End of Summer Musings (8/26/2024)
Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:
The Blessed Hope Podcast (which is available on most podcasting feeds) has migrated from Google Podcasts to YouTube. If you prefer to get the Blessed Hope Pod through YouTube podcasts, that is now an option. Be sure to like and subscribe as this will get the Blessed Hope deeper into the YouTube algorithm.
We have returned to season three of the Blessed Hope podcast, “God is Faithful”, a deep dive into 1 Corinthians. We picked up with chapter 7:1 and we are dealing with sex, marriage and divorce, and celibacy.
Thinking Out Loud:
There is something blissfully transformative about being in the mountains—Machen wrote about it
The Houston Astros’ Space City uniforms are absolutely ridiculous. Perfect for Altuve though . . .
Does anyone else not like the Seinfeld “100th” episodes? Seinfeld is not a “best moments” sort of comedy
Political virtue signaling—since I am not voting for either presidential candidate (the lesser of evils is still evil—especially when both candidates are positively terrible and neither should be president), I did not watch a single moment of either party’s conventions. Doesn’t sound like I missed anything, except Hulk Hogan tearing off his shirt and Joe Biden blathering on way past his and my bedtimes
Recently Read:
Simply put, Yuval Levin’s American Covenant is a positively brilliant and timely book. If you are wondering what went wrong with American politics and government, Levin has your answer—Congress has failed to fulfill its proper function according to the Constitution. Once that domino falls, so too come the downstream consequences which seriously impact both the executive office (Congress has ceded far too much power to the President) and the legislative branch of government. The courts have become determinative in disputes over matters which should be addressed and debated in the Congress.
Levin reminds us of something quite easy to overlook but vital to understand. The Constitution was never designed to secure complete national unity and full agreement of the citizens. The Constitution was designed to give America a political framework with which to work through our inevitable disagreements by forcing elected officials to negotiate over legislation and then compromise to get such legislation enacted. As Levin puts it, “a more unified society would not disagree less, but would disagree better” (3.)
Levin’s purpose statement is clear and capably unpacked in subsequent chapters. He writes,
I begin from the premises that the self-evident truths to which our country has been often imperfectly dedicated from the start remain as true as ever; that the Constitution has enabled us to work toward governing ourselves accordingly (and increasingly so in some important respects) and that the hard work involved in its preservation, improvement, and repair is, therefore, worth our best efforts (8-9).
The Constitution provides the framework of a renewal of public life since it is the supreme legal authority of the land, providing our nation with a rule of law. It provides the means by which our government can address practical problems through enacting legislation, not by moralizing, pontificating, and juvenile peacocking. He laments, that as Congress continues to abandon its constitutional responsibilities, the political framework to solve policy disagreements becomes a partisan den of “derelictions of responsibility and corruptions of political culture” (28).
Levin ends on a simple but hopeful note. “American politics is an endless argument among people who share a history, a geography, a culture, a national character and a broad sense of commitments in common.” The Constitution gives us a way “to keep our balance as a nation, and avoid large mistakes. And it forces us to act together even when we do not think alike” (299-300).
Extreme partisans and political tribalists will not like Levin’s book. Those who need to read it the most will not. But those who are genuinely concerned about the state of our national health and inability to conduct the nation’s pressing business will find an explanation for what is wrong, and a clear direction as to how to fix what is wrong.
This book is highly recommended!
Recommended Links:
Not as many Evangelicals as we thought. It depends upon what they actually believe
Carl Trueman on abortion advocacy. Life in a “disenchanted world”
R. C. Sproul’s legacy? Classical theism
Not So Recommended Links:
How about a vacation in Afghanistan? Try Taliban Travel
A face only a mother could love: Was Ivan the Terrible, really that terrible?
Well, it is about time! Atlantis finally discovered
And I thought it was gross when the cat yacked up a hairball
More stuff from God’s safety deposit box: The scarlet worm
Karl Doenitz is turning in his Kriegsmarine grave. Floppies?
Want to work for the Harris campaign? Here are the pronouns you may choose
Past Musings:
Video: Rowan Atkinson — British Patriot! Mr. Bean on the dangers of restricted speech. Brilliant!