Rolling Back the Curse of Unemployment
In New Zealand we have begun a welfare "shakedown". The approach is not Big Bang; rather the strategy has been to change a number of "at the margins" structures. Taken together, however, they amount to a significant move in the right direction.
The core problem with state welfare is that it rapidly creates a psychological and material dependency. Crudely put, getting paid for doing nothing makes more sense--it has greater marginal utility--than getting paid for blood, sweat, and tears (that is, work). Why work when you can get paid for doing nothing? People who enter that matrix are not dumb. They are making a smart, rational choice from the perspective of economic utility.
Of course most folk have a sense that the morality of the deal is not quite on the square.
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Hot Potatoes
NYU Drops Chinese Human Rights Defender for Pro-life Stance
Posted on | July 10, 2013
By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D.Turtle Bay and Beyond
The Daily Beast reports that supporters of the blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng are accusing New York University (NYU) of booting the activist unfairly due to his pro-life and pro-family views. Those views along with criticism of the Chinese regime’s one-child per family policy and the US State Department, which only begrudgingly allowed him to escape China and work at NYU, may complicate the opening NYU’s new Shanghai campus.
The school thwarted his receiving a Congressional Gold Medal and even blocked his testimony before a Congressional hearing, they charge, through ever-present minders which the school has assigned to Chen since he escaped China.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 17
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. —Job 31:21, 22
Devotional:
Let us bear well in mind that if the poor pass before us, and we see their need, and keep our purses shut, so as not to help them, it is a sure sign that we are like wild beasts, and that there is not one spark of pity in us.
We ourselves shall some day feel the same lack of mercy when God sends us afflictions; and although we shall be miserable, no man will be moved by it, but men shall look on us with disdain, and we shall be pushed aside and left utterly destitute. For it is the measure and wages which God is accustomed to give to all who are hardhearted toward their neighbors; according as it is said, that he who is merciless shall have judgment without mercy.
The Ugly Leftist
How Happy is That Man . . .
Chris Trotter, arguably New Zealand's most prominent left wing columnist/theoretician, has recently written the following:
Chris Trotter, arguably New Zealand's most prominent left wing columnist/theoretician, has recently written the following:
I once concluded an editorial in the NZ Political Review with the following observation:Apart from Chris's continuing quest for the Holy Grail--for which we wish him bon chance--what are we to make of his observations?
“There is a paradox here. Conservative political culture, whose raison d’etre is the preservation of social inequality and economic exploitation (not to mention the institutional violence these things create and upon which ruling class power rests) tends to produce individuals of considerable personal charm and genuine liberality. While radical culture, which sets its face against the violence and injustice of entrenched privilege, all too often produces individuals who are aggressive, intolerant and utterly indifferent to the suffering which their relentless quest for justice causes.
“In short, the Right treats humanity like cattle and individual human-beings like princes, while the Left loves humanity with a passion but treats individuals like shit.”
Somewhere there must be an algorithm that delivers the best of both worlds.
I’m still looking. (H/T Kiwiblog)
More on That Spying Legislation
Immolating Trust
The NZ Prime Minister, John Key has got the matter of amendments to espionage legislation dead wrong. Key's initial approach these legislative changes he was proposing is that they were relatively minor tweaks to remove vagueness and uncertainty of the current law. That might have worked, and one could extend to him the benefit of the doubt on the matter.
Then came Edward Snowden and the revelations about the US espionage establishment routinely spying on its own citizens via electronic media interception--contrary to law. It has also transpired that it has been routinely spying on supposed allies. New Zealand is linked into the US espionage establishment and works with it, in an operational arrangement called "Five Eyes". Is New Zealand similarly involved?
Suddenly the issue has ratcheted up substantially.
The NZ Prime Minister, John Key has got the matter of amendments to espionage legislation dead wrong. Key's initial approach these legislative changes he was proposing is that they were relatively minor tweaks to remove vagueness and uncertainty of the current law. That might have worked, and one could extend to him the benefit of the doubt on the matter.
