TN highwayman program targeted by reform bill invites local corruption
Seized cars and trucks are part of Tennessee’s highwayman program, also known as civil asset forfeiture. (Photo Tennessee Watchdog) This week a committee in the general assembly is considering the civil asset forfeiture reform bill proposed by Sen. Todd Gardenhire and a state representative. The bill would reduce the incentive of police departments and sheriff’s […]
Godly civil order, self-governing people will create radically decentralized SE Tennessee
Decentralization and its origins in biblical thinking and American colonial history. In two parts. Thank you. Please like Noogaradio on Facebook. Tweet Pin It
Christianity envisions radical political, economic decentralization
If God blesses the trend toward radical decentralization, Chattanooga city hall will become increasingly important, Nashville and Washington, D.C., less. (Photo David Tulis) The basic premise of localism—and therefore, the basic premise of what I call “County Rights”—is that civil government power should be as decentralized as possible. This is the heart of the program. […]
Pietism makes God small; who would worship an impotent, reactive deity?
Who would worship a small God? Many Christians in Chattanooga are given no other option at church, as Christianity is merely a privatized system of belief, not a nation-building system of thought and practice. (Courtesy Noogaradio) Tweet Pin It
Does church favoring privatized Christianity get its key essential wrong, too?
The Tennessee supreme court in Nashville is the judicial wing of state government. Neither it nor the federal supreme court “make” law, but the Obergefell gay opinion pretends to have leveled state laws on marriage. Does the gospel speak about limits on state authority? Without reformation, Chattanooga should not expect a better local economy and […]
Cop arresting Bell holds peace as vilely abused in Bales panhandle case
Antonio Bell as seen from a police cruiser camera. (Photo Chattanooga police department) Arrest data for Antonio Bell, charged with five counts in an encounter with David Bales, a sessions judge. Police video supports the arrest of Antonio Bell in the retaliation case involving Judge David Bales, and undermines the favorable impression of Mr. Bell […]
Doctrine of lesser magistrate gives impetus to sheriffs, clerks, mayors to end slayings
Streetside demonstrators declare that the unborn deserve legal protection, and that their murder should be absolutely abolished. (Photo Flickr Missionaries to the Preborn) The following analysis explores the biblical requirement for men and women in civil authority to resist lawlessness and crime among their superiors in government. They do so by interposing themselves and their […]
How national economy wrung from us old, local economy mores, ways
Wendell Berry is a defender of local economy as a cultural artifact. What we lost when national economy consumed local economy, according to Wendell Berry. A soliloquy quoting Mr. Berry in his book, What are People For. Also, Tennessee sues to defend itself as a “sovereign entity” vis a vis a Yankee refugee program. (Courtesy […]
Gardenhire seeks to restrain TN’s highway robbery program
Civil asset forfeiture lets Tennessee run official highwayman program, but Sen. Todd Gardenhire seeks revisions. In 2016 the state had 7,616 forfeiture cases, stole F$17 million in cash and confiscated more than 10 cars and trucks a day. The total for 2009 to 2014 was F$85.9 million and F$26 million more from the U.S. justice department. […]
Aerial mishap of oily ash spill hints U.S. ice-cap melting project
Photos from areas hit by accidental jet discharge of oily soot. (Photo J. Marvin Herndon) About Feb. 14, 2016, an oily-ashy substance fell on seven residences and vehicles in Harrison Township, Mich. The commander of nearby Selfridge Air National Guard Base told the press that the release was not from a military plane. Upon being […]