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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Separation of Church and State

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , on February 26, 2017| 2 Comments »

separation-church-and-state

“We have the same vocabulary, but a different dictionary,” was a saying coined a hundred years or so back. It was used by Bible believing Christians to describe liberals who were surreptitiously working to undermine the churches of the day.

The liberals didn’t like a fair fight. Instead of openly declaring their unbelief in the Bible, liberal ministers and scholars were wont to cloak their liberalism in the language of Scripture. The social gospelers would speak of the “divinity of Christ” and for all the world appear to be sound Christians. But instead meaning that Jesus was fully God, they meant only that Jesus, as do all men, had a spark of divinity within him. This is not Christianity. It is a humanist lie.

But old-school social gospelers are not the only people to redefine words to suit their agenda. One prominent example of this is what some atheists and liberals have done to the term “separation of church and state.”

If you’re like me, you probably grew up thinking that 1) these words are found in the Constitution and 2) they mean Christian ideas are legally prohibited from having even the smallest influence in matters of government. Both ideas are false.

But their falsity doesn’t stop many people from passionately believing them. Take a look at this video of a recent Town Hall held by Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.


When minister steps up to pray, some in the audience scream “Prayer? Prayer?” A man can be heard loudly repeating “separation of church and state, separation of church and state.” Another says, “He’s [the minister] not supposed to be up there [at the lectern].”

When the minister ends the prayer in Jesus’ name, the crowd again explodes.

Now for all I know, the loud mouthed protesters may have been dupes paid by George Soros. Perhaps they were expressing an honest, albeit mistaken, opinion. At any rate, they would be better served taking time to learn a thing or two about the Constitution before getting so worked up a minister doing his job.

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Money, Is It the Root of All Evil?

Posted in Economics, Politics, Theology, tagged on February 5, 2017| 2 Comments »

Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today.

– Pink Floyd

An email came to my inbox recently claiming that people who hold to the Scriptures think “money is the root of all evil.” The notion that the Bible teaches money is evil is quite common. Pink Floyd referenced this idea in their hit “Money,” and people often repeat this idea in everyday conversation.

goldBut as is the case with other popular ideas ascribed to the Bible – for example, most Americans mistakenly think “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse; and how many times have you heard someone take Jesus’ words “Judge not” as a general prohibition against making necessary ethical distinctions? – this one is also wide of the mark. And it is wide of the mark in at least two ways. First, the quote itself is not accurate. And second, when the quote is presented accurately, the true meaning of this verse is seen to be quite different from what is in the popular mind.

The actual quote is found in 1 Timothy 6:18 and reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (New King James). The language of the Authorized Version is “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” When comparing either of these two translations with the popular version of the quote, it becomes readily apparent that the big difference is that the Bible identifies, not money itself, but the love of money as the root of all sorts of evil.

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A House Divided – The Women’s March and the Age of Trump

Posted in Feminism, Politics, tagged , , on January 22, 2017|

Well, that didn’t take long. The last echoes of the inaugural balls had scarcely faded when the first protest march against Donald Trump hit the Washington Mall. I refer, of course, to the Women’s March on Washington which took place on January 22, 2017, the day after Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

Beloved by much of middle America, reviled by the elites, from the very beginning of his presidential campaign Donald Trump has been a figure almost impossible to ignore.

It was not my intention to write about Saturday’s protest march against Trump. But the sheer size and radical nature of the event held in Washington and mirrored at other sites throughout the nation cries out for commentary.

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The Week In Review 1/21/2017 – Trumpocalypse Now

Posted in Politics, The Week In Review, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts during inauguration ceremonies at the Capitol in Washington

Newly sworn in President Donald Trump shakes the hand of Chief Justice John Roberts, 1/20/2017.

In case you haven’t heard, we had this little thing called a presidential inauguration this week. It seemed like a pretty big deal. So for that reason, and the fact that my alternative was leading with a story on Davos, the annual Dr. Evil convention held in Switzerland, it seemed good to me to kick things off this week with a word or two about the Trumpocalypse.

Mr. Populist Goes to Washington

For generations, the Democrats were the party of the little guy, the blue collar worker, the poor. They were the idealist revolutionaries manning the barricades against the oppressive establishment.

The Republicans? Well, they represented The Man. You know, like the top hat bedecked fellow with the monocle from Monopoly. The one who just can’t wait to overcharge you for rent in his hotel on Park Place.

