At the risk of being labeled “unAmerican” and “unpatriotic” I need to rant against the persistent, poisonous, and paternalistic messages – both explicit and subliminal – about US exceptionalism. Let me state up front: I am glad to be an American but wish I could be prouder in this age […]
What constitutes a lie? Okay, so it is not telling the truth. But how do we understand truth? Can something be true for you but not for me? Is there an absolute truth? (Go ahead, read millions of pages of philosophy from the past three millennia for the answer. I’ll […]
Terry Pratchett, in his holiday classic Hogfather, states, “Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.” We are living in a day where we encounter jaw-dropping incidents of apparent stupidity, misunderstanding, idiocy, and absurdity from people in incredible positions of power and influence. It is all too easy to dismiss these […]
Most of you know I am a word nerd, and I absolutely love tripping over an unknown word that absolutely nails a current condition. I have heard the word felicitous for years, but never was sure that I knew its real meaning. It means “well-suited for the occasion, as an […]
Many people have kindly asked why I haven’t been blogging for a while. It was a planned and intentional hiatus. About this time last year I got deeply concerned and a bit depressed by the tsunami of media negativity, both corporate and social. it seemed that the main purpose of […]
Let’s be clear up front: Christian Nationalism is a destructive, hateful, white myth. It doesn’t exist because it cannot exist. It is a fundamental and ethical contradiction in terms: if it is truly Christian, it cannot be nationalistic, if it is nationalistic, it is by definition unchristian. And yet, it […]
I had some time to watch some of the Sunday morning political “talk shows” on a variety of networks and platforms today. After listening for just a few minutes, I began to keep score. Here is what I heard: Complaints against a person or party = 72 Insults of another […]
A. Stupid people B. Insane people C. Frightened people All of the above is scary, but I opt for “C”. I believe that the majority of chuckleheads who burn books are frightened people, and people who are scared act in very, very, very stupid and crazy ways. But what I […]
I have been down for awhile, battling COVID. I am double-vaccinated, boosted, am really good about masking and err as often as possible to the side of caution, but I got it anyway and it sucks. I have been a strong proponent of vaccinations and masking, have been really impatient […]
People’s United Methodist Church has a year-long theme for 2022 – Mercy and Justice for All. At one level, this is self-explanatory; at another it involves some complex unpacking. It is hard to imagine that any Christian believer would find fault with such a sentiment and theme, yet we see […]
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