So What's This All About?

In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"

P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!

Thoughts For The Week

FEBRUARY 10, 2013-Quote from Samuel Johnson

FEBRUARY 17, 2013-Question about surgeons and the minimum wage?

FEBRUARY 26, 2013-Much of the social history of the Western world. . . 

MARCH 3, 2013-The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left. . .

MARCH 10, 2013-Wishful thinking. . .

MARCH 17, 2013-If you will not fight for right . . .

MARCH 24, 2013-How many legs. . . 

MARCH 31, 2013-Let not him who is houseless. . .

APRIL 7, 2013-The bigger the government. . .  

APRIL 14, 2013-The philosophy of the school room. . . 

APRIL 21, 2013-We should measure welfare's success. . .

APRIL 28, 2013-Clearly, a civilization. . .

MAY 5, 2013-History teaches that war begins. . .

MAY 13, 2013-Democratic civilization. . . 

MAY 19, 2013-Quote from William Booth

MAY 26, 2013-Of course, big campaigns to "end poverty as we know it" are hip . . .

JUNE 2, 2013-The whole gospel of Karl Marx

JUNE 9, 2013-A claim for equality. . .

JUNE 16, 2013-There are no solutions. . .

JUNE 23, 2013-No man is good enough. . .

JUNE 30, 2013-"In the matter of reforming things. . ." GREAT quote from Chesterton

JULY 8, 2013-Nuggets from Thomas Sowell

JULY 14, 2013-Some more nuggets from Thomas Sowell

JULY 21, 2013-Some quotes from Abraham Lincoln, including one timely one about mob rule.

JULY 28, 2013-"Progress may be either good or bad. . ." by Rusell Kirk

AUGUST 4, 2013-Chesteron's definition of tradition

AUGUST 11, 2013-Lincoln quote on the wolf and the lamb

AUGUST 18, 2013--Churchill on neutrality.

AUGUST 25, 2013-Paul Johnson about the value of studying history.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013-G. K. Chesterton on the Declaration of Independence

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013-"The true soldier. . ."

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013-Jonah Goldberg on calls for unity

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013-"You think you're always right."

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013-Loving your country

OCTOBER 6, 2013--Facts are stubborn things. . .

OCTOBER 13, 2013-How To Create A Nation of Lawbreakers

OCTOBER 20, 2013-A Doctor in Atlas Shrugged, rather prescient.

OCTOBER 27, 2013-The Doctor's Complaints Continued, from Atlas Shrugged

NOVEMBER 3, 2013-Chesterton on war: "War is not. . . "

NOVEMBER 10, 2013-"Blood, whips and guns--or dollars."

NOVEMBER 17, 2013-Lewis on what real progress is

NOVEMBER 25, 2013-Lewis on why we believe in democracy

December 8, 2013-"When you see. .  ."

DECEMBER 16, 2013-Concentrations of power

DECEMBER 22, 2013-Worthless Heirs

DECEMBER 30, 2013-"You, who leap like a savage. . ."

JANUARY 5, 2014-A Child's Heart and an Adult's Head

JANUARY 12, 2014-Milton Friedman on "Greed"

JANUARY 20, 2014-Martin Luther King Jr. on passively accepting evil

JANUARY 26, 2014-Friedman on liberty vs. equality

FEBRUARY 3, 2014-An Objection To The Free Market System

FEBRUARY 9, 2014-Men Without Chests

FEBRUARY 16, 2014-C. S. Lewis on the worst type of tyranny

FEBRUARY 23, 2014-Sympathy for Communism?

MARCH 2, 2014-C. S. Lewis on courage

MARCH 9, 2014-C.S. Lewis on intellectual slackers

MARCH 16, 2014-Milton Friedman on spending other peoples' money

MARCH 23, 2014-On the "causes" of poverty

MARCH 30, 2014-What if America retreats from the world stage?

APRIL 6, 2014-Revolutionary Acts and the First Duty Of Intelligent Men

APRIL 13, 2014-"When you see that money is flowing. . . "

APRIL 20, 2014-"Liberals claim. . ."

