When I returned home on Thursday, frustrated by the voting behavior of my fellow Americans, I found my daughter watching the John Adams series created by HBO.
I concede my daughter, a mere 12 years old, may not be representative of the typical child of her age. I must also admit it makes me proud to be able to say she chose to watch John Adams rather than turn on some ridiculous cable program. While not all pre-teenagers would choose to watch a series chronicling centuries-old events, she gives me hope.
If my 12 year old can appreciate the lessons found in the history of John Adams and the other Founding Fathers than so can other 12 year olds. Read on . . .
All posts by Phil
A Cut Above
I’ve always thought Brit Hume was a cut above the rest in the national press. Today, I learn he is moving on to other things. The news is a little old, but I just read it. In Reuters interview with Hume, he says, “I was kind of a nominal Christian for the longest time. When my son died (by suicide in 1998), I came to Christ in a way that was very meaningful to me. If a person is a Christian and tries to face up to the implications of what you say you believe, it’s a pretty big thing. If you do it part time, you’re not really living it.”
48 Liberals Lies About America
I’ve known for a while that certain people credit Gorbachev with the fall of the Soviet Union, instead of Reagan, so I suppose the sting of that lie has worn off for me. But I was shocked to hear that history textbooks accuse Truman of droping the bomb on Japan in order to thump his chest at the Soviet Union. They call it “atomic diplomancy.” And they say FDR knew Pearl Harbor would be attacked but hushed it up in order to have a reason to go to war. Insanity. These are many more lies are discussed in Larry Schwelkart’s new book, 48 Liberal Lies About American History. Book TV has a video of Mr. Schwelkart’s presentation.
The Only Multipurpose Tool You’ll Ever Need
The vast editorial staff at Brandywine Books noticed the Christmas holidays coming up (Yes, we all noticed at the same time. We are of one mind. Yes, we do usually dress as sheep for Halloween, thank you for asking) and thought to remind our affluent readership (the best-looking readership in the entire blogosphere we are convinced) of the gift you may be seeking for that special, irritating, but loved someone who already has everything he needs (clean underwear).
The only thing to get this person is this knife, a penknife to be precise.
That’s 85 tools in one knife, which means when he’s in the thick of a job, he’ll have every tool he could want–except the one he needs.
In Praise of Crichton
The Wall Street Journal praises Michael Crichton’s perspective.
Crichton, who died this week of cancer, will not be remembered as a brilliant prose stylist. But he knew how to hold reader attention, and he had an inventive mind that led him to write novels — 26 in all, along with screenplays and works of nonfiction — that concerned the problematic intersection of science, technology, public policy and ordinary life. A medical doctor by training, Crichton knew better than to treat scientists and technologists as a priestly class, immune from temptations of fame, profit or power.
Conservative Policy Answers
“What should conservative Christians focus on politically over the next four years?” Several leaders give their answers.
I’ll say simply that we should pray in earnest about politicians, neighbors, and bringing God glory in every area of life. We can also speak the truth politely and thoughtfully. Don’t get mad anymore. Get passionate.
Friday Fight: ARRRRGH!
It’s Friday, so let’s watch some live steel combat.
And now for something completely different.
And now, a music video.
How Casual Friendship Softens Things
At the end of my work day, I frequently talk to a lady who is starting her’s. She cleans part of the office building where I work. She’s a nice grandma, who has some leg and joint pains which I pray for when I remember. We’ve talked mostly about the weather. I wish I could say we praise the Lord together, but we’ve done that only three or four times so far. Mostly we chat about little things.
I haven’t asked her about political issues or pushed any serious theology into my statements. I did ask her if she would watch the presidential debates and when she would vote. She caught a bit of the debates, I think. They don’t say important stuff in those things, you know. She voted yesterday.
I don’t think I told her last week about the multi-congregation service I attended the last October Sunday. I sang in the choir, barely using the music because the notes to sing weren’t all printed. We had to pick it up by ear. The pastor, who teaches at the church from which most of the choir came, said he felt he had left Obama territory for McCain territory, judging by the bumper stickers in the parking lot. Some choir members who were over my shoulder murmured a bit of affirmation to the soon-to-be president elect.
I laughed a bit. It didn’t bother me to disagree indirectly with them.
I don’t know that I heard anything from Obama on the campaign trail that I agreed with. I don’t think I have hoped for a moment that he would keep his word on a certain campaign pledge. I’ve even accused him of lying to us, like Bill Clinton did in his campaign and in office. Obama seems like a nice professional, but I really don’t know him. I don’t know if his cool exterior hides a wicked heart, and I shouldn’t assume it does–beyond theological terms.
But today, I talked to a woman who thanked the Lord when she heard Obama would be our next president. She almost cried too.
That softens the political edges for me. I don’t know how many, if any, of his stated policies she approves. She may not have thought through the issues. But a black man will serve (Deo Volente) as the 44th President of the United States. And she’s a black woman.
That isn’t colorblind, and it isn’t a good reason to vote for anyone. But it is a good reason to give respect to whom respect is due and honor to whom honor is due. I can’t demonize someone I respect.
Orwell Takes a Page from Luther
Did Martin Luther lay a foundation for George Orwell?
Luther’s stand against authoritarianism foreshadowed our use of ‘plain reason’ and personal judgement, says Sandison, or empiricism and individualism, as we might say. Luther siezing on St. Paul’s “Prove all things” to defend his position provides ” a motto not only for himself, but for that moral and intellectual movement which was to exert, down to our own day, a major creative influence on the development of Western culture.” [via Books, Inq.]
Let America Be America Again
Here’s a painful, honest poem from Langston Hughes.
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
. . .
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home–
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”