Anyway, I thought I’d address this question today. Maybe you, dear reader, are wondering the same thing. So here’s my rationale, just in case anyone’s interested:
1. My first object, the reason that propelled me into this, was my seeing good material out there that I wanted, indeed felt compelled, to publicize. I was eased into this process by the resignation of George Will from the Republican Party back in late June; I started this blog, appropriately enough, on July 4. Will’s reasoning made sense to me. And then, in bopping around online, I ran into articles by Thabiti Anyabwile, someone I know and respect, about why a Trump presidency is intolerable, and a treasure trove of good stuff over on The Federalist website. I’ve since come across many other great resources; what have I been reading all this time?
2. Along with trying to publicize good material, I’m trying to introduce the possibility that there is room for disagreement on political matters (not moral ones, although the line is often blurred) among conservative Christians. We don’t have to vote the party line, whatever that may be. We can think through the issues ourselves, reading our Bibles, being led by the Holy Spirit, and consulting a range of wise counselors. We can be “wise as serpents.” The thing of it is, as I’ve come to realize more and more, we all tend to exist in our own little bubble, and that can be particularly true in the area of where we get our news. But if you get all your information from one source, one flavor, then you’ll be hard pressed to know what the real deal is. More by accident than design, I’ve been reading everything from solidly conservative websites to more mainstream-media outlets such as The Washington Post (which has a great range of opinions, I was pleased and interested to see) to I guess you’d say more reliably liberal sources such as Slate.com. I plan a roundup or two where I list and comment on various outlets, and I also want to delve into the history of the whole Breitbart News phenomenon, especially since its former CEO is now Donald Trump’s campaign manager.
3. To be honest, some of this is purely self-indulgent. I’ve gotten so enmeshed in reading about the election and many of its issues that I’ve been spending w-a-a-y too much time with my head in my computer. So, I figure, if I’m spending all this time anyway satisfying my own curiosity, why not write about it and share my thoughts? Then at least there’s a chance of my accomplishing something outside of myself. If I know I’m writing a post about an issue I’ll be motivated to really marshal the facts and not just read an article and then forget about it.
So there it is. Now on to the subject I had originally planned to write about today and which I probably should have written about at the beginning of the week. Last Friday the lead article on The Washington Post’s op-ed page was by Jerry Falwell, Jr., and entitled: “Trump Is the Churchillian Leader We Need.” I find it mildly astonishing that such a mainstream news outlet would print this, but I guess it just goes to show. Falwell has been right in there pitching for Trump since early in the campaign, and now this. I was going to do a penetrating analysis on his article but ran across a piece I can’t improve upon. No, wait! Before you read the title, let me tell you that the author, Susan Wright, is a Christian (I know this because I’ve read some of her other stuff; I don’t assume her beliefs from this piece) and a graduate of Liberty University, the school where Falwell is president. Ho-kay. Now you can read the title: “Jerry Falwell Jr. Makes Insane Comparison Between Trump and Churchill.” Thanks, Susan!