Triggered Schmiggered

A possible sociological/psychological experiment occurred to me as a result of a passing comment made by my son-in-law, Ben Merkle. He, of course, is not responsible for any mayhem that might occur as a result of somebody actually trying this. We hear a lot about “triggers,” and how they are used to shut down political …

Information About “The River Thief”

So the movie The River Thief releases today, and I want first to give you information about the movie, and how you can arrange to watch it. I will begin with that general info and a behind-the-scenes discussion about how the movie came to be. Then after that I will make a few comments about …

The Religious Right Is Dead. Long Live the Religious Right.

In the ongoing aftermath of the ever-generous fiasco that we call the Trump campaign, Russell Moore wrote that if Donald Trump has accomplished anything of value, it is that he has snuffed out the religious right. The first half of his piece says a lot of things that are pertinent, trenchant, on the mark, and …

A Fight in the Leper Colony

Introduction: It is easy to treat the spectacle that is presidential politics in 2016 as though we were dismayed spectators, but we are not spectators at all. We are all participants. We are not watching a movie that contains a food fight in a junior high cafeteria; we are in the cafeteria. And if it …