Category Archives: Culture

Adoption

Posted on October 4, 2013 by

Adoption is a legal process that creates a parent-child relationship between individuals who are not biologically related. The adopted child is entitled to all the rights and privileges that would belong to a natural child of the adoptive parents. Paul … Continue reading →

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Sometimes Peace is Impossible

Posted on September 27, 2013 by

I went to my pharmacy a couple of days ago to pick up a prescription for my daughter. One person was ahead of me, an older woman—almost the stereotypical grandmother: white hair, glasses, slightly hunched. But she wasn’t acting like … Continue reading →

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Responsibility

Posted on August 24, 2013 by

I awoke to read this headline on MSNBC.com: “Australian politician blames ‘gun culture’ in US for baseball player’s death”. Every time someone is shot and killed and it becomes big news, someone, somewhere will say something stupid like that. But … Continue reading →

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Truth to Power

Posted on August 10, 2013 by

“Speaking truth to power” is a phrase that gets overused. Mostly it comes from the lips of those who want to speak some popular, ill-conceived cliche to the politicians in a western, liberal democracy in order to get some attention … Continue reading →

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The Name of God

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

God’s name is singular: he only has one: Yahweh. All the other words are designations or descriptions, like referring to myself as “theologian” or “author” or “annoying.” But neither of those is my name. Some people have nick names. And … Continue reading →

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How Science Fiction Becomes Mundane

Posted on March 22, 2013 by

In the mid-1980s a bank had a series of commercials set in a foreign country. A small boy ran about shouting “ATM, ATM” in such a way that at first one imagined he was shouting someone’s name as he looked … Continue reading →

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The Bible: Thoughts on the History Channel Miniseries

Posted on March 4, 2013 by

My wife and I managed to watch only the first 20 minutes of the series The Bible, on the History Channel. We found the acting poor and overdone; the cultural and historical setting and background were lacking, and the behavior … Continue reading →

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An Excerpt

Posted on March 2, 2013 by

An excerpt from my novel, John of the Apocalypse, available as an e-book for the Kindle: * * * “So what was that last thing you heard Jesus say?” demanded Albertus. “I wish you’d stick with Greek, you know; or … Continue reading →

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Scolds

Posted on February 23, 2013 by

H. L. Mencken once characterized Puritans as people possessed by the “haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be happy.” Puritans come in all sorts of political and religious flavors. They are not just people who dress in black and thunder … Continue reading →

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Culture and the Bible

Posted on February 2, 2013 by

God is interested in communicating to his people and he chose to do so through literature. And he chose to do it through a specific culture. Sometimes, that culture is very, very alien and hard to comprehend. Consider this peculiar … Continue reading →

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