Current Events
-
Republican Like Me
I am not a Republican. Nor am I a Democrat. I’m an Independent, recently minted. To me, that has meant “Cynically Disaffected with Both Major Parties, but More Conservative than Liberal about Government…
-
Friends or foes?
A hot discussion topic this week in my home school email group has been a “Drag Queen Story Hour” scheduled at a local public library. I say “discussion,” but there is little actual…
-
The Benedict Option
It’s taken me quite awhile to read this book — over a month. This is partly because it got off to a slow start. If I were to reread it, I’d start with…
-
Fake news and Charles Dickens
Lately we’ve heard repeated warnings that the term “fake news” threatens the basic underpinnings of democracy. The free press is essential to informing the American people, we’re told, and this term of derision…
-
Not that simple
My oldest is taking a photography elective in our homeschool co-op this semester. The class is creating a yearbook for us. Last week, the teacher discussed how photographing people can be honoring of…
-
Foundations and Faultlines
I don’t watch many movies, but amazingly, this week I have watched two. The first, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), was recommended for the week in my daughter’s government curriculum. The second,…
-
Window of Opportunity
It’s hard to miss. Stories about the baffling support for Donald Trump among evangelicals are common these days, and no wonder. A greater contradiction is hard to imagine, for reasons that have been…
-
Education — or Brainwashing?
You know, it’s funny. Christians are often perceived and represented as brainwashed. They refuse “the facts.” They shelter their kids from “scientific knowledge.” Their “faith” is just another word for “willful ignorance.” Or…
-
Seeking Hope
Pope Francis is visiting America for the first time. On Friday night’s Newshour, political commentators David Brooks and Mark Shields took up the subject of his visit. I have been struck lately by…
-
Convenience? Convince me.
This story about the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was on NPR while I was making supper last night. I laughed a cynical laugh. The story is a giddy pep rally for…
