12 Stones
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12 Stones
'The more urgent question that America, and the western world in general, is wrestling with is this: Can white-boarders and pine-boarders live together in peace?
Feb 2026
Why Are We So Divided?
Friends,
It seems to me that the fault line that runs through almost every relationship I have, and our very nation itself, might be summed up as a white-boarder vs pine-boarder conflict. Let me explain.
White-Boarders There are largely two kinds of people in the US. There are white-boarders, and there are pine-boarders. White-boarders believe that life is akin to a whiteboard upon which they can draw wherever and whatever they wish with their lives. Life is about experimentation and self-expression, free of scrutiny, inhibitions, and constraints of any sort. As such, we are accountable to no one and to nothing outside of our own wills, desires, and passions. That is why the debate over national borders is symbolic of a much larger issue. For white-boarders, ‘borders’ of any sort, whether they be theological, marital, moral, biological, or geographic in nature, must be identified, transgressed, and destroyed.
Anyone who doesn't sufficiently celebrate the choices or self-expressive behavior of another is considered malicious. Such people, it is said, are little more than a barrier to a self that struggles to be free and fully ‘realized.’ The more un (or anti) conventional, the more conventions transgressed, the more shocking the behavior, the more liberated (and ‘courageous’) the self.
According to white-boarders, the ‘good life’ will be realized as we discover that we are, if not actually, then practically, ‘a god,’ unto ourselves, going where we want, doing what we want, with whomever we want.
If Jean-Jacques Rousseau is their prophet, Lucifer becomes the archetype for white-boarders, though most don’t yet realize it. For it was Lucifer who sought to be ‘as god,’ discarding all divine constraints, so determined was he to usurp God’s place. Lucifer remains, in the minds of fully devoted white-boarders, an inspirational revolutionary.
Pine-Boarders On the other side of the American divide, you will find orthodox Christians and a variety of others whom I refer to as pine-boarders, of which I am one. We pine-boarders believe that running through the fabric of this world is a divinely ordained symmetry and order, not unlike the grain of a pine board. The bible teaches, and pine-boarders believe, that people flourish most when they live within, and not against, the grain of God’s creation. Living in harmony with the grain of creation constitutes ‘the good life,’ or as Jesus put it, ‘life abundant.’ ’
We pine-boarders believe that insisting that the world is a white-board invites living cross-grain, which is a recipe not for liberation or nirvana, but for injury and hardship (i.e.splinters happen). As a friend once said, ‘We don’t break God’s commandments, we only break ourselves against god’s commandments when we pretend that they don’t exist.’ That is why Bruce Carter reminds me that the Ten Commandments are actually the Tender Commandments. That is because they are given, in love to protect us from self-harm. Put another way, when we ignore God’s laws, living cross-grain, we effectively pretend that Christ is not ‘Lord of all’ and as such, His loving decrees can be ignored without consequence. Perhaps that is one reason why St Paul wrote to the church in Galatia: ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.’ When All is Said and Done....To sum up: Pine-boarders believe that we are made in the image of, and accountable to, a perfectly holy and loving God who has given us commands that constrain us. Why? For our protection and to enable us to flourish. White-boarders, by contrast, effectively believe that we are ‘gods’ and as such, are accountable only to our ‘god.’ (ourselves). It is the god of 'self' who knows whats best for us, who loves us supremely and who, if left alone, unencumbered by others, will flourish. White boarders and pine boarders are separated by what is essentially a 'theological' difference with earth-shaking consequences. That, I think, is what lies at the root of our national (and international) division. It seems to me that we pine-boarders are a decided minority, though I wish it were otherwise. What’s more, I am doing all I can (as, I know, are many of you) to persuade white-boarders that ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death’ (Pr 14:12). The truth, however, is that almost all culture-shaping institutions are presently run by white-boarders, and they cut a wide swath in the American consciousness. It's a heavy lift to persaude those who have been well catechized in white-boardism that their 'god' (of self) is akin to a cement life buoy which appears to be your salvation, but is actually quite the opposite. Then again, to God, heavy lifts don't exist. The good news is that Jesus Christ reigns no less now than He did when white-boardism was restricted to the far fringes of the American body politic.
Can We All Just Get Along? The more urgent question that America, and the Western world in general, is wrestling with is this: Can white-boarders and pine-boarders live together in relative peace? I, for one, surely hope so, for war is ugly, and civil war is uglier still.
Living side by side will not be easy, as our gods differ greatly. As such, our respective definitions of ‘love’ are diametrically opposed to one another and our prescriptions for ‘the good life’ vary dramatically as well. Most of all, let's keep in mind that God is up to something. Whatever that ‘something’ is, as we are told in the book of Daniel and elsewhere, that His kingdom will prevail. That, to say the least, is a comforting thought. (see Daniel 2:44-45)
Christus Regnat,Greg Porterwww.danfdtn.org
We pine-boarders believe that insisting that the world is a white-board invites living cross-grain, which is a recipe not for liberation or nirvana, but for injury and hardship (i.e.splinters happen). As a friend once said, ‘We don’t break God’s commandments, we only break ourselves against god’s commandments when we pretend that they don’t exist.’ That is why Bruce Carter reminds me that the Ten Commandments are actually the Tender Commandments. That is because they are given, in love to protect us from self-harm. Put another way, when we ignore God’s laws, living cross-grain, we effectively pretend that Christ is not ‘Lord of all’ and as such, His loving decrees can be ignored without consequence. Perhaps that is one reason why St Paul wrote to the church in Galatia: ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.’ When All is Said and Done....To sum up: Pine-boarders believe that we are made in the image of, and accountable to, a perfectly holy and loving God who has given us commands that constrain us. Why? For our protection and to enable us to flourish. White-boarders, by contrast, effectively believe that we are ‘gods’ and as such, are accountable only to our ‘god.’ (ourselves). It is the god of 'self' who knows whats best for us, who loves us supremely and who, if left alone, unencumbered by others, will flourish. White boarders and pine boarders are separated by what is essentially a 'theological' difference with earth-shaking consequences. That, I think, is what lies at the root of our national (and international) division. It seems to me that we pine-boarders are a decided minority, though I wish it were otherwise. What’s more, I am doing all I can (as, I know, are many of you) to persuade white-boarders that ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death’ (Pr 14:12). The truth, however, is that almost all culture-shaping institutions are presently run by white-boarders, and they cut a wide swath in the American consciousness. It's a heavy lift to persaude those who have been well catechized in white-boardism that their 'god' (of self) is akin to a cement life buoy which appears to be your salvation, but is actually quite the opposite. Then again, to God, heavy lifts don't exist. The good news is that Jesus Christ reigns no less now than He did when white-boardism was restricted to the far fringes of the American body politic.
Can We All Just Get Along? The more urgent question that America, and the Western world in general, is wrestling with is this: Can white-boarders and pine-boarders live together in relative peace? I, for one, surely hope so, for war is ugly, and civil war is uglier still.
Living side by side will not be easy, as our gods differ greatly. As such, our respective definitions of ‘love’ are diametrically opposed to one another and our prescriptions for ‘the good life’ vary dramatically as well. Most of all, let's keep in mind that God is up to something. Whatever that ‘something’ is, as we are told in the book of Daniel and elsewhere, that His kingdom will prevail. That, to say the least, is a comforting thought. (see Daniel 2:44-45)
Christus Regnat,Greg Porterwww.danfdtn.org