April 19
To R. Scott Clark and his blogpost on whether humanism is evil. This appeared in heidelblog.
I think that too many of us Christians have a phobic reaction to anything bearing a "humanist" label. I think our acceptance or rejection of what comes from humanists should come on an idea by idea basis. And it reminds me of the time I was protesting outside the Israeli embassy in DC with Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Atheists. We were there because we believe that much of Israel's treatment of the Palestinian is immoral. And we were there to protest that immorality regardless of our religion. Thus, some called us "people of conscience."
What if we could specify specific views with which we could express solidarity with humanists. That just might help us get our foot in the door to share the Gospel later on.
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April 22
To John Teevan's post on how poverty is expensive. This appeared in the Acton blog
There are some problems here. Having worked as a social worker, I can personally testify that many of the people paid to help those in need are highly competent and are committed to the people they serve and do what they can to help. That doesn't mean that some don't exploit their positions, but what I've observed also contradicts blanket statements made about gov't employees as well as employee for private agencies receiving pay to help. Such blanket statements are simply irresponsible. But more than that, they are meant to distract people from some of the causes of poverty. Among those causes are business that either outsources jobs to other countries, some of which become sweatshop labor jobs or those that pay poverty wages and their payroll is supplemented by gov't assistance programs. At the same time, many of those companies that look to gov't to subsidize their payrolls are looking to avoid paying taxes.
What we are seeing today is a crony capitalism that is not aberration from how the system is designed but rather a natural outgrowth of it. The corruption starts with the promise that, with the free market, one is responsible solely for their own interests. That promise is made to both consumers and business owners. However, workers who exercise the same mentality are cursed as the cause for the collapse of the system by destroying businesses.
The emphasis on self-interest is what is destroying this nation by destroying many of its people along with the economy. While those wealthy enough to be mobile will soon move out of harm's way.
In addition, I doubt, though I could be wrong, if the poor were consulted with regard to all of the costs of poverty for the writing of this post
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To Elise Hilton's blogpost on the state of religious liberty. This appeared on the Acton blog
It seems to me that this is nothing more than a "sky is falling" article about the loss of religious freedom. Yes, one notable person was pressured out of a job because of a denotation made to the Proposition 8. But didn't conservative Christians once call for the firing of homosexuals with certain jobs? And didn't Conservative Christians oppose marriage equality? And wasn't homosexuality once illegal in this country?
If some see religion as causing problems it might be due to overgeneralizing on observations. So note, there are more than a few grains of truth in their fears. We should note how the French Revolution viewed religion as its enemy. It was because the clergy sided with the nobility in defeating the concerns of the peasants in the French Parliament. So before we cry wolf over the loss of religious freedoms, we need to come clean on our own persecutions of others.
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To Bradley Birzer and his blogpost discussing the Catholic Church's role in maintaining Western Civilization. This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative blog.
Whatever credit we wish to give to the Catholic Church for Western Civilization, and isn't it odd that we are giving the Church, rather than God, credit for what the Church did, the question we must eventually ask is: Are we bragging or complaining?
The authoritarian nature of the Catholic Church brought about the persecution of scientists, the inquisition, wars, empire and the presumptuous enslavement and even genocide of some indigenous people from the Western Hemisphere such as Haiti, Cuba, and Latin America. Even today the Church's effects on the West is both good and bad but Western Civ tribalism filters out what is distasteful.
It is this disingenuous, rose-colored glasses look at those one most associates with that causes people to leave the Church. And part of what is required to stop the hemorrhaging of people is just taking an honest look at the past and the faults our ancestors had with a resolve to correct them. But those steeped in authoritarianism wearing the sheep's clothes of tradition have problems accepting challenges.
BTW, my apologies to the Imaginative Conservative Blog for listing the above comment as being blocked. I discovered later that it wasn't blocked. This is my fault.
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