Often for me these days I have conflicted feeling about my country. We are engaged in so much folly that it is hard to read the paper without a sense of dread. It is hard, very hard, to study history (as I have to as part of my work and as I love to) without feeling a profound sense of loss and even at times shame seeing how far we are falling away from the firm principle and profound commitments of our founding. So I often arrive at Independence Day finding deep stirrings of patriotism conflicted with current sadness and despair. (more…)
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Pondering America
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Security and Freedom
Friday, January 8th, 2010On Christmas Day, a Nigerian, trained in Yemen whose own father had warned us about his danger named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab almost blew up a Northwest airliner above Detroit. He bought a one way ticket. He paid in cash. He boarded the plane without any luggage—he was going to Detroit in December (!!!). We let him get on the plane. He brought explosives onto the plane in his underwear. He failed to blow the plane up, but as President Obama said, “We dodged a bullet.” Now, many are scrambling to come up with new security procedures that will “keep us safe.” Of course, we must do what is reasonable.
Most of what is being recommended now, however, seems sort both invasive (horribly) and fruitless. Again, we will punish the obviously harmless and the dangerous will, I fear, slip past our nets. Some experts have already pointed out ways that most of our security measures can be overcome. We need to get comfortable with this conclusion—if we have a free society, we will be vulnerable to attacks of cruel, violent men intent on our destruction. We can only be safe from men like this by ceasing to be what we are—free. Any rational system of security can be overcome by time and rationality.
This goes for more than airlines, however, it goes for all of life. We cannot be financially free and secure. We cannot love freely without risking that our hearts will be broken. There is no way around it, but we really want one.
I have always been attracted to the freedom side of this equation (although like any parent I have an appreciation for the security side of the equation as well). It risks more, but it presents the possibility for the deeper more consistent joy. It also presents the haters of freedom with a real and winsome alternative to their embrace of death.
This is one of the reasons that I love classical Christian education so much. It can build a foundation for deep loves and for consistent, abiding joys.
Top Ten Reads of 2009
Thursday, January 7th, 2010As I sped through the Christmas Holidays, I was showered with numerous Top Ten Lists—from top ten Lancaster news stories to top ten NFL plays of the decade. Here are my Top 10 books and movies you should read or watch in 2009 (they are not in an order):
10. Anthony Esolen’s version of The Divine Comedy
9. How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman
8. The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield
7. The Body and the Earth by Wendell Berry
6. Margins by Wendell Berry
5. The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
4. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
3. An Innocent Man by John Grisham
2. The Blind Side
1. Gran Torino
The most shocking of these—if you have to read only one—is Berry’s essay called Margins which is an immensely convincing argument that modern farming is destroying farming, rural communities, our health (both body and soul), and the planet. The most fun read is How the Scots Invented the Modern World. I can not decide which movie is best. I just watched the Blind Side—it got me. Gran Torino was the perfection and redemption of the Eastwoodian form. Hard call. Enjoy them all if you can.
Merry Christmas?
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010In the paper today—near the back of the Faith and Values Insert of the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal—I read one of the funniest stories I have seen in a while. It is an article about atheist whining during the Christmas Season. Here is the article if you want to read it:
There is a certain quality to the ridiculousness of the article that warms my Christian heart.
The Slow Train…and its eventualities
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009Sorry for my writers block over the last week or so. It comes around this time of year because of activities. I am back now in the saddle, but will probably be spare until the New Year. There are a lot of things perking now.
There was a mention in the Lancaster Paper on the front of the local section today called “Billions Needed for PA Teachers.” This is an ominous problem that I have known of for a while. In 2012, the state will have to start adding $4 billion a year to its revenue streams to meet the commitments that it made for the pensions of retired teachers—4 billion dollars annually. What’s worse? It could be much more if the economy falters. Last year the Public School Teachers Pension Fund went up by 10%. If it goes down, the state is on the hook…er,…I should say that the taxpayer is on the hook. This would represent a 15% increase in the state budget which would mean some mix of increasing taxes or decreasing spending—15%!!! This slow train is coming down the track. So far, Harrisburg is sort of hoping that the laws of physics do not apply in this case. This train is going to hit us hard if something is not done.
Here is the quandary. We have made foolish promises to state employees—particularly teachers. Ones that we are not able to keep. The sorts of promises that have hamstrung American businesses in many parts of the formerly private sector. Legislators from the local level to Harrisburg have made these promises and pushed the cost off into the future—how infantile can we get! Now, judgment day is coming. What will happen? Right now, it looks like nothing. We will look to affix blame whenever the train hits. I wish that I had a good answer. People, good people, have built their lives around these promises. Promises that we obviously will be greatly harmed by keeping.
Here are a few points that we need to consider to avoid more of these slow trains:
St. Wendell
Monday, November 30th, 2009If you have not read Berry ’s essay “The Body and the Earth,” why are you reading this. Stop. Go and at least purchase it (why not just get the entire book The Unsettling of America just to be safe). This essay is something to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season. Here are a couple of choice quotes to intersperse with your turkey along with my own little summaries (his quotes are in italics):
On a Summary of a Christian Stewardship of the Earth Violence against one is violence against all. The willingness to abuse other bodies is willingness to abuse one’s own. To damage the earth is to damage your children. To despise the ground is to despise its fruit; to despise it’s fruit is to despise it’s eaters. The wholeness of health is broken by despite.
On the Fallacious Separation of Our Bodies and Souls Our bodies are fat, weak, joyless, sickly, ugly, the virtual prey of manufacturers of medicine and cosmetics. Our bodies have become marginal; they are growing useless like our “marginal” land because we have less and less use for them. After the games and idle flourishes of modern youth, we use them only as shipping cartons to transport our brains and our few employable muscles back and forth to work.