Then came Edward Snowden and the revelations about the US espionage establishment routinely spying on its own citizens via electronic media interception--contrary to law. It has also transpired that it has been routinely spying on supposed allies. New Zealand is linked into the US espionage establishment and works with it, in an operational arrangement called "Five Eyes". Is New Zealand similarly involved?
Suddenly the issue has ratcheted up substantially.
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Eating the Bag Itself
This morning I sent out a link to what I called an edifying food rant, which you can read here. Having done so, I thought it might be good for me to summarize a few basic observations about food and the modern Christian. This is by no means exhaustive, but it should give the lay of the land. This is why this subject is of such major concern to me.
The basic food law for Christians is love. The basic food law for Christians is that of reducing friction to table fellowship. Adding diet barriers increases potential points of friction. Whenever diet barriers are necessary for medical reasons (as they often are), we should work with them, of course. But we should all recognize what our shared goal should be — free table fellowship, for all Christians, in every direction. Two Christians, with completely different brown bag lunches, should be able to laugh and talk together over those lunches, even though one bag is filled with food that is full of pure thoughts and the healthiest thing to do with the other lunch would be to eat the bag itself.
Whenever I write about food, which I am constrained pastorally to do, one of the standard dismissive responses that I see in comments and web chatter is that I am not educated on the subject, that I have not read the right studies, etc.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 16
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reprinted from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. —Matthew 8:26
Devotional:
To sustain these attacks, faith arms and defends itself with the word of the Lord. And when such a temptation as this assails us—that God is our enemy, because he is angry with us—faith, on the contrary, objects, that he is merciful even when he afflicts, because chastisement proceeds rather from love than from wrath.
When it is pressed with this thought, that God is an avenger of iniquities, it opposes the pardon provided for all offenses, whenever the sinner makes application to the Divine clemency. Thus the pious mind, however strangely it may be agitated and harassed, rises at length superior to all difficulties, nor ever suffers its confidence in the Divine mercy to be shaken. The various disputes which exercise and fatigue it terminate rather in the confirmation of that confidence.
Christian Political Engagement
Platitudes and Nullities
We have been reading a book on Christian involvement in politics, entitled City of Man. [Michael Gerson, Peter Wehner, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era (Chicago: Moody Press, 2010).] Our advice would be to save money and by-pass this volume, notwithstanding positive blurbs from Richard J. Mouw, Mark A. Noll, and Ronald J. Sider.
Few books are universally inept or bad. But this gets pretty close. It has been written for the pop-Christian market in the US. It has many broad-sweeping generalisations that irritate more than inform. Gerson and Wehner are establishment figures in the United States. (They served in the Bush Administration. Gerson was a former policy adviser and chief speechwriter to George Bush. Wehner was a former deputy assistant to the President and a director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.)
Its core weakness is its trite question begging.
We have been reading a book on Christian involvement in politics, entitled City of Man. [Michael Gerson, Peter Wehner, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era (Chicago: Moody Press, 2010).] Our advice would be to save money and by-pass this volume, notwithstanding positive blurbs from Richard J. Mouw, Mark A. Noll, and Ronald J. Sider.
Few books are universally inept or bad. But this gets pretty close. It has been written for the pop-Christian market in the US. It has many broad-sweeping generalisations that irritate more than inform. Gerson and Wehner are establishment figures in the United States. (They served in the Bush Administration. Gerson was a former policy adviser and chief speechwriter to George Bush. Wehner was a former deputy assistant to the President and a director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.)
Its core weakness is its trite question begging.
Monday, 15 July 2013
Letter From the UK (About Thought Police)
Christian arrested for calling homosexuality a 'sin' warns of 'real-life thought police'
A Christian street preacher has been arrested and questioned about his beliefs after saying that he thinks homosexuality is a “sin”.
