when a mob at Vermont’s Middlebury College shut down a speech by social scientist Charles Murray a few weeks ago, most of us saw it as a another instance of campus illiberalism. Jonathan Haidt saw something more – a ritual carried out . . . Continue reading →
political correctness
How We Got Here
In virtually every class, I was told that all scientific knowledge, and even science itself was founded on Western cultural constructions and was to be regarded as hegemonic. And since each of the world’s various cultural viewpoints were enmeshed in their own . . . Continue reading →
The Late-Modern Emperor Has No Clothes
…Perhaps the dumbest man in the room is not the man who cannot understand gibberish, but the man who cannot see gibberish for what it is. And perhaps the most dangerous people on campus are those who understand this human weakness and . . . Continue reading →
Lesbian Atheist: Nature, Science, And Facts Matter
Although I describe myself as transgender (I was donning flamboyant male costumes from early childhood on), I am highly skeptical about the current transgender wave, which I think has been produced by far more complicated psychological and sociological factors than current gender . . . Continue reading →
Civil Liberties Imperiled On American University Campuses
The survey results establish with data what has been clear anecdotally to anyone who has been observing campus dynamics in recent years: Freedom of expression is deeply imperiled on U.S. campuses. In fact, despite protestations to the contrary (often with statements like . . . Continue reading →
The Emperor Has No Clothes But He Does Have A Sex
First, though, let us address the basic assumption of the contemporary parade: the idea that exchange of one’s sex is possible. It, like the storied Emperor, is starkly, nakedly false. Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. . . . Continue reading →
The Burning Of The Wooden Shoes (Update)
The most disturbing part is that many seem completely oblivious to the shifts. Among a new generation of Reformed pastors and churchgoers, there seems to be little awareness that the project they are pursuing, and the shifts they are pushing, have already . . . Continue reading →
No Safe Spaces
On The Roots Of The Concept Of “Privilege”
Back in 1988, the concept of privilege did little to challenge racism or sexism. It reinvented discrimination as a fixed condition rooted within the biological differences between individuals rather than a social problem. The solutions proposed were therapeutic rather than political. Dominant . . . Continue reading →
Orwell On The Value Of Good Writing
Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original . . . Continue reading →
Ritual Defamation: A Rite Of Political Correctness
Defamation is the destruction or attempted destruction of the reputation, status, character or standing in the community of a person or group of persons by unfair, wrongful, or malicious speech or publication. For the purposes of this essay, the central element is . . . Continue reading →
What Was A Comedy Sketch Is Now Daily Life In The USA
Time For Another American Revolution?
HT: Jack Miller
AGR Conference Audio—Intersectionality: What It Is And Why It Matters
On July 26, 2019 AGR and the Escondido United Reformed Church were pleased to co-host the first-ever Abounding Grace Radio conference. Our speaker this year was Dr Rosaria Butterfield. She is a former tenured professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse . . . Continue reading →
What Social Media Teaches Us About Law, Gospel, Forgiveness, And Grace
Carson King is a 23-year old Des Moines man who held up a sign at a televised college football game announcing, “Busch Lite supply needs replenished.” It was a joke but people began sending him money via the Venmo appl. When he . . . Continue reading →
Is All Of Life Political?
Search for the phrase “all of life is political” and one finds not a few results. We expect such a sentiment to be very popular among mon-Christians, whose hope is focused on this life and this world. Remarkably, however, Christians are among . . . Continue reading →
Oxford Historian Carwardine: 1619 Project “Preposterous” And “Tendentious”
As well as the essay I have read your interviews with James McPherson and James Oakes. I share their sense that, putting it politely, this is a tendentious and partial reading of American history. I understand where this Project is coming from, . . . Continue reading →
The Corrosive Consequences Of Speech Codes
Here’s the column that got me fired from the Denver Post. I’ve been a regular columnist for the Denver Post since 2016. …Plain talk that doesn’t conform to the newspeak law of “use only the words mandated by the perpetually offended.” So, . . . Continue reading →
What Is Astroturfing And Why Does It Matter?
Sharyl Atkisson is a former reporter for CBS, CNN, PBS and other mainstream outlets. She hosts a weekly television news magazine program, Full Measure. In this episode she defines and explains the effect (and affect) of the manipulation of social media (and traditional media) known as “astroturfing.” Continue reading →
Another Podcast Recommendation: The Black History Fashion Show
I have been reading Lester Cahill for years and and I have been listening to his podcast since it began. Lester is one of my favorite contemporary writers and thinkers because he is independent, intelligent, passionate, and challenging. I always learn something from him. In one of his recent episodes (linked in the post) Lester critiques the recent Netflix series on Madam C. J. Walker and, in another, he introduces us to the founder of an early Black American entrepreneur. Continue reading →
Who Funds Antifa?
