Despite his weaknesses and economic errors, Ron Sider was a true believer, one who did not care about being ‘trendy’ or ‘cool’ or appealing to any establishment, whether the ‘woke’ establishment of our society or the bourgeois establishment of the […]
Religion
What Can We Do About Polarization?
There are many ways of dealing with the current political polarization. But, Fukuyama says, the best is to hope for yet another realignment, where a section of the electorate changes parties and gives one party a clear majority. A friend […]
Give Us Barabbas
In exchanging Jesus for Barabbas, the people chose a practical terrorist over The One who did not seem likely to fulfill their political dreams any time soon. The big news in Jerusalem the night of that first long-ago Good Friday, […]
Book Notice: David Brooks, The Road to Character
David Brooks, in his recent book, The Road to Character, makes a distinction between two kinds of virtues and tells us we need to be more concerned about ‘legacy virtues’ and not just the ‘résumé virtues’ that give us success in […]
Individual Responsibility in Ezekiel
The heresy of ‘critical theory’ has revived ideas of guilt inherited by, or inherent in, groups, such as genders, races, or economic classes. The Prophet Ezekiel has some choice things to say about all this. In our time there is […]
More on Christian Faith and Land Use: The Issue of Profiling
The big moral issue behind intentional racism, classism, and the like is the issue of ‘profiling’. Should we assume that, because of people’s appearance, color, or income, they would be more or less likely to do certain things? Or be […]
Vigen Guroian on Politics vs. Witness
Orthodox theologian Vigen Guroian tells us that orthodoxy of community is a better witness than politics. I agree. But the Religious Right was originally triggered into politics partly by a fear that they would lose their freedom to function in […]
I am a ‘Social Conservative’ but Not a ‘Christian Nationalist’
There has been a spate of books recently about ‘Christian nationalism’. I believe that while I am undeniably a ‘social conservative’, and I make no apologies for that, I am not a ‘Christian nationalist’. There is a difference, and I […]
Book Notice: “Losing the Good Portion,” by Leon Podles
There have been claims throughout the history of Christianity that portions of the Church were excessively feminized. Though author Leon Podles is a Catholic himself, most of the space in his book, Losing the Good Portion: Why Men are Alienated […]
Which the Ideology, and Which the Coalition?
The definitions of ‘Republican’ and ‘Democrat’, and even ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’, seem to dance in circles. Even the nature of the parties shifts over time. One is an ideology, the other a coalition, they say. But even that fact tends […]