America’s Biggest Gift to the World

“The single biggest gift that America has shared with the impoverished billions on our planet is hope.  America has taught the people of the world that one’s fate is not determined at birth.  Anyone can succeed in a meritocratic society.  America also changed fundamentally the grain of history when it emerged as a major power.  It refused to join the European impulse to colonize the world.  Instead, America encouraged decolonization.  When America was truly powerful at the end of World War II, it sought to create a new world order based on the rule of law and multilateral institutions and processes that also allowed other nations to grow and flourish.  No other great power has tried to create a level playing field to enable other nations to also succeed.  America did.  This explains why many nations flourished in the second half of the twentieth century in this new American world order.” — Kishore Mahbubani, Beyond the Age of Innocence, p.2

Political Implications of Postmodernism, I

“(1) Social Constructivism.  Meaning, morality, and truth do not exist objectively; rather they are constructed by society.” — Gene Edward Veith, Postmodern Times, p.158.

New Website in Town

There is a new website up (well, actually a modification of an old one) called America in the World.  The organization behind this site is based–of all places–in Britain!  Who woulda thunk?  Its purpose is to be a voice of sanity in the worldwide clamor of Anti-Americanism.  You will find articles challenging some of the myths that people around the world entertain about American society.  Also, if your conscience permits, do sign the online declaration against Anti-Americanism which is featured on the site.

“Non-Negotiable Demands”

“We have no intention of imposing our culture.  But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the power of the state; respect for women; private property; free speech; equal justice; and religious tolerance.” — Pres. George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, 2002.

When Should Christians Address the Government?

1.  “Christians speak when rulers command them or others to disobey God.”
2.  “Christians speak when rulers invite them to comment or give advice.”
3.  “Christians speak when rulers become arbitrary and exceed their constitutional restraints.”
4.  “Christians speak words of commendation when government action is worthy of support or praise.”
5.  “Christians speak when a government is grossly inconsistent or arbitrary in its application of rules and regulations.”
6.  “Christians speak when a government persistently ignores major societal problems and evils even when it has the means to address them.”
7.  “Christians speak when governments are unresponsive to the legitimate concerns of minorities and exploited individuals.”
8.  “Christians speak when governments, including courts, undermine human dignity and oppose fundamental God-ordained institutions such as traditional marriage and the family.”
9.  “Christians speak when governments affirm the killing of the most innocent and vulnerable human beings by abortion.”
– John Redekop, Politics Under God, pp.153

Restoring America

“It is time to organize a new American restoration movement.  The focus should not be on political ideology or partisanship, but instead on an all-fronts mobilization of individual Americans to improve the social and moral infrastructure of America.  The movement must attempt to forge a new consensus on the basic values upon which a free society rests: values almost entirely embodied in the concepts of respect and responsibility. 

The restoration of America will begin within each individual.  And so we must enlist leadership from all sectors of society to rebuild American greatness around the tripod of character, community, and culture.  The mission of the business and professional community should be ethics and quality.  The focus of education should be character and classical virtue.  The effort of politics should be to restore the integrity and competence of our public institutions.” – Don E. Eberly, Restoring the Good Society, p.22-23.

Securing the West

How should the West preserve itself in the face of declining power?  Samuel Huntington recommends that it is in the interest of the United States and European countries:
(1) ”to achieve greater political, economic, and military integration and to coordinate their polices so as to preclude states from other civilizations exploiting differences among them”  
(2) “to incorporate into the European Union and NATO the Western states of Central Europe that is, the Visegard countries, the Baltic republics, Slovenia, and Croatia”
(3) “to encourage the ‘Westernization’ of Latin America and, as far as possible, the close alignment of Latin American countries with the West”
(4) “to restrain the development of the conventional and unconventional military power of Islamic and Sinic countries”
(5) “to slow the drift of Japan away from the West and toward accomodation with China”
(6) “to accept Russia as the core state of Orthodoxy and a major regional power with legitimate interests in the security of its southern borders”
(7) “to maintain Western technological and military superiority over other civilizations”
(8 ) “and, most important, to recognize that Western intervention in the affairs of other civilizations is probably the single most dangerous source of instability and potential global conflict in a multicivilizational world.” — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, p.312.

A Place for Civil Disobedience

“If there is no place for civil disobedience, then the government has been made autonomous, and as such, it has been put in the place of the Living God.  If there is no final place for civil disobedience, then the government has been put in the place of the Living God, because then you are to obey it even when it tells you in its own way at that time to worship Caesar.  At that point is exactly where the early Christians performed their acts of civil disobedience even when it cost them their lives.” — Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto, p.130.