May 2010
“It’s hard to listen to people who criticize illegal immigration saying that...”
– Lynn Marcus
Memorial Day: Perspective from Church History →
A few years ago, I was touring a church named St. Martin-in-the Fields with a lovely stained-glass window depicting a soldier sheltering another man in his cloak. “You know the story, I suppose,” my guide said. “That’s St. Martin. He converted to Christ while a soldier. One day, his regiment was guarding the city of Amiens and he met a naked beggar on the road. ...
“Reagan demonstrated that you could spend eight years expanding the federal...”
– Phil Nugent
“In 1835 United States settlers in Texas revolted against Mexico, fought at the...”
– Tom Turnipseed
“We’re in the Oil-Conditioned Nightmare — enslaved to our cars, our...”
– Heller Levinson
“Here we arrive at the crux of the matter – whether Judaism has historically been...”
– Shlomo Sand’s ‘The Invention of the Jewish People,’ reviewed by Jack Ross
“I’m a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign-policy...”
– George W. Bush
Honduras: Lost or 'Re-founded'? →
According to human rights groups in Honduras, there have been 48 documented assassinations of Resistance members since the putsch last summer, with 15 coming since the inauguration of much-disputed President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, on January 28. Fifty-one percent of the Honduran electorate boycotted the presidential elections that thrust Lobo into power, and regional heavyweights like...
“We will become considerably more networked, living mainly in terms of proxy...”
– Sven Birkerts
“As men, we have God for our King, and are under the law of reason: as...”
– John Locke
Taking Marriage Private →
For 16 centuries, Christianity also defined the validity of a marriage on the basis of a couple’s wishes. If two people claimed they had exchanged marital vows — even out alone by the haystack — the Catholic Church accepted that they were validly married.
In 1215, the church decreed that a “licit” marriage must take place in church. But people who married illictly had the same rights and...
“As for those who suggest that the heterosexual pair bond is part of our...”
– Is Marriage Necessary?
Stephanie Coontz: The Future of Marriage →
For most of history, marriage was more about getting the right in-laws than picking the right partner to love and live with. In the small-scale, band-level societies of our distant ancestors, marriage alliances turned strangers into relatives, creating interdependencies among groups that might otherwise meet as enemies. But as large wealth and status differentials developed in the ancient world,...
“We keep hoping that one day we will find the man who really understands our...”
– Henri Nouwen
“The president should support the Cantwell-Collins CLEAR ACT, which will actually...”
– George Lakoff
“Some of us believe that the vision of a world without war will only come when...”
– Valerie Elverton Dixon
“Many of these new laws on immigration are harsh and punitive. The law should not...”
– Jose Gomez
“Apple is building the Disney computer network. All the streets are clean, and...”
– Dave Winer
“The trouble is that when we look at what Obama has actually done, or rather...”
– Eunomia
Cameras no show in court →
Lawyer Regina Quick, defending two clients from charges that they were photographed running red lights, subpoenaed five traffic cameras at the West Broad Street-Alps Road intersection to testify that her clients did indeed barge through on red.
“I didn’t observe them as they came in, so I don’t believe they’ll be appearing,” Quick said.
Jim Davis, the assistant...
Gregory Clark (economist) →
A Farewell to Alms (the book’s title is a non-rhotic pun on Ernest Hemingway’s novel, A Farewell to Arms) discusses the divide between rich and poor nations that came about as a result of the Industrial Revolution in terms of the evolution of particular behaviors originating in Britain. Prior to 1790, Clark asserts, man faced a Malthusian trap: new technology enabled greater...
“Still, as long as the troops follow the protocol laid out in 2006 when George W....”
– Ruben Navarrette Jr.
WatchOJ Guilty But Not of Murder
Glenn Beck, Please, Shut Up! →
It has already been mentioned on several other blogs recently but since I’m such a huge fan of Glenn Beck (tongue-in-cheek), I thought I’d weigh in too. Once again, the nonsensical Beck with all of his twisted theology and out of whack history, has given his -2 cents on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Instead of me recounting the entire rant in type here for you, just go ahead and listen to...
The War is Making You Poor →
The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are making us poor. Right now, America spends $159 billion on contingency operations for the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. That’s enough money to eliminate taxes for everyone who makes under $35,000 a year, while cutting the deficit.
Progressive hero, Congressman Alan Grayson, is once again leading the charge to put an end to this disastrous...
“The role of the church is to cultivate people who “can risk being peaceful in a...”
– John Howard Yoder
1 tag
“An idolatry of the new and the novel, with the concomitant disrespect for...”
– The two ways churches mistreat history
Michelangelo and Neuroanatomy →
Now the question is, if these images are anatomical images, what was Michelangelo up to? There are two schools of thought about this. The positive view was that Michelangelo saw the handiwork of God in the human body. Thus, these anatomical references represent a fusion of the physical and the spiritual. A more cynical view is that Michelangelo was painting these bits of anatomy as a form of...
How Christian Is Tea Party Libertarianism? →
Is such a philosophy Christian? In several major aspects of biblical ethics, I would suggest that Libertarianism falls short.
1. The Libertarian enshrinement of individual choice is not the pre-eminent Christian virtue. Emphasizing individual rights at the expense of others violates the common good, a central Christian teaching and tradition. The Christian answer to the question “Are we...
U.N. official to call for halt of C.I.A. drone... →
New York Times reported that only 9 percent of Pakistanis approved of U.S. drone strikes in their territory, with a majority of Pakistanis viewing the U.S. as a greater threat to their nation than India or the Pakistani Taliban. And little wonder. Pakistani authorities estimate that some 140 innocent civilians die for every Al Qaeda or Taliban militant killed in a drone strike. Even a much more...
“The iPad doesn’t feel like a computer. It feels like a magic book — like...”
– Charlie’s Diary
“I started looking into [Cleon] Skousen pretty early on. [Glenn] Beck never...”
– Alexander Zaitchik
“The only source of war is politics — the intercourse of governments and peoples;...”
– Carl von Clausewitz
“The Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg reports that, this week, yet another...”
– Glenn Greenwald
Top 1000 most-visited sites on the web →
“Misogyny and racism are twins. While they have different targets, they arise out...”
– Robin Lakoff
“See, although moral purity is difficult, moral purity isn’t the hardest thing...”
– Andrew Tallman
“When a little white girl goes missing, online news, supermarket tabloids and...”
– The Media and the Murder of Aiyanna Jones