Month: August 2015

Doing Away with Childish Thinking

  

“All politicians are the same.” “We need to fire all of the bums.” “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the parties.” “We need someone outside of politics to lead us.” Those are the refrains I’m hearing constantly. They stem from anger and frustration with the current mess. I agree that we currently have a mess. Yet I don’t use those phrases. Why not? I find them to be emotionally driven, intellectually lazy comments. Christians, in particular, need to… Read more »

Trump & the Loss of the Conservative Mind

  

I’ve witnessed a myriad of political delusions in my lifetime: the Kennedy administration as Camelot; the Great Society; Jimmy Carter as the outsider who will redeem us from Vietnam and Watergate; high approval ratings for Bill Clinton despite all the scandals and gross immorality; the belief that Barack Obama is a great healer, uniter, and messiah. All of these, though, were delusions in the general public primarily. What I’m seeing now—and finding it difficult to swallow—is the delusion on the… Read more »

Lewis: Justice & Mercy

  

Is it really merciful not to carry out justice? Is the concept of justice too harsh? Should a Christian believe in punishment for crimes? C. S. Lewis thought through this issue in an essay he published in 1949 called “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment.” If we go by feelings, we may think we are being humane in forgiving without real punishment. Lewis disagrees. The essential act of mercy was to pardon; and pardon in its very essence involves the recognition… Read more »

John Dickinson & the Townshend Acts

  

The Stamp Act was repealed. The American colonists were deliriously happy that the controversy was ended. So what if the Parliament simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that Parliament had the authority to do whatever it pleased? Most of the colonists seemed to believe it was just a face-saving measure and were willing to let Parliament blow off some steam and trust that everything was back to normal. It wasn’t. Charles Townsend, the new treasury secretary for the Mother… Read more »

Unfair Debate?

  

The conspiracy theories about the first GOP debate abound, mostly centered on the questions posed by the moderators. I’ve read that Fox was conspiring with Jeb Bush or with the GOP establishment or with the Democrats or with . . . well, you fill in the blank. In my view, Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly, and Bret Baier did a valuable service for all the Republican candidates on that stage. They made them come up with answers to some hard questions… Read more »

Lewis: The Marxist Worldview

  

As much as C. S. Lewis said he didn’t like to discuss politics, my research into his writings, both published and unpublished, reveals a deep interest in the subject of governing and political philosophy. What he didn’t like were the day-to-day mundane activities and arguments of politics—who is going to win the next election, etc. Political philosophy, though, was another matter entirely. For instance, in a little-known but highly readable essay called “Modern Man and His Categories of Thought,” written… Read more »

My Debate Analysis

  

Last night’s primetime GOP presidential debate was energetic and revelatory, in my view. I promised yesterday I would try to assess it today, so here’s my attempt. The most efficient approach, I think, is to break it down candidate by candidate. I will not refrain from giving my opinion on each one’s performance, beliefs, and prospects. Consequently, probably no one reading this will agree with me completely, but I’ll stake out my ground anyway. I’ll cover them in reverse order,… Read more »