Tag: Politics
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The Role of a President
The modern political world often idealizes leaders who “get things done” — in other words, are able to enact an agenda effectively. I see a lot of merit in the arguments for a more powerful executive, though to be fair I have not personally acquainted myself with the arguments against the strong executive. While I…
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Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin
Growing up I often heard the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” used as a way to approach the complexity of living in a world where we are called to love a broken and sinful people. This phrase actually comes from St Augustine in his Letter 211 where he writes, “Cum dilectione hominum et…
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Bad Dichotomies
You have probably heard, on multiple occasions, the distinction between knowledge and wisdom. “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit,” they say, “But wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” This distinction indeed exists, and perhaps even the tomato example is appropriate. But there is still something wrong, and…
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Justice, Politics, and Thomas Aquinas
A 2017 Gallup Poll found that Americans are becoming more and more partisan on a number of issues. The two parties are as far apart as they have ever been in the past half a century. More alarming is the separation between parties on a large variety of issues. In the past when party tensions…
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The Strange Image of America
It is common in American immigrant communities to view things from their ancestral homeland as sacred and holy, while viewing everything American as profane and disposable. This trend is difficult to quantify, and it is based solely on my observations. Yet I noticed it consistently throughout immigrants from Eastern Europe as well as even some…
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The Worst Argument of All
“You are not pro-life; you are pro-birth!” It is a common objection that the pro-life movement faces. In this article I will argue that this argument is not only fallacious and illogical, but also condescending, pathological, and destructive. It is the worst political argument ever made, and this fact should be common knowledge. I will…
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Political and Theological Divides
The Eastern Orthodox Church, of which I am a member, has had a schism within itself during this past fall. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow broke all ties with the Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople over a land dispute in Ukraine. Opinions on this event within the Orthodox community have been split, and the debate continues. Both…
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Simplicity and Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is soon approaching and there is so much good food to look forward to in the upcoming days. Thanksgiving, much like the Sabbath, is a day on which we rest and look back on all that we are grateful for. Yet despite the myriad of things that we can say we are truly glad…