Saul's Slide Begins
Expository - Book of Samuel
Written by Douglas Wilson
Saturday, July 23, 2011
I Samuel 13
INTRODUCTION:
God is the Lord of all things—and this means that He is Lord of both the inside and the outside of a man. Sin loves to divide them in two, and yet God does not permit it. True faith begins on the inside, but does not rest content until the outside is brought under. If you start with the outside of the cup, what you almost always wind up with is a clean outside and putrid contents. As we seek to live as consistent Christians, we must take into account the example of King Saul.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Salute the Beckhams
Choosing Life, Not Death
When a culture turns away from the Lord and giver of Life, it ends up championing death. The transformation is normally not immediate, but gradual. Nevertheless, it is ineluctable. The particular manifestation of death-devotion can vary. As Germany transformed from a Christian nation to a champion of Enlightenment rationalism and idealism, it eventually elected a government which went on to exterminate six million Jews and millions of Gentiles--all in the name of the Volk and its superior "life".
The West generally has championed death through a perverse celebration of human rights.
When a culture turns away from the Lord and giver of Life, it ends up championing death. The transformation is normally not immediate, but gradual. Nevertheless, it is ineluctable. The particular manifestation of death-devotion can vary. As Germany transformed from a Christian nation to a champion of Enlightenment rationalism and idealism, it eventually elected a government which went on to exterminate six million Jews and millions of Gentiles--all in the name of the Volk and its superior "life".
The West generally has championed death through a perverse celebration of human rights.
Friday, 29 July 2011
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Another Plate of Sausages
Culture and Politics - Politics
Written by Douglas Wilson
Thursday, July 28, 2011
I don't often commend Republicans, so let me do so here. Throw in all of the qualifications -- not all of them, they could still flake, and so on -- and yet a commendation is still in order.
There are times when countries run out of money/credit absolutely. The cash is simply not there anymore, and hello, Greece. There are other times when it becomes obvious that they are going to run out of money/credit down the road sometime . . . obvious to anyone who is willing to do the math. In the latter instance, it always requires political courage to act now on the basis of math that concerns the future.
Culture and Politics - Politics
Written by Douglas Wilson
Thursday, July 28, 2011
I don't often commend Republicans, so let me do so here. Throw in all of the qualifications -- not all of them, they could still flake, and so on -- and yet a commendation is still in order.
There are times when countries run out of money/credit absolutely. The cash is simply not there anymore, and hello, Greece. There are other times when it becomes obvious that they are going to run out of money/credit down the road sometime . . . obvious to anyone who is willing to do the math. In the latter instance, it always requires political courage to act now on the basis of math that concerns the future.
The Bollard Doctrine
Hide Behind the Eight-Ball
Faced with mounting evidence of inflation at every hand, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Alan Bollard today opted boldly to do nothing. New Zealand official cash interest rates remain at artificial, historic lows. Dr Bollard cited global uncertainty and the soaring New Zealand dollar to record highs as justification for his sitting-on-hands repose.
The higher the dollar rises, the lower the prices of imports, keeping inflationary pressure down--which is to say, obscured. Despite this, food price inflation is reported to be running at nine percent.
It would appear that the good Governor may have forgotten Goodhart's Law.
Faced with mounting evidence of inflation at every hand, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Alan Bollard today opted boldly to do nothing. New Zealand official cash interest rates remain at artificial, historic lows. Dr Bollard cited global uncertainty and the soaring New Zealand dollar to record highs as justification for his sitting-on-hands repose.
The higher the dollar rises, the lower the prices of imports, keeping inflationary pressure down--which is to say, obscured. Despite this, food price inflation is reported to be running at nine percent.
It would appear that the good Governor may have forgotten Goodhart's Law.
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Greenism Browning Off
Is Environmentalism on its way out? It would appear, at least, that some fundamental realignments and even paradigm changes might be emerging. Stephen F. Hayward brings us up to speed on the latest happenings down at the Greenist in-house conventions. Heretics have been seen roaming the halls.
