I just finished a great book that I have been wanting to read every since I heard a podcast about it a few weeks ago. The title is Love Your Enemies, and it is by Arthur Brooks. The gist of the book is very simple: we live in a culture of contempt that is destructive…… Continue reading Choosing Love over Contempt
Category: Ethics
Fareed Zakaria and a Post-Pandemic World
Have you been thinking about what it’s going to be like to come out of the pandemic? I have, but I admit that I have been thinking about it really on a very microscale: I’ve been thinking about what it means for me personally, and my ability to travel and get together with friends and…… Continue reading Fareed Zakaria and a Post-Pandemic World
The Criminal Fallibility of the Death Penalty
Where do you stand on the death penalty? Many people have very strong opinions about it, and it can be a controversial topic of conversation. I am a long-time opponent of the death penalty, for theological reasons; and, while many people do still support the death penalty, in the United States, opposition is growing. I’m…… Continue reading The Criminal Fallibility of the Death Penalty
Mitch McConnell and the Importance of Timing
Today, Mitch McConnell learned the importance of timing. As shocking, horrific images of insurrection in the Capitol building fill the news, my thoughts keep turning to Mitch McConnell, and I wonder if he regrets his actions in the weeks following the election–actions, which, I believe, have contributed to the rioting that took place in Washington…… Continue reading Mitch McConnell and the Importance of Timing
Being Good in 2021
What is your reaction when someone tells you to “be good”? If you are like me, you sort of recoil a little bit and have a visceral negative response. Often, an external exhortation to goodness comes across as a demand for obedience, or adherence to someone else’s standards of morality, or a veiled accusation that…… Continue reading Being Good in 2021
The Cost of Demonization
Perhaps you are familiar with one of Shakespeare’s more famous sonnets, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” In that sonnet, he repeatedly violates our expectations of love poetry by rejecting traditional–and exaggerated–claims of loveliness in describing his beloved: “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; if hairs be wires, black…… Continue reading The Cost of Demonization
“Stranger Fruit”
If you get National Geographic, you saw this compelling article, which came out in the October 2020 issue. It highlighted a new art installation called “Stranger Fruit,” in which “black mothers pose with the sons they fear losing to violence.” Here are the opening sentences of the article: “There is a demand put upon you…… Continue reading “Stranger Fruit”
Thoughts on “White Fragility”
This post is about a great book I know you have heard about: White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, by Robin Diangelo. It was great–really eye-opening and also uncomfortable in all the right ways. I hope after you read this blog, you read the book. Let me start…… Continue reading Thoughts on “White Fragility”
Sowing for the Future
Last week, John and I returned from a much-needed vacation in the Finger Lakes. It was an area we hadn’t visited before, and we had a great time–I highly recommend it, even if you’re not a huge wine drinker, which we are not. There are lots of interesting things to see in the region, including…… Continue reading Sowing for the Future
Take Your Guns and Go Home
Saturday afternoon, I got a call from a friend. He knew that I had been planning to go with some students from Gettysburg College over to the Rec Park to watch the fireworks, and he was concerned. Did I know that there were dozens of armed, uniformed men walking around town? I confessed I did…… Continue reading Take Your Guns and Go Home
Happy Lutheran 