Reporting the controversy

Last updated on: July 29, 2009 at 4:27 pm By Fred Clark

We've been thrown a lifeline, given an unexpected and probably undeserved second chance. The newspaper business is being swept away but here is an opportunity, if we have the sense to take it, to regain our footing and step back onto solid ground. And it comes from the unlikeliest of places. The YouTube clip shows Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., taking questions from his constituents at a town hall meeting in Georgetown, Del. "This lady in red has had her hand... Read more

TF: Bruce's sermon, part 2

Last updated on: July 24, 2009 at 5:11 pm By Fred Clark

Tribulation Force, pp. 60-65 "I am eager to tell you what God has told me," Bruce Barnes tells the new congregation of New Hope Village Church. And what better way to convince the congregation of that eagerness than to spend another two pages describing it for them? "Does God speak to me audibly? No. I wish he would. I wish he had. If he had, I probably would not be here today. But he wanted me to accept him by... Read more

You Can and You Can't

Last updated on: July 24, 2009 at 4:34 am By Fred Clark

You can cover yourself like a bruise "You Can Call Me Al," Paul Simon"You Can Get It if You Really Want," Jimmy Cliff"You Can Leave Your Hat On," Randy Newman"You Can Make Him Like You," The Hold Steady"You Can Never Hold Back Spring," Tom Waits"You Can Take It With You," The Lemonheads"You Can't Always Get What You Want," The Rolling Stones"You Can't Do That," The Beatles"You Can't Lose a Broken Heart," Billie Holiday"You Can't Make Love," Don Henley That's a... Read more

Health care reform

Last updated on: July 23, 2009 at 3:20 pm By Fred Clark

The last few moments of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs present an astonishing twist and an unexpectedly joyful conclusion. Only later, after the euphoria of that surprise has worn off, do you realize that the happiness of this happy ending doesn't really make sense. It doesn't add up. Or, rather, this happy ending adds up, but only because the story presumes and requires that what happens next will be a bona fide miracle. In retrospect that seems like cheating, but... Read more

Stephen Carter has lost his mind

Last updated on: July 23, 2009 at 4:39 am By Fred Clark

Fairness, in this case, requires us to note that Stephen Carter has often proven himself to be an intelligent and insightful commentator and also to note that it can be frighteningly easy for anyone to be caught off guard in the spontaneous give-and-take of a live interview and thus to find oneself saying something fairly stupid and ridiculous. But fairness in this case also requires us to note that what Stephen Carter says here, in this interview with a former... Read more

Quincentennary, I

Last updated on: July 22, 2009 at 4:33 pm By Fred Clark

So two Fridays ago (July 10) was John Calvin's 500th birthday. It seems fitting then, to offer a few thoughts on the man and his legacy, both of which were considerable. There's a great deal to appreciate with Calvin, as well as a good bit I'd like to take issue with, but let's start by dispensing with one unpleasant aspect of Calvin's legacy that's not his fault. I'm referring to the insistence of some of his most vocal disciples that... Read more

On offendedness

Last updated on: July 21, 2009 at 5:35 pm By Fred Clark

I've been thinking a lot lately about the cult of offendedness, the drug of smug, the reassuring substitute for legitimate anger that has come to dominate and to shape the politics and the religion of my evangelical Christian tradition. So it was fortuitous, or maybe providential, that David Dark was kind enough to arrange for me to receive a review copy of his latest book, The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, which deals, in part, with that very topic. The thing... Read more

TF: Let us sing

Last updated on: July 10, 2009 at 7:01 pm By Fred Clark

Tribulation Force, pg. 61 This Sunday morning gathering at New Hope Village Church is a very strange worship service, mostly because the authors don't see anything strange about it. It's a church service and we all know what church services are like, so why should this one be any different just because the entire world is different? Thus our service begins with some praise choruses, just like any typical evangelical church service would: The music had begun. Buck stood to... Read more

Remember when we used to have newspapers?

Last updated on: July 10, 2009 at 5:02 pm By Fred Clark

What's the absolute minimum number of people required to copy edit a daily newspaper? One way to find out, it seems, is to conduct an experiment. Take a functional copy desk and subtract 20 percent of its staff. Look at that — they still managed to somehow get everything read and onto the page. With headlines even. OK, then, try again. Let's eliminate another 20 percent and toss in some rolling furloughs so that the full complement of remaining personnel... Read more

Sub-subminimal

Last updated on: July 9, 2009 at 5:03 am By Fred Clark

Every job comes with a set of minimum standards. An entry-level volunteer firefighter, for example, must meet a basic standard of physical fitness as well as be able to demonstrate a basic capacity for learning the craft of firefighting and a basic commitment to keeping the community safe. Every once in a while, though, someone slips through the screening process and reminds us that every job also comes with a set of sub-minimal requirements. A volunteer firefighter, for example, shouldn't... Read more