Quality interweb mischief from Jared Bridges
If his initial idea of the academic left and the Christian right forming a political coalition was a misty but hopeful notion, William J. Stuntz’s latest elaboration of the idea is a pipe dream. A Harvard Law professor, Stuntz claims that having belonged to evangelical churches for the last twenty years gives him a unique … Read more
David Gelertner’s Commentary article, “Americanism—and Its Enemies,” brings to light a number of elements that form the impetus for the American ideal of democracy for all mankind. Gelertner’s premise is that Americanism is a religion unto itself—the modern-day incarnation of Puritanism, as a matter of fact. Gelertner buttresses a pedigreed Americanism against the tide of … Read more
Writer David Livingstone is organizing a “boycott from work” on Inauguration Day: David Livingstone says the idea behind the economic boycott he’s organizing is simple: If people don’t show up at work or buy things, companies lose money. As he sees it, that’s money the Bush administration can’t tax, and can’t use to run the … Read more
When does one become an adult? Is it 18? 21? How about 26? A Wall Street Journal article by Jeff Zaslow highlights the tendency of many young Americans to put off adulthood: Ages 18 and 21 are no longer the true entry points into American adult hood, as more young people today take soul-searching breaks … Read more
Though I’m a confessing Baptist, I sometimes cringe at the actions of others who claim that denomination. Much like the way most Americans feel when Michael Moore or Barbara Streisand claim to speak for America, I want to dissociate from those who are only Baptists in name. One such church is the infamous Westboro Baptist … Read more
I couldn’t have been more surprised if I had woke up this morning with my head sewn to the carpet. Well, not really. It seems that Chevy Chase, star of the Fletch film series and the National Lampoons’ Vacation movies has tried to put the death knell in his ever-fading career by going on a … Read more
Perhaps long ago it meant something special, but the awarding of major international prizes has taken some rather peculiar turns in recent years. Take this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai—a woman who calls humanity “a threat to the planet.” Her groundbreaking efforts in the area of peace include work with tadpoles: … Read more
Albert Mohler’s column today regarding Ralph Keyes’ new book, The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life is especially insightful. This paragraph got me thinking: As evidence of this cultural acceptance of lying, Keyes notes the rise of euphemisms for deception. “We no longer tell lies. Instead we ‘misspeak.’ We ‘exaggerate.’ We ‘exercise poor … Read more
Evangelical Christians seeking to engage the culture should take a lesson from the late Charles M. Schultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip. Although Wikipedia notes that Schultz may have turned to secular humanism in later years, a distinctly Christian theology is apparent in the 1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas, which aired on ABC tonight. … Read more
…U2’s new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. It’s better than All That You Can’t Leave Behind, but is it really better than Joshua Tree? Probably not, but it is the type of album that grows on you the more you hear it. In what has been touted as “the most conspicuously Christian record … Read more