Category: Politics

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Strategizing in a Biden Presidency

Let me add some background music to your news cycle today. Part of my daily routine is to peruse and read a host of articles from mainline sources and some academic as well to form what I hope is a more substantive approach to theology and politics. That said, the end result almost always leads to some general felicity for my tribe and some dismay for the other. But a good thinker comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comforted. The reason there is a smidge of interest in anything I write is that I have hopefully offered something hearty and simultaneously humored your satirical side.

So, a few additional follow-ups to the goings and comings from D.C. If you don’t know me by now, you will never, never, never know me…oooohhhh. And part of knowing me is that I have a placid temperament when it comes to the curious-minded, but share a distaste for the ideology of those who minimize the good, true, and beautiful. Translating that into the German, Luther’s German, it’s a hell of a thing to chase the horses and chariots around as if they are going to lead you to green pastures. Turning the pulpit into a political rally for the last four years gave us sister Kamala. Awoman!

You shall know true disciples by their fruit. And true disciples speak wisely into a culture by their track record. Ideas have consequences like fruit trees. One of the fruits of a poorly catechized culture has been the many teens and young adults these last four years touting leftist ideologies in response to the harshness of Trump. Some have left the church because of Trumpism. Perhaps rightly so. If a church is guided more adamantly by political allegiances, let my people go! So, I do place a lot of blame on evangelish churches for preaching the 151st psalm, instead of sticking to the first 150.

On the other hand, some remained never trumpering as if the landscape allows for such nuance. They feel rather justified at this stage and can’t wait for the Biden team to come in to give us a taste of true moderation. Awoman! Now, to be honest, for a long time, I have found Trump to be an abysmal example of a human being. But we all knew that morally he is hubristic and he will do whatever it takes to win. In fact, the appeal was that even in his disconcerting rhetoric, he still cared to preserve the remnants of sanity in politics. Trump didn’t need many allies to get good things moved. Was it the best strategy? Yes and no. Certainly not in these last few days, but surely throughout the last few years. The Republic did not need a Mitt Romney after Obama, she needed a bulldozer. We didn’t need a moderate voice to speak for the unborn, we needed an atypical man with an orange tan to do it. One thing Trump did these last four years was to push you to think deeply about what you believe and I count that as a good thing. If he pushed some folks to support rights for zen gender then at least you revealed what was in your heart all along. No need to play the hide-and-seek game anymore.

It’s clear the country was not ready for tribal separation. But we are all tribal now. There is no more going back to cute memes about bipartisanship. It’s time to take sides and bring out your inner communal self and tighten the fencepost around your tribe which means that if you have invested so much time in the political sphere/domain while missing out on your local church gatherings and feasts, you had it all wrong all along. Biden is the answer to your absence. When you leave the bride, the gap is filled in by someone/something else.

The ideologies you so dread take the place of what you cherish because you cherished it wrongly. Instead of giving thanks to God for the good, you pursued the transitory context that gave you the good, instead of praising the permanent God who gives all good things.

In light of yesterday’s post, I had several folks ask whether I supported the American Revolutionary War for Independence. My answer can take various shapes, but suffice to say, I am a Presbyterian, which means we are synonymous with rebelling against tyrants. But what that does not mean is that we equate scenarios. Modern revolutionaries have more in common with the speeches of Alex Jones than Patrick Henry. So, I view the comparison as simply illogical. America has voices of wisdom all around, we are still one of the most populated centers for missions in the world, homeschoolers are now 2% of the American population, Christian schools are growing, conservative voices rule alternative media growing by the thousands every day, and there is still a heavy dose of sanity in all the right places. Still, would there ever be a time when I take my glorious robe off on Sunday morning and fight tyranny? Of course. But it won’t be because Biden is the antichrist figure dispensationalists desire, but because his policies may be that which disallows me as a pastor from gathering with my people and calling the state a bunch of obtuse scoundrels when necessary or if they hinder me from worshipping the Triune God as I believe the Bible commands. If policies keep me from the sacred assembly, I will protect the freedom of mother church to speak as she pleases. That’s a cause I’d gladly die for.

In the meanwhile, my call is to strategize; a different form of fighting which begins with the cessation of complacency. Let men be men who lead well without the gooey rhetoric of a skinny jeans salesman. Drink to the glory of God and imprecate the hell out of pagans. Our philosophy of life didn’t lose, but we will lose if we lose sight of that philosophy.

The good news is that in January, those of us on the conservative side of things are pretty aware of who the other guys are. We know the ideology we are up against, right? We know who the transgender apologists are supporting which is always key to identifying who is on the wrong side of history. Let them rule in D.C. for four years. The children of Zion are heirs of the world (Rom. 4:13). It’s time for us to look at our calendars and start penciling in our strategy meetings and praying like the psalmist: “May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.”

