Category: Politics & Government

Opinions on contemporary political happenings and the workings of civil government.

Principle Above Politics: Conscience Is Forever

  

Bill Clinton was acquitted of impeachment charges in February 1999. The next month, I was in Washington, DC, attending a conference on constitutional history. It included a session in the chamber of the Supreme Court. I was thrilled to be there. Years before, while earning my doctorate at American University, I had worked in the Supreme Court history office and had even sat in on one of the cases presented to the Court. The thrill, though, disappeared as I listened… Read more »

Mueller’s Report & Partisanship

  

In the world of politics, the big day is tomorrow. That’s when the Mueller Report—with redactions—will be released to the public. Until now, all we’ve had is the four-page summary written by Attorney General Barr, and all it seemed to accomplish is polar-opposite reactions. Republicans jumped on the conclusion that there was no collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia. President Trump, in one of his multitude of tweets, declared, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA… Read more »

Aim at Heaven & You Will Get Earth Thrown In

  

I’m sure everyone has heard the complaint against some Christians who, we’re told, are “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.” While that may sound rather clever, and it may be easy to pick up on the refrain because, after all, this is the world we live in, it nevertheless doesn’t hold up under close examination. History itself denies this cliché. C. S. Lewis can always be relied upon to make us rethink popular slogans. He tackles this one… Read more »

The Devolution of the Democrat Party

  

Democrats and Republicans have always disagreed about policy, but there was a time when the two parties weren’t as polarized as they are today. In my study of American history, the last Democrat president with whom I would have felt entirely comfortable was Grover Cleveland—and that goes a long way back. Yet Democrats weren’t always as radical as they seem to be now. The change in my lifetime has been rather dramatic, and I’m sure many others can attest to… Read more »

The Graham-Eisenhower Connection

  

Yesterday in my “Religion and the Presidents” course, I shared the unusual relationship that developed between Dwight Eisenhower and Billy Graham. I say “unusual” because Ike was decades older than the young evangelist and had far more experience in the world. After all, he led the European Theater of WWII, including the daring and dramatic decision to go forward on D-Day. Yet Ike was being drawn by God into a closer examination of his religious beliefs. No achievement in this… Read more »

Crossing Rubicons

  

When I was young—very, very young—I was attracted to the Democrat party. One influence, of course, was my parents. They worked in factories and were members of a union. I particularly recall that they voted for Kennedy in 1960, and his assassination was a profound sadness in our home. As I went away to college, I leaned toward being a Democrat, but I had some rising misgivings, if for no other reason than the spectacle of the riotous events at… Read more »

The Chambers Lesson: From the Negative to the Positive

  

I discovered Witness by Whittaker Chambers back in the 1980s as I was working diligently on my doctorate in history. From my first reading, the book took hold of my spirit. More than thirty years after that encounter, it has never released its hold. I’ve used it in classes since the late 1980s, and one of my greatest teaching joys is to offer a full-semester course called “The Witness of Whittaker Chambers.” I’m teaching the course once again this semester…. Read more »