Yesterday Ben and I recorded the new podcast, to be published on Friday. In it, we get into quite the debate about various subjects. Since the coming episode will be characterized by a lively debate, I thought I’d share my list of…
Top 5 Things Ben and I Don’t See Eye to Eye On
Note: My view is the first listed in every entry, followed by Ben’s. Ordered by degrees of Epic Proportions the debates often take on.
1. Obama – Detriment to the pro-life cause or the one who can do a good job?00
2. Christmas – A day for fun and meditation or just a day?
3. Harry Potter – The next Christian Classic or an overrated yarn?
4. The Daily Show – Incisive and insightful or cavalier and destructive?
5. Punch Out – Great hard-casual fun or a little too basic?
What say you, Ben? Want to publish your own list in response or does this about cover it?
Richard Clark (Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief) has spent his entire life writing, reading, listening, and playing. He has a Bachelors in Theology from the Baptist College of Florida and has a Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY where he is the classroom technology manager at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing at Christ and Pop Culture, he is also a staff writer for 
I’m with you on #1 but I’ll go even further. He’s a detriment to everything I love about our Constitutional Republic. Mainly freedom to live without the government intervening in my life and destroying the economy by over-regulation and going on a money-printing spending spree. I’m sorry, charity at the end of a gun is not charity. Socialism has failed every time it’s been tried and it will fail here in the US.
All I want from the government is to defend our borders, build a few roads, and then leave me and my income alone.
Jims last blog post..Silly laws breed disrespect for laws – Wi-fi logs for 2 years?
Jim, I basically agree with you, though I would quibble with the use of the term “socialism.” Not only does this misrepresent the actual intentions of Obama and his fellow democrats, but it’s just not helpful to the discussion.
One of the reasons I posted this list and am posting the heated discussion we had on the podcast yesterday is that we believe Christians should be able to have debates in a way that results in respect for the other and that is characterized by a humble, teachable attitude by both parties of the debate.
So again, I agree completely with the principles you are arguing for. But I think you’re making a huge misstatement about the intentions of most democrats when you break out the S-word.
Richard, Thanks for the response. I certainly don’t intend to be inflammatory. However, a lot of it depends on your definition of “socialism.” I know we’re coming from very different educational backgrounds. I went to grade school in the 60′s and middle/high school in the 70′s. In my mind and based on social studies teaching of those days anything that looks like the government taking more money from me or the so-called “rich” or businesses, with the intent to “spread the wealth” is pretty much socialistic in nature. We’re even hearing overtures yesterday and today by the Treasury Secretary and President that maybe the government ought to figure out how to cap executive pay/bonuses at companies that don’t take government bailout dollars. That’s scary from my viewpoint.
I do think it’s a command for Christians to care for the widows and the poor. But I don’t think Christ ever advocated a government entity taking from one group to give to another. In fact, some of the most godless government systems in the history of the world were based on the “spread the wealth” model. I actually truly believe the “Christian” thing to do is give people freedom to succeed or fail without the expectation that they will all stay “equal” in financial standing. It’s a good and healthy thing that some succeed and some fail.
Have patience with this “old” guy who probably would have been better off born in the 1830′s and believes that “individual – good, government – necessary evil.”
Jims last blog post..Silly laws breed disrespect for laws – Wi-fi logs for 2 years?
Aw, here I was all set to have fun and you go and throw out “humble, teachable attitude.” Such a killjoy, Rich. Such a killjoy.
The Danes last blog post..20081119.ChurchLies
Hey Rich,
Is this where you want me to respond? Hope so. We can argue later if not.
First of all, I do agree with your list, but think it needs reframing.
1.) What is the right way for a Christian to interact with government?
2.) Can there be spiritual significance to the secular side of Christmas?
3.) Are Harry Potter and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe comparable as literature? As Christian literature?
4.) Is satire a helpful way for Christians to approach the news?
5.) Other than nostalgia, does Punch Out have any redeeming value?
Here are a couple more potential disagreements:
-Is Settlers of Catan better with or without the expansion pack?
-What is the correct pronounciation of the word, “faith”? Then again, we could have this debate about most words.
-Is the ending for, “Atonement,” a-MAZ-ing or stupid?
-Is Sufjan Stevens a-MAZ-ing or so boring he makes you tie your shoes more slowly?
In the end, though, our arguments are fun because I trust your excellent mind and love for God, so I know debates are pretty minor by comparison. Plus, if we agreed all the time on the show it would be both boring and not descriptive of reality!
Regarding Jim’s post, I have some general agreement. There’s no question that the pursuit of socialism has not been kind or helpful to the Christian cause. However, capitalism has significant drawbacks too. I encourage all our readers to read “A World Split Apart,” a speech by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1976, I think. It’s a great critique of our moral and spiritual bankruptcy resulting from constant pursuit of the almighty dollar.
Again, it goes back to my argument that there should not be a direct, unchanging connection between Christianity and any one government, party, or politial ideology.
Ben Bartletts last blog post..People and Sadness
“Is Settlers of Catan better with or without the expansion pack?”
Unhesitatingly, Cities and Knights is better than vanilla Settlers for those who are fairly experienced with the base game. It takes every player a different amount of time to get to the point at which they can comfortably make the transition, but once they’re ready, Cities and Knights is essential to Settlers play. If on a scale of 1–10, Settlers of Catan is an 8, then Cities and Knights notches it up to a 9. Maybe even a 10.
Seafarers, however, gives a nearly negligible performance boost to the game. Some Seafarers campaigns are more interesting than vanilla Settlers, but as far as bang-for-buck goes, not the best investment. The Das Buch expansions look interesting, but I have yet to been able to try them out. We’re just too busy playing Cities and Knights—if our game of the evening is Settlers, that is.
The Danes last blog post..20081119.ChurchLies
Ben,
Okay, I’ve been racking my brain and I can’t even think of another way of pronouncing “faith.”
Ben,
Thanks for your gracious reply. I’m sure as you stated that we have some general agreement. I’ll let the whole Obama discussion be for now. I think you raise an interesting point when you say:
“Again, it goes back to my argument that there should not be a direct, unchanging connection between Christianity and any one government, party, or politial ideology.”
When I think of that it brings me to the command to be “salt and light.” How do we interpret that? I think salt is used to purify. So if we’re to “purify” how does that look or relate to politics? I’ve never bought into the argument that politics is dirty business and Christians ought to stay out of it. I’ve always gravitated to the Republicans because they closely match my ideals morally and socially, and almost always fiscally. Hindsight seems to reveal that it was more lip service than actual action.
As for the Democrats I simply can’t relate to anything they espouse morally, socially, or fiscally. In fact, I’ve always felt we would cease to be blessed as a nation if we went down the road the Dems would take us towards unrestricted abortion, homosexual marriage, and socialistic fiscal policy. I’ve also always felt the Dems were enemies of my faith.
Maybe I’m taking this all too seriously. I do believe God’s sovereign and that He sets up our leaders, takes them down, and uses them for His glorious purposes. Personally I need to learn that He’s the one I should trust in, not whatever government I have in authority over me.
Jims last blog post..Silly laws breed disrespect for laws – Wi-fi logs for 2 years?
Actually, the biblical command to be salt (at least so far as Christ posits) does not concern either salt’s preservative or purifying properties. So far as the biblical metaphor is concerned, the stated purpose of the comparison is only that of salt’s flavouring properties.
The Danes last blog post..20081119.ChurchLies