Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Not exactly quasi-religious

The WaPo’s Hanna Rosin, who has a forthcoming book on Patrick Henry College, describes the rising evangelical generation for which Monica Goodling, for better or worse, has become a poster child. There’s no doubt (should I emphasize that word?) that they work hard.

Other doubtless (should I emphasize that word?) hard workers include the militant atheists now topping the best seller lists (would that be fiction or non-fiction?). Of course, it would be worth comparing the "mainstream" and "Christian" best seller lists to see who’s really selling the most books, but that would too much to ask of an AP reporter.

Hat tip: our friend, the Friar.

Discussions - 12 Comments

It always strikes me as terribly arrogant when someone thinks they've got religion figured out . . . be that someone an atheist or a Christian.

1: Of course, much of history is made by "terribly arrogant" people.

Hard work and being organized are great. But it's also important to know what one's up against. I'm not sure this new generation of evangelicals in public service really does. It also seems to me that this phony scandal about the U.S. Attorneys could have been avoided if the people at Justice had been smarter. (Why appoint Carole Lam in the first place? Or David Iglesias, for that matter? Wouldn't people with better antennae have sensed, from personal conversations with these people and real knowledge of their background, that one would be indifferent to illegal immigration, and another might rat on the administration when the going got tough? And why not do the "politics" with winks and nods that the Schumers and Kennedys will never know about?)
I don't think they teach these things at Liberty.

2: How unfortunate.

"Whether we like what we see is not in point. To see is in point."

Heh. Very well then.

"I don't think they teach these things at Liberty."

No, but I also don't think that "these things" can be taught, at least not in an academic setting. To be sure, one can theorize about formal and informal power and their different uses--and if they're not reading Mansfield at Liberty, they should be--but ultimately the practiced use of informal power comes with time and experience. Goodling wasn't very subtle. But at 33, she is less Young Evangelical in Power than proto-Young Evangelical in Power. I suspect that future Monica Goodlings will be more subtle, learning to wink and nod.

Matt, why would you say that you think it's unfortunate for someone to claim they've got their religion figured out. The truths may be mysterious and wondrous at times and almost beyond comprehension, but that does not mean that believers cannot claim to have figured out the essentials. Indeed, why believe it at all if you have not it figured out? In Christianity, Christ declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." That gives a lot of confidence and assurance.

Comment 8 by Tony: Indeed, why believe it at all if you have not it figured out? In Christianity, Christ declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." That gives a lot of confidence and assurance.


If you've figured it out — believe it.

7: David, it's not true that political shrewdness is unteachable. If Liberty University aims to get people into public service and politics, then some of its professors should be people who are not only experienced in that world, but also are shrewd about it -- which many experienced people aren't.
Such professors may exist at Liberty, but if not, they need to be hired, and if they do exist, they need to be not only free but encouraged to share their lessons, not just their book learning, reverence for the Constitution, etc.

I believe Ms. Goodling graduated from (Pat Robertson's) Regent University {School of Law?}, rather than (the late Rev. Falwell's) Liberty.

The point still holds.

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