If you wish to get into a fight during dialog with a significant other or as the mattress commercials call them “your bed partner,” here are three ways to do so. In fact, after leading and participating in hundreds of Socratic conversations at the college level, I am confident that these conversation starters not only don’t start a conversation, they end it. I don’t mean to be offensive, but . . . A husband talking to his wife used this... Read more
He was, he told us, the descendant of the slaves pictured in his national museum where he had taken us to learn. He said these words with no rancor, instead proud of his nation that the former slaves had created. He wanted to tell us the story of an independent people, the word independent came up often. Anthony* told us the story of the murder of a slave by an owner who was put on trial by the local government. He was found... Read more
Once, not so long ago that I have forgotten the details, we were with a group of people about to disembark to the island of Roatan. When we returned, one brave soul remarked that she was glad to visit Central America for the first time. And it was true that we were on an island that was part of Central America. On disembarking the cruise ship, we were met by people singing and having a good time. A musicologist might... Read more
When I was a boy, I could pass the afternoon just looking at clouds. If Dad had mowed the grass recently, the smell of cut grass was calming and the bank looking down over the river was at just the right angle to see the clouds roll by the house. Los Angeles did not have clouds, at least not many, but now that we have come to America’s City there are many clouds. Sometimes I go outside The Saint Constantine... Read more
Civilizations usually muddle through except when they do not. What happens when the center does not hold? The rightwing becomes reactionary and the leftwing revolutionary. Madness seizes society and younger people think anything is better than what exists. This is rarely true and the anything that happens next is generally much worse than what came before the insanity. Utopianism was dangerous when the saintly man Sir Thomas More wrote about the possibilities and in the hands of worse men has... Read more
“Faith” can be used to escape from reason and wisdom, but should not be. Even a leading atheist can agree that some kinds of theism are on team reason and that some kinds of atheists are not! This is good news and is a hopeful sign in our very divided Republic. I am thankful for non-theists like my professors at Rochester and Michael Shermer for whom reason comes first and ideology comes second. Christians should follow their example. Forms of... Read more
A bad leader will not promote a person who could replace him, while a good leader will be happy to promote. A great leader makes his subordinates legends. The Civil War was over when Abraham Lincoln, the greatest political leader in American history, made Ulysses S. Grant commander of all the Union Armies. The Civil War was over quickly when Lincoln revived the rank of lieutenant-general and gave that title to Grant. The last person to hold that job? George Washington.... Read more
If it is March 9, it is the anniversary of Napoleon and Josephine, a cautionary tale about power, love, lust, and romance. Known as “Rose” before marrying Napoleon, Josephine could entrance men. She had an eye for talent and she chose a winner when she picked the Corsican. She rose with the military commander to become Empress of the French, a title she retained to death. If that is success, Josephine chose wisely. Napoleon and Josephine had great physical passion and... Read more
Today, I am told, is International Women’s Day. I am not sure who makes such decisions, but I am a fan of any excuse to have a party or reflect on something of importance. As a man, what am I doing for International Women’s Day? My plan is to listen to the women around me some more. The women I know do not need me to define womanhood, tell them what to do, or even to opine on the nature... Read more
There are gifts good enough that you can envy them without sin. Imagine being able to say what the rest of us see, touch, and smell and in the saying make us see, touch, and smell again only better. That is a gift of a certain sort of poet and Dr. Tim Bartel is a poet with the gift and so very much worth reading. His collection is The Martyr, The Grizzly, and the Gold and you should read a poem... Read more
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