The Nail Can of Bitterness

Once a British politician was running for office, and he was confronted by a heckler who shouted out that he would not vote for him if he were the archangel Gabriel. “Ah,” the politician replied. “But if I were the archangel Gabriel, you would not be in my constituency.” Now they were both speaking “negatively” …

Crows Strutting in the Gutter

As we try to understand the disintegration of culture around us, including the prevailing drift of pop culture toward that which is grimy — on the assumption that it is therefore more “authentic” — we have to do some hard thinking about the relationship of flesh and bones. Particulars matter. The way something is enfleshed …

Lowlife Authenticity

Too many parents try to understand the ins and outs of popular culture by trying to study particular artifacts of that culture. But the real thing to get to is the driving engine. What makes it go? What are the foundational presuppositions? If you teach your children to identify those rightly, and to respond in …

A Back Eddy in the Moscow Everglades

Let me begin by inviting the uninterested to just skip this one, a post on one particular backwater eddy in the swamp that has become the Moscow Everglades. At the same time, some may be interested in this feature of our ongoing “rage for diversity” campaign because it is part of the reason that some …

Race and Response Time

Just finished watching President Bush on the news defending his administration against charges that the slow federal reaction to Katrina was motivated by racism, that all-purpose smear for anyone who for any reason offends the current guardians of Thought Purity. What a thesis! Think of it! President Bush calls in Karl Rove, well-known genius of …

On Behalf of NSA

I am grateful for this “shameless appeals” category on this blog. It enables me to point to various ministries that are genuinely worthy of support from the broader Christian community, and today’s lesson has to do with New St. Andrews College. But those who don’t want to suffer through a shameless appeal can just press …