Eric Metaxas, "If You Can Keep It"

[@gerard113]

Eric rocks. He ought be running for President. A real outsider, with values, humor, and faith. He also has podcasts available of his daily talk show.

[@SharMess]

Thank you, Eric!!!

[@scottfranson4215]

I saw a truck the other day that had a huge sticker of the “pledge of allegiance” on it the other day. ,” the nation is a work in progress and is always being tested.

[@ToblikB688]

What a great talk. So true that virtue is not something discussed today. And maintaining a Republic requires care and an informed mind.

[@carolynborgwardt3354]

Excellent!

[@pattyirish5]

Another great talk by Eric.

[@margueritelosinski3021]

I saw a truck the other day that had a huge sticker of the “pledge of allegiance” on it the other day. I read through it at the stop sign. I hadn’t said it or thought about it in years. It was beautiful. Just one of those gradual declines that has helped remove our national pride. We used to say it every morning in grade school when I was young.

[@robynhefferan9561]

It is obvious that the young are not being taught to admire the heroes.

[@speleoth]

Right?!? They're almost completely expunged from our history books.

[@judithgrominger4253]

Thank you, Eric. So succinct. Very complex concepts explained so simply. Much appreciated. .

[@bettylongcap8073]

Northwest ordinances or 1785 preamble: Religion and education being necessary for good government, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

[@AndyRhodes1]

I applaud Metaxas for his positive and hopeful outlook and his focus on virtue. But, one major problem with what he said here is that quality of life statistics (including crime) are very often much worse in the US compared to far more liberal/secular countries in the Western World. The same is true regarding conservative American states that often have worse quality of life statistics than liberal American states. From an article I wrote: "When comparing quality of life conditions between advanced Western capitalist nations and individual states within the U.S., a growing amount of data shows that those which are the most extremely conservative and religious are very often the most violent and plagued with far greater social problems in more than a dozen categories like overall crime, economic mobility, infant mortality, overall poverty, environmental abuse, teen pregnancy, incarceration, life expectancy, murder, education, childhood poverty, healthcare efficiency, “best-for-business” conditions, average worker to CEO pay ratio, paid maternity leave, gun violence, obesity, income inequality and minimal worker’s benefits. Extreme liberalism, such as with revolutionary communism, also seriously detracts from quality of life. This ideology has had a very weak following around the world since the late 20th century. Extreme social and economic conservatism, in contrast, have been increasingly popular among a large segment of the American population during the past four decades." - search online for "Persuade Me Politics" to see a lot of supporting data for claims above

[@georgewagner7787]

If the US were as bad as this list, everyone would leave.

[@donnat639]

Just goes to show how manipulative statistics can be made. Like all statistics, they are not accurate bc of blind shots in our psyche & fact, no one is perfect therefore we cannot & do not have the ability to report without subliminal biases. Today, 7 years after this video of Eric discussing the state of US nation, liberal cities have racked up more homelessness than conservatives. Liberal states have less freedom. They have more restrictive gun laws yet highest rates of gun violence. How’s that working? They’ve removed status they don’t like & try to burn down cities. What Eric has stated is ringing truer & truer with every passing day. To rebuild US, will require those youths who are not educated (brainwashed) in government schools to unite with those who have & decide they want to stop bad education. They will also need to find common ground with foreigners who have invaded. At which point we must say this open border program of liberal is a bigger experiment than founders imagined (who could or would? It’s not been tried since creation of borders but what does common sense say? Those without any ignore all limits, run headlong into walls & die of foolishness. Now there’s a Truth thought 💭 : “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” (Psalms 14:1-2)

[@godswarriors7543]

Living on every word that comes from the mouth of God? God gave us His Word when He stood upon the mount and spoke the Ten Commandments. Again God gave us His Word when He wrote the Ten Commandments. And then God made His Word (Ten Commandments) flesh and called Him Jesus. He is the Law that hung on the cross and is written in the heart. If one loves Jesus and sees Him as God, then again "keep" His Word as well. And that would be the Sermon on the Mount. We are to "keep" those words as we are instructed by God in Deut.6:8-9, or as Jesus declares, 'keep my words even as I kept my Father's.' Dwell in the Spirit of God. We do not work for our salvation, Jesus died and saved the world. But we can work for our protection from the plagues, those coming to steal, kill, and destroy, from deception etc.. There is nothing wrong with works for we are judged on our works. Faith without works is dead. God gave us a whole Bible of Spirit, hope, grace, love, most everything money can't buy. Jesus tells us His words are spirit and they are life. The Word of The Father (Ten Commandments), the word of Jesus (Sermon on the Mount), our baptism is to be baptized into the Spirit of God. To put on The Word/Jesus. Come out of all religion and get in Him. Jesus in you and you in Him. Can you learn to "keep" that which is good?

