Neiswonger-ianisms

"On the atheistic political left, truth and value are whatever the community decides they are; on the atheistic political right, truth and value are whatever the individual decides they are; "true truth" as a matter of objective super-perspectival knowing is reserved to Christianity, and those that unconsciously feed from that table."

"Continuing on poverty, the causes of poverty are manifold and complicated, but there are some obvious Christian and biblical themes, such as that the causes are usually rooted in oppression and violence against the weak and the powerless, the most common means of this oppression is the abuse of state power, and that the role of mitigating the effects of poverty is a fundamental duty of the Church."

"If a state is given enough power over the lives of the citizens to eradicate poverty, it is also given enough power over the lives of the citizens to eliminate freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and the right to political dissent. This is one of the reasons that the church is irreplaceable. The church holds no civil power, and so no threat. Its tools are persuasion and accountability to charitable givers."

"If a state is given enough power over the lives of the citizens to eradicate poverty, it is also given enough power over the lives of the citizens to eliminate freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and the right to political dissent. This is one of the reasons that the church is irreplaceable. The church holds no civil power, and so no threat. Its tools are persuasion and accountability to charitable givers."

"Faith can be great or small, it can develop, it can be mixed with other things good or bad, it can be mature or infantile, but at the end of the day, it's like neuronal "all-or-none firing", you've either got it or you ain't; there is no in-between or transitional middle ground."

"Hope is established in times of joy and peace, in reserve for times of trial and ordeal. Even Jesus spent time alone in the mountains as the preparative for times with the crowds in the cities. Moses spent forty years in the desert before serving the Lord before an unruly people. To gage where we are and when we are is half the battle; the rest is having a firm grasp on unseen realities."

"Without God as the source of objective value, all the philosophies of men as so much speculation and mere preference."

"Not caring what other people think is a healthy part of taking a Christian posture toward the culture; the other part is caring what other people think."

"Once we see that being a "Follower of Jesus" holds by necessity identical ethical, practical, noetic and doctrinal formulations to the old "being a Christian" or a "member of the Church", there is not much persuasive force left in changing our self description."

"A true and lively faith will inevitably manifest itself in love and good works, not because they contribute to our justification before God, but as the reasonable response an unreasonable grace."

"The existence and common use of natural law was entirely non-controversial until the advent of rationalism, empiricism and theological liberalism; the entire western corpus of law is rooted in such."

"There are some people out there that go so far as to deny Divine providence; I wonder why He ordains that kind of thing?"

For now...

Legislate This!

It’s been said, “You can’t legislate morality!” But this is exactly what legislators and judges do when they declare by law that particular behaviors must be adopted by the broader population. Laws establish a “moral good” for a society. Laws are written to protect certain classes of people. Laws are written to provide “safety” and “access” to certain groups of people. If someone opposes these laws, they are considered “dangerous” and “harmful to the social fabric of society.” Those who oppose laws established by the government are therefore, “morally bad,” and possibly “criminal” because they object to the “good” that the government is trying to achieve. Government agencies promote their agendas by empowering publishers of school textbooks to promote alternative lifestyles as “normal” or even “exceptional.” Those who oppose these perspectives are considered “prejudiced” and “outside the mainstream.” Sure, the Amish, and others who are famously “counter-cultural” don’t need to conform to these laws because they are statistically insignificant and keep out of everyone’s way. But what about larger minorities with their own political voice and regular meetings? What about those who have financial influence and are known for not having an ultimate allegiance to the state? Will the majority continue with the mantra, “You can have your own morality and we will have ours”? Or will they, with the FORCE OF LAW, demand compliance and suppress dissent? It is important to remember, even in representative republics -- being “morally good” must be founded upon truly Moral Laws. (See Westminster Shorter Catechism: Q. 40-42)