Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
And well they should, too: “Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared,” he told a roomful of doctors who chipped in …
Continue reading "They're Still Talking About Obama as an Elitist Snob"
This is the eleventh in a sporadic series on the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The previous post was The End Times Without Revelation. The last five of Cyril's lectures are referred to as the “mystagogic” lectures. They were given after the catechumens were baptised and received their First Communion. They have given …
Continue reading "Mystagogy, Sacramental Theology and the Poker Playing Dog"
That's exactly what it is, the revenged being in this case Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki: On April 24 of the same year (2003), however, he willingly surrendered to occupying US forces, four days before his 67th birthday. On Tuesday, after seven years in solitary confinement, the 74-year-old former diplomat was sentenced to death by the …
Continue reading "The Execution of Tariq Aziz: A Revenge Killing"
The last two years haven't been kind to Jim Wallis. First his man in the White House, Barack Obama, has spectacularly stumbled in his bid to reunify the country and get the economy going again (I don't think he was sincere about either, but that's another post). To use Sarah Palin's delightful phrase, that "hopey-changey …
This is the tenth in a sporadic series on the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The previous post was The Holy Spirit and Miracles, Then and Now. One part of Patristic theology that gets very little play these days from anyone is their eschatology, i.e., their idea of the sequence of the events …
I've mentioned it from time to time, but in the summer of 2007 I had a long email debate with a Salafi Muslim civil engineer in South-east Asia about Islam and Christianity. Needless to say, it was an education. We correspond from time to time, and he's on my list when I announce new technical …
Continue reading "If Allah Wills It, I Will Be Back in the Office"
Another "I told you so" moment. First the after-the-fact admission: Ezra Klein: The president has now told at least two journalists that "there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects.” He obviously believes it. But what, exactly, does he mean? Jared Bernstein: The president definitely had some initial frustration that projects were taking longer to get …
Continue reading ""Shovel Ready" Was a Non-Starter From the Get-Go"
He's at it again, and it's so bad that Newsweek takes exception to it: But of course the basic argument is exactly the same. It's vulgar economic determinism: When people are afraid for their economic livelihood they do foolish things, like clinging to their guns and God or, in this case, voting in opposition to …
Continue reading "How Is It Possible That Obama Can Get Away With Insulting the Voters?"
In this case, the two candidates for FL-22 House district debated at Bethesda: A standing-room-only crowd gathered Monday to watch a debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein and Allen West, his Republican challenger in the Nov. 2 election. West sought to tie Klein to President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying Klein voted …
Continue reading "Klein vs. West: Human Sexuality Not the Only Debate in an Episcopal Church"
This is the ninth in a sporadic series on the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The last posting was Is God’s Omnipotence Dependent Upon the Existence of His Creation? One of the long-running debates in Christianity is that of cessationism. Did the “sign gifts” described in 1 Corinthians 12 die out with the …
Continue reading "The Holy Spirit and Miracles, Then and Now"
Positive Infinity 