“Sins are not ‘mistakes.’ Mistakes are things we didn’t mean to do.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“Love without truth is an illusion. To spare someone the truth is not worth the name of love. If he is hurting himself, telling him so is not judgment but compassion; not telling him is not compassion but indifference.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“It bears repeating over and over that, when we talk about freedom, we are not talking about the right to do whatever we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, with whomever we want. And that's not the freedom that the original author of our national anthem, writing in 1880, would have had in mind either. Unfortunately, this is what many in our culture understand freedom to mean. But the ‘I get to do whatever I want’ type of freedom is no freedom at all, but rather slavery to our passions. (John 8:34-36 Rom. 6, 1 Peter 2:16 2 Peter 2:19). It describes radical personal autonomy, which isn't at all what the Bible describes. Look at the 10 commandments, for example. Does God say, ‘I am the LORD your God, who set you free from slavery. Now live as you please! Let every man do as he sees fit!’ Certainly not. If God said that, the nation of Israel would descend into chaos. But neither does God say, ‘I am the LORD your God, who set you free from slavery. Now, live under the crushing weight and drudgery of my law.’ No, God has set us free, and then He gives us the code by which freed people can live together and flourish!”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition
“Refusing to repent is equivalent to refusing to be forgiven.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“A feeling cannot be promised. When we promise love, therefore, we are not promising to have a feeling. What we are promising is an enduring commitment of the will to the true good of the beloved – even when feelings change.”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” May 8, 2023 [https://www.undergroundthomist.org/things-i-had-to-learn]
“The attribute view of personhood – the view that you don’t count as a person, with moral dignity and rights, unless you have such attributes as the ability to make plans and carry them out – is widely deployed in the debates over abortion. But it also carries over into everyday relationships. ‘You must have the attributes we value,’ whatever these may be, for example holding the same opinions, ‘or we treat you like dirt.’”
J. Budziszewski “The Underground Thomist” April 17, 2023 [https://undergroundthomist.org/antipasto]
“And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abomination – you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate.... Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this. What saves us is efficiency – the devotion to efficiency.”
Marlow, in Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness
“This is what ordered liberty gives us: a game with rules, making it understandable, playable, and enjoyable, but also infinitely complex, filled with endless variation and diversity. But without rules governing the play and interactions on or off the board, it would be meaningless. Likewise, when talking about freedom in a biblical sense, we are talking about the freedom to do as we are called to do. There are rules for our good, to give us the freedom to carry out our responsibilities, the duties of our offices and callings, willingly and faithfully. Lord Acton was correct: ‘Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do as we ought.’ And even more than that, freedom is living the way we were created to live, as image bearers of God.”
André Schutten and Michael Wagner, A Christian Citizenship Guide 2nd edition [following a surprisingly sensible chess analogy].