Month: January 2013

Little Men Who Think They Are Big

  

The view that the people, as a collective, are always right is fallacious. The voters make huge mistakes all the time. Yet so do kings and totalitarian rulers. What, then, is the solution? Our Founders came up with an arrangement that sought to minimize the sinfulness and foolishness of man. The federal republic they created, while not perfect, since there is no perfect system in this world, nevertheless has the potential to diminish the bad effects of man’s selfish tendencies…. Read more »

Iranian Persecution of the Christian Faith

  

Iran continues its persecution of Christians. The latest victim is Saeed Abedini, who is now an American citizen. Last week, he was sentenced to eight years in prison by a judge known for his particularly harsh sentences. What did Abedini do to run afoul of the regime? In the early years of this new century, when he was still an Iranian citizen, he converted to Christianity and became a leader in setting up a network of house churches. This, in… Read more »

C. S. Lewis & the Joy of Books

  

In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis tells of his childhood fascination with books, a fascination that never went away through a lifetime of reading and writing. See if you can relate to what he says here; I know I can. I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles. Also, of endless books. My… Read more »

Heroes vs. Famous Faces

  

Two big events in Washington, DC, this week. The first was the presidential inauguration; the second will be the annual March for Life on Friday. The first got a lot of coverage; the second won’t get nearly as much. Yet the second event is far more significant spiritually. While the inaugural address gave lip service to the ideal of the right to life as stated in the Declaration of Independence, the March for Life is the public face for those… Read more »

Interpreting Obama’s Inaugural Address

  

One of the key ways to mislead people is to use the same words everyone else uses, but to give those words a different meaning without explaining to the listeners the new definitions. President Obama’s inaugural address needs to be interpreted in that way. He used “Progressive-Speak” to make his points, yet most Americans don’t understand this particular language. I feel it is my duty to be his interpreter. I won’t include the entire speech; it would be far too… Read more »

Les Miserables, Whittaker Chambers, & Delayed Revelation

  

One of the best movies I’ve seen in some time and one of my favorite historical subjects of study come together. First, the movie. I saw Les Misérables a couple of weeks ago and have intended to write about it. Too many other pressing topics intervened. Yet it’s still around in theaters, so if I can encourage anyone else to see it who has neglected to do so, I will have performed a public service. At first, I wasn’t quite… Read more »

C. S. Lewis: Evil in Our Day

  

Lewis, in the preface to his Screwtape Letters, provides a very interesting insight into where we are most likely to find evil in our day. I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not even in concentration camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in… Read more »