Sound-bite Politics

Now, I’m normally not someone who writes a lot about politics. But once in a while I just get so tired of the “rhetoric” that I have to blow off a little steam, if you know what I mean. And I try to not be partisan, because this “sound-bite, bumper-sticker, T-shirt” sort of sloganeering occurs on both sides of the aisle. Today, though, it happened to be Hillary Clinton (speaking in Unity, NH). It was on television, and as I passed through the room I heard her say, basically, “I’ve been involved in politics for four decades. And in that time we’ve elected ten presidents, and only three have been Democrats.” Accurate enough, but then comes the zinger! She said, “Imagine how much progress we haven’t made in all that time,” i.e., she implies, because a Republican president was elected seven times.

For crying out loud! Really? It’s hard to know where even to begin to describe how ludicrous the statement is. First of all, reality (and the progress we can make in the real world) is much more complex and multi-dimensional than whether a Republican or Democratic president is in office. This is just overwhelming oversimplification, besides being a form of the “complex question” kind of logical fallacy, tying together “progress” and the “Democratic party” as if the two must be accepted or rejected together. It’s an example of what’s called a “non sequitur,” i.e. something that just doesn’t follow. It “doesn’t follow” that just because Republican presidents were elected 70% of the time that less progress was made than if Democratic presidents had been elected. In fact, it’s something we can’t know, a “hypothesis contrary to fact,” as it’s called, an argument from something that didn’t happen, and the consequences of which are unknown and unmeasurable.

There’s certainly a lot more that could be said about this particular remark, and about political posturing in general. I only want to encourage you to think clearly about the issues, and not to be led around aimlessly by some rhetorician’s nose ring, influenced by things that may “sound good” but that are anything but “good and sound.”

Thank you for my few minutes on the soap box!!

The Golden Compass — A Few Reflections

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, both book and movie, has been somewhat controversial among Christians. How should we think about and engage this sort of material. Here’s a little piece I did a while back entitled “The ‘Chronicles’ or the ‘Compass’?: Worldviews in Conflict”.

Currently reading …

The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church by Christine Wicker. Review to follow soon.

Spiritual Issues at the Heart of the Debate over Church Membership Rolls

“A church membership roll that runs two to three times the number of people actually involved is a symptom of a much-deeper problem — one that strikes at the heart of what it means to be a Baptist church and a follower of Jesus, says David Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn.” Read the article on Baptist Press HERE …

The Areopagus Christian Study Center

NOTE: This is a shameless plug for a ministry with which I’m involved.

The Areopagus is an interdenominational Christian education ministry and study center dedicated to serving the metro-Atlanta area.

The mission of The Areopagus is to help equip Christians for ministry and to effectively engage our society and culture with the transforming truth and love of Jesus Christ. To this end, we provide a creative and substantive curriculum that expands their knowledge base, stimulates critical thinking, and challenges them to live faithfully and consistently in accordance with the principles and practices of a Biblical Christian worldview.

The Areopagus sponsors seminars, workshops, and forums on a variety of topics relevant to contemporary Christian education and ministry, including…

Biblical studies
Christian apologetics
Christian history
Comparative worldviews and religions
Contemplative Christian spirituality
Contemporary cultural issues
Literature and the arts
Science and the Christian faith

“In the midst of a society that has lost its moral bearings and is being irreparably corrupted by the insidious forces of secularism, compulsive materialism, and mindless hedonism, the ministry of the Areopagus is all the more essential in terms of challenging Christians to intelligently and effectively engage our culture with the transforming light and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

– Dr. Jefrey Breshears
Founder and President, The Areaopagus
from “A Retrospective on the Past,
A Vision for the Future”

Please pray for and help support the ministry of The Areopagus here in the Atlanta area and visit our online site here: The Areopagus. You may find a number of forums, seminars, or book reviews in which you’ll be interested.

Hillary is Out: God Save Us From Obama

The presidential candidates are decided, Now what? Read Professor Doug Groothuis’s comments on the political options HERE!