US Responsible for Atrocity
The Deadly Long Bow
It's clear. There is no doubt about it. At least if you are equipped with one of the very long bows that the useful idiots in the media all seem to possess. The United States is responsible--to some degree--for Breivik's murderous rampage in Norway. It is high time that the US scrapped its founding documents.
OK, so the very long extended bow of the media did not quite stretch this far--but it needs to, to maintain a shred of credibility. Over the weekend, the logic of the media in the US ran like this:
It's clear. There is no doubt about it. At least if you are equipped with one of the very long bows that the useful idiots in the media all seem to possess. The United States is responsible--to some degree--for Breivik's murderous rampage in Norway. It is high time that the US scrapped its founding documents.
OK, so the very long extended bow of the media did not quite stretch this far--but it needs to, to maintain a shred of credibility. Over the weekend, the logic of the media in the US ran like this:
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Broadly Nonsense
Slow Motion Disintegration
A Labour administration in Australia knows its in serious trouble when cheerleading media such as the Sydney Morning Herald give up on the government. Paul Sheehan is a columnist and editorial writer for the Herald. He is frustrated with Julia. Climate change legislation is looking like a deadly torpedo heading straight for Julia's midships. It's staggering that a minority government would have attempted such a radical and revolutionary shift in the country's direction. For some reason, known only to her, Gillard apparently thought that the support of a few flaky independents and the Greens, forged around a commitment to tax carbon, represented a Grand Alliance. Pity she forgot about the electorate.
A Labour administration in Australia knows its in serious trouble when cheerleading media such as the Sydney Morning Herald give up on the government. Paul Sheehan is a columnist and editorial writer for the Herald. He is frustrated with Julia. Climate change legislation is looking like a deadly torpedo heading straight for Julia's midships. It's staggering that a minority government would have attempted such a radical and revolutionary shift in the country's direction. For some reason, known only to her, Gillard apparently thought that the support of a few flaky independents and the Greens, forged around a commitment to tax carbon, represented a Grand Alliance. Pity she forgot about the electorate.
Enlightenment Claptrap
Forcing People to be "Free"
Paul Holmes, one of the great liberal lions of our time, wants to Ban the Burqa in New Zealand. Maybe it's a "short man syndrome" thing but Paul thinks that President Sarkozy of France has it right.
Paul Holmes, one of the great liberal lions of our time, wants to Ban the Burqa in New Zealand. Maybe it's a "short man syndrome" thing but Paul thinks that President Sarkozy of France has it right.
The French, in overwhelming numbers right through their legislative process, banned them [burkas] in April. Said Nicolas Sarkozy, "In our country we cannot accept that women can be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity." That says it all, really.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
The Legacy of a Post Modern Prophet
Splendid Images, Skin Deep
When we were ensconced in the ivory towers completing our grad and post-grad work, Marshall McLuhan was a name to conjure. He was "framed" according the academic narratives of the day as a prophet who was discerning the depths of the emerging technological culture, foreseeing the impact of mass media upon us all. To evoke McLuhan in an intellectual discussion was chic. To quote him was an intellectual tour de force.
Alan Jacobs, writing in the New Atlantis, evalutates McLuhan and his legacy. The distillate? Nothing much left, really. To quote a modern poet, "Ain't it funny how times slips away." Here are some of the more scintillating observations made by Jacobs.
When we were ensconced in the ivory towers completing our grad and post-grad work, Marshall McLuhan was a name to conjure. He was "framed" according the academic narratives of the day as a prophet who was discerning the depths of the emerging technological culture, foreseeing the impact of mass media upon us all. To evoke McLuhan in an intellectual discussion was chic. To quote him was an intellectual tour de force.
Alan Jacobs, writing in the New Atlantis, evalutates McLuhan and his legacy. The distillate? Nothing much left, really. To quote a modern poet, "Ain't it funny how times slips away." Here are some of the more scintillating observations made by Jacobs.
A Darwinist Uberman
Zarathustra Has Spoken in Norway
When news of the Norwegian mass murderer surfaced, the chattering classes, the media, and the Commentariat were quick to react. Able quickly to dismiss the canard of Islamic terrorism, the narrative changed. Suddenly, Anders Behring Breivik was a right wing fundamentalist Christian. That has had more sticking traction. At least thirty-six hours. So it will now inevitably go down as cold hard fact.
