Against Nothingness

No, this is not a post on church politics. It is, instead, a post on national politics as they enter/and become part of a church. I will also say in advance that this has nothing to do with my opinions on the political parties involved in what follows, nor on the individuals as politicians (i.e. this is not intended to speak to their leadership abilities, governmental policies, etc.) My focus is, rather, primarily on the church and on theology.  Two incidents have precipitated these thoughts.  Firstly, a long-standing member of our church is campaigning to be elected MP. A week or two ago, he was introduced to the congregation in this capacity. The church leadership was very careful and very clear about what was, and was not, going on: we are not encouraging our members to vote one way or another, we are not endorsing any political party of candidate (to the point that they never even mentioned what party he was running for); instead, we want to pray for and over the leader...

Star Parker, Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It. Thomas Nelson, 2010. 241 pgs.  Disclosure: This book was given to me by Thomas Nelson to review.  The title really does say it all in this case.  Parker argues the US government has caused a lot of problem, keeping the poor enslaved to a liberal mindset which is preventing them from actually being helped. She claims that ever since the great depression, the USA has been headed down the wrong path: towards free-loading moral relativism, and away from the character, responsibility, and freedom that made the US great. She explores this effect in multiple areas of life: welfare, sexuality, education, and the family. She concludes by arguing that the answer is to hold up freedom as opposed to dependence. As I review this, I am acutely aware that I am Canadian and, therefore, am approaching this book with a somewhat unique perspective.  I am not a Republican n...

Oliver O'Donovan, Common Objects of Love: Moral Reflection and the Shaping of Community , William B. Eerdmans: 2002, 72 pgs. In The City of God, St Augustine revised Cicero's famous definition of a community to read: "a multitude of rational beings united by agreeing to share the things they love." This definition of a community or a people provides the structure of Oliver O'Donovan's 2001 Stob Lectures, which are the content of this book. Chapter one considers "objects of love," chapter two "agreement to share," and chapter three "a multitude of rational beings united." Delivered within months of 9/11, these lectures consider some of the multifaceted intersections between politics and religion, a topic to which O'Donovan has given considerable attention to over the years. In the face of rising patriotism and modern publicity based community, O'Donovan draws the readers attention back to the logic of a universal human comm...