The Imaginative Conservative

the gold standard was absolute chaos, with long pe...

2012-05-30T14:31:56.946-05:00

the gold standard was absolute chaos, with long periods of inflation followed by long periods of deflation. Nor are mere comparisons of GDP (assuming anybody knows what it was) valid, since it wasn't even physically the same country, much less demographically. The United States of 1790 was smaller than the US of 1810, which was smaller then the US of 1830. It would be like comparing West

Thanks for posting this, and the vow specifically ...

2012-05-28T08:22:21.737-05:00

Thanks for posting this, and the vow specifically ~

I have four nephews in the Army right now: two safely back from Afghanistan, one headed there this Fall.

May the Lord protect your son and have mercy on these United States!

Dana in GA

Dr. Birzer, I read this post a couple of days ago,...

2012-05-27T19:02:27.797-05:00

Dr. Birzer, I read this post a couple of days ago, & one phrase in the last paragraph has been eating at me: "but they are decentralized."
Why the use of "but" here? I see great hope in a decentralized classical education movement.

I think that Eliot (and Brad) were looking for mor...

2012-05-24T05:47:25.526-05:00

I think that Eliot (and Brad) were looking for more than millenarianism here.-S Masty

Well said.

2012-05-23T09:37:56.239-05:00

Well said.

I'll leave it to others to preach that Christ ...

2012-05-23T08:42:33.233-05:00

I'll leave it to others to preach that Christ has overcome the world. Brad's article deals with the temporal political reality that we have a very real responsibility to deal with with very temporal means. Alfred of Wessex could have very well joined a monastery and taken consolation that the Second Coming would right all wrongs. But he did not: he did the work put before him. I

Since the beginning God has brought judgment to ea...

2012-05-22T20:10:14.918-05:00

Since the beginning God has brought judgment to earth (to the land) when two institutions fail: the church and the civil government. In the days of "first century church", it was the failure of the established church, apostate Judaism. It was the established church that crucified their king-high priest. But even the apostate church could not crush God's victorious Son. The civil

Kirk’s 1987 essay is an entreaty against an Articl...

2012-05-22T20:07:42.940-05:00

Kirk’s 1987 essay is an entreaty against an Article V constitutional convention to balance the federal budget, which at the time was two States shy of the requisite two-thirds. This is one of the rare occasions in which Kirk misses the mark. Consider the following. First, the convention could (and probably would) be constrained to deficit spending, i.e., no runaway convention. Second, for the

"These passages from the Koran (Surah II, 190...

2012-05-21T20:14:39.705-05:00

"These passages from the Koran (Surah II, 190-193. Surah IX, 5, 29-30.) show quite adequately that Islam requires its followers to do violence against any who do not follow their faith. Unless of course they desist and convert."

Quite interesting, because in the same Koran Muslims are commanded to respect christians and jews because they are "The People of the Book

OK -- not sure about the pretribulationist rapture...

2012-05-21T12:42:30.037-05:00

OK -- not sure about the pretribulationist rapture bit up there. No interest in getting into a flame-war; just need to go on record saying that that's not only bad theology (stemming from a novel hermeneutics which only came into vogue in the last one-hundred years), but it's also poor history: the world will always be evil. The Church will always be righteous -- that is, with a

Yes, and when the last soul possible has heard the...

2012-05-21T12:12:09.170-05:00

Yes, and when the last soul possible has heard the Gospel (and event that is nigh upon us) and has chosen whether or not to accept Christ's sacrifice and His Salvation and be filled with the Holy Spirit ... at that moment in the blink of an eye ... the Holy Spirit will leave this dark world taking all of the body of the church (every true follower of Christ - there ARE some in every

As we are ever-more constrained within the Panopti...

