Strange New World review

 

Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Carl Trueman published his book, Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self in 2020, there were plenty of furrowed brows and head shaking. It seemed a significant work, but it was a tough slog to read the long and academic style of writing.

Covid and the George Floyd riots hit right as it released, so it seemed already out of date.

Trueman took the wise advice of friends and wrote a follow-up book that is shorter, updated, and more readable for the common man.

Trueman remains an academic, so this is no Max Lucado fluffy read. But Strange New World helps us understand the course of the West’s rebellion against God, and how and why leftist progressives today think the way they do. This is critical to knowing how to respond and live faithfully in our culture today.

In each chapter Trueman deftly shows how the ideas of historic thinkers like Freud and Nietzsche show up in 1960s pop music, and in Supreme Court decisions of the last 20 years.

Trueman inveighs mainly against “expressive individualism,” seen from Rousseau and Nietzsche, to the Beatles, to Justice Anthony Kennedy. Whatever I am feeling is the standard of reality, not just for me, but others must act according to it as well. Ever balanced, Trueman is careful to not just rail against the woke Left, but also point out how the conservative church is compromising in this way, as well. Also, there is an interior, individual life we should respect, but it needs regulation by external factors. This is a far better take than rude and blunt insults from the right against “snowflakes.”

I especially appreciated the last chapter, where Trueman lays out some faithful responses to all of this. Explain the “why” of God’s design to people. Sing the Psalms in worship. Forge real community as believers. Maintain a posture of hope. Teach the whole Christian faith, using historic confessions as a guide.

5 stars. A must-read for the Christian today.

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Vote Pro Life, Michigan, on November 8 - No to Proposal 3

Immediately after the Dobbs ruling, petitions proliferated in MI for a "Reproductive Freedom for All" state constitutional amendment.

While pro-lifers took a victory lap, abortion advocates were busy.  They garnered a record number of signatures.  The text is below.

This petition needs to be vigorously opposed by pro-lifers voting on November 8 in Michigan.

• Planned Parenthood had a hand in crafting this amendment.
• PP business in MI has tripled since Dobbs, with Indiana and Ohio women coming here instead.
• A door knocker advocating against Prop 3 was shot last week.  Here's the shooter.
• PP has raised $10 million to support this proposal, while those opposed have raised $400,000.
• Some objections to the petition are missing the mark ("Too confusing!"), appealing to garbled grammar/typography, which is nowhere evident in the ballot summary or actual text.
• The actual wording is problematically vague, though.  Maybe this is what they mean:

1.  - the lack of "adult" in the first bullet point below means a pregnant girl of any age can get an abortion, or be sterilized, without parental consent.
2.  - the second bullet point below is deceptive: mental health is the nose in the camel's tent.  Anything distressing the mother about the pregnancy can be cause to validate any abortion.

This truly is an extreme proposal, cloaked as a "freedom" initiative.  Society should at least regulate what minors can do to their bodies, and Christian societies will protect unborn life in every situation.  

If you're going to take a life, in utero, as an abortionist, your life should be forfeit (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:22-25).  But this is in God's hands, and the society's at the voting booth, not in any zealous, vigilante pro-lifer's hands.

TEXT ON BALLOT OF PROPOSAL 3

​Proposal 22-3 A Proposal To Amend The State Constitution To Establish New Individual Right To Reproductive Freedom, Including Right To Make All Decisions About Pregnancy And Abortion; Allow State To Regulate Abortion In Some Cases; And Forbid Prosecution Of Individuals Exercising Established Right

This proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Establish new individual right to reproductive freedom, including right to make and carry out all decisions about pregnancy, such as prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion, miscarriage management, and infertility;
• Allow state to regulate abortion after fetal viability, but not prohibit if medically needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health;
• Forbid state discrimination in enforcement of this right; prohibit prosecution of an individual, or a person helping a pregnant individual, for exercising rights established by this amendment;
• Invalidate state laws conflicting with this amendment.

Should this proposal be adopted?

ACTUAL TEXT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSAL

Article 1, Section 28 Right to Reproductive Freedom

(1) Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care. An individual's right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, burdened, nor infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Notwithstanding the above, the state may regulate the provision of abortion care after fetal viability, provided that in no circumstance shall the state prohibit an abortion that, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional, is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.

