Category: Politics
Come, Desire of Nations, Come: An Advent Reflection
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. -Haggai 2:7 Congregations always enjoy a spirit of levity for Advent hymns. Everyone...
Who’s Afraid of John Calvin? Answer: Thomas Jefferson
In 1822, Thomas Jefferson was enjoying a quiet retirement at his beloved Monticello. His family troubles gave him sleepless nights but he found solace in his correspondence and, as always, in his books. The former president’s mind turned over Virginia’s...
The Democrats (Probably) Won’t Outflank Themselves
The Bulwark’s Jonathan Last is the latest conservative commentator to take up a line that is increasingly popular amongst the Never Trump right: If the Democrats don’t pivot toward the center they’re going to lose in 2020. The argument is relatively...
The Liberty of a Christian in a Democratic Age
Writing for the Catholic Herald, my friend Matthew Schmitz argues that the current political divide opening up in America confirms that Christian life and contemporary American ideas of liberty cannot permanently coexist. Eventually the two will come into conflict and...
There is No Wealth but Life: Rootedness in an Orphaned World
There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings. ~ John Ruskin “You surprise me,...
The Necessity of Nations
Dr. Werntz has argued that the question ‘can Christians be nationalists?’ is largely without meaning, at present at least, because it cannot be answered using the terms given in the debate so far. Our global, neo-liberal order has unmade nations...
Nationalism for a Multi-Tribal People
Myles Werntz’s essay brings us back to first principles by asking in his title question: ‘What is Nationalism?’ He then frames the conception of nationalism as both constitutive (“who a nation is comprised of”) and historical-contextual (“how it comes to...
A Failed Attempt to Reset the Nationalism Debate
Werntz’s ‘markets-first’ account of how nations and peoples are formed is commendable for the way it moves economics into the foreground. There is (still) considerable need to reflect on the ways our economy here within the United States makes us...
Pro-Blood, Pro-Soil, Pro-Nation, Pro-Christianity
Much of who we are as people is shaped before we are even born. Did your mother have adequate nutrition to support your growing body inside of her? Were your parents married in a loving community, providing you with a...
What is a Nation?
In debates over the last two months, the question of whether or not Christians can be ‘nationalists’ has become one of the pressing questions to be answered. Unfortunately, the way the debate has proceeded so far makes answering the question...