Does Using the Interstate Highways Make Me a Socialist?

The interstate highway system is a successful model of public investment.

The Queen’s Charm

No faux pas occurred when Michelle Obama and Elizabeth embraced each other.

Conscience and Nursing

Should nurses who refuse to assist in lethal injections for reasons of conscience be protected?

Pro Conscience

Comment on freedom of conscience protections.

How Many White Men Does it Take . . . ?

OK, the answer is–whatever the punchline–
That’s not funny!
I was going to ask, “How many white men does it take to say a bland and boring prayer?” But it turns out that white guys are more sensitive than I realized.
Some of my brethren were offended and hurt by the Rev. Joseph Lowery’s rhyming conclusion to his [...]

A Post-Racist World

Two years ago Jürgen Moltmann was interviewed on his 80th birthday.  The interviewer asked him if young people need to be given more evidence for belief in God.  Looking back over the horrors of the earlier years of the twentieth century and then the amazing changes that came in the late 1980s and early 1990s, [...]

Self-Loathing Professors

Robert Alter spoke of literature professors who don’t like literature in his book The Pleasure of Reading (reviewed here).  Professor Bruce Fleming likewise lamented that literary studies are killing literature by forcing students to learn the jargon and arcane techniques of “literary studies” rather than actually reading great literature.
Hector Avalos is a professor of the [...]

A Lesson from Hanukkah

The history behind Hanukkah starts with a ruler who wanted to unify people by abolishing religious distinctions.  He was not entirely opposed to all religious observance, he just wanted to abolish religions he considered primitive and superstitious, such as Judaism.  Antiochus was convinced that Hellenism, the Greek way of life was superior to all others; [...]

Save the Dinosaurs!

Is the saying still true, “What’s good for General Motors is good for America”?
Now that the car companies are asking for us to bail them out, like we did the Wall Street high rollers, it could be a good opportunity to retool our transportation system.
In the 1950s president Eisenhower made a momentous decision.  In the [...]

Soldier and Mom

Our friend Margaret passed on this exchange of emails she had with her son Klint, who is stationed in Iraq, regarding the election of Barack Obama as our next president.

Mom to Soldier the day after the election

Klint,
I got your message yesterday evening on my cell phone voice mail.  Did you send it on Tuesday?  Anyway, good to hear your voice!
Don’t know how you feel about the elections, but I am so excited, I could “pee my pants” so to speak.  I’m so tired of “Old white men” running the country  This [...]

Klint Replies and Mom Answers

Mom,
I will try and call again later this week. I am running a school that includes driving, shooting, sneaking around in the woods etc. There is a tremendous amount of labor put into this thing and lots of moving pieces all coming together at once, so I am stupid busy and not getting much sleep. [...]

Soldier and Mom Reply

Good reply mom, but i would also point out that

American taxes were not meant to “redistribute the wealth”.  Taxes were implemented to meet the infrastructure needs of a civil society.

On that note, most of the examples you listed are things that should be taxed at the local or state level [...]

Bloodless Coup

Millions of citizens in my country today poured out into the streets and then met at pre-arranged meeting places to demand a change of government.  Evidently the current administration has agreed to relinquish power peacefully and even to cooperate over the next few months in a smooth transition.
No tanks were seen in the streets, no [...]

What is Black Liberation Theology?

Liberation theology comes from the realization that salvation includes more than saving individual souls for eternal life after death (though it does include that).  A study of the word “salvation” and related concepts in the Old Testament reveals that salvation usually has a concrete setting in this life.  An individual prays for salvation from enemies [...]

Ostracized

Usually Joe is the first to send me new archaeology finds, but this time my daughter Heidi beat him by a few minutes.  They both sent me a report that yesterday archaeologists in Israel reported finding the oldest Hebrew inscription to date, in the valley of Elah where David met Goliath.  (Click on the tab [...]

A Little Help from my Friends

Check out this clip on how we can stop Global Warming.  For more info, go to Green Peace.

Meanwhile, here are Garrison Keillor’s thoughts on the current election campaign.
I suspect the extra “Pages” on this site don’t get used often.  This is just a reminder that I have updated the “Friend’s Finds” [...]

That’s Not Journalism

Cousin Eric documents the lies and wild conjectures presented as facts in the best selling book Obama Nation (here). The antidote to bad journalism is better journalism.
By the way, good for Rick Warren for presenting a civil forum for the two presidential candidates to express their positions and answer. Pastor Warren called both [...]

Committing Journalism

Back in April, Barry Bearak was arrested in Zimbabwe and charged with the crime of “committing journalism.” Most countries are more subtle when they suppress the news, but the authorities told Bearak he was guilty of “gathering, processing, and disseminating the news.” Bearak was eventually released due to the incompetence of the local [...]

Dobson and Obama

It used to be common for ministers to neglect their wives (ministers used to be mostly men in most denominations) and children while they were out doing “the Lord’s work.” James Dobson taught a generation of evangelical men that attending to the need of their wives and children was the Lord’s work, their first [...]