Borrow, Read, Buy: New Amazon Review of Total Truth

By Rick Pearcey

An Amazon reviewer borrows, reads, and plans to buy Total Truth.

He writes:

In a postmodern age of conflicting World-views and relegated religious values, Pearcy's [sic] book hits hard with pinpoint accuracy. A diagnosis of modern thought, the history which led to it, and the schism of ideas that we now accept in the public sphere, Total Truth is not just a deconstruction of modern naturalism, it draws a picture of a completed Christian Worldview. I borrowed this book from a friend, but will soon add it to my library. I highly recommend "Total Truth."

75 reviews on Amazon here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Unethical Loyalty

By Rick Pearcey

This story about John Edwards and a former campaign aide raises the issue of misplaced loyalty.

Would you lie, nuance, cheat, steal or otherwise enable your compromised boss, candidate, cause, or trusted ministry leader?

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Tim Carney Honors Bob Novak

By Rick Pearcey

With Bob Novak's decision to retire, having been diagnosed with a brain tumor, Tim Carney is now editor of the "Evans-Novak Political Report" (see this publisher's note regarding ENPR at Human Events).

Both Novak and Carney are journalistic colleagues of mine from my tenure as managing editor of Human Events. ENPR, a sister company with HE in Eagle Publishing, Inc., needed an associate editor, and that became me. Carney came to Human Events as a bright, young reporter, and then later in a separate career move, he began working at ENPR.

In today's Examiner, Carney offers a moving tribute to Novak, "the hardest-working man I have ever known. . . . Privileged to call him my boss for half my (admittedly brief) career, I suffer an incalculable loss as Bob Novak sets down his pen, but millions of his readers are also saddened."

But while Carney suffers loss, some choose a different path, for example, the "Internet’s puerile purveyors of uninformed vitriol celebrate his retirement."

Others enjoy a gain, of sorts: "There is another class of people in this town who -- even if they admire the man -- benefit from the end of Novak’s column: The politicians, lobbyists, bureaucrats and operatives who want to work in peace and quiet, out of the public view."

Yes, says Carney, "this city" has lost something, but "what we’ve lost is not primarily a conservative voice -- Novak was one of many who clearly and consistently articulated the call for limited government and, later in his life, also the protection of the unborn."

What "we've lost primarily" is this:

A reporter who cast a cynical eye on the best-laid plans of bureaucrats, who took the same level of skepticism to his coverage of both political parties, and who was motivated, above all, by the desire to unearth information that powerful people would prefer remained buried.

To the detriment of the republic, there is now one fewer skeptic calling around Capitol Hill until he gets the real dirt; there is one fewer sleuth -- freed by his spot on the opinion pages from what Novak calls the “deaf-dumb-blind” sort of impartiality that often makes news reporting worthless -- exposing the true machinations in the government. This can be a cause for relief for many powerful people.

As a cancer survivor myself, I understand we inhabit a less than perfect world: My hopes and prayers remain with Bob Novak and family for the best possible outcome.

A word to Tim: One of the best ways to honor your boss is to give the rich, powerful, and infamous of Washington, D.C. -- religious, secular, or undecided -- a reportorial basis to greet the morning news, and each hour of the day, with fear and trembling. No peace, no quiet, for the corrupt and their enablers.

Read Tim Carney's entire column here.

Related
For a discussion on objective reporting and Christian worldview, see "Warren, Murdoch, Porn, and WND."

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Has Anyone Read Total Truth?

By Rick Pearcey

A potential reader of Total Truth wonders:

In a couple of weeks, our adult Sunday School class will begin reading her book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005).

Has anyone read this book?

Can you discuss its pros and cons?

Send help here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Bible Not a "Religious" Book

By Rick Pearcey

Archaeological finds like this help remind people that what is given in the Bible is not "religious" in the contemporary sense of the word, in which "faith" and spirituality are privatized self-medicative theories to help individuals, groups, communities, and movements of various stripes advance agendas, gain power, and otherwise cope in a heartless world and indifferent cosmos.

Instead what we have is information from the Creator regarding the objective world of fact, reason, history, and evidence.

Holistic, Biblical "faith" is primarily a matter of trust, not epistemology. True enough, trusting information that is given by our true Maker helps unlock further knowledge (see the scientific revolution), but it begins with information rooted in the real world.

Thus, what we have in Old and New Testament history are not mere "stories" (as "believers" of atheistic, academic, or pastoral stripe sometimes like to phrase it) but rather accounts of events that occurred in this world.

This kind of concrete truth -- not private experiences created by drugs, "religious" encounters, a rich imagination, or deeply held personal desires -- is what sets people free to navigate as whole but imperfect beings in a broken world.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Presidential Elections vs. the Kingdom of God

By Rick Pearcey

A renowned pastor apparently cares little about the 2008 presidential election because such things have "nothing to do with the kingdom of God."

And yet Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor" (Matt. 22: 39).

Now, if you "love thy neighbor," do you not also care somewhat about the neighborhood of thy neighbor? It may therefore be a matter of godly and humane concern who is elected President, not just of the "neighborhood," as it were, but also of the country.

For if the King of the kingdom of God says "love thy neighbor" is important, and this love includes compassion about the real-world impact of concepts, practices, and leaders on the lives of our neighbors, is it not part of the kingdom of God to care somewhat about who is elected President?

Yes it is. This is part of the Total Truth of what it means to be a compassionate human being alive to fellowship with the Creator and newness of life, across the whole of life, in relation to our neighbors.

This is one of many reasons presidential elections matter not just now, but also in eternity.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Congratulations, Rush -- Now Shut Up

By Rick Pearcey

In today's Examiner:

As Rush Limbaugh and his estimated 20 million daily listeners celebrate the talk radio titan’s 20th anniversary on the air, Democratic leaders in Congress are moving to turn his mike off.

Their weapon is restoration of the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Even folks who would rather have a root canal than listen to Rush’s daily pronouncements should hope they don’t succeed. If they do bring back this bureaucratic relic from the days of Harry Truman, it won’t be just Rush’s voice that will be muted, it will be free and open political debate in general that will suffer.

Question: Where's the "off switch" for Congress? In the old days of freedom, we had the Constitution.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).