Tag: self-government

There Is No Political Solution

Have you ever noticed how something that was startling at first can become commonplace? Something that once garnered our attention because of its dire nature can later be handled with a shrug of our shoulders and a willingness to look the other way. Like this, for instance: Republicans hammered Obama over the national debt, and rightly so. Where are those Republican voices now drawing our attention to this huge problem? Downplaying it doesn’t make it go away. But don’t worry–there’s… Read more »

By the Bible or the Bayonet?

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) was a Dutch lawyer, scholar, theologian, and author. His most noteworthy work, The Law of War and Peace, made him famous as the foremost authority on the law of nations, which we now tend to call international law. There is a statement attributed to Grotius that I wish I could document as actually emanating from him, but I haven’t found the source. I’ve read some of his Law of War and Peace, and the statement certainly sounds… Read more »

Was the American Revolution Revolutionary?

In my ongoing analysis of American history (which has been interrupted by all the crucial current events that needed commentary), I am up to the point of the American Revolution. I have to use that term so people will know what I’m talking about, but I let my students know I don’t fully agree that it was all that revolutionary. What do I mean? Revolutions, by nature, try to upend the existing establishment. However, in the case of the American… Read more »

Reflections on American Morality

The whole Anthony Weiner incident has left me deeply disturbed about the tenor of our society. That’s nothing new, of course, since I believe man in sinful and plays out that sinfulness continually. Yet this particular episode I find particularly perturbing. Let me see if I can explain why. Weiner himself is what I always expected him to be; I’m less concerned about him personally than I am about other aspects of this. The media, both liberal and conservative, seem… Read more »