11:45AM BST 04 Jul 2013
Tony Miano, 49, a former senior police officer from the US, was held for
around six hours, had his fingerprints and DNA taken and was questioned
about his faith, after delivering a sermon about “sexual immorality” on a
London street.
Mr Miano, who served as a Deputy Sherriff in Los Angeles County, said his
experience suggested that the term “thought police” had become a reality in
the UK. He said he was amazed that it was now possible “in the country that produced
the Magna Carta” for people to be arrested for what they say.
Mr Miano, who was provided with a solicitor by the Christian Legal Centre, was
arrested under the controversial clause of the Public Order Act which bans
“insulting” words or behaviour. The clause has recently been dropped by the House of Lords after a
high-profile free speech campaign but the change has yet to come into force.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 15
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. —Revelation 3:5
Devotional:
Therefore we have need to be armed and equipped at every point. But you need not be daunted, seeing that God has promised to equip his own according as they are assaulted by Satan. Only commit yourself to him, distrusting all in yourself, and hope that he only will suffice to sustain you. Further you have to take heed chiefly to two things; first, what the side is you defend, and next, what crown is promised to those who continue steadfast in the Gospel.
The service of God, the boundless grace which he has manifested to us in his Son, and all the glory of his kingdom, are such precious things, that no mortal man ought to think it hard to spend his life in fighting against the base corruptions, whose reign throughout the world tends to bring to naught those blessings.
And then, we know what will be the end of our warfare, and that he who has bought us will never suffer so dear a price as his blood to be lost, if we be but signed with it.
The West and Islam
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
We published recently on the small matter of gang rape in Egypt, here. The occasion was evidence of a "see no evil, hear no evil" attitude on the part of the literary set in the UK. This gets mighty close to a re-run of "Stalin is a good-guy" and "Soviet Communism is a breathtaking advance in human civilization" we saw in the previous century amongst the intellectual and literary sets in both the UK and the US.
Never, ever let the facts get in the way of a good story--that is the blindness of the Left. So ridden with (false) ideology they are wilfully self-blinded to what is patently obvious before their face. Mark Steyn added his clear voice to the purblind lunacy of many on the Left on this matter.
We published recently on the small matter of gang rape in Egypt, here. The occasion was evidence of a "see no evil, hear no evil" attitude on the part of the literary set in the UK. This gets mighty close to a re-run of "Stalin is a good-guy" and "Soviet Communism is a breathtaking advance in human civilization" we saw in the previous century amongst the intellectual and literary sets in both the UK and the US.
Never, ever let the facts get in the way of a good story--that is the blindness of the Left. So ridden with (false) ideology they are wilfully self-blinded to what is patently obvious before their face. Mark Steyn added his clear voice to the purblind lunacy of many on the Left on this matter.
Saturday, 13 July 2013
Letter From America (About Egypt)
The Princess and the Brotherhood
For nine decades, Egypt has fled modernity.
After midday prayers on Wednesday, just
about the time the army were heading over to the presidential palace to
evict Mohammed Morsi, the last king of Egypt was laying to rest his
aunt, Princess Fawzia, who died in Alexandria on Tuesday at the grand
old age of 91. She was born in 1921, a few months before the imperial
civil servants of London and Paris invented the modern Middle East and
the British protectorate of Egypt was upgraded to a kingdom, and seven
years before Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood.
A long life reminds us of how short history is: Princess Fawzia outlived the Egyptian monarchy, and the Nasserist fascism and pan-Arabism that succeeded it, and the doomed “United Arab Republic” of Egypt and Syria, and the fetid third-of-a-century “stability” of the Mubarak kleptocracy. And she came within 24 hours of outliving the Muslim Brotherhood’s brief, disastrous grip on power. In the days before her death, it was reported that 14 million people took to the streets of Egypt’s cities to protest against Morsi (and Obama and his ambassador Anne Paterson). If so, that’s more than the population of the entire country in the year Princess Fawzia was born. The Mubarak era alone saw the citizenry double from 40 million to 80 million, a majority of which live on less than two dollars a day. The old pharaoh was toppled by his own baby boom, most of whom went for Morsi. The new pharaoh was toppled by his own stupidity. The Muslim Brotherhood waited 85 years for their moment and then blew it in nothing flat.