Ok, these quotes might make your holiday less festive, but they should not.
Berry is a prude begging us to avoid indulgence and feasting. He is a brother simply reminding us that feasting should come at the end of season of good hard work and that for work to satisfy us fully as a human it should involve both our bodies and our minds—in unison.
Enjoy your turkey, chop some wood, play some tag (or tackle) football and have a happy thanksgiving.
Muses on Marriage and the Middle
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Last night I listened to Maggie Gallagher at the Pennsylvania Family Institute Banquet talk about the ongoing struggle to defend the biblical and traditional definition of marriage. She was not the typical banquet speaker, but this was all the more pleasing. She was making the case for the fact that we need to ply natural law arguments to the sensible, but theologically muddled middle (those for whom common sense rather than biblical warrant drives their outlook on marriage issues. Not your typical banquet talk! This combined with my recently listen to Clarke Forsythe’s brilliant interview on Mars Hill Audio have pushed me to think about how we typically point our arguments at those who are least likely to accept them or those who have already accepted rather than doing the difficult work of giving a reasonable argument to those who are convincible, but not convinced. Forsythe’s concern is that the Pro-Life movement too often makes these sort of arguments and so even though well over 75 percent of the nation things that abortion is the taking of a human life, Pro-life forces cannot mobilize the political support necessary to change the law.Forsythe’s unpack of Thomas Aquinas’ conception of prudence is worth a year of Mars Hill Audio (what a bargain!). I am convinced that Aquinas’ prudence, which he defines as, “wisdom with respect to action”—or basically knowing what to do and say in a given situation. This is what we so long for as we give children a classical Christian education. This is what we so need as a nation—men and women of prudence. Men and women who can make arguments that are true to Christ, win the middle ground and pull down the strongholds of the enemy.
Family Field Trip Report
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009Last night we all arrived back from the Family Field Trip in Virginia. Everyone had a wonderful time. We visited Monticello (Jefferson’s home), Montpellier (Madison’s home) and Ashland Highlands (Monroe’s home). I had never considered that 3 of our first five Presidents lived within 30 miles of each other. They were often visitors at each other’s homes. (If you want to add in George Washington, four of the first 5 lived within a hundred miles of each other.) They played chess against each other, hired each other to work in their administration, fired each other and had great influence on each other. Jefferson had the most. So much of him is reflected in our country and particularly in Virginia. So much good—gentile, thoughtful, practical, curious and bright; so much questionable—secular, controlling (he had a telescope and would watch the construction of the University of Virginia from his back yard in Monticello and he would send angry notes to the builders if they dared alter his plan) and massively in debt (they tried to hold a state lottery so that Jefferson could keep Monticello, but it failed and the house had to be sold after his death). We also toured the University of Virginia (very interesting), Charlottesville and went to a steeplechase at Montpellier—What Fun! Besides this, however, the greatest blessing was just being around our families and students. Our students were a blessing to be around. If you get a chance in the future, come along on the family field trip. Hats off to Julia Reed! Great trip!
The Off Year Elections
Thursday, November 5th, 2009Interesting goings on and wondrous displays of verbal gymnastics could be seen last night. If you did not hear, the most important races last night were decided in favor of the Republican Party—VA governor, NJ governor (!!) and the Maine Gay Marriage law all fell out in favor of the more conservative candidate or position. Of course, I have an on-again-off-again romance with the Republican Party. Sometimes it is hard to tell the parties apart. I am generally conservative, so I was happy about the elections. My greatest chuckles, however, came watching the spin doctors—especially on the left—downplay the results. Stats were wheeled out concerning VA Governors election in off years and how the Democrats are going to be in trouble if they do not press forward and pass comprehensive government-run healthcare because they will alienate their base. They also assured us that it is not a referendum on Obama. They kept saying this over and over. To paraphrase Shakespeare “Me thinks the spinners protesteth too much!” It is obvious that these elections signaled exactly what the spin doctors denied. Here are my conclusions . . .
Ayn Rand On Both Sides of the Economic Crisis
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Last year, during the economic meltdown, I wrote about Ayn Rand’s prophetic thoughts in books like Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead. She basically defends a free market economic from an atheistic, rationalistic perspective. She warns of a time in which the have-nots will simply take wealth from the haves. In Atlas Shrugged, the story that she tells is about failing industries using the government to take money from successful industries in order to stay afloat. Sound familiar?Rand ’s) are actually the flip side of communism. They still cling to an unfallen view of man. Men aided by a market will be guided toward righteousness and punished for folly, they say. They fail to reckon with the fact that man is so lost that he will (outside of some sort of accountability) find ways to bilk and manipulate others for his own gain. Greenspan and others bought intoRand ’s rosy view of reason and left giant parts of the financial markets without oversight. Grasping the truth that Reagan announced—“that government is not the solution, but the problem”—they embraced it without thought and stopped watching what they should have been. The politicians lined their pockets until the whole house of cards started toppling when people kept leveraging money to buy real estate because real estate was going to increase in value perpetually, right? Of course, when it did not, the collapse began. Now, of course, the politicians are beating the drums to hang the fellows they were patting on the back a couple of years ago which is, in my opinion, even more grotesque than Greenspan’s obvious hubris. (Greenspan at least had the guts to come before Congress and admit that he was wrong.) The scariest thing (I am writing this on Halloween) in this documentary happens at the end when they go through the cast of characters involved in the Greenspan/Rubin Kool-aid drinking party. Who, you ask, were the young bucks that held their coats? Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner! Two of Barack Obama’s main economic advisors!