Would that the truth were so congenial. Sufficient time has elapsed to discover and read Breivik's Manifesto. The Commentariat and its supine media have gone strangely silent. Having framed the narrative, it is now time to move on to other matters it would seem.
It turns out, however, that Breivik--far from being a Christian--is a self-confessed apostate.
When news of the Norwegian mass murderer surfaced, the chattering classes, the media, and the Commentariat were quick to react. Able quickly to dismiss the canard of Islamic terrorism, the narrative changed. Suddenly, Anders Behring Breivik was a right wing fundamentalist Christian. That has had more sticking traction. At least thirty-six hours. So it will now inevitably go down as cold hard fact.
Would that the truth were so congenial. Sufficient time has elapsed to discover and read Breivik's Manifesto. The Commentariat and its supine media have gone strangely silent. Having framed the narrative, it is now time to move on to other matters it would seem.
It turns out, however, that Breivik--far from being a Christian--is a self-confessed apostate.
Monday, 25 July 2011
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
The Baseball Cap of Punditry
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Let us talk about the problem of Marcus Todd, and by this I am not referring to what ought to be the name of an upscale men's clothier, but rather to the problem of Marcus Bachmann and Todd Palin.
Anyone with an Internet connection and an interest in politics should know that in the last week there has been an incident on the playground involving Marcus Bachmann. The aspect of it that interests me is the enthusiasm with which the progs (my autocorrect tried to change this to prigs, but that would be an entirely different although equally fruitful line of discussion) began to attack the sexuality of Marcus, alleging that he is gayer than a unicorn covered with glitter.
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Let us talk about the problem of Marcus Todd, and by this I am not referring to what ought to be the name of an upscale men's clothier, but rather to the problem of Marcus Bachmann and Todd Palin.
Anyone with an Internet connection and an interest in politics should know that in the last week there has been an incident on the playground involving Marcus Bachmann. The aspect of it that interests me is the enthusiasm with which the progs (my autocorrect tried to change this to prigs, but that would be an entirely different although equally fruitful line of discussion) began to attack the sexuality of Marcus, alleging that he is gayer than a unicorn covered with glitter.
Counting Noses
Principles of Convenience
Owning dairy farms is a risky business in New Zealand, particularly if you are Chinese. Despite the louidly trumpeted free trade agreement between NZ and China, whenever a Chinese conglomerate attempts to buy dairy farms in this country we are instant xenophobes.
The worm, however, has turned. Fonterra, New Zealand's monopoly owner/controller of the dairy industry, announced this week that it was buying another dairy farm, at a cost just short of NZ $50m, its third--in China! These are not family farms. They are huge industrial enterprises. According to the NZ Herald:
Owning dairy farms is a risky business in New Zealand, particularly if you are Chinese. Despite the louidly trumpeted free trade agreement between NZ and China, whenever a Chinese conglomerate attempts to buy dairy farms in this country we are instant xenophobes.
The worm, however, has turned. Fonterra, New Zealand's monopoly owner/controller of the dairy industry, announced this week that it was buying another dairy farm, at a cost just short of NZ $50m, its third--in China! These are not family farms. They are huge industrial enterprises. According to the NZ Herald:
Construction of the third farm, which would train and employ about 100 local people, was expected to start in November and be completed by late next year. The 40ha free stall dairy farm was expected to increase Fonterra's overall milk production in China to around 90 million litres a year.Predictably there has been an outpouring of splenetic rage in New Zealand.
The first farm was operational but had not reached full stable state production, while the second farm was expected to be fully commissioned by the end of the October, Moore said. The farms would be capable of managing about 3000-3200 milking cows, with an initial production target of 28-30 million litres a year each.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
The Religion of Oprah
The Good News is You!
The following is a truncated summary of:
By Genevieve Walker–
Published in The New York Review of Ideas
The article deals with the Oprah phenomenon as the propagation of a self-salvation Gospel. It consists of an extended interview with author Kathryn Lofton, and a review of her latest book, Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon.
