OT French Press - Sunday Newsletter

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by ABM, Sep 6, 2020.

  1. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Yeah douche bank is in Germany
     
  2. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Her religion isn't the issue. Its that she will judge based on her religion rather than the constitution. She will help undo decades of precedent and undo 60-70 years of progress.

    That might be cool with you because your beliefs get upheld, but it screws alot of people over.
     
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  3. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Faith ain't such a bad thing. :)

     
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  4. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Faith isn't a bad thing at all. But, religion doesn't belong in the decision making process on the supreme court.
     
  5. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Got it. Fine for the President of the United States. But don't put it in the hands of real decision makers.
     
  6. UncleCliffy'sDaddy

    UncleCliffy'sDaddy We're all Bozos on this bus.

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    You’re not actually implying that Trump is truly religious are you??? Even you can’t be that oblivious.....he uses religion like most people us toilet paper.
     
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  7. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    I didnt say that. Don't put words in my mouth. That ad was to get religous people to vote for him, to get out the good dude vibe.

    Its like when people were freaked out Kennedy would be controlled by the Vatican or would use his religion in decision making as president. He did not. Neither will Biden.

    As Kennedy said, "I am not the Catholic candidate for president, I am Democratic candidate for president, who happens to be catholic."

    The same goes for Biden.

    Barrett, who will be a SC justice has already shown in her judicial career that her religion plays a part in her decision making as a judge. That cannot be the case on the SC.
     
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  8. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    No, he was saying I said it was fine if Biden used his religion in decision making as President. I did not.
     
  9. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Nothing to do with Trump.
     
  10. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Agreed. We will find out more during the hearings.
     
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  11. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Not likely. Nowadays SC nominees are trained to offer no opinions, and to disclaim any prior opinions as academic in nature and not indicative of how they'd rule on the bench. The hearings will reveal nothing.

    barfo
     
  12. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Well, Kavanaugh's was certainly a barnstorm.

    OK, if for no other reason, for entertainment purposes, then. Heh.
     
  13. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Praying for a Reckless President
    For Christians, there should be no such thing as schadenfreude and no thought of karma.
    David French
    Oct 4

    [​IMG]

    Let me begin by stating a simple and obvious truth—in a pandemic, it is extraordinarily difficult to guarantee your safety or the safety of those around you. Even careful people can catch the virus. There are essential workers who have done everything right, and they’ve fallen ill. That’s when we use words like “tragic” and sometimes even “heroic” when people face risks for us and soldier on anyway.

    But then there are other cases—when people arrogantly defy all that we know about the illness, behave as if the basic rules of epidemiology don’t apply to them, and demand one form of behavior from the public while living an entirely different reality in the places they control. When illness comes, then we use words like “inevitable” to describe the outbreak or “reckless” to describe the behavior.

    It’s vital to distinguish between these circumstances, including when evaluating our leaders. The circumstances of how an illness is caught and spread can and should influence how we think and vote. It should even influence how we pray.

    As I write this newsletter, President Trump is hospitalized with COVID, and he’s suffering from symptoms of unknown severity. I say “unknown” because his own White House is distributing contradictory information. At a formal press conference, his physician painted a sunny outlook, saying that he was not on oxygen, that he had no longer has a fever, and that Trump was in good spirits. At the same time, he refused to share the temperature of the president’s fever the day before, refused to say whether the president had ever been on oxygen, and provided information that contradicted the official timeline of Trump’s diagnosis.

    Moments later, Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said, “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” (He later provided a different analysis, telling Reuters that the president is doing “very well.”)

    Worse still, a steadily increasing number of public officials, including members of Trump’s administration and GOP senators, are reporting positive COVID diagnoses. Again, in a pandemic, these diagnoses are not terribly surprising. Nor should they necessarily trigger public outrage. Until you see this—footage from the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination event at the White House:


    [​IMG]Don Moynihan @donmoyn

    What do you think when you see this? I think about the fact I won’t be at my parents 50th wedding anniversary this month because these people did not believe they had any real obligation to govern wisely [​IMG]

    October 3rd 2020

    5,367 Retweets23,003 Likes


    As you watch, note that at least two of the unmasked huggers, Sen. Mike Lee and Chris Christie, have both tested positive (Sen. Lee told Guy Benson that he’d tested negative in a rapid test before the event, but there’s evidence the White House was misusing a test known to produce a large percentage of false negatives). As I type, this is the seating chart of positive tests:


