This is the week everyone brings those Samaritan’s Purse shoe boxes to church to be shipped to children in poor countries. Unfortunately, Franklin Graham seems to have chosen to defend an accused pedophile.
Yesterday Ricky linked an article by David Brooks that explored “covenantal attachments” which are instrumental in binding people together. Brooks said that the young are more in tune with this and they “ sense the social and moral void at the core and that change has to come at the communal, emotional and moral level. They understand that populism is a broad social movement, including but stretching far beyond just policy. To address it, we’re going to need to confront it with another broad social movement. I hope that is true and that the lack that is being felt leads to a real spiritual revival. However, Peter J. Leithart at First Things went further and deeper with the thought on covenants. And in the end, unlike Brooks, he doesn’t shy away from the real issue, but hits it square on.
First, covenant has deep roots in Western political history. American order is laid out in covenantal and quasi-covenantal documents, from Winthrop’s Model of Christian Charity to the U.S. Constitution. Medieval and early modern Europe developed forms of federated empire, and the European Union is a postmodern covenant of nations, albeit one distorted by its adherence to liberalism.
Rooted in the common Scriptures of the Christian churches, covenant also has ecumenical cachet. In Reformed Protestantism, it served as an architectonic principle for reading the Bible, shaped ecclesiology and sacramental theology, and contributed to the development of new forms of political organization. Over his lifetime, Benedict XVI has deployed covenant in a variety of contexts.
Second, covenant polity’s anti-individualism combats the corrosive effects of liberalism. One of the most elaborate covenant political theologies of the early modern period, the Politica of Johannes Althusius, envisions a political order based on consent. Instead of binding together detached individuals, this consent forms a federation of subsidiary societies. Pre-political attachments of family, kin, and local community are not dissolved but affirmed. Althusius’s covenant polity rests on an anthropology of “symbiotes” linked in a myriad of associations that aren’t founded on consent.
Third, covenant polity is polity of mutual obligation. The social bond is, Althusius says, a “tacit or expressed promise to communicate [or share] things, mutual services, aid, counsel.” Althusius assumes a commonsensical anti-egalitarianism: Human beings have different abilities; there are hierarchies of skill and knowledge. If a polity is to function well, we all need the superior gifts of others, as others need ours. Covenant harmonizes democratic consent with recognition of aristocratic excellence.
Politics isn’t reduced to the defense of rights. For Althusius, politics is the art of “associating men for the purpose of establishing, cultivating, and conserving social life,” characterized by mutual communication of goods. In contrast to liberalism, which abjures common ends, covenant directs political and social activity toward the common good……
……..And then, even more foundationally: Is it possible to speak of a covenant polity without acknowledging a covenant Lord who transcends the polity? Who will that Lord be? Fudging that question will put us right back where we started, with a post-liberalism indistinguishable from liberalism. Facing it will expose how thoroughly covenant polity challenges foundational premises of liberalism.
About Roy Moore,
I disposed the Democrats from illegally replacing their Senatorial candidate in NJ back in the early 2000s when he was found to have accepted bribes. We should not do the same. We are not Democrats. They can nominate a crook for President. We don’t.
Trump was distasteful, Hillary was a crook. It has taken until now to see just how crooked she was/is. I have lost any respect for the party that holds her in high esteem. Democrats are icky.
A Short but Tasty History of Pumpkin Pie
An odyssey from colonial staple to political emblem to holiday standby
__________________________
… According to Cindy Ott, author of “Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon,” pumpkin pie became a symbol of the cultural war between North and South. For Northerners, particularly abolitionists, the virtually self-growing pumpkin was the antithesis of the slave-grown plantation crop. Antislavery novelists celebrated pumpkin pie, and the abolitionist Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), who successfully campaigned to establish Thanksgiving, described the dish as “indispensible” for “a good and true Yankee” version of the holiday. In the South, “cartoons and illustrations…associated blacks with pumpkins as a form of derision,” Ms. Ott told the media website Mic in 2015. …
________________________________
…. It may be that the conservatives of the 1990s were simply right about Clinton, that once he failed to resign he really deserved to be impeached.
Yes, the Republicans were too partisan, the Starr Report was too prurient and Clinton’s haters generated various absurd conspiracy theories.
But the Clinton operation was also extraordinarily sordid, in ways that should be thrown into particular relief by the absence of similar scandals in the Obama administration, which had perfervid enemies and circling investigators as well.
