I'm not sure that women such as Irene Steele really exist, but if they did, they would be caught in a vicious Catch-22. Their only ambition is to marry a good man. But the kinds of men who would be interested in marrying them -- the kinds of men who are attracted to servility, who need others to "submit" to their will -- are not good men. Read more
Throughout all those years of refusing to admit that we had been wrong, and were still wrong -- and of compounding that wrongness by failing to explore how and why we could have been so thoroughly, utterly, and monstrously wrong -- white evangelical Christians sometimes tried to distract ourselves and others by changing the subject. We did this by borrowing Lincoln's formula: "If X is not wrong, then nothing is wrong." If we could find some other value for X -- anything other than the enduring disgrace of our wrongness about slavery -- then we could hope to reclaim some measure of moral credibility. Read more
"No one has to give the signal. No one holds a rehearsal. No one has to make sure it all happens again in 12 months. Moms and dads have learned it from their parents. Aunts, uncles and friends tell stories to keep it alive. A large portion of the human race makes this happen each Christmas Eve, and all of it is like, well, magic." Read more
What stories do we, or should we, include in the list of "canonical" Santa Claus lore? And even if we agree on such a list of canonical stories, how do we reconcile the various contradictions between, say, "A Visit From St. Nicholas" and "Miracle on 34th Street"? Read more
The "rules" of war may not carry legal consequences, but they do carry inescapable consequences of identity. It is always possible to "get away with" attacking non-combatants just so long as you go on to win, ensuring your war "crimes" are never punished. But you can't break that rule without becoming a breaker of the rule. Which is to say, more bluntly, that you cannot break that rule without becoming infamous -- a coward, a murderer, and an asshole. Read more
"The kids in girl and boy land," the song says, "will have a Jubilee." But this promise of a coming Jubilee isn't for everyone. Alongside that promise there's also a repeated warning, almost a threat -- "You better watch out." This mix of a promised Jubilee and a repeated warning echoes the very first Christmas song or Advent hymn ever written. Read more
A partial list of things that have lamentably been delayed and neglected since Thanksgiving because the Big Box is offering a rare burst of overtime hours due to Black Friday, Christmas and prep for our annual inventory, and because time-and-a-half is closer to a living wage and that can't be turned down. Read more
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord." Read more
The singular, capital-A Antichrist of PMD prophecy is based on a variety of passages cobbled together from throughout the Bible. He is the Beast of Revelation; the King of the South and the King of the North from Daniel; the false Christ(s) that Jesus warns against in Matthew's Gospel, and Paul's "man of lawlessness" from Thessalonians. The composite sketch derived from all these descriptions yields a portrait that looks a little like Nebuchadnezzar, a little like Antiochus Epiphanes, a little like Nero or Diocletian, and a little like Victor von Doom. Read more
We are aware of all Internet traditions. And as it is now December 4, it is high time for us to click over to Mark Evanier's blog to re-read "My Xmas Story," starring Mel Tormé. Read more
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