"In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell."
-H. L. Mencken
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
Think About It
"CHRISTIAN, n.: One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
"I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
The godly multitudes walked to and fro
Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
With pious mien, appropriately sad,
While all the church bells made a solemn din --
A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
With tranquil face, upon that holy show
A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
'God keep you, strange,' I exclaimed. 'You are
No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
And yet I entertain the hope that you,
Like these good people, are a Christian too.'
He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
It made me with a thousand blushes burn
Replied -- his manner with disdain was spiced:
'What! I a Christian? No, indeed! I'm Christ.'"
-Ambrose Bierce
The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
"I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
The godly multitudes walked to and fro
Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
With pious mien, appropriately sad,
While all the church bells made a solemn din --
A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
With tranquil face, upon that holy show
A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
'God keep you, strange,' I exclaimed. 'You are
No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
And yet I entertain the hope that you,
Like these good people, are a Christian too.'
He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
It made me with a thousand blushes burn
Replied -- his manner with disdain was spiced:
'What! I a Christian? No, indeed! I'm Christ.'"
-Ambrose Bierce
The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Books I Read in 2005:
Inherit the Wind
by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Based on the infamous Scopes Trials in a 1925 Dayton, Tennessee courtroom, this play offers an only slightly varied version of the happenings that summer. Considering the current battle over the issue, and the apparently blinded Christian attitude toward it, this would be a fine read lasting you barely two days time.
My favorite thing:
Hornbeck’s wit. Compare it to that of the great writer/journalist/philosopher, H.L. Mencken, the man on whom the character is based.
Searching for God Knows What
by Donald Miller
Donald Miller should be considered the most prolific Christian writer of our present day. His grasp on logic and reality is reassuring in that those who would identify will no longer have to feel alone in the world. He approaches the Christian life truthfully in the relational manner in which it was intended to be lived instead of the rule-oriented, broken down, throwback to the Old Testament idea of formulas and bullet-points. A must read for everyone who has grown accustomed to breathing.
My favorite thing:
Most of the pages of text found between the front cover and the one in the back.
The Auto-Biography of an Ex-Coloured Man
by James Weldon Johnson
Follow the life of a nameless boy, a child born to a white man from a black mother, into manhood. His countenance is so fair that he could pass as a caucasian, but doesn’t quite understand the power of such a thought until he lives a most extraordinary life worthy of any world class man of affluence, yet still finds that he will be limited by something as merely biological as pigment.
My Favorite Thing:
Notice the underlying theme music plays in his growth and how it affects, with great consequence, the outcomes of his life.
Prisoners Without Trial
by Roger Daniels
A very dry read about the injustice paid to the hard-working Japanese-American citizens leading up to and after the Pearl Harbor incident. Called “relocation,” the wrongful incarceration of over 120,000 citizens based on ethnicity alone fits in well with the history we have with African-Americans and Native Americans. While it will not be very entertaining, as if it should be, the material is “must know” information on the history of our country and the precedence on which the future may seek counsel.
My Favorite Thing:
I was quite intrigued at the parallels revealed between what happened then and what could happen in the future in light of the watershed moment that occurred on September 11th, 2001 in New York City.
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
A world without books would be a true hell. Bradbury speculates with great imagination a world in which books are illegal and firemen are meant only to burn to the houses of those who own them. Intellect and wisdom have been forsaken in order to embrace mega-bytes and motherboards leaving professors and sages to exile themselves as homeless, train-track vagabonds reminiscing about the days when String theory and the enigma of time were worthy subjects.
My Favorite Thing:
The closing scene in which the hobos were actually banished thinkers who had apparently descended to the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder. (Not that I like the idea, but the thought that that could be the result of such a society is alarming.)
Night
by Elie Wiesel
Wiesel, Nobel laureate, recounts his grueling discovery of the true meaning of life and purpose through his survival of the horridly rancid stain on our Earth that was and is the Holocaust. The details given were most likely nowhere close to the reality of the atrocity though what has been recorded is enough to turn your stomach and earnestly implore the mercy of our gracious God. This should be required reading for all humanity in order to educate the world in the hideousness of hate, exclusivism, racism and narcissism. So that these people will not have been murdered in total vanity, please read this account of the Jewish fate in World War II.
