Blog & Mablog

Just a few short days ago, Dinesh D’Souza decided to start talking trash about Calvinism online, and—let us be frank—that created something of a set-to. The imbroglio consisted of two parts. One part had to do with the standard doctrinal questions which naturally arise whenever these questions come up. “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?”. How can God be sovereign and at the same time man be free and responsible? I will just note in passing that this standard objection to Calvinism shows up in the New Testament as a standard objection to Pauline theology. Somebody should explain that. Just saying.

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Last week Eric Erickson published an article that claimed to have connected a lot of dots on what has come to be called the Woke Right. That article is here. He traced a lot of our woes back to Charles Haywood, a big donor on the hard right, and formulator of the “no enemies to the right” approach, and which Erickson claimed has led to lots of bad stuff.

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One of the intellectual problems that conservative Christians have is that they have allowed evolutionary assumptions to seep into their understanding of human history downstream from the question of our origins. They deny the theory of evolution proper, as well they ought, considering it to be, in the words of Malcolm Muggeridge, “one of the great jokes of history.” This is fine and good, as we all need a good laugh from time to time. But the discussions and debates about evolution all tend to center on the early chapters of Genesis, intelligent design, and arguments about how the Grand Canyon formed.

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Last week we taped an episode of Man Rampant for our upcoming season, and the interview was with Larry Sanger, the man who initially built out Wikipedia. He has done quite a number of other things since those early years, some of which activities have recently gotten him banned as an editor at Wikipedia. One of his recent projects is called WikiCritic, and by the time our Man Rampant episode airs, his site should be up and running. I will let you know.

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In Doug's continued dialogue with Ehud, Wilson talks about 'Big Fat Sinners, All of Them'... In my last letter, I addressed (and answered) the belief that some Christians have had that consigns Jews to the status of “Christ-killers.” That is a very specific issue, and one relatively easy to address from Scripture with texts that are very much on the nose. What I want to address now is downstream from that. What is the biblical response to those Jews who have hardened in their unbelief because of the treatment they have received from professing Christians? And more to the point, why should you refuse to participate in that hardening?

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I have to begin by saying that I like Neil Gorsuch. I like the fact that he is on the Court. Despite a few unfortunate votes, his presence there is pretty reliable and steady. He voted to strike down Roe, and so he has won my friendship forever.

That said—and let us frank and honest here—that statement above is about as defensible as the infamous response of Ketanji Brown Jackson, which she made that time when the good senators decided for some reason to test her biology chops.

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As I write these words, the trial of Lindsay Clancy in Massachusetts is wrapping up. She killed her three kids a few years ago, and the trial is over whether she did so in the grip of postpartum psychosis, and so not guilty by reason of insanity, or whether she was responsible for three counts of criminal murder. If the former, she will go into a mental institution, and if the latter, she will go to prison.

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I first read Eric Hoffer’s book The True Believer in 1984, over forty years ago now. I had also read Orwell’s 1984 in that same year because I thought it was an appropriate time to get around to it, and you could kind of see where things were going by that point.

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Nancy Mace has had an interesting and somewhat conflicted career. For just one example, she was the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, and during her congressional stint she was an active voice in opposing the use of women’s bathrooms there by trans men. In other words, she successfully invaded a male-only space, and then fought hard to preserve a female-only space.

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Doug continues his series of his letters to Tyler... When you showed no signs of changing your mind for week two, the tone changed completely. After a few badgering sessions, she seduced you. A couple days later, there was some mild badgering, and then she seduced you again. And she asked you to come back to your regular church, but you went off to a different church again. Do I have it basically right?

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