Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Summer Recess

Relatively speaking Rayburn and the rest of the Hill is DEAD right now with the House out to recess as of last week Friday. The Senate is set to head out this week Friday ending a busy legislative summer that seemed to give the Republicans some momentum.

Cap and Trade barely passed the House but its fate is even more uncertain in the Senate. Health care barely made it out of committee in the House. Momentum and public opinion is certainly helping those who oppose the President's plan. I am looking forward to seeing the Republican plan which will be introduced after recess. We can only be the party of "No" so long before we need to present our own ideas for true reform.

The week has been really slow in the office... making me only more anxious to get out of D.C. It has been a wonderful summer and I am thankful I had the opportunity to come down here and work. Each day I get a little bit more ready to head back to school.

Friday, July 31, 2009

The problem with "Conservatism"

HA! What a title for a blog post. Such a title really needs a book. Or two. Or three.

I've been thinking about this for quite some time now. A quote from a very smart and upstanding individual reignited the ongoing questions and debate I've been having with myself and others. This individual essentially argued for "revolution" within the conservative movement in order for it to survive. I'm paraphrasing of course, but he essentially complained that conservatism has become so watered down, that it has strayed from its principles.

I think there are a lot of problems with this type of thinking. Sadly, most people, even if they aren't as libertarian as this individual is, would agree that "conservatism" has lost its principles.

But what are the principles of conservatism?

Perhaps part of the problem is that conservatism has bought into the idea that for it to be successful, it must be political. Those who truly study conservatism know, that conservatism is inherently anti-political because it is inherently anti-ideological. Conservatism never looks to political solutions for answers. It does not hinge its success on the political success and failures of its political manifestations.

True conservatism is a way of life. And it has existed long before John Locke or the American Founding Fathers. It is a tradition of great thinkers, who together form what Christopher Dawson and T.S. Eliot understood to be a "Republic of Letters." Dawson's "Republic" never carried a political connotation. Rather it united an understanding of God, man, and man's place in the order of things. These things are in themselves, non-political.

Conservatism of course, has political manifestations. But the key to uncovering them, is not found through political means. I'm curious when conservatives will finally realize this... if they ever do. We can win as many offices and presidencies as we want. But until we understand our own specific place in the world, we will never change lives or minds. Perhaps the key is to first change ourselves.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Intern Lunch

Today the office scheduled the obligatory "farewell" lunch for their interns. I guess they do one every spring, summer, and fall since there are always interns in the office. Kathleen, who is the other intern in our office this past summer has her last day tomorrow. Next week with the recess, many of our staffers will be in and out of the office. Thus they decided to do the lunch today as both the congressman and the staff would be available.

You think staffers can debate policy... wait until you see them debate pizza toppings. In an intense half hour struggle, the pizza toppings were finally selected in a controversial compromised proposed by the chief of staff to let the interns select the toppings since it was technically their lunch.

I probably would not have gotten sentimental except they gave me a card! Then all sorts of emotions and thoughts took over...

After sitting down, as we got enjoyedconversation as a staff... I was thinking what a great summer it has been getting to know these people on a more personal basis. While we were sitting there, laughing a lot because that is what my office seems to do very well, it seemed as if everyone there was no longer a chief of staff, a communications director, a legislative assistant, an office manager, or a staff assistant. Rather we were Justin, Dave, RJ, Leah, and Keal... among others. I think that is the most rewarding part of any experience I've ever encountered. Getting to know people for who they are beyond the labels they identify themselves with, and the boxes the world places them on.

In my own life the most enriching relationships I have are with those I would never have expected as much. I may never encounter these people again in this life, but I am blessed with the opportunity to know them as people... outside of their jobs... if even for little glimpses at small moments in time.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Eliot and the "world"

Eliot writes in Burnt Norton that "to be conscious is not to be in time." Such a thought centers around what I believe to be Eliot's understanding of time which relates to how we understand true being and reality. One might wonder why this matters...

It seems that Eliot connects understanding ones place in the order of things to how one views his current place in life. From a logical standpoint, why wouldn't there be a correlation?

What does Eliot mean when he says "that which is only living, can only die"? Perhaps "only living" equates to being "caught in the form of limitation" which Eliot describes as "between un-being and being." Perhaps life in this world is being caught between living and dying, but never sure how to live between them until you actually die.

For Eliot this world, which is not permanent, is a problem because it attempts to satisfy what it is not able to satisfy.

Like Scripture, Eliot notes the folly within the wisdom and attitude of the world. He writes in East Coker "The only wisdom we can hope to acquire Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless." Eliot reminds us of the inherently temporary state of the world:

In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not.

We are not created for this world and should never become truly satisfied in it. "As we grow older" writes Eliot, "The world becomes a stranger."

I do not think Eliot is suggesting that we not attempt to live or minister to this world. But fundamentally, we must have an understanding of our true place and being in something much higher than this world can ever offer.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Rotunda Tour... and Time...

Today I got to do one of the most incredible things I have ever done... which perhaps suggests that I have not lived a very incredible life...

Thanks to the persevering work of Leah our executive assistant, our office was able to schedule a Rotunda tour for the interns! Kathleen and I were able to invite two friends each so logically I picked Will and Zach knowing that they will likely read these words someday and will no doubt be flattered. The tour was of course amazing... indescribable really... and it was a great way to (almost) end my internship.

Thinking about myself four years ago, I would have been so pleased with the idea of a Capitol internship for the sake of my future political career. Obviously things have changed and I'm not altogether certain what direction this next year will bring.

Many of my recent feeble attempts to think "intellectual" thoughts have focused on T.S. Eliot's conception of Time in the Four Quartets. C.S. Lewis also deals with this subject in a very similar manner I think... throughout his writings. Going through "Screwtape Letters" at the beginning of summer has allowed me to keep thinking about the similarities in Eliot's and Lewis's understanding of time.

Both note a tension in human beings. We are made for eternity but we live in time. God Himself is outside of time. He is the beginning and the end, and thus naturally does not operate by the human and finite understanding of time. In this sense, God is outside of time because he is eternal. Eliot writes in "Little Gidding" that history is a pattern of "timeless" moments... The moments in time which somehow are eternal for they have greater meaning outside of this temporary world.

Lewis suggests that since we are created for eternity, while we are on earth, God wishes for us to attend to the Present, "For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity." In these
"present moments" can humans experience true reality, which is outside of time for true reality is an encounter with our Creator. It is in our Creator, that the Apostle said on Mars Hill that "we live and move and have our being."

Thus, Lewis warns against both dwelling too much in the past, but especially in the future claiming that the future is "the thing least like eternity" for it is the "most completely temporal part of time." Ideology, evolution, scientific humanism, and of course Communism all fix men's eyes upon the future, the "very core of temporality."

Men must instead focus on "today's duty." I think this reminder is good not just in a practical sense... because I cannot worry what the next year will bring, but also in an eternal sense. God's will will be made known to me, He has promised me this and I can trust His promises for they are faithful. I think this is what Eliot means when he writes:

Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Points to one end, which is always present

Regardless of where we are in life we are called to pursue those things that are timeless. God's grace allows us to comprehend beyond what is temporary and live inside the eternal present, the moments which God makes us truly alive...

Saturday, July 25, 2009

"Center" Government

I've realized what an interesting summer it is to be in Washington D.C. It is historic in which the nation's first black (sort of) President appointed the nation's first (maybe) Hispanic justice to the United States Supreme Court. Obama's agenda has been the most liberal, most progressive agenda our nation has ever seen. In my view, he has already outdone FDR and he is not even one year into his presidency. Just the government takeover of what were private industries and banks signals a step further than FDR. The largest majority by the Democrats in recent history has also yielded a history infighting that is impossible to ignore.

These same questions exist on the Republican side as well. The question of winning seats/sticking to one's "principles" seems to lack a fairly cohesive answer. Certain divisions seem to be put aside when there is a strong leader to the political party. George W's strength in 2004 quelled internal party dissension... Barack Obama's strength seems to have ignited the Democrats to electoral success. However a very different result seems to be in store for Obama's legislative agenda.

The "Blue Dog" Democrats are a group that fascinates me. Dr. Bobb wants to spend some time identifying them and researching their districts a bit. It is no secret that they come from relatively "conservative" districts elected in the Democratic waves of 2006 and 2008 in which the Republicans were "out of touch" with their constituents. The centrist policies of the Blue Dogs seems to be giving Nancy Pelosi and President Obama major headaches. It is no secret that Pelosi had to arm twist Republican votes to pass cap and trade. As for health care, the Democrats for now have woken up and realized that the proposed legislation by Waxman and the rest of the progressive caucus, would fail by an overwhelming vote...

I'm impressed with the Blue Dog's policy of fiscal conservatism and for the most part social conservatism. I like that they seem to understand the interests of their constituents.. and that what is needed is not an abolishment of entitlement programs, but a reform of the current system. This type of government might serve America good for certainly far-right and far-left government has proven to be ineffective.

In my last two weeks here, I will be keeping a close on the Blue Dogs. Ultimately they may have a bigger share of power than anyone ever imagined headed into the 111th Congress.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I'm probaby not going to come back here... maybe...

