Divine Rights
Do our freedoms come from the state?
The founders insisted that our rights are derived from God. If our rights are derived merely from state diktat then they can be taken away by the state under any pretext (or none at all). It is obviously the case that our rights can be taken from us even when we acknowledge that they come... Continue Reading
The Useful Delusion of Christian Belief
My father fails to see that his love of the law is ungrounded (and therefore unfounded) as an atheist.
Steinrucken rejects the claims of “religionists”, even as he enjoys the world they have created. “The fact is, we secularists gain much from living in a world in which excesses are held in check by religion. Religion gives society a secure and orderly environment within which we secularists can safely play out our creativities. Free and... Continue Reading
Not Whether, but Which
On the civilizational nature of the confessional Christian College.
The question is not whether a college or university should be civilizational, but rather which sort of civilization it ought to cultivate and how that project can be pursued most effectively. Although the cultural fragmentation of our age has rendered these questions highly contested within the secular academy, the answers are far more straightforward in... Continue Reading
Black Mirror: Talking about Race in 2024
Like it or not, CRT has changed our language.
My primary concern has never been politics, but has always been the spiritual health of individual people. I agree that, politically, the threat of actual White nationalism is negligible compared to the threat of progressive ideology. Neo-Nazi groups spout their propaganda from anonymous Twitter accounts, not from the podiums of prestigious universities. But Neo-Nazi race... Continue Reading
Reject Vice
Just say no - no porn, no pot, no gambling, no video games, no tattoos, no profanity.
If people can publicly promote polyamory or whatnot, then I can promote abstaining from vice. And let’s be honest, do you want to live in a neighborhood full of tatted up potheads who spend their days watching porn, playing video games, and betting on sportsball – and who drop f-bombs every other sentence while out... Continue Reading
County Christianity
Faithful local government in the Negative World.
America is obviously getting more polarized and that trend is likely not letting up any time soon. Red and blue as categories can be overly simplistic, but given the modern Democrat platform I think it’s helpful and maps well enough onto Renn’s three worlds model. Roughly speaking, “red” can be viewed as more or less... Continue Reading
Further Thoughts on Wheaton College’s Institutional Fidelity
Pray that Wheaton and its associated faculty will abide in the truth, and that there will be repentance where needed on this point.
The contemporary obsession with identity is really a religious impulse, the idolatrous worship of self. It is so whether it appears with reference to sexual desires or identity, or in other matters (e.g., matters of ethnicity). Refuge goes along with that false religion and seeks to import it into the Christian faith. If this be... Continue Reading
The Deadly Trend of Double Euthanasia
The former Dutch prime minister and his wife chose to receive lethal injections simultaneously.
A few decades ago—when van Agt was prime minister, for example—an elderly statesman and his wife committing suicide together with the assistance of a doctor would have horrified the country. Now, it is portrayed as a peaceful sendoff—a downright Dutch way of doing things. That may well be the case. On April 1, 2002, the Netherlands... Continue Reading
‘Gendered’ Nonsense Is Dangerous Nonsense
It’s coercion in the name of falsehood.
This is not just nonsense; it is dangerous nonsense. It is a distraction from the real work of diplomacy. It further erodes American credibility in the eyes of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and the apocalyptic mullahs in Tehran, who may well conclude that a putative superpower obsessed with “fluid gender identity” will not pose an... Continue Reading
What Is Social Media Good For?
With wisdom and intentionality, we can live our lives online in ways that are good and enjoy the benefits of the technology we now live with every day.
What we see on social media cannot be construed as what is broadly true, sociologically speaking. However, social media can be incredibly insightful, as it allows us to encounter people who are different than us and challenge our preconceived notions about a people, group, or subject. It enables us to connect with people we normally... Continue Reading