2012-05-21T12:00:25.793-05:00

As we are ever-more constrained within the Panopticon, the notion of effective resistance becomes more and more fantastical. There will be no way to hide house church meetings, no way to keep pastors and priests secret, no way to educate children differently than the Caesar commands. There are cameras in more and more places. Data-mining on the internet results in not only Caesar, but also

Technology enables people like Fr Bhoutros to conv...

2012-05-21T07:50:45.497-05:00

Technology enables people like Fr Bhoutros to convert millions in the Arab world. We know about the Christian revolutions in Africa and China. Soon the whole world will have at least heard the Gospel. This is a great thing "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Matt 24:14

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Barry's slideshow omits the point in Julie'...

2012-05-20T14:16:13.285-05:00

Barry's slideshow omits the point in Julie's life when she becomes a Chinese national after the People's Republic decides 1) they've lent us enough money, and 2) they want what we owe them + interest.

This essay was written a decade before "Quake...

2012-05-18T19:25:30.745-05:00

This essay was written a decade before "Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson" was published.

I am still reading your interesting article. But i...

2012-05-18T19:14:06.436-05:00

I am still reading your interesting article. But in looking through your sources, I am very surprised that there is no reference to the best (and somewhat provocative, and certainly not "conservative") recent scholarship on John Dickinson's constitutionalism: "Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson" by Jane Calvert.

Thank you for this ranging yet direct examination ...

2012-05-18T08:17:20.213-05:00

Thank you for this ranging yet direct examination of the spiritual relationship between the creation and it's "first fruit".

Thank you for a timely reminder of our great histo...

2012-05-18T07:34:48.547-05:00

Thank you for a timely reminder of our great history! Our nation was formed by the light of reason for the life of freedom. It required honest thinkers subscribing to the truth evidenced in creation to craft laws that honor the individual rights of man. When the members of this nation no longer recognize their own rights then, like the Occupy Wall Street movement, we are simply a band of

John--Just browsing. Enjoying your writing.

2012-05-17T19:33:53.287-05:00

John--Just browsing. Enjoying your writing.

If force makes right, then Lincoln wins. But we we...

2012-05-16T21:22:08.398-05:00

If force makes right, then Lincoln wins. But we were and should be again, free and sovereign states that relinquished certain enumerated powers to a federal government. All else remains ours, not the feds'. We are 50 nations.

"In fact, it is not conservative to believe i...

2012-05-16T10:56:34.797-05:00

"In fact, it is not conservative to believe in Progress."

Conservation implies change. Changes could be good or bad. Maybe conservatives like Mr. Wilson should elaborate more how to translate the principles stated above into practical policy. I mean, it's hard to reclaim a political label when all you have is a generic set of postures and rival groups, with specific

Dr. Willson, I'm attaching an old review of Dr...

2012-05-16T06:49:25.190-05:00

Dr. Willson, I'm attaching an old review of Dr. Wilson's book here:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=2588
Great Book!

John, I agree with your analysis and might add tha...

2012-05-16T06:38:30.107-05:00

John, I agree with your analysis and might add that that which the founding generation, the greatest generation, provided their offspring-American Republicanism-is so vibrant, powerful, and reflective of God's will for a free people that it took not only the forces of the central state to subordinate true republicans but the tragic collapse of morality and ethics, the loss of virtue, among &

Tony, you have a good point, and one that I would ...

2012-05-16T06:17:00.224-05:00

Tony, you have a good point, and one that I would not want to discount. But had Hamilton not been able to "energize" the government the progressives would have had a much harder time doing to us what they did. The fact that it started so early shows, I believe, what schemers the neocons (Hamilton being the first) were from the beginning.

Actually, I respectfully tend to disagree that the...

2012-05-15T21:23:05.657-05:00

Actually, I respectfully tend to disagree that the Hamilton-Jefferson debate shaped American political history between big and small government folks. As one can see in arguments made privately (such as in correspondence with President Washington) and in public in the the Bank of the U.S. controversy, both men fundamentally shaped their arguments within the proper constitutional sphere of a