I recently interviewed Calvin College professor of Philosophy and author, James K.A. Smith. Dr. Smith has written books such as Desiring the Kingdom, Imagining the Kingdom, the forthcoming Embodying the Kingdom, Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?, and more.

We primarily discussed his book, Desiring the Kingdom, and he made some points that I thought were worth revisiting.

First, when it comes to education, we are going to educate primarily based on our answer to the question, “What is man?” If we imagine humans to be consumers, our education will look similar to public education. If we imagine humans to be primarily thinkers, we will educate another way. But, if we imagine humans to be primarily worshipers, then our education will look another way.

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by Luke Welch

Imagine you have celiac disease, you and all your children. You live in a land that demands that your children eat glutenous meals everyday. You are old enough to do what you want, but growing up you experienced the torment of being given shredded wheat every day, and you don’t want your children to suffer. But the land doesn’t care for your plan to feed them at home – they have to go to the public feeding centers, by force of law. The land says, “Celiac disease is a figment of your imagination.” So one day, you leave the land and go to a place that will allow you to serve completely gluten-free meals.

You thought you were safe, because everyone in the land of the gluten-free is free to be gluten-free. But after a while the GF country starts pushing you to go back home. “Sorry Folks, just because WE protect people with celiac, doesn’t mean you have a right to have that same protection, since you came from Gluteny.”

In the case against you, someone even says, “Come on! Your kids are free to eat gluten free all they want! Right after they come home from the gluten meal! So what are you complaining about!?”

But that’s not the point, is it? You aren’t hoping to get to give them SOME gluten free. You are trying to get them completely gluten free. Gluten-somewhat-free is not actually free.

Napp Nazworth, at the Christian Post, writes, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit heard arguments Tuesday in a case, Romeike vs. Holder, that could (more…)

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by Mark Horne

It is pretty common to hear conservatives or libertarians deride “fiat currency” as if it is worthless trash. They are absolutely right to insist that it is flawed. And those flaws will certainly lead to a bad end some day. But that is not the same as claiming it is “worthless.” If it were worthless, no one would give you anything in exchange for it. But they do.

The common claim is to say that money is “government created.” Supposedly, this leads to the conclusion that the money must not be really worth anything. But that is not the only way the argument could work. Many people hear that money is created by the state and then see how well it works for buying things and conclude that the state must be pretty competent in creating currency (I’d say, “making money,” but that would be confusing). (more…)

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by Marc Hays

Today in the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Romeike family’s case will be heard in open court.  They have been granted asylum in the United States on the grounds that they were being persecuted for their religion by refusing to enroll their children in Germany’s government schools.  Prior to 1938, homeschooling was legal in Germany.  Adolf Hitler decided it should be otherwise.  I wrote a brief post about that here.  Today the status regarding their asylum in the United States will be determined.

Over the past week I have continued to read HSLDA’s articles about the Romeikes, other German homeschoolers, German law, United States law, and international law.  I am not an expert in these matters, which is why I help to pay Mike Farris’ electric bill each month and am happy to do so.  As much as I enjoyed reading HSLDA’s articles, I remembered that everyone seems right until another comes along with a challenge (Prov. 18:17), so I looked up some opposing views as well.  You can read one of the better opposing arguments that I found here. (more…)

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Posted by Aaron W Eley
On this day, the 23rd of April, Christians throughout many countries in the world will be observing Georgemas, more commonly referred to as the Feast of St. George of Lydda. George is remembered as the Patron Saint of England, Libya, Lebanon, and many others including being the object of devotion of the country of Georgia (whose flag bears the Jerusalem Cross)[1], Catalonia, Aragon and others. Indeed, St. George’s Day will be celebrated nationally in England and the City of London over which the familiar ‘red cross on a white field’ of the Flag of St. George, the standard emblem of the Crusades, will be flown.

George was born in AD 270, in what is now Eastern Turkey, to Grecian parents of the Christian faith [2]. His father was from Cappadocia in Asia Minor and his mother from Lydda [3], which was briefly renamed Georgiopolis before the Muslim Conquest of the Levant ended that city’s Roman Period in the 7th century.

Tomb of St. George, Lydda

Georgios (Gr. ‘worker of the land’) was a Greek of noble birth. At the age of 14, George’s father died while serving as an officer in the Roman Army. A few years later, George also lost his mother [4]. (more…)

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by Marc Hays, homeschooling father of six.

Next Tuesday, April 23, 2013, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, will be hearing arguments in the Romeike v. Holder case.  The Romeikes have fled Germany and found asylum in the U.S. in order to avoid persecution by German government officials.  Based on a 1938 Nazi German law, parents are denied the fundamental human right to educate their children according to the dictates of their religion.  (more…)

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Thomas Kidd is a contributing scholar to The Kuyperian Commentary. His newest book is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, published in 2011 with Basic Books.

North Carolina legislators recently made an ill-fated attempt to introduce Christianity as the state’s official religion. The move was precipitated by an ACLU lawsuit against the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, a board notorious for allowing people to utter Jesus’s name in prayers at their meetings. The establishment proposal generated a predictably breathless response from the left. WaPo’s Alexandra Petri sarcastically wrote, “The North Carolina state legislature can totally establish a state religion. The Founders specifically said so in Article III, in the part where the letters “EXCEPT NORTH CAROLINA CAN DO WHAT IT WANTS” appear in bold flashing letters.” (more…)

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