, as noted already, it is not without …
The Minimal State and Other Bright Ideas
The last day or so Nancy and I have had the wonderful privilege of visiting the folks at Trinitas Christian School in Pensacola, and were wonderfully impressed with the work they are doing as a classical and Christian school. What a marvelous place. Last night I spoke for them on “The Paideia of God,” and …
Even Using Both Hands
I have been arguing that the central response of Christians to the ongoing disintegration of our culture must be to return to the worship of the triune God in such a way as that it becomes the seed of a renewed and rejuvenated Christian culture. That end cannot be accomplished by political means, as Scripture …
No Answer to Blood but Blood
The old Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times.” And here we are. Some conservatives who are not worried think that Obama will simply be a Carter rerun — an unknown who made a great first impression, but who grew quickly wearisome at an accelerating pace. Some conservatives who are panicked think that …
Battlefields and Museums
The real constitution of every nation is located in the cultural assumptions of the people of that nation, and those cultural assumptions are themselves fixed by the object of their worship. The God (or gods) you worship shape and direct everything. The God you worship may cause you to write certain things down (in your …
Another Place Where the NeoCons Need to Apologize
I have mentioned this issue before in a previous post, but I really need to say something about it again. This is a point that the “war on terror trumps everything” neo-cons really need to meditate on, long and hard. President-elect Obama is friend and associate to known terrorists and terrorist sympathizers. He is now …