April 8, 2014-C.S. Lewis on universal justice

MAY 4, 2014-Mark Twain on being in the majority

MAY 11, 2014-Ayn Rand on the "selfishness" and "cruelty" of a Free Market System

MAY 18, 2014-C.S. Lewis on war and peace

MAY 25, 2014-Ayn Rand on fearing to face an issue

JUNE 1, 2014-Frédéric Bastiat's case for freedom

JUNE 8, 2014-Frédéric Bastiat on trade protectionism

JUNE 15, 2014-Frédéric Bastiat on what happens when the law is diverted from its true purpose

JUNE 22, 2014-Dr. Thomas Sowell on a really bad way to make decisions

JUNE 29, 2014--Malcolm Muggeridge on the depravity of mankind

JULY 6, 2014--Ben Franklin on how to help the poor

JULY 13, 2014--Charles Cooke on the greatest trick of the Left

JULY 20, 2014--Robert Heinlein on the normal condition of man

JULY 27, 2014--John Stuart Mill on the ugliness of war

AUGUST 17, 2014--"The worrisome lesson of history. . . "

AUGUST 24, 2014--"Do not blame Caesar. . ."

AUGUST 31, 2014--"When we are unwilling to draw clear moral lines. . ."

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014--Abraham Kuyper on "giving for Jesus' sake" vs. state welfare

SEPTEMBER 14, 2014--Eisenhower on the only place you'll find total security

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014--Doing blacks a favor?

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014--General Mattis on declaring a war "over."

OCTOBER 5, 2014--"For every idealistic peacemaker. . ."

OCTOBER 12, 2014--"The two most important things that can be done to promote democracy. . ."

OCTOBER 19, 2014--The nine most terrifying words in the English language

OCTOBER 26, 2014--Ayn Rand on a businessman vs. a bureaucrat

NOVEMBER 2, 2014--"If a nation values anything more than freedom. . ."

NOVEMBER 9, 2014--On this week, his dream came true

NOVEMBER 16, 2014--"One of the painful signs. . ." by Thomas Sowell

NOVEMBER 23, 2014--Why do people believe lies?

NOVEMBER 30, 2014--"How is it that the party of Lincoln..."

DECEMBER 7, 2014--Jonah Goldberg on our fear of hypocrisy

DECEMBER 14, 2014--Abraham Kuyper on true charity

DECEMBER 21, 2014--"If you want to help people. . ."

JANUARY 4, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on "Why is there poverty in the world?"

JANUARY 11, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on "Moralizers."

JANUARY 18, 2015--Ayn Rand on "The man who refuses to judge. . ."

JANUARY 25, 2015--James Madison on "abridgement of . . . freedom."

FEBRUARY 1, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on when you say there's nothing worth fighting for

FEBRUARY 8, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on conservatives vs. liberal on their own misdeeds.

FEBRUARY 16, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on might making right.

FEBRUARY 22, 2015--Sam Walton on who the boss is.

MARCH 1, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on liberals and patriotism

MARCH 8, 2015--Edmund Burke on what good men must do when bad men combine

MARCH 15, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on taking our good fortune for granted

MARCH 22, 2015--Edmund Burke on how people give up their liberty

MARCH 30, 2015--Milton Friedman on food production in a Free Market System

APRIL 06, 2015--Milton Friedman on the "most important single central fact about a free market"

APRIL 12, 2015--Barry Goldwater on a government which can give you all you want.

APRIL 20, 2015--"We are fast approaching the stage. . ."

APRIL 27, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on anti-Walmart crusaders

MAY 3, 2015--"We want a society. . ."

May 10, 2015--Margaret Thatcher on the value of law and order

May 24, 2015--T.S. Eliot on fighting Lost Causes

June 1, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on loving your country

June 7, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on "Violence never solved anything"

June 15, 2015--More Jonah Goldberg on "Violence never solved anything."

