Front Porch Republic » Darryl Hart

A Day Late, and a Mint Julep Short

Darryl Hart — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:59:07 +0000

I had previously thought that Ground Hog Day was strictly a holiday for the residents of the virtuous commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Turns out that the day is celebrated far and wide by localists of all kinds, even Canadians. But as…

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Ministries of Thought and Stunts of Renewal Williamston, MI… If the woodchuck hasn’t been dead too long,...
One Tea Party Too Late Derbyshire in the latest TAC: [H]ere are the Tea Partiers...
Life Amid the Suicide Machines JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS. …In small town America, business owners get...

If Not Exceptional, How about Unusual

Darryl Hart — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:52:32 +0000

I am loathe to dissent from Mark Mitchell’s thoughtful piece on American exceptionalism, true FroPo that I am. And I could simply add a comment to the post along with the rest of FPR’s readers. But my dissent may call…

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Liberated From Community? Was Nisbet wrong about the quest for community?...
He Deserved It [Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Wichita, KS That’s a terribly...
Working Group Meetings on Confederational Thought in Seattle As promised, here are the dates and times for our working...

When What We Say in Private Goes Public

Darryl Hart — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:35:46 +0000

All religious groups have their internecine squabbles and the places where such fights take place. They used to be confined to magazines and journals, and so only followed by the faithful who subscribed or who lived near a theological or…

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CHRONICLES vs. National Public Radio As Epicurean as apple pie?...
You Say Dominion, I Say Kingdom . . . Let’s call the whole world Christ’s. Ryan Lizza’s piece on...
On Remaking Private Life–At School A year or two of this sort of excitement, and...

You Say Dominion, I Say Kingdom . . .

Darryl Hart — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:24:18 +0000

Let’s call the whole world Christ’s. Ryan Lizza’s piece on Michele Bachmann prompted an avalanche of posts from bloggers and columnists who took issue with effort to link the Congresswoman from Minnesota to the political theology of Dominionism. The genealogy…

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Theonomist Doesn’t Even Rhyme with Terrorist A while back the History News Network featured part of...
When What We Say in Private Goes Public All religious groups have their internecine squabbles and the places...

Fair and Balanced?

Darryl Hart — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:40:12 +0000

Say what you will about Ron Paul, Fox News’ failure to say anything about the candidate is curious and gives Jon Stewart a big target.

The Daily Show – Indecision 2012 – Corn Polled Edition – Ron Paul & the Top Tier
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Thanks to John Fea.

Facebook and the Affairs of the Elderly Here’s an interesting essay arguing that the rise of divorce...
Facebook and Friendship Whatever else you make of Facebook friendship, it underscores the...
Idiocracy The future belongs to nincompoops, courtesy of Facebook, Twitter and...

If You Don’t Have A Life . . .

Darryl Hart — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:14:00 +0000

you happen to live in western Michigan, and don’t have any plans for this Saturday, you may be interested in coming to Grand Rapids to hear me give a talk based on my new book, From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism. The time is 10:00 am and the place is the Eerdmans bookstore, located at 2140 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505.

The following is an excerpt from the introduction:

The faith and piety of evangelical Protestantism has no direct or obvious tie to political conservatism. To insist upon a conversion experience or new birth, to regard the Bible as the sole source of truth, to emphasize the personal nature of Christ’s saving work, and to look for evidence of true faith in a life devoted to godly or holy living – these evangelical attributes are hardly foundational for an account of a good, ordered, and free society. Actually, political historians from the ethno-cultural school have detected parallels between the revivals and reforms of the Second Great Awakening (1810-1850) and the understanding of the United States that first the Whig and then the Republican parties embraced. Unlike Democrats who advocated a limited, populist government that did not legislate social behavior but rather gave room for the expression of self-interest and local autonomy, Republicans trusted government to enact laws based on eternal truths that would nurture virtuous citizens and build a righteous society. Generally speaking, since 1830 Anglo-American Protestants who supported revivals have been more comfortable with a state that promotes Christian norms as national standards than with a political order that cultivates religious diversity and the integrity of mediating institutions.

