Welcome to The Square Inch, a Friday newsletter on Christianity, culture, and all of the many-varied “square inches” of God’s domain. This is a paid subscription feature with a preview before hitting the paywall. Please consider subscribing to enjoy this weekly missive along with an occasional “Off The Shelf” feature about books, a frequent Pipe & Dram feature of little monologues/conversations in my study, and Wednesday’s “The Quarter Inch,” a quick(er) commentary on current events.
Dear Friends,
It feels like I’m coming down with a cold. Thankfully, I was able to get through my presentation today at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. I felt my voice cracking by the end, but nobody seemed to notice. It was well-received. My title was, “Sirens In Stereo: Confronting Cultural Challenges From Left and Right.” The essence is that classical liberalism is getting attacked from two extremes, and it needs to be defended. Not just because it has worked in its basic aims (keeping factions from killing each other and that its liberty has produced historically unprecedented prosperity and flourishing), but because it is a hard-fought and hard-won fruit of the Christian religion. I’ll stand by that claim without fully expanding on it here. It’s a big topic, and I’m forced to tap this newsletter out on my iPad again so that would be tedious.
J. Gresham Machen, founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, called civil and religious liberty “More valuable than any other earthly thing,” and I agree. And while it is no doubt true that the Left will label anyone who wants Christian virtues reflected in our laws “Christian Nationalists”—an absurd application of a label—that shouldn’t blind us to the fact that there really are people on the Right who fit that bill and want to pursue that aim by illiberal means. Just the other day I saw a video clip of a CREC pastor associated with the ethno-nationalist movement—let me interrupt myself. Rosaria Butterfield just today encouraged people to “name names.” She thinks it important in her line of work to actually call out actual people. It isn’t just “ideas.” People are promoting these ideas and we shouldn’t be so polite in our discourse that actual people never get named, so that they can continue their subversive work in the shadows.
Now, I think sometimes Rosaria runs the risk of being too enthusiastic about that. The risk is tarnishing perfectly responsible people by association. Just because, say, The Gospel Coalition once published some article by somebody who is really wrong on sexual identity matters does not mean everyone associated with said ministry is to be considered beyond the pale—indeed, even the ministry itself. These things are more complicated than that. We also have to make room for people and institutions to be works in progress. But I do take her point.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Square Inch to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.