Archive for 2016

The theme of hope has been in the news recently.  In an interview outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama, lamenting what in her view is the loss of hope, said, “Hope is necessary.  It’s a necessary concept.”  Incoming President Donald Trump responded, “I’m telling you, we have tremendous hope.  And we have a tremendous promise and tremendous potential.”

Although both political figures rightly emphasize the importance of hope, they are terribly misguided about its nature.  The Christmas story in the Gospels reveals the true nature of hope and its power. Read the rest of this entry »

I was going to write, and still intend to, a post asking the question whether government can be legitimate (I believe it can by the way), but decided that it would be better to send a link to the hymn “O God of Earth and Altar.”  I encountered it during my morning devotions using the excellent website http://www.missionstclare.com/english/ It was written by G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936).  Looking at our nation and the current election, it is clear that we need prayer more than analysis.  May God bless us all.

 

Perhaps the one fact that is beyond dispute in the 2016 presidential election is that in historic numbers American voters are dissatisfied with both the Republican and Democratic candidates.  One needs to ask how it is that two national organization with over 150 years of existence and consisting of professional politicians could do such an atrocious job.  Paradoxically the answer is that there is a need for less and more party control. Read the rest of this entry »

The advantage of such a distressing election year is that it gives us the opportunity for serious reflection.  Realizing that our political system has reached a crisis point, we need to step back from the so-called debates over single issues and examine fundamental political questions.  In this essay I propose to define the nature of government and then demonstrate the necessary consequences of that nature to political liberty. Read the rest of this entry »

Relativism’s denial of truth is clearly undercutting the educational mission of our schools and universities.  However, the English author Charles Williams (1886-1945) portrays in his novels two subtler and interrelated dangers to the scholar who is not properly aligned to the truth.  These dangers are dishonesty with regard to facts in his field and an inadequate motivation for his studies.   Both represent a failure to love.   Read the rest of this entry »