If immigration is a ‘social issue,’ it is one that cuts very differently from the traditional social issues of abortion, euthanasia, and gender. And an anti-immigrant stance alienates a whole different set of people than conservatism on moral issues does. […]
Evangelicals
RIP Thomas Fuentes, 1948-2012
Thomas Alexander Fuentes, long time Director of Communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, and also Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, died in May 2012. People had actually expected him to die the previous fall, but […]
Sign the Petition and Save the Fire Rings!!
The latest local government outrage is the attempt of the Newport Beach City Council to tear out the fire rings at Big Corona and other places. Fortunately, they have to seek the approval of the Coastal Commission to do this. […]
Adding to my Swede jokes
To add to my collection of Swede jokes, and of Ethnic Jokes that Really Happened, I heard this story: A gentleman of Swedish ancestry was being interviewed for the post of provost at an evangelical college. He was asked, “So […]
Who is the Santa Claus Party?
After the 2004 election, in which the states that went for Bush formed a relatively neat geographical unity and in all the states that went for Kerry maps and T-shirts were circulating labeling the Republican states as ‘Jesusland,’ I thought, […]
A Linguistic Test: Blue Kennel’s First
I have been reading a work called From Bible Belt to Sun Belt by Darren Dochuk about how settlement from the western South [Texas and bordering states] in the 1930s and 40s reshaped California evangelicalism and culture. It inspired me to give my […]
Earned Success
Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute and public conservative spokesman, has been writing and speaking recently about happiness. He spoke at the recent Christian Community Development Conference, and declared that money does not necessarily bring happiness except that […]
Does Justice Equal Entitlement: A Book Review
Marvin Olasky, one of the most saintly people I know, has also done a review of Timothy Keller”s new book, Generous Justice. I’m sure it is superior to mine. Nevertheless, I think I have something to say.Timothy Keller, the […]
Inflation
Michael Brendan Dougherty says that the Fed has, under Bernanke, pursued an expansionist philosophy of letting asset prices rise and never trying to limit or deflate “bubbles.” This is a different one than it followed in the Paul Volcker era, […]
The Place of Sharia Law in a Free Society
There has been some controversy recently, because the Archbishop of Canterbury, no less, suggested that sharia law could in some ways be incorporated into the British law code. This suggestion created a certain amount of outrage; and in the last […]