James Diddams retweeted
Nick Fuentes is always doing this thing where he crashes out over how dumb his followers are, yet apparently never asks himself "maybe the reason all my followers are so stupid is that my ideas are not actually very well thought out and thus liable to be believed only by idiots?"
James Diddams retweeted
.@NigelBiggar's “Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt” provides a strong, full-throated, well-argued, comprehensive, and accessible case against calls for Britain to pay reparations for its involvement in the slave trade, writes @ratlpolicy
Nick Fuentes is always doing this thing where he crashes out over how dumb his followers are, yet apparently never asks himself "maybe the reason all my followers are so stupid is that my ideas are not actually very well thought out and thus liable to be believed only by idiots?"
James Diddams retweeted
Now a decade into the Trump era of American politics, it behooves us to recall why America’s strategic interests are inseparable from the moral principles of the American Creed @PaulDMiller2
James Diddams retweeted
Editors @markdtooley and @PaulDMiller2 discuss Providence's founding and continued mission as the voice of Christian realism in international statecraft on the latest Providence Foreign Policy ProvCast
providencemag.com/podcast/ep…
When I serve communion at church there’s this thing where the musicians get progressively louder as it’s administered and so what begins as a quiet “the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation” ends in me almost yelling “THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, THE CUP OF SALVATION” at the last person
Thinking about George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” who remained rooted in a small town all his life, and how much more impossible that seems today being inundated by instagram posts of travel to far-off lands and the most conspicuous forms of consumption imaginable
My favorite phrase I’ve learned from following @johnmilbank3 is “soixante-huitardisme” or literally “68er-ism” in reference to the French protests of 1968.
In observing the world today, I find myself constantly looking around and remarking “what utter soixante-huitardisme.”
Sohrab has spent years saying anyone on the fusionist center-right is an out of touch, astroturfed representative of the “zombie Reagan dead consensus,” meanwhile his idea of the future of the right is a bunch of weirdos he’s met at Thiel/Hewlett Foundation funded conferences
Postliberals will say that liberalism is too idealistic and that 'realism' means compromise with authoritarianism, when in reality liberalism has always been its own deal with the devil, as all politics ultimately is, but that it is the least bad option available
Years ago, there was a controversy when it was found that Stephen Wolfe’s friend and podcast cohost Thomas Achord had a very explicitly racist anonymous Twitter account. This led to a blowup between those associated with Mere Orthodoxy, like Jake Meador, and with American Reformer, the former viewing this as totally unacceptable for a member of the Christian community. In contrast, many defenders of Achord and Wolfe argued that, basically, Achord might be racist or sympathetic to racist views, but that that shouldn’t be perceived as disqualifying or lead to Achord’s cancellation and that being ‘soft’ on LGBT issues was actually a much worse sin. Racism, while bad, had been singled out as a socially unacceptable sin by liberal elites while even tacit acceptance of pro-LGBT views should be viewed as the real issue in Christian circles. When Jake Meador later accepted a position as a contributor to The Dispatch, which also has a transgender person as one of its official contributors, this was taken as evidence that the same people who were highly critical of Achord were themselves soft on trans ideology.
I bring this up as an example of the ways in which American Christians engaged in politics always have to function in coalitions with people whose views they do not agree with, yet who, nevertheless, are viewed as ‘less bad’ than the alternatives. In the case of the guys in these pictures, even though Peter Thiel is openly in a gay relationship and has a number of children through IVF, he is still considered to be someone whose views should be taken seriously because he is right-wing. The Christian nationalists in these photos, if you asked them, would articulate something like “yes, we disagree with Peter Thiel on many things, but he’s ultimately on the same ‘side’ as us and so we will pay money to go to his event.”
The usually unspoken admission in politics is that we take a look at one side, then the other, conclude which is less bad, and then make our choice. To lay my own cards on the table, I, similarly to Jake, would sooner be in a center-right coalition that includes some LGBT people than one that is explicitly illiberal and seems to seek the overturn of the American constitutional order because I find this to be the least bad choice.
