Conservatives

Christians, It’s Later Than You Think, Pray Without Ceasing

Hard Times Create Strong Men by James George Jatras –
Simply being what used to be considered normal and leading a productive life is becoming the most revolutionary act one can perform. With that in mind, find the strength to be revolutionaries indeed!

I accepted the invitation to speak with you today only with great trepidation. This was for at least three reasons.

The first is that, both for self-protection in an increasingly unfree country and my growing sense that nothing I or anyone else can say will make much difference in averting the horrors I believe are coming our way, I had ceased my public writing and speaking life, such as it was. I reluctantly have made an exception to that less than momentous recusal but plan to resume it at the end of today.

Secondly, I was loath to contaminate the naturally ebullient optimism of youth with my crotchety Boomer pessimism. At your age you should feel that the world is, if not quite your oyster, at least pregnant with possibilities. How do I tell you that, in the layman’s terms, your lives will probably suck? At least in the near future. But there is hope. I will return to that.

Thirdly, I thought it would be derelict of me not to provide you with some sage, old graybeard advice of a practical nature. If I were in your shoes today, what would I do, specifically, to try to make a positive contribution to the world around me? [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Give Me Liberty, Not Marxism – America and Freedom Are Worth Defending

Give Me Liberty, Not Marxism – America and Freedom Are Worth Defendingby Robert Maginnis –
God save America and grant wisdom to our present-day Patrick Henrys, Thomas Jeffersons and John Adams’, where-ever they may be!

America and her freedoms are worth defending, but both are rapidly approaching a critical tipping point. On November 3rd, Americans go to the polls to vote for our future and, subject to the election’s outcome, we must be ready to aggressively push against those who would trash this great nation should the radical Democrat Party elite take over the White House and Senate and begin to push an anti-constitutional agenda.

President Donald Trump may not be a perfect candidate but his almost four-year policy record is quite impressive. President Trump appointed more than 190 mostly strict constitutional constructionists to our federal courts; [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Anarchy Swallows Up Social Order Once Government Rejects Biblical Values

Anarchy Swallows Up Social Order Once Government Rejects Biblical Valuesby E. Jeffrey Ludwig –
Despite increased government controls of everyday life in education, policing and citizen surveillance and dictation of many aspects of everyday living, we do not observe increasing order. We observe increasing social anarchy.

To use a term from Greek philosophy, the telos (purpose) of government has been misplaced. Instead of designing laws and methods to enhance the dignity and freedom of the individuals living in our society, the government has been designing laws and projects that are either (1) guided exclusively or primarily by utilitarian goals of the greatest good for the greatest number, or (2) by socialistic goals that government expansion is the greatest good in itself, or (3) by identity politics where the good of identity collectives is more important than the good of individuals.

But the answer is not more government programs, more government authority, or more emphasis on collective identity rather than individual identity. Rather, it is a government with a correct understanding of its purpose that is needed. The true conservatives have it right. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

The Bigotry of the Progressive Present

Bigotry of the Progressive Presentby Joseph Pearce –
These analogies all point to the uncomfortable fact that “progressivism” is as arrogant and as ignorant as the worst sort of redneck racism.

We live in very mean-spirited times. In spite of all the hypocritical cant about “love” and “tolerance” it can be shown that there is little real difference between the superciliousness of “progressivist” snobbery and the most pernicious forms of racism. If, for example, we were to visit a village in a remote corner of Africa and were to witness children playing with crudely crafted toys and presumed from our observations that these Africans must be inferior to Americans because American children have iPods and smart-phones we would rightly be accused of racism. Yet this is exactly what “progressivists” do when observing cultures separated by time instead of space. The past is deemed to be inferior and can be treated with scorn or, which is perhaps worse, with patronising condescension.

Let’s employ another provocative analogy. If Plato were to walk into a room of impeccably progressive moderns, he would no doubt become the cause of a good deal of humour on account of his quaint “ethnic” clothing. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

When Knights Surrender Their Sword – The Problem of Effeminate Men

When Knights Surrender Their Sword - The Problem of Effeminate Menby Fr. Richard Heilman –
Effeminate men abdicate their divinely-directed duties to sacrifice themselves for the greater good: the well-being of women, the survival of their nation, the protection of Truth.