 

(2) The state shall not discriminate in the protection or enforcement of this fundamental right.

 

(3) The state shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, nor shall the state penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against someone for aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with their voluntary consent.

 

(4) For the purposes of this section:

A state interest is "compelling" only if it is for the limited purpose of protecting the health of an individual seeking care, consistent with accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that individual's autonomous decision-making.

"Fetal viability" means: the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus's sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.

(5) This section shall be self-executing. Any provision of this section held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of this section.

 

Parenting with the Rod and Hug

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.  Pr 22:15 

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.  Pr 29:15–17

 

We’ll be considering parenting and the family today.  These proverbs focus on corrective discipline.  But notice that last one. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.  The goal when parents discipline children, is rest, delight, reconciliation, peace restored.

 

But that means you need to be willing to bear the rod first.  Children need to suffer consequences for their sins.  If parents hold back from discipline, out of a misguided feeling that they need to be kind instead, then children will come to expect to get their way all the time.  If parents use only words with little ones, and spare the rod, that too will spoil the child.

 

Children also need to hear from their parents, that their parents and their God love and forgive them.  It is good when children feel guilty for their wrongdoing, but it is easy for them to slip into feeling forsaken and despairing.  Receiving children back with a hug and a comforting word is just as important as bringing the rod to bear first.

 

Children, you need to honor your parents all the time, even when you feel like they are being mean or cruel.  They are doing their best to teach you God’s ways.

9/25/22

Leaders Provide

Psalm 145:14-21

"The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The LORD preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.  My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever."

In God’s design, all authority is established to serve those in their charge.  So when mom is with the kids during the day, she is in charge, and she makes lunch.  When the county commissioners are voted in to office, they go about meeting the needs of the residents.  JC has been given all authority, and He gave us this table, among other things, to meet our needs.  And what is it we need?  Him.  This is eternal life, Jn 17:3, to know the Father, and the Son He sent us.  People need Jesus, like children need parents.  We are lost and at sea without Him.  So come again, and welcome, to Jesus.

9/25/22

Presbytery Leads to Optimism?? YES.

I haven't posted for a bit, because I've been at our church presbytery meeting this week, and then had to catch up on church duties.

Attending presbytery is consistently encouraging.

In my prior denomination, these meetings were consistently DIScouraging, because the faithful were always losing battles to the liberals.

But now I see a dozen and more pastors working to rebuild a Christian culture in church, family, and community.  And we usually meet at a member church's site, and worship with that congregation.  The fact that 150 people came out on a Tuesday night to eat together, pray, chant, and sing Genevan Psalms in a small, blue-collar town, tells me that there are definitely pockets of revival and reformation happening in our land.  Be encouraged!

Don't believe the picture the media presents to you, that everyone believes the leftist woke propaganda, except a few fringe weirdos.  It ain't so.  The church is compromised, and in sad shape - that is true.  But God knows His faithful ones, and they are far more than 7,000 in the USA right now.

Ukrainian Patriots // Another Thatcher // Secular liberalism

 If you want a look into the heroism of the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian assault, this is a great read.

We may have another Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street.  Check this out.

I wonder if King Charles will let her do her thing...

Great article on how Christians should NOT embrace classical liberalism as morally neutral, by a Jewish rabbi.  HT: Al Mohler.  This is the kind of article that proves why we should be okay appealing to our "Judeo-Christian" heritage...

"with Christianity on the wane in America and without Biblical resources to strengthen healthy moral values, we now live in a society of unfiltered liberalism, and it functions like a religion."

Delighting in the Lord

Song of Solomon 2:3-4; 6:2-3; 8:6
Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,
So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down in his shade with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love
My beloved has gone to his garden, to the beds of spices,
To feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.


In this worship service, especially at this table, we are renewing covenant with our God.  In marriage there are times your relationship is refreshed, revitalized – a date night out, the marriage act itself, a vacation away together, just a really good, long talk.  And you’re closer, more in love again, as we say.  God intends that for us with Him, at this table, in this service.