I shall not disgrace this book by providing you a sentence in which the word “favorite” is employed.
The World According to Mr. Rogers: Important Things to Remember
by Fred Rogers
This is a simple collection of quotes by the man we all envied for having a trolley and a traffic light in his living room. It’s nice, and a few things are actually quite thought provoking.
My Favorite Thing:
The author.
by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Based on the infamous Scopes Trials in a 1925 Dayton, Tennessee courtroom, this play offers an only slightly varied version of the happenings that summer. Considering the current battle over the issue, and the apparently blinded Christian attitude toward it, this would be a fine read lasting you barely two days time.
My favorite thing:
Hornbeck’s wit. Compare it to that of the great writer/journalist/philosopher, H.L. Mencken, the man on whom the character is based.
Searching for God Knows What
by Donald Miller
Donald Miller should be considered the most prolific Christian writer of our present day. His grasp on logic and reality is reassuring in that those who would identify will no longer have to feel alone in the world. He approaches the Christian life truthfully in the relational manner in which it was intended to be lived instead of the rule-oriented, broken down, throwback to the Old Testament idea of formulas and bullet-points. A must read for everyone who has grown accustomed to breathing.
My favorite thing:
Most of the pages of text found between the front cover and the one in the back.
The Auto-Biography of an Ex-Coloured Man
by James Weldon Johnson
Follow the life of a nameless boy, a child born to a white man from a black mother, into manhood. His countenance is so fair that he could pass as a caucasian, but doesn’t quite understand the power of such a thought until he lives a most extraordinary life worthy of any world class man of affluence, yet still finds that he will be limited by something as merely biological as pigment.
My Favorite Thing:
Notice the underlying theme music plays in his growth and how it affects, with great consequence, the outcomes of his life.
Prisoners Without Trial
by Roger Daniels
A very dry read about the injustice paid to the hard-working Japanese-American citizens leading up to and after the Pearl Harbor incident. Called “relocation,” the wrongful incarceration of over 120,000 citizens based on ethnicity alone fits in well with the history we have with African-Americans and Native Americans. While it will not be very entertaining, as if it should be, the material is “must know” information on the history of our country and the precedence on which the future may seek counsel.
My Favorite Thing:
I was quite intrigued at the parallels revealed between what happened then and what could happen in the future in light of the watershed moment that occurred on September 11th, 2001 in New York City.
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
A world without books would be a true hell. Bradbury speculates with great imagination a world in which books are illegal and firemen are meant only to burn to the houses of those who own them. Intellect and wisdom have been forsaken in order to embrace mega-bytes and motherboards leaving professors and sages to exile themselves as homeless, train-track vagabonds reminiscing about the days when String theory and the enigma of time were worthy subjects.
My Favorite Thing:
The closing scene in which the hobos were actually banished thinkers who had apparently descended to the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder. (Not that I like the idea, but the thought that that could be the result of such a society is alarming.)
Night
by Elie Wiesel
Wiesel, Nobel laureate, recounts his grueling discovery of the true meaning of life and purpose through his survival of the horridly rancid stain on our Earth that was and is the Holocaust. The details given were most likely nowhere close to the reality of the atrocity though what has been recorded is enough to turn your stomach and earnestly implore the mercy of our gracious God. This should be required reading for all humanity in order to educate the world in the hideousness of hate, exclusivism, racism and narcissism. So that these people will not have been murdered in total vanity, please read this account of the Jewish fate in World War II.
I shall not disgrace this book by providing you a sentence in which the word “favorite” is employed.
The World According to Mr. Rogers: Important Things to Remember
by Fred Rogers
This is a simple collection of quotes by the man we all envied for having a trolley and a traffic light in his living room. It’s nice, and a few things are actually quite thought provoking.
My Favorite Thing:
The author.
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