Dr. Birzer told me I needed to start writing things down that I have learned/been challenged with. He asked me on the phone the other day if I was enjoying myself and learning a lot. I launched into a very long-winded answer. Poor Dr. Birzer... but I do know why he told me to start writing things down!

I've been asked quite a few times if I will come back to D.C. after college. My answer is a firm "No"... but then I hesitate. After all, how am I supposed to know what God's plan is for right now?

Little Gidding's lines continue to define the way I think about... everything. In many ways, I am right back where I first started. I am in D.C... (which is not where I started), but I have rediscovered my love and passion for politics. I understand politics... the election cycles... and how to get things done in Congress. I wish more important things came more naturally to me. But in another sense, I know this love of politics "for the first time" in that I think about it differently. Conservatism is inherently anti-political. Myself as a human being has little to do with politics. There is a proper place for politics... I'm more convinced than ever that both the left and the right do not have the answers.

So in a sense, I only have rekindled my love of politics, because I have discovered its proper place in the world... and for now in my life. I expect these thoughts to change as well as I grow and mature and am challenged. I still believe God is calling me to serve him through education, which has become a greater passion of mine. But for now, I do not know where I will be one year from today. Rather I must focus on the present... for this is where God has placed me for now.

Monday, July 20, 2009

A Thought on Transparency

"Transparency" has become a major buzz word since the beginning of the Obama administration. Now everyone, Republicans and Democrats, are using it to describe what they believe to be in part, the character of the government. The actions of the government, should be made transparent or visible... at least visible to certain people.

Every time I hear this word I cannot help but think of the quotation by C.S. Lewis at the end of the "The Abolition of Man." I realize that Lewis probably did not have in mind the 21st century U.S. government when he penned one of the greatest responses to the problem of modernity... that being the destruction of man...

However I do think this quotation is fitting whether or not it's relevant to the current usage of the word. If anything, it demonstrates the problem of language... words have lost their meaning and a word which once had perhaps negative connotations has taken on a "positive" meaning... (assuming a transparent government is what we need to solve the world's problems and immanentize the eschaton).

Then again maybe the problem with government is the desire to know... to control... and to manipulate. Both by those inside the government or those who wish to "reform" it. Enough of me... here is Lewis...

"... the kind of explanation which explains things away may give us something, though at a heavy cost. But you cannot go on 'explaining away' for ever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on 'seeing through' things for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it.... It is no use trying to 'see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To 'see through' all things is the same as not to see."

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Advertising for William Clayton!

I really enjoy Sundays. My goal this upcoming school year is to put off homework on Sundays until the evening. I think it is also the dinner the guys and I plan on cooking inside my apartment. So it should shape up to be a nice, relaxing day come school year as well.

Saturday evening I went into the city and met up with Will. We grabbed Chipotle's for dinner (shocker I know) and then hung around the monuments so Will could get pictures at sunset/dark. Will is an amazing photographer, God has definitely given him a gift with the camera. You can check out some of his photography by going to his website, www.williamclayton.com. He is currently doing a "Project 365" in which he posts a picture every single day that is somewhat relevant to either the work he is doing or what is going on in his life at the moment. Check out the site, there is some awesome pictures and it's a good way to follow what is going on in Will's life. I'm hoping he will eventually post some of the pictures he took last night.

Will's family comes in for a visit later this week. Laura Golden is in town on Wednesday evening. Those are the two main events on my calendar this week.

Tomorrow it is back to work for my discussion on health care! I can't wait!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Fastest Week Yet!

I cannot believe this week is done and over. It flew by so fast I completely lost time. Health care has been the dominating legislative issue. I have read through large portions of the bill. Naturally I am disliking it very much...
Once again the Republicans, just like in 1993, will rely on centrist Democrats to help kill the measure. We shall see how things play out. Republican offices across the Hill all experienced a tiring and frustrating week...

Outside my work I had a fairly busy week. I had drinks with Will, Zach, and Julie on Wednesday. Thursday night Hillsdale College held an alumni reception in a conference room at the Supreme Court. Good food and wine to drink... along with the plans of the college to harness the 276 alumni that they know of in the area to help out the undergraduate interns during the summer and after college. There are currently 52 Hillsdale College undergrads interning in D.C.

I came home from work and took it easy last night. Will stopped by for only the best American beer ever... I think we might head out to take pictures of the monuments at night sometime this evening...

21 days until Adam!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Now under the four week part...

Time continues to fly. The weekend was indeed enjoyable. Visiting the White House was fun although I've seen it all before. It was nice to go with Julie who had not yet seen the White House from the inside.

Saturday afternoon I went out to Will's. Paul, Dakota, and Zach came over and we grilled hamburgers. I spent the night at Will's. Today Will and I visited an OPC church here in Virginia. It was a bit different than we were expecting... although I guess it shows a much wider range within the OPC denomination than I initially thought there would be. Perhaps the church was an anomaly. I'd compare it to a today's typical CRC church. Will and I drove out to Sam's for his birthday party today and got to hang out with other Hillsdale people including Liz, Rebecca, Zach, and Dakota. We also got to meet a bunch of Sam's friends from back home.

Tomorrow begins another week of work. Hopefully we get health care in time to actually read the final copy of the legislation...

Friday, July 10, 2009

Lectures Lectures Lectures

I ended up skipping a fair amount of Eagle Forum. I just could not take so much mindless "conservative" indoctrination. This morning they brought in a few speakers who had brains and could make actual arguments. I was pleased with that although I wish that was more the norm rather than the exception. In general, it reveals my own frustration with the overtly ideological modern day conservative movement. A lot of the ideas I am working through only reveal the wrong direction of both the Democratic and Republican party. The answer for the GOP is not to return to its "roots" whatever the heck those are anyways. Historically speaking, the roots of the GOP is an anti-slavery/anti-Mormon platform. If THOSE are the roots the GOP is talking about, I'm really not interested in belonging to a party relevant about 150 years ago.

This morning Dr. Moreno spoke at 7:45am at Ebenezer's Coffeeshop a block away from Union Station. I skipped over to Eagle Forum after that but left around noon to go to a different lunch at the Heritage Foundation. The event is called the Madison Fellows and is coordinated by Hillsdale, the Heritage Foundation, and the Federalist Society. The "Fellows" are congressional staffers and it is a once a month lunch in which constitutionally conservative ideas are discussed. Zak, one of our LA's is one of the "Fellows" so he invited me to go with him to the lunch today as I am a current Hillsdale student. It was interesting... I definitely enjoyed the discussion on the upcoming confirmation hearings of Judge Sotomayor.

At 4pm, Hillsdale summer interns got the chance to meet former Senator Fred Thompson. He spoke for a few minutes and answered questions. He did a good job reminding Republicans that there is in fact no perfect solution to all of our problems. I appreciated his practical viewpoint of which still preserved basic conservative ideas.

Tonight I am home resting up from my cold. I have a White House tomorrow early which I am excited about. I am headed out to William's in the afternoon. We are headed to an OPC church in Vienna Sunday morning.

And so concludes the update I'm sure you've have all been waiting for...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Some time off from work...

Eagle Forum, which is a leading conservative pro-family PAC, is hosting its 16th annual Collegian Leadership Summit this Thursday and Friday at the Heritage Foundation. They are featuring a variety of conservative speakers including many congressman, academics, and a journalists. Hillsdale's own Dr. Folsom will be there as well. They are serving lunch and dinner tomorrow and lunch on Friday. I figure it will definitely be worth my time and get me out of the office for a few days.

Friday is shaping up to be a busy day anyways. Dr. Moreno is in town to give a lecture early Friday morning and Hillsdale students get a chance to meet former Senator/presidential candidate/actor Fred Thompson later in the afternoon. My plan is to skip out on the conference sometime after lunch on Friday to read for a bit and then go to the Fred Thompson event.

I think I'm getting a cold. My throat is a bit full and I'm feeling a bit off today. I should probably find some time to rest this weekend but it is already filling up. Saturday morning I have a White Horse tour that Keal managed to squeeze me in on. Then we are planning a birthday party for Sam in the afternoon. I will likely spend the night at Will's so we can go to the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian) church in Vienna, Virginia on Sunday morning.

Last night James and I went to the Capitol Lounge after work for drinks and 35 cent wing night. They were delicious and it was nice to unwind a bit. Tonight I am meeting my old friend Kaitlyn for dinner at Chipotle's. Then I will go home and rest.

It's been a slow week thus far as Congress has only recently returned. Things should pick up once health care mark ups begin.

My office finally released my press release. You can check it out by clicking here. Less than 60 days until class starts...

Monday, July 6, 2009

Tonight I miss Hillsdale

I miss the long nights at Hillsdale. The days at Hillsdale are always quick. The nights are long. But they are wonderful. They start somewhere after dinner (around 6pm?) and end around 3am or so. It is those nights, next to certain people, that I am missing most. The smell of pipe smoke, the endless stack of library books, and the sound of good music from room #203. It makes me very excited for next semester.

