Happy 200th Birthday Charles Dickens

Last updated on: February 7, 2012 at 8:23 pm By Fred Clark

Just think of the names: Canon Crisparkle, Charity Pecksniff, Noddy Boffin, Durdles, Horatio Fizkin, Thomas Gradgrind, Mr. Grimwig, Mr. Murdstone, Mrs. Gummidge, Mr. Snagsby, Dr. Slammer, Inspector Bucket, Captain Swosser and Professor Dingo, Milly Swidger, Dismal Jemmy, the Artful Dodger, The Vengeance, Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, Uriah Heep, Luke Honeythunder, Wackford Squeers. Wonderful. Anyway, Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday is yet another excuse for me to yet again post a bit of George Orwell’s classic essay on Dickens: His radicalism is... Read more

Court says rights for some, but not others, is unconstitutional

Last updated on: February 7, 2012 at 3:51 pm By Fred Clark

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down California’s Proposition 8, which forbid legal recognition for the marriages of same-sex couples. Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote: Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. And you’re not allowed to have a law that “serves no purpose, and has no... Read more

Poor women’s health as ‘political bargaining chip’

Last updated on: February 6, 2012 at 11:39 pm By Fred Clark

William D. Lindsey is not pleased that his church’s leaders are rallying all their political power in order to avoid providing health care to women: I’m well aware that Planned Parenthood does also provide abortion services in some areas. I’m also well aware that the vast bulk of the services Planned Parenthood provides are not abortions, and many Planned Parenthood affiliates throughout the U.S. do not provide abortion services at all. If [supporters of the bishops] wish, as I assume... Read more

The party of Lincoln is not the party of Lincoln

Last updated on: February 6, 2012 at 3:59 pm By Fred Clark

Before I was born, my dad ran for local office and got to speak at a 1960 rally where he introduced the speaker who introduced Republican presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon. Nixon was then vice president, but that’s not the cool part of the story or why Dad is still rightly proud to have shared that podium. The cool part of the story is the guy he introduced: Jackie Robinson. In 1960, Jackie Robinson was a Republican. That was still... Read more

#Occupy the trailer parks

Last updated on: February 6, 2012 at 2:48 pm By Fred Clark

Stimulus plan: Government-backed low-interest loans for manufactured home communities to allow homeowners to purchase the land beneath them. These people pay their rent, so they can afford the loan payments. When you own a not-so-mobile home but rent the land it sits on, you face the prospect of imminent upheaval, homelessness and the loss of all your savings if your landlord decides to sell the land, hike the rents, cut services, or do all three at once. Helping these communities... Read more

Ross Douthat’s utopia exists, in Haiti

Last updated on: February 6, 2012 at 2:15 pm By Fred Clark

If only “the government” would get out of the way, then private charities could step in, step up, and fix all of our problems. This is not a serious suggestion, but it’s a popular one, perennially put forward by people who insist we should take them seriously. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat offers a recent version of this in a recent column titled, tellingly, “Government and Its Rivals.” “Rivals,” you see, because it’s a competition. If X helps a... Read more

Catholic bishops fight to deny health care to the 98 percent

Last updated on: February 5, 2012 at 6:09 pm By Fred Clark

The 98 percent, that is, of American Catholic women who use contraception. Some 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women have used contraceptive methods banned by the church, research published [in April] showed. [An April 2011] report from the Guttmacher Institute, the nonprofit sexual health research organization, shows that only 2 percent of Catholic women, even those who regularly attend church, rely on natural family planning. The latest data shows practices of Catholic women are in line with women of... Read more

‘Just put yourself in that person’s shoes’

Last updated on: February 5, 2012 at 1:51 pm By Fred Clark

Smarter-than-I-thought people saying smart things: “Miley Cyrus on Marriage Equality and Christianity” Imagine finding someone you love more than anything in the world, who you would risk your life for but couldn’t marry. And you couldn’t have that special day the way your friends do — you know, wear the ring on your finger and have it mean the same thing as everybody else. Just put yourself in that person’s shoes. It makes me feel sick to my stomach. When... Read more

Sunday favorites

Last updated on: January 15, 2012 at 10:33 am By Fred Clark

Psalm 137:1-4 By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? Bonus: Psalm 137 as performed by The Melodians Read more

Sunday favorites

Last updated on: January 31, 2012 at 8:07 pm By Fred Clark

What does Paul teach about boasting?