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Leftism and Cow Farts

Let’s be extremely honest with our assessment that the Left is comfortable with some destruction and some rioting as long as it serves their purpose of disquieting society. George Floyd was the unfortunate Girardian scape-goat. His death was used to propel an agenda and to shift focus to the “societal decay” under a Trump presidency. It’s true that you may have heard one or two politicians out there saying that riots are bad, but when Leftists want to articulate something they come together as a band harmonizing like Lennon and McCartney. In this case, they were happily harmonizing to the sound of silence.There was a time when people kept these radical opinions to themselves, but now you have Op-Ed pieces on NPR extolling the philosophical case for why small businesses are part of a nefarious capitalist propaganda. Sorry, Mom and Pops!

As I mentioned before, Trump could be articulating a much more pristine vision of the conservation of ideas, but you can’t untrump his rhetoric to your favorite Milton Friedman impersonation. He is indubitably Trump when he is on Twitter and when he isn’t (which is not often). However, what we see without a shadow of a doubt is a Democratic Party waking up to the fact that regular human beings are not big fans of destruction, especially their own local businesses wherein they poured their heart and soul and sweat. Who would have thunk it!?

The polls are shifting rapidly:
Post-GOP convention poll from Emerson has Trump winning 19% of blacks (no GOP candidate has gotten more than 15% since 1960) and 37% of Hispanics (which would tie Reagan in 1984 as the second-highest for GOP candidate). HT: Steve Deace

It is true that Republicans have a tendency to shift with some wind, but Democrats shift when cows fart, which incidentally affects climate change (that’s the rumor, according to Al Gore). This all means that we are about to hear some fairly decent defenses of private property coming from disciples of Barack Obama. In fact, just a few hours ago I read a prominent Democrat talk about how disgraceful it is to destroy the lives of hard-working black businessmen. For the record, we have been stressing this before Adam Smith was born. In fact, we like to think that we–conserver of values–really like that anything private stay intact unless an owner decides to renovate.

What we are seeing now is a party willing to defend whatever it takes to get Trump out of office. They are willing to bring Hillary out of the grave, they are willing to put Billie Eilish’s green hair on display, and they are willing to even defend private property. We have 63 days to consider these matters; a little over two months to contemplate some important trajectories in our country. The Church can thrive under any regime, but she does not have to willingly capitulate to the indoctrination of progressive shifties looking to cow farts for ideological direction.

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Neutrality No More!

One of the increasing benefits of a polarizing era is that men and women are now much more self-aware of what conservative ideals are. Of course, wise Christians know that there can be vast distinctions between conservative politics and a Christian political order. As polls constantly demonstrate, lots of conservatives know much about modern politics, thanks to a steady diet of vegetative cable news and they are graded somewhere between a fig and a potato chip when it comes to basic biblical knowledge. That chasm shows that there are a lot of conservatives who love D.C.-ness more than Kingdom-ness.

Still, many who were once naively conservatives or who inherited conservatism, are now being forced to make ideological decisions or to think more deeply about their commitments. Now, they have to answer the questions: “Are you for BLM? If not, why not?” “Do you believe there is a disproportionate use of force used by police against black people? If so, should we defund the police or seek reform?” “Are riots that end private property merely as a necessary ‘spectacle’ to get attention?” Some of these questions are easier to think through than others. They touch on the very heart of conservatism and its focus on freedom and private property (as Russell Kirk develops in “The Conservative Mind”).

The end result here is that we can no longer remain neutral on political issues. We can afford to be less frustrating, and we certainly need to seek ways to draw people to our message rather than send them away, but we cannot be neutral bystanders, playing Switzerland to our own beat.

Congregations that attempt to harmonize the Bible with a myriad of political positions as a way of appeasing the cause of diversity will eventually realize that the diversity crowd can never be appeased (see mainline churches). But congregations that equip their flock to see righteousness from unrighteousness, the ant from the sluggard, the fool from the wise will shine bright as the sun. They will build a generation of convinced humanity who know the “what” and “why,” “who” and “when” of a faithful political system. There will always be those who fall by the side and cultivate friendship with the world, but they will be exceptions.

The great benefit of our age is no one can afford not to know where they stand. And for those just starting their journey, remember, Jesus is Lord! Begin there, and a lot of things will make sense in our present age.

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COVID-19 and Human Rituals

What this season shows us is not that we have forgotten how to do certain things, but rather that we have been failing to do certain things for a long time. Thus, the difficulties and successes stem from lack of practice before or some basic practices which were already in place before the virus hit.

