Just as the grocery store periodically puts the browner bananas on sale, I try to clear out my bookmarks every little bit to make room for the fresher inventory. I bookmarked most of these fully intending to return to them someday, eventually, later to write something thoughtful or reflective about them. But since that’s apparently not going to happen, I’ll just randomly toss them out here for your enjoyment, amusement, entertainment or confusion. The image to the right is from... Read more
“Perry Ad Attacks Gay Rights in Appeal to Iowa’s Evangelicals” says the headline from The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire site. It’s a reference to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s latest campaign ad, in which he not only “attacks gay rights,” but also attacks the separation of church and state and the religious freedom of any American who isn’t an evangelical Christian. Here’s a link to the video. And here’s the text of the ad: I’m not ashamed to admit that... Read more
Isaiah 61:1-4 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of... Read more
They’re everywhere. I should probably warn you that the article linked to and quoted below includes nearly every horrifying trigger that one might imagine. Will Storr recounts “The mystery of Carole Myers“: When she was found dead at 41, Carole Myers left a statement saying she had suffered Satantic child abuse at the hands of her parents. But did she? No. No she did not. But she did suffer horrific abuse at the hands of credulous manipulators who posed as... Read more
Theodore Roosevelt, New Nationalism speech, Aug. 31, 1910 Our government, National and State, must be freed from the sinister influence or control of special interests. Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery threatened our political integrity before the Civil War, so now the great special business interests too often control and corrupt the men and methods of government for their own profit. We must drive the special interests out of politics. That is one of our tasks today.... Read more
In response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech on human rights Tuesday, Richard Land, ethics czar for the Southern Baptist Vatican, said: I certainly don’t believe homosexuals or anyone else should be flogged or put to death for their sexual sins. However … Wait. Stop. Before you go on, Richard Land, are you sure you want to do that? Here’s what you just said: I certainly don’t believe homosexuals or anyone else should be flogged or put to death.... Read more
Old-school Anglicans and Episcopalians don’t sing Christmas carols yet. They save those for the actual 12 days of Christmas, and despite the decorations and hype of early December, it’s still only Advent. (Black Friday is not yet an official part of the Christian liturgical calendar.) But I like starting early with the Christmas carols because it’s good to be reminded during Advent of what it is we’re waiting for. This is what the best Christmas carols do, such as for... Read more
I just got a copy of Fr. James Martin’s book Between Heaven and Mirth for an upcoming Patheos Book Club discussion. (You may know Fr. Martin from his role as chaplain of the Colbert Nation.) This provides an excuse for a fine “Share Your Favorite Religious Joke” open thread at Deborah Arca’s Take and Read blog, which has dozens of good ones, groaners and classic old chestnuts. Any discussion of religious jokes, I think, has to include Emo Philips’ classic... Read more
Right-wing hero Ludwig von Mises approaches the Jesus of the Bible the same way that Chuck Colson does — which is to say that he’s primarily interested in whether or not it will rile up the peasants or keep them sedate. But where Colson invokes Jesus as a helpful moralist who can keep the peasants in line, von Mises sees Jesus as a dangerous class warrior seething with resentment toward his betters. They’re both full of it. Colson hears a... Read more
I’m saddened by the passing of Harry Morgan, a great old character actor. I’m too young for Dragnet, but I’ve probably seen every episode of M*A*S*H at least twice. The remarkable thing about Morgan’s character, Col. Sherman T. Potter, was that you always knew he was swearing, but you never actually heard him swear. Col. Potter was an old soldier, but you can’t cuss like an old soldier on prime-time network television. So the writers of M*A*S*H provided Potter a... Read more
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