I am a Christian. I’m also a Baptist and we Baptists aren’t big on creeds. That’s not because we necessarily disagree with the substance of those creeds, just that we don’t agree with the idea that any authority should be permitted to compel or require every individual to assent to any given formulation of their faith. It’s the same Baptist principle of “soul freedom” that led Baptists to fight for the separation of church and state here in America. But... Read more
Phil Plait just linked back to a 2009 post of his that’s a favorite of mine. “I’m skeptical of denialism” discusses the important distinction between a skeptic and a denier. It’s helpful to understand where Plait is coming from. He’s an astronomer and the veteran of an epic battle with moon-landing deniers. Those are the folks who claim that human beings have never walked on the moon — that the Apollo missions were a giant hoax and that Armstong, Aldrin... Read more
Somewhere out there, the next Thomas Edison is perspiring toward some great new invention — some ingeniusly clever New Thing that will prove to be indispensably useful and will launch the next great industry, creating thousands of rewarding, decent jobs for the future. While we’re waiting for her to do that, the rest of us are grasping ungeniusly for any half-baked idea for anything that might be manufactured and sold — the next ShamWow or Snuggie. Such inventions might not... Read more
I’m a big fan of these homefront propaganda posters produced by the U.S. government during World War II. There’s a peppy, can-do spirit about them. The posters convey what folks back then might have called “moxie.” And they presumed that the people reading them would share that spirit. The assumption was that Americans were full of moxie. And that assumption, for the most part, proved correct. World War II could not have been won without the concerted effort of millions... Read more
After sharing my pipe-dream plea for the professional athletes’ unions to show more solidarity with other, less elite, workers in other unions (see: “Workers of the world unite“), I got quite a few responses pointing out the many real and daunting reasons it’s not likely to ever be more than a pipe-dream. I really do think that such solidarity — even if only symbolic gestures — shown by the millionaire players of the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major Leagues would... Read more
101. What’s on second | May 5, 2006; pp. 211-213 102. yes I said yes I will Yes | May 30, 2006; pp. 213-217 103. Rayford Zork | June 14, 2006 104. Today’s Gospel reading | June 25, 2006; pp. 217-218 105. Tactical decency | July 7, 2006; pg. 218 106. Sunday Morning Coming Down | July 17, 2006; pp. 218-219 107. Full House | July 23, 2006; pp. 219-221 108. Episode IV | July 28, 2006; pg. 221 109.... Read more
If we want to reduce poverty, we have to stop doing the things that make people poor and keep them that way. Stop underpaying people for the jobs they do. Stop treating working people as potential criminals and let them have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions. Stop the institutional harassment of those who turn to the government for help or find themselves destitute in the streets. … At least we should decide, as a bare... Read more
Joe Gagnon points out that the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve have plenty of tools available to boost hiring and generate growth — tools that could not be held hostage by the Teaocrats in the House of Representatives: Many actions that would be helpful — extension and enlargement of the payroll tax cut, extension of unemployment benefits, extension of aid to the states, and a substantial and accelerated infrastructure program — require Congressional approval. I have no insights as... Read more
You may have noticed I’ve started indexing the Left Behind posts in their new home here at Patheos. That should make it easier for anyone wanting to start at the beginning and read through them in order. (It should also make it easier to adapt those posts into some sort of e-book or some such, which may be in the works.) I should be finishing that index this week in convenient 50-post chunks, each of which will be linked in... Read more
It’s been three years since I last quoted this, from G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare. So it’s about time I quoted it again. “You’ve got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country.... Read more
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