The following is a truncated summary of:
O Sister, What Art Thou: Kathryn Lofton on the Religion of Oprah
By Genevieve Walker–
Published in The New York Review of Ideas
The article deals with the Oprah phenomenon as the propagation of a self-salvation Gospel. It consists of an extended interview with author Kathryn Lofton, and a review of her latest book, Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon.
The Deathy Hallows
Maintaining Perspective
. . . a single organic farm in Germany has recently killed more people than have all the nuclear power plants Germany is rushing to shut down.
Standing up to Pope Carl
By Steven F. Hayward
A Necessary Evil
Poverty is A Requirement of Modern Life
Our Lord said that we would always have the poor with us. We never imagined how those words would be twisted and perverted by modern Unbelief. The prevailing narrative of state exacted redistribution of property to achieve equality (or as near to it as possible) requires that the poor be always with us--for propaganda purposes. We repeat, the seize-and-redistribute property brigade requires a narrative where the poor perpetually exist. How else could you justify perpetually increasing exactions of other people's property and assets? How else could you maintain the politics of guilt and pity?
One of our favorites in New Zealand is the inequality approach.
Our Lord said that we would always have the poor with us. We never imagined how those words would be twisted and perverted by modern Unbelief. The prevailing narrative of state exacted redistribution of property to achieve equality (or as near to it as possible) requires that the poor be always with us--for propaganda purposes. We repeat, the seize-and-redistribute property brigade requires a narrative where the poor perpetually exist. How else could you justify perpetually increasing exactions of other people's property and assets? How else could you maintain the politics of guilt and pity?
One of our favorites in New Zealand is the inequality approach.
Friday, 22 July 2011
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
He Will Come
Liturgy and Worship - Exhortation
Written by Douglas Wilson
Monday, July 18, 2011
Because we present arguments in the presentation of the gospel, we sometimes come to think that the outcome of matter rests upon those arguments. But God uses arguments -- He doesn't depend upon them. He doesn't lean on them.
The reason people resist and reject the gospel is because of willfulness, not because we have not yet assembled the perfect, knock-down argument. I am not arguing against arguments here -- Paul reasoned in the synagogues, and so should we. But it is the same with all the external things we may do -- pray, preach, send, ordain, plant, or reason. Unless God anoints it, you are praying to the ceiling, preaching to the air, sending a schlub, ordaining his brother, planting a religious club, and reasoning with a two-year-old. You are sweeping water uphill.
You are, in short, entirely dependent upon the Holy Spirit, who is a sovereign wind who blows where He pleases. And this means that when the reformation arrives, it will not be because we whistled Him up. That's the first thing to be settled in our minds. The second thing is that He will come. He promised.
Liturgy and Worship - Exhortation
Written by Douglas Wilson
Monday, July 18, 2011
Because we present arguments in the presentation of the gospel, we sometimes come to think that the outcome of matter rests upon those arguments. But God uses arguments -- He doesn't depend upon them. He doesn't lean on them.
The reason people resist and reject the gospel is because of willfulness, not because we have not yet assembled the perfect, knock-down argument. I am not arguing against arguments here -- Paul reasoned in the synagogues, and so should we. But it is the same with all the external things we may do -- pray, preach, send, ordain, plant, or reason. Unless God anoints it, you are praying to the ceiling, preaching to the air, sending a schlub, ordaining his brother, planting a religious club, and reasoning with a two-year-old. You are sweeping water uphill.
You are, in short, entirely dependent upon the Holy Spirit, who is a sovereign wind who blows where He pleases. And this means that when the reformation arrives, it will not be because we whistled Him up. That's the first thing to be settled in our minds. The second thing is that He will come. He promised.
Religious Freedom
That's Not What We Meant At All . . .
This event in Sydney reads like a scene out of Monty Python, except that it is not. A thirty year old man converts to Wahhabism--the form of Islam that is regnant in Saudi Arabia. He apparently doesn't take the tee-totalling fetish of Wahhabism seriously and has a bit of a tipple. His new brothers-in-the-faith enter his flat at night and administer a thorough lashing to the backslider--over 40 corrective stripes.
