The Importance of Ideas

Posted by Michael La Framboise on Monday, September 15, 2025 In : Politics 
“Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards— the things we live by and teach our children— are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.” –Walt Disney

On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, a high school student opened fire at his Colorado high school, in the same county as the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. This student-turned-shooter wounded two classmates before killing himself. At the same time, 12:23 pm Mountain Time, 470 miles away at Utah Val...

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Adorning the Gospel or Stripping it Bare? Case Studies Illustrating the Dangers of Christian Nationalism

Posted by Michael La Framboise on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 In : Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) 

PDF Version
ADORNING THE GOSPEL OR STRIPPING IT BARE?

CASE STUDIES ILLUSTRATING
THE DANGERS OF CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM


A PAPER PRESENTED

AT THE 2024 ANNUAL MEETING OF 
THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

 

Introduction[1]

Christian Nationalism (CN), as described by Stephen Wolfe (click for the audio of an ETS panel discussion featuring Wolfe), threatens to diminish the witness of the evangelical Gospel around the world. Wolfe’s political theory will be used as a window through which to vi...


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A Lesson from India: How Democracies Now Die

Posted by Michael LaFramboise on Friday, November 15, 2024 In : Politics 

The following excerpt is well worth consideration in light of the issues at stake in the United States:
“Why is authoritarianism not resisted more vigorously in India? …The first reason has to do with the fact that populists-turned authoritarians do nothing illegal at the start, and they adopt an incremental modus operandi. As Levitsky and Ziblatt have shown, ‘This is how democracies now die…Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals a...


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The Second Coming of Trump!

Posted by Michael LaFramboise on Friday, November 8, 2024 In : Politics 

While the Trump campaign is announcing his re-election as the result of “the greatest political movement of all time,” the popular vote tells an unusual story that, if anything, undermines this narrative. I am not here to squeeze sour grapes into wine, rather I am deeply intrigued by how the recent election unfolded. In 2020 Trump lost the election after receiving 74.2 million votes (46.8% of votes cast). This year, he won the election with 77.3 million votes (49.9% of votes cast). In 20...


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Reflections of A Non-Voter

Posted by Michael LaFramboise on Thursday, November 7, 2024 In : Politics 

The presidency of Donald Trump divided my family the way it has many others.[1] The day before the 2020 election, a shouting match led to the termination of all such conversations with my parents to this very day four years later. I never thought that my family relationships could be harmed by anyone from the outside, let alone a political figure. My heart aches for the way things used to be, as anyone that knows me, knows how much I love to sit and talk with loved ones. I love to hear their...


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