But now in 2017 you can say goodbye to all that.

With his remarkable campaign and unlikely victory in the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has sent shockwaves through the establishments in both political parties. It is now the Democrats who are the defenders of the New World Order globalist establishment, the representatives of the bi-coastal elites, the champions of privilege.

And the Republicans, it is they who have become the party of the common man.

Maybe there really is something republican about the Republicans beyond just the name. After all, it was the Republicans who fought off the South’s attempt to break up the republic during the Civil War. And today it is the Republicans – not the establishment Republicans, but the rank-and-file conservatives within the party – who have been most effective in defending the sovereignty of American republic against the globalists pushing for world government.

And while I don’t count myself as a populist – populism is a mish-mash of often contradictory ideas intended to benefit the little guy; as a Christian, I believe in limited government, the rule of law, and private property – I’m certainly a lot more comfortable with President Trump than the Wicked Witch of the West the Democrats tried to foist on us.

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Jeremiah, the Madness of King Jehoiakim, and the Judgment of God

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , , , , , on November 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

 

jehoiakim-burns-the-scroll

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll, Caspar Luiken 1672-1708.

What to write?  That’s the question all bloggers must face.  Sometimes the answer comes quickly.  Sometimes it doesn’t. 

With campaign season hitting its big crescendo last week, my mind’s been focused on the election. But now that it has passed, where do I go from here? There’s the series on immigration I’ve been writing. I haven’t forgotten about it. Lord willing, I plan to finish it sometime later this month. But today didn’t strike me as a day to write about immigration.

So back to the question of what to write about. Perhaps due in part to the recently concluded election, the specter of national and civilizational decline is often at the forefront of my thoughts.

Perhaps another reason for this is my Scripture reading. Recently, I’ve been focused on the prophets, Jeremiah in particular. And I never get very far in the prophets before I find myself saying “This could have been written yesterday about America!”

And it’s true, too. Edward Gibbons’ masterpiece of history The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is often cited by writers who want to advance some reason or another for the obvious, ongoing collapse of Western Civilization in our own time.

But there is a far better text to use if we want to gain insight on the problems we face in 21st century America. Of course, I’m referring to the Bible. And in particular the historical books of I and II Samuel,
I and II Kings,
I and II Chronicles and the prophets. Taken together, they could almost be subtitled The Decline and Fall of the Hebrew Republic.

Samuel was the last of the judges and the anointer of the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. It was during Samuel’s judgeship that Israel made the critical error in asking for a king (big government) in place of the limited, constitutional republic set up by God in the law of Moses.

If we were to summarize the history of Israel under the kings, we could say that the kingdom rapidly grew in power under the rule of David, hit its peak under his son Solomon, then split in two – the northern and southern kingdoms – under Solomon’s son Rehoboam. From there, the two kingdoms followed a centuries long trajectory of decline with the northern kingdom falling to Assyrian in 722 BC, and the southern kingdom to Babylon in 586 BC.

What makes the history of this decline and fall so relevant today is that the reader is not, as he is with secular history, left to decide for himself the reasons behind the disasters that befell Israel and Judah. The Word of God tells him explicitly: the people of Israel refused to heed the Lord and suffered the covenant curses pronounced in Deuteronomy 28.

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The Week in Review 11/11/16 – Election Wrap-Up

Posted in Politics, The Week In Review, tagged , , , , on November 12, 2016| 3 Comments »

election-2016Alright all you Social Justice Warrior snowflakes, listen up! I’m about to discuss a certain election that was recently held in the US, and you’re probably not going to like what I have to say. So consider this your trigger warning. Proceed at your own risk

For the rest of you, I trust you’re all adults who can hear the name Donald Trump without breaking into a cold sweat and the sudden urge to flee to the nearest safe space.

To all of you, congratulations on surviving the 2016 presidential election. As has been noted by many others, this was an election unlike any we’ve ever seen. For my part, I tried to avoid writing about it.

Some of my reticence was the result of not quite knowing what to think. As a constitutionalist out of the Ron Paul mold, I had significant differences with all of the candidates. It was tempting at times to pronounce a plague on all their houses and try my best to ignore the whole thing.

But since one of the main purposes of this blog is to bring the light of Clarkian Scripturalism to bear on contemporary issues, keeping silent on the election was not really a viable option.

