Is there someone working the levers behind the curtain? Does God exist?According to the latest Pew Forum US Religious Landscape Survey, an ongoing examination of American religious beliefs and practices, 92% of us are betting on the existence of God or a "universal spirit." 7 in 10 are ... Continue reading
Under the influence of radicalism
April 27, 2008 By 8 Comments
"Empire resurrected and unapologetic, war without end, an undefined enemy that's supposed to be a rallying point for a new kind of energized jingoistic patriotism, unprecedented and unapologetic military expansion, white supremacy changing its form, but essentially intact, attacks on women and ... Continue reading
Encouraging discouragement
March 11, 2008 By 2 Comments
Politics is fueled by discontent. In every election season, we Americans — the world's most prosperous and pampered people — take our complaints to the ballot box.It's the nature of a democratic community that our collective unhappiness drives us to build something better. Like the oyster ... Continue reading
Mark Daniels on character and hope-shifting
February 2, 2008 By
I always look to Pastor Mark Daniels at Better Living for good thinking on a variety of subjects. Here are some things Mark blogged about this week.In "It's Character, Stupid", Mark offers an historian's perspective on what to look for in a presidential candidate: "I claim not to have ... Continue reading
The politics of toothaches
January 30, 2008 By
A couple of days into my recent trip to Mexico I developed a toothache. Not a please shoot me now! toothache, but the sort that makes you start avoiding one side of your mouth, like that neighborhood you stay out of after dark because it'll be trouble.I could tell this was going to be an ... Continue reading
Time for change?
January 9, 2008 By 3 Comments
Can a presidential candidate get through a speech without promising Change? ... Change to what or from what or instead of what - all that goes unspecified. ... We the People are simply expected to react favorably to any mention of Change. Call it the political version of a Pavlovian response. The ... Continue reading
Turks and pizza
January 3, 2008 By
By 1944, Stalin's fear of a Soviet Union divided into different nationalities led to a policy of deportations of entire peoples he considered to be even potentially disloyal. ... Between November 15 and 17, 1944, Soviet troops forcibly removed approximately 100,000 Muslims from the Meskhetian ... Continue reading
Candidates speak out on waterboarding
December 31, 2007 By
As we approach the primaries, many voters are interested in the candidates' positions on the controversial subject of waterboarding. As a public service, I am providing the following quotations:Rudy Giuliani on waterboarding: I'm in the same position now that I was 12 years ago when I ran for ... Continue reading