So, as we sing, “Hasten as a bride to meet Him, and with loving reverence greet Him....  Jesus, Sun of life, my Splendor, Jesus, Thou my friend most tender, Jesus Joy of my desiring, Fount of life, my soul inspiring.”

9/18/22

Abortion Rhetoric // Middle East // A Suffering Ministry // Dante

 Yesterday I drove most of the day.  Here's a rundown of what I listened to.

First, the worst billboard I've seen in a while:

"We just lost the right to choose.  Now what?  Just vote."

What a lie from the pit of hell.  The right to choose what?  If a state legalizes incest for 50 years, it SHOULD take away that "right."  Killing children in the womb should similarly be against the law.  This billboard is a classic case of framing the issue the way you want, to get your way.  What if pro-lifers wised up and tried their own?

"Dobbs put the lives of babies back in our Mitten (Michigan) hands.  Vote pro-life.  Vote NO on Petition 3."  Somebody make a picture of a Michigan mitten holding/cradling a small baby....

Jordan Peterson had Israel's last ambassador on his show, to talk about the geopolitics of the Middle East.  It was very enlightening.  Of course he's biased as an Israeli, but he lays out the pieces on the chess board quite objectively.

Main takeaway: Obama and John Kerry really botched things, insisting on deals with Iran and the Palestinians, when the key to the region is to counterbalance those evil/corrupt regimes with alliances with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, etc.  Trump figured this out late, but got the Abraham accords done - peace treaties between a handful of Arab nations with Israel.  A major accomplishment that no one will talk about, because Trump did it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODDs5Auqfc

Doug Wilson sermon from 2 Corinthians 5, on humility, forgiveness, serving, and suffering in Christian service.  Doug can take a complicated text, make it easy to understand, and then bring you serious Gospel application.

https://www.christkirk.com/sermon/authentic-ministry-5/

Over at Fight, Laugh, Feast, Knox talked with Jason Farley about Dante.

It's long, but there are some real gems in there:

 - Nothing exists for its own sake (including art).

 - Reading Dante, you're supposed to be thinking, "Would I fit there?"  "Is that me, in that circle of Hell?"  "Am I going to wind up there?"

No link - don't think it's up yet.  The podcast is from last week.

Books I'm currently reading

 

God Shows Kindness

 2 Samuel 9:1-8, 11b, 13

And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” 

11 So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. ...  13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet. 

Mephibosheth is you and me – we are from a line of men that rebelled against the true king.  We are spiritually crippled and cannot bring ourselves to come and bow to the true king.  God brings us to Himself when we cannot.

 

David is God the Father – note how deliberately he pursues showing us kindness.  David says it 3 times to his court, when they have no interest to doing that.  He makes it happen.  Fathers should make kindness happen in their realms.

 

Jonathan is Jesus– God showed Meph. kindness for the sake of Jonathan; God shows us kindness for the sake of Jesus – Jon. is mentioned 4 times!

 

We eat at the king’s table, like one of the king’s sons.

The gifts of God for the people of God...

9/11/22

Point to Him. Not to You.

 John 3:26-30

"And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” "

We tend to judge success by size.  John’s disciples were worried that “all are going to Him,” leaving John.  But John was happy about it.  That was his goal.  He wasn’t the light of the world; he wasn’t the Christ.  He pointed TO the lamb of God, and men went where He pointed.  That was success.  And that is our goal, too.  As parents, friends, co-workers, use anything God has given you to point to Jesus.  He is the man of the house, who has the bride.  We are doorkeepers and friends who love Him, talk about Him, and announce His arrival.

 

In the movie of life, We are side actors, not starring the main role.  Our job is not to draw attention to ourselves, but to make the main character look good.

 

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.

9/11/22

No to Hannah-Jones // Culture Wars // Britannia!

 A great refutation of the 1619 Project here.

An excellent short article on how to fight the culture war.

An intriguing, positive take on the British empire, over at Claremont.

Settle Down // The Furnace // Natural Theology

This is a really good sermon on Jeremiah 29.  Kevin DeYoung.  

1. Settle down.  2. Seek the peace of the city.  3. Look to the end with Christ.

Rod Dreher gave a good talk here.

