Is the "Gospel in the Stars"? or the Distinction Between Nature and Grace

In 1882 the Lutheran minister Joseph A. Seiss (1823-1904) published the provocative volume, The Gospel in the Stars, Or, Prímeval Astronomy (Philadelphia: E. Claxton & company, 1882). Evidently it found an audience and it has been reprinted as recently as the early . . . Continue reading →

"Tough Grace" Is Not Grace (and It’s Not Law Either)

In an unsigned editorial yesterday CT came out in favor of what it calls “tough grace.” The presenting issue or symptom is CT’s concern that Christian institutions are failing to be both “tough” and “gracious” simultaneously. The argument is that the fall . . . Continue reading →

What Happens When You Don’t Have a Category for Wisdom or Nature

Introduction: Losing Our Religion When Andy Kaufman wrestled women in the late 70s and early 80s it was a gag, it was outrageous because, until he did it, it was unthinkable. Why? Because there is such a thing as nature (i.e.., the . . . Continue reading →

Why Equality is the Wrong Category By Which to Analyze Homosexual Marriage

One of the most most rhetorically successful and popular ways to defend homosexual (gay) marriage is the appeal to “marriage equality.” The argument is, in short: if heterosexuals may marry and enjoy the social and civil benefits of the institution then homosexuals, . . . Continue reading →

Recovering Nature

Helping Millennials to Look Beyond the Screen

Until very recently presidents and presidential candidates, even if they didn’t believe it, had to say that they were in favor of marriage as historically understood and opposed to homosexual marriage. Now, they don’t. What changed and how did that change come . . . Continue reading →

It’s Never Been About Civil Rights

The Late Modern War Against Nature

(HT: Mike Opelka) In this video, Lesbian activist Masha Gessen makes explicit what’s been known underground in the homosexual community for a long time: Homosexual marriage is not about civil rights. It never has been. Camille Paglia exposed that story in the . . . Continue reading →

The Myth Of Diversity

For all the talk of diversity, today’s politics are extraordinarily uniform. The West lives under a single political regime, managerial liberalism, that combines an emphasis on individual choice and democratic values with domination of social life by experts, functionaries, and commercial interests. . . . Continue reading →

Boys And Girls Are Different

What can we do to improve the prospects of boys? For one thing, we must acknowledge the fact that boys and girls are different. In many education and government circles, it remains taboo to broach the topic of sex differences. Many gender . . . Continue reading →

What Happens After The End Of Nature?

So why is this gender-bending diversity mandate so prominent at universities these days? The most likely explanation is that it is simply yielding to the demands of the folks who dislike any constraint of human nature in what goes by the LGBTQRSTUW . . . Continue reading →

Grammar Guerilla: Affect and Effect, Sex and Gender

Guerilla-Gorilla

These two sets of words present two different problems. The first, affect and effect, is that two words sound alike and are formally distinguished by vowels that can be easily confused for one another. Nevertheless, affect and effect do mean different things. . . . Continue reading →

The Michael Sam Case: Is Being Homosexual The Same As Being Black?

Late at night and sometimes in the middle of the night I listen to sport-talk radio as a distraction, so I can sleep. Sports-talk radio is usually inconsequential and it works. Sometimes, however, real life intrudes into Nebraska football talk. That happened . . . Continue reading →