This event in Sydney reads like a scene out of Monty Python, except that it is not. A thirty year old man converts to Wahhabism--the form of Islam that is regnant in Saudi Arabia. He apparently doesn't take the tee-totalling fetish of Wahhabism seriously and has a bit of a tipple. His new brothers-in-the-faith enter his flat at night and administer a thorough lashing to the backslider--over 40 corrective stripes.
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Be Warned
Bereaved
"Whoever marries the spirit of the age will find himself a widower in the next."
William Inge, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, d.1954
It's Official
China's Christian Explosion
[The article reprinted below is from the May edition of the OMF Newsletter. The growth of the Christian church and the spread of the Gospel in China is now being officially acknowledged in government circles. This brings some risks. It also begs the question which many Western Christians have been asking for some years. Since the West is turning away from the Lord, and the lights are going out on Western Christendom, will Asia in general, and China in particular, become the new Christendom of the next one thousand years of our Lord's reign?]
For many years leaders of China’s State-controlled church would cautiously tell foreign visitors that the number of Chinese Protestants, although growing, was still only “a tiny minority” of the population.
This year, leaders of the China Christian Council and the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) have issued the official statistic of 23 million registered Protestants in China. That is an amazing increase compared to less than one million in 1949 when the Communist Party took power. However, it is under 2% of the total population of 1.3 billion. So is the TSPM right in sticking to its story of a “tiny minority”?
Not if researchers and academics advising the government at the highest level are to be believed.
[The article reprinted below is from the May edition of the OMF Newsletter. The growth of the Christian church and the spread of the Gospel in China is now being officially acknowledged in government circles. This brings some risks. It also begs the question which many Western Christians have been asking for some years. Since the West is turning away from the Lord, and the lights are going out on Western Christendom, will Asia in general, and China in particular, become the new Christendom of the next one thousand years of our Lord's reign?]
For many years leaders of China’s State-controlled church would cautiously tell foreign visitors that the number of Chinese Protestants, although growing, was still only “a tiny minority” of the population.
This year, leaders of the China Christian Council and the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) have issued the official statistic of 23 million registered Protestants in China. That is an amazing increase compared to less than one million in 1949 when the Communist Party took power. However, it is under 2% of the total population of 1.3 billion. So is the TSPM right in sticking to its story of a “tiny minority”?
Not if researchers and academics advising the government at the highest level are to be believed.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Green Elitism
A Luxury Only the Very Wealthy Can Afford
For years, Tasmania has been bedevilled by greenist, tree-huggers. At present they enjoy more political power in that state than previously. Industrial plant is being shut down. But not to worry. Tourism is what will save the day. Clean, green tourism. Sound familiar. Sure does.
In an op-ed piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, Gerard Henderson argues that there is a strong streak of elitism at work here. Elite, monied Greens telling everyone else how to live their lives and conduct their affairs. That too sounds very familiar.
For years, Tasmania has been bedevilled by greenist, tree-huggers. At present they enjoy more political power in that state than previously. Industrial plant is being shut down. But not to worry. Tourism is what will save the day. Clean, green tourism. Sound familiar. Sure does.
In an op-ed piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, Gerard Henderson argues that there is a strong streak of elitism at work here. Elite, monied Greens telling everyone else how to live their lives and conduct their affairs. That too sounds very familiar.
It's Fair, I Tell You!
Boasting in Curses
New Zealand lies under a curse. Just how powerful a curse is made evident from time to time. Here is the latest indication: the current Minister of Finance boasting in Parliament about how few people in this country pay tax, and how steeply redistributive our taxation system has become. This boasting comes from a leader in the so-called conservative, centre-right government!
Here is the boast:
New Zealand lies under a curse. Just how powerful a curse is made evident from time to time. Here is the latest indication: the current Minister of Finance boasting in Parliament about how few people in this country pay tax, and how steeply redistributive our taxation system has become. This boasting comes from a leader in the so-called conservative, centre-right government!
Here is the boast:
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
When the Veneer Peels
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A staple argument of homosex apologetics is that when the Bible condemns the vile behavior of the residents of Sodom, it was addressing the violent side of it -- the attempted rape of Lot's visitors. It does not address at all, so the argument goes, the kind of loving, caring, mutually affirming same sex relationships that we are are talking about today. You have to take context into account, you see, and there have been those who bought this argument. Simple Simon, after all, did go to the fair.
