Tag: Reagan

My Political Wilderness (Part 2)

  

In my last post, I made it clear that I don’t have a home in the Democrat party. The extremism that dominates that party makes it an unwelcome place for those, like me, who believe abortion is wrong, that same-sex marriage is unacceptable, and that big-government socialism is not the proper path to follow for policy. All of those positions are anathema to me because of my basic Christian presuppositions. So my obvious political home should be the Republican party,… Read more »

My Political Wilderness (Part 1)

  

Way back in the Dark Ages of my life, I thought I was a Democrat. I was raised to think—not ideologically, but culturally—that all the good common people were Democrats. I wasn’t taught this specifically; it was simply my cultural environment. JFK was the charismatic rerun of Camelot; LBJ was the champion of the poor and the downtrodden. How could I not be a Democrat? Going to college, though, turned me toward Republicans. That was certainly counter-cultural during my years… Read more »

Thoughts on Presidents’ Day

  

So, it’s Presidents’ Day. It didn’t used to exist. In my younger years, we had instead separate days to honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln specifically, on their respective February birthdays. I’m not even all that sure what the current Presidents’ Day is supposed to focus on. People from my generation probably still consider it a commemoration of Washington and Lincoln, but what about the new generation? Is the intent to honor anyone and everyone who ever served as president?… Read more »

Resurrecting a False Secular Religion

  

We’re being treated to a resurgence of enthusiasm for the socialist/communist vision of the future. This resurgence is emanating from the Democrats, led, surprisingly, by a first-term congresswoman whose economic and historical ignorance and ability to distort facts is rivaled only by her arrogance in insisting that others are the guilty ones for distorting her distortions and that she knows what she’s talking about. Fortunately, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t old enough to run for president. As we now know, considering the… Read more »

Bush 41: A Man of Faith & Honor

  

Bush 41 is what the country started calling him once his son became president. Yet George Herbert Walker Bush was not just a number; my own research on him has led me to revise not only my evaluation of his presidency but my perception of him as a man of faith and honor. I voted for him twice, yet I had reservations as to whether he was the best successor to Ronald Reagan. I continue to note his deficiencies as… Read more »

Reagan & Trump: The Dishonesty of the Moral Equivalence Defense

  

If you’re going to say anything to help explain why evangelicals are so on board with Donald Trump, at least don’t be dishonest about it. The dishonesty rears its head particularly when comparing Trump to Ronald Reagan. It happened again recently on Fox News when the Rev. Robert Jeffress stated that Reagan was a “known womanizer” also. Jeffress continued, “The reason we supported President Reagan was not because we supported womanizing or divorce. We supported his policies.” I can try,… Read more »

Reagan & Modern American Conservatism

  

Finals week is upon my students and me. Another semester nears an end. Naturally, I am relieved, but I do enjoy the teaching. When students ask which courses are my favorites, I have to say I like them all. Yet there are some that usually stand out because of my particular interests: my course on C. S. Lewis is one, as is the course on Whittaker Chambers. Then there’s the one I just completed called “Ronald Reagan and Modern American… Read more »