Neutrality was an option as well. But the obvious establishment propaganda campaign on behalf of Hillary coupled with a remarkably vicious elite jihad on Trump and his supporters – most of Trump’s backers were regular, hard-working Americans, people like me who had had it with the arrogant, lying, globalist oligarchy that had by means of bogus trade deals, unconstitutional foreign wars, Federal Reserve money printing, bail-outs, etc. run the nation into the ground – went a long way to pushing me, even if somewhat reluctantly, into the Trump camp.

In the end, I wrote far move about the election than I had ever intended. And in retrospect, I’m glad that I did. The 2016 campaign challenged me to think carefully about issues – for example, in light of all Donald Trump’s obvious moral shortcomings, could a Christian in good conscience still vote for him? (in case you’re wondering, I came down on the “yes” side of that question) – that I otherwise would have preferred to leave alone. For that I am thankful.

All that said, here are a few items that strike me as key takeaways.

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Election 2016 – The Big Issues

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

As the current presidential election cycle draws to a close, it seemed good to me to put down in writing what I see as the big issues at that will be determined by the November 8th vote.

It’s not uncommon to hear the upcoming election described in superlative terms such as “the most important ever,” or “the most revolting ever.” For my part, I try to steer clear of such statements, if only because I’m not sure how prove that they’re true.

But if I hesitate to say that the 2016 election is the most important ever in American history, I am willing to go on record and say that it may very well be the most important election of my fifty-year lifetime. I do not recall any previous election in which there were so many major issues at stake, issues, which depending on how the vote goes, that very likely will determine the course of our nation for a long time to come.

With that in mind, today’s post is intended to be more high-level, addressing the major overarching themes of this election, which I have cast in these terms: Oligarchy vs. the Rule of Law, Feminism vs. Patriarchy, and Globalism vs. Westphalian Sovereignty.

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Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton: What is More Important, What is Less Important, and What is Not Important at All, Part 2

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , , on October 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

trump_clinton_2

In last week’s post, I set forth a framework for helping Evangelicals think through the issue of whether then can support Donald Trump for President. I suggested we ask ourselves the following questions when considering whether we can vote for Trump: What is more important, What is less important, What is not important at all.

Today, I would like to apply that analysis specifically to the issue of the vulgar Donald Trump/billy Bush video that was released a few weeks ago.

That video, showing both men engaged in what has been euphemistically termed “locker room talk”, has threatened to undermine Trump’s support among Evangelicals, who, with good reason, are offended by what was said on the recording.

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The Week in Review: 10/22/16

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , on October 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I know, I know. I’m a little late with the post this week. But just to prove to you I’m not a complete choke artist, I thought I jot down a few thoughts on the news this past week, even if I come in a little short.

Election Rigging, Say It Ain’t So

The biggest story this week has to be the fallout from Donald Trump’s debate comments. His suggestion that the presidential election might be subject to, shall we say, a certain amount of skullduggery by his esteemed opponents was bad enough.

But his refusal to promise to accept the results of an election that has yet to take place? Well, that was enough to send the entire political establishment into a fit of apoplectic rage.

Sounding the part of the good socialist schoolmarm she is, the Evil Pantsuit (EP) immediately took to scolding Trump for his stance on the election results, saying, “Well Chris, let me respond to that because that’s horrifying. You know, every time Donald thinks things aren’t going in his direction, he claims whatever it is, is rigged against him.”

The mainstream media was quick to pick up where the EP left off. The AP reported Trump was, “Threatening to upend a basic pillar of American democracy.”

President Obama commented there’s, “no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America’s elections.”

The local rag (aka The Cincinnati Enquirer) ran an editorial Friday denouncing Trump’s comments. The paper opines, ” Donald Trump’s claims of a rigged presidential election aren’t only unprecedented and irresponsible. They are dangerous.” Trump, it is claimed, is doing his utmost to “undermine our democracy (sic)” and “Faith in the election system is one of it’s cornerstones.”

To all the above I say nonsense.

Given the massive dishonesty surrounding nearly every aspect of the EP’s campaign, it is entirely reasonable to think the fix is in when it comes to the 2016 election.

What are we to think when the former Secretary of State obviously committed multiple felonies in her mishandling of classified information is not charged but that the fix is in? What are we to think when the husband of said former Secretary of State meets in secret with the Attorney General days before the FBI refuses to recommend charges but that the fix is in?

Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign from her post as head of the DNC due to Wikileaks reports that she had been complicit in rigging the primaries for the EP against Bernie Sanders. Is this not rigging? And if the powers that be will rig the primaries, is it unreasonable to assume they will attempt to rig the general election?

And for what it’s worth, the EP’s campaign hired Debbie Wasserman-Schultz right after her resignation. Nothing suspicious here. Move along, folks.

Wikileaks also has revealed that current DNC chair Donna Brazil obtained the exact wording of a proposed town hall question “and possibly shared it with the Clinton campaign.” But why would anyone be so foolish as to think the presidential election might be rigged.

In this writer’s opinion, given the circumstances surrounding this campaign Trump is absolutely right to raise the specter of a rigged election. Doing so puts the riggers on notice and energizes his base.

And just for good measure, we can’t let the EP off the hook without pointing out her own hypocrisy when it comes to questioning election results. For in 2002, Hillary told a fund-raiser crowd in Lost Angeles that George W. Bush was “selected, not elected” president.

When it comes to refusing to accept election results, apparently it’s all a matter of whose ox is being gored.


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Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton: What is More Important, What is Less Important, and What is Not Important at All – Part 1

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2016| 4 Comments »

trump_clinton_2

The Bible distinguishes knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the ideas taught in Scripture either by direct statement or by implication. Wisdom, on the other hand, is the correct application of knowledge to the particular men and circumstances that we encounter in our lives.

As a way of getting them to apply their knowledge, John Robbins sometimes would tell people they needed to decide what is more important, what is less important, and what is not important at all. This approach can be a helpful way for Christians to think through a host of different issues, including the decision how to vote in elections.

And given the stakes inherent in any presidential election, maybe especially this election, it is important for Christians to have a Biblical framework for evaluating the candidates.

For my part, I have struggled with the election more than any other. There are numerous reason why I would never consider voting for Hillary Clinton. Some of them I have outlined below.

On the other hand, the thought of voting for Trump presents challenges as well.

One Christian writer, put off as he is by the release of a video with Trump making lewd sexual remarks, has equated support for Trump with idolatry and a decision that harms our witness for Christ, “Enthusiasm for a candidate like Trump gives our neighbors ample reason to doubt that we believe Jesus is Lord” (Andy Crouch, Speak Truth to Trump).

Over at World, Marvin Olasky penned Unfit for power, an editorial calling for Trump to step aside as Republican nominee.

One suspects that the arguments put forth by both these writers reflect the thoughts of many Christians. And it is not hard to understand their agreement with Crouch and Olasky.

My view is different. As I shall argue, I believe both these gentlemen miss the mark with their commentaries. Given the circumstances, In my opinion a vote for Trump, rather than being idolatry, may very well be an act of good judgment.

Concerning the call for Trump to step down, it’s worth asking whether there have been any calls from World for Mrs. Clinton to step aside for her many, blatant and serious crimes, not to mention several other significant problems that make her unfit for office.

Before presenting my argument, there are a few points I would like to make.

First, what I say in this post is an opinion. I do not offer it up as a necessary deduction from Scripture. I do not claim it as knowledge. As one who’s spent more than a year struggling with what to think about Trump, and to some extent avoiding commentary on the subject, I can appreciate Crouch’s and Olasky’s concerns and do not doubt their good intentions.

Further, there are many good brothers and sisters in Christ who, as a matter of conscience believe they cannot vote for Trump. This post is not aimed at them. If someone believes voting for Trump is wrong, he should by no means go against his conscious. To do so would be sin.

Third, I acknowledge my own biases, sinfulness and ignorance and realize that all of these shortcomings color any analysis that I do. A Hillary Clinton administration will be, in my view, a heavy burden upon the American people. Perhaps my own intense dislike for her has unfairly colored by assessment of Trump. In light of this, it is possible that I am wrong and those who oppose a Trump presidency are right. That I will leave for others to decide.

Fourth, I write what I do in good faith in the hope that the body of Christ may find it edifying. It is not my intention to castigate those who come to conclusions that are at odds with mine. And if I’ve made errors in my reasoning, perhaps at least some of what I’ve set forth will stimulate thought concerning the election choice facing the nation.

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