I am fond of thinking of formation through the concept of rituals. Rituals comprise our way of being. This does not mean that we are who we are no matter what. Rather, rituals can be oriented to the kind of people we hope to be. So, if we had poor rituals before this season, we either worked on them or struggled greatly because they were not in place.

If the response as things return to normalcy is to think of this season as exceptional cases to the practice of good rituals, we have failed. But if the response is to do an inventory of formative acts that can make us better parents or friends moving forward, then we will have used these last two months profitably.

The way many of us think about formation as humans is wrong-headed. We tend to believe that our personalities dictate how we are to be. Therefore, to connect or conform to something else is too obscure a pursuit. Yet, the Scriptures are constantly calling us to conform to Jesus which means that our way of thinking and being must be continually transitioning towards that divine maturity.

There are some practical examples of this. For instance, when we say, “I only parent by yelling,” we are locking ourselves into a mode that hinders any change. Or when we say, “we are introverts, therefore, we don’t like to be around people much,” we are locking ourselves to our personality rather than challenging our way of being. On the other hand if we say “we are extroverts, and that’s why we talk so much,” we are also failing to heed cautions against too much talking in the Bible. Thousands of other examples could be used.

The solution is not to change overnight. Part of the answer is to take an inventory of rituals that are observably faulty in your life. An honest conversation with a spouse or a close friend can open up some interesting dialogues. Then, begin to assess by the biblical standard where precisely you need to make movements.

We are always forming or re-forming. If we were intended to be as we are, the resurrection would be meaningless. But Christ is risen! He is risen to change us from glory to glory.

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The Call to a Chaotic Garden

As we rejoice in some positive movements toward a more conservative direction in our nation, we cannot fall back into thinking that somehow evil takes a sabbatical. Evil never ceases to impress his claims on feeble men and women who eagerly surrender to its whims.

The Christian role is to wake up every day–whether agendas favor or disfavor us–and put on the armor of God as if Washington D.C. never existed. There is no law in the state capitol that can change the hearts of men. Only Jesus, the belt of truth in the human soul, can lead men to the true capital of this world, Zion City of our God.

Horses and chariots will always crave our attention. But our response is to not let our guards down. We cannot assume that Christendom has reached some destination. Christian history moves us forward to an even greater telos. We are to believe and act as if God is giving us unparalleled opportunities to proclaim Messiah Jesus to the nations; to baptize and disciple infants and children, the young and the old.

What we have before us is a garden that needs tending, caring and nurturing. Our local community is that garden. Will we give it proper care, or will we assume that political powers have already done the work for us?

Screwtape is ever so cunning. His strategies are ever so meticulous. He seems whom he may devour. He works to distract us from active participation in the battle before us. But in the strength of Jesus, the church carries on her agenda independent of what happens elsewhere since we are his workmanship, ambassadors of peace to a chaotic garden.

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Democrats, Life, and Worldview

Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have threatened doctors with prison time if they failed to save an infant who was still alive after an attempted abortion. In fact, all the major voices of the party blocked this bill. It wasn’t too long ago where such bills would have garnered unanimous support from both parties.

At this stage, what we have before us is the intellectual slippery slope of a worldview. Francis Schaeffer once observed that while we pray for the end of abortion, we should also pray for this “godless worldview” to be rolled back with all its results across all of life.” The Christian faith provides a unified answer for the whole of life. We are not seeing a sudden change in public opinion, we are witnessing a view of the world connecting its dots. In sum, we are seeing the fulfillment of Romans 1 when God gives them over to their reprobate minds.

Another clear example of this came from a recent Instagram live stream video where Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez raised the question as to whether we should have children. After all, climate change is a moral issue, she argued. And who would want to bear children in such a dangerous world? Therefore, to ask the question “Should we have children?” is a question younger couples need to contemplate in light of our impending doom.

Again, we are witnessing the connection of worldview dots; we are seeing ideological consistency in action.

The Christian Church has clear proposals in response: a) human life has intrinsic value, and b) children are a blessing from the Lord.

Yet, in a world that despises biblical authority and God’s Lordship, all these clear proposals are questioned. In the end, such questions deserve a resounding answer from the Christian Church by living positive lives in God’s sight, by loving our children with undying fervor, by cherishing life in all its goodness and expressing immense gratitude to the God who doesn’t despise the weak but pours grace upon grace.

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My quick thoughts on Jair Bolsonaro’s candidacy for president of Brazil

I have been asked a few times my thoughts on the controversial Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s leading candidate for the presidency. Bolsonaro was stabbed at a rally yesterday. The reports indicate that while he is in a stable condition, full recovery is still uncertain a. His fans will likely view his cause with a greater martyr-like passion and his opponents–populating the major networks in Brazil will outdo themselves in advertisements against him in these final 30 days.