Years ago, there was a controversy when it was found that Stephen Wolfe’s friend and podcast cohost Thomas Achord had a very explicitly racist anonymous Twitter account. This led to a blowup between those associated with Mere Orthodoxy, like Jake Meador, and with American Reformer, the former viewing this as totally unacceptable for a member of the Christian community. In contrast, many defenders of Achord and Wolfe argued that, basically, Achord might be racist or sympathetic to racist views, but that that shouldn’t be perceived as disqualifying or lead to Achord’s cancellation and that being ‘soft’ on LGBT issues was actually a much worse sin. Racism, while bad, had been singled out as a socially unacceptable sin by liberal elites while even tacit acceptance of pro-LGBT views should be viewed as the real issue in Christian circles. When Jake Meador later accepted a position as a contributor to The Dispatch, which also has a transgender person as one of its official contributors, this was taken as evidence that the same people who were highly critical of Achord were themselves soft on trans ideology.
I bring this up as an example of the ways in which American Christians engaged in politics always have to function in coalitions with people whose views they do not agree with, yet who, nevertheless, are viewed as ‘less bad’ than the alternatives. In the case of the guys in these pictures, even though Peter Thiel is openly in a gay relationship and has a number of children through IVF, he is still considered to be someone whose views should be taken seriously because he is right-wing. The Christian nationalists in these photos, if you asked them, would articulate something like “yes, we disagree with Peter Thiel on many things, but he’s ultimately on the same ‘side’ as us and so we will pay money to go to his event.”
The usually unspoken admission in politics is that we take a look at one side, then the other, conclude which is less bad, and then make our choice. To lay my own cards on the table, I, similarly to Jake, would sooner be in a center-right coalition that includes some LGBT people than one that is explicitly illiberal and seems to seek the overturn of the American constitutional order because I find this to be the least bad choice.
Total Mark Tooley vindication. Wesleyans in control.
Ross is right about the vibrancy of evangelicalism. But a distinction needs to be made. The strongest currents of Protestantism in the US are Wesleyan, not Calvinist, Pentecostal rather than Presbyterian. When intellectual Protestants wax triumphant about an “evangelical century,” they are celebrating the success of a form of Christianity that differs in significant ways from their own.
I was raised in a non-denominational evangelical church. When I became “young, restless, and Reformed,” my parents were alarmed. They asked the pastor how to handle my evident defection from the faith. Whatever I believed, they thought, it wasn’t true Christianity.
Intellectual Protestants—the kind who attend Anglican churches or imbibe high-proof Calvinist texts—represent traditions of belief that have helped shape this country. But in terms of sociology and doctrine, they are alienated from the most vigorous contemporary expressions of American Christianity.
These guys never stop talking about the Iraq War because it spares them from actually having to make an argument. "Oh, you think antisemitism and ethno-nationalism are wrong? Well, you supported invading Iraq, so nothing else you believe could possibly be true"
This is funny, but an under-discussed element of Wheaton's continued influence on evangelical subculture and shifts toward more liturgical worship is as a center of the ACNA. In Wheaton, IL alone there are 5 ACNA churches with a 6th in Carol Stream, an adjoining suburb.
James Diddams retweeted
Rodger’s “Naval History of Britain” covers not only the full range of battles, but also the intersection of politics and naval campaigns—from the British monarchs to the cramped quarters of the lowest tars, foregrounded in the inextricable link between Britain and the sea
Cool I'll just start making 400k rq 👍
Meet "The Palantir Guy"
Asked 148 UVA female students: which 30-year-old makes most appealing husband?
C) Shy, supersmart physics major making $400K at Palantir: 58%
A) Socially adept ex-frat brother making $200K at BofA: 29%
B) Sensitive, smart SAHD making $35K: 6%
Emotional intelligence is nice. Brains & good paycheck nicer for my UVA students.
Couple of editor pet peeves:
1. Using the phrase "category error" as a synonym for "mischaracterization" as in "to describe X as Y would be a category error" to mean "X and Y are pretty different" when a category error would be like asking "which is more ethically consistent, a sedimentary rock or a glass of water?"
2. Using "inverse" as an intelligent-sounding way of saying "opposite," as in "X is the inverse of Y" when you just mean X and Y are really different. In formal logic, an inverse involves the reversal of some relationship. It's not supposed to be used as a more emphatic way of saying two things are not similar.




















