The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts.
–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (p. 33)
As a follow-up to my last post on democracy in the Middle East, I was listening to the radio the other night and caught a snippet of an interview with some foreign-policy guru who noted that, if we are to see democracies develop in Muslim countries, they will have to flow directly out of Islam. His reasoning was simple: “Muslims just aren’t going to convert to secularism.”
And thank goodness. Imagine if Elijah had demanded that the false prophets in his day stop worshiping Baal and get busy bowing to Marduk. The situation in Israel might have been different, but it would not have been improved. Exchanging one form of idolatry for another is only a solution if you’re the one selling the wood and stones. Rebellion against the living God and his Anointed Son is rebellion, whether you wear a turban and read the Hadith, or you burn your bra and read Cosmo.
I’m a simple man, and the implications of this seem simple to me: If we really want to see responsible, representative government in the Middle East, the kind that preserves liberty and opposes oppression, then the task of American foreign policy is straightforward: Send Christian missionaries. Establish gospel outposts. Disciple the nations. When the gospel has penetrated the society sufficiently, responsible and limited government will flow like water from the rock. Heck, we won’t even have to strike it with a rod.
In a previous post, I mentioned that America was not founded as a democracy, but as a republic. Here’s a short little video describing the difference:
I wonder if any enterprising INSIGHT student (or anyone else) might want to take a stab at the shortcomings of this presentation. Assume that the historical data is accurate, but that there are some major deficiencies in the perspective of the video.
HT: Jonah Goldberg
But the new rebel is a skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it.
–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (p. 33)
Let’s talk about the Middle East for just a moment. One of the stated goals of the Bush Administration for the past few years in the Middle East is the promotion of American-style democracy. This is seen most clearly in Iraq, where purple-fingers marked the first democratic elections in that country since Saddam took power. At the time, those purple-fingers were seen as a sign of progress and a signal that we were succeeding in spreading liberal democracy in a Muslim country.
Two of the reasons (among many) that this project is doomed to fail in the Middle East are a) the United States was originally conceived as a republic and not a democracy, and b) as my grandfather says, “There are no Thomas Jefferson’s over there.” Now, obviously I think Jefferson got some fairly significant things wrong (taking scissors to your Bible is never a good idea). But caveats aside, the point remains.
“But surely you don’t mean to suggest that Washingtons, Jeffersons, Madisons, and Adams are required in order to have a successful democratic government!”
This is what I’m suggesting, and more. I want to suggest that the Founders of this country, in establishing what has proven to be a fairly successful form of representative government, were standing on the shoulders of those who came before them. And it just so happens that those who came before them were Puritans who were up to their eyeballs in the gospel (see Edwards, Jonathan).
The fact that the Middle East doesn’t have a (recent) Christian history is one of the main reasons that any democracies established over there will simply be short-term transitions to totalitarian states. You can’t simply plant the fruit of representative democracy in the soil of totalitarian religion and get anything other than totalitarian democracy, that is, democratically-elected tyrants. Just look at the Palestinians. During their first elections in 2006, they chose Hamas to rule.
Free and open societies, complete with free markets and responsible and limited government, don’t just appear out of nowhere. They come from somewhere. They are the fruit of something. And until the seeds of that something are sown, we’re just farmers sowing seedless oranges wondering why nothing ever grows around here.
The moment you step in the world of facts, you step into a world of limits. You can free things from alien or accidental laws, but not from the laws of their own nature. You may, if you like, free a tiger from his bars; but do not free him from his stripes. Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump: you may be freeing him from being a camel. Do not go about as a demagogue, encouraging triangles to break out of the prison of their three sides. If a triangle breaks out of its three sides, its life comes to a lamentable end.
–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (p. 32)
But what we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a ma that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert–himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt–the Divine Reason…We are on the road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.
–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (pp.23-24)
The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone made because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone.
–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (p. 22)
This one could probably be listed in both Unintended Consequences and Religion of the State because it demonstrates the unintended, but easily foreseeable, results of the State attempting, yet again, to be God.
From an article in Sunday’s Strib:
Federal legislation passed in response to recalls of millions of toys over the past two years could have the unintended consequence of imposing unaffordable costs on the independent, cottage-industry toymakers Marshall buys from. Already struggling through a punishing recession, those toymakers may be hard-pressed to manage the new costs.
