November 2009
3 posts
Uganda proposes death penalty for HIV positive... →
This is why it is crucial for Christians to have sound interpretation when it comes to the Old Testament. This is why Christians need to think about how they relate to government and society. There are groups in the US that would love for the government to punish gays in this way.
Does government have the right to declare specific actions “clean” or “unclean” or to...
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Political Consensus
Joseph Sunde: We conservatives are too skeptical about power. We should realize its primary use is to persuade (aka force) those who disagree!
Me: sadly for many "conservatives" this is not a satirical statement. they don't seem to realize that only good ideas (ie, wisdom) should be conserved (held on to).
force, by contrast, is usually a bad idea. this holds true even when force is initiated for "good" or "noble" purposes.
Joseph Sunde: Agreed. It's ironic because it's the same human nature that conservatism seeks to contain. Burkean conservatism tends to see man not only as imperfect but as unperfectable. Even from a Christian perspective, with something as empowering as grace, sin remains a force in the world.
The problem of conservatism, and even more so for libertarianism, is that despite its best efforts to objectively construct a system where force is supremely minimized, there will always be the face-plater nominee who is, well, human.
Where liberals view "evil" (or poverty, or greed, or death, etc.) as something that can be completely eradicated, they also see "good" as something that can be completely instituted. Neither case is true or possible, because of human nature.... Read More
The solution, of course, is to build the system that maximizes the individual's power over himself and minimizes the institution's power over (or FOR) his brother.
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The “Glory Cloud” and Its Importance as a Covenant...
(This is a paper that I recently submitted for the Old Testament survey class I am taking as part of LDI)
The “glory of the LORD” present in the wilderness narratives (Exodus through Deuteronomy) is a manifestation of Yahweh’s divine guidance and punishment. Yahweh uses his fiery cloud of glory to reveal himself to his covenant people in the desert. When the wandering Israelites...