Yet there are definitely things I am going to miss here in D.C. I continue to have a love/hate relationship with the subway. But there is something awesome about standing on the platform, when the roar of the metro cars sends a gust of air into your face. I will miss walking by the Capitol Building five days on the way to work. And I will miss doing work I actually enjoy, and that as of now, I seem to be fairly good at.

Today I gave a tour of the Capitol this morning to a family from Holland. They were proud Pete was their congressman. A lot of people from Michigan District Two will miss him. I ate another delicious free lunch courtesy of Bill. Meatball sandwiches, pasta salad, potato chips, and brownies. This afternoon I went to a briefing with Daniela. It consisted of a number of social policy LA's (Legislative Assistants) from various congressman (all Republican of course). They discussed traditional values related legislation. It will be a busy end to the summer. It was interesting, especially as I continue to question with the relationship between Christianity and politics.

Tomorrow Mr. Hoekstra will be back in the office...

Sunday, July 5, 2009

We've reached the half-way point

Technically speaking, I have actually surpassed the half-way point. Five weeks from tonight I will be with Adam and six weeks I will be home. Seven weeks I will be back in Hillsdale. It's funny how time works...

Thursday evening Dakota came over and we ate frozen pizza and drank Killians. It was a nice, chill way to begin the weekend. Friday was amazing because it was a day off! I met Julie, Dakota, Katherine, and Emily in Chinatown for an American Studies major lunch at Gordon Biersch. The five of us compose a majority of our eight person major. It was nice to see everyone and I enjoyed conducting "business" over lunch in D.C.

After lunch we walked around the Portrait Gallery and the Art museum for a while. Later on in the afternoon after everyone had gone their separate ways, I met up with William for sushi. It had been a while since we both had last enjoyed sushi so we found a good restaurant with reasonable prices. We will definitely be headed back there again before the end of summer.

Saturday I met William and Dakota for lunch at the Cosi's in Rosslyn and then Dakota and I met up with Liz and the visiting and road-tripping Juls. William had to run back home to upload his pictures from the morning Fourth of July parade in D.C. Meanwhile the rest of us explored more of the Smithsonian including another trip back to the Portrait Gallery to check out the exhibit on the U.S. Presidents (which myself and the rest of the group did not get to on Friday). William met up with us and we grabbed dinner at Potbelly's and took it with us to the Mall to wait for fireworks. We played euchre and watched the crowd grow larger and larger. The fireworks were great, but I think if I did it again, I'd get there earlier in order to sit even close. Although I heard Arlington across the river was a good place to watch them as well. After the fireworks, Will, Dakota, and I grabbed drinks across from Union Station.

Today has given me the chance to relax and rest up for the coming week. I'm reading "All the Kings Men" and watching some of "Legally Blonde" with my host family. A nice, chill Sunday evening...

Thursday, July 2, 2009

When Thursday equal Friday

I got to go to the House floor yesterday with Keal our friendly staff assistant. It is a pretty stunning place actually. It is hard to imagine how much important stuff goes on there. And the fact that the legislation debated and passed there actually effects the entire country. All that aside, I enjoyed the few minutes down there. It all looks smaller than it does on tv.

Keal also got me a White House tour on July 11. I am taking Julie and Will with me.

Tomorrow Katherine comes in, and her and the four American Studies majors interning in D.C. summer (including myself) are meeting up for lunch. We might go to Arlington which would be fitting and appropriate.

The office is quiet today. We are just sitting around waiting for the day to end. James and his staff are doing the same thing. One of our staffers brought in a delicious breakfast dish. The same guy bought me fried chicken for lunch. Sometimes being an intern isn't that bad...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A Liberal View of the Servile Arts

Monday evening after work I met up with Dakota and Will to attend a lecture presented by the Ethics and Public Policy Center. It featured author Matthew Crawford who recently released a book titled, Shop Class as Soul Craft which describes his view of what a job should look like. Crawford, who has a masters (or a doctorate perhaps) in public policy from the University of Chicago. Later quitting his job at a think-tank in Washington D.C. to operate a motorcycle repair shop in Virginia, Crawford critiques many modern day assumptions about labor, vocation, and the value of truly enjoying ones work. I had the chance to meet Mr. Crawford and ask him a few questions. Although he seems supportive of liberal education, I did not get the feeling his understanding of it was as deep as I expect from someone with the educational background he possesses. Regardless, he makes a very important point about education and I think it is definitely worth listening to. I've attached the article in the New York Times here in case you wish to follow up more.

All in all, the lecture was definitely worth my time... along with the wine and cheese they served afterwards :D

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

"Settled In"

The phrase I can use to describe myself is "settled in." I feel like I've reached that magic yet mystical stage of living in a new place in which things feel more at home. Not that this is home by any means. But nonetheless, the days go quickly and I cannot believe that I am nearly half-way done with my internship.

Friday was ridiculous as our office was bombarded with phone calls. That wretched energy bill passed by 7 votes. In the words of Minority Leader John Boehner, "this bill is a piece of s***." Hopefully the weakened GOP in the Senate can find a way to stop it there.

This past weekend was a busy one. Zach, Will, Dakota, and I met up with some Hillsdale people in town on Friday night. Sean McDermott and his fiancée along with Marieke, Betsy, Maria, Julie, and Liz met us at the WWII memorial. Nothing too exciting occurred. I spent the night at Zach's place and the next morning we went crepe hunting for breakfast at the Eastern Market... which is a big Saturday morning market averaging about 15,000 customers per Saturday. I met up with Julie after breakfast while Zach played frisbee on the mall. We did some more Smithsonian touring until later in the afternoon when Zach and I headed up to a sweet book store in Maryland. Dakota also met us up there, and Sam picked us up and we spent the night at his house. I attended Joshua Harris's church called Covenant Life the next day and got a taste for Reformed evangelicalism. The verdict is still out on that one as a whole but I enjoyed Harris's message and was thankful it avoided the subject of dating....Mrs. Branchaw fed us well the entire weekend and on Sunday Rebecca and Liz came over for a barbecue. It was nice to spend time with Hillsdale people... which seems to be the trend on weekends.

Today it was back to the office where we are enjoying a week of congressional recess. We are using the time to try and catch up on constituent mail. We are getting record amounts for our office which is a good and a bad thing. It can be a pain to write letters back... but it is good that Rep. Hoekstra is gaining the attention of the people of Michigan.

Not too sure what the plans are for the rest of the week. Will probably see some D.C. fireworks which should be awesome....

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Cap and Trade

Tomorrow the House will vote on the Clean Air and Energy plan proposed by House Democrats. Lead sponsors of the legislation are Reps. Markey and Waxman. For the life of me, I will never understand liberal economic policy. Those who know me, realize I am no staunch advocate of the free market. But I seriously do not understand why we we should pass an energy bill that will cost the average American family $3000 a year. All in the name of something that is scientifically unproven. I greatly question Obama's stimulus package to the American people. Why give the Americans a few hundred dollars when your tax and spend policies will cost them thousands of dollars in the end. This is ludicrous and its stunning at how stupid the American people are. No offense to any Obama voters reading this. But get real. Pay attention to how public policy actually works. Understand that big inefficient government offers many promises but no solutions and always ends up making our lives worse in the long run. I'm not suggesting the GOP is offering better alternatives at this point. The Republicans are just as confused and misguided on many issues. But when it comes to this proposed energy bill (known as Cap and Trade), and Obama's domestic initiatives in general, the Democratic agenda is more than just misguided. It is just plain and simple stupid.

At least this type of legislation has kept me busy over the summer. I look forward to ending my fourth week on the job. I really am enjoying my internship and all that I get to learn. Some of my work in the spreading of the parental rights amendment got some coverage when we reached 100 co-sponsors in the House. This past week I've done a variety of things including research on taxes, health care, and government emergency contacts and protocols. It definitely keeps the day interesting.

Thankfully I have a life outside of work which is awesome. I talked on the phone for three and a half hours last night which was kind of ridiculous... thank goodness for free nights and weekends. Tonight I went to an intern barbecue put on by a Christian organization... and then went out for a drink with Julie which was nice to do especially after a busy past week of work. Tomorrow I am working and then going over to Zach's for a bit. We are meeting up with some people at night. I'm spending the night with Zach because we are having breakfast together on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we are bookstore hunting and then spending the night with Sam. We will go to his church and have dinner with his family. I should have a more detailed report of the weekend... after it is over!

For now... sleep...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Whoa- June 23?

So I was going to call this post "Mid-June Update" but was horrified upon looking at my computer clock that it is actually June 23. Yes I really did know that... but I guess I never actually realized it. SCARY. Summer is going by fast but I didn't think it was actually going by that fast.

This past weekend was really relaxing. I spent most of Saturday out in Georgetown at James's place. Read and slept... and made spaghetti for dinner. Hannah is coming out this Thursday for the weekend so James was (and still is) fairly one track minded at this point... which is understandable. Speaking of the weekend, it appears to be filling up fairly quickly. Sean McDermott is coming into town on Friday and he is trying to get a group together Friday night. I have plans Saturday too... so we will see how they turn out.