I haven’t gone to the movies in years. Mostly because movies were almost always hyper-sexualized and/or they contained ridiculously gory violence. Also, along with television shows, I knew, very early on, that Hollywood was using their tools to “normalize” bad behavior. I’ve used this quote by Jeffrey Kuhner many times, and I believe it is apropos here, as well …

In 2011, Jeffrey Kuhner of the Washington Post lamented, “For the past 50 years, every major institution has been captured by the radical secular left. The media, Hollywood, TV, universities, public schools, theater, the arts, literature — they relentlessly promote the false gods of sexual hedonism and radical individualism. Conservatives have ceded the culture to the enemy. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Political Correctness, Progressivism, and Present Day Bolsheviks

Political Correctness, Progressivism, and Present Day BolsheviksExcerpts from multiple posts by Fr. Johannes Jacobse in the comments section of “It’s a Brand New Age” blog post. Some edits made to transform multiple individual comments by Fr. Jacobse into a cohesive stand-alone article. Special care was taken to preserve the original meaning of the author.

– Fr. Johannes Jacobse
Political correctness is the cultic aspect of Liberalism and Progressivism mostly because it attempts to control thought through language. It’s Orwell, but on a deeper level Dostoevsky and even Nietzsche. The markers are easy to spot especially the cruder terms — racist, sexist, homophobe, Islamophobe, white privilege — anything to shut down discussion and censure thought. Language is used promiscuously, laced with moral opprobrium and other self-justifying blather. It’s intimidation, like the Brownshirts or Bolsheviks.

The corruption of language is both a cause and effect of the moral inversion [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

The Goal of Classical Education is Truth

The Goal of Classical Education is Truthby Tom Jay –
A truly classical and Christian education must link the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty to the One Who is truth, goodness, and beauty.

“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” Aristotle wrote this in the fourth century B.C. in a text called On the Heavens. Sixteen hundred years later Thomas Aquinas began his treatise On Being and Essence by paraphrasing Aristotle: “Because a small error in the beginning grows enormous at the end.…” The application of this wisdom to the moral life might be rather obvious. Tell a lie once, however small, and you will probably end up telling more. While it’s easy to see, in the realms of space or morality, how a slight error can lead to enormous complications later, these maxims are not only meaningful for astrophysicists and theologians. Teachers and school administrators would do well to reflect on these words as well. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

How to Evangelize Without Saying a Word

How to Evangelize Without Saying a Word by Jared M. Silvey –
The Christian message is made more credible and powerful when integrated within the flow of our everyday actions. It is one thing to say something; it is another thing to do it.

St. Francis of Assisi is said to have once instructed his followers to “preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” Underlying this statement is the idea that the Christian message is made more credible and powerful when integrated within the flow of our everyday actions. It is one thing to say something; it is another thing to do it. A man may say that he loves his wife, but in the end it is what he does and is willing to go through for her that gives credence to his words.

Bishops, priests, and deacons are ordained with the authority to announce the Gospel to humanity. The laity are also called to proclaim Christ by their words, but they are also in a unique position to witness to Christ by their everyday actions. [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Nashville Statement Affirms Traditional Christian Principles on Marriage and Sexuality

Nashville Statement: Affirming Traditional Christian Principles on Marriage and Sexuality Here’s a worthy, true, and clear statement that all Orthodox Churches and hierarchs in America should support.

A coalition of conservative evangelical leaders across America issued a public declaration titled the Nashville Statement that affirms universal and traditional Christian principles on marriage and human sexuality. It is a response to an increasingly post-Christian, Western culture where many homosexual advocacy groups aggressively attack and purposely distort the moral teaching of Christianity.

“The spirit of our age does not delight in God’s good design of male and female. Consequently, confusion reigns over some of the most basic questions of our humanity. … The aim of The Nashville Statement is to shine a light into the darkness — to declare the goodness of God’s design in our sexuality and in creating us as male and female.” ~ Denny Burk (President, Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood) [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Devil’s Philosophy in Lawless and Wicked Age: ‘Do as You Please’

Devils Philosophy in Lawless and Wicked Ageby Michael W. Chapman –
Our children are growing up in a “lawless and wicked age,” infused with the “philosophy of the Devil, who says, ‘Do as you please.’

World renowned evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, the founder and chairman of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said that our children are growing up in a “lawless and wicked age,” infused with the “philosophy of the Devil, who says, ‘Do as you please.’”

Further, rearing children in this culture is difficult because “we have taken God out of our educational systems and thought we could get away with it,” said Rev. Graham. “We have sown the wind, and we are now reaping the whirlwind. We have laughed at God, religion and the Bible.” [Read more…]

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail