Comments Which Conservatives Block From Their Blogs for February 26, 2020

Feb 22

To R. Scott Clark and his blogpost on how Evangelicalism is reacting to Polyamory. This appeared in the Heidelblog.

I agree with Clark in calling polyamory sin and that we should call those involved in such relationships to repentance. But to put it in the context of Christ against culture is wrong because that phrase is not well-defined. If all that means is that we call on individuals who adhere to sinful cultural values to repentance, then I am in favor of it. But the moment we look to transform culture, we are looking to lord it over others to some degree. We should allow culture to affirm multiple views while calling individuals who hold to unbiblical views to repentance. In addition, it was Paul who, after pronouncing discipline on a believer in Corinthians who engaged in a sexual sin that was worse, comparatively speaking than homosexuality, explicitly stated that he was not concerned with the sexual purity of society, he was only concerned with the sexual purity of the Church.

This Christ against culture implies some participation in the culture war that some Christians  engage in. And when that happens, we Christians impose our beliefs on unbelievers which becomes an unnecessary stumbling block to many who might otherwise hear the Gospel. The long-term, at least partially based, Christian opposition to equality for the LGBT community in society has put Post Modern-age Christians in a dilemma of choosing between the lesser of two evils: of continuing to participate in the harmful and often cruel marginalization of the LGBT community in society or the acceptance of homosexuality as being a valid choice for any one. As a result, not only do we see many professing Christians compromise Biblical sexual standards, some have even the left the faith over that choice.

It is good that Clark acknowledges that Conservative Christians have their own areas where they compromise with culture. But it would helpful if he was more specific as to how that occurs. Is Clark acknowledging the sinfulness of Capitalism, American Exceptionalism, and patriotism to name a few conservative sacred cows? Stay tuned to his blog with the hope of finding out.

BTW, polyamory isn't a product of the Sexual Revolution.  Rather, Polyamory started in America in the mid to late 1800s. In addition, anyone who knows the history of the Wonder Woman comic book knows that Polyamory was in existence and promoted prior to the Sexual Revolution along with those who are familiar with the 1933 movie Design For Living.
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Feb 25

To Auguste Meyrat and his blogpost that blasts the Left for how it has criticized Western Civilization and what Conservatives treasure from it. This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative blog.

I found this article way below disappointing. Besides the name calling, there was no effort to deal with opposition against today's conservatives, the harmful effects of Western Civilization, nor the author's hero and chief, Donald Trump. There was not even the mentioning of detailed opposition to what conservatives treasure. Rather, all such opposition is ridiculed and called overly simplistic without mention any specific objections. The whole article is merely an exercise in venting in a way that promotes authoritarianism. The attempts to discredit without mentioning any facts or logic involved shows that the use of reason is not necessary to make one's point. I wonder if the writer could even distinguish liberals, like Sanders and Warren, from those on the left since every opposition to some of what conservatives value is called the left,

The two most important secular influences in society are our democracy and the free market. From the former we learn egalitarianism while from the latter we learn competition and the drive to conquer. Determining which institution has the greatest effect on America can be seen by whether we see more  competition and attempts to conquer in our democracy or we see attempts to be egalitarian in the market. Being egalitarian means we share, competing in order to conquer means we hoard. And what is hoarded in democracy is power to the extent that we no longer desire or see the need to collaborate. And that is what this article reflects from its title to its last sentence.

Certainly there have been overreactions to Western Civilization by some, if not many, non-conservatives. That overreaction can be seen in viewing Western Civilization as having nothing contribute. At the same time, the mirror image of that overreaction is to inadequately respond to the severe abuses and exploitation that has occurred to establish hierarchies that favor Western Civilization, that favor white males. From Imperialism to colonialism to the exploitation and marginalization of non-whites and females, Western Civilization's history is replete with abuses and atrocities. And it is only when we eliminate the hierarchies that serves as a crutch for Western Civilization that we can recognize Western Civilization positive contributions and enable conservatives and non-conservatives to collaborate and share power. For as Jesus taught, we should not measure ourselves by how we treat those who belong to us, but by how we treat those who are different, those who cannot pay us back for whatever good we show, and those who are our enemies.