    [​IMG]POLITICO @politico

    Since last Saturday's Rose Garden SCOTUS announcement, these people have tested positive for Covid-19: • President Trump • Melania Trump • Rev. John Jenkins • Sen. Mike Lee • Sen. Thom Tillis • Kellyanne Conway • Chris Christie The latest politi.co/30rox78 [​IMG]

    October 3rd 2020

    414 Retweets652 Likes

    I can go on and on describing White House recklessness. As the positive tests multiply to include Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien and Republican Party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, we are reminded that not only did Trump himself mock Joe Biden’s cautious approach to masking during the debate, but —according to reports—members of the Trump entourage defied debate rules and refused to wear masks in the debate hall. A “culture of invincibility” allegedly permeated the White House.

    And then, finally, as if to remind us that “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,” the internet unearthed the clip below of Trump cruelly mocking Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia. The date? October 2, 2016—four years to the day before Trump was admitted to the hospital suffering from COVID:


    [​IMG]The Telegraph @Telegraph

    Donald Trump mocks Hillary Clinton over her pneumonia outbreak [​IMG]

    October 2nd 2016

    20,590 Retweets33,520 Likes


    Even as all this was unfolding (as my colleague Jonah Goldberg pointed out in his excellent newsletter yesterday) many of the president’s defenders ignored the administration’s failures and instead went on an online search-and-destroy mission to find and shame public voices who’d expressed satisfaction or even glee at the president’s condition.

    It’s as if this terrible moment was just another opportunity to express how bad “the left” is, in spite of the fact that numerous, prominent Trump-critical voices on the left and the right immediately and unreservedly expressed sympathy for the president and said they’d pray for him.

    So let’s discuss those prayers. For Christians, praying for national leaders is imperative. No matter your politics, there should be no such thing as schadenfreude and no thought of concepts like karma. As Paul told Timothy, “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” should be made “for all people,” including for “kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

    This sounds all very nice and kind—and it can be immensely reassuring when partisan warriors for a moment lay aside their political weapons to unite in prayer for a president’s health and well-being—but in reality those prayers can and should seek God’s intervention in meaningful and often painful ways. We must pray for justice, for mercy, and—critically—for the humility that leads to repentance.

    As votes are being cast in a presidential campaign, American Christians are in a position quite different from Roman-era believers. We have a level of earthly power that our Christian forefathers could scarcely imagine. Our biblical obligation to “act justly” becomes all the more meaningful when we have actual authority to hold our leaders accountable for their misdeeds.

    That means seeking and praying for justice in real time, during an election, even when men and women fall ill and need sympathy and care. That means asking God to reveal hidden things, to bring to light wrongdoing that lurks in the shadows. That means asking God to protect America from the actions and influence of unjust men.

    But the quest for justice must be tempered by a fervent desire (a love, even) for mercy. At the heart of the Christian Gospel is the availability of grace so profound that not one of us receives the justice we so richly deserve.

    How many times have each of us done wrong and prayed fervently that we should not suffer the natural and logical consequences of our own foolishness? How many times have we felt immense relief when a gracious and loving God has spared us when our actions cried out for a punishment immensely greater than we received?

    And should we not seek that same blessing for others—including when those others may be political enemies who’ve behaved recklessly or maliciously?

    It is thus right and good to pray for the speedy healing and quick recovery even of a reckless president. That does not relieve him of political accountability for his actions—or us of the obligation to hold him to account—but we all know what it is like to suffer. We all know what it is like to feel pain. We should pray against his pain.

    But here’s where the prayers grow richer and deeper. We shouldn’t simply pray that a president’s trials cease. We can and should also pray that his trials bear fruit—the fruit of humility and repentance. The record of scripture is clear. Times of trial should bring about transformation, and one of the roles of God’s people is to speak truth to convict the powerful of their sin.

    The story of the prophet Nathan’s confrontation with David is perhaps the most famous such confrontation in biblical history. David had been caught in his affair and his plot to kill Bathsheba’s husband. In a single powerful scriptural moment you see justice, mercy, and humility come together at once.

    David is held to account and told that he will suffer grave consequences for his wrongdoing. Yet he does not receive all the justice he deserves. God spares David’s life and takes away David’s sin. David is filled with sincere sorrow, and Psalm 51—his song of repentance—contains this heartfelt plea: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”

    Indeed, God has even reached rulers directly through illness and pain. Daniel 4 contains the memorable story of the madness of King Nebuchadnezzar. At the height of his power and might, he was struck down until he repented of his arrogance and acknowledged the power of God. The believer knows that the most prideful human heart isn’t beyond the reach of redemptive grace.

