Timothy George courageously preaches to choir, milks applause

Last updated on: June 30, 2015 at 6:49 pm By Fred Clark

Alan Bean of Friends of Justice has a fine rant on Manhattan Declaration co-author Timothy George’s recent attempt to pretend to himself and others that he’s in the vanguard of some courageous and righteous movement. Bean asks: “Does it take courage to be pro-life and anti-gay in Baptist Alabama?” Timothy George stirred a bit of excitement in 2009, when, in collaboration with luminaries like Charles Colson, he published a Manhattan Declaration, subtitled as “a call of Christian conscience.” With a... Read more

‘That sanctimonious, Bible-spouting mountebank’

Last updated on: January 20, 2012 at 1:54 pm By Fred Clark

John C. Holbert writes of “A Prophet Gone Bad” and offers a fine summary of one of my favorite books of the Bible. And now we can see just who Jonah is: he is that sanctimonious, Bible-spouting mountebank who hates anyone who is not just like him. I fear that he too often is us — those of us who just know we have all the right answers, while “they” (fill in the blank of your particular “they”) just as... Read more

Avoiding the always-disastrous last resort of war

Last updated on: January 20, 2012 at 11:17 am By Fred Clark

Juan Cole shares a guest post from Thomas J. Buonomo that I want to recommend as smart, wise and good. Buonomo suggests a promising alternative approach to the current situation between the United States and Iran. And, more broadly, Buonomo demonstrates the kind of creativity and wisdom that ought to inform our thinking in general about foreign policy and defense. “To avoid War, Obama Should Offer Iran Renewable Energy Aid” Buonomo writes. First he outlines the situation that has led... Read more

Fox News: Trust, distrust and control

Last updated on: January 21, 2012 at 6:20 pm By Fred Clark

Kevin Drum highlights an extreme, but unsurprising, result from a recent Public Policy Polling survey on trust and TV news: Among Republicans, as [this] chart shows, the shape of the river is simple: they don’t trust anyone except Fox News, who they adore. These numbers are spreads, with NBC, for example, garnering 17-percent trust vs. 69-percent distrust. Fox News, conversely, garners 73-percent trust vs. 17-percent trust. Well, you say, maybe this just means that trust in the media is really... Read more

Happy Dolly-Buffy Day

Last updated on: January 19, 2012 at 9:02 pm By Fred Clark

God made me for a reason and nothing is in vain Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain Oh sweet Jesus if you’re listening, keep me ever close to you As I’m stumblin’, tumblin’, wonderin’, as I’m travelin’ thru — Dolly Parton, “Travelin’ Thru“ Today is Dolly Parton’s birthday. It’s also the birthday of Buffy Anne Summers. Reason No. 427 that Dolly Parton is even cooler than you may have realized: As a partner in Sandollar Productions,... Read more

Banks behaving badly

Last updated on: January 19, 2012 at 5:24 pm By Fred Clark

“Every aristocracy that has ever existed has behaved, in all essential points, exactly like a small mob.” — G.K. Chesterton Main Street’s Doug Foote reports that the Obama administration and banks are moving closer to a slap-on-the-wrist foreclosure-fraud settlement: There was talk over the past few months about a $25 billion settlement, which would help less than 10 percent of underwater homeowners. Now today we’re hearing about an even smaller settlement, valued at around $19 billion. Of course these are... Read more

Still celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Last updated on: January 19, 2012 at 3:14 pm By Fred Clark

At Pandagon, Jesse Taylor takes a cynical look the ritualized dismissal-by-praise that has come to accompany this week’s national holiday: Martin Luther King Day is problematic. It’s problematic because it’s the leading edge of a bifurcation of King’s legacy into what can charitably be called the Disney King and the Real King. The Disney King is the one whose predominant message was a race-ignorant society where recognizing “the content of one’s character” was a command to ignore the entirety of... Read more

‘Your fully intelligent adversaries’ have made a deliberate choice

Last updated on: January 19, 2012 at 1:05 pm By Fred Clark

White Georgia politician Jimmy Carter says that white Georgia politician Newt Gingrich knows exactly what he’s doing in his race-baiting and racist campaign talk: “He knows the subtle words to use to appeal to a racist group,” Carter [said]. “When you emphasize, over and over, welfare, food stamps, and ‘why don’t the black people get jobs,’ and if I’m president, I’ll make sure they turn toward a work ethic, rather than an ethic of welfare and food stamps, that’s appealing... Read more

Smart people saying smart things

Last updated on: January 19, 2012 at 12:27 am By Fred Clark

Richard Beck: “The Fence of Matthew Shepard“ In James Cone’s recent book The Cross and the Lynching Tree he makes the argument that the cross and the lynching tree need to form a dialectic. If the two are separated the cross becomes innocuous and meaningless. As Cone writes: Unfortunately, during the course of 2,000 years of Christian history, this symbol of salvation has been detached from any reference to the ongoing suffering and oppression of human beings. … The cross... Read more

Every day is a good day to call Congress about SOPA, PIPA

Last updated on: January 18, 2012 at 3:21 pm By Fred Clark

If you’ve visited Google or Wikipedia or Reddit today, then you’ve already encountered the widespread Web blackout in protest of two awful pieces of legislation which could, as Wikipedia says, “fatally damage the free and open Internet.” The goal of these bills is to combat online piracy and protect copyrighted material. Following are some links with background about these bills and why I and many, many others think they’re a Bad Idea. Brad Plumer: “Everything you need to know about... Read more

How long did it take to rebuild Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah?