We live in a time when the classical Protestant church [and, less openly, the Catholics and Orthodox] is often divided over political issues – especially over the character of the current President of the United States. We have Trumpite churches […]
Politics
Proposition 47 and the $950 Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card
Proposition 47, which was adopted by Californians in 2014, has been described as a ballot initiative with ‘unintended results galore‘. It was based on a laudable desire to reduce the number of people in California’s overcrowded prisons who don’t necessarily, […]
Trump’s One Moral Conviction: The Deal
It’s often said that our President, Donald Trump, is a man of no moral convictions – except for those related to his own power and ego. I would quite agree that he seems to have no religion or philosophy. But […]
A Response to Philip Hamburger on the “Administrative Threat”
As a paddleboarder, I have supported an organization called FREESUP socal; it is, frankly, an advocacy organization. We advocate for an open, data-driven process at the local, state, and federal level on regulation of life jacket wear for stand up paddleboarding […]
The Politics, or a-Politics, of the Evangelical Church in the 1970s
I came to Christ in 1973, at the high tide of the Jesus movement. No, we weren’t all hippies; the movement swept through secular colleges [even fraternities!] and youth groups as well. It is worth pointing out that my [deservedly […]
I Became a “Decline to State”
Nine years ago I became a nominal Democrat, a DINO [Democrat in name only] as I called it. I did so because it seemed to me at the time that the Republican party was being taken over by a group […]
The Real Reason I Liked the Insurance Mandate
I have often clashed with my conservative friends as to why I liked the insurance mandate of Obamacare [alas, it went away early this year]. For one thing, how is it different from the Social Security Tax, except it gives […]
My Cartesian Moment: How I Got Repoliticized
After I became a Christian in 1973, I lost interest in politics for a while. Partly, I was learning about new dimensions of reality above and below the earthly that were fascinating. But also, the view that I was getting […]
Reno vs. Sirico: A Debate on Economic Justice
I rarely link to videos, much less watch them myself. But this one I actually did. It contains a debate between two scholars on economic justice, both of them, interestingly enough, identified as ‘conservative’. They are Rusty Reno, editor of First […]
The Deals
There has been some unhappiness among the ‘base’ about President Trump’s recent agreement which might mean the continuation of Obama’s order protecting the Dreamers, those who were undocumented immigrants as children. Excuse me. Mr. Trump was known for writing a […]