[@AndyRhodes1]

Metaxas talked a bit about the 18th century evangelist George Whitefield. For whatever good Whitefield may have done in furthering American democracy and republicanism, it's important to know that he also worked very hard and successfully on a campaign to legalize chattel slavery in Georgia, the only English colony where it had not been allowed (because the state’s original charter business model focused on the use of indentured servants directly from England).

[@jacobmerrill7382]

You're forgetting some very crucial details. He wrote to many plantations all around the South consistently chastising them for mistreatment of their slaves, going as far as to say they treated them worse than dogs or livestock, which put them at enmity with God. He also advocated for the equal treatment of slaves and blacks in all parts of society, saying that it angered him that they were treated as subordinate to white people. He took a very Apostle Paul approach on slavery. He even dedicated his entire orphanage to educating many of his slaves and genuinely giving them a better chance at life. One slave named Phillis Wheatley write a poem honoring his life after he had passed, going as far as to even call him a saint. You cannot look at it as just black and white. History is MUCH more nuanced than that, and not every slave owner was evil or abusive or wretched. Yes, he owned slaves. So did many of the early church Christians. Are they damned? Is it possible that God used them for good, despite the circumstances? Yes, he pushed for slavery in Georgia. He did so that he could establish his orphanage and give many people a better chance at life, including the slaves he bought. I'm not advocating that we go back to slavery, but you must understand that Whitefield used the institution of slavery to bring about many blessing for people, including many slaves themselves. While it is fair to critique him on his ownership of slaves and that he brought slaves to Georgia, what is not fair is to forget as to why he did it and how he actually treated his slaves and expected others to treat their slaves as well.

[@AndyRhodes1]

@@jacobmerrill7382 Treating one's slaves well is better that abusing them. But, there's no moral excuse for slavery. With Christians, there is an explanation, though. They were following what the Old and New Testaments instructed them. The Bible is very pro-slavery.

[@AndyRhodes1]

@@jacobmerrill7382 I wrote a very in-depth article about this topic called "The Bible Clearly Supports Chattel Slavery Based On Race And Gender". I would love to hear what you think of it. You can find this piece by searching for "disagreements i have with christianity andy rhodes". It includes a long section about the Quakers and the whole history of Christianity related to the approach toward slavery.

[@AndyRhodes1]

@@jacobmerrill7382 According to Encyclopedia Virginia, Whitefield appealed to owners for good treatment of African slaves and yet did not question the morality of slavery itself: “Rather than encourage slaves to run away, Whitefield argued, Christian views would make them better slaves. In the end, Whitefield himself owned a plantation and slaves in South Carolina, but his message of salvation for slaves became typical of white southern evangelicals.”

[@nicolascoca3]

🙂🇺🇸It’s All About Eric Metaxes! 🙂🇺🇸On this day in 2016 Eric Metaxes visits Politics and Prose radio 📻 podcast. Bestseller of brand new book 📖 If You Can Keep It, enjoy reading his book. Best talk ever. Sincerely Nicolas Coca

[@kevinwaite6725]

Eric is right on. Our forefathers were both heroic and brilliant. My hero is George Washington. Our culture is sick and we are truly on the edge of the cliff in the USA.

[@speleoth]

I wonder if Eric's father had healthy pride for his fatherland?

[@ortcutt]

Reputable historians like John Fea have absolutely savaged the distortions in this book.

[@Flirri]

It's more about the application of history than the representation of history that was criticized.

[@chantaljarratt6417]

What type of wooman make or partivipate wit organization to kill God choossen and to destoy homes thats jezebell partners

[@sergiorojas7863]

I just watched this video and I can’t not believe the staff of politic and prose were unable to keep water avail for Mr. Metaxas . Shame to you Politic and Prose !