Making and Controlling a Robotic Public

![“ArtIm:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090824-making-and-controlling-a-robotic-public.jpg" ““ArtIm:”) As I was making my way through the channels to watch an episode of King of the Hill, I stopped on a channel that was showing the film I, Robot (2004). One of my favorite scenes was about to come on—Dr. Calvin’s exchange with V.I.K.I., the supe [...]

Republicans are Socialists Too

![“ArtIm:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090717-otto-von-bismarck-nazis-hitler-social-economics-big-government-intervention-socialism-republicans.jpg" ““ArtIm:”) Lawrence O’Donnell, the stand-in host for loudmouth Ed Schultz of “The Ed Show,” put Rep. John Culberson (R-Tex.) on the spot with a series of questions about Socialism. O’Donnell, symp [...]

Who are the Real Brownshirts?

![“Artim:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090720-obamacare-democrats-brownshirts-political-left-town-hall.jpg" ““Artim:”) Congressman Brian Baird, a Democrat from Vancouver, Washington, told the Columbian, a newspaper serving Clark County: “What we’re seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics. . . . I mean that very seriously.” On Rachel M [...]

The Divine State in Action

![“ArtIm:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090721-spending-liberals-obama-roosevelt-taxpayers-history-america-government.jpg" ““ArtIm:”) Obama and the Democrats want “more Americans to contribute today so that all Americans can do better tomorrow.” I’m sorry, but I’m already contributing enough, taking into account federal, state, prop [...]

The Trap of Neutrality

![“ArtIm:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090702-politics-culture-liberals-religion-christians-activists.jpg" ““ArtIm:”) According to a radio editorial some years ago, “a man’s religion and the strength of his conviction are his own personal matter” and therefore “religion should not interfere with politics.”[1] Of course, this too is an expressi [...]

Dr. Strangelove is an Obama Czar

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-20090713-babies-blacks-population-abortion-parenthood-statistics-pro-life.jpg" ““Article”) In an interview that was published in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine (July 5, 2009), Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she thought the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion was predicated o [...]

Radicalism Goes Mainstream

![“Artim:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090707-saul-alinsky-liberals-america-takeover-government-leftists-tactics.jpg" ““Artim:”) Why does the Left sympathize with radical Islamic extremists? Over the July 4th weekend a story about how a recent New York City Council resolution that recommend the city’s school system shut down to commemorate two [...]

It Can't Happen Here

![“ArtIm:](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/artim-20090630-conservatism-big-government-democracy-spending.jpg" ““ArtIm:”) Sociologist William Brustein went to Berlin a few years ago to tour the city. As his bus tour passed the bunker where Hitler spent his last days, the guide told how Hitler had seized power and fooled the German people. He assured the to [...]

The First Principles of Economics

What is the first principle of economics? Some economists will claim that it’s supply and demand, while others insist that it’s scarcity or the division of labor. The first principle of economics is “thou shalt not steal.”The word economics is derived from two Greek words: oikos, meaning “house,” and nomos, meaning “law.” Combined we get “rules or laws of the house.” Economics is ethical before it [...]

Why Paying Attention to the Constitution Matters

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009june08.jpg" ““Article”) I received the following portion of a longer email from someone who disagreed with me on the interpretation of the Constitution related to the relationship between the Federal government and the states. He opened his email with this statement (my response follows his com [...]

Selective Condemnation

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009jun02.jpg" ““Article”) Paul Hill, convicted of murdering abortionist John Britton and his bodyguard in 1994, considered himself to be a twentieth-century John Brown. Brown, if you recall, was the self-appointed avenger of God who was fond of quoting Hebrews 9:22: “All things are by the law purg [...]

The Christian America Debate Continues

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009june01.jpg" ““Article”) Every society is founded on some ultimate principle. It might be the absolutism of a single ruler, the majority-rule concept of a pure democracy where the “voice of the people is considered to be the voice of God” (vox populi, vox dei), or an oligarchy where a self-appoi [...]

Do We Need Social Justice?

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009may26.jpg" ““Article”) The concept “social justice” means different things to different people. Justice is often equated with social equality, a mistaken notion if there ever was one. In looking for a helpful way to explain the meaning of justice, baseball comes to mind. Rarely are teams equal [...]

Beyond Good and Evil

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009may04.jpg" ““Article”) “It can’t happen here!” How many times have we heard this claim? But it can happen here. Many will tell you that it is happening here. It seems that almost on a daily basis we are losing our God-given rights. Some even make the case that there is a direct assault on the C [...]

Can a Bible be Used by a Jury?

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009april28.jpg" ““Article”) On April 20, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a challenge from a Texas death row inmate who claimed his constitutional rights were violated because the jurors consulted the Bible in the sentencing phase of the trial. The jurors consulted a passage that stated th [...]

What is the Duty of All Nations?

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-2009apr14.jpg" ““Article”) While Christians are weakening their particular witness in the area of politics by taking a two-kingdom approach, it’s interesting to take a look at a number of our nation’s more secular founders to see what they believed about how God is the fixed point governmental thou [...]

Legalizing Slavery in America

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-031709.jpg" ““Article”) The world is in a mess, and Christians know it. Too many of us believe that we have not been called to change the world. What if centuries ago Christians had taken a similar position? What would the world be like today? John Newton (1725–1807) was an infamous slave trader. T [...]

The Return of American Fascism

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-030309.png" ““Article”) We’ve been taught that fascism is a foreign-born ideology that spawned the political aspirations of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. In reality, fascism has had a long history in America and has been resurrected by people who believe that power guided by good intentions ca [...]

One's Soul for a Political Pottage Mess

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-022509.jpg" ““Article”) “I am a Christian, I am a Protestant, I am a Baptist . . . [and] my own personal religious faith . . . has developed out of my own personal experience in life as well. . . . [T]he tradition of which I’m a part recognizes the importance of personal communication with the deit [...]

Premillennialism and Politics Don't Mix

![“Article](“http://assets.americanvision.org/mediafiles/article-image-022409.jpg" ““Article”) What is so troubling about Christian involvement in politics? Christians like John MacArthur, Cal Thomas, and Ed Dobson have written on the subject. MacArthur’s Why Government Can’t Save You includes the following subtitle: An Alternative to Political Activism. While MacArth [...]