The Metro accident shook the entire city up I think. One knows the risks of any sort of transportation system. Certainly we place a lot of trust in it to function properly. No Hillsdale students were hurt which is a blessing. Meanwhile the commute today went normally for myself although there were delays and no service on nearly ever stop of the red line... I am definitely glad I live in an area which avoids the red line completely.

Meanwhile work continues to plug along. I had a few "small world" occurrences today. First I had a free lunch today courtesy of the James Kennedy Institute of Christian Statesmen. Yes, politically active Christian organizations inherently scare me. But the speaker was Rep. Mike Pence... and there was free lunch for the first 100 who RSVP'd. Rep. Pence was actually really good... and rather than trying to encourage young Capitol Hill interns to overtake the world, he spoke on remaining faithful to what was really lasting in life... that being our faith in Christ. Anyways after I got off the elevator and turned the corner to go back to this office, I ran into this lady who recognized me from KEEGSTRA'S. Wow... that was like... 6 or 7 years ago. I faintly recognized her too... she was there with her husband and family. I was a bit stunned... but happy to see people from Hudsonville. I also found out my chief of staff is a good friend of Mitch Newenhouse... my former boss. When he found about that I knew Mitch, he called Mitch up to tell him I was working for him now. What a small and crazy world... it's almost scary...

To follow up my free lunch, I also got to enjoy a free dinner this evening courtesy of Hillsdale. Afterwards Dr. Bobb showed us the space where the new headquarters for Hilldale's D.C. campus is located. It is an exciting time for Hillsdale and the space looks very promising... although I am not entirely sure what I think of the entire idea in general.

Anyways its time for sleep before a long day tomorrow... will try and post sometime before the weekend but no promises.

Friday, June 19, 2009

End of Week Three

This week flew by the fastest yet. It was a busy week in Congress... mainly over defense spending which ended up barely passing. Health care is also on the docket with the GOP introducing an alternate bill to counter the Democratic proposal. Both sides lack specifics so there is still plenty of battle left to be fought.

I had a great time over dinner with Ben Stafford this past week. We discussed a variety of topics including Ben's job with the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy. Even though he gets to work with a lot of economics, and his major was economics, Ben insists that his major did very little to prepare him for his actual job. College cannot provide the type of training one gets in the so-called "real world."

I realized also that Hillsdale's recognition down here is phenomenally good. At least compared to back home. Most people have never heard of Hillsdale, let alone know its reputation. Never mind that Hillsdale consistently ranks higher than Hope, Calvin, and many other good colleges. Or that Hillsdale is one of only two colleges in the entire nation that rejects government aid. Or that Hillsdale's faculty and speakers are some of the most distinguished academics and experts in their field. GVSU is a great deal right ;)... But when you tell someone down in the D.C. area that you go to school at Hillsdale, they definitely give you that nod or glance of approval. Most people down here know the kind of education Hillsdale offers. And it is nice to be in an environment where people already know that.

Today the office bought pizza for lunch... it was also our office manager's birthday so she made a delicious lemon cake. Tonight I helped the Madsen's tear out the carpeting of their recently flooded basement. Tomorrow I will head out to Georgetown to spend the day with James. I will probably spend the afternoon reading. We might go see a movie in the evening.

I think that catches you all up for now....

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Metro Frustrations



Oh D.C. Metro... we have a love/hate relationship. I finally threw away my mini-metro map yesterday. A graduation from my novice days of subway riding. I can get around the subways without frantically checking my location... or the train I'm getting onto. It is such a nice feeling! This is the "love" part of my relationship with the metro.

Now for the hate part. Apparently they are doing maintenance on the blue and yellow lines. I hope it is done by tomorrow because today's commute was terrible. I knew something was wrong the minute I got to the Pentagon... and the platform was packed. The first train was for the yellow line... and it was PACKED even before the passengers starting getting on. There was no way any other person would be able to fit... until a lady with a broken arm shoved her way in... only to have the door close on her arm. Some people are idiots. Anyways, instead of running the normal 1-2 minutes apart, the trains were running about 5-7 minutes. Time is precious in the morning commute but I knew I was going to be late. I finally shove my way onto the next train... which was PACKED even worse than normal. Amazingly, I was only three minutes late... which in my office is excusable. The commute back was slow as well. The blue line stopped every 50ft or so... the yellow line was running every 10 minutes making for another jam packed metro car... only worse because it was half-filled with obnoxious tourists who fail to understand that you DO NOT TALK ON THE METRO. Everyone is too tired to listen to you blabber about absolutely nothing. Okay... I think my metro rant is now over.

In happier news I got to experience life on the House floor yesterday. I was there for the appropriations vote that barely passed. Health care reform is coming through this week. While the Democrats continue to bicker, my congressman and most all of the GOP caucus appears to be united in their opposition to a 1.6 TRILLION dollar plan that could cost according to the Congressional Budget Office, over 6 trillion dollars in the next ten years. Listen I'm all about helping people but seriously... we are talking trillions of dollars and no ideas of paying for it... except by raising your taxes. So much for Obama's ideas of "change." Democrats (and most politicians in general) will raise your taxes. They always have and they always will.

Here is a link to an interview on C-Span with Hillsdale's president Larry Arnn. He says some interesting things about our school... and the article in the Wall Street Journal that everyone at my school cannot stop talking about, "Why Hilsdale is better than Harvard." I will be having dinner with a good friend and graduate of Hillsdale tomorrow night... Mr. Ben Stafford. Looking forward to another free meal!

I also got my picture with Congressman Hoekstra on the steps of the Capitol. There should be something in the Advance newspapers back home...

I am going to continue some pleasure reading... back to work tomorrow. Definitely ready for the weekend!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Beginning of Week Three

They tell me the first week is the slowest... the rest all fly by. If last week was any indication how fast the summer will go, I am slightly scared. I started my third week in D.C. by continuing my research on the health care legislation. This is already quite the controversy on Capitol Hill as the Democrats continue to fight among themselves about which plan will be best. For the time being, the Republicans seem content to stand back and watch the Democrats argue... while maintaining a fairly unified commitment to oppose the single-payer option proposed by liberals including Ted Kennedy.

This evening I met Dr. Gamble after work at a Borders just off of the Pentagon City metro stop. Some fellow students also met up with him including Will, Zach, Julie, Ben Stafford (alumni), and Dakota. We ended up having a delicious dinner at a pizza place. Dr. Gamble was gracious enough to cover the cost of the meal. What a blessing for a group of D.C. college student interns!

Tomorrow is back to work. Probably nothing too exciting... except more health care legislation...

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Dinner with Dr. Gamble

Dr. Gamble took me out for Italian food tonight. It is not often you get to eat and drink wine with one of your favorite professors. Dr. Gamble has also been one of the most influential men in my life. I have appreciated all that he has taught me... for real learning is both inside and outside the classroom. We talked about the problems of the modern day church... and many other importantish things. I hope to meet up with him and a few other students sometime tomorrow.

I thought I'd also post my picture with Justice Thomas before I head to bed... the others in the picture are Zach, Andrew, and Dakota.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Weeeeeekend!

My weekend essentially started on Thursday. Julie won a free happy hour from 10-12pm. I decided to spend Thursday and Friday night with James in Georgetown. We went to Trader Joe's and bought food... had grilled cheese for dinner and then headed out. It was actually a lot of fun as we got to meet up with Julie, William, John K, and Maria. Friday was work of course... as we ended a busy legislative week. Friday after work James and I took it easy and watched the Stanley Cup (of which nothing more will be said).

Today Andrew came into town for the day and James and I met him this morning at the newly opened/renovated American History museum. Liz, Zach, Sam, and later William also came out. It was a lot of fun at the museum and the great restaurant we went to for lunch. We also walked around the Washington Monument to check out the jazz festival.

After Andrew left I went back with James to grab my stuff and then came back here. My host family is gone until tomorrow night so I have the house to myself minus Quincy the dog. It is starting to thunder so I think another storm is coming. I basically talked on the phone to Adam and Manuel for most of the evening.

Tomorrow evening I am meeting Dr. Gamble in town for dinner. I am looking forward to seeing him. This concludes another blog post. Hope you are still awake!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Rain AGAIN

To no one's surprise it is raining again! James and I... both reluctant to sit in the rain while wearing dress clothes decided to pass on going to a Nationals game tonight. We will definitely make it out there before the end of the summer! Hopefully Julie and Will aren't getting too wet right now!

I've managed to attend back-to-back free lunches at the Heritage Foundation. The lunch yesterday featured a discussion on health care by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. Today's lunch was on the topic of social justice and featured remarks by the well known columnist and author Michael Novak. Both were excellent presentations-- and excellent lunches!

Yesterday after work I went home with James. We had pbj sandwhiches for dinner and watched some baseball. I'll be headed home with home tomorrow too and will be there until Saturday.

Other than that, not much going on. I have a number of projects going on at the office. Hopefully tomorrow is a fast day!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Hospitality

I got to thinking how many people I have stayed with over the past few years, especially as I have traveled more. Living with the Madsen's has been great, and other than school or family, I will live with them longer than with anyone else. With that said, I am thankful for all the many wonderful people who have showed me hospitality over the past few years. Here are the ones I can think of... and there might be others I have forgotten...

