An interesting observation from Jonathan Haidt about what college students are being indoctrinated in these days: But what do we do now? Many students are given just one lens—power. Here’s your lens, kid. Look at everything through this lens. Everything is about power. Every situation is analyzed in terms of the bad people acting to …
Not Much on Taking Advice: Pentecostals and Anglicanism
Growing up--especially when we lived on Lookout Mountain, something of a fantasy land in itself--I always enjoyed the Disney movies and records I could take in or had. One of those that's stuck with me is the song "Very Good Advice" from Alice in Wonderland. The clip from the movie is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srn0xkXTSgs Today is …
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In Thanksgiving, the Hymn From Colossians
The best way to celebrate Thanksgiving is by giving thanks in a Scriptural way, and it's set to music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SiSBRKoyVw&t=211s The entire album is here. The scripture it's taken from is here. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
It's All About Moving Up, Only the Ladder Changes
Consider this nasty, self-righteous screed: Christianity has died in the hands of Evangelicals. Evangelicalism ceased being a religious faith tradition following Jesus’ teachings concerning justice for the betterment of humanity when it made a Faustian bargain for the sake of political influence. It's amazing that people can so lack self-reflection that they don't see they've …
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In Defence of Prog
It was a sorry moment on Twitter when I found the Atlantic's James Parker's "book review" on David Weigel's The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock. It's not as much a book review as an assault on "prog" as it's called. Given that everything else "progressive" gets good press in …
Bolshevik Revolution: Ten Days That Shook the World Still Shake
This week we remember the Bolshevik Revolution. I'd have to say that the "ten days that shook the world" (to use John Reed's phrase) have certainly shaken my life. But it was the back end of that revolution--the collapse of the Soviet Union and its aftermath--where things really got interesting for me, and the world …
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The Shifting Sands of American Law
In the midst of a thumbs-up for the estate tax repeal and the step-up basis retention, a warning: If the bill is passed without changes to these provisions, then planning will focus on maximizing basis step-up at death, perhaps with additional lifetime gift planning in anticipation of a reasonably likely future return of the estate …
Evangelicals Took Over the Church of England? So What?
An eye-opener, indeed: Fifty years later there’s good reason for evangelicals to believe Stott’s argument ultimately won the day. For instance, unlike his more liberal predecessor, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is a charismatic evangelical (and a member of Holy Trinity Brompton before he was ordained), and his counterpart in York, John Sentamu, comes …
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Healy Willan's Missa de Sancta Maria Magdelena
It was the "standard" rendition of the Holy Communion when I grew up at Bethesda-by-the-Sea, and the paid youth choir did a proper job of it. This rendition comes from St. John's Cathedral in Detroit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzYoVS8WMxQ It remains one of the most moving "masses" (that term didn't sit well with many Episcopalians) I have ever …
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Positive Infinity 