Most people only know half of Stephen Decatur’s famous toast — “my country, right or wrong.” But the whole thing was much more admirable. “My country, may she always be right. But my country, right or wrong.” The abbreviated version makes it sound like national interest is the only standard that a full-tilt patriot would …
Redemptive/Historical Embarrassment
When we look at what is happening to the culture around us, and we recognize that so much of the destruction is avoidable, and we consider also the fact that the people implementing these suicidal policies are not idiots — and indeed exhibit an intelligence of the highest order in other areas, the conclusion appears …
Love Tanks
Over the years my wife and I have referred to the problem of a child having a “low tank,” meaning that it was time for us to pour on the affection. But this, like everything else in this sorry world, can be misconstrued and misapplied. When a kid has a low tank, he is low …
Just Good Stuff
I am currently reading a book called Truck: A Love Story, which is really worthwhile, but I had to stop and share this description with you. “Greg Brown’s voice sounds as it was aged in a whiskey cask, cured in an Ozarks smokehouse, dropped down a stone well, pulled out damp, and kept moist in …
Maybe We Could Quit in the Third Quarter
This recent collection of quotes basically present an interesting question to us. What are the implications of Christendom being, as the authors argue, “done”? Well, if you are a Christian, and Christendom really is done, then the obvious answer is to rebuild it. Right? Frost and Hirsch argue that this situation “will require that we …
Fill In Details Later
The other day Nancy and I spent a lot of time at Logos for grandparents day. The kids had their projects out, we saw some impressive class exercises, and so on. My grandson Knox had an impressive statement about the Reformation, at a sixth grade level, along with a poem he had written about Luther. …
Thanks for the Thanks
The most appropriate way to begin a review of a book like this is by giving thanks for it. The Gift of Thanks is more a collection of micro-arguments and discursive observations on various aspects of gratitude than it is a sustained argument from front to back, and yet the end result is extremely satisfying. …
War! What Is It Good For? Absolutely . . . Actually It Does Do Some Good Things
I got a thoughtful letter from a friend asking about the war motif that runs through a bunch of our stuff here in Moscow. My dad’s formative book is called Principles of War. There is the Canon Press tag “Publishing Is Warfare” that we have had around here for a few decades now. There is …
You Know, Stuff
There is a sense in which (I have argued) every thoughtful Christian must be a conservative. The Holy Spirit has done a lot thus far in the history of our people, and we must live up to what we have already attained. We must conserve it. There is another sense in which we are to …
Wiener Schnitzel is UnAmerican
Details are just beginning to emerge about some American atrocities in Afghanistan. Some of the individuals accused are already on trial, which is at it should be. The presenting problem for the politicos and spin doctors in this situation appears to be the fact that there are allegedly supposed to be a multitude of photographs …