Culture

Names: they are a changin’

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“…And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” (Genesis 1:19, ESV) Over at First Things, read my latest musings on a culture that changes its names: This week, the Southern Baptist Convention announced it is launching yet another committee to examine changing its name. The goal is to better reflect the fact that, … Read more

Strangers in a Strange Land

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[Cross-posted from Evangel] In addition to a “royal priesthood” and a “holy nation,” the King James Bible speaks of Christians in 1 Peter 2:9 as a “peculiar people.” Modern translations dispense with the term, but it seems that to at least one sociologist, some Bible-belt Christians are so far removed from American culture that they’re … Read more

Top 8 short-lived TV shows of the 80s

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Ah, the 80’s. It was a time when TV shows wrapped everything up by the end of the show, nobody got killed (think The A-Team), and episodes were filmed before a live studio audience. If it wasn’t the golden age of television, it was at the very least bronze.

But the 80’s were also a decade of trial and frequent error. For every Cosby Show, there were a dozen other shows than never made it past two seasons. Below, in no particular order, I’ve compiled the top eight of these short-lived 80’s wonders:

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The Roman Polanski case gets frantic

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Much has been written about film director and child rapist Roman Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland. The reaction is a rather bizarre moment of agreement between both cultural conservatives and liberals who, by and large, agree that Polanski’s pending extradition is well-deserved. More bizarre is the small group of voices who are calling for Polanski’s release. … Read more

Washington D.C., where the killing is reasonable

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Below is the front page headline of today’s Washington Times: That’s right: after 100 murders, you can breathe easy when visiting the nation’s capital. Think 100 is too high, or too low? Nonsense, says D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier: “Fewer than 100 homicides is reasonable,” Chief Lanier told The Washington Times. “We’re targeting for … Read more

The great humanitarian scandal

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The current financial crisis elicits explanations, excuses, and blame from the full breadth of the political spectrum. There are no shortages of would-be saviors to our pallid pocketbooks, and none loom as large as government–sponsored humanitarianism. It’s a view in which the gap between the rich and poor, widened by the abuse of power, must … Read more

The changing meaning of hate

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Swift on the heels of the new definition of tolerance, the meaning of hate is being slowly eroded by the tides of cultural abuse. Take, for example, this recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle (emphasis mine): In papers filed Thursday night in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office argued … Read more