"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry
As a child, I never really liked “Alice in Wonderland.” Psychopathic playing cards, disappearing cats, time-challenged bunnies and mad hatters—it was all too much for me, and far too abstract. I was more of a Curious George person. A monkey in a room with a can of paint—this was something I could comprehend and relate to.
Lately, though, I have found myself revisiting Alice’s Wonderland to gain some perspective on the current state of US politics. Most of the time I feel as though I, like Alice, have fallen down a rabbit hole and am now in some alternate reality where up is down, black is white and Republicans are for the working class while Democrats are for the effete, rich, snobbish elite.
See? It makes no sense. Oh, there goes the rabbit!
For a book I was researching once, I studied the confidence games used by hucksters throughout the centuries to separate the rubes from their money. Now, I stand at the edge of a crowd gathered around the grifter as he moves the shells b...
History Lessons for the Next Term
Johann Christoph Arnold
The long awaited presidential election is over. The American people have spoken and given our president another four years to govern the country. Unlike the last election, he won the popular vote and now has a clear mandate. And although we have just been through the most polarizing campaign in recent memory, Democrats and Republicans agree on one thing—that our nation now needs to be united.
In a recent CNN poll a majority of Americans were hopeful that President Bush would do more to unite our country than to divide it. To do this, he must lead the country in truly seeking God’s will, not his human will. This will require bipartisan action, openness, and even more importantly, humility, prayer, and sacrifice. Although he won the election, there are still millions who disagree strongly with him on many points. Their views must be listened to with respect. Blindly forging ahead with policies that barely half the nation ...
In the 1980 election cycle, Ronald Reagan asked the now famous question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” If you weren’t, the implication was that you should vote for him.
I’d like to pose that question to voters today. Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
A large number of conservatives vote Republican for one reason only: Abortion. Since President Bush has had a Republican congress, has significant progress been made in this arena? Not really.
There have been, based on averages and estimates from the Center for Disease Control, 5.5 million abortions in the United States since Bush took office. To which my conservative readers will object, “that’s because we need a few more Supreme Court justices appointed by a Republican president!”
But, here’s an interesting tidbit for you to chew on: Did you know that of the 7 Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of Roe v. Wade, 5 of them were appointed by Republican presidents? Of the 2 di...
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