Planting Thorns and Thistles

What is Wrong with Deficit Spending?

The passage argues that deficit spending is both economically and morally harmful. Economically, running annual deficits accumulates national debt, threatens programs like Social Security, and risks eventual bankruptcy. Deficit spending fuels inflation, which undermines the purchasing power of citizens and destabilizes the economy. Morally, debt living is seen as a symptom of poor discipline and prudence, lowering societal standards, encouraging vice, and weakening family and community cohesion. Politically, deficits erode trust in government, increase social unrest, and historically have preceded major societal collapses or revolutions. The proposed constitutional amendment would require federal spending to match revenues and prevent expenditures from growing faster than the national economy, protecting citizens from confiscatory taxes and preserving economic stability. It is presented not only as a fiscal necessity but also as a moral and political safeguard. #DeficitSpending #FiscalResponsibility #EconomicStability #MoralEconomics #GovernmentAccountability

Van Til’s Christian-Theistic Ethics

In “Van Til’s Christian Theistic Ethics,” Rushdoony argues that Cornelius Van Til’s 1947 work provides a powerful theological foundation for an eschatology of victory grounded in the absolute antithesis between theonomy and autonomy, insisting that Christian ethics must begin not with abstract moral teachings but with creation, the Fall, and the atoning work of Christ at Calvary. Van Til presents Christ as Creator-Redeemer, places God—not man—at the center of all reality, and defines man’s highest good as the Kingdom of God, realized as believers live out their calling as God’s vicegerents in history. Rejecting humanistic utopianism, environmental determinism, and antinomianism, Van Til teaches that evil must be destroyed, righteousness upheld, and God’s law obeyed in every sphere of life, beginning with the regeneration of the individual and extending to all nations. Rushdoony concludes that this theonomic, kingdom-oriented vision made Van Til objectionable to modern Christianity but foundational to Christian Reconstruction, and he calls for the republication of Van Til’s works to equip future generations. #VanTil #ChristianTheisticEthics #Theonomy #ChristianReconstruction #KingdomOfGod #BiblicalEthics #Presuppositionalism #PostmillennialHope #Chalcedon

Planting Thorns and Thistles

A nation always harvests what it plants. When good work is punished and idleness is rewarded, the result is inevitable: thorns instead of fruit. Scripture is blunt no one gathers grapes from thistles. Yet we increasingly tax productive men into the ground while subsidizing irresponsibility and disorder. The small, land-owning farmer has long been one of the most productive forces in society, but he is treated as obsolete while dependency is financed and protected. Destroy the vines, plant the weeds, and don’t be surprised when the harvest fails.

The Vengeance of God

God’s vengeance is not an arbitrary punishment imposed from outside it is the unavoidable outcome of sin itself. Scripture teaches that blessings overtake obedience and judgment overtakes rebellion, just as surely as a fall follows a leap from a cliff. Men and nations who reject God’s way are not escaping judgment; they are choosing its consequences. God is truly loving and gracious, but He is also just, and to deny His judgment is to replace the living God with a false one. The warning is clear: sin carries its own inescapable end.

Vouchers, Freedom, and Slavery

State-funded vouchers promise relief but deliver control. History shows that wherever government money goes, government authority follows eroding the freedom, faith, and independence of Christian schools. What begins as “help” quickly becomes regulation, compromise, and eventual conformity to state standards. Christian education has flourished precisely because it has been free from the state and sustained by sacrifice, commitment, and giving. To trade that freedom for public funds is to exchange responsibility for dependence. The cost of faithfulness is real but the cost of surrendering liberty is far greater.