Category: The Historical Muse

Thoughts on history and the historical profession. Clio is the muse of history–this category title is a play on that concept.

A Tale of Christian Martyrdom Well Told

  

I used my Christmas break to do some reading for a new course I’m developing: The American Republic, 1789-1848. The ideas and resources for the course are coming together. One of the books I’m definitely planning to use for this course is An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears by Daniel Blake Smith. As a Christian conservative who deeply appreciates the Biblical grounding of our earliest generations, I’m always alert to those who may try to undermine… Read more »

Chambers, Reagan, & the Spiritual Crisis

  

I finished another semester last Friday. The goal of my teaching is always to point students to Biblical truth; history is the vehicle. At the end of my course covering the second half of American history—after I’ve spent weeks showcasing the loss of Biblical principles in America over the last century or so—I like to close the course with a couple of quotes from those who clearly witnessed this loss and sought to reverse it. Whittaker Chambers and Ronald Reagan… Read more »

A Word of Wisdom from the Past

  

A voice from the American past has a message for us today. His name was James Garfield, who was elected president in 1880. Four years earlier, on the centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Congressman Garfield—who also was an ordained Disciples of Christ minister—offered this sage insight in a speech commemorating American independence: Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because… Read more »

The Totalitarianism of Government Compassion

  

Let me just speak from the heart today without any cartoons. I’m deeply disturbed by a number of developments in our nation, but one comes to the forefront of my mind this morning as I sit to write. Unless this is changed, there is no hope for turning around the trajectory of our culture. In the Roman Empire, government officials had to come up with ingenious ways to keep the populace under control. So many of the people were unemployed… Read more »

Lessons to Be Learned

  

Back in the 1990s, one of the most influential political organizations was the Christian Coalition. Today it is nonexistent. The goals of the group were excellent, and a number of victories were won. I attended a couple of the Road to Victory conferences in D.C. All the big names in the conservative political world fell over themselves to speak at these conferences. Then came the fall. A combination of money troubles—some brought on by liberal spending, ironically—unfair government investigations, which… Read more »

President Absent

  

The Founders set up three co-equal branches of government. They presumed the initiative would rest with the legislative branch, which would determine the laws. The executive branch’s duty was primarily to carry out those laws. Throughout our early history, most of the presidents recognized that distinction; rarely did one come to the office with a broad agenda. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have forceful presidents at times. Washington, just by his stature, brought stability to the new nation. Jackson sought… Read more »

Obamacare & the Supremes

  

Twenty-six states, led by my own Florida, have challenged the constitutionality of Obamacare. The court challenge has now risen to the Supreme Court level, and we learned last week that the Supreme Court has decided to hear the case. Although I consider the entire law to be unconstitutional, the Court may focus on the fact that it forces people to buy health insurance. If that provision is allowed to stand, it will be the first time that the federal government… Read more »