Gibson's (Houston, Texas)
Frantzen's (San Antonio, Texas)
Sam Branchaw's Grandma... whose name I unfortunately cannot remember (Chicago)
Krepps family (Grand Ledge, MI)
Fiore's (New York City)
Howe's (San Jose, California)
Howard's (Berkeley, California)
Ruckman's (Daytonish, Ohio)
Downey's (Arlington, Virginia)
Odell's (Lancaster, PA)

I think that's all I can remember for now. I might have missed some...

In other news, I had lunch with JAMES today which was so exciting. I am so glad we work so close. We will be having lots of fun inside and outside of work this summer.

Off to bed...

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Sunday Explorations

Today after church I met up with Liz to explore parts of the Smithsonian. Ironically, I got on at Dupont Circle in the same car as she was already riding. What an awesome coincidence!

We got off at the Smithsonian and then decided to go to the Air and Space Museum. No matter how many times I go there, I do not get sick of looking at the exhibits. We only wanted to check out the space part of the museum so after walking around there for a few hours we grabbed lunch at the amazing McDonald's at the end of the museum.

From there we walked around the outdoor sculpture garden at the Smithsonian on our way to the World War II Memorial. Liz had never seen this memorial before so we decided to check it out. It was a beautiful day and there were many people flying kites between the Washington Monument and the WWII memorial. This is the third of fourth time I've seen the memorial and I think I like it more every time I see it. It was also appropriate coming the day after the anniversary of D-Day.

After leisurely resting among the trees outside the memorial, we walked to the White House and then around the area surrounding the famous residence. Now I am back here at the house thinking about Monday...

We'll see how this week goes...

Saturday, June 6, 2009

End of Week 1!

Week one is done and over! I am already looking forward to the start of next week. I plan on crashing 2-3 FREE lunches either at the building I work at, or the Heritage Foundation. Hopefully it works out!

I had a fairly busy Friday. I met with Dr. Bobb in the morning to discuss my independent study with him this summer. It will be a fair amount of work so hopefully he does not go too hard on me. He did seem to understand how busy I would be with work so I'm not too worried. After work on Friday I rode the orange line to Fairfax, Virginia to see my friend Will. We had a nice, leisurely dinner and then went back to the house where he is staying this summer. I ended up spending the night there and getting up early this morning to head back here. Will has a photography internship which requires weekend assignments. Since there was a big "Race for the Cure" this morning in D.C., he had to be up early to cover that. Thus the early Saturday morning!

As for today, I mainly just sat around the house. I finished Lewis's "Screwtape Letters," caught up on e-mails, and made a few phone calls. Tomorrow is church and then afterwards I am meeting up with Liz at the Smithsonian! Should be a fun afternoon....

For now... I think I'm headed to bed... soon....

Why the name of my blog?

Tonight is a two-post evening. This entry I will post the lines that inspired the name of my blog. They also demonstrate my own personal growth throughout the year. There is a necessity to "sit still" in life that is often ignored and neglected.

I first read this poem with Forrest and Josiah the day we all left for spring break. It is titled "Ash Wednesday" by T.S. Eliot. Below is the first stanza only.
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is
nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still.


Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Two Interesting Speakers

I've had some time to think about Justice Thomas's remarks yesterday and figured I would share some of them with the rest of you. I should be able to post some of the pictures Will took of the event. It was an amazing opportunity and I am thankful for the chance to meet such a prestigious individual as Justice Thomas. The Wall Street Journal Opinion page wrote an article this week titled "How Hillsdale Beats Harvard." You can find the article by clicking here. As I was pondering why I am so thankful to have ended up at Hillsdale, I sort of put together Justice Thomas's remarks with a lecture I heard today.

First, however, Justice Thomas. If there was one thing Thomas seemed to emphasize, it was to take advantage of our education. It is through education that we learn character, especially traits like honesty. The first step to becoming an honest person is being honest with yourself. Justice Thomas also pointed back to a proper understanding of our founding as a nation as the only way to view the law and the constitution. This education is attained best through a Hillsdale like education... and by being here (in D.C.) right now. Good education will allow us to discern right from wrong. The standard Thomas uses when making decisions is "by what authority" is the government/plaintaff exercising its action. One can only answer this question by referring to the Constitution as correctly understood through education. Thus, Thomas spent most of his time discussing the importance of the type of education we ourselves were receiving at Hillsdale.

Today I attended a day long leadership conference for summer interns in D.C. I was not really impressed with many of the presentations to be honest... for a variety of reasons. What I did find interesting however, was a lecture given by a well-connected political operative. He has served as the chief of staff for numerous congressional offices and is currently the vice-president of the grassroots conservative networking group who presented the seminar I attended. Interestingly, he graduated from the Naval Academy with a degree in mechanical engineering! Obviously, he is not working in the field he trained for!

In fact the latest statistics show people change careers 6-8 times and jobs 8-10 times! The speaker revealed how at one point in his career as a congressional chief of staff he only hired English majors because of their writing/thinking skills... even though their "training" was not in political policy. According to this speaker, employers want to hire people based WHO they are, not WHAT they are.

Putting this into conversation with Thomas and the WSJ article makes me very thankful I chose Hillsdale because it helped lead me to liberal education. Referring back to some earlier posts I wrote on liberal education, it seems to matter a lot more today what kind of person you become as a result of your education. Going to college for a job, although the dominant idea of our culture, seems to have serious problems. Developing only one specialized part of your mind, might lead to some serious deficiencies in more important areas. Although I am not nearly as liberally educated as I would like to be, I am thankful that Hillsdale has opened my mind to ideas and principles that DO matter. I'm not sure what job I will be headed into, but this is not the time of my life to worry about a job. It is the time to make myself into the individual God has created me for, and that itself will hopefully prepare me for whatever job I end up in.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Work and Justice Thomas

Another fascinating update for you all... especially those of you back home reading. Please don't be afraid to leave me comments or shoot me an e-mail. I try my best to stay in touch and/or respond. I am sorry if this post seems like a much of unorganized rambling. It probably sounds like it, because it is going to be. Agh... my writing just goes down the tube when I am not in school.

Exciting news first-- I got to meet Justice Clarence Thomas this morning. Myself and the 30 or so other Hillsdale students interning in D.C. arrived by 7:45am at the Supreme Court building this morning. After Justice Thomas gave a few introductory remarks, he let us ask him a number of questions. He gave a lot of good advice and some of his ideas behind helping restore proper constitutional government. I might blog later on about some of the more specific ideas he shared with us. I want a few days to let it all digest and my mind to process and think about his words.

It was nice to see more Hillsdale people today. After work yesterday, I walked around the mall and visited ole Abe at his memorial. Emily and I grabbed a quick bite to eat at a delicious sandwhich shop before I came home. Today I saw a lot of good friends for the first time in d.c.-- Will, Zach, Liz, and others. It is nice to see familiar faces!

I have begun to settle in at my internship. Keal the friendly staff assistant has been walking me around the tunnels and showing me how to get to places. All the office buildings are connected both to each other and to the Capitol. It is a confusing mess of tunnels and floors which I am still learning how to navigate to get from place to place. Most of it is not accessible to the public which is where my awesome Capitol Hill ID helps me out. I also ate lunch in the Rayburn cafeteria on Monday and it was surprisingly good. The food looks and smells tasty... I wish Hillsdale cafetaria (aka Saga) would learn something from the government.... (that is supposed to be ironic)...

I am also learning how to answer phones, deal with constituent issues, and learning basic office functions like how to make coffee and scanning/making copies. I also get to sit in on staff meetings... including the ones with Congressman Hoekstra. I assume that some meetings are probably off limits but thus far, I have been invited in. I have been assigned to work with our legislative counsel person named Zak on Congressman Hoekstra's Constitutional amendment on parental rights. You can check it out at http://hoekstra.house.gov/parentsrights/. Currently I am compiling a database of names and organizations that might be interested in supporting this bill on a grassroots level. There is little chance of it going anywhere with the Democratic congress and president who all seem to believe an 18 member panel in Geneva is better qualified than you are when it comes to raising your children. But we need to lay the groundwork to fight this nonesense and Congressman Hoekstra is taking the initiative by leading the charge on this legislation.

I think that's about all I've got for now. Tomorrow I will be attending this day long seminar for conservative interns in Arlington. Not sure what to expect, but I get a free lunch and a free dinner :D

Monday, June 1, 2009

More ramblings...

First day of work went well. I hope to blog sometime this week about the exact work I will be doing this summer. I should have an even better idea after the end of the week.

I did want to blog about the metro and a few other random things. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding the d.c. subway system. It is a great place to watch people. It is weird to get on the stops closer to Capitol Hill and see the passengers look a lot like me. Young, college, interns. It is weird to actually be one of those young, college, interns this year. In the midst of the squeaky wheels in the dark underground tunnels of the orange line, I remembered how long I've wanted to be out here for a summer. I'm thankful for the chance.

