The Demise of the Melting Pot

During the 1800s and up until around 1920, immigrants to this country were assimilated into American culture and society.  Although there were immigrants from a myriad of countries, the vast majority of them came from Europe.  Within a few generations they were all Americans, forged in the crucible of democracy, freedom, and civic responsibility.  Eighteen [...]

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The Lure of the Inner Ring

In 1961 when Gus Grissom’s spacecraft sunk, he reportedly said, “the hatch just blew.” Today, forty-seven years later, we hear similar excuses from people who desire to avoid taking responsibility for themselves. We hear, “mistakes were made,” or “the system failed us.”

In 1944, C.S. Lewis told a class of university [...]

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America’s Dance

This fall, as we head toward the national election, we Americans will argue two main issues – the war in Iraq and the economy.  Looming even larger than the war is the threat of economic recession and what effect it will have on our pocketbooks and our psyche.  The debate will center on what role [...]

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John McCain’s War Revisited

After posting John McCain’s War earlier this week, I have been asked by several people to take a couple of his foreign policy ideas and expound on them based on what he said in his Foreign Affairs article.  So here we go.  Please comment what you read here.  Debate and discussion is good.

1)     Privatize sanction [...]

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John McCain’s War

In the November/December 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Senator John McCain outlined his vision for America’s future in the war against terrorism. In the article he argued how he, as the next President, would push US foreign policy and what programs he would institute. The following is a list from that article.

1) Tougher political [...]

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What Price Freedom?

“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security.”    Benjamin Franklin
 
In a recent poll Americans were asked if they would give up a little freedom for additional security.  To my amazement, 50% answered, “Yes.”  So it seems a whole lot of people pin their hopes of security on [...]

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A Seeker of Truth

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  (John; Ch.8, v.32)
I want to be a seeker of truth.  What is this truth, however, that I seek?  The story of Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden reveals that their “sin” was seeking knowledge; they wanted to be like God.  [...]

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Altruism As Mental Illness

Scientists and anthropologists have shown that certain animals, even amebas, show altruistic behavior at times.  Could this be the reason that concepts of altruism developed in the human race?  Society and religious orders have long touted the benefits of altruism for the betterment of our culture. 
But is it really? Altruism is the sacrificing of ones own [...]

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Talent Debunked!

Margaret Young, a popular singer in the 1920s once said,
 
“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards, they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who [...]

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The Scourge of Satan

There is a movement underfoot in America.  It began decades ago and has been inching its way into our national psyche and it is compromising and destroying our pioneer spirit.  We see the tenets of this movement most pointedly in this election cycle, touted by the candidates running for President and our leaders in Congress.  [...]

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