In my youth I cut my political teeth on the Watergate scandal, and this, along with the Turkish invasion of my father’s native island of Cyprus, moved me to study politics. Like many Americans at the time, I was incensed that a sitting president, sworn to uphold the constitution, would abuse his office to gain…
One of the turning points in British and Dutch history is the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. It decisively influenced the development of Britain’s famously patchwork constitution, which remains until today. For the Dutch, it meant the forging of a military alliance with England against France, two Protestant commercial and naval powers united against Catholic absolutism….
A few years ago, Christian nationalism was not well known, but now headlines regularly remind us of its centrality to the MAGA agenda. Christian nationalism insists that Christian precepts ought to be law and enforced by the state. Advocates believe that the Founding Fathers intended to establish the United States as a democracy whose ultimate…
Recently, while shopping at Cub Foods, I noticed shelves being stocked in the afternoon rather than the evening. The store was clearly short-staffed; the manager himself was stocking shelves. It was a symptom of something much more sinister. Since mid-December, Donald Trump’s Operation Metro Surge has placed up to 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…
One of the most discouraging phenomena of the past ten years has been watching evangelical Christians continue to support Donald Trump despite an ever-intensifying stream of immoral behaviour they wouldn’t have tolerated from any other candidate. By now it seems there may be no limit to how far this will go. Trump’s myriad moral shortcomings…
Minneapolis holds a special place in my heart because, as a young man, I attended a Christian university in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. I grew to love the area’s numerous lakes, Minnehaha Falls, the many Lutheran churches, the Dinkytown neighbourhood near the University and the many friendly, hospitable people who lived there. There is even a…
Editor’s note: this opinion piece began as a letter to the editor. Many people are rightly condemning the Trump government’s blatant attempt to annex Greenland. Because it is a clear abrogation of international law and a refusal to respect the sovereign boundaries of existing nations, many nations are rightly fearful about their own future. Thankfully,…
As I write, we have just learned that Donald Trump has captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, following several weeks in which American forces had been destroying seagoing vessels in the Caribbean on the pretext that they were shipping contraband drugs to the United States. This is the latest development for an administration…
In the polarized atmosphere south of the border, I have heard more than one person ask an important question relevant to American immigration policy: if illegal immigrants have failed to respect due process in entering the country, why should they themselves expect to receive due process? Despite its superficial logic, there is an obvious flaw…
Like a lot of 90’s kids, I have quotes from the Simpsons come spontaneously to mind just about all the time. The other day a moment came to mind where Ned Flanders (with whom I deeply identify) is chairing a meeting of the Springfield Parent-Teacher Association where he is trying to mediate a strike between…
How did we get to a place where citizens of the world’s leading democracy elected an anti-democratic government? That question is answered in colourful detail by Katherine Stewart in this new book. While the answer is not encouraging for those who care about good governance, it offers a deeper understanding of reality and some glimpses…
Eyes often roll when I talk about taxes, budgets and morality in the same sentence. That may change, however, after this moment in North American history. Moral and ethical questions about the Big Beautiful Budget Bill in the U.S. have gone mainstream, from Tik Tok to Substack. “Cruel and inhumane,” “no empathy,” and “unjust” are…
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