What I realized then, in 1994, as I watched these groups line up to condemn violence against "mass-murderers" and to renounce armed opposition to "the Holocaust," was that these folks didn't really mean any of it. They were horrified by the spectacle of someone taking their own rhetoric and arguments seriously. Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 45-52 Buck drops by the New Hope Village Church to talk to Bruce, who welcomes him and says Hello. For Bruce, inevitably, "Hello" consists of a half-page rant about his own extra-special heavy burden from God and the extra-special humility with which he's facing it: "Another long feast on the Word. I'm making up for lost time, you know. … I'm trying to decide how to tell the congregation, probably within the next month, that I feel... Read more
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose … "Sally," Gogol Bordello"Salty Man (Sir Psycho Salty)," WNOC"Sam Stone," Laura Cantrell"Same Direction," INXS"The Same Fire," Bishop Allen"Same Girl," Randy Newman"Same in Any Language," I-Nine"Same Kooks," The Hold Steady"Same Story," After Eleven"Samson," Regina Spektor Let me recommend Regina Spektor's wistful reimagining of the story of Samson, as told from Delilah's perspective — or from the perspective of Delilah had she truly loved the guy. Maybe she did. The story says he loved her... Read more
Here's a depressing bit of polling data. 62 percent of white evangelical Protestants said torture of a suspect could be often or sometimes justified. 51 percent of white, non-Hispanic Catholics said torture could be justified. 46 percent of white mainline Protestants were willing to justify torture. 40 percent of the religiously unaffiliated chimed in to agree to justify torture. This poll is particularly dismaying for those of us in that category of white evangelical Protestants. It's not like Catholics are... Read more
Tribulation Force, pg. 45 It's been a busy couple of weeks at New Hope Village Church: Saturday morning Buck drove to New Hope Village Church, hoping to catch Bruce Barnes in his office. The secretary told him Bruce was finishing up his sermon preparation, but that she also knew he would want to see Buck. "You're part of Bruce's inner circle, aren't you?" she said. So the church now has a secretary. That's new. NHVC seems to have reconstituted itself,... Read more
It's just that I'm super busy right now … "Real Down Town," Vigilantes of Love"Real Girls," Daniel Amos"Real Long Distance," Josh Ritter"Real Love," Smashing Pumpkins"Real World," Matchbox Twenty"Really," Nellie McKay"Really Mystified," Elvis Costello & The Attractions"Reason to Believe," Aimee Mann & Michael Penn"Reason to Believe," Billy Bragg"Reason to Believe," Bruce Springsteen"Reason to Believe," Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band"Reason to Believe," Dashboard Confessional"Reasons," Earth, Wind & Fire Read more
I've mentioned before that I don't believe in the idea of "Hell" as a place of infinite, eternal torment for those beyond or outside of the grace of God. And neither, apparently, does Edward L. Yingling. Yingling is the head of the credit-card lobby. He's spent the past several months vigorously fighting against any limits on the predatory usury and capricious, fine-print larceny that his industry regularly employs to transfer billions of dollars — yes, billions — from the poor... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 38-43 Chloe Steele is smitten with Buck Williams. Lest we judge her too harshly for this, keep in mind that unlike the reader, she's never witnessed him in Buck-the-Player mode, working his charms on Hattie or Alice, and she's never seen him as Buck-the-D-bag smirking behind the back of his female boss. Like Buck, Chloe is aware that the End of the World is not the most auspicious time to begin a relationship: "Sitting here talking about... Read more
Sooner or later we all become what we chose … "Paradise," Aztec Camera"Paradise," Bruce Springsteen"Paradise," Bryan Duncan"Paradise by the 'C,'" Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band "Paradise City," Guns N' Roses"Paradise City," Pat Boone "Paralyzed," Vigilantes of Love"Paranoid Android," Radiohead"Paris, Texas," Ry Cooder"The Park," Feist Yes, that Bryan Duncan listed above there is the same Bryan Duncan who sings the theme song from Left Behind: The Movie and one-time lead crooner for the Sweet Comfort Band. The track above... Read more
I wouldn't want to have to write a story set in 2037. That's 28 years from now — 28 years that will certainly bring about massive changes I couldn't hope to predict. Just look back 28 years. There was still a Soviet Union, an Eastern Bloc and a Cold War, but no cell phones, no World Wide Web and no rocket packs. Well, OK, we still don't have rocket packs, which is inexcusable. We were promised rocket packs, dammit. But... Read more
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