The sexual misconduct was the heart of things, but everything connected to Clinton’s priapism was bad: the use of the perks of office to procure women, willing and unwilling; the frequent use of that same power to buy silence and bully victims; and yes, the brazen public lies and perjury. …
I post this article as a small indicator of the difficulty of the job faced by McConnell and Ryan. It is why Ryan had to be begged to take the job. It is like herding cats even in the best of times. Now try herding cats with a rabid yellow-haired donkey daily charging through your “flock”.
Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!
Debra, The GOP elephants (including Bill Kristol and me) know we are on the Titanic and we have already hit the iceberg. The Dems are going to take Congress in 2018 and will probably hold it for the rest of my lifetime. They will then take the White House in 2020. It doesn’t even matter if Trump runs again or if he is impeached and removed. The stink of Trump is on Pence and all Republicans. So I intend to enjoy these last few months of Republican control of Congress supplemented by the daily comedy from Trump.
Ricky, the sex scandals are a politicized distraction. The stink of globalism is what you’re smelling. Everyone likes to think the bad odor comes from someone else, but this stench has been hanging over the country for decades. Many of us have smelt it for years. It has nothing to do with Trump. Whether or not the Dems control congress or not is entirely up to the Republicans. The opportunity for labor-friendly, small business-friendly Conservatives is there. As Henry Olsen said in that interview with Ross Douthat a few days ago: ” It is the $1,000 bill lying on the ground waiting for someone to pick it up. Eventually, someone will.” If Republicans continue to be stiff-necked, deaf, and self-righteous, that opportunity probably will shift to the left of center Dems. That would be a shame—- a completely preventable one.
Last I heard, earlier today, President Trump had had something to say about the accusation against Al Franken, but was silent about those against Roy Moore because he didn’t know who to believe. 😦
The stink of Trump is dishonesty, lying, pride, malice, sexual assault, vindictiveness, willful ignorance, greed, and cowardice among other things.
Globalism (free trade) has literally reduced extreme poverty to its lowest level in human existence. All countries with intelligent leadership understand this and have reaped the benefits. However, America has a permanent underclass (who are now well over 50% of the population) who are unable or unwilling to understand or compete in the global economy. Since we are governed democratically and have universal sufferage, absent a dramatic religious revival, in the future the US will be governed by a combination of Democrats and Trumpists who either are economically illiterate or appeal demogogically to the ignorance and sloth of their supporters. Look closely at Greece. Under the Democrats and Trumpists, the US will become a giant Greece. Heaven help the other countries that have to clean up that mess.
The Dems will win the next two elections because Trump has made an enormous fool of himself and all Republicans and has made the US look idiotic to the entire world. After that there will still be no chance for conservatives. Absent that religious revival (and the return to morality and industriousness it would produce), future Democrats and Trumpist Republicans will simply compete for voters by making ever more expensive promises while blaming the usual suspects: the rich, racism, corporations and globalism.
Right now, I would make Sanders the favorite in 2020, but a younger commie may emerge.
Debra, The sex scandals are more than a distraction. The Dems are going to investigate all those sexual assault allegations against Trump that came out after his obscene confession. They are going to use those charges In their effort to impeach him after they take control of Congress. Williamson was the first to figure out their plan, and Maureen Dowd referenced it in her column today.
Ricky, I am told that Sanders and Warren are out of favor with the left because they backed Hillary, and no quarter will be given by that crowd. Jim Webb might be more acceptable, even though he’s not as far left as some like.
We have many apparently capable Republicans. Unfortunately they’re mostly continuing to drink the ‘free trade’ kool aid you like to drink. And meanwhile, China is indeed enjoying the wealth and industry we’ve transferred there at our own expense. You’ve already posted today about how they’re enjoying it. When will you guys figure out that there is no such thing as ‘free trade’ with a Communist country. We’re just subsidizing their Communism, and it will come back to bite us in time.
I suppose the whole range of sex scandals must now run through the news cycles until it’s exhausted itself—or more likely exhausted all of us with the tawdry repetition of nasty innuendo and he said/she said gossip. And in the end what will have been accomplished? A few bloody noses and cut lips, and probably a black eye or two for Christian organizations who unwisely add fuel to the fire by expressing too much outrage or support for anyone involved in this political BBQ.