A long life reminds us of how short history is: Princess Fawzia outlived the Egyptian monarchy, and the Nasserist fascism and pan-Arabism that succeeded it, and the doomed “United Arab Republic” of Egypt and Syria, and the fetid third-of-a-century “stability” of the Mubarak kleptocracy. And she came within 24 hours of outliving the Muslim Brotherhood’s brief, disastrous grip on power. In the days before her death, it was reported that 14 million people took to the streets of Egypt’s cities to protest against Morsi (and Obama and his ambassador Anne Paterson). If so, that’s more than the population of the entire country in the year Princess Fawzia was born. The Mubarak era alone saw the citizenry double from 40 million to 80 million, a majority of which live on less than two dollars a day. The old pharaoh was toppled by his own baby boom, most of whom went for Morsi. The new pharaoh was toppled by his own stupidity. The Muslim Brotherhood waited 85 years for their moment and then blew it in nothing flat.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 13
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. —Zechariah 12:4
Devotional:
There is nothing better for us than to be gathered under the shadow of God's protection, however destitute of any fortress the Church may be, yea, were she to have innumerable enemies hostile to her, and to be without any strength to resist them.
Though then the Church were thus grievously tried, and be in the midst of many dangers, and exposed even to death, let us learn from this passage that those are miserable indeed who through fear or cowardice separate themselves from her,
The Owen Glenn Inquiry
A Bit of a Yawn
The Owen Glenn inquiry into family violence has taken some strange turns down a back country road. Glenn is a wealthy philanthropist. He has more money than most New Zealanders' could shake a stick at--which in a country racked with covetousness and a deep sense of grievance is not well received by many. More than a small minority believe there is only one thing Owen Glenn should do with his money: he should give it us me, myself, and I, since guys like Glenn are implicitly responsible for my hardship and my degradation.
Then there's another thing. Glenn wanting to "invest" private money to find out the causes of family violence does not sit well because everyone agrees that preventing family violence is the government's responsibility. If a private individual starts to pay for a public good, concerns surface that maybe we are seeing the first steps towards privatisation of government welfare by stealth. Inconceivable! Wouldn't it be better for Glenn just to donate the money to the government and let it get on with it? The government could even pass special legislation, entitled "The Glenn Special Surtax Bill"--or something of that ilk.
And then there's the "what's the point?" argument.
The Owen Glenn inquiry into family violence has taken some strange turns down a back country road. Glenn is a wealthy philanthropist. He has more money than most New Zealanders' could shake a stick at--which in a country racked with covetousness and a deep sense of grievance is not well received by many. More than a small minority believe there is only one thing Owen Glenn should do with his money: he should give it us me, myself, and I, since guys like Glenn are implicitly responsible for my hardship and my degradation.
Then there's another thing. Glenn wanting to "invest" private money to find out the causes of family violence does not sit well because everyone agrees that preventing family violence is the government's responsibility. If a private individual starts to pay for a public good, concerns surface that maybe we are seeing the first steps towards privatisation of government welfare by stealth. Inconceivable! Wouldn't it be better for Glenn just to donate the money to the government and let it get on with it? The government could even pass special legislation, entitled "The Glenn Special Surtax Bill"--or something of that ilk.
And then there's the "what's the point?" argument.
Friday, 12 July 2013
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 12
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? —Job 22:4
Devotional:
It is true that men make great noise when they conspire together. And especially if kings and princes conspire together against the living God, and the people also agree with them, they make much ado. And yet all this takes place here beneath, and they are like grasshoppers. Grasshoppers have such long legs that they can leap; but they must fall down again after a while. So then they may make a great stir here, but can they leap above the clouds? Certainly not.
However he that dwells in the high places will laugh them to scorn.