Story in a nutshell: A few children die from ingesting toys made of lead. Government moves quickly to address the problem by passing a law that places a tremendous financial burden on toymakers and sellers. Unintended Result: Small toymakers will be unable to stay afloat. What’s more, used toy stores and consignment shops will be in a world of hurt because they won’t be able to get all of their products tested. Finding used toys and clothing for children at affordable prices just got a lot harder.
Here’s a quotation from the champion of the new law, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D, MN):
Klobuchar said she would work with the companies through the agency and, if necessary, through Congress. But, she noted, “We had a child die from swallowing a charm that was made 99 percent of lead. The laws could not stay as they were.”
This, again, is the State attempting to control things with god-like power. “Henceforth, by decree of the U.S. Government, bad things shall not happen. Ever.”
Now, lest anyone think that I am making light of a significant tragedy (the death of a child), let me just say this: my mockery of the State’s approach to solving this problem stems from a concern for the genuine welfare of real people. The State, with one swoop of the pen, may have just ruined the livelihoods of numerous small-business owners (you know, the kind with children), and made it far more difficult for lower-income folks (who shop at second-hand stores) to get affordable clothing and toys for their kids. All so that politicians can look like they’re doing something important.
When you have a hammer, every problem is a nail. When you’re a legislator, every solution is a new law. But we live in fallen world, and no matter how many laws Senator Klobuchar manages to pass, bad things will still happen. Children will continue to put all kinds of things in their mouths. No federal fiat will change that (though I can imagine that Senator Klobuchar might try). But in order to recognize the limitations of State power, we must first repent of our misplaced faith in the Nanny-State and place all of our hope in the One who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth.
I consider myself to be married to one of the most insightful and wise people on the planet. (She also happens to be a great writer, and you can read her over at her blog). The other day she made a comment that bears wider dissemination.
We were discussing a number of marriages that we know of that are not going well at the moment. Some are in serious brokenness, but moving in the right direction. Others are drifting farther and farther apart. In a couple of them, one of the spouses is running headlong away from the other (and from the Lord). Suffice it to say that there is a desperate need for God’s powerful, transforming, and healing grace in all of them.
The observation that my wife made was that in all of these marriages, the huge problems that have torn these covenants asunder began during the dating and engagement phase of the relationships. Seeds were sown there that are now reaping their bitter fruit.
This should not surprise us; as Paul says, “God is not mocked; for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). But we continue to be surprised so the truth bears repeating. So if you are in a dating or courtship relationship, or you’re engaged, or, for that matter, if you’re married, remember: you will reap what you sow. Sow anger, malice, and manipulation and it will not be hard to predict what your harvest will be like. Sow sexual compromise, failed leadership, and lack of integrity and you will find them blossoming up again as soon as the honeymoon ends.
Likewise, if you sow purity, grace, and kindness, you will reap some wonderful fruit. Sow goodness and mercy and they will grow up, bloom, and follow you all the days of your life. This is how God designed the world, and this is his normal way of sustaining it still.
For many of us, this reality hurts to hear. We see what we’ve sown in the past and cringe when we think of the coming harvest. But, lest we forget, we worship a God of unfathomable grace who loves to bring fruitful harvests from barren fields. We sow tears and reap joy. We sow thorns and thistles and awake to find that we are miraculously, incredibly, graciously reaping figs and berries.
So if you’ve sown poorly in your relationship, take heart. God is able to make all grace abound to you. And it’s never to late to start sowing the seed of the Spirit.
As I noted in the category intro, the whole point of this topic is to talk about unintended consequences. I underscore the point again because I know myself fairly well, and I don’t think I’m that different from everyone else. And when I inadvertently cause something bad to happen, my initial response is, “But I didn’t mean to,” as though my grand intentions made everything okay. Certainly, things would be worse if I had done the bad thing intentionally. But often the consequences are what they are, regardless of intent. And the first step to making sure that it doesn’t happen again is to recognize what went wrong the first time.
So with that as prologue, let me raise my hand and ask a question about something that is growing more and more popular in many churches around the country: Video Announcements. While it may not seem like a big deal, I’ve begun to wonder if the effect of video announcements on churches may be bigger than we think. In this post, I’ll simply clarify what I’m talking about and give four reasons a church might give for employing them (feel free to give additional reasons in the comments).
All churches, but particularly larger ones, struggle with how to communicate key information to their congregations. Most churches give some kind of announcements during the Sunday morning services, either at the beginning or at the end. Obviously, as the church gets larger, the number of announcements multiplies, and more and more time is consumed during the service. The problem is exacerbated if you have a long-winded or meandering announcer.
