Capitalism needs compassion, compassion needs capitalism; socialism outlaws both.
Capitalism may be plagued by greed, as it hinders the free market through hoarding and monopolies, but ultimately capitalism creates room for compassion. Laws exist to fortify the free market, so as to protect the free market from the death blows of a greed-is-good culture. Through the referee of small government the free market is nurtured. Through capitalism, doors are opened for freedom; for people to be free to be compassionate; free to give out of the abundance of what they have earned. Free to give out of the abundance of what they are free to own and earn. Socialism,…
The Church should have the freedom to refuse allegiance to the State on the issue of Gay Marriage.
If Australia’s Prime Minister is serious about fairness, he’ll preserve the right to a conscientious objection to SSM; the right for people to hold the view, and teach their kids that marriage is between a man and a woman; and that those children have a right to equal access to their biological father and mother. As I have hopefully made clear in the written contributions I’ve made to this national debate, I see the issues as a matter of social justice. The “no” vote has been about defending truth, liberty, fraternity, science, and even equality, from unbalanced ideological servitude. The State wants…
French President Emmanuel Macron wants to build a European army to oppose the United States.
The speech delivered by Emmanuel Macron, at the Armistice Centenary this week, was a carefully targeted rejection of Donald Trump and his popular platform. French President Emmanuel Macron remarked: The old demons are rising again, ready to complete their task of chaos and of death. Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. In saying, ‘Our interests first, whatever happens to the others’, you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: its moral values. Macron…
It’s Still Okay to Vote “No”
It’s fitting to mark the anniversary of the National survey on Same-Sex Marriage, with this important Heritage foundation panel discussion held in the United States in 2017. The panel contributors include Ryan Bomberger, who I’ve had a growing admiration for his work through the Radiance Foundation. The group discusses how anti-discrimination laws are being used as a sword, rather than a shield, in order to impose radical Leftist ideological agendas, and punish those who stand opposed to them. The panel also addresses the false equivalency that is made between the abhorrent Jim Crow laws, and someone declining to serve/make/create based…
Who Are the Real Fascists?
If the facts cannot be squeezed into a meme the level of attention those facts receive is reduced. Attention to detail is overlooked for what will best attract a view, a like, a follow or a share. Information is seen purely as a commodity.
Hate speech is a myth: It’s a shaming control technique used by those who can’t debate the issue.
By no means is this a conclusive run down on what I see as the need to find, and advocate for, a fair use of the vehicles we choose to communicate, and receive information through. By pointing out inconsistencies, and connecting them to a possible cause, my purpose here is primarily an attempt to suggest, that when it comes to social media, we practice the proverb of looking before we leap. A few years back an incident showed me the contrast between hard reality, and cheap comment. Comments from people, who in the comfort of relative security, only seem to be far more concerned with the side of the story that sells best, than with finding balance. Surely,…
Death by lynch mob: Brett Kavanaugh, Asia Bibi and the shared rage of the mobs out to get them.
There’s an eerie similarity between the protests against Asia Bibi and the protests against Brett Kavanaugh. The tension, and rhetoric, of anti-blasphemy protesters in Pakistan, are at the same fever pitch, as anti-Kavanaugh protests were during the senate hearings, surrounding Kavanaugh’s supreme court nomination (and subsequent confirmation) in the United States. Placards brandished about during the Ford-Kavanaugh debate which labeled Kavanaugh a rapist (without evidence or a judicial trial), have much of the same intensity as the placards brandished about by Islamist protestors in Pakistan. For evidence of this, see the long list of celebrity outrage expressed online against the…
Why Social Justice Warriors are the brethren of Judas Iscariot, not Jesus Christ.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Social Justice Warrior is ‘a person who expresses or promotes socially progressive views.’ The online Urban dictionary offers a more substantial explanation: A pejorative term for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for the purpose of raising their own personal reputation. A social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly believe all that they say, or even care about the groups they are fighting on behalf of. They typically repeat points from whoever is the most…
Multiculturalism has failed: Identity politics sets people on a trajectory towards tribalism and slavery.
In 1944, C.S Lewis wrote: “The demand for equality has two sources; First, the noble: the desire for fair play. Second, the mean-spirited: the hatred of superiority. If you seek to appease envy: 1. you will not succeed. Envy is insatiable. 2. you are trying to introduce equality where equality is fatal. “Political democracy is doomed if it tries to extend its demand for equality into the higher spheres of beauty, virtue and truth. Neither of which are democratic. Ethical, intellectual or aesthetic democracy is death.” Lewis’ position can be read as a push back against extreme egalitarianism and the quagmire…
Hollywood actor-vist warns: “There will be blood on the streets” if Democrats lose.
78 year old, actorvist, James Cromwell, has predicted that “if we don’t stop Trump now, there will be blood in the streets.” The actor and activist, most famous for his role as farmer, Arthur Hoggett in the 1995 movie ‘Babe’ (et.al), inferred that that Trump was a fascist dictator and that America was dangerously close to losing its democracy. Variety reported that Cromwell made the “candid comments” during a quick Q & A, while walking up the red carpet. He was attending an award ceremony where he was also “honored for his work as a character actor.” According to Variety,…
Hate speech laws are for people who can’t handle their own emotions.