Becoming Blonde
The Swedenising of Egypt
The Guardian has reviewed a brouhaha that has erupted over some non-PC remarks by novelist, Joyce Carol Oates. Apparently that particular curmudgeon had the temerity to suggest that there was a causal connection between Islam and violence against women. Many, apparently, were outraged at the very idea.
Here are the remarks of Oates, as reported in the Guardian:
The Guardian has reviewed a brouhaha that has erupted over some non-PC remarks by novelist, Joyce Carol Oates. Apparently that particular curmudgeon had the temerity to suggest that there was a causal connection between Islam and violence against women. Many, apparently, were outraged at the very idea.
Here are the remarks of Oates, as reported in the Guardian:
Author Joyce Carol Oates has sparked a social media ruckus with a series of tweets linking rape culture to Islam, drawing a stream of responses from other writers and users of the site. Oates is not the first high-profile writer to stumble into the political arena, but her choice of timing, topic and media were particularly incendiary. Oates's 140-word political tweet-bombs began by remarking: "Something dispiriting about 'Brotherhood' political parties – wonder what it is." And drove on with "Where 99.3% of women report having been sexually harassed & rape is epidemic – Egypt – natural to inquire: what's the predominant religion?"This was a bridge too far for her fellow travellers. One writer tweeted:
Writer Edward Champion (@drmabuse) replied "80 sexual assaults in one day, @joycecaroloates? Try 720 in one day in the US…". . . which amounts to a rather strange kind of moral equivalence.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Letter From America (About Felonies)
Commit any felonies lately?
Updated: 12:13 am, Wed Jul 3, 2013.
Elizabeth Daly went to jail over a case of bottled water.
According to the Charlottesville Daily Progress, shortly after 10 p.m. April 11, the University of Virginia student bought ice cream, cookie dough and a carton of LaCroix sparkling water from the Harris Teeter grocery store at the popular Barracks Road Shopping Center. In the parking lot, a half-dozen men and a woman approached her car, flashing some kind of badges. One jumped on the hood. Another drew a gun. Others started trying to break the windows.
Did the ABC’s enforcers apologize? Not in the slightest.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 11
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Reprinted from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. —Psalm 147:10
Devotional:
"Not in the strength of the horse." After the Psalmist has shown that there is proof of the divine goodness in every part of the world, he takes particular notice that men have no strength but what is given them from above, and this he adds with the express purpose of checking the pride by which almost all men are inflamed, and which leads them to trust in their own strength.
The meaning of the passage is, that let man come in the preparation of his own strength, and with all the assistances that seem to him most prevalent, this will only issue in smoke and vanity; nay, that in arrogating the very least to himself, this will only be a hindrance in the way of the mercy of God, by which alone we stand.
The strength of the horse is mentioned to denote any kind of protection.
Progress
Fairness Ethic Has Its Good Points
The New Zealand government is starting to crack down on some beneficiaries who have their cake and want to eat it too. The hapless left describes this as "beneficiary bashing". But the measures are showing up as well supported by the electorate. This is because New Zealanders don't like "unfairness". It's a cultural value which has ill-served the nation of often, but at times it proves helpful.
The first group being targeted by the government is student loan beneficiaries who refuse (or wilfully neglect) to repay their loans. The worst offenders are those who have gone overseas for extended periods and have declined to repay their loans. They have effectively skipped town. The government announced recently that the worst offenders--the hardened recidivists--risk arrest when they return (even temporarily) to New Zealand. This means they are effectively exiled from their home country.
It is reported that this has prompted a flurry of activity on the part of some of the overseas negligent payers to start to make appropriate "arrangements" and commence repayments. It is also reported that a majority of the electorate in New Zealand supports the move.
The New Zealand government is starting to crack down on some beneficiaries who have their cake and want to eat it too. The hapless left describes this as "beneficiary bashing". But the measures are showing up as well supported by the electorate. This is because New Zealanders don't like "unfairness". It's a cultural value which has ill-served the nation of often, but at times it proves helpful.
