Reflecting on Independence Day 2024 (II)

The original nation under the Articles of Confederation wouldn't hold together and so for many the revolution was betrayed by the creation of the Constitution and federalism. Some are aware of this to be sure but the masses of flag wavers are not.

Closing the Book on the Assange Era

There are clearly some who are unhappy with Assange's release and believe he should have been either executed or incarcerated for life. The same day as the Notre Dame fire (which dominated the news) - the UK government arrested him in April 2019 at the Ecuadorian embassy where he had already been holed up since 2012. The reasons for his hiding in the embassy are rooted in bogus (and now dropped) charges of rape in Sweden. He suspected that as soon as he ended up in a UK court for an extradition hearing, the US would intervene and unwrap a sealed indictment against him. Its existence was an all but an open secret.

Glorying in their Shame: Celebrating the Magisterial Reformation's Sacral Heritage (II)

Kennedy then takes a strange turn by invoking the memory of Reinhold Niebuhr who was not a Christian by any kind of New Testament measure. His faith was not in keeping with the message delivered by the apostles and so I continue to be somewhat baffled as to why his flawed paradigms and bogus 'realist' dilemmas are granted any standing.

The Synagogue Shooter and the Death Penalty

Pennsylvania media has long been fixated on the trial of the man who went on a murderous Anti-Semitic rampage at a synagogue in Pittsburgh back in 2018. Eleven people were murdered and six more suffered injury. The Federal trial resulted in a death penalty verdict and this has generated a range of responses. As I took them in and reflected on them in light of Scripture, I found myself not a little frustrated by the many false assumptions being made both within and without the Christian community.

Confessional Presbyterianism: A System of Syncretism, Tradition, and Bureaucracy

https://theaquilareport.com/second-thoughts-about-the-proposed-witness-overtures/

We've just passed General Assembly season in the Presbyterian world and thus there's a lot of talk about polity, discipline, and procedure and yet as this article demonstrates, most of it is off-base and has little if anything to do with actual New Testament polity, but is instead rooted in tradition and what amounts to a functional rejection of Scriptural Sufficiency.

Desiring to be Teachers of the Law (II)

The Great Commission of Matthew 28 is repeatedly invoked but with a Dominionist overlay that re-casts the passage in terms of a Christianisation that does not exist, that has no premise in the New Testament, is refuted by the New Testament, and in no way reflects Christ's imperative in the passage. He was exhorting His followers to make disciples of the nations – in other words the gospel message is not restricted to the Jewish nation but now goes out into the world and is open and available to all people – a point reiterated and reinforced by Pentecost and the Book of Acts. That offer did not include the Mosaic Law as Acts 15 makes clear.

Desiring to be Teachers of the Law (I)

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=10922121435868

This podcast typifies the kind of confusion that seems to reign at the moment in Reformed and Dominionist circles. There is a Theonomic overlay to the conversation and yet the roundtable discussion is in the end rendered as something of the absurd – all but pointless. The assumptions of Theonomy are effectively invoked and yet the overriding ethos of the participants is that of Libertarianism. The fact that these two approaches are not only incompatible but antithetical seems to escape them. The topic in question is whether or not the government has the right or should be able to impose a regime of licenses and permits. In every case their impulses are effectively libertarian in their rejection of all such mechanisms – a point we will return to below. But there are other preliminary issues that must be considered first.

The False Dilemma of the 2022 Election

Albert Mohler and other Evangelicals are right, we as Christians cannot vote for Democrats. Amen. And they go further and suggest those that do so fall under condemnation. Amen to that as well.

Inbox: Usury and Related Questions (II)

As far as charging interest to the unbeliever and that sort of thing – for me it's out of the question. I don't believe I can view the unbeliever as an enemy (which would be in keeping with the Old Testament scenario) and while I may agree (in the broad strokes) with Aristotle on this point, the real issue is (I believe) that so-called risk is invalid in terms of making a legitimate profit.

Feeling Better About America

Visiting a church last Sunday I wasn't terribly surprised when there was mention of the Dobbs v. Jackson case and the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Evangelicals are celebrating this ruling and several others that have come down at the conclusion of the Supreme Court's recent 2021-2022 term.

Dobbs v. Jackson: A Pyrrhic Victory at Best

It's June, and in the United States that's the time when the Supreme Court issues its substantial rulings. If the reports are to be believed it is likely that Roe v. Wade, (the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in all fifty states) is going to be overturned.

Though the 7-2 decision makes it an unlikely candidate for reversal, there were always some issues with the ruling that made it subject to review. A political issue more than a legal one, the time has come or so it seems. With the Trump appointments and some GOP scheming, the Right has now gained a decided advantage on the court and it would seem they're making their move. The new era of Dobbs v. Jackson will soon be upon us, the case that will overturn Roe.

Texas, Florida, and Anti-Sodomy Laws: Some Theological Dangers and Warnings

Many Evangelicals will undoubtedly celebrate the recent legislative moves in Texas and Florida and both governors (one Catholic and one Evangelical) are certainly viewed as allies or even champions in the Christian Right's culture wars.

The Dark Side of Covid – The Establishment's Reordering of Society (III)

Are these concepts surrounding social credit, access, and economics harbingers of the Mark of the Beast?

The Dark Side of Covid – The Establishment's Reordering of Society (II)

What are some areas that are of genuine concern – areas being exploited by people in power to bring about great and sweeping changes to society?

The Dark Side of Covid – The Establishment's Reordering of Society (I)

Certain elements within society that want to deny the reality of Covid or seriously downplay its impact tend to focus on what might be called the dark side of Covid. This refers to the sociological elements and upheavals connected to the Covid epoch and while they've been exaggerated by some (and this line of discussion is often corrupted by a great deal of misinformation and even blatant disinformation), there is nevertheless something to it.

A Misreading of Paul in Acts 16 and the Larger Question of Legal Rights

https://agradio.org/paul-and-his-roman-constitutional-rights

This reading of Paul is common in Evangelical circles but a more careful reading of the passage reveals that it has been misunderstood.

The Fragmentation of the Social Order

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/leonard-pitts-jr-the-social-covenant-has-shattered/ar-AARkgok

I occasionally glance at syndicated editorials. Pitts is sometimes interesting and thoughtful and other times less so. This one struck me because it's something I've been talking about for years. Pitts barely scratches the surface but it was still refreshing to read. At least someone is thinking about these issues.

The Christian-Right and the Rittenhouse Acquittal

Kyle Rittenhouse is the product of a generation brought up in the midst of social turmoil, economic decline, and endless war. It's evident that to Rittenhouse life is cheap and he speaks casually (in almost video game terms) of shooting people. They're not human beings, they're objects. He's the classic 'angry young man' and while he's a murderer, he does deserve a degree of sympathy.

The Establishment's Suppression of the January 6 Investigation (III)

Nancy Pelosi is the Right's greatest and most powerful enemy within Congress and at this point she's the one figure that could really lead the charge, the one person that has the power to pursue the January 6^th coup attempt and to take down the collaborators in congress – wounding the party in the process.

And yet she's not. Why isn't she? Why isn't the Establishment media aggressively reporting on this? Why aren't they coming after her and challenging her tepid response and her lacklustre investigation?

The Establishment's Suppression of the January 6 Investigation (II)

The US sought unipolarity in 1989 and thirty years later it finds itself in grave danger, the dream lost, and US hegemony under threat. The American Establishment is desperate to re-engage the world and rekindle the kind of American dominance that the nation had in the decades after World War II. The vast wealth and power the US accumulated post-1945, is now under existential threat from foreign rivals.