It looks like President Obama has lost David Brooks. In short, Brooks believes that the moderate Obama of 2008 is gone. Instead, the 2012 election is shaping up to be a clash of ideological extremes–liberal versus conservative. It says something about Brooks that he thinks Obama ran on a “moderate” platform in 2008. In 2008, Obama favored healthcare reform, abortion rights, gay rights, the expansion of the federal government, taxes on the wealthy, etcetera, etcetera. Brooks thought that platform was moderate? To be sure, candidate Obama used moderate sounding rhetoric. He was affable, smart, and appealing. But make no mistake. His policy proposals were always well within the the progressive…
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Almost Half of Americans Support Banning Gay Marriage by Constitutional Amendment
A new Associated Press poll says that “Almost half of all Americans support banning gay marriage by constitutional amendment.” But there is some schizophrenia in this poll as well. While forty-seven percent say they oppose same-sex marriage, 57 percent say that same-sex couples should receive the same government benefits as married couples of the opposite sex. That means that a good many people who oppose same-sex marriage for moral or religious reasons do not favor public policies and laws that would privilege heterosexual unions over homosexual ones. This suggests that many supporters of traditional marriage have failed to see the implications of their view for the public good. Read more…
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Richard Land Argues That Perry Is No Bush
Richard Land has an article in USA Today telling why he thinks people are mistaken to think of Rick Perry as George W. Bush redux. He writes: Many people assume Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a carbon copy of George W. Bush. Well, he isn’t. Those who either love or despise former president Bush need to understand that Perry should be neither accepted nor rejected based on their opinion of Bush. Indeed, as the nation heads with full force into the 2012 election cycle, many of Perry’s opponents in and out of the news media will try to tear down the Texas governor as “Bush, continued.” To do so would…
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Marvin Olasky Sizes-up GOP Front-runner Rick Perry
Marvin Olasky has begun to size-up the new GOP front-runner in the latest issue of World magazine. Olasky has lived in Austin for two decades and has known many of Rick Perry’s political allies, critics, and former staffers. After reading Olasky’s article, I have to say that his take on Perry is rather cool. It’s not negative, but it’s not positive either. It is a bit wait-and-see-ish. Olasky gives a thumbnail sketch of Perry’s very conservative record as the governor of Texas. Olasky raises the specter of some “crony capitalism” in Perry’s record as well. Olasky finds no evidence of any personal corruption on Perry’s part.
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Ross Douthat Goes Another Round with Ryan Lizza over Francis Schaeffer
Earlier this week I posted about Ross Douthat’s deft dismantling of Ryan Lizza’s misinterpretation of Francis Schaeffer. Ryan Lizza has since responded on The New Yorker Website and stands by his contention that Francis Schaeffer favored armed resistance to the U.S. government over the issue of abortion. Douthat has just offered another rejoinder to Lizza. Once again, Douthat has the better part of this argument. One thing I would add about his whole conversation: If Francis Schaeffer really favored armed resistance against the U.S. government, then why haven’t evangelicals answered his call to do so? In the last 30 years, can you think of any evangelical who has heeded Schaeffer’s…
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Douthat Takes Lizza to the Woodshed
Ryan Lizza’s piece from The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago gets another critique—this time from Ross Douthat. In a follow-up piece to Douthat’s article in today’s New York Times, Douthat goes to his blog to challenge Ryan Lizza’s misrepresentation of Francis Schaeffer. Douthat is charitable, but tough. Here’s the conclusion:
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Should Wives Submit to Their Husbands?
The front page of The Nashville Tennessean has an article by Bob Smietana titled “Should wives submit? Debate resurges.” Though Michele Bachmann’s candidacy for president is the catalyst for this piece, the article is not really about her. It’s about how American Evangelicals approach the question of gender roles in the home, in the church, and in society at large. Smietana interviews folks on both sides of this question and even deals briefly with the various interpretations of Ephesians 5 and how those readings play out in the lives of real families. Smietana even uses the proper theological designations for each view, complementarianism and egalitarianism. This is an unusual article,…
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American Theocracy Revisited: Douthat Tweaks Press Coverage of Religion in GOP Primary
Ross Douthat doesn’t have the religion beat, but he writes with more insight than many reporters who do. He rightly argues that the press has every right to ask how a political candidate’s faith relates to his political agenda. But in doing so, Douthat offers “four points that journalists should always keep in mind when they ask and then write about religious beliefs that they themselves don’t share.” Here they are:
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Joseph Bottum Takes Joe Biden to Task over Abortion Remarks
Joseph Bottum has written a scathing criticism of Vice President Joe Biden’s recent remarks about China’s one-child policy. In a gaffe on August 21, Vice President Biden said that he didn’t want to “second-guess” China’s one-child policy—a policy that has led to countless forced sterilizations and forced abortions in China. Bottum responds:
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Groothuis Blows-up the “Dominionism” Bogey Man
Douglas Groothuis puts the nail in the coffin of the “dominionism” meme. The New Yorker really should consider publishing Groothuis’ response to Ryan Lizza’s tendentious reporting. Here’s a snippet: