We got a nice note from Molly Worthen, who wrote an article on NSA for The New York Times Magazine. That article is available here. In her note she comments, fairly enough, that the article is critical in places, but that she is hopeful that the article does indicate her interest in and admiration for …
Unappreciated Heroism
“It was in Africa that I first discovered that bourgeois virtues are not only desirable but often heroic” (Theodore Dalrymple, Our Culture, What’s Left of It, p. 25).
Vengeance Is Not Ours
“Practicing revenge is the way to continue divisions to the end of the world” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 270).
A Real Clash Shaping Up
“Without question, Jesus and Muhammad are the two most influential persons who ever lived. Today we can see the influence in the two largest religions in the world: Christianity with more than two billion followers, and Islam with 1.3 billion” (Mark Gabriel, Jesus and Muhammad, p. vii).
The Wrong Units of Measurement
“It is only the sentimentalist who imagines that the profundity of a person’s response to tragedy is proportional to the length, volume, or shrillness of his lamentation” (Theodore Dalrymple, Our Culture, What’s Left of It, p. 20).
Come, They Say, Let Us Link to Their Blogs
“Why do you seek to strengthen yourselves by stirring up vile men to join with you, such as heretofore your hearts were opposite to? How comes it to pass that you can close so lovingly now? You can smile one upon another and shake hands together. How comes it to pass that you bring joy …
Discipline in the Local Church
INTRODUCTION: Church discipline is not very common in the contemporary church, and, because it is rarely done, when it is done, it is rarely done well. As with everything, we have to turn to the Scriptures for guidance and protection. And in turning to the Scriptures, we are not just looking for procedures, but we …
Contempt for the Poor
“But there is little doubt that an oppositional attitude toward traditional social rules is what wins the modern intellectual his spurs, in the eyes of other intellectuals. And the prestige that intellectuals confer upon antinomianism soon communicates itself to nonintellectuals. What is good for the bohemian sooner or later becomes good for the unskilled worker, …
Dealing With People Instead of Abstract Logic
“Truer and more gentle is the judgment of that great and peacemaking divine, Martin Bucer, who said, ‘It is our part not to look at what may follow from an opinion, but at what follows in the consciences of those who hold it'” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p.268).
Ahmadinejad and Terrorism
Yesterday I saw a talking head on television waxing indignant over Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York. One of the things he was angry about was the fact this man, a terrorist, engaged in killing American soldiers, was able to come over here and say his bit. We have to be careful not to let the …