Culture and Politics - Sex and Culture
Written by Douglas Wilson
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A staple argument of homosex apologetics is that when the Bible condemns the vile behavior of the residents of Sodom, it was addressing the violent side of it -- the attempted rape of Lot's visitors. It does not address at all, so the argument goes, the kind of loving, caring, mutually affirming same sex relationships that we are are talking about today. You have to take context into account, you see, and there have been those who bought this argument. Simple Simon, after all, did go to the fair.
Blood Boiling Stuff
We Will Fight Them On the Beaches . . .
Some have said the abiding legacy of current Prime Minister, John Key will be that he single handedly managed to turn upstanding, decent New Zealand parents into criminals. In this he has not just been a naive fool; he has done irreparable harm.
The organization Family First has just published a video detailing the damage done to families by the brute force of tyrannical government.
Some have said the abiding legacy of current Prime Minister, John Key will be that he single handedly managed to turn upstanding, decent New Zealand parents into criminals. In this he has not just been a naive fool; he has done irreparable harm.
The organization Family First has just published a video detailing the damage done to families by the brute force of tyrannical government.
Monday, 18 July 2011
It's Control, Stupid
Tin Foil Hats To Thwart Aliens
James Delingpole, one of the most effective and trenchant critics of the global warming rort, has written a book entitled, Watermelons: The Green Movement’s True Colors. Charlie Cooke has written a review in the National Review, with the by-line, "When it comes to global warming, the issue is not about science, but about control".
James Delingpole, one of the most effective and trenchant critics of the global warming rort, has written a book entitled, Watermelons: The Green Movement’s True Colors. Charlie Cooke has written a review in the National Review, with the by-line, "When it comes to global warming, the issue is not about science, but about control".
The Promised Land, Part IV
Israel Must Return to the God of Its Ancient Fathers
Christians get confused over Israel. We are commanded to have a longing for God's ancient people that they might come to Christ (Messiah), believe upon Him, and be saved. Sadly this often "translates" into support the state of Israel at all costs. We believe that this is a grave mistake.
If God does not wink at the sins of nations, why should we wink at the sins of Israel?
Christians get confused over Israel. We are commanded to have a longing for God's ancient people that they might come to Christ (Messiah), believe upon Him, and be saved. Sadly this often "translates" into support the state of Israel at all costs. We believe that this is a grave mistake.
If God does not wink at the sins of nations, why should we wink at the sins of Israel?
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Too Many Hypocrites in the Halls of Reason
The Odd Delusion
Written by Douglas Wilson
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
This is why I could never become an atheist or part of the skeptic community. Too many factions, divisions, snarls, petty fights, and so on. Worshipping the goddess Reason, they descend into frenzies of irrationality at the slightest provocation. I am tempted to say of them what Chesterton once observed about the enlightened ones at the French Revolution. They worshipped at the altar of the goddess Reason, when that was the deity who had smiled upon them least.
The Odd Delusion
Written by Douglas Wilson
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
This is why I could never become an atheist or part of the skeptic community. Too many factions, divisions, snarls, petty fights, and so on. Worshipping the goddess Reason, they descend into frenzies of irrationality at the slightest provocation. I am tempted to say of them what Chesterton once observed about the enlightened ones at the French Revolution. They worshipped at the altar of the goddess Reason, when that was the deity who had smiled upon them least.
Klingon Cloaking Devices
Unmasked by Boat People
It was inevitable. Sooner or later a boat filled with desperate people would set out from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, whatever, for New Zealand. We have been "protected" to date only by an accident of geography--New Zealand's relative distance. Australia has faced the problem for decades.
A group of Sri Lankan poor (allegedly Tamils previously caught up in the former civil war) have boarded a boat large enough to make it all the way here. They have been declaring their intent to sail to New Zealand to seek asylum. The Prime Minister has made dark hints that he has received intelligence briefings that leave him in no doubt that New Zealand was the intended destination. Others have accused him of overreacting. We believe Mr Key in this instance.
