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Thank you for writing this piece and for giving some context. I also appreciate the encouragement to see things from a bigger vantage point vs "just looking through the keyhole". I am also very optimistic: something good is going to come out of this transition and we will look back and see "Ahhh! Mr. Tucker Carlson is in a much better place with much more freedom to speak truth." I will miss him at Fox but I am eager to see where he lands next. Thank you for this piece!

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Dear Mr. Goodwin,

As someone who sincerely appreciated Carlson's speech at the Heritage Foundation, and as someone who is grateful to God for _Battle For the American Mind_, I am very indebted to you.

I did not know, however, that I was also indebted to you for a crystal ball that divines the hearts and motives of Progressives, to turn on FOX. I didn't know that the departures of Ailes, O'Reilly, and Megyn Kelly were not coincidental; since that would mean "The Progressives" infiltrated FOX itself (it was their own employees who took down Ailes & O'Reilly), and that Kelly didn't depart due to poor treatment at the hands of a former president ("blood coming out of her wherever") or an opportunistic NBC. I didn't know that New York City could be the setting for such exciting plots - Carlson whisked to NYC, juries sat in NYC, settlements paid in NYC! (I did, however, already know that "New York State and City have become powerful allies of the Progressives" because I can fog a mirror.) I didn't know that FOX, the NRA, and Trump were all involved in lawsuits over mere paperwork, not some of the most outrageous misuses of the Truth ever seen on the Right side of the political aisle. I didn't know that Carlson - of whom Fox lawyers disavowed in court - was Julius Caesar come again; nor that Caesar is evidently the hero we ought to have cheered for against his woke Roman plebs.

Because I love the Christian classical education that you champion, I have the privilege of teaching Pascal's _Pensées_, where he says "Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point" (the heart has its reasons that reason knows not). The reasoning behind things as hidden as heart motivations, or as massive as the rise of Progressive empires, lies in the hands of Providence, not ours (Deut 29:29). Because I love the Christian classical education, I have learned that rhetoric must be painstakingly built on logic, otherwise it will devolve to mere sophistry, cobbled together from insinuation and tendentious associations.

Perhaps we dither on details, while you abide by your main point: "power-structure is my point, not the particulars." But must we sully CCE in the mudslinging of 24-hour infotainment, when Augustine's _City of God_, Machiavelli's _The Prince_, and Hobbes' _Leviathan_ tell us these truths, without the secret gnosis interpretation of "The Progressives?"

You say: "An empire, I’m afraid, is on our doorstep." I say, Mr. Goodwin, to fear not and sleep well, for our God is in the heavens, and He does all that He pleases. If history does have a crystal ball for the future, the hope of CCE - and of any republic - lies in the fear-less men and women who seek a better City. We busy our hands with trowel & sword, not wringing them in anxiety over what the progressives are plotting.

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Commendable work. I think Tucker will reinvent himself and be fine.

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Why do you assume all CCE lovers also love the right wing media? Why do you assume we all love Trump and Christian Nationalism?

That is not the case.

I am not progressive and have never been. But our recent conservative leadership is off the rails and can in no way be described as Christian. Progressives are not the ultimate enemy of the church , and posturing as if all of our hopes are pinned on the correct conservative political leader has nothing to do with the way of Christ.

Trust not in princes.

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author

Watch Carlson's piece on Heritage that I linked. And, note my earlier post on Christian Nationalism.

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Watched some clips and read your piece. I don’t necessarily disagree with what I saw him say in the clips I watched. I am just bothered when CCE feels the need to be political or partisan. I think we can speak beautiful truths and stand firmly for what’s right without mucking up ourselves in the process.

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Apr 28, 2023·edited Apr 28, 2023

Jesus identified his earthly enemies (Pharisees and Scribes) and told his followers to beware of them. While Satan is behind the lies being pushed by Progressives, it is following the pattern of Jesus to identify our earthly enemies and to create distance from their false teaching. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris both profess to follow Jesus and claim to have authority to speak on the moral issues of our day. Just recently Joe Biden said it was "sinful" to oppose transgender medical procedures for minors. He also said on transgender visibility day that "You're each made in the image of God" implying that God intentionally created them as transgender. This is theological language coming from our President. He is an earthly enemy of the Church. Trump is not the solution, and it is not fair to assume that ACCS leaders see the correct conservative leader as the soul antidote. Jesus is our Savior and part of His plan is to use government for our good (Romans 131-7). Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley are not "off the rails". I would not be so quick to assume that Donald Trump will be the 2024 GOP nominee.

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Excellent piece. Thank you.

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