Independence Day Remains Worth Celebrating
By Robert Arrington
Independence Day, the 4th of July, falls on Sunday this year. The following day is the official holiday for that reason. Most Americans will do their best to celebrate the holiday, with perhaps more verve than last year, because the COVID pandemic is at last subsiding.
That’s as it should be. While the bold Declaration would not be brought to fruition on the battlefields of the Revolution for another five years, and not recognized by Treaty for another two years after that, the Declaration was one of history’s turning points, and set the infant nation on a course of republican representative government, in which the sovereign would be elected and there would be no hereditary aristocracy.
This 4th of July Remember that the American Revolution was More Restoration than Revolution
By David Churchill Barrow
Were the shopkeepers and farmers who took up arms at Lexington and Concord to fire “the shot heard ’round the world” out to turn their society upside down, they way the French peasantry would attempt a decade or so later? No, in fact the opposite. They were endeavoring to keep what they already had. They fired upon troops sent by a king and his minions who had forgotten that despite being “colonials” they were Englishmen first and foremost, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging. (As an aside, this is why Paul Revere never rode through towns yelling “The British are coming! The British are coming!” His hearers all considered themselves British.)
Not My Home
This Independence Day, let’s remember where our real citizenship is.
By Chris Queen
There’s and old gospel tune called “This World is Not My Home.” The song reminds us as believers that we’re not citizens of this world. In the 80s Lone Justice did a stellar version. Today we’re celebrating the birth of our nation, and Independence Day can be complicated when it falls on a Sunday. As a church staffer who has a hand in service programming, I can see the temptation to go overboard with patriotism. It’s something we’ve done before, as a matter of fact.
How to Honor the Fallen on Memorial Day
Keep the Clarity of Mind of William Tecumseh Sherman
By David Churchill Barrow
Take a look even today at a map of the Southeastern United States – like Rome of old, all roads lead to Atlanta. So it was when the city fell to Union troops on September 2, 1864, to be followed by Sherman’s famous (or infamous, if you are a “Lost Cause” romantic) march to the sea. In the larger scheme of things; i.e. political, economic and psychological, the fall of Atlanta had far more significance than either the battle of Gettysburg or the fall of Vicksburg; the two events most hailed as turning points. Before its fall, Lincoln was about to be beaten in the presidential election by George McClellan, who was running on a platform of accommodation with the Confederacy. Before its fall and the march to the sea, most of the South’s railroads and manufacturing (such as they were) were still in operation. Before its fall, desertion in the Confederate armies was at least somewhat manageable. All of that changed, and the end of the war was in sight.
Thoughts and Well-wishes on Passover and Easter
By Robert Arrington
When you write a column scheduled to appear at regular intervals, you face the inevitable challenge of the news cycle rendering the column obsolete, or the due date not corresponding with any scheduled event on which you can build the column.
Fortunately for me, the column you are reading now appears one day before the beginning of Passover, two days prior to Palm Sunday, and a little over a week from the end of Passover and Easter Sunday. That creates the opportunity for some philosophical musings on the significance of the two holidays, which more or less, but not precisely, coincide for reasons grounded in history.
I’ve written before about the relationship of the two holidays, and why their coincidence is not precise. Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox on March 20th or 21st. That’s why it can vary from late March to mid-April. Passover falls in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, which is likewise lunar in its origin, but calculated a bit differently.
Even in the Time of Pestilence, We’ve Much to be Thankful For
By Robert Arrington
Okay, the election is over. Some of us are happy. Some of us are unhappy. Many of us think it was a mixed bag, as is the case frequently.
The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, and the pandemic is very much with us. The COVID numbers do not look good; and even though we see a vaccine (actually more than one) on the way, doses are not going to arrive in any numbers until sometime next year.
Halloween Fiction: Have You Heard of Harrison Bergeron?
By Tamara Wilhite
Jensen walked into the speed dating event and flashed his cell phone to check in. The location based tracking system engaged. He knew this because the phone buzzed with that warning per his privacy settings. The matchmaking site said they needed this information to determine his true preferences based on distance and exposure to key people. He allowed it. He had to, if he wanted to be allowed to stay.
Independence Day Remains Worth Celebrating
By Robert Arrington
Tomorrow is Independence Day, the 4th of July. Most Americans will do their best to celebrate the holiday, despite the limitations of the present pandemic.
That’s as it should be. While the bold Declaration would not be brought to fruition on the battlefields of the Revolution for another five years, and not recognized by Treaty for another two years after that, the Declaration was one of history’s turning points, and set the infant nation on a course of republican representative government, in which the sovereign would be elected and there would be no hereditary aristocracy.
Why A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life are the Same Story
By Shant Eghian
Every December, I make it a point to watch Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Clive Donner’s version of A Christmas Carol. In my opinion, they are the two greatest Christmas movies ever made. But after watching them this past year, I realized something; both movies are telling the exact same story, inverted from each other.
My 2019 Christmas Book-Lover’s List
By Tamara Wilhite
A good book is almost always a great gift idea. It may inspire or educate, but it will never expire. It provides hours of entertainment or enrichment, and it can be the door to another world or another path in life. That’s why I’ve compiled my 2019 Christmas book lover’s list. I’ve tried to include literally something for everyone – well, age group.