The first group being targeted by the government is student loan beneficiaries who refuse (or wilfully neglect) to repay their loans. The worst offenders are those who have gone overseas for extended periods and have declined to repay their loans. They have effectively skipped town. The government announced recently that the worst offenders--the hardened recidivists--risk arrest when they return (even temporarily) to New Zealand. This means they are effectively exiled from their home country.
It is reported that this has prompted a flurry of activity on the part of some of the overseas negligent payers to start to make appropriate "arrangements" and commence repayments. It is also reported that a majority of the electorate in New Zealand supports the move.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Letter From America (About the US Intelligence Community)
U.S. intelligence community is out of control
Some did it for the money, some
did it for idealism, others didn't do it at all. The U.S. has seen a
number of high profile leak scandals including the Pentagon Papers
during the administration of President Richard Nixon.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- David Rothkopf: The U.S. intelligence community is being slammed as overreaching
- He says more news of spying, on United States' European allies, has drawn shock and anger
- He says it's out of control, with poor oversight and disregard for laws and U.S. values
- Rothkopf: There are real threats, but intelligence community hasn't shown spying is only answer
Editor's note: David Rothkopf writes regularly for CNN.com. He is CEO and editor-at-large of the FP Group, publishers of Foreign Policy magazine, and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Follow him on Twitter.
The list of recent
revelations grew over the weekend with allegations that America has been
systematically spying on its European allies. Reports in the European
press, apparently drawn from documents provided by Edward Snowden,
suggested that America spied on the European Union, France, Italy,
Greece and other close international friends, listening in on encrypted
fax transmissions and planting bugs and other devices at 38 embassies
and missions in Washington and New York, as well as locations in Europe.
David Rothkopf
The timing is not great:
the eve of scheduled trade talks with the Europeans, a priority of the
Obama administration.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 10
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. —Galatians 5:13
Devotional:
Ivory and gold, and riches of all kinds, are certainly blessings of Divine Providence; not only permitted, but expressly designed for the use of men; nor are we anywhere prohibited to laugh, or to be satiated with food, or to annex new possessions to those already enjoyed by ourselves or by our ancestors, or to be delighted with musical harmony, or to drink wine.
This indeed is true; but amidst an abundance of all things, to be immersed in sensual delights, to inebriate the heart and mind with present pleasures, and perpetually to grasp at new ones—these things are very remote from a legitimate use of Divine blessings.
Let them banish, therefore, immoderate desire, excessive profusion, vanity, and arrogance; that with a pure conscience they may make a proper use of the gifts of God.
What Would the Martyrs Be Thinking?
A Full Centimetre Longer Than High Street Minis
The by-line in an article published in the Daily Telegraph informs us that the new Archbishop of Canterbury is warning that 'the Church of England . . . had to face up to a “revolution” in attitudes to homosexuality.' So far, so good.
That a "revolution" in attitudes to homosexuality is taking place in the West, including Britain, is undeniable, although arguably the word "revolution" is misleading. Change, or more accurately, devolution is certainly occurring. But it is consistent change. It is expected change. The West has no moral absolutes, no ethical fundamentals. It gave that away a long time ago, when it rebelled against the God of the heavens and the earth. Instead the creed, "Man is the measure of all things, and nothing human is foreign or immoral to me" has become the UK's established religion. Homosexuality is a human activity, non? Therefore, there can be nothing foreign nor immoral about it. Consequently, in the West homosexuality must inevitably come to be recognised as a human right, an activity protected by law. The duty and function of the law then becomes to condemn and punish any who disagree because they refuse to accept and submit to the (now) established humanist religion.
How is the Church of England to face up to such a "revolution" is the key question?
The by-line in an article published in the Daily Telegraph informs us that the new Archbishop of Canterbury is warning that 'the Church of England . . . had to face up to a “revolution” in attitudes to homosexuality.' So far, so good.
