Unhappy at Work
The current issue of The Economist (October 10th) reports on a disturbing upward trend in job-related suicides among workers in certain sectors of the worldwide economy. For example, in America work-related suicides increased by 28% in just one year. The Economist argues that suicides are just the most dramatic evidence of growing disatisfaction and unhappiness […]
A Point for Participation
I have on occasion been advised that I’m going about this cyberspace writing thing in all the wrong ways. People who read from the web or email aren’t interested in whatever points you may be trying to make; they want to be entertained or made to feel like they’re in the know. Further, they aren’t […]
No Such Thing
I’m hoping that better minds than mine will engage the debate over the FCC’s proposed policy of “net neutrality.” According to Jeffrey Rosen, writing in The New Republic (Oct. 21, 2009), “The essence of net neutrality seems simple: Internet service providers should be required to treat all data equally and avoid blocking or delaying any […]
Nuclear Terror
We’re hearing more speculation these days over the security of Pakistan’s 60-some-odd nuclear weapons. Recent terrorist attacks on police and military headquarters inside Pakistan demonstrate just how easy it is for terrorists to infiltrate, penetrate, and devastate what were assumed to be safe facilities and secure protocols. Will the nuclear weapons they have produced be […]
The Making of a Movement
Big, dramatic, watershed social changes don’t happen all at once. They are the result of movements that build over time, as burdened individuals find voices together against a common enemy and lend their small talents toward big changes. Andrew Curry’s brief history of the fall of the Berlin wall – and of Soviet Marxism – […]
The Cost of a Lie
The Apostle James reminds us that those who transgress one of the commandments of God break them all (Jms. 2.10). The story of the balloon hoax foisted on their community by a Colorado couple provides a perfect example of this. The Heenes, a family afflicted with misplaced values and priorities, determined that the best way […]
In the Particulars
Twentieth-century liberal theology unraveled and lost a huge chunk of its following as evangelical scholars pointed out its fatal flaw: Liberals had cut the faith of Christ off from real history. By launching the events of resurrection and redemption into a realm of “salvation history” somewhere, at best, merely tangential to real history, liberal theology […]
Table-turning Anyone?
In spite of the many beautiful examples of Celtic Christian art that survive today from the period of the Celtic revival, we know the names of only three artists, and only one of them (Muiredach) because he told us himself, having carved his name on the base of the cross he sculpted. Celtic Christian artists […]
Give to Yourself
The “culture of narcissism” that Christopher Lasch described back in the late ’70s was an alarming idea at the time. Had Americans really descended so low as to think only of ourselves in every decision, choice, and action? At about the same time, Robert Ringer sought to make a life philosophy out of self-interest. He […]
No Losers
Yesterday, after having rallied Democratic Party big-wigs to stump for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds – including the President himself – the Obama Administration tossed the likely loser under the bus. It must have become really clear to the President that Senator Deeds couldn’t win. Bob McDonnell’s lead is just too big to overcome, and […]
The Mendacity of Hope
I encountered this phrase in a review by Andrew Klavan of John Derbyshire’s We Are Doomed (The New Criterion, October 2009). Derbyshire is a resolute conservative whose book debunks the world of “political correctness” and its silly ideologies of “hope and change” (my new favorite bumper sticker: “So how’s that ‘hope and change’ workin’ out […]
Right Turn?
Last night on the Fox News Network Bill O’Reilly reported that a recent poll indicates the country is turning right, that conservative political philosophy appears to be once again on the ascendancy. As many as 40% of all Americans identify themselves as conservatives while only 26% say they’re liberal in their views. Which leads me […]
Hope Again
I keep coming back in my mind to that phrase, “the mendacity of hope”, which I mentioned the other day. I couldn’t help but wonder if the writer meant all hope or just the flimsy and false hope of politically correct politicians. So I wrote to Mr. Klavan to ask for some clarification; if he […]
…Will Set You Free?
For as long as I can remember, American foreign policy has been promulgated on an economic basis, primarily in the form of economic aid and trade. Diplomacy aids this agenda, with military involvement a sort of last resort. American administrations have set a course which insists that freedom comes with wealth, wealth comes from development […]
Reach, Grasp, Hold
On the same day Democrats in the House unveiled their plan for health care reform – a sweeping, 2,000 page bill that includes what Speaker Pelosi is wont to refer to as a “robust public option” – Treasure Secretary Tim Geithner was on the hill arguing for more executive branch power to limit the size […]
