I went looking for different voices. Some I agree with, some not so much. All are younger than I am and are interesting. This argument comes from John Lepp. He has an MSc in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, specializing in the Philosophy of Science. He resides in Boca Raton, Florida, with his beautiful wife and cat. The argument is also elegant. ——————————————- Stephen Law states his “Evil God Challenge” as follows: “We can be pretty sure there is no... Read more
We need some new voices . . . And so I went looking. Some I will agree with utterly, some not so much. All are bright, younger than I am, and worth reading. Here is a former student of mine in a university honors program: Micah Hoover. Micah Hoover is a student of life, a servant of Jesus, a happy husband, a thankful father of three, a software developer by day, and a devotional writer. You can find his book Mere... Read more
Strange fruit. Billie Holiday. This is perhaps the most powerful song ever recorded by an American. Written by a Jewish person reacting to lynching and sung by Lady Day; Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant south The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell... Read more
Imagine creating a fairy tale. Early published folk tales, lumped together as fairy tales, were ancient stories collected by researchers like the brothers Grimm. The King of the Golden River was a fairy tale created by an eccentric genius, John Ruskin, and a great illustrator, Arthur Rackham. John Ruskin may have faded into genteel obscurity as much as anyone ever proclaimed one the “greats.” If you are not an academic writing on the Victorian, you might ignore him. Do not. John... Read more
The Jewish people heard God and God promised them a King, not just any king, but a king in David’s royal line. Jerusalem was David’s city and for hundreds of years as Judean power rose and fell, Jerusalem remained safe. God had promised, right? Yet the prophets began to suggest something deeper. Jerusalem better beware. Having become wicked, something wicked was coming. God’s city was going to fall, but God’s City would be restored. A remnant would return and Jerusalem... Read more
Socialism may have never been tried, having been tried often, just not properly, with bad consequences, but this does not decrease the confidence of socialists. They are the coming thing and just what the American young people want. Like Pepsi, socialists are always selling us that they are the choice of the next generation. If present trends continue … is the intellectual argument of secular socialism. And they might be right, eventually. Consider this situation. A dynamic American socialist has... Read more
Hero. Servant of the Savior, so the savior of France: Joan. Here in the play Triumphant, her mother (Isabella) learns of Joan’s calling. Saints Catherine and Margret are there, but Isabella cannot see or hear them. Triumphant Act I, Scene 2 Isabelle: Joan? Joan: Mother. Isabelle: You are staring at that tree again. Joan: Not the tree, but the beautiful ladies in the tree. Isabelle: I cannot see anything. Joan: I can. Isabelle: I know. Am I too sinful? Or... Read more
On Literacy I am just old enough to have met men, and they were mostly men, who did not read much, if at all, but were very bright and successful members of society. You did not have to be (very) literate to run a business or a farm for much of human history. The West Virginia of my childhood prized literacy and education, but not everyone had the same chances. Some successful people simply never learned to read or learned... Read more
A child says ‘Thank God for my good dinner’. What can I say at seventy-five? ‘Thank God for my good life, and for all the love that has been given to me.’ When you are given women writers, excellent writers, you are not generally given the best selling writer who is a woman, because Agatha Christie, mayhaps the best selling author of all time, somehow (usually) does not count as a woman. She is too happy or too readable or... Read more
The Kennedy myth was always a fraud. Yet a very good book Camelots End reminds that at the bottom of the false fairy tale, the lies, the corruption were men. The book is sympathetic to both Jimmy Carter, who had no ability to be President, and Edward Kennedy, who was unfit for the Presidency, though damned by family history to run. That’s history, but pity is in order and the author, Jon Ward, has sympathy for his subjects, especially the Kennedy brothers.... Read more
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