Though liberal charities oftentimes have an overwhelmingly positive appeal, there exists a portion of men to whom such charities inspire at least a mild revulsion. The type of charitable cause is practically irrelevant; it might be for Haiti, or AIDS, or perhaps in this most recent case, it might involve bringing justice to the Ugandan children terrorized by an inhuman warlord. But though the causes may vary, the reaction is the same; support is refused, and the rebels are left with an uncomfortable feeling of dissatisfaction, an emotional confusion which understands, on one hand, that charity itself is oftentimes (though not always) intrinsically noble. But on the other, it understands that support must not be given. (more…)
10. April 2012
13. March 2012
The Biblical case against supporting Israel
There are certain times in a man’s life when his fingers tremble to type a thought, when the weight of a declaration lies so heavily upon his heart, that he can only with great difficulty and precaution bring himself to write it. In this particular case, the writer treads carefully knowing that two paths lie before him, both, in a sense, approved in specific circumstances by God Himself, but human reason and spiritual enlightenment determining which of the two is viable. I speak, in this case, of the decision of whether to support Israel militarily or not. (more…)
16. January 2012
America, Rome, and military expenditures
Perhaps one of the most striking features of the Roman Empire, as noted by countless historians, is the amount of time in which it maintained nearly total supremacy over such a vast portion of the human race. Edward Gibbon, in his historical masterpiece The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, notes not only that the greatest conquests of the Romans were made under its Republican government (which may seem strange to Westerners, in light of recent unrealistically peaceful portrayals of representative democracy), but that the Romans were able to maintain consecutive annexations not for one, nor two, nor even three, but for seven centuries. No empire in modern history is anywhere near comparable: the English and French Empires, after establishing great dominions for only a short while, have been pressured into emancipating those territories into self-government. And the American empire (if it can be called such), while making the greatest military expenditures and displays in all of history, and exerting immense influence across not just portions of the globe, but across the entirity of it, has little beyond its own continental borders to claim as American territory, or even vassal states. (more…)
18. July 2011
Concerning the protection of Americans abroad
To what extent must Americans sacrifice to protect their citizens abroad? This question was recently raised by the sitting American President, as he sought to avoid the death penalty for a notorious Mexican national who had raped and murdered a young girl on US soil. Obama’s concern, not unconsidered by many other Americans, asserts that if Americans execute foreign nationals, traveling Americans may be subjected to the judicial decisions of far less civilized countries, perhaps unfairly. (more…)
27. March 2011
The question of imperialism
Of the many difficult questions a person can ask about the rights of man, one of the toughest is whether the people of a country are ever their own supreme authority. To err toward an absolute “yes” or “no” seems to lend credibility to a variety of atrocities, and trying to strike a balance between the two extremes can plunge the answer into useless subjectivity. But a good answer is readily available for those who concern themselves with sound principles. (more…)
15. November 2010
What is truly American foreign policy?
In these troublesome times, as the costs of occupation take their toll on both this generation and our children’s children, and as the repercussions of foreign involvement threaten our global standing and security, an increasing constituency of both the left and right are beginning to wonder whether America was ever intended to be an internationally-active force. Citing numerous embarrassments in Middle-Eastern policy, exportation of jobs resulting from a botched free trade, and the flagrant disregard of our trading partners’ injustices, these isolationists, while not incorrect about the problems of foreign involvement, forget that our Founding Fathers never intended us for autarky or isolationism. (more…)