I work at the Rayburn House office building. Congressman Hoekstra's office is in the corner of the second floor. He gets a nice corner office right by the bathrooms and the elevator because of his seniority and rank on the Intelligence Committee. Rayburn is a hideous building on the inside. No matter where you go, it looks the same. Oh well... The view outside is great. Right there is the US Capitol. Awesomeness.

Three offices down from me is Congrsesman Mike Souder from Indiana. My good buddy James returns next Monday for his second year as an intern for Congressman Souder. Lunch breaks will rock.

That's all for tonight. I will try to continue blogging when I can...

Sunday, May 31, 2009

New Beginnings... in Washington D.C.

So I made it down here safely Saturday afternoon. Julie and Emily (fellow Hillsdale students) met me at the airport which was kind of them. It makes arriving in a new city a little easier when you have people you know there to greet you. I arrived at the house where I am staying this summer around 1:30pm and took some time to unpack and sleep for a bit. After meeting my host family, who are wonderful people indeed, I watched the Red Wings destroy the Penguins in Game One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I worshiped this morning at Christ Reformed Church through whom I found my host family. It is a small congregation in a tough environment for traditional worship style. For many reasons, it is hard to plant and build a conservative reformed church in the D.C. area. Most interns attend Capitol Hill Baptist... which is probably where I would have gone it if weren't for my finding of a URC church in the area.

This afternoon I experimented with the bus system which will be part of my daily commute. Although the route was different today because of the weekend, I think I understand what I'm doing. I'll be up early leave and myself plenty of time tomorrow for my morning commute. The bus is actually cheaper than the subway especially if you transfer lines on the same trip. Thus, I will take advantage of any reduced fare I can get. If you are familiar with the D.C. area, I'll be bording at the Pentagon (yellow line) and take that to L'enfant Plaza which is the transfer point for the yellow, green, orange, and blue lines. After that it is two stops on the orange or blue line to Capitol Hill South. And then two blocks later is the Rayburn Office building where I will be working. I walked around Capitol Hill today and fell in love with it all over again. I am so glad to be here for the summer.

I met up with Dakota, another fellow Hillsdale student for dinner in Union Station. After receiving many free sampless from the restuarants in the food court, I ate delicious Japanese Chicken Teriyaki. Now I am back at the house dreading my early morning alarm. Hopefully things go smooth the first day on the job...

I will post more when I get a better idea what I will be doing this summer...

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

C.S. Lewis- the Sacred and the Secular (Part III)

According to C.S. Lewis, a healthy love for country is also one that is mindful of the country's view of itself. If idealists within become the policy makers, their attempt to remake the world can become dangerous. Ideology itself once it overtakes a nation leads many to embrace a "false transcendence" of what is earthly and what is heavenly. Note the similar analysis to Eric Voegelin's claim that moderns always seek to immanentize the eschaton.

Lewis begins by establishing a more realistic role for a country to fight for. In the Screwtape Letters, Screwtape urges Wormwood to tempt the young man into making "the world an end and faith a means." With this accomplished, "it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing." With this in mind, war makes little difference in the normal human condition Lewis writes in "Learning in Wartime," "The war crates no absolutely new situations; it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it." In the Four Loves, Lewis distinguishes between fighting for the cause of one's country versus the cause of justice or any other attribute as a whole. When wars become abstracted they become less justifiable for men to die for.

In "Why I am not a Pacifist" Lewis criticizes those who believe that "the greatest permanent miseries in human life must be curable if only we find the right cure." Hence the fanaticism of many systematizers for men such as Marx, Darwin, Hitler, and Stalin all claimed to have the right answers. Rather than claim all the answers, Lewis encourages us to "work quietly away at limited objectives, such as the abolition of the slave trade, or prison reform, or factory acts, or tuberculosis, not by those who think they can achieve universal justice, or health, or peace." Attacking the "immediate evils" is far better than claims for "universal peace" which can never occur one earth.

Lewis cautions against the willingness to die for any cause a nation enters into. Again in "Learning in Wartime," Lewis reminds his readers that those who "surrender... without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation" risk surrendering the things that only belong to God. In the Screwtape Letters, Screwtape urges Wormwood to encourage the young man into a position where"Meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity..." When man attempts to claim the things of God, Lewis writes in "Learning in Wartime" that man looks for a heaven on earth that will "turn the present world from a place of pilgrimage into a permanent city satisfying the soul of man."

In the Four Loves, Lewis claims that when ones particular country's cause becomes the "cause of God," wars will eventually become "wars of annihilation." Continues Lewis, "A false transcendence is given to things which are very much of this world." A unhealthy nationalistic spirit attempts to "borrow" the things of the heavenly society and use them in the earthly society to justify "the most abominable actions." This unhealthy mixing of the sacred and the secular is a violation of the Augustinian City of God/City of Man dichotomy.

The consequences of this way of thinking leads to potentially interesting consequences regarding the mixing of religion and patriotism. Such thoughts I continue to wrestle with as I learn how to love correctly my own country.

Lewis on the Teaching of History (Part II)

In order to develop a healthy love for country C.S. Lewis attributes the proper education of a country's youth as necessary to instilling a correct view of the nation's past. Lewis specifically addresses the teaching of history, however, the education of children always encompasses knowledge as a whole. One should contrast Lewis's statements against both "liberal" or "conservative" educators who both seek to tell their own stories of how America came to be. As Dr. Gamble says "we are all born bad historians" and should thus attempt to learn carefully how to study and understand history. A proper understanding is vital for producing the right type of character within the human soul, that will allow him to discern good from evil, right from wrong, among human nature.

Developing proper historical consciousness is a topic that would take a book or two or three. A good friend of mine wrote his senior thesis on the work of John Lukacs who I would definitely recommend reading. Good historical method is the surest way to fight the evils of historicism and those who claim to have a "philosophy of history." Failure to understand history leads to serious miscalculations regrading some of the most fundamental questions of humanity.

In The Screwtape Letters Lewis warns against becoming either of two radical positions, "an extreme patriot" or "an ardent pacifist." Leading people into either of these extremes is a tactic of Satan that leads to destruction. Knowledge must go on even during times of war according to Lewis in his essay "Learning in Wartime." Says Lewis, "The pursuit of knowledge and beauty, in a sense, for their own sake, but in a sense which does not exclude their being for God's sake. An appetite for these exists in the human mind, and God makes no appetite in vain." Lewis continues:

... we need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that the basic assumptions have been quite different in different periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion.

In another essay titled, "Why I am not a Pacifist," Lewis criticizes what he later calls the "chronological snobbery" of progressives who assume "human history is a simple, unilinear movement from worse to better- what is called a belief in progress so that any given generation is always in all respects wiser than all previous generations." These people seem to believe that "the whole world was wrong until the day before yesterday and now has suddenly become right." Such a belief in history lacks a proper understanding of human nature and historical consciousness.

In the Four Loves, Lewis's discussion on love of country takes him once again to the topic of education. It is easy for one to only look at the heroic actions of the past while failing to remembering that "the actual history of every country is full of shabby and even shameful things." Nonetheless, Lewis encourages people to be strengthened by the images of the past without being "deceived or puffed up." Such images only become dangerous when "mistaken or substituted for serious and systematic historical study."

How then do we teach our children so as to avoid an unhealthy nationalistic pride? Lewis turns to stories with the emphasis on the tale and the picture which "fires the imagination." This way of doing history avoids a type of patriotism that indoctrinates the young in "false or biased history" that assumes their particular nation is superior in people, culture, and tradition. A belief that somehow ones people are "chosen" might lead to fatal and dire consequences.

Lewis's reflections on the proper love of country seem to further cement the changing feelings I have about my own country. Coinciding with my newfound desire to work in education someday, Lewis helps put into perspective the necessity of correctly teaching history as a way to monitor the health of a country. Perhaps a reason for the current sickness of our own nation can be traced to the irresponsible ways we have handled history in the education of our children.

Monday, May 25, 2009

C.S. Lewis on the Love of Country (Part I)

In the course of reading and re-reading C.S. Lewis over the past few weeks I've focused primarily on his writings regarding a healthy love of country. It seems as if Lewis also speaks of this in relation to three areas. First he always discusses a healthy love of country in contrast to an unhealthy nationalism. This makes sense in the context of Lewis's writings. Both world wars were the result of a nationalism so overpowering that it eventually became a destructive ideology. Second, Lewis discusses love of country in relation to the necessity of teaching good history. I find this an interesting connection on Lewis's part for it all of a sudden elevates the role of education in the ordinary lives of all people. Third and finally, Lewis always enters a discussion of the temporary versus the permanent, the dichotomy of the City of God and the City of Man. Confusing the two often leads dire consequences according to Lewis.

For this post, I will focus on the healthy love of country Lewis describes especially in relation to the sacrifice of the dead in war. Such thoughts are fitting as another Memorial Day has come and gone in America, and we as citizens remember the sacrifice of the many brave generations before us.

In The Four Loves Lewis emphasizes a patriotism that "asks to be left alone" for it values home, place, community, and a particular way of life. Such a man appreciates his own local customs and habits recognizing "all the things he would miss" if it were lost. Certainly, many of our soldiers have died for their home and families protecting those particular things about home that only they themselves could love and appreciate.