Besides settling down and embedding ourselves in our culture (Jer. 29, above), we also need to be ready to be thrown in a furnace, like Daniel's friends, rather than live by lies about idols that the state or big business try to press on us.  Are we ready to do this?  Wokeness is the beginning of this press, according to Eastern Europeans who saw it happen in their country, under the Soviet Union.

Also in print form in Touchstone, May/June 2022 - "Babylon's Furnace."

More Kevin DeYoung - here some deep historical theology.

What can unbelievers know about God?  God reveals Himself to them plainly (Romans 1), but they cannot receive it (1 Cor. 2).  But to say any thoughts unbelievers have about God will be false theology seems to go a bit too far.

The Silmarillion - a Review

 

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a glorious story!

Like a painter who first crafts a detail closeup, and then fills in the whole landscape, Tolkien zooms out from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He deftly fills in the history of Middle Earth from its beginnings to the passing of the elves, shortly after the Trilogy ends.

I’ll confess, much of the middle of the history was encyclopedic, sometimes tedious, and hard to slog through. But the creation account resonates richly with Scripture. And the summary at the end shows with much satisfaction how events led up to Tolkien’s original stories.

The major theme throughout is how the faithful have to work together in unity to recognize evil, and agree to work together against it. Otherwise it will grow and overpower the good.

If you’re a deep fan, you’ve read it already, or should read this straight through.
If you read the trilogy and loved it, then I recommend reading the first and last chapter first. Dip into the rest as you have interest.

4 stars!

View all my reviews

Inclusion Advocates Love to Cancel // Peace or Uprising? // Solutions for a Deranged Culture

This kind of thing needs more exposure, and probably litigation in church or civil courts.

A minority is cancelled while slandered as too "white" for his views.

A Christian professor was removed from a Christian college, for holding to Christian views.

Doug Wilson reminds us that God wants us to pray for civil peace, not an uprising.

So true.

"You can’t vote your way out of something that you sinned your way into."

An issue ago, World magazine featured a Carl Trueman article that captures his latest two books for the normal person.  Check it out, here.

Also, one critique often leveled at him is that he is all critique, with no practical "What do we do now?" solutions.  There's some truth to that, but World got an answer out of him in an interview:

"First, remember that we know how the story ends: Christ and His Church will win. That does not mean my congregation or my denomination, still less my nation, will win. But it does mean that Christ will bring all His own home. 

Second, we need therefore to think long-term. If we think that the success of Christ does depend upon us and should be fulfilled by a week from Wednesday through our efforts, we are setting ourselves up for despair. 

Third, focus on your family and your church. Be a strong community in the present. That is surely a more effective witness than any argument, let alone a silly tweet. Love the people and the place in which the Lord has set you, do the work He has given you to do, and trust Him for the rest."

In the Body, Away from the Lord

2 Corinthians 5:1-10
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

The message today is on last things, and this text sets before us our death and judgment, which is part of that.

 

The main point of this text is one that feels too gnostic to some of us.  Gnosticism is the idea that the body – physical things – are bad, or inherently less spiritual.  But verse 1 tells us, this earthly body is a temporary tent.  Vs 2 - While we are in the body, we groan and long to be with the Lord.  It is better to be with the Lord apart from the body, vs 8.  

This is a good corrective, when we think we are correcting past errors, gnostic or pietist.  Don’t try to reinterpret this text into your anti-gnostic lens.  Just believe what the verse in front of you says: 

Being in the body on earth brings burdens, vs 4, but we should remain of good courage, vs 6.  This courage is not a stoic, “I’ll muscle through this, even with my bad back.”  No, vs 8 says this courage is looking ahead to the future when we will be home with the Lord, with the bodily problems of pain, disease and death all gone.

 

So, today, you may need to confess putting too much stock and worry into your physical condition and situation.  God can bless you, even when (especially when) you are frustrated with your body or job or house.

Or you may need to confess giving your physical situation too little thought, to how it impacts your spiritual life, which it certainly does.

  

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.

9/4/22

Jehu, the Golden Calf, and American Politics

 This here is why I read Touchstone Magazine.

An important read after President Biden's red-lit speech.

A biblical view of politics.

Adoration of the Golden Calf from the Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (c. 1130 – 1195)

Aaron’s Boys?

