A Concise Statement of a Familiar Point

Cornelius Hunter at Darwin's God presents a new twist on an old objection to Darwinist views of origins.  Hunter's point is that there is an a priori assumption inherent to the mindset of most Darwinists that can logically prevent them from seeking truth.  Key paragraph is near the top.

Though evolutionists think of themselves as realists—ruthlessly objective investigators interested only in truth—their naturalistic constraint ultimately leaves them with only anti realism. This is because any a priori restriction of the answer might exclude the true answer.

The last line is worth repeating.  ANY a priori restriction of the answer logically may exclude the true answer.   (Read More)

Conservatism - The Care of the Widow

Amid all the political propaganda coming from the left, including the Christian left, there are countless portrayals of conservatives as somehow "against" the poor and "for" the rich.  Jim Wallis recently wrote that caring for the poor is one of the Biblical roles of government.  Not sure anyone would argue with the quote from Psalm 72 regarding the ruler:  "May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor."

But is it really right to leap from defending the poor to what Ron Sider in the article calls " both procedural and distributive" justice? How does one get from defending the cause of the poor to "distributive" justice?  What exactly does "distributive" justice mean?  (More)

The State of Political Discourse

Civility.

I keep hearing that word uttered by those who decry the sorry state of negative politics these days.  "Why can't there be more civility?" 

One cannot understand politics today without understanding a little bit about one Saul David Alinsky.  And in particular, his rule number five:

"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage."

Now I know that political satire and name calling and dirty tricks are nothing new.  They've been with us from the beginning.  But what has changed is the way Alinsky weaponized amoral tactics. (Read More)

Paul Ryan and the Catholic Bishops

Excellent piece at the Wall Street Journal on Paul Ryan's budget proposal and the charge by Catholic bishops that the proposal is immoral.  The piece is by Antony Davies and Kristina Antolin. 

Key lines:

"Perhaps we dehumanize the poor when we treat them as nothing more than problems to be solved, and we dehumanize the rich when we treat them as wallets to be picked." 

Romney - Ryan

Mitt Romney was not my first choice for President.  But I would have supported him regardless of who he picked for VP.  I suspect a lot of folks are like me, the choice of Paul Ryan for VP takes my enthusiasm up several notches.

More than anything else, Ryan seems to be able to articulate the ideas plain old grassroots conservatives hold dear.

This line from his speech at the big rally in Wisconsin caught my ear...

"  ...America is more than just a place ... it's an idea. It's the only country founded on an idea. Our rights come from nature and God, not government."

Obamacare and the Forfeiting of Religious Liberty

This is predictable, but chilling nonetheless.  CNS News reports that a Colorado family that has owned a business since 1962 and employs over 250 people is being told by the government that a private businesses cannot opt out of Obamacare mandates for religious reasons.  Apparently the Justice Department asserts that since an HVAC business is not a religious enterprise, the owners of that business have no right to exercise religious freedom in what medical procedures are included in policies offered to employees.

At issue are a mandate to cover procedures that include sterilization and abortifacient contraceptives.  The owners, the Newland family, are Catholic and those particular procedures go against their faith based ethical beliefs. 

In essence, the solution the Justice Department suggests is this:

If you have a religious objection to Obamacare then don't own a business.  

(More)

Context and Fairness - The Gospel Coalition Keruffle

I've been following the controversy over a post on the Gospel Coalition site about distorted views of sex and a relation to views of male/female roles.  I find it interesting that the progressive Christians who are all about "contextualization" have been up in arms about a post they refused to read in context.

The context concerns the novel Fifty Shades of Grey which apparently contains several explicit sequences detailing sexual bondage, sadism and masochism.  So Jared Wilson published a post from a complimentarian perspective which was intended to speak against bondage, sadism and masochism.  The loud and angry response to the post by many egalitarians and progressives suggested instead that his complementarian position somehow promoted the rape and subjugation of women.  (More)