Author Archives: Dr Snyder

Rejoicing Over What Has Gone Right

  

I’ve decided to devote today’s post to praise for a number of things that have gone right lately. It’s always easy to critique the development of current events, given the Obama administration’s penchant for upending the Constitution and Biblical morality, so it’s nice to point out the other side for a change. All of these praises today come, surprisingly, as a result of Supreme Court decisions. After the agony of the Court’s rulings on Obamacare and the Defense of Marriage… Read more »

Margaret Thatcher & C. S. Lewis

  

While I was in New Zealand, I happened across a book sale at one site. I’m naturally drawn to such things, so I spent a few minutes perusing the offerings. To my delight, I saw Margaret Thatcher’s The Path to Power on the table. It’s the second volume of her autobiography, following after The Downing Street Years. In The Path to Power, she explains her early years and how she eventually worked her way to the prime ministership. I’ve been… Read more »

Reaffirming a Right and Proper Independence

  

July 2, 1776—The Continental Congress declares the independence of the United States of America. July 4, 1776—The final wording of the Declaration of Independence is agreed upon by the Congress. July 8, 1776—The newly printed Declaration of Independence is read publicly in cities and towns across the new nation. It took another seven years of toil and agony to realize that Declaration’s premise: the United States, with inalienable rights given by God, took its place among the other nations of… Read more »

Lewis: Willing Slaves of the Welfare State (cont.)

  

Yesterday’s post offered some insightful analysis by C. S. Lewis on the dangers of putting the government in charge of everything in our lives. That same essay, which he wrote in 1958, goes on to issue further warnings. I couldn’t contain them all in one post, so I decided to carry his thoughts over to today also. He writes of freedom and its necessary corollary—an education free from government control: I believe a man is happier, and happy in a… Read more »

Lewis : Willing Slaves of the Welfare State

  

C. S. Lewis didn’t write a lot specifically about civil government because that wasn’t his priority. Yet when he did write on the subject, he was lucid and devastating with respect to how government can become a terror to individuals. One of his essays in God in the Dock is entitled “Is Progress Possible?” but the subtitle really gets to the point of the essay: “Willing Slaves of the Welfare State.” He knew whereof he spoke, writing this in 1958… Read more »

Technology Is Not the Problem

  

Self-centeredness is not new. We see it as the reason for the Fall in the Garden, and it has been the root of all sin ever since. Is the new generation emerging into adulthood more self-centered than previous ones? It may be fashionable to say so, but perhaps modern selfishness is just exhibiting itself in different ways; the heart of man never changes without redemption through Christ. Our technological advancements showcase our selfishness more. Whereas in the past it was… Read more »

A Day for Remembrance & Honor

  

Memorial Day should be a solemn commemoration of those who had their lives cut short in defense of freedom. Critics will say that not everyone who died in a war was of sterling character and should be lifted up as heroes. I agree. God looks at the heart. Yet it is important to stop and consider the overall picture. Would we have a nation today that still strives toward the ideal of a properly ordered liberty—liberty with responsibility, not license… Read more »