That a "revolution" in attitudes to homosexuality is taking place in the West, including Britain, is undeniable, although arguably the word "revolution" is misleading. Change, or more accurately, devolution is certainly occurring. But it is consistent change. It is expected change. The West has no moral absolutes, no ethical fundamentals. It gave that away a long time ago, when it rebelled against the God of the heavens and the earth. Instead the creed, "Man is the measure of all things, and nothing human is foreign or immoral to me" has become the UK's established religion. Homosexuality is a human activity, non? Therefore, there can be nothing foreign nor immoral about it. Consequently, in the West homosexuality must inevitably come to be recognised as a human right, an activity protected by law. The duty and function of the law then becomes to condemn and punish any who disagree because they refuse to accept and submit to the (now) established humanist religion.
How is the Church of England to face up to such a "revolution" is the key question?
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter
The Fourth of July: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Genuine patriotism is not surprised or derailed by flaws, sins or
wickedness in the object of our love. Sentimental patriotism, by
contrast, treats love of country the same way a maudlin Hallmark card
writer would treat, after three beers, love of mother. Mothers Day
becomes a high, holy, and sacred thing — a sanctifying thing, rather
than what it is, something needing to be sanctified, like everything
else we do.
So real love understands grace, and the need for it. Real love understands gratitude, and the need for it. The need for grace does not eradicate the need for gratitude. The need for gratitude does not mean that grace has become unnecessary and superfluous. Leftists sneer at the need for gratitude, and the sentimental right sneers at the need for grace, revealing both sides to be idolatrous.
And so this brings us to the 4th of July, 2013 — the good, the bad, and the ugly. But lest we become hardened in cynicism, we will return to the top again. We will focus on the good, the bad, the ugly, and the good again.
So real love understands grace, and the need for it. Real love understands gratitude, and the need for it. The need for grace does not eradicate the need for gratitude. The need for gratitude does not mean that grace has become unnecessary and superfluous. Leftists sneer at the need for gratitude, and the sentimental right sneers at the need for grace, revealing both sides to be idolatrous.
And so this brings us to the 4th of July, 2013 — the good, the bad, and the ugly. But lest we become hardened in cynicism, we will return to the top again. We will focus on the good, the bad, the ugly, and the good again.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 09
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me.... —Ezekiel 2:3a
Devotional:
He threatens them, therefore, and that not only once, because such was the hardheartedness of the people that it was not enough to utter the threatenings of God three or four times, unless he should continually impress them.
But, at the same time, he shows the causes why God determined to treat his people so severely; namely, because they were contaminated with many superstitions, because they were perfidious, greedy, cruel, and full of rapine, given up to luxury and depraved by lust; all these things are united by our Prophet, that he may show that the vengeance of God is not too severe, since the people had arrived at the very last pitch of impiety and all wickedness.
At the same time, he gives them, here and there, some taste of the mercy of God.
Overreach
Nothing Like the Good Old Days
The environmentalist movement has long since overreached itself. It has fallen back on a primitive nativism as the way forward. Less is more. Fewer people, lower standards of living, and more simple primitive lifestyles are the way ahead--if we are to save the planet. What environmentalists fail to grasp is how they have messed in their own nest. By over egging the pudding they have created a deep cynicism toward (legitimate) environmental concerns, which is a great pity.
Two assumptions come together to support the environmentalist philosophy. The first is that fewer humans means less pollution. The second is that fewer humans means more wealth to be distributed to each individual. Both assumptions are simplistic nostrums. Both assumptions can only find traction on a plain of general ignorance.
Consider the following realities:
The environmentalist movement has long since overreached itself. It has fallen back on a primitive nativism as the way forward. Less is more. Fewer people, lower standards of living, and more simple primitive lifestyles are the way ahead--if we are to save the planet. What environmentalists fail to grasp is how they have messed in their own nest. By over egging the pudding they have created a deep cynicism toward (legitimate) environmental concerns, which is a great pity.