To address this problem, some churches record their announcements ahead of time and show them on a big screen on Sundays. Here are some possible reasons for doing this:
1. Consistency – If you have multiple services, video announcements ensure that each service receives the same information.
2. Brevity – By recording ahead of time, announcements can be focused and to the point, allowing churches to pack more announcements in while not taking too much time from the service.
3. Memorability – Recording ahead of time allows for the creative juices to flow. Announcements cease to be a boring list and can become a very memorable and entertaining part of the service.
4. Culture – We live in a visual culture. People are used to getting their information from a video screen (television or computer). Thus, video announcements simply accommodate to what people are used to. It’s just another way of meeting people where they are.
In a future post, I’ll respond to some of the pitfalls that accompany the use of video to make announcements. And, as always, I’d love for this to be a dialogue. So feel free to comment.
Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin–a fact as practical as potatoes. Whether or no man could be washed in miraculous waters, there was no doubt at any rate that he wanted washing. But certain religious leaders in London, not mere materialists, have begun in our day not to deny the highly disputable water, but to deny the indisputable dirt.
–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (page 7)
The title of this post by the Washington Post’s Chris Cilizza caught my eye: Obama Bets Big on Big Government. In case you were wondering, Obama seems to think that the cure for the current economic crisis is to increase the size and scope of government power.
“Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy — where a lack of spending leads to lost jobs which leads to even less spending,” said Obama during his economic address at George Mason University — a stunning rejection of then President Bill Clinton’s 1996 declaration in his State of the Union address that “the era of big government is over.”
Obama acknowledges that some may be skeptical of the federal government’s ability to jump start the economy, what with all the money that they are currently wasting using. But he still wants to move forward with a $1 trillion dollar plan to stimulate the economy. What I found especially interesting was this paragraph by Cilizza:
Caveats aside, it’s clear that Obama and his political team believe that the less-government-is-best mantra that, more than any other single idea, fueled Republicans’ rise at the presidential level and congressional level over the last three decades has been debunked in the minds of voters.
Got that? Shrinking the size of the government “has been debunked in the minds of voters,” which, when translated means, “More people are believing a lie.”
Recall, again, Romans 1 and its profound analysis of the human condition. Human beings in our fallen state “exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve creatures rather than the Creator” (1:25). Lie-believing always accompanies glory-exchanging. That is exactly what’s happening. The State is asking for your faith, your trust, your hope. It wants you to believe.
I’m arguing that the State, through its priests and messiahs, is elevating itself as another deity. And when I make this argument, I really mean it. Place the Federal Government (as it currently operates) in the same category as Bel, Nebo, Marduk, Zeus, Allah, and Krishna. All of these demand allegiance and trust, and all of them receive the same from sinful human beings.
Calls from politicians to expand the size of the federal government are simply calls to build a bigger idol. And all idols will eventually come crashing down. The bigger the idol, the bigger the fall. Because when the rain of God’s wrath descends, and the floods of judgment come, and the winds of “change” blow and beat on this rebellious house, it will fall; and great will be the fall of it.
Richard Neuhas, the founder and editor-in-chief of First Things, died today at the age of 72. Justin Taylor provides a quick overview of his life and work. Here’s a fantastic quotation (with one or two quibbles) from the good father. (HT: Ramesh Ponnuru)
When I come before the judgment throne, I will plead the promise of God in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. I will not plead any work that I have done, although I will thank God that he has enabled me to do some good. I will plead no merits other than the merits of Christ, knowing that the merits of Mary and the saints are all from him; and for their company, their example, and their prayers throughout my earthly life I will give everlasting thanks. I will not plead that I had faith, for sometimes I was unsure of my faith, and in any event that would be to turn faith into a meritorious work of my own. I will not plead that I held the correct understanding of “justification by faith alone,” although I will thank God that he led me to know ever more fully the great truth that much misunderstood formulation was intended to protect. Whatever little growth in holiness I have experienced, whatever strength I have received from the company of the saints, whatever understanding I have attained of God and his ways—these and all other gifts I have received I will bring gratefully to the throne. But in seeking entry to that heavenly kingdom, I will, with Dysmas, look to Christ and Christ alone.
Then I hope to hear him say, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” as I hope with all my being—because, although looking to him alone, I am not alone—he will say to all.
–Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
