Civil Commotion

John Piper reminds that it’s a sin to put your marriage ahead of Our Invisible Friend.

Friedrich Nietzsche knew the truth about this schtick a long time ago:

With severity and pedantry, the priest formulated once and for all, down to the large and small taxes he was to be paid (not to forget the tastiest pieces of meat, for the priest is a steak eater), what he wants to have, “what the will of God is.” From now on all things in life are so ordered that the priest is indispensable — marriage, sickness, death, not to speak of “sacrifices” (meals), the holy parasite appears in order to denature them — in his language: to “consecrate.”

For one must understand this: every natural custom, every natural institution (state, judicial order, marriage, care of the sick and the poor), every demand inspired by the instinct of life — in short, everything that contains its value in itself is made altogether valueless, anti-valuable by the parasitism of the priest (or the “moral world order”): now it requires a sanction after the event — a value-conferring power is needed to negate what is natural in it and to create a value by so doing. The priest devalues, desecrates nature: this is the price of his existence.

The Donald is raging at Attorney General Sessions this morning.

It’s not at all clear to me that Sessions should have been confirmed in the first place; he has exhibited what should have been disqualifying racism in the past. But now he has the office, and it’s clear that Trump intends to berate and humiliate him until he resigns.

What then? It’s plain that Trump will require a promise not to investigate his campaign’s involvements with Russia as a condition of the nomination — and it’s likely that the Senate will be so suspicious of any nominee that confirmation is impossible.

It occurs to me, then, that Sessions might be doing a real service to the country by submitting to Trump’s abuse and remaining in office, because the Justice Department investigations will almost certainly end if he resigns.

The Donald was displeased by whatever the White House orderlies gave him for breakfast, I guess.

Thirty-five to 40% of Americans seem to love Trump no matter what he does or says, but I’ve got to believe that behavior like this has set the rest irrevocably against him. This is not a president; this is a squalling nutjob.

Trump gets more 1984-ish by the day.

That brilliant bunch at Ark Encounter have stepped in it this time.

We believe that your client is aware that they may not be eligible for state tax incentives if the Ark Project is owned by a non-profit legal entity. Answers in Genesis, the parent company of Crosswater Canyon, Inc., and Ark Encounter, LLC clearly states on its website: “The for-profit LLC structure also allows the Ark Encounter to be eligible for various economic development incentives that would not have been available with a non-profit structure.”

Furthermore, as a the Tourism Development Agreement is between the Commonwealth and Ark Encounter, LLC, not Crosswater Canyon, LLC, the current owner, please be advised that no further incentives may accrue from sales tax imposed on sales generated by or arising at the tourism development project, as of the date of transfer of the property, June 28, 2017.

Short version: Ark Encounter transferred its property to a non-profit in order to evade ticket taxes to support fire and police protection for tourist attractions — and screwed themselves out of $18-million worth of tax abatements.

Not a smart move for a facility that’s having difficulty attracting visitors in the first place.

By the way, subsidies for religion and religious institutions are undoubtedly unconstitutional, and need to end. Let’s all hope this debacle helps more of the public see what a dishonest business the clergy actually operate.