Sometimes it’s hard to shake the uneasy feeling that we are witnessing the dissolution of an idea that was once America.
.. (Around two-thirds of Americans don’t trust either party’s front-runner.)
Time to Face the Hard Truth: The Sky Isn’t Falling on America
Only in a truly demoralized conservative movement could the crass materialism of Donald Trump find a foothold. That kind of nihilistic energy reflects more than just economic anxiety. It evidences a deeper sense of despair about the moral and cultural trajectory of our society.
.. They loved Manchester United but seemed to have little interest in Uzbek soccer. Midway through my service I got an idea of why that might be. Some soccer-loving American friends started going to local games. As longtime fans of the sport, they were strongly under the impression that at least some of the games were fixed. A match would proceed normally for awhile, but in the last few minutes the leading team might start making obvious, clownish mistakes that would ultimately lead to a loss. My friends found it hard to believe that this phenomenon was natural.
.. On the other hand, a society that demands fair football games is positioned to navigate these other problems. We still have a strong sense of fair play, a zeal for excellence, and the kind of political foundation that can sustain a free society.
Huckabee and the Heresy of Americanism
in his book Between Babel and Beast (pp. 57-83), this is a reading of things we’ve had with us since first Puritans set foot on the New England shores. Many made the connection between Israel entering the Promised Land, escaping from Pharaoh’s (England’s) tyranny, driving out the Canaanites (Native Americans), and setting up a new theocracy under God.
.. The problem with this view, though, is that it’s actually a heresy, or at least
a seriously false teaching. Leithart again: “Americanism is a heresy; in certain respects it is simply idolatrous. Jesus, not James Madison, brought in the ‘new order of the ages.’”