We need stranger friends. Now this is not an appeal that people befriend me eccentricity and all, though that would be nice. Instead, I am picking up on language that Plato uses in his Laws. There three gentleman from very different places (Athens, Sparta, and Crete) meet to discuss (wait for it) laws. Two of them are named, but the sage from Athens goes by “Athenian stranger” during an entire conversation that lasts hundreds of pages. This is strange to... Read more
There must have been something wonderfully contrarian in the water of the Hitchen’s house as the two brothers, Christopher and Peter, were growing up. Christopher was not always right, but he was interesting and boldly opined. Brother Peter is more in my tribe (being a theist), but proves that theism does not prevent intellectual cussedness. Peter Hitchens always is worth reading whether arguing against thoughtless drug legalization or in defense of values now forgotten. Peter Hitchens’ latest book The Phoney Victory dares... Read more
Ida Wells: a leader in the fight for human dignity and against lynching. Nothing in American history is so good that white supremacy cannot taint it. White supremacy, the toxic American belief that survived the end of slavery through the use of lynching and Jim Crow laws, is (almost) everywhere in American history. Saying this clearly without despair or also failing to see what was good and great is difficult, but must be done. White supremacy has caused us to miss... Read more
Only go to virtual college if you have a virtual soul. Take virtual communion if you wish to go to not-really-Paradise: a place where there is virtual feasting and joy. For the rest of us there is real heaven where nobody will ever be asked for a password and nobody will have had an inferior experience based on the video card they possess. Instead, we will be real and the setting will highlight the glory of the image of God in us.... Read more
When the state is divinized, tyranny follows. All rulers, even the best, are tempted to conflate their own legitimate power with God’s rule. Christians have tried this trick and the results stand as a shame to us and a warning to others. Atheist states have done something similar, though the Ideology that comes from Science (not to be questioned!) replaces God. Democracy becomes mob rule just at the moment the voice of the people is confused with the voice of... Read more
Can we look at where a local church spends money and judge what that congregation is doing to help people? Recently, a thoughtful person I follow on social media made the argument that in large churches, most spending is on salaries, buildings, and ministry programs for the members. He argued that this showed that any belief that church would (or does) step in to help social problems was wrong.* The best way to know what a church values is to... Read more
He was buried in a Roman province far away from home, this Syrian Christian. We know he journeyed to Bath to take the waters and never made it home. His body is on display for the tourists. I saw this Syrian, a member of my mother Church, crossed myself and prayed. Being dead, he still speaks. He draws attention, because modern people have a mixed relationship with the body. We like beautiful bodies propped up, made up, and a bit unreal.... Read more
Comic book ads were almost my downfall. One year I made what I thought at the time was a horrible Christmas wishlist error: I asked for an ant farm. Why did I do this? Comics, cheap paper versions of the Graphic Novels Now Known as Comix, once contained ads for marvelous toys: buckets of green army men, guns that used potato for ammo, and the friendly family of sea monkeys. I have never wanted anything as much as those ads... Read more
I try to listen and think about the number 1 song of the moment: Ariana Grande and Thank U, Next. Why Bother? Number 1 matters, because more souls created in God’s image are listening to The Number 1, than any other song just now. Shouldn’t I take time to consider the Number 1 as a college professor? ”No,” says my peer, “this song is stupid.” Maybe. Maybe not. I note that what one generation calls stupid is every so often... Read more
He had the most famous sideburns in American history did General Burnside, but Ambrose Burnside was not much of a general. Civil War historians and military experts can list his particular faults, but one mistake he made is a cautionary tale. He tried to take a bridge. He had been ordered to cross a bridge and engage the rebels on the other side. He sent swarms of men across that narrow stone structure and many died. The little stone bridge... Read more
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