More interestingly, once again our news cycles demonstrate how well sex sells. I shows how easily people are distracted from things that are harder to understand (like taxes and trade policies and healthcare reform) to focus on the shiny objects that titillate and take no great feat of understanding to comprehend. Every dog understands sex. But what can’t be changed must be endured. So we will ride the cycle out during our holiday season.
If there is actionable intelligence, or if government money has been used to make settlements or cover up wrong-doing, let it be made known. Bring action and drain the swamp. Let there be prosecutions if they are warranted. Otherwise we’re giving ourselves a free pass to wallow in feces, which is both unproductive and unbecoming. :–/
Sanders and Warren are commies, so the Dems still love them. They backed Hillary like the Republican candidates backed Trump … because they had to in order to avoid angering party regulars. Webb is to the right of Trump. I like him. He has written a pro-Confederate book. He is going nowhere in the Democratic Party. You saw how he did last time.
Read Friedman. If China is really selling to us below cost, they are subsidizing us. Do Dems and Trumpers really want to pay more for the stuff they buy at Walmart? I know I don’t.
On the sex stuff, I agree with you. However, as Williamson said, the Dems are going to use it against Trump because Americans aren’t smart enough to understand collusion with a foreign power or obstruction of justice. As usual, Trump brought it all on himself, first with his idiotic confession, then with his stupid Tweet which implied that Franken had done the exact vile act which Trump bragged about.
Kizzie, Trump is s going to use whatever mud is at hand to slime his opponent. And Franken’s mud is already floating around out there. Since Moore is his ally, Trump may not have or care to have credible knowledge of his activities 30 years ago. The Tweets are regretable as they only remind others that Trump’s past is not squeaky clean in that regard.
Debra, The reason I picked Sanders is that I heard him on one of the talk shows today and he did well. When he spoke about economic issues, he essentially made the same complaints against the Republicans, business, free trade and “globalism” that I hear from you and AJ. He really sounded like Trump except that he was well-informed and could speak English.
I never again saw a pitcher as dominating as Sandy Koufax in his prime. I never again saw the combination of power and speed that I saw in a young Earl Campbell. I will never again see a public official as moronic and self-destructive as Donald Trump.
The idiot needs Flake’s vote. He needs Corker’s vote. Poor Ryan and McConnell need to ask Queen Elizabeth if they can lock the Dumbbell-in-Chief in the Tower of London (without his phone) until after the final vote on the tax bill.
Wandering Views 
As Kevin D. Williamson and Ben Shapiro predicted, Trump has brought the focus of the growing sexual assault scandals right back to himself.
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This is the week everyone brings those Samaritan’s Purse shoe boxes to church to be shipped to children in poor countries. Unfortunately, Franklin Graham seems to have chosen to defend an accused pedophile.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/franklin-graham-people-denouncing-roy-moore-are-guilty-of-doing-much-worse/article/2641093
His tweet produced a response from many who asked: What is “much worse” than pedophilia?
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Dreher was very tough yesterday, noting that Republicans more than Democrats are eager to believe lies.
As always he is most concerned for the young people who are fleeing the church as their pastors and parents defend lies, dishonesty and idiocy.
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Yesterday Ricky linked an article by David Brooks that explored “covenantal attachments” which are instrumental in binding people together. Brooks said that the young are more in tune with this and they “ sense the social and moral void at the core and that change has to come at the communal, emotional and moral level. They understand that populism is a broad social movement, including but stretching far beyond just policy. To address it, we’re going to need to confront it with another broad social movement. I hope that is true and that the lack that is being felt leads to a real spiritual revival. However, Peter J. Leithart at First Things went further and deeper with the thought on covenants. And in the end, unlike Brooks, he doesn’t shy away from the real issue, but hits it square on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rejoice! There are still a few teachers left out there:
http://newbostonpost.com/2017/11/09/undoing-the-dis-education-of-millennials/#undefined.gbpl
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That sounds like an excellent foundation for a productive class. :–)
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About Roy Moore,
I disposed the Democrats from illegally replacing their Senatorial candidate in NJ back in the early 2000s when he was found to have accepted bribes. We should not do the same. We are not Democrats. They can nominate a crook for President. We don’t.
Trump was distasteful, Hillary was a crook. It has taken until now to see just how crooked she was/is. I have lost any respect for the party that holds her in high esteem. Democrats are icky.