In the debate about whether we create or discover a writing voice, it doesn’t matter which side of the camp you land on. It’s generally agreed that a writing voice takes time to develop. When I started a blog in 2013, I had no real idea how it would develop. My plan was to use the blog as a way of networking, and as a way of improving my own writing skills. In my post-graduate world, I wasn’t sure a blog would achieve either. Looking back, I can see areas where I’ve succeeded, and I can also see areas where…
Christianity Is Not About Being Nice, Even Jesus Got Angry
Elshtain is right, viewing Christianity as an ethic of universal niceness and attributing it to Jesus Christ, is an aberration of Christianity. It misses the point.
Venezuelan politicians still in denial, labels Angelina Jolie’s concerns “right-wing propaganda.”
American celebrity and UNHCR Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie, who had recently visited Venezuelan refugees in Peru, has been accused of being a tool of “Right Wing Propaganda”. Venezuelan Socialist Party boss, Diosdado Cabello, as reported by The Washington Post labelled Jolie’s visit, as “right wing media”, distracting from a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants heading to the United States.” Cabello’s tweet: Angelina Jolie was in Peru on behalf of the United Nations special envoy. In an UNHCR press release yesterday, Jolie gave her assessment on the Venezuelan refugee crisis, saying that it was ‘all the more shocking for being predictable and preventable.’…
The undermining of heterosexuality in the age of pride and ‘anything goes.’
Hidden away, near to the middle of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship,’ rests a three page essay on marriage called ‘Woman.’ Why Bonhoeffer named this chapter so specifically is a mystery. My best guess here is that he was looking to the growing ease by which society has sold and objectified sex. The chapter is an analysis of Jesus’ views on marriage, divorce and sexual immortality; or as Bonhoeffer states, ‘sexual irregularities’(p.85). The texts referred to are Matthew 5.27-32, 1 Cor. 6:13-15 & Gal 5:24, and it forms part of his larger discussion on ‘The Sermon on The Mount.’ What Bonhoeffer means by ‘sexual…
Directing Light Under The Shadow Of Nihilism: How Abortion Negates Freedom
For those who believe in absolute freedom, any “no” spoken to humanity from outside humanity, is repressive, and unfairly restrictive. In the shadow of this logic, even a lighthouse or global positioning navigation is offensive. Both the lighthouse and GPS direct humanity. They protect freedom, because in their very confrontation with us, they invite true freedom. They remind us of individual responsibility. Their existence shows us the necessity and power of decision. They direct us to make responsible choices. The existence of the lighthouse warns us that danger awaits. To act in absolute freedom and ignore this warning, is to…
Simone Weil: Marxism is a badly constructed religion.
Details about Simone Weil’s life and thought are enigmatic. Other than what’s included in the general encyclopedic biographies circling the internet, I know very little about her. Unlike someone such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, there is no long, authorised biography written by her friends. What knowledge I have been about to find out about her, is padded by what I’ve learnt from conversations with internet friends, whose admiration for her work has increased over the years. Simone was a French intellectual. Like Jacques Ellul, Weil worked in the French resistance, was an admirer of Karl Marx, and a contemporary of Albert…
Review: ‘Dream With Me: Race, Love & The Struggle We Must Win,’ John M. Perkins
John M. Perkins is an American civil rights campaigner. His 2017 book, ‘Dream with Me’, is a brave step forward in seeking to create better dialogue between both black and white communities. Overall, ‘Dream With Me’ is a call for both black and white Americans to unite, in their diversity, under God. This review will focus on two primary strengths of Perkins’ work. The first strength is the presence of a Theology of Christian Liberation. Perkins refuses to take the easy path of perpetual anger, condescension and resentment – both traits found in Black liberation theology (which is largely tainted by…
Ford Vs. Kavanaugh: The Attempted Hijacking of Justice?
Judgement based on raw emotion is the reason for why we have due process and habeas corpus. This system is not without flaws, but erasing due process is equal to denying the right of habeas corpus. If that happens then everyone is bound; subjected to the whim of the mob or the mood of the ruler. Due process is as important as habeas corpus. Habeas corpus being ‘the removal of illegal restraint on individual liberty.’ (Burke) Any removal, or denial of due process, would easily lead to the same thing happening to habeas corpus. Conclusions based on raw emotions about…
The confessing church is a church of martyrs.
The word martyr [μάρτυς] means to ‘bear witness’, this is derived from the word marturion [μαρτύριον] which is understood to mean evidence testimony; witness; to be testified. The word martyr is also connected to martyromai [μαρτύρομαι] ‘I am urging; I am bearing witness; I am declaring; I am insisting.’ Along with a lot of His colleagues, family and friends – of whom one was Karl Barth and the other Martin Niemöller, Bonhoeffer fits the profile of declaring; bearing witness; insisting. He was a martyr. Today, fascist theory might only exist in fringe elements of society, but the style of political activism employed by the Nazi’s isn’t. Rhetoric and labels offer…
Review: Amazon Prime’s, ‘Jack Ryan’, The Rebranding & Forced Conversion of An American Patriot.
Amazon’s ‘Jack Ryan’ is a fresh creative take on Tom Clancy’s, ‘Jack Ryan’ brand. The story has a standard structure. The plot is revealed as characters move from one crisis to the next. Each episode adds to the next, leading to the narrative’s conclusion. Casting was on point. Actor John Krasinski (Jack Ryan) plays alongside Australian actress, Abbie Cornish (Doctor Cathy Mueller who takes up a “casual” romantic relationship with Ryan). Wendell Pierce (Robert Zane in ‘Suits’) plays the role of James Greer. All three add to the series and its fresh creative take on Tom Clancy’s, ‘Jack Ryan’ brand. Amazon has been consistent in the temperaments…
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