Authoritarianism

“In the current ‘post-liberal’ moment, there’s a new Christian authoritarian chic. Recent examples include a conservative Christian finding virtue with East German communism, and another extolling a ‘Protestant’ Francisco Franco for America.” - Providence

“Is all authority—by virtue of one person having power over another person—in its very nature, abusive? I ask these questions in a day when accounts of sad experiences with abusive pastors are all too common.” - Mark Dever

“At the same time that the evidence of far-left intolerance is overwhelming, a few of us have been on a very lonely corner of conservatism, jumping up and down and yelling about the new right, ‘Censorship is coming! Censorship is coming!’ And we were correct.” - David French

” Just before posting that entry, I came across a more recent study that around 20% of both Trump supporters and Biden supporters would like their man to just rule by decree.” - Veith

“Carlson and others on the right have expressed admiration for Hungarian policies that squash progressive ideals, not realizing that the executive consolidation of power present in Hungary could do the same thing to conservative ideas if a progressive rises to power.” - Acton

“Both parties have, at various times, hitched their wagons to populism. … Conservatives deserve special criticism for fomenting populism because conservatism is supposed to be temperamentally skeptical of excessive political passion.” - Goldberg

“…some church leaders—especially cult leaders of false churches—abuse their power and take advantage of others. That’s what ex-Mormons experienced. But a biblical understanding of church membership actually inhibits such authoritarian abuses from ever happening.” - 9 Marks

“I would prefer to describe these two postures as ‘authoritarian’ and ‘nurturning.’ Its only a slight change of words, but ‘authoritative’ and ‘nurturant’ just don’t sound quite right to me. For one thing, I think religious leaders should be authoritative but without being authoritarian.” - Roger Olson

“[W]hy has liberty increased even as white Christian power decreased? One key reason is that the argument for liberty is far more compelling than the argument for power.

Prakash’s book “offers a serious plan for the restoration of something closer to the original intent of the presidency and its relationship to our other political institutions.