Civil Life

Brooks Describes The Problem But Does He Answer The Central Question: Why?

by on October 13, 2020 | 3 Comments

During most of the 20th century, through depression and wars, Americans expressed high faith in their institutions. In 1964, for example, 77 percent of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do the right thing most or all of the time. Then came the last two moral convulsions. In the late 1960s and ’70s, amid Vietnam and Watergate, trust institutions collapsed. By 1994, only one in five Americans said they trusted government to do the right thing. Then came the Iraq War and the financial crisis and the election of Donald Trump. Institutional trust levels remained pathetically low. Continue reading →

It Was Not Spontaneous

by on October 1, 2020 | 10 Comments

While talking heads on television routinely described it as a spontaneous eruption of anger at racial injustice, it was strategically planned, facilitated and advertised on social media by anarchists who believed that their actions advanced the cause of racial justice. In some . . . Continue reading →

New Resource Page: On Religious Liberty

by on September 29, 2020 | 1 Comment

The first war fought in the name of the new American Republic was the “War for Independence” (1775–83). In the Declaration of Independence (1776), the American founders declared, in the preamble, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men . . . Continue reading →

An Avoidable Stunt (Updated)

by on September 26, 2020 | 5 Comments

The City of Moscow, Idaho, which Christ Church (Moscow, ID) expects one day to transform into a bastion of adherence to the Mosaic judicial laws, reports (HT: Alexis Van Horn) about the recent publicity stunt and protests disguised as “Psalm sings:” From . . . Continue reading →

Dear Kirkers, Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, and 1 Peter 4 Are Still God’s Word

by on September 25, 2020 | 9 Comments

Some of the responses to yesterday’s essay by members of Christ Church, Moscow, ID (known locally as “The Kirk”) most certainly did not meet even the minimal standards for the comment box. The comment policy reads: “Comments are welcome but must observe . . . Continue reading →

A Useful Distinction Regarding Church And State In Our Covid-19 Controversy

by on September 17, 2020 | 35 Comments

For better or worse John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have become the public face of resistance to California’s onerous Covid-19 regulations. They have also become entangled in the culture war over masks and aligned with the Trump administration, since the president . . . Continue reading →

Science Becomes Unsettled Again

by on September 15, 2020 | 3 Comments

A major correction has been issued by the American Journal of Psychiatry. The authors and editors of an October 2019 study, titled “Reduction in mental health treatment utilization among transgender individuals after gender-affirming surgeries: a total population study,” have retracted its primary . . . Continue reading →