Bolsonaro has been named as the Brazilian Donald Trump. He has received the kind of press Donald Trump has for speaking his mind. For example, he opines openly about sexuality issues condemning the public education system for their graphic school books on anal sex and other homosexual acts. He also wants to enact a policy that sexual abusers shall be chemically castrated which has been interpreted as homophobic by many and received strong opposition from human rights’ activists largely on the left of Brazil’s politics.

He has a general disposition towards de-bureaucratizing government policies. The man who will lead his economics department is a firm believer in more limited government and privatization. Bolsonaro also has a similar Trumpian view of trading with China. Bloomberg summarizes his position:
China is currently Brazil’s biggest trading partner but Bolsonaro has serious reservations about Chinese investment in Brazil. He says Brazil should trade with China, but says he’d like “trade with the United States to be much larger” than with the Asian nation. He prefers “great partnerships” with U.S. firms instead of “making concessions to the Chinese.”
Jair Bolsonaro has a military background which makes his central agenda the security of the Brazilian people which is one reason his numbers are so high at this stage in the election cycle. Brazil’s violence continues to soar under the current presidency. The New York Times observes:
With 62,517 violent deaths in 2016, Brazil reached a record-high homicide rate of more than 30 per 100,000 residents, according to the latest annual study that compiles law enforcement and health statistics. (In the United States that rate dropped to five homicides per 100,000 people from eight from 1996 to 2015.)
In my estimation, Bolsonaro will be a needed change from leftist politics that have dominated the country for almost two decades. Honestly, he needs to win. If the Brazilian political system is not shaken now, the country will become a glorified version of Venezuela.
  1. Thanks to Marcos Romano for the update  (back)
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Nordic states and the Left

This piece from Kevin Williamson is a clear picture of how the left deceives itself in their interpretation of so-called socialist expressions:

The American Left doesn’t seem to follow very closely the Nordic states it claims to admire. Beginning in 1991, Sweden embarked on a decades-long campaign of privatization and reform that made the scholars at the Heritage Foundation envious. It sold off state-owned enterprises and interests in the liquor, pharmaceutical, and banking sectors, expanded private alternatives in health-care and retirement programs, eliminated state monopolies in pharmacies and vehicle inspections, and much more. This began under a center-right government and continued with a reduced scope under the Social Democrats, who stopped short of privatizing the Swedish postal service and state-run utilities. Denmark is a country with a long history of free trade, strong property rights, and liberal labor markets. Most of the Nordic states have no legislated minimum wage; as in the case of Switzerland, they generally rely on industry-by-industry labor agreements that vary greatly by sector. They are different in many important ways from the American model, but they are not socialist.

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How our Reading of the Bible Affects our View of Culture

How we read the Bible speaks volumes about our demeanor towards culture. If I cannot think biblically about any reality or decision-making process I am making myself subservient to extra-biblical authorities. If I am incapable of commencing my thinking biblically I am just as capable of abandoning my Christian categories. It is the great compromise of our age that we hold on firmly to “God and Country” but fail to know what God requires of us who are called to think and speak as citizens of a heavenly country. We have allowed the presuppositions of pagans to guide the thinking of the pious. Our theory of knowledge is inescapably secular. We have retired our Sunday hats after church and replaced it with the hats of neutrality and unbelief.

I have found that people’s passions run deep…for the wrong causes. In fact, they have so engaged in secular pieties that they have established social structures, hierarchies, right and wrong categories, stipulations, and judgment to systems and promises that show utter contempt for the God of the Bible. What guides your thinking of reality? What gives shape to your decision-making? The redeemed man is led by the self-attesting reality of God’s word.

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Gimme that good ‘ol fashioned socialism

I find myself somewhat disconcerted knowing that millennials in this country want a system of government that I grew up with in Brazil. It’s a bizarre phenomenon. Let me tell you that apart from the utopian sentiments of a government-controlled system and the supposed glories it will bring, the harsh reality is that it produces misery upon misery. My country’s economy forces the general population to have no more than two kids, where both sets of parents must work to make ends meet, depend on an ever-failing public education, suffer under a brutally overwhelmed and incompetent health care system where some patients die waiting for care, and where the vast amount of evangelicals find themselves at the feet of wealth and prosperity Gospel preachers seeking some “grace” to overcome their financial burdens. From Argentina to Venezuela, from Ecuador to Bolivia, the system is virtually the same, yet the people continue to suffer and embolden the same tyrants who enrich themselves and fool the populace under the banner of “fairness,” “equality,” and the “common good.” So, yes, I am befuddled by this phenomenon.