Marriage and Me

Last updated on: February 2, 2015 at 10:48 am By Samuel James

My mother and I were sitting across from each other at the dinner table, talking about marriage, love, the Gospel, and family. It could have been indistinguishable from the hundreds of times we’ve conversed immediately after the last morsel of supper, if not for the thrilling/frightening/predictable/incomprehensible fact that I’m getting married soon. As she has done my entire life, Mom looked at me in the eyes and encouraged me to ask God for the grace, love, and strength to lead my wife and... Read more

The Pioneer of Blogging Says Goodbye

Last updated on: January 28, 2015 at 4:08 pm By Samuel James

I owe a debt of gratitude to Andrew Sullivan. We’ve never met; actually, we’ve never even corresponded (beyond a handful of dissenting emails I’ve fired off). There haven’t been any personal favors, special insights, or inspirational conversations. What there has been, though, is a tireless championing of something very meaningful to me: Blogging. I’ve been blogging since around 2006. I encountered Sullivan’s blog very early on in my blogging life. Excepting a brief period in college in which I unplugged... Read more

C.S. Lewis On Why You Shouldn’t Dump Doctrine for More Friends

Last updated on: January 27, 2015 at 2:40 pm By Samuel James

Kurt Willems thinks Christians should “give up” the doctrine of Hell for one simple reason: Belief in hell strains personal relationships. Christians are too preoccupied with evangelism to rescue people from hell, Willems says, and not interested enough in making genuine, non-proselytizing relationships with unbelievers. The solution? For one year, Christians should simply dump the doctrine of hell: What do I mean exactly? I want to invite readers to contemplate giving up hell for a year. For one year of your... Read more

My Essential Movies: “Schindler’s List” (1993)

Last updated on: January 26, 2015 at 3:06 pm By Samuel James

Oskar Schindler was the greatest con artist in history. Most conmen fail. The successful ones manage to swindle a few people and make a few dollars. The greatest cons swindle more people and make more dollars. Oskar Schindler didn’t con 10, 50, or even 100 people; he conned the entire Nazi Party. He made a fortune, and then spent it all–becoming destitute by the war’s end– to keep his con working. And at the end, there were 1,100 Polish Jews who escaped... Read more

The Proud Single-Issue Voter

Last updated on: January 23, 2015 at 12:27 pm By Samuel James

This week began with Sanctity of Life Sunday, a day declared by President Reagan and observed by thousands of pro-life Americans across economic, religious, and political lines. It ends now with a seething feeling of betrayal towards congressional Republicans, freshly elected, who refused to put a bill outlawing abortion after twenty weeks of pregnancy on the floor for debate. As has been pointed out, most Americans, include a massive percentage of female voters, favor the law. Even granting President Obama’s threat to veto the bill if it reached... Read more

Abolition vs Abortion

Last updated on: January 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm By Samuel James

John C. Calhoun, “Slavery, A Positive Good:” But I take higher ground. I hold that in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good—a positive good. I feel myself called upon to speak freely upon the subject where the honor and interests of those I... Read more

The State of the Union, Abortion, and the President’s Hollow Plea

Last updated on: January 21, 2015 at 8:40 am By Samuel James

Tuesday night, President Obama delivered his next-to-last State of the Union address. It was forgettable political theater, a sluggish homily to supporters and recycled talking points to everyone else. Shortly before the address, however, a more significant event took place. The White House informed Congress, via communique, that the President would veto a Republican-sponsored bill to outlaw most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. While President Obama’s absolutist views on abortion are not breaking news, this is a particularly extreme... Read more

Why I’m Disabling Comments

Last updated on: January 20, 2015 at 1:20 am By Samuel James

Over the weekend, I sent an email to my editor and the Patheos technical team requesting that the commenting sections on my blog be permanently closed. Since this blog has received several hundred reader comments since it appeared on Patheos last fall, I feel like an explanation is in order. Soon after my blog appeared on Patheos I realized that commenting threads, particularly ones that allowed for anonymous or pseudonymous posts, tend to become incredibly nasty and pointless. This realization... Read more

Some Oscar Thoughts

Last updated on: January 16, 2015 at 11:53 am By Samuel James

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the nominations for this year’s Oscars yesterday morning. Go here for the full list of nominees. Reaction to this year’s nominee announcement was terse. Many felt the Academy was at best tone deaf to fail to nominate any non-white actors in the four performance categories. While this isn’t a particularly rare occurence, the absence of both actor David Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay, whose film “Selma” is a strong contender for Best... Read more

“Professional Cuddling” and Our Pornified Culture

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 at 1:01 pm By Samuel James

At The Wall Street Journal, Stephanie Armour looks at a blossoming new industry: Cuddling. Armour leads with a professional cuddler named Kimberly, a “mother of three,” who charges clients “$80 an hour, or up to $400 for an overnight gig” to cuddle, spoon, and even tickle them. Thousands of customers across the country are booking appointments with professional cuddlers in at least 16 states. The snugglers squeeze, tickle and bearhug clients for a fixed rate. Patrons who booked these services... Read more