    Note that none of this is partisan. Republican Christians should seek justice when even the men and women they vote for act recklessly. Democratic Christians should love mercy even when an aggressive political opponent has shown no similar consideration in return. And Christians of all political persuasions should humbly (and with full knowledge of our own frailty) seek true repentance from men and women in power. Their transformation benefits us all.

    However, if political pride prevails even when mercy abounds, the need for accountability becomes clear. Believers must pray for President Trump’s speedy recovery, but justice may still demand his resounding defeat.

    One last thing…

    I’m going to indulge in a Sunday French Press first, a repeat song. There are times when I honestly wonder how much more we can take—how much more disease, how much more economic uncertainty, how much more conflict, and how much more chaos. But, still, it is well with our souls. And this modern adaptation/variation of one of the most powerful of all Christian hymns (written in the aftermath of dark tragedy) is worth hearing and believing:

    [​IMG]
     
  14. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    "praying for a reckless president"...what a load of malarkey

    the hell with that reckless president.
     
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  15. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    It's all about the odds. I prefer the odds or riding in a taxi driven by a careful driver over riding in one with a reckless driver.
     
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  16. lawai'a

    lawai'a Well-Known Member

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    https://time.com/5896949/donald-trump-not-pro-life/
    Donald Trump Is Not Pro-Life. His Response to COVID-19 Proves It.
    By David French
    October 6, 2020 4:08 PM EDT
    French is a senior editor at The Dispatch and a columnist for Time. . He is a former major in the United States Army Reserve.

    As Americans have begun to vote in the presidential election, one must make an important distinction in Donald Trump’s record in office. It’s entirely fair to call him nominally anti-abortion. It’s not credible to call him pro-life. And the distinction matters.

    As a young pro-life activist, I still remember the publication of Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, its words touched this Protestant’s heart, and when he rooted the pro-life principle in the “incomparable worth of the human person,” it crystalized not just my opposition to abortion but also an aspirational ethic of care for all persons – from conception to natural death.

    “Life on earth,” said John Paul, “is a sacred reality entrusted to us, to be preserved with a sense of responsibility and brought to perfection in love and in the gift of ourselves to God and to our brothers and sisters.”

    To be sure, it is often difficult to discern which policies are best-crafted to uphold and protect every person’s “incomparable worth” – and even well-intentioned policies can have negative effects – but it is abundantly clear that while pro-life leaders will often be forced to make tough choices, their words and deeds must be grounded in that fundamental truth.

    Trump has failed this test, and his response to the Coronavirus pandemic makes that failure plain. He’s not only failed the American people, his recent conduct after he was stricken with the disease demonstrates that he has even failed his friends, colleagues and those sworn to serve him.

    It’s a testament to the speed of the news cycle and the sheer number of Trump scandals that the public has apparently moved on from Bob Woodward’s revelation that Trump knew the virus was “deadly stuff” and “worse than even your strenuous flus” in early February yet continued to intentionally downplay its severity to the American people, including by comparing it to the flu, as he’s still doing today.

    This deception was of course accompanied by an avalanche of right-wing mockery of and resistance to mask-wearing, including mockery from Trump himself. At the first presidential debate (when Trump may have already been COVID-positive), Trump said, “I don’t have — I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
    The administration’s disregard of basic health protocols, including both masking and social distancing was on full display at the White House ceremony introducing Amy Coney Barrett to the American people. For a nation now accustomed to prudent masking and limiting close personal contact (especially indoors), the images were shocking. Unmasked leaders, including people with potential health vulnerabilities, were hugging and close-talking. And now the roll call of attendees who have tested positive for Coronavirus is shocking and long.

    Compounding the deception and disregard, what did President Trump do after he was released from the hospital? He once again compared the virus to the flu – misinformation so obvious that Twitter immediately flagged it as “potentially harmful” and Facebook removed the post.

    By deceiving Americans he left millions in denial about the spread of a deadly virus, and they behaved accordingly. By scorning mask-wearing, he helped create a ridiculous mask culture war that renders it politically incorrect in parts of the right to engage in one of the easiest and most basic practices to protect the health of your neighbors and colleagues.
    One is flatly denying the “incomparable worth of the human person” when they fail to follow basic, common-sense masking guidelines. One is instead indulging in a form of petty selfishness that has cost an untold number of lives.