June 21, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on who are the aggressors in the "Culture Wars"

June 28, 2015--Natan Sharansky on whether we'll be a free society or a fear society

July 5, 2015--Charles C. Cooke on "America is the only country in the world in which . . . ”

July 13, 2015--Thomas Sowell: "You cannot take any people. . ."

July 19, 2015--Milton Friedman on whom capitalism benefits

July 26, 2015--Walter E. Williams on the minimum wage

August 02, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on what happens when we try to become our own gods

August 10, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on the language of "Social Justice."

August 16, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on why conservatives believe in the free market

August 24, 2015--Frank J. Fleming on the only alternative to the free market

August 20, 2015--Frank J. Fleming on what the government is great at

Sept. 6, 2015--Dwight D. Eisenhower on victory

Sept 20, 2015--Victor Davis Hanson on what globalization has done to us

October 4, 2015--Edmund Burke on liberty and a corrupt people

October 11, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on what trade restrictions are

October 18, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on why low income people have low incomes

October 25, 2015--Kevin D. Williamson on why restricted trade is an affront to freedom

November 2, 2015--C.S. Lewis on telling children fanciful stories about heroic knights

November 9, 2015--Calvin Coolidge on "progress" and 1776

November 15, 2015--Frank J Fleming on innovation and the Left

November 23, 2015--John Adams on the Jewish people

November 29, 2015--Abraham Lincoln on the only way that America can die.

December 6, 2015--G. K. Chesterton on the value of fairy tales

December 13, 2014--George Washington on what government is

December 20, 2015--C.S. Lewis on the Incarnation

December 27, 2015--Jonah Goldberg on associating the Left with "Modernity" and "Progress"

January 3, 2016--Malcolm Muggeridge on swimming with the stream

January 10, 2016--Victor Davis Hanson on self-criticism and self-reflection

January 17, 2016--Victor Davis Hanson on why immigrants come to the West

January 24, 2016--Frederica Mathewes-Green on protecting the unborn

February 1, 2016--John C. Wright on multiculturalism

February 7, 2016--James McDonald on how to change

February 14, 2016--Victor Davis Hanson with some more questions on immigration and identity politics

February 29, 2016--Frank J Fleming on gun control laws

March 6, 2016--Wilbur Wright quote

March 14, 2016--Kevin D. Williamson on the difference between a republic and a democracy

March 20, 2016--Edmund Burke on complainers for the "publick"

March 28, 2016--The only evidence that Jesus was a socialist

April 4, 2016--Robert A. Heinlein's summary of poverty and how we get out of it

April 10, 2016--Thomas Jefferson on being ignorant and free

April 17, 2016--Kevin D. Williamson on being wrong in politics

April 25, 2016--Abigail Adams on the times we live in

May 1, 2016--John Adams on the founding of America

May 8, 2016--Justice Louis Brandeis on American idealism

May 15, 2016--Alexander Hamilton on a benefit of liberty

May 23, 2016--Winston Churchill on the soul of freedom

May 29, 2016--"It is the soldier..."

June 5, 2016--Amelia Earhart on courage

June 12, 2016--Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. on freedom of thought

June 19, 2016--John Paul Jones on sailing on a slow ship

June 27, 2016--William Pitt on the plea of necessity

July 4, 2016--John Adams's predictions of Independence Day celebrations in the future

July 11, 2016--Ben Franklin on free trade

July 17, 2016--Ayn Rand on property rights

Aug 1, 2016--Edmund Burke on corruption and liberty

Aug 8, 2016--Thomas Paine on reaping the blessings on liberty

Aug 14, 2016--George Orwell on the duty of intelligent men

Aug 21, 2016--Harry Truman on the cost of freedom

Aug 28. 2016--John F. Kennedy on the price of liberty

Sept 4, 2016--Jonah Goldberg on the essence of conservatism

Sept 11, 2016--The last recorded words of Todd Beamer

Sept 20, 2016--H. L. Mencken on the urge to save humanity

Sept 25, 2016--Rosa Parks on fear

October 3, 2016--Harriet Tubman

October 9, 2016--Solzhenitsyn on lies in the world

October 24, 2016--Samuel Adams on who's a true friend to liberty

October 30, 2016--Samuel Adams on men who talk about liberty

November 6, 2016--C. S. Lewis on the worst type of tyrannies

November 27, 2016--Sgt. York on the fight for liberty

December 5, 2016--Garry Kasparov on the 2016 election

January 9, 2017--G.K. Chesteron on the American idea of equality

January 22, 2017-Abraham Lincoln on how to respond to people who vote differently than us

January 30, 2017--Helen Keller on what we should be praying for

February 6, 2017--Lincoln on the fiery trial they were undergoing

February 13, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on how a corporation can control your life.

February 19, 2017--General Powell on what we've done around the world

February 26, 2017--John D. Rockefeller Jr. on rights and opportunities

March 5, 2017--C.S. Lewis on debunking moral standards

March 12, 2017--Theodore Roosevelt on trying and failing

March 19, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on the irony of capitalists vs. socialists

March 26, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on the difference between communism and socialism

April 2, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on big business being pro-free market

April 9, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on "ignorance"

April 16, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on the empty tomb and 'my truth"

April 23, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on why business "invests" in influencing government

April 30, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on Capitalists and conservatism

May 7, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on the enemy of abundance

May 14, 2017--Jonah Goldberg on the government loving you

May 21, 2017--Mark Twain on the wisdom of his father

May 28, 2017--George S Patton on mourning our fallen warriors

June 4, 2017--Jonah Goldberg on the hero in the American political tradition

June 11, 2017--Stephen F. Austin on our our nation

June 18, 2017--David French on liberty and virtue

June 25, 2017--Michael Oakeshott on what is a conservative

July 9, 2017--Lord Acton on how to "resist your time"

July 16, 2017--Frank J. Fleming on what our choices are

July 23,  2017--George Eliot on why the world isn't as bad as it could be

July 30, 2017--Calvin Coolidge on the Declaration of Independence

August 6, 2017--Daniel Boorstin on the great enemy of knowledge

August 14, 2017--Jonah Goldberg on what science is and isn't good at.

August 20, 2017--"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert. . ."

August 27, 2017--Jonah Goldberg on Republicans and "states rights"

Sept 3, 2017--John Adams on threats to  liberty

Sept 10, 2017--Cicero on the greatest of virtues

Sept 17, 2017--Irving Kristol on seeing things as they really are

Sept 24, 2017--James Madison on why we must always distrust the concentration of political power

Oct 1, 2017--Brené Brown on courage and comfort

Oct 8, 2017--Teddy Roosevelt on who's most responsible for your problems

Oct 15, 2017--Ben Franklin on being ignorant

Oct 22, 2017--Thomas Paine on protecting the liberties of others

Oct 29, 2017--"There are in life. . ."

Nov 5, 2017--William F. Buckley on living an obedient life

Nov 11, 2017--Kyle Smith on why we're never going to be rid of Marxism

Nov 20, 2017--Pastor John Meador on redemptive witness

Nov 26, 2017--G. K. Chesterton on gratitude

Dec 3, 2017--Kevin D. Williamson on what Conservatism is

Dec 18, 2017--Hannah Arendt on the ideal subject of totalitarian rule

Dec 24, 2017--C. S. Lewis on something inside a stable

Jan 15, 2018--Calvin Coolidge on our greatest political blessing on the human race

Jan 21, 2018--C. S. Lewis on giving yourself completely over to nation, party or class

Jan 28, 2018--Milton Friedman on one major objection to a free economy

Feb 5, 2018--John Lukacs on the difference between fame and honor

Feb 11, 2018--"What is most frightening about the political left" by Dr. Sowell

Feb 18, 2018--Ben Shapiro on true manliness

Feb 25, 2018--Alexis de Tocqueville on socialists

Mar 4, 2018--Kevin D. Williamson on the sexual revolution

Mar 11, 2018--Kevin D. Williamson on the unluckiness of socialism

Mar 18, 2018--Ben Shapiro on a standardless world

Mar 25, 2018--Thomas Sowell on different types of robbery

April 1, 2018--Thomas Sowell on scapegoats

April 7, 2018--Thomas Sowell on control

April 15, 2018--G.K. Chesterton on fallacies

April 22, 2018--G.K. Chesterton on "bigots" and "slaves of dogma"

April 29, 2018--G.K. Chesterton on "the spirit of the age"

May 6, 2018--Jonah on fretting about inequality

June 1, 2018--Charles C. W. Cooke on peace and ordered liberty

June 8, 2018--Jonah Goldberg on making up the rules as we go

June 17, 2018--George Washington on arbitrary power

June 25, 2018--Charles Krauthammer on puzzling Washington phenomena

July 2, 2018--Charles Krauthammer on betraying your own life.

July 9, 2018--Jonah Goldberg on seeing lessons instead of merely being told them

August 5, 2018--Terry Prachett on snakes and meanings of words

August 12, 2018--G. K. Chesterton on the meaning of barbarism

August 19, 2018--Jonah Goldberg on persuasion

August 26, 2018--Chesterton on knowing other countries and other ages

Sept 2, 2018--"Abolish religion if you like..."

Sept 14, 2018--"Human tyranny, like every other human sin..."

Sept 21, 2018--"When people begin to ignore human dignity..."

Sept 28, 2018--"We are far too seldom reminded that just as church-going is not religion..."

Nov 4, 2018--"All wealth is the product of knowledge..."

Nov 11, 2018--"Christianity is a fortunate religion..."

Nov 18, 2018--C.S. Lewis on the purpose of all "natural values"

Nov 25, 2018--G.K. Chesterton on war and slavery

Dec 2, 2018--Mark Twain on what America has invented

Dec 9, 2018--Albert Camus on the welfare of the people

Dec. 16, 2018--C.S. Lewis on reading about atrocities in the paper

Dec. 23, 2018--Ann Voskamp on the Christmas story

Dec. 30, 2018--Jonah Goldberg on the history of Progressivism

Jan 06, 2019--C.S. Lewis on what we leave behind

Jan 13, 2019--George R.R. Martin on censorship

Jan 20, 2019--Frank Meyer on Fusionism

Jan 27, 2019--Ben Sasse on imagining yourself as a creedal minority

Feb 10 2019--Kevin D. Williamson on the most radical idea in politics today

Feb 24, 2019--Ronald Reagan on other constitutions vs. ours

March 3, 2019--G.K. Chesterton on why poor people need good government

March 17, 2019--Roger Scruton on the conservative approach to modernity

March 25, 2019--Malcolm Muggeridge on the depravity of man

March 31, 2019--G.K. Chesterton: "If you will not have rules..."

April 8, 2019--"The moment a supposedly alternative economic system..."

April 14, 2019--G.K. Chesterton on a dead thing vs. a living thing

April 21, 2019--G.K. Chesterton on the Resurrection

April 28, 2019--Jonah Goldberg on bad ideology

May 5, 2019--G.K. Chesterton on "The special mark of the modern world"

May 12, 2019--Hannah Arendt on totalitarians of the 20's and 30's

May 20, 2019--Carl Sandburg on what destroys a nation

May 27, 2019--Frank J. Fleming on "When you decide to undo norms..."

June 3, 2019--Kevin D. Williamson on discrete socialism vs. general socialism

June 9, 2019--Edmund Burke on equalizing society

June 17, 2019--Kevin D. Williamson on what conservatism is

June 23, 2019--Charles C.W. Cooke on the Liberal Order and dissenters

July 1, 2019--Jonah Goldberg on technology and liberation

July 8, 2019--Jonah Goldberg on conservatism and wisdom

July 15, 2019--Jonah Goldberg on Social Justice and Capitalism
















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