A recurrent refrain in Donald Trump’s 2011 book Time to Get Tough is that America is being laughed at—by China, OPEC, Russia, Iran. Compared to their leaders ours are weak and stupid. Trump describes Barack Obama’s approach on geopolitical and economic issues as “embarrassing.” Obama is said to “grovel,” “kiss the feet” of foreign leaders…
Continue readingTrump and Transgression
Although there are, as many commentators have observed, social and economic factors at play, a perhaps more significant key to understanding the popularity of Donald Trump’s campaign is its sheer transgressive quality. In this sense I would suggest that Trump’s campaign is a phenomenon entirely in keeping with an essential dynamic of our cultural fabric….
Continue readingWhat Orthodox Christianity Can Bring to American Christian Politics
Politics may make for strange bedfellows but the political alliances forged by many American Christians are worse than strange—they are ironic and self-contradictory. On the left, partisans draw on Christian teaching to pursue social justice, racial and gender equality, and responsibility for the environment. But in order to have a voice within the political left,…
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