Below is an imaginary conversation between two people: one who represents my beliefs about abortion in America today, and one who represents beliefs I held fifteen years ago. At that time I was in the middle of a political transition from right to left, but my anti-abortion convictions kept me from voting for Democrats.
We are facing a crucial election this November. I think a lot of folks are considering voting for a Democrat for the first time. Many of them may be experiencing the same hesitation I did. …
I spent fourteen of my fifteen voting-eligible years as a registered Republican. I have probably voted for less than a dozen Democrats in my life. But the 2016 election cycle has driven me from the party. Like Ronald Reagan, Ben Bernanke, and George Will, I feel I didn’t leave the party — the party left me. I consider myself a moderate; I respect conservatism and its place in the American experiment. And that’s why I want to explain my absolute conviction that no American, especially not conservatives, should vote for Donald Trump.
Not only is Donald Trump unqualified to be…
Note: My views on religion and philosophy have changed since I wrote this essay. Rather than rewrite or remove it, I am going to leave it up in case someone who is dealing with these questions finds it helpful.
If you join me for a church service on July twelfth of this year, you will hear an Old Testament story about the Ark of the Covenant. Liturgical churches like the one my wife and I attend follow the Revised Common Lectionary: a book which specifies scripture passages to be read each Sunday. The reading for July 12, 2015 is II…
In August of 2009 I wrote a blog post about my belief that same-sex marriage would be legalized throughout the U.S. in my lifetime. At the time, the practice was legal in only 5 states. Today it is legal in 37, and I am confident that the Supreme Court will rule this June that all barriers to same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Our children and our children’s children will read about this summer in history class. For folks my age, it is unlikely there will be a more historic Supreme Court case in our lifetimes.
As a hobbyist Supreme Court junkie…
Note: My views on religion and philosophy have changed since I wrote this essay. Rather than rewrite or remove it, I am going to leave it up in case someone who is dealing with these questions finds it helpful.
This is very interesting. It’s a very soft surface, but here and there where I plug with the contingency sample collector, I run into a very hard surface, but it appears to be very cohesive material of the same sort. I’ll try to get a rock in here. Just a couple.
That looks beautiful from here, Neil.
It has a stark…
I had just finished playing the postlude for my church’s morning service when Katie approached me and stared at the piano. I am not sure how old Katie is. She is somewhere between talking and the first grade. I hope that helps.
Trying to be as helpful as possible, I sat her up on the bench and told her the piano was ready. I played a few notes to demonstrate.
She did not play.
I played some more. I told her she could play. I took her hands and placed them on the keys. I tried to be as kind…
The local blogosphere I read has recently included some insightful and beautiful essays on the triumph and tragedy of a simple act that is too often overlooked: the haircut.
Interestingly, these essays were written by women. Women seem to connect with the re-birthing experience that is a new haircut more than men. Why this is so is a mystery. Certainly women connect with beauty in different ways than men, and this could be the answer. But I am here to offer another viewpoint.
Men don’t connect with haircuts because they get their hair cut at stupid places.
I have long…