    The pandemic would be challenging under any circumstances, but the United States has so far recorded one of the worst responses of any advanced democracy in the world. A terrible total of over 210,000 Americans have died, and hundreds more die every day. Excess death data indicates the true toll is likely much higher.

    By any measure, the Coronavirus pandemic has been a public health catastrophe. Yet the president and his team still downplay its severity. They still mock Joe Biden’s mask-wearing.

    Nothing about this is pro-life. Nothing.

    Yet there are Americans who will go to the polls convinced that Trump is the only pro-life candidate – exclusively based on his professed opposition to abortion. But how committed is Donald Trump to restricting abortion, really? If you look at his record across his time in office it is revealing. For instance, Planned Parenthood received a record amount of taxpayer funds in 2019, and this year received $80 million in federal coronavirus relief funds. Or take the fact that the two Supreme Court justices he nominated and confirmed (so far) did vote to uphold a mild Louisiana abortion restriction, but they notably did not join Justice Thomas’s dissenting opinion that clearly condemned Roe.
    We know what it looks like when Trump is committed to a cause. Witness his deployment of the military to the border and his defiant diversion of military funds to begin construction of his border wall. Has he showed the same commitment to, say, ending taxpayer support for the nation’s largest abortion provider?

    The bottom line is that Trump will end his first term with the nation’s abortion laws largely intact and without engaging in a single serious effort to defund Planned Parenthood. He will also end his first term with a legacy of deception, failure, and callous disregard for the lives and health of even his friends and colleagues in the face of an infectious disease that has killed more than 200,000 of his fellow citizens.

    Look at Donald Trump’s complete record. Examine all his rhetoric. Is his presidency characterized by words and deeds that affirm the “incomparable worth of the human person”? Has he treated “life on earth” as a “sacred reality” entrusted to him? The answer is clearly no. His selfish and reckless actions have cost lives. They’re still costing lives. By no fair measure is Donald Trump truly “pro-life.”

    One is flatly denying the “incomparable worth of the human person” when they fail to follow basic, common-sense masking guidelines. One is instead indulging in a form of petty selfishness that has cost an untold number of lives.
     
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  17. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    I'm gonna check this out later this evening....

     
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  18. lawai'a

    lawai'a Well-Known Member

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    pretty funny while fox was dissing democrats that they weren't for anything except against trump, now that Biden policy is out there to be picked up on and read, they have chosen to try to make the case that it is trump because "anybody but biden"because there is no cohesive policy coming from the administration to counter it.
    said it right in the beginning, god is bigger than the boogie man, or the monstrers on tv. metaxas wrote it for children, but it was always the boogie man that he used to justify a vote for trump. esoterically explaining things like cultural marxism and socialism was a turn off, i didn't need the version of the truth he put forward., those were the very things Biden ran against in defeating Sanders, medicaid for all, defunding police, etc. so the radical left obviously doesn't have nearly the power he claims it does, and they are the very things the democratic party rejected in voting for Biden in the primaries. sanders lost by more than 2:1 in delegates.
    French compellingly leads one down the path to the very core of " character matters" throughout. IMHO. to reject that is in many ways to reject the teachings i have embraced my whole life. to embrace Trumpism, goes against nearly everything i have read and been taught concerning the gospels and new testament of the bible. i completely reject that i need to accept the failings of character of the candidate in order to achieve 'safety" from the boogie man and the fear metaxas engenders. he (trump) is not my saviour.

    at aprox. 1:25 metaxas is asked to reconcile his(trump's) moral failures with his policy successes and rejects that trump has any moral failures and nor does he(trump) have obligation to including the need to explain failing to reject conspiracy and white supremacy. tough to defend that IMHO.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2020
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  19. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    The Spiritual Blessing of Political Homelessness
    On the liberating power of a political declaration of independence.

    David French
    Oct 18


    [​IMG]

    I first began to notice the discontent even before Trump. The rise of negative partisanship and the corresponding intolerance for dissent within political parties (does anyone remember the endless “RINO” hunts of the Obama era?) amplified a sense of both Christian discontent and Christian fear. You may have had material disagreements with your own tribe, but at the same time you heard the voices urging you to hold fast. Can you possibly let the other side win? After all, they will destroy us. They will destroy our country.

    (Never mind that their ranks are also full of millions of Christian believers.)

    But there’s something deeply unsatisfying about that stance. Your spirit rebels against the imperative to be a team player, to not call out clear injustice on your own side—to focus exclusively on your opponent’s sins. You remember Christ’s warning about noting the speck in your brother’s eye, when there’s a log in your own, and you wonder—can that apply even to politics?