In his essay "Learning in Wartime," Lewis points out the worth in dying for ones country. However, such a tremendous duty is not worth living for as the only type of life worth living and dying for is spiritual in nature. It is from the sacrifice of war do we realize the reality of death and pain. Lewis observes that war is not unique to suffering for we will all most likely suffer as we ourselves die. Neither does war deprive men of a chance to have peace with God for its reality forces men to confront their eternity much sooner. What war does to death according to Lewis, is that it forces us to remember it. By making death real, we can be aware of our own mortality.

In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis through Screwtape reminds Wormwood how much better it would be if "all humans died in costly nursing homes amid doctors who lie, nurses who lie, friends who lie... promising life to the dying..." War threatens the "contented worldliness" that men often fall into for "In wartime not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever." Similar to "Learning in Wartime" Lewis notes the fragility of life that naturally accompanies war.

Lewis's brilliant but simple reminders encourage the citizen to love his country and remember those who died before us. The reality of death only helps us see more clearly the temporary state of the world we are in. A healthy love of country allows us to recognize our proper place in the world we live in and the place of those who have died before us.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Christian Humanism

Humanism is the idea that men should become more of who they are intended to be. Education, specifically liberal education, is one method of achieving this. Indeed, the revival of culture and education in the Renaissance introduced further ideas of humanism from thinkers including Petrarch, Pico, and to some extent Machiavelli. Yet humanism unchecked can become nothing more than the worship of man even in his sinful state. Believing that men are created by God is an important recognition of who man is intended to be. If one accepts that man was created, as the Westminster Confession states, "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever," than true humanism is Christian Humanism.

This past spring semester saw my acceptance of Christian humanism under the influence of Dr. Birzer's class titled American Order and Disorder. The tradition of Christian humanism is found within a wide variety of thinkers in the Western tradition. The early church fathers including the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas Christianized the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. Paul himself identifies Christian humanism in numerous places throughout his epistles with one of the most notable references occuring in Acts at Mars Hill where he claimed that in Christ we live and move and have our being. This tradition is carried through Augustine, Aquinas, Petrarch, Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and many of the early American founding fathers. A revival of Christian humanism occured in the twentieth century to counter the rising secularism and ideology. These figures included T.S. Eliot, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, Christopher Dawson, and Russell Kirk.

Indeed the Christian humanist understands the role of grace to sanctify the sin of the modern world and provide a way of escape from the false worship of man within humanism. Christian humanism reveals to man his place in the tradition and thus the world he lives in. Jesus Christ represents the true Logos who holds all things together. By Him all things are created and it is only when we rest in Him can we know who we are as individuals.

My own ideas as reflected in previous posts, and in the posts to come, are examples of the Christian humanism that has become part of my life. I hope to continue in the conversation of Christian humanism in a world that has long forsaken the true Logos, the Word that became flesh to dwell among us.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Not Knowing

One of the most important lessons I learned this past school year was the transparency or opaqueness of knowledge. Within the context of especially modernity, ideologues desire to have complete knowledge of the world through the systems they implement. Their desire to create an earthly paradise often stops at no boundaries and is a reason for the unfathomable bloodbath that marks the 20th century.

But such ideas do not necessarily contain such terrible consequences. The desire to know things is human but finite man must come to terms early in his life, how limited he really is. No matter how many times we think we can "control our own destiny," perhaps the Lord's ways are much different than our own ways. Maybe in this world, there are some things we are NOT supposed to know.

I'm thankful for C.S Lewis's closing chapter in The Abolition of Man. These final words are meant as a warning for the man who desires answers at all costs so as to become his own god. Yet within the warning for the Christian, there is comfort. We do not need to know everything because God's plan is always best. When we seek to become more like Him we are better tuned to His will. Our prayer should not be to know, but to rest in Him.

Lewis writes in the final words of The Abolition of Man:
... the kind of explanation which explains things away may give us something, though at a heavy cost. But you cannot go on 'explaining away' for ever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on 'seeing through' things for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it.... It is no use trying to 'see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To 'see through' all things is the same as not to see.

Sometimes attempting to see everything causes us to see nothing. Certainly ideologues in their attempt to enforce their view of the world on others, completely misunderstood the true nature of the world. Similarly, when we attempt to know everything we risk the chance of knowing nothing. It is good to find rest by trusting in God regardless of our circumstances.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Since last summer...

It is remarkable to think about how much I've changed in one year. I view the world in such a different way it is almost like I am a completely different human. In a sense, I think I am "more human" in the way that education can only make one "more human."

I was thinking about the random events that sort of spurred the change in my thought. My close friend and current roommate at the time assumed responsibility for the Fairfield Society at Hillsdale effective in the Fall 2008 semester. The Fairfield Society meets on Thursdays at 5:45 and you are encouraged to bring your dinner into the private dining room where we meet and listen to a presentation by a student on whatever topic he or she desires. It is usually something on the mind of the student that he may desire feedback from. Often the struggle is finding students willing to present thus my friend began pestering me to share my thoughts.

About this time, I was interacting with another friend who was set to enter Hillsdale in the fall as a freshman. This particular friend was a staunch libertarian who saw the world a lot differently than I did. We spent many IM and phone conversations hammering out our positions. I remember one of these phone conversations in which I made an identical argument against abortion and gay marriage. Something triggered in my head that night and it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it was. I do know I began making the sort of connections in all that I had learned at Hillsdale the past two years. I began to understand why I thought the way I did in my understanding of the world. This led to a Fairfield Presentation which I will outline in my next post that definitely was landmark day in life...

I was not left alone to deal with these new ways of thinking. I am thankful for a certain senior, who recently graduated Hillsdale with departmental honors in history, for his time in continuing to help me piece together many different ideas. This past academic year I took the classes that allowed me to firsthand engage these ideas with the thinkers behind them. This is not to say I've learned all I needed to learn. It does say however, that the way I think now is completely different than the way I think last summer.


I think this is an integral part of learning that I've really began to enjoy. We are always modifying the ways we think as we continue to learn and grow as human beings. Our fundamental convictions do not necessarily have to change. In my libertarian friend's case, they have changed... for the better! But in my case, I still remain a reformed, Christian, conservative... who just happens to see things a lot differently than ever before.

I'm happy to be a part of this conversation... and thankful that God has placed me at a college where such changes to ones character are not only encouraged, they are strengthened.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Becoming More Human

What is liberal education?

*An understanding of the unity of all knowledge. Think Newman's "circle" or even Paul's example of the "body." Liberal education seeks to educate with a broad range of subjects meant to give the student a wider perspective of the world.

*Desires to know the "ends" and "means" of things. By attempting to understand the "why" questions, liberal education strives to make sense of the purposes of things and the end that they are directed towards.

*"Free" in that it must be pursued without compulsion, and when pursued, it must be done for its own sake. Thus, liberal education avoids becoming servile to a lower end.

*Develops character and the well-ordered soul. It not only makes man more human, but for the Christian, helps one think and reason to a fuller capacity that resembles the great I AM.

*A condition of the soul that allows one to live a liberal life regardless of vocation or situation.

There's so much more... but these are some of the bigger ideas we discussed in my Artes Liberales course this past semester.

Monday, May 18, 2009

What does it mean to be human?

What exactly does being created in the image of God (imago dei) mean for us as humans today?

Of course, it means a lot of things. And a complete answer might take a book! But considering knowledge for a bit... how does knowing things make us better pictures of God's image?

As men and women we have the ability to think and reason-- to know and to want to know more. We desire to understand the world we live in, the ends and means and purposes of things, and the big "why" questions of reality. Children sometimes best demonstrate this by constantly asking "why" for seemingly every single action. This is a natural human desire that is a reflection of the God-like nature within us. God is reason and knowledge and philosophy and wisdom. He refers to Himself as true being or the great I AM, and his sovereignty reflects His presence in reality.

The pagan Greek philosopher Aristotle recognizes this truth. "The good life" according to Aristotle, is accomplished when man has the ability to pursue the "higher things." Man must have the time to live a life of contemplation in the truths of wisdom and philosophy. This kind of life is what makes us most divine which in turn, makes us most human.

Why then must we learn? Why is it good to read and write, to know history, and how to add and subtract? Because it makes us more human. We would acknowledge that both the literate and the illiterate individual are both human. But one is definitely more "human" than the other. One is using the God-like facilities inherent within him more effectively than the other. Thus by exercising the God-given tools that most resemble Him, we become better conformed to not only reality on earth, but true being in Him. We become more of who we were created to become. More God-like and thus more human.

Might there be a way of life that helps us become fine tune our instincts to true reality? If so, how? I think education is one of the best ways we can pursue this kind of life.

Not just any education, but a very specific type known as liberal education...

Sunday, May 17, 2009

"Employable" Jobs

Let's depict a conversation I've grown to hate.

