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Ties That Bind: The Meaning of Peace

TIES THAT BIND: THE MEANING OF PEACE

This post is a word study on the New Testament word for “peace.”  Given the polarized state of the nation in 2024, it is imperative that we all give the next President of the U.S. a chance, regardless of our personal opinions. In this sense the party out of power becomes part of what is known as the “loyal opposition.” The country needs a healing and this will not happen overnight. This post examines those ties that bind and the meaning...

Lord of the Flies

LORD OF THE FLIES

One of my favorite books growing up was William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Possibly, some of you are not familiar with this work. Lord of the Flies was Golding’s first novel, and he would go on to eventually win a Nobel Prize for literature (in 1983.) I’d like to use Golding’s work and this post to illustrate how post-modern societies devolve into tribalism when sufficiently stressed, using the U.S. as a case study. In the instance of the U.S.,...

The MAGA evangelican and the dog-eating Haitian

THE MAGA EVANGELICAL AND THE DOG-EATING HAITIAN

Those of you who have read the New Testament even casually have likely heard the parable Jesus mentioned between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Pharisees (and the Sadducees) were the two main religious groups in Judea back then. Of the two, the Pharisees were the more conservative, taking the Law of Moses literally and representing the more rural parts of Israel. These are the ones who gave Jesus grief. The Sadducees were more liberal, because they tended to...

Hungry like the wolf

IS THIS WHAT WE ARE BECOMING?

Global warming with rising, tempest-tossed oceans and perilous heatwaves continuously make the news.  Deadly viral variants drift across the country like smoke as cautious people uneasily try to resume their lives while others argue about the efficacy of masks, vaccines, and medical advice.  Stewards and stewardesses are assaulted with increased frequency while trying to keep their passengers safe.  Paranoia and xenophobia grow daily.  Fear-crazed random acts of violence in department stores and on street corners occur daily in a nation where “civil blood makes...

George Orwell 1984

WHO CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE

Today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sent a letter representing the demands of 37 Senate Republicans that the administration pull their support from the 1619 Project, a controversial program promoted in 2019 that, in the words of the Daily Mail “takes slavery and puts it in the center of the American narrative” four centuries later. This is an example of what is sometimes termed a paradigm shift, or a change in fundamental assumptions.  Such as from the Genesis account of our beginnings to evolution....

Family emerges from a darkened room as pandemic ends

AFTER THE PANDEMIC ENDS (PART II)

For the past month or so, we’ve finally been able to see light at the end of the tunnel as far as the pandemic goes, thanks to the vaccines and the end of winter with more and more people spending time outdoors. India and Brazil are having difficult times at the moment and so we’re not out of the woods yet.  The SARS-CoV-2 virus may continue to be endemic to certain areas after the pandemic ends, but hopefully it will be...

Dog with guilty conscience

JAMES MADISON ON CONSCIENCE

“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.” – James Madison Introduction Our democracy and our republican form of government is based on the U.S. Constitution.  But there are differences of opinion today in how the Constitution should be interpreted and applied in our society, and what the proper...

Family emerges from quarantine

AFTER THE PANDEMIC ENDS (PART I)

At some point in the future, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will end. Even now there are signs of hope as the food lines and testing lines are rivaled by people waiting patiently in a line for a vaccine.  The flu pandemic of 1918 lasted for two years and two months, and currently we are entering the second year of the current pandemic.  The longer this pandemic continues, the more our society will change, the greater the change and more permanent the change we’ll...

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