Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Historical amnesia is a common American malady. One of those aspects of American life that is oft forgotten is that of the "acceptable religion," the idea that certain religions are more socially acceptable (and thus more amenable to their adherents moving up) than others. In the past, this was mostly an intramural contest within Christianity …
Continue reading "The “Acceptable Religion” Concept Makes a Comeback"
In Caitlin Flanagan's interesting piece on the college admissions scandal, she makes this statement that jumped out at me: I just about got an ulcer sitting in that office listening to rich people complaining bitterly about an “unfair” or a “rigged” system. Sometimes they would say things so outlandish that I would just stare at …
Continue reading "Settling for Lehigh Isn’t the Worst Thing That Could Happen"
It's pretty sad out there: What many are calling the worst admissions scandal in higher education emerged Tuesday, with federal authorities announcing 50 indictments in a scheme that allegedly involved faux athletes, coaches who could be bribed, cheating on the SAT and ACT, million-dollar bribes and "guarantees" that certain applicants would be admitted to highly …
Continue reading "Meritocracy? What Meritocracy? Just Pay the Money!"
We always talk about the old Soviet Union as an inspiration against socialism, but for Ronald Reagan that journey may have started in a more familiar setting: Maybe the single biggest surprise is the couple of pages devoted to the four months spent by American actor, Ronald Reagan at Elstree Studios making a war movie …
Continue reading "Did Ronald Reagan’s Journey to the Right Begin in England?"
It's not often that Vox gives a voice (which is what they're supposed to do) to a Baptist, but one John Thornton, Jr., a youth pastor in North Carolina, has written an intriguing article about why millennials are so anxious and burnt out these days. As a college professor who teaches in a state which …
Continue reading "Running Scared: My Response to a Baptist Pastor on the Millennials"
It looks like the Democratic nomination race for 2020 (not in 2020, it's already started) will be a crowded one. Like the Republican race in 2016, a large field makes for an unpredictable result. Last week we looked at Elizabeth Warren, that resentful Scots-Irish (and just about the last one in her party.) This week …
Continue reading "Beto O’Rourke, the Party Animals Favourite"
Visits from grandparents are the joy of many families. For us, it was usually the other way around. After we we bounced from Chicago to Chattanooga to Palm Beach, we lived on the other side of the Palm Beach Country Club from my father's mother. With my mother's parents, we usually went to Arkansas to …
Continue reading "Elizabeth Warren and the Resentful Scots-Irish"
Tom Jacobs at the Pacific Standard finds himself surprised at the way voters conflated prosperity and morality, which eased their way to vote for Donald Trump: The findings suggest the Trump campaign's emphasis on the candidate's success in business—which has subsequently been shown to be based largely on smoke and mirrors—increased the perception that he …
Continue reading "The Shocking (to Some) Truth About Prosperity and Morality"
One of the surprises I've gotten is that, even in conservative American churches, there are those in positions of influence who are pacifists. How can this be, especially since their core ethnic group is the bellicose Scots-Irish? But life is an education. Although it's tempting to regard Eric Patterson's Just American Wars: Ethical Dilemmas in …
Sometimes I despair this country will ever get this right: "It can't be done by secular celebrants in a vast majority of states," said Nick Little, vice president and legal counsel for The Center for Inquiry, a secular organization that advocates for keeping religion out of public policy. The Center wants that to change. It …
Continue reading "We Don’t Need “Secular Celebrants” for Civil Marriage"
Positive Infinity 