Month: May 2015

The Eisenhower Decade

  

I am in Abilene, Kansas, researching at the Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library. Spent all day there yesterday and will finish my research today. It’s rather sad that Eisenhower is practically a forgotten president for the current generation. Of course, I’ve often commented that students today know next to nothing about American history, but what they do know spans only their lifetime, or a portion of it. The Eisenhower decade was really rather prosperous for America, and he kept the peace… Read more »

British Documents of Liberty

  

I’ve been chronicling the legal foundations of British history to show how the early American colonists viewed their rights. Thus far, I’ve noted the significance of the Magna Carta and the Common Law. The seventeenth century saw a number of other improvements that are worth mentioning. First, when King Charles I wanted money from Parliament to conduct a war, the Parliament balked, issuing instead what we call The Petition of Right in 1628. Any law like this, when you look… Read more »

The Lewis Book: Finished

  

I’ve now finished writing my manuscript on C. S. Lewis’s impact on Americans. It has been a labor of love. My agent is working diligently to find the right publisher. I thought today I’d show you how I wrap up the book. Here is my conclusion: Lewis has developed a true fan following in America. This book has shown his many interactions with Americans of his day. He became good friends with many of them, whether in person or via… Read more »

Precedent Based on Eternal Law

  

Last week I wrote about the Magna Carta as part of the background of English law that the American colonists depended upon. When they took issue with the Mother Country about their rights, they had that document as a basis for their concerns. There are other aspects of English law that also were part of colonial America. One of these was the English Common Law. When a case came before a judge, and there might not be a precise statute… Read more »

National Day of Prayer

  

Today is the National Day of Prayer, not government-sponsored, but called by Christian leaders throughout our nation. Only in calling out to God will anything going wrong in this country be reversed. In the spirit of this day, I offer the following prayer. Lord, we are in trouble as a nation, as You well know, even better than we do. The problems aren’t all at the top politically; there is a culture that has not only accepted sin but has… Read more »

Baltimore’s Real Problems & the Solution

  

Baltimore is now outwardly calmed, although reports from the ground say that there remains a simmering anger. Some of that has been assuaged by the news that charges are being brought against the six police who were somehow involved with the arrest of Freddie Gray. It’s interesting to note, though, that three of those six are African American, one an African American woman whose last name is White. Irony of ironies. Let’s be honest here. None of what occurred with… Read more »

Orders from the Brave New World

  

In case you missed it . . . At the Supreme Court last week, as lawyers argued the same-sex marriage case, one of the justices, Samuel Alito, asked the government’s attorney, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, a striking question. What was even more striking was the answer he received: Looking ahead to a possible constitutional right to same-sex “marriage,” Justice Samuel Alito asked a key question: “In the Bob Jones case, the Court held that a college was not entitled to… Read more »