At bottom, evangelical moral idealism is at odds with political conservatism, as odd as that may sound. If conservatism were simply about public morality and virtues, then the habit of pundits and scholars referring to born-again Protestants as “social conservatives” would make sense. But such conservatism did not characterize the Right prior to the Reagan coalition. Indeed, a plausible perspective on post-1950 conservatism is that evangelicals were interlopers within the American Right because they knew so little of the concerns of conservatives. To be sure, evangelicals spoke the language of limited government and free markets not only to gain a hearing but also because such ideas are part of the fabric of American politics. Nevertheless, evangelicals’ moral idealism was alien to American conservatism. In fact, a moral conservatism divorced from either prior political or philosophical considerations leads inevitably to the kind of radicalism and social engineering that conservatives have historically opposed. Yet, the rub for evangelicals is that to insist that public morality needs to be grounded in philosophical or political considerations is to deny the priority of faith to all aspects of human existence; it is to suggest that Christ or the prophet Amos needs to take notes from lectures by Aristotle, John Locke, or James Madison.

I’d be glad for the presence of other FroPo’s and I apologize for this act of shameless self-promotion. Hope to see you Saturday in Grand Rapids.

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Comcast’s Revenge

Darryl Hart — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:53:56 +0000

Am I, someone hostile to large-scale corporate enterprises, really permitted to complain about a localist glitch in Comcast’s global footprint?

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A Global Mea Culpa I screwed up but I don’t know how to apologize...
Revenge of the Weeds ““It is the single largest threat to production agriculture that...
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Why Not King of France, Kentucky?

Darryl Hart — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:32:18 +0000

Not even suburban planners have come up with names like Archduke Ferdinand Estates or King of England Place.

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A Day Late, and a Mint Julep Short I had previously thought that Ground Hog Day was strictly...
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Generations I sense a gap on FPR between NoNamers and most...

Without Form and Void

Darryl Hart — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:23:34 +0000

If evangelicals are going to have trouble drawing the line in worship against Christian rock, will they really be reliable when it comes to evaluating the best texts and artistic forms for educating young people?

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Personal Mobility Concept No, not legs. They’re so 20th Century. The good people...
Keep Meadows, not Lawns …...
Now Available in Color Why not stand on the shoulders of the Kindle?...

Why I Shouldn’t Have To Pay Federal Tax On My IPA

Darryl Hart — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:06:11 +0000

If you want a reason to reach for a beer, read this piece, preferably at a bar featuring IPA’s during Happy Hour.

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An Elegy for Tobacco Henry County, Kentucky.… What holds a community together? Or rather,...
Agriculture vs. Agribusiness A visit to a CAFO makes it clear that to...
I Did Taste! Under consideration: Michael Pollan, The Omnivor’s Dilemma: A Natural...

Pedestrian Diarist: Life without Car(s)

Darryl Hart — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:31:59 +0000

I know what Jesus would do: hate the car, love the car driver.

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Deneen Spring Tour Dates With stops in Dallas and Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly...
A Global Mea Culpa I screwed up but I don’t know how to apologize...

No Flipping

Darryl Hart — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:24:27 +0000

But not to be missed in this story is the recognition that no matter how much the government wants to empower and affirm everyone equally, you cannot fool the American sports fan.

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Alito: The Court’s True Conservative In a recent piece in The Weekly Standard, Adam J....
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The ADM of MLB, R.I.P.

Darryl Hart — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:12:06 +0000

Might Steinbrenner be to professional baseball what an agribusiness is to farming?

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The Boy Scouts Win One for Moms, Apple Pie, and the Seventh-Inning Stretch

Darryl Hart — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:02:35 +0000

If all groups were forced to comply with the anti-discrimination policies of the federal government, conceivably churches could not exclude unbelievers, wine clubs would have to be open to tee-totalers, and neighborhood associations would be forced to include non-residents.

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Ending Political Science? A missive has gone out across the land and globe...
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The Big (Organic) Apple Claremont, CA…. The Big Apple dreams of the organic...

Hold the Tempura, Pass the Plantains

Darryl Hart — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:09:24 +0000

Why didn't I remember to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month? Does this mean that I am culturally insenstive? Or are there too many heritage months to keep up with?

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If Not Exceptional, How about Unusual I am loathe to dissent from Mark Mitchell’s thoughtful piece...

Can Votes Determine whether Ryan Howard is Better than Albert Pujols?

Darryl Hart — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:48:42 +0000

If voting for your favorite baseball player doesn't prove his greatness, does the same lesson apply to your favorite or even your own community?

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