It is always interesting to compare the human and divine perspective. We have always pictured hell’s gates as open wide to receive the hosts of sinners and unbelievers captured by demon spirits scattered throughout the earth. But in scripture, it is heaven’s gates that are open wide and never shut, needing no defense. All who … More A shift of perspective-Gates again
The racism at the heart of the Judeo-Christian worldview is easily recognizable to those unobstructed by the sacred veil that hides its face from its proponents. Indeed, all religion tends to promote a decided ethnocentrism, even if it seeks and struggles in doctrine and practice to transcend it (as admittedly does Christianity with grand pronouncements … More Right and Rule
I’ve lifted from my draft folder the following unfinished post, written during the pivotal days before the January 6th insurrection when Trump was still challenging the election results through the Courts: I recommend every American believer, of whatever stripe and persuasion to daily tune in to Pat Robertson’s 700 club and Dutch Sheet’s Give Him … More A brief look at the recent past
‘What do you see in the future?’ was the question being posed to the three young men in the bar. I’ve often found the corner rum shop to be as amenable to deep spiritual and philosophical reflection as a Sunday morning sermon at church, though truthfully I admit that both places at times can be … More Looking into the future
Had I chosen for my subject: Christian culture, most persons would expect very different content, notwithstanding that the root of ‘culture’ and ‘cultivate’ is the same. ‘Cult’ and ‘cultic’ have taken on altogether different connotations the way we use language today. Both are diminutive and derogatory in their every day application and utterly divorced from … More The cult of Christ
There is nothing particularly destabilizing about having enemies, or even having them close. In fact, some prefer to keep their enemies closer than their friends in order to be able to constantly monitor what they might be up to. The great danger is not being able to identify them; and even worse, to mistake enemies … More The Power of Profanity, The Tyranny of Decorum
I had already begun the habit of making copious notes in a daily diary of all the interesting events I encountered each day … and each night, I might add, for I also included the details of dreams. I might have started that habit in my teens, but it became a vital aspect of my … More Vox Dei (2)
Equality is an ideal, and as most ideals are, for all practical purposes, unattainable. The point of having an ideal is having a standard worth aspiring for, like the carrot on a stick, it gets the donkey moving in the right direction. As Jesus said, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is … More Loving lesser people: The proper art of condescension
16 years ago I started this blog with a political post: Happy Birthday Norman. For the last decade and a half I have continued to post articles mostly political or religious in nature, often both, with the inner conviction that has been my mantra since my early twenties – Every responsible adult in a culture … More Cycles and Circles
We had a recent public conversation: Message in the Music, which for me was like torture. When there are, as Bob Marley said, …‘so much things to say’… a little sounding off here and there on this and that can be so much more agitating than the relative bliss of perfect silence. Music, (and too … More Mind Music and Matter
