“Television is not vulgar because people are vulgar; it is vulgar because people are similar in their prurient interests and sharply differentiated in their civilized concerns” (George Gilder, Life After Television, p. 48).
That Ringleader Pride
“Though there are many in a riot, the whole blame usually is laid upon the ringleaders. Pride is the ringleader of all riots, divisions, and disturbances among us” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 158).
A Review of Leepike Ridge
Okay, let me get a couple things out of the way right at the outset. The first and most obvious is that I am embarking on a review of a novel written by my son, a story that I think is a real premium can of corn. So to speak. And so someone out there …
No Faith in Itself
“That’s why the Church of England and the Episcopal Church and the Congregational Church and the United Church of Canada and many others are sinking beneath the bog of their own relativistic mush, while Islam is the West’s fastest growing religion. There’s no market for a faith that has no faith in itself” (Mark Steyn, …
Big Brother”s Eyeball
“Yet television is at its heart a totalitarian medium. Because television signals originate at a single station and are sent top-down to the masses, tyrants everywhere push TV sets onto their people” (George Gilder, Life After Television, p. 46).
Chariot Wheels of the Furies
“These are pride, self-love, envy, and passion or forwardness. All the other distempers that cause divisions have the poison of these four at the root of them. These are the chariot wheels of the furies, or the four horses that draw them up and down hurrying from place to place” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 157).
Education and the Home
In his next chapter, Rod Dreher says many admirable things about education. And I think he is correct that education is right at the center of our battle for the heart and soul of our culture. “If Russell Kirk is right, and the family is the institution most necessary to conserve, there is almost nothing …
Fourth Installment of the Hitchens/Wilson Debate
For those following this, the fourth installment of my debate with Christopher Hitchens is now posted at Christianity Today’s web site. If you want to get there quickly, just click on this magic word.
Right Pretty
It may not seem relevant right now, but Abigail was a beautiful and intelligent woman. Christians are good at fighting relativism when it comes to matters of truth. Those who reject a fixed standard of truth are soon engaged in debate by capable Christian apologists. Believers also do well when the subject at hand is …
Mastering the Parlance
“Whatever the arguments for and against ‘gay marriage,’ there are never going to be many takers for it. But the justifications for same-sex marriage are already being used to advance the cause of polygamy, and there are far more takers for that. It’s already practiced de facto if not de jure in France, Ontario, and …