    Eventually, you might even reach a breaking point. Perhaps someone on your “team” does something terribly wrong, and it’s just too much. Or perhaps you see a profound injustice, but only the other side truly seems motivated to address it. You’re pro-life, and that’s a reason why you want to join a throng of thousands and say words that are necessary and true—“Black lives matter.”

    But the instant you do, you get the questions and critiques. “Are you a cultural Marxist now?” “Don’t you know about Critical Race Theory?” “Have you read the official BLM website?” When all you wanted to do was stand against racism and brutality, a cause that is unquestionably just.

    More and more, thoughtful (mainly young) Christians say to me, “I’m pro-life, I believe in religious freedom and free speech, I think we should welcome immigrants and refugees, and I desperately want racial reconciliation. Where do I fit in?” The answer is clear. Nowhere.

    And that truth is a blessing, if you embrace it.

    Late last month, Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, created a stir by specifically resisting the political imperatives of negative partisanship. In the New York Times, he wrote that neither party aligns perfectly with biblical commitments to justice. And he decried “package deal ethics,” where political parties “insist that you cannot work on one issue with them if you don’t embrace all of their approved positions.” Under this ethic, if your faction loses the primary, you have one choice—fall in line. Here’s Keller:

    This emphasis on package deals puts pressure on Christians in politics. For example, following both the Bible and the early church, Christians should be committed to racial justice and the poor, but also to the understanding that sex is only for marriage and for nurturing family. One of those views seems liberal and the other looks oppressively conservative. The historical Christian positions on social issues do not fit into contemporary political alignments.

    As our culture becomes increasingly secular, there is no reason to believe that either party’s political agenda will closely match the demands of biblical justice. And even if the parties were united in achieving biblical goals, then the means of pursuing those goals would still be subject to debate.

    So, what should we do when contemporary political alignments do not match Christian moral imperatives? Declare independence.

    No, that does not mean always voting third-party (though that’s a viable and respectable option). Nor does it mean refusing to work for a politician or run for office yourself. But it does mean holding that political affiliation very, very lightly.

    To put it differently, your commitment to Christ is permanent, eternal. Your commitment to a party or a politician is transient, ephemeral.

    On the surface, this feels like a hard road to walk in a highly polarized time. And it can be. There’s an immense comfort in a sense of political belonging, especially if you live in a deep-blue or deep-red region. It can be personally difficult to chart a different path.

    But there are deep rewards. First, it liberates you from uncomfortable and destructive associations and arguments. While the Bible promises Christians that they’ll face challenges and sometimes-fierce opposition in their lives, it is vastly better to face opposition for the things you actually believe and the values you actually hold rather than being forced to align with an ideological and political “package” you do not want to purchase.

    Second, it opens up opportunities for unlikely friendships and unexpected relationships. It changes your posture towards the world to one that welcomes allies case-by-case. It cultivates a posture of openness and fellowship.

    I can work with a critical race theorist to end the injustice of qualified immunity, for example, without embracing critical race theory. I might next defend Christian students from a challenge to their religious liberty, joining with “law and order” Republicans I just opposed and opposing critical race theorists I just joined.

    Third, it can increase your knowledge. When a person who possesses a partisan mind faces a new challenge, he often immediately retreats to his cocoon to discern his response. We find “our” experts, and “our” experts don’t challenge our minds so much as they equip us to fight the partisan wars to come. An independent mind does its imperfect best to seek truth wherever it is found, including intentionally seeking out the best opposing arguments.

    When you prioritize truth over tribe, it’s amazing how much more truth you’ll learn.

    Fourth, in an interesting way, openness can increase influence. I’ll give you a secular example. One of the strangest and most fascinating developments in the ongoing conservative civil war has been the sheer amount of vitriol directed at libertarians. To read the words of some nationalist conservatives, you’d think that the Republican Party was under the thumb of libertarian think tanks and that libertarianism had somehow become a dominant ideological strand of American life.

    On the one hand—given our highly-regulated economy, our culture of mass incarceration, and our nineteen-year war in Afghanistan—it seems laughable (and is indeed a joke in libertarian circles) that libertarians have a particularly powerful position in American life. On the other hand, it is true that libertarians punch well above their numerical weight. It’s worth exploring why.

