1) There are many people like David Brooks and David French who want a “conservatism of manners” and not a “conservatism based on eternal truths.” This distinction made by Al Mohler is a fine one to explain the current movement of many who were once stalwart conservative voices moving ever so slowly, or in the case of some, above the speed limit, towards leftist ideology.
I am reminded of a section in my little book “The Trinitarian Father” where I observed that parenting is a covenantal thing. So too is politics. The grown man with kids who thinks it’s cute to flirt with Bidenism will discover a few years down the road that sweet manners–however good and noble–is not the crown of policy, nor is it the principal thing in politics. His children sitting under his teaching will discover that Biden didn’t go far enough and that they need to bring back the spirit of Bern. Your politics follow your religion, and your religion will be slowly turning towards David Brooks if you view niceties as the prime virtue.
For additional information, my piece over at kuyperian.com has been gaining lots of attraction. I wrote yesterday about how changes towards wokism occur. I argue that these changes are perspectival. If we break them down to existential (experiences), situational (cultural-historical), and normative (the authority of the Bible), we can arrive at a more accurate interpretive model for how these stalwarts move incrementally towards woke and BLM rhetoric.
2) Jeff Childers, who writes a daily update on COVIDness, observed that Middlebury College in Vermont has a 99% vaccination rate. Still, they have suspended “live classes, sports, and performing arts — again — after fifty students and employees tested positive for the virus.” $60K of tuition a year, and they are back to April of 2020 again. Can I get a refund? P.S. Oh, and Gavin Newsom is reimposing a statewide mask mandate.
3) Governor Ron DeSantis–also known as St. DeSantis–just gave state workers “an end-of-the-year holiday surprise: A couple of four-day weekends to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.” With the housing market in Florida booming with New Yorkers and Dave Rubin (by the way, welcome Dave!), those employees better rest for the work ahead. As a side note, I am pushing for a DeSantis 2022 re-election campaign in Florida. Stay local, Goburnator!
4) Dr. Joe Boot notes that “conversion therapy” is now prohibited in Canada. Technically, this means that pastoral counseling aimed at exhorting men and women to believe the Gospel and follow God’s creation order for man and woman in sex and marriage is now illegal. But don’t worry, the MP’s voted unanimously to adopt such measures.
5) Jesus is Lord! And this means that the central reality of postmillennial eschatology reigns supreme. Don’t believe the versions of peace the world offers. Christ is Lord, and the volume of peace belongs to him. In this world, Christians hear his voice loud and clear (John 10). Keep listening!