The Commentariat is having conniptions.
It was inevitable. Sooner or later a boat filled with desperate people would set out from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, whatever, for New Zealand. We have been "protected" to date only by an accident of geography--New Zealand's relative distance. Australia has faced the problem for decades.
A group of Sri Lankan poor (allegedly Tamils previously caught up in the former civil war) have boarded a boat large enough to make it all the way here. They have been declaring their intent to sail to New Zealand to seek asylum. The Prime Minister has made dark hints that he has received intelligence briefings that leave him in no doubt that New Zealand was the intended destination. Others have accused him of overreacting. We believe Mr Key in this instance.
The Commentariat is having conniptions.
Friday, 15 July 2011
The Promised Land, Part III
Getting Redemptive History Straight
We have argued that the modern nation state of Israel has nothing at all to do with biblical prophecy or with God's plans for the Jewish people. It is just one more nation state, along with the 178 others. It has no special claim to divine right or favour. Like all other nations, if its inhabitants and citizens do not repent and believe it will eventually fall under the chastening and judgment of God.
But does the same apply to the Jewish people as a whole? Here's where things get really interesting.
We have argued that the modern nation state of Israel has nothing at all to do with biblical prophecy or with God's plans for the Jewish people. It is just one more nation state, along with the 178 others. It has no special claim to divine right or favour. Like all other nations, if its inhabitants and citizens do not repent and believe it will eventually fall under the chastening and judgment of God.
But does the same apply to the Jewish people as a whole? Here's where things get really interesting.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
My Old Friend, Controversy
Engaging the Culture - Moscow Diversity Cleansing
Written by Douglas Wilson
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Inside Higher Ed has published a fair-minded piece on the resurgence of classical Christian education at the college level, which you can read more about here. Since New St. Andrews is featured prominently in that piece, and since NSA has among its founders a controversial figure (three guesses), and a portion of the article was dedicated to that particular item of interest, I thought to post just a few words on my old friend, controversy.
First, anybody who thinks that genuine reformation of education is possible without exciting this kind of controversy is like the person who wants to raft down the Grand Ronde without encountering any white water.
Engaging the Culture - Moscow Diversity Cleansing
Written by Douglas Wilson
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Inside Higher Ed has published a fair-minded piece on the resurgence of classical Christian education at the college level, which you can read more about here. Since New St. Andrews is featured prominently in that piece, and since NSA has among its founders a controversial figure (three guesses), and a portion of the article was dedicated to that particular item of interest, I thought to post just a few words on my old friend, controversy.
First, anybody who thinks that genuine reformation of education is possible without exciting this kind of controversy is like the person who wants to raft down the Grand Ronde without encountering any white water.
The Race Card and Wax Noses
It's Always About Control
Secular humanism--like all religions--has a list of cardinal sins, blasphemies if you will. Since the West has established secular humanism as its official religion, one consequently risks severe penalty if one commits a cardinal sin against secular humanism.
One of the cardinal sins is to be sexist. Actually, that is too generous. The sin of discrimination against women is the real McCoy. Miscreant Alisdair Thompson, in repeated outbursts of malice, was fired from his job for blasphemously arguing that women as a group are less productive in the workplace than men. Yes, he had data and evidence and some facts, but to secular humanism and its high priests this is irrelevant. Blasphemy is blasphemy. He was "gone by lunchtime" as they say.
A second cardinal sin of the established religion is racism--equally heinous.
Secular humanism--like all religions--has a list of cardinal sins, blasphemies if you will. Since the West has established secular humanism as its official religion, one consequently risks severe penalty if one commits a cardinal sin against secular humanism.
One of the cardinal sins is to be sexist. Actually, that is too generous. The sin of discrimination against women is the real McCoy. Miscreant Alisdair Thompson, in repeated outbursts of malice, was fired from his job for blasphemously arguing that women as a group are less productive in the workplace than men. Yes, he had data and evidence and some facts, but to secular humanism and its high priests this is irrelevant. Blasphemy is blasphemy. He was "gone by lunchtime" as they say.
A second cardinal sin of the established religion is racism--equally heinous.
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