I don’t know how many of you lived in the mid- to late 1960s, during the summers of rioting in large (and sometimes small) cities in America, but this week I have had the same feeling I had then, at age 10-12. It seemed as if our very civilization was threatened, even if it wasn’t. […]
Archives
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Our Only Hope in Life and Death
10 Jul 2016
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America weeps. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Five Dallas police officers. The first two men were killed by law enforcement officers, the last five killed trying to secure a protest based on the first two deaths. America searches for solutions. Struggling with words to grapple with such a time as this, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said, “We […]
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240 years ago, more or less on July 4 (the actual date of the signing of the Declaration is debated), the members of the Continental Congress signed a document that severed the bonds of the American colonies from their British rulers. For many Americans, this day is still cause for celebration for that reason, as […]
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Critical Thinking About Critical Thinking
22 Jun 2016
“Are Students Really Learning to Be Critical Thinkers?” is the title of an article in BetterEd by Annie Holmquist (http://www.better-ed.org/blog/are-students-really-learning-be-critical-thinkers). This question has been on my mind for some time as I have listened to and read educational leaders, teachers, professors and literature extol the virtues of “critical thinking.” But what have they almost always […]
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The Log in Their Eyes
02 Jun 2016
Charlotte Allen had a very thought-provoking article in the latest First Things, entitled “Punching Down” (see it here http://www.firstthings.com/article/2016/06/punching-down). The article begins with the saga of the all but forgotten Kim Davis, the hapless county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky who refused to sign homosexual marriage licenses and also forbad her assistant from doing so. […]
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Happy 100th Birthday Bernard Lewis
31 May 2016
Today is Bernard Lewis’ 100th birthday, quite a milestone for anyone. Lewis is a long-time (and I mean that literally) of Middle Eastern Islam and history and has gained a new hearing since 9/11 with his prescient work. He is currently Emeritus Professor at Princeton. His works are legion but many easily accessible to the […]
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Well, has it come to this or am I reading something from The Onion? I did verify its truth. If you look here (http://theweek.com/speedreads/626361/oberlin-students-want-abolish-midterms-grades-below-c, it seems that at least 1,300 students at Oberlin College are demanding that no grade below a C be given and that mid-term examination be eliminated. Why? So the students will […]
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Some News of the Day/Week
19 May 2016
The following is just a little briefing that focuses our attention on some important recent issues (or at least what I think is interesting): Full disclosure: I am not a prolific user of social media, and I sometimes look down (secretly) on those who are—maybe I am really just jealous and I certainly am technologically […]
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The Conservative Soul for a Supreme Court Seat?
19 May 2016
“Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world . . . But for Wales!” Thomas More, Act 2, A Man for All Seasons Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency, yesterday released a list of Supreme Court prospects that might fill Antonin Scalia’s vacated seat. The […]
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Three Cheers for the Liberal Arts
13 May 2016
What do we mean by the term “liberal arts”? By a “liberal arts college” or a “commitment to the liberal arts”? The definition is important, but even more important is why we should care that a college has a commitment (at the least) to the liberal arts? Moreover, what is the difference between simply liberal […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach