Burkean Conservatism

Through my friend @Markjakubik, I became aware of Professor Stephen Bainbridge of UCLA Law School.  I'm enjoying and benefiting from reading his blog.  He has a particularly good excerpt that distinguishes a conservative from a libertarian.

Indeed, the irony is that left-liberals who use terms like "wingnuts" and the Objectivists who want to "Go Galt" both want to free the individual from the alleged shackles  imposed by those platoons. The latter prefer a society in which the autonomous individual stands naked in the market. The former prefer a nanny state in which the individual is dependent upon the state (except when it comes to abortion and sex, oddly enough). Because the little platoons--family, church, workplaces, and civic organizations--provide alternate centers of power within society that insulate the individual from the raw power of both Leviathan and the market, they don't fit into either camp's vision of the ideal society. In my view, however, they are essential if we are to resist the crushing of civil society beneath the mission-creep of the state and the raw force of the market.

This is the kind of writing we need to help provide the intellectual firepower to counter the ascendancy of what I consider a libertarianism on steroids.

Basketball Dawgs Drawing A Crowd

UGA is a known as a emphatically football school.  But the hardwood Dawgs are drawing fans with their much improved play.  My brother and nephew got to see them play in person on Saturday.  I'm jealous!

Read all about the Dawgs at the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Mike Pence Stands For The Unborn

Mike Pence may not be a household name.  And he may not be the bandwagon choice for the GOP 2012 nomination.  But he's my choice.

Read his words at today's March For Life:

“We gather to mark the 38th anniversary of the worst Supreme Court decision since Dred Scott.  And we gather today in the shadow of a new pro-life majority on Capitol Hill.  And we will keep gathering until Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history where it belongs.

“These are trying times in the life of this nation.

“Our economy is struggling and our national government is awash in a sea of debt.

“Amidst these struggles, some would have us focus our energies on jobs and spending.

"We must not remain silent when great moral battles are being waged. Those who would have us ignore the battle being fought over life have forgotten the lessons of history. As in the days of a house divided, America's darkest moments have come when economic arguments trumped moral principles.

“A nation that will not stand for life will not stand for long.

“You know there can be no lasting prosperity without a moral foundation in law.

“And as to focusing on spending, I agree.

“Let’s start by denying all federal funding for abortion at home and abroad.

“The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X.

“The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America.

“Thank you for braving the cold one more time and saying to the heart of our national government, ‘We will fight on for life. We will fight on for the unborn and the brokenhearted.’

“And we will fight on because we know, as Jefferson said, ‘God who gave us life gave us liberty…and God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever.’

“And we know this:  We will win this fight because the deepest desire of every mother and father is to protect their child, at any cost, even with the own lives and that truth cannot be erased.

“The American people will make this right.  We will restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law.  Because every American knows in their heart, this is the greatest nation on earth because we acknowledge the God-given right to liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the unalienable right to life.”

See the story at The Weekly Standard.

Explanation of Legalism and Worldliness

In this interview, Phil Johnson gives the clearest, most succinct explanation of legalism that I've heard.  He also discribes worldliness as the heart matter that it is, slaughtering a few sacred cows along the way.

What Shapes Your Faith?

A story from USA Today caught my eye. Sunday's article in the Faith & Reason section by Cathy Lynn Grossman reports on the book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us by political scientists Robert Putnam of Harvard and David Campbell of Notre Dame. Their research concludes that American evangelicals believe that most good people will make it Heaven regardless of what the Bible says about Jesus being the only way to the Father.

Grossman says:

They found that on the ultimate religious tolerance questions -- who is saved -- Americans overwhelmingly believe "a good person who is of another religion (than your own) can go to heaven. The group that scored lowest, evangelicals, were still greatly in favor of a wide and generous grace with 83% saying yes to this.

But did they really mean non-Christians, or was this Methodists saying, sure, Lutherans are saved, too? They asked again,adding "even if they are not Christian" and 54% of evangelical protestants on up to 98% of Mormons agreed.

This is a particularly disturbing opinion, if true. One of the things a pastor must continually repeat is the simple premise of the Gospel: Humans are alienated from God by sin. The exclusive cure for sin is the payment made by Christ, His shedding His blood on the cross. The only hope any person has of eternal life is repenting of their sin and coming to Christ by faith alone.


It is particularly frustrating that Christians don't get the fact that God will not "grade on the curve" for their loved one or friend. Just because we love them and see lovable qualities in them doesn't mean the Father will give them a mulligan on the Gospel at the judgment. They will be judged based on their righteousness, or on the imputed righteousness of Christ. If they don't have Christ, they will not gain eternal life. That is why it is critical for every Christian to share the Gospel with those he loves. No Gospel, no Heaven.


Our church's theme is "First Baptist Church Loves Robinson!". The way this church or any individual Christian can best show love is by showing people the way to Christ. Anything less is simply kind-hearted wishful thinking.

There's A Conservative Christian Running For President

There's a real conservative who is making noises about running for President in 2012.  He's visiting Iowa and staying active in the media.  This past week, he was one of the keynote speakers at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit.  His name is Mike Pence.  He's a leader in the House and is a member from Indiana.  He states that he's "a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican...in that order."  He deserves a good look by everyone interested in conservatism and by every politically active Christian.

The time to fight for our values is in the primaries.  Remember Rush's rule: vote for the most conservative Republican in the primaries.  We have to pay attention early this cycle and get behind and work for our preferred candidate.  The cycle for 2012 begins on November 3rd this year.

Listen to his speech at the Value Voters Summit:

Back In Action and Two Quick Hits

After neglecting the blog for too many months, I'm back in action. I must admit that my inclination to update and inform didn't go away. But I was seduced by Twitter and Facebook, using those platforms for lots of quick hits. After some time, reflection, and encouragement, I'm going to try to merge all three venues.

Two articles from my morning reading deserve mention. The first is from Dan Burrell. He posted a new article titled Paying The Price When You Take a Stand. Using the recent case of the family who objected to overly-sexual cheers on their six year old's cheer squad, he makes the following observation:

But let’s make something clear — taking a stand will often require you to pay a price and that’s a good thing. Dead leaves and dead fish go with the flow. Taking a stand causes ripples and waves. Turn on a light and watch the cockroaches run for the shadows. Put some salt on ice and watch things start changing. Taking a stand on matters of propriety, morality, philosophy, ethics, values and conduct is going to exact some sort of price at the hands of those whose values are different than yours.

We should expect nothing less.

The entire article is worthy of reading and considering. He makes powerful points of living biblically holy lives without being legalistic prudes.

The other article is on a blog new to me called Sola Sisters. It's a revealing and discerning article on Glenn Beck.

And okay, sure, I knew you were a Mormon. But maybe, I said to myself, he's really a Christian. Maybe he's one of those "cultural Mormons," a Mormon in name only, who doesn't even know about all that kooky Mormon theology. After all, he talks about God and Jesus and salvation and atonement.... Looking back, I'm so ashamed of myself: I should have known better! After all, a large part of what I do is write about cults, and how they use the same terminology that Christians do, only with redefined meanings. Oh, how I wanted to believe.

The rest of the article details the deviant and false gospel beliefs of Mormonism.