LikeLike
The political history of pumpkin pie:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pumpkin-pie-confidential-1510675301
A Short but Tasty History of Pumpkin Pie
An odyssey from colonial staple to political emblem to holiday standby
__________________________
… According to Cindy Ott, author of “Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon,” pumpkin pie became a symbol of the cultural war between North and South. For Northerners, particularly abolitionists, the virtually self-growing pumpkin was the antithesis of the slave-grown plantation crop. Antislavery novelists celebrated pumpkin pie, and the abolitionist Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), who successfully campaigned to establish Thanksgiving, described the dish as “indispensible” for “a good and true Yankee” version of the holiday. In the South, “cartoons and illustrations…associated blacks with pumpkins as a form of derision,” Ms. Ott told the media website Mic in 2015. …
________________________________
LikeLiked by 2 people
Please pass the chocolate pie.
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A real Catholic version of the Benedict Option.
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…. It may be that the conservatives of the 1990s were simply right about Clinton, that once he failed to resign he really deserved to be impeached.
Yes, the Republicans were too partisan, the Starr Report was too prurient and Clinton’s haters generated various absurd conspiracy theories.
But the Clinton operation was also extraordinarily sordid, in ways that should be thrown into particular relief by the absence of similar scandals in the Obama administration, which had perfervid enemies and circling investigators as well.
The sexual misconduct was the heart of things, but everything connected to Clinton’s priapism was bad: the use of the perks of office to procure women, willing and unwilling; the frequent use of that same power to buy silence and bully victims; and yes, the brazen public lies and perjury. …
LikeLiked by 2 people
I post this article as a small indicator of the difficulty of the job faced by McConnell and Ryan. It is why Ryan had to be begged to take the job. It is like herding cats even in the best of times. Now try herding cats with a rabid yellow-haired donkey daily charging through your “flock”.
LikeLike
Christianity Today with an article about Christian support for Trump.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/november/trump-stephen-mansfield-why-so-many-conservative-christians.html?start=3
LikeLiked by 1 person
So maybe China is not destined to be the economic leader of the world. Trump has made mistakes, but nothing as likely to bring down judgment as this.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/november/china-christians-jesus-communist-president-xi-jinping-yugan.html
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There was this:
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Then there was this:
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Then this:
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Have the GOP elephants say thanks…better yet, start with Bill Kristol. :–)
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Debra, The GOP elephants (including Bill Kristol and me) know we are on the Titanic and we have already hit the iceberg. The Dems are going to take Congress in 2018 and will probably hold it for the rest of my lifetime. They will then take the White House in 2020. It doesn’t even matter if Trump runs again or if he is impeached and removed. The stink of Trump is on Pence and all Republicans. So I intend to enjoy these last few months of Republican control of Congress supplemented by the daily comedy from Trump.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ricky, the sex scandals are a politicized distraction. The stink of globalism is what you’re smelling. Everyone likes to think the bad odor comes from someone else, but this stench has been hanging over the country for decades. Many of us have smelt it for years. It has nothing to do with Trump. Whether or not the Dems control congress or not is entirely up to the Republicans. The opportunity for labor-friendly, small business-friendly Conservatives is there. As Henry Olsen said in that interview with Ross Douthat a few days ago: ” It is the $1,000 bill lying on the ground waiting for someone to pick it up. Eventually, someone will.” If Republicans continue to be stiff-necked, deaf, and self-righteous, that opportunity probably will shift to the left of center Dems. That would be a shame—- a completely preventable one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Last I heard, earlier today, President Trump had had something to say about the accusation against Al Franken, but was silent about those against Roy Moore because he didn’t know who to believe. 😦
LikeLiked by 2 people
The stink of Trump is dishonesty, lying, pride, malice, sexual assault, vindictiveness, willful ignorance, greed, and cowardice among other things.
Globalism (free trade) has literally reduced extreme poverty to its lowest level in human existence. All countries with intelligent leadership understand this and have reaped the benefits. However, America has a permanent underclass (who are now well over 50% of the population) who are unable or unwilling to understand or compete in the global economy. Since we are governed democratically and have universal sufferage, absent a dramatic religious revival, in the future the US will be governed by a combination of Democrats and Trumpists who either are economically illiterate or appeal demogogically to the ignorance and sloth of their supporters. Look closely at Greece. Under the Democrats and Trumpists, the US will become a giant Greece. Heaven help the other countries that have to clean up that mess.
