By Natasha Crain
"The growth of people claiming the name of Christ in politics is not necessarily a good thing. It depends on what they actually believe and how that will inform their political decisions. If the Bible is God’s Word for all time, as theologically conservative Christians believe, then the growth of politicians claiming Christ but rejecting the authoritative nature of the Bible is actually a bad thing. It leads to confusion in the public eye of what Christianity historically has been, and the decisions these politicians make will often be more aligned with a secular moral consensus developed from self-authority than with a moral standard developed from the Bible."
- A good response to a tiresome, cliché-ridden article. "Jesus was a socialist!" is another boring rhetorical tic the left needs to retire.
By Glenn Greenwald
"This USA Today article is thus yet another example of journalists at major media outlets abusing their platforms to attack and expose anything other than the real power centers which compose the ruling class and govern the U.S.: the CIA, the FBI, security state agencies, Wall Street, Silicon Valley oligarchs. To the extent these journalists pay attention to those entities at all — and they barely ever do — it is to venerate them and mindlessly disseminate their messaging like stenographers, not investigate them. Investigating people who actually wield real power is hard."
- Greenwald is left-leaning, but his critiques of our journalistic class are outstanding.
And speaking of left-leaning guys making good points (nonsense swipes at Trump aside):
I don't want politics mixed in with my medical decisions. And when all of our news sources for Covid information have an agenda to spin us, you wind up with a badly misinformed population. #BreakingNews #ScaredStraight pic.twitter.com/xnPZOafziI
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 17, 2021
By Daniel J. Flynn
"News that Michel Foucault molested children recalls revelations that Hulk Hogan used steroids. The surprise comes only in response to surprise."
- Obviously, the truth or falsehood of an idea is independent of the person who promotes it. All the same, it is telling that terrible ideas are often promulgated by despicable characters seeking to justify their own vices.
By C. Bradley Thompson
"The time has come for our common-good reactionaries to explain themselves. Before we turn over the reins of government to Vermeule so that he can help us to 'form more authentic desires' and 'better habits,' we deserve answers to a few simple questions:
What is the 'common good'?
Where does it come from?
How is it known?
Is the 'common good' universal and timeless?
Who determines what the 'common good' is?
What role should government play in promoting and enforcing it?
What are the punishments for those who violate the laws enforcing the 'common good'?
Because the philosophic burden of proof is always on those who assert the positive, Vermeule must tell us what he means by the 'common good' and how it cashes out politically and legally. Otherwise, he’s just blathering gaseous platitudes with no basis in objective reality."
- A libertarian historian's view on the flaws of today's traditionalist right.
By Paul Rossi
"I am a teacher at Grace Church High School in Manhattan. Ten years ago, I changed careers when I discovered how rewarding it is to help young people explore the truth and beauty of mathematics. I love my work.
"As a teacher, my first obligation is to my students. But right now, my school is asking me to embrace 'antiracism' training and pedagogy that I believe is deeply harmful to them and to any person who seeks to nurture the virtues of curiosity, empathy and understanding."
- A brave teacher's viral letter that deserves to be spread far and wide. In next week's post, I'm probably going to echo Rossi by writing yet another condemnation of this "antiracism" nonsense and its sustained attack on merit, as it is now threatening accelerated math education in the state of Virginia (and the advanced studies diploma too).
By Salena Zito
"The next time you see a Trump sign in someone’s yard, try to suppress your conditioned impulse and consider that it might be something more nuanced, more complex than the lazy stereotypical hot take anyone can post on social media."
- Zito has been consistent in her honest, thoughtful takes on Trump supporters. If only more journalists and pundits followed her example.
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