    The short answer is simple: If you agree with libertarians, they will work with you, and even a small additional infusion of energy and resources can win the day. Are you a black Democrat trying to create educational alternatives in urban schools? You’ve got a libertarian friend. Are you a white Christian Republican battling progressive speech codes and cancel culture on a college campus? Don’t look now, but there’s your libertarian pal, sporting his Reason Magazine t-shirt and smelling faintly of freshly-smoked weed. But he’s got your back.

    As I write in the first chapter of my book, I’ve been on a journey out of partisanship. I see now how my past partisanship led me astray, harming relationships and blinding me to sources of truth outside my bubble. I’ve changed how I think, how I write, and how I engage with my political opponents.

    It’s of course changed how I vote too. I used to vote straight-ticket Republican. Now, every candidate has to pass the same two-part test. First, does this person possess the character necessary for the office he or she seeks? And second, do they broadly share my political values? Fail either prong, and you don’t get my vote. I’ll vote (or write in) someone who does, regardless of party.

    I like how National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru and Princeton’s Robby George put the choice: “To vote for a candidate for president is to have an infinitesimal effect on the outcome of the election, but to wholly determine whom one wills to be president.” That’s what a declaration of independence looks like, and a declaration of independence is the first step to melting the idols of political allegiance.

    One more thing …

    Last week I wrote about Capitol Hill Baptist Church’s righteous defense of religious liberty in Washington D.C. This week, my friends at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty have filed an important lawsuit against Andrew Cuomo seeking a court order permitting Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam (BYAM) school for Jewish girls to open for in-person instruction.

    Should this be a hard case? No, says Becket:

    In a different case, a court might be asked to ascertain the point at which this fundamental right must yield to a government’s claim that in-person education poses a public health risk. Indeed, this Court already considered the public health claim once in Soos v. Cuomo, ___ F. Supp. 3d ____, 2020 WL 3488742 (N.D.N.Y. June 26, 2020), enjoining Governor Cuomo’s and Mayor de Blasio’s efforts to apply an indoor capacity limitation only on houses of worship.

    But this case is even easier, because here the Governor himself openly admits that COVID-19 is “not being spread by schools,” and the Mayor agrees that there has been “very little coronavirus activity” in schools. And BYAM is particularly safe, both because it follows rigorous protocols—resulting in zero known cases to date in the school—and because it plans to test all students and staff before returning to school on October 27.

    Nor can the government claim that the targeted Jewish neighborhoods have particularly high levels of COVID-19. To the contrary, Governor Cuomo recently stated that the COVID-19 levels at issue are quite low (“To other states that’s nothing”). Indeed, across the entire country, there is not a single other state whose protocols require school closures for the COVID-19 levels that have been used to justify the current shutdown.

    Of course the defendants will have the opportunity to contest these claims, but the key question centers around the judicial test that the court applies to the state’s actions.

    I’ve argued this before, and I’ll argue it again. It’s time to end the extraordinary discretion granted public officials at the onset of the pandemic. Apply conventional legal rules. In the absence of compelling, scientific evidence of a true risk to public health, religious liberty should prevail.
     
  20. lawai'a

    lawai'a Well-Known Member

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    https://www.christianpost.com/voice/the-greatest-commandment-has-guided-my-politics.html

    this is the opening and concluding section of the Biden Op-Ed published oct. 29 in The Christian Post.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

    “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,’” he said. “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

    These abiding principles – loving God and loving others – are at the very foundation of my faith. Throughout my career in public service, these values have kept me grounded in what matters most. As a husband, father, and grandfather, they are the cornerstone upon which our family is built. Through the pain of losing my wife, my daughter, and my son, they have sustained me with eternal hope. My faith has been a source of immeasurable solace in times of grief, and a daily inspiration to fight against the abuse of power in all its forms.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We don’t always have to agree on everything, but our country has to find a way to come together – to overcome the spirit of division and the hateful words that have defined too much of our public life for the last four years.

    We all matter in the eyes of God, and it will take all of us to achieve the healing America so desperately needs. To follow God’s Greatest Commandment, and to love each other fully. Together, we can win the battle for the soul of our nation; navigate the multiple crises we face – ending this pandemic, driving our economic recovery, confronting systemic racism; address the scourge of poverty; pursue immigration and refugee policies that uphold the dignity of all; and do everything in our power to ensure that all God’s children have the hope and future they so rightfully deserve.

    As Christians, I know there is much more that unites us than divides us. And as Americans, I know that there is nothing our country cannot achieve when we stand together – united.
     
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