September 2, 2022 Eleazar & Phineas, son & grandson of Aaron the priest (Num. 25:7) E Hannah, mother of Samuel L Hieu, abbess, Yorkshire c. 657   President Biden made big splashes last night with his “non-political” address to the nation. WGN’s political commentator, who is no conservative, said the speech was clearly political. Biden called out those who identify as super-MAGAs as an existential threat to our democracy. They are radicals, extremists. I am not a MAGA person myself, unless you mean, maybe, just maybe, “make America good again.” The President made it clear that, to him, there is a great divide now between the far-right extremists he fingered and the rest of the citizenry. His vision of the far-right threat is “an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.” Apparently, pro-lifers are super-extremists. It’s odd that he didn’t include “no right to puberty-blockers for kids and double mastectomies for teenagers [with or without parental consent]” or “no right for medicated men to compete in female sports,” for that is now what “progressives” support and what only “extremists” oppose. The big issue dividing Americans is the nature of nature. If an election were focused on the question of whether children should be treated with puberty blockers, “sex-change” [which is impossible] surgery cheerfully offered, whether young children should be taught the ins and outs of sexual deviancy, I assume that voters who are responsible for the welfare of children would overwhelmingly reject any candidates who support the radical sex agenda. One’s view of the nature of nature is ultimately determined by one’s view of creation. There are two main views: God made the world and us; or we just happened, like the claim Aaron made to Moses about the golden calf: “So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (Ex. 32:24) This is modern idolatry. There are those who support abortion, transgender surgery on kids who may say at the same time, “God made us all special.” But that god keeps his distance, indifferent or smiling from afar as we bend and manipulate nature without limits other than whatever we want. I would not grieve if neither the current president nor his predecessor ran for office again. I pray for candidates of moral integrity, who understand the Constitution, are willing and able (like Robert P. George) to reason with ideological opponents, dedicated to the sanctity of human life, who can define what men and women are. That seems so basic, commonsense. And, yes—he or she should believe in commonsense, and not lie about the opposition (e.g., “Don’t say ‘gay’”). We need no more idolaters, thieves, murderers, adulterers, liars, or coveters in high office. (Or Tweeters.) No party is fully black or white; no regime is clean for long. The Bible is one long history of persistent sin in high places. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, had broken away from the divinely-sanctioned royal line of David and was in the grips of Ahab and Jezebel. God raised up Elijah and Elisha to speak to Israel; he then saw the rise of the usurper Jehu, who at Jezreel ordered the death of Jezebel and slaughtered the sons of the Ahab, then killed the relatives of Judah’s king Ahaziah. Jehu also slaughtered the followers of Baal and turned their temple into a latrine. He eradicated Baal worship, for a time, but allowed the worship of the golden calf. Hosea prophesied during the reign of one of Jehu’s descendants, before the fall of Israel to Assyria: “yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.” (1:4) And so he did. Judah was not far behind. What was learned in Exile endured long enough for a Child to be born into a faith ripe for its fulfillment. There is a God who sees America’s present moment, its past, and its future. It is not for us to say which is the greatest nation on earth. Great is the nation whose God is the Lord. Everything else is a golden calf. There is no political path to fidelity which does not place politics below faith and family. Meanwhile, Assyria is watching, waiting.

Yours for Christ, Creed & Culture,

James M. Kushiner Director of Publications, Fellowship of St. James

An Exercise in Memery

 

I'm not really into political memes much, but I can't stop laughing at this one.

Mainly, I want to know what Trump said that made Tucker laugh so hard, I guess...

Memes get a lot said at once, on multiple levels, so they are powerful.

But they are also dangerous, because what's said is mere assertion or assumption, never persuasion.

Memes simply reinforce our priors, and polarize us further.

Much better to read persuasive pieces which sharpen the mind.

Or at least ask yourself, why is this true?  Why am I laughing?

Here are some assertions this one makes.  Pretty sure I agree with all except the last one.

1. A Trump-Tucker alliance is felicitous.

2. The raid was sent by Biden or his cronies.

3. Trump's family is cleaner, and less hypocritical than Biden's.

4. Trump can outwit the deep state's designs on him.