Anonymous Person- "So what is your major?"
Me- "American Studies/History"
Anonymous Person- "Oh... what are you going to do with that?"
Me- *Looks for something to bang my head against*

Three of my really good friends graduated (or will soon graduate) with engineering degrees this year. All of them did very well academically in college and landed decent to excellent internships over the past few summers. Of the three, one of them is going to graduate school at the university of Michigan. Another one might go to graduate school in the future. The other one has no plans to continue schooling. Of the two who are not entering graduate school in the fall, neither one of them has a full-time job lined up. The most they have as of now, are temporary summer jobs in the engineering field.

There is certainly nothing wrong with taking a temporary job while one looks for something more permanent. What I do find interesting is that the two of my good friends, who went to the job fields that were supposedly the MOST employable, do not have jobs after graduation! Indeed, I would be so bold as to claim that these are not isolated incidents. The job market is unsteady enough right now. One must also remember that many people hold various jobs over their lifetime. How many people actually end up working in jobs they went to college for?

Perhaps this reality should make us question the so called "employable" jobs. Maybe vocational/practical education is not the only thing America needs as we look to the future. I wonder if the purpose of education might be a little bit more than simply job training people who may either not have a job after college, or will work in a field completely different than they expected. It seems as if the world is full of professionally and well-educated people. The problems within our culture seem to go a bit deeper than a lack of sufficiently educated people who have at least some form of a college "degree."

This should lead us to examine ourselves and think about the way we do education. Maybe college is more about getting job. From my experience, I would sure hope so. Hillsdale has changed me a lot, but the most important changes have nothing to do with what job I will have someday... although they will definitely influence how I will view that job.

More on these thoughts in coming posts... It was definitely time to move on from the bleakness of modernity... ;)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

RA= Really Awesome (experience)

In a conversation with Cassie the other night, a fantastic RA in her own right, she asked what I felt was the most rewarding experience from being an RA this past year. To be honest, I was initially caught off guard with her question which sort of surprised me as I had been thinking over the past week how much I loved being an RA and looked forward to coming back as the student house director next year. I realized that it was not so much the question that caught me off guard, but the "where do I even begin?" response.

You really have to want to be an RA. The money is nice, but definitely not worth it if you are doing a good job and enjoying the benefits it offers. There is no way you could put a quantitative amount of compensation on a job in which the best rewards are unable to be measured by any artificial, empirical standard.

With that said, I learned this year how to listen on a fundamental level. Not listening for what I want to hear, but to actually hear what is being said and communicated. This is a simple part of conversation but is badly missing from our culture today. I learned how to care for the guys regardless of their attitude, grades, fraternity association, etc. I did not do this perfectly and this is something I want to improve on next year. But the best way I can serve them is by first caring for them. Finally, I most enjoyed watching freshmen grow over the course of a year. Many of them changed so much and became much more the human beings they are meant to be. What a privilege and honor to experience that journey with so many special guys.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Don't Immanentize the Eschaton!

Immanentize the Eschaton (try saying that ten times fast). This ridiculous sounding phrase has changed my life considerably since the first time I heard it used in Dr. Gamble's Intellectual History of the United States. I knew right then and there that I was way over my head. But there was meaning behind the expression, and the past few years (and a few more semesters with Dr. Gamble) helped me see why immanentizing the eschaton is a very bad thing....


This intense looking fellow, Eric Voegelin, is the one who coined this fanciful sounding way of saying "bringing the kingdom of God to earth." "Eschaton" is a theological term referring to the kingdom of God and to "immanentize" something is to make it happen immediately. What is wrong with bringing the kingdom of God to earth? Isn't that what Christ came to do, and what we are commanded to do by the Great Commission, and what we ask in the Lord's prayer? Understanding the fault in immanentizing the eschaton requires a better understanding of Voegelin.

For centuries Christians have understood St. Augustine's famous work, The City of God, to be the best understanding of the relationship between our life in heaven and our life on earth. John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress also plays on this theme reminding the Christian that we are pilgrims, living in a world that is not our eternal home. Our final resting place is in heaven, where there is true perfection and true happiness. These things can never be attained on earth for we are inherently sinful human beings. St. Augustine describes the City of God as heaven and the City of Man as the world we live in. This dichotomy is helpful in understanding the tensions between living here on earth in the temporary and seeking what is in permanent in heaven.

Eric Voegelin was a strict Augustinian in his understanding of the two cities. A harsh critic of modernity and liberalism, Voegelin suggests that the drive by many within modern times to create perfection on earth was a violation of Augustine's dichotomy. Indeed all ideology is an attempt by man to bring to earth what cannot be brought to earth. Many other thinkers agree. C.S. Lewis warns about making the "earthly" into something "transcendent." Similarly Russell Kirk criticizes those who try to create"earthly paradises" always resulting in "terrestrial hells." The 20th century, as stated in the previous post, has been the century of terrestrial hell. According to Voegelin, ideologues were men who confused what belonged in the City of God as something to be obtained in the City of Man.

Voegelin accuses modernists of stealing the symbols and myths of Christiainity. By breaking down the sacred and the secular, Christian teachings like the City of God and the City of Man mean nothing to those who have no respect for orthodox Christianity. Thus, those who immanentize the eschaton, do so with secularized assumptions. Whatever original meaning bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth once possessed, has been robed by those who think nothing of the things of God. Those who seek to immanentize the eschaton look different depending on the situation. They might be harmless utopians or tyrannical dictators. Regardless, all of them as T.S. Eliot writes, "Dream of systems so perfect, man will no longer need to be good."

For the Christian we understood that there are things that are permanent and timeless that occur on earth, but they never manifest in an ideology. Christians know the kingdom of God is something realized in a spiritual sense, not politically or materially. And only the King Himself is able to bring about that which He wills, not what man desires to make. A proper understanding of orthodox Christian theology is the surest safeguard to attempting to immanentize the eschaton.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Some Thoughts on Modernity

Fyodor Dostoevsky writes in his "Notes From the Underground"

After all, we don't even know where 'real life' is lived nowadays, or what it is, what name it goes by. Leave us to ourselves, without our books, and at once we get into a muddle and lose our way- we don't know whose side to be on or where to give our allegiance, what to love and what to hate, what to respect, and what to despise. We even find it difficult to be human beings, men with real flesh and blood of our own; we are ashamed of it, we think it a disgrace, and are always striving to be some unprecedented kind of generalized human being. We are born dead, and moreover we have long ceased to be the sons of living fathers; and we become more and more contented with our condition. We are acquiring the taste for it. Soon we shall invent a method of being born from an idea....
[Emphasis added]

Dostoevsky brilliantly recognizes what modernity or life in the modern times has done to man. By mechanizing him as nothing more than an animal or a machine, man has lost not only his humanity, but his entire connection to imagination and myth, tradition, and fundamental institutions including family and community.

Indeed modernity is a term almost impossible to define in what I hope to be a fairly small blog post ;). Historians cite different events that triggered the beginning of modernity. To generalize, I'm understanding modernity as the advent of secular humanism and ideology that coincided with the triumph of empirical science, rational Christianity, and utilitarian and pragmatic philosophy. Roughly speaking, this started with the Enlightenment and culminated in the late 19th century. Modern thinkers include Darwin, Freud, Nietzsche, Spencer, Dewey, and of course the ultimate modern Karl Marx. These men and others convinced of their own righteousness, attempted to create the world as they would like it. Believing their assumptions about the most fundamental questions of humanity including what is God, what is man, and what is man's place in the order of things to be the most correct, ideologues and other moderns attempted to implement their system to fix the "problems" they identified in the world.

These systems, eventually given names like "Marxism," "Fascism," "Nazism," and "Communism," would have only one end to their schemes. Death--- in the form of 205 million lives lost in the 20th century. The so called "century of progress" is not marked by man's technology, but by the gas chamber, the gulag, and the death camp.

All this because man has misidentified both himself and his God choosing instead to act as "rational" creatures, born of ideas and ideologies. And so modernity, divorcing itself from all that is good, chose to compartmentalize the world into boxes so as to examine all the pieces and create the system that will finally get it right. This confusion of the universal with the particular, shatters the imagination which can no longer see the complexity within each and every man in history-- which is the story of man.

Whether or not we are in an age of post-modernity almost seems irrelevant. The blood of millions upon millions of people, many of them brothers and sisters in Christ, lies almost ignored in a world of chaos, death, and suffering. What does any of this matter to those of us in America, materially blessed and spiritually apathetic to our own ideologies of "liberalism" and "conservatism." The effects of modernism in America have seeped into nearly every aspect of American life- our familes, churches, schools, communities, etc all live and breath the language thoughts and ideas of modernity.

Is there a way to escape this?

Christopher Dawson offers one possible option:
“The only remedy is to be found in that spiritual force by which the humility of God conquers the pride of the evil one. Hence the spiritual reformer cannot expect to have the majority on his side. He must be prepared to stand alone like Ezekiael and Jeremy. He must take as his example St. Augustine besieged by the Vandals at Hippo, or St. Gregory preaching at Rome with the Lombards at the gates. For the true helpers of the world are the poor in spirit, the men who bear the sign of the cross on their foreheads, who refused to be overcome by the triumph of injustice and put their sole trust in the salvation of God.”

In an age of darkness, those like Dawson provide some hope admist a battle that seems all but lost.