Two assumptions come together to support the environmentalist philosophy. The first is that fewer humans means less pollution. The second is that fewer humans means more wealth to be distributed to each individual. Both assumptions are simplistic nostrums. Both assumptions can only find traction on a plain of general ignorance.
Consider the following realities:
Monday, 8 July 2013
Fables, Fantasies and Fairy Stories
What Happens When You Deprive Children of Scary Stories
Justin TaylorJuly 1, 2013
Alasdair MacIntyre:
It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves that suckle twin boys, youngest sons who receive no inheritance but must make their own way in the world and eldest sons who waste their inheritance on riotous living and go into exile to live with the swine that children learn or mislearn both what a child and what a parent is, what the cast of characters may be in the drama into which they have been born and what the ways of the world are. Deprive children of stories and you leave them unscripted, anxious stutterers in their actions as in their words.G. K. Chesterton:
—Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 3d ed. (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), p. 216.
Calvin's Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
July 08
Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin
by John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga)Republished from the OPC Website
Bible Text:
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. —Matthew 6:10
Devotional:
'Thy will be done." We are therefore commanded to desire that, as in heaven nothing is done but according to the Divine will, and the angels are placidly conformed to everything that is right, so the earth, all obstinacy and depravity being annihilated, may be subject to the same government. And in praying for this, we renounce our own carnal desires; because, unless we resign all our affections to God, we are guilty of all the opposition in our power to his will, for nothing proceeds from us but what is sinful.
Established Religions
The Return of the Prodigal
Every human society has an established deity. It's inescapable. In this context we define deity broadly: the god who rules is the object or person in which society places their trust. Human beings inevitably have to trust someone or something to provide what only a god can: safety, security, provision, and care along with more abstract (but vitally important) realities such as truth, justice, righteousness, and wisdom without which no society can cohere.
Secular society's god is the government. Rules, regulations and laws coupled with property exacted from subjects and bestowed upon others in order to pay for the "justice", blessings and benefits the god wishes to bestow is how this particular religion works. And it works a doozy. Every Western society without exception has kowtowed to this particular deity. Why are the peoples' of the West so resistant to the historical Christian faith? Because they love their idol god, their respective governments. You cannot serve God and Mammon, Jesus says. The West now serves Mammon with a deep, abiding devotion.
Which would be great. Apart from one minor problem.
Every human society has an established deity. It's inescapable. In this context we define deity broadly: the god who rules is the object or person in which society places their trust. Human beings inevitably have to trust someone or something to provide what only a god can: safety, security, provision, and care along with more abstract (but vitally important) realities such as truth, justice, righteousness, and wisdom without which no society can cohere.
Secular society's god is the government. Rules, regulations and laws coupled with property exacted from subjects and bestowed upon others in order to pay for the "justice", blessings and benefits the god wishes to bestow is how this particular religion works. And it works a doozy. Every Western society without exception has kowtowed to this particular deity. Why are the peoples' of the West so resistant to the historical Christian faith? Because they love their idol god, their respective governments. You cannot serve God and Mammon, Jesus says. The West now serves Mammon with a deep, abiding devotion.
Which would be great. Apart from one minor problem.
Saturday, 6 July 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Just Like Tomorrow Morning Is
With the Supreme Court doing its part today to advance the homosexual agenda, while trying not to provoke a major backlash, as happened with Roe v. Wade, I thought a little encouragement for the saints might be in order.
All this reminds us again that there is no political solution to what ails us. We are a nation with the staggers, and our prophets and judges all have paper bags over their heads. There is such a thing as political and legislative faithfulness, but there is no such thing as political and legislative salvation. God brings us to the end of our puny little abilities so that we may trust, not in ourselves, but in Him, the God who raises the dead.
So we remind one another — as we ought to — that there is no political solution. There will be political consequences when the solution arrives, but there is no political solution. This is true as far as it goes, but there might be an assumption buried in there that is not so true.
As the old joke has it: “Well, I guess we have to pray about it.” “Oh, has it come to that?”
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