The Dems will win the next two elections because Trump has made an enormous fool of himself and all Republicans and has made the US look idiotic to the entire world. After that there will still be no chance for conservatives. Absent that religious revival (and the return to morality and industriousness it would produce), future Democrats and Trumpist Republicans will simply compete for voters by making ever more expensive promises while blaming the usual suspects: the rich, racism, corporations and globalism.
Right now, I would make Sanders the favorite in 2020, but a younger commie may emerge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Debra, The sex scandals are more than a distraction. The Dems are going to investigate all those sexual assault allegations against Trump that came out after his obscene confession. They are going to use those charges In their effort to impeach him after they take control of Congress. Williamson was the first to figure out their plan, and Maureen Dowd referenced it in her column today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ricky, I am told that Sanders and Warren are out of favor with the left because they backed Hillary, and no quarter will be given by that crowd. Jim Webb might be more acceptable, even though he’s not as far left as some like.
We have many apparently capable Republicans. Unfortunately they’re mostly continuing to drink the ‘free trade’ kool aid you like to drink. And meanwhile, China is indeed enjoying the wealth and industry we’ve transferred there at our own expense. You’ve already posted today about how they’re enjoying it. When will you guys figure out that there is no such thing as ‘free trade’ with a Communist country. We’re just subsidizing their Communism, and it will come back to bite us in time.
LikeLike
I suppose the whole range of sex scandals must now run through the news cycles until it’s exhausted itself—or more likely exhausted all of us with the tawdry repetition of nasty innuendo and he said/she said gossip. And in the end what will have been accomplished? A few bloody noses and cut lips, and probably a black eye or two for Christian organizations who unwisely add fuel to the fire by expressing too much outrage or support for anyone involved in this political BBQ.
More interestingly, once again our news cycles demonstrate how well sex sells. I shows how easily people are distracted from things that are harder to understand (like taxes and trade policies and healthcare reform) to focus on the shiny objects that titillate and take no great feat of understanding to comprehend. Every dog understands sex. But what can’t be changed must be endured. So we will ride the cycle out during our holiday season.
If there is actionable intelligence, or if government money has been used to make settlements or cover up wrong-doing, let it be made known. Bring action and drain the swamp. Let there be prosecutions if they are warranted. Otherwise we’re giving ourselves a free pass to wallow in feces, which is both unproductive and unbecoming. :–/
LikeLike
Sanders and Warren are commies, so the Dems still love them. They backed Hillary like the Republican candidates backed Trump … because they had to in order to avoid angering party regulars. Webb is to the right of Trump. I like him. He has written a pro-Confederate book. He is going nowhere in the Democratic Party. You saw how he did last time.
Read Friedman. If China is really selling to us below cost, they are subsidizing us. Do Dems and Trumpers really want to pay more for the stuff they buy at Walmart? I know I don’t.
On the sex stuff, I agree with you. However, as Williamson said, the Dems are going to use it against Trump because Americans aren’t smart enough to understand collusion with a foreign power or obstruction of justice. As usual, Trump brought it all on himself, first with his idiotic confession, then with his stupid Tweet which implied that Franken had done the exact vile act which Trump bragged about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kizzie, Trump is s going to use whatever mud is at hand to slime his opponent. And Franken’s mud is already floating around out there. Since Moore is his ally, Trump may not have or care to have credible knowledge of his activities 30 years ago. The Tweets are regretable as they only remind others that Trump’s past is not squeaky clean in that regard.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Debra, The reason I picked Sanders is that I heard him on one of the talk shows today and he did well. When he spoke about economic issues, he essentially made the same complaints against the Republicans, business, free trade and “globalism” that I hear from you and AJ. He really sounded like Trump except that he was well-informed and could speak English.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never again saw a pitcher as dominating as Sandy Koufax in his prime. I never again saw the combination of power and speed that I saw in a young Earl Campbell. I will never again see a public official as moronic and self-destructive as Donald Trump.
The idiot needs Flake’s vote. He needs Corker’s vote. Poor Ryan and McConnell need to ask Queen Elizabeth if they can lock the Dumbbell-in-Chief in the Tower of London (without his phone) until after the final vote on the tax bill.
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Williamson with a rare compliment and a link to a good little statement from Sasse:
https://twitter.com/kevinnr/status/932376704227659776
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CNN reporting that Charles Manson has died. That’s big news in our area.
LikeLiked by 1 person