In John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, fictitious British secret service officer Alec Leamas concludes that spies are a “procession of fools, traitors, and pansies.”[1] If Leamas is correct, this article ends abruptly before it even begins. Are the various actions of a nation’s intelligence agencies (e.g. espionage, counterintelligence, covert political [ Read More ]
Here are the top seven books I recommend on the topic of depression. Some of the books relate directly to the depressed person, while others communicate more directly to the caregivers of depressed persons. I will describe each book and then rank its level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the [ Read More ]
What hath Christian progressivism to do with Christian conservatism? Little to nothing, the authors of a new study argue. In One Faith No Longer: The Transformation of Christianity in Red and Blue America, sociologists George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk contend that the differences between these two groups are so significant that it is time to regard [ Read More ]
As a political opinion writer and speechwriter, I am generally amused by many of the critical comments people leave on my website or my Fox News Opinion pieces; sometimes I am amused because the comments are insults, other times because they are patently inane. Yet, other times, the critical comments should be taken seriously because [ Read More ]
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and physical health disorder caused by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Persons who experience PTSD often turn to alcohol or drugs to alleviate physical or mental symptoms. Physical symptoms include surges in levels of adrenaline or cortisol which cause a person’s body to be on perpetual “high [ Read More ]
Many contemporary thought leaders have spoken intriguingly about a future without Jesus or, to be more precise, a future in which the transcendent truths of the Christian faith hold little or no sway over society. More to the point, these thought leaders often pose as anthropologists who find Christianity dehumanizing and as tea-leaf readers who [ Read More ]
Out of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions emerged newly-formed streams of Christianity. Those traditions both drew upon, and reacted against, the other traditions. In this installment, we will explore briefly some of the main distinctives of these traditions as they sought to formulate the proper approach to the political sphere. We will begin with the [ Read More ]
In the wake of Augustine’s magisterial City of God, and the ensuing weakening of the Roman Empire, the church continued to reflect upon, and develop its approach toward politics. After the schism that resulted in the formation of an Eastern Orthodox church distinct from the Roman Catholicism, some differences of approach emerged. In this installment, [ Read More ]
What Hath Christianity To Do with Politics?: (Pt:1: The Bible and Politics) In a nation divided socially, culturally, and politically, there is a necessity to reflect upon the proper relationship between Christianity and politics. As Richard John Neuhaus often remarked, politics is a function of culture at large, and culture is always underlain by religion [ Read More ]
In this episode of the Tyrannus Hall videocast, Bill Dejong interviews me about the life and relevance of Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper. As with all revered leaders, Kuyper was a flawed man, but a great leader nonetheless, a Christian statesman from whom we American Christians can learn. To watch the video, click here.