Well, I saw Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” on opening night, and one thing that should be said is that it was not oversold. It was at once probably the most compelling and repelling movie experience of my life. Entertaining it probably isn’t, in the sense that term is ordinarily used. I could […]
Archives for 2004
The Battle Over Marriage
I hate to say “I told you so”, but I did. The battle over gay/lesbian “rights” has spilled into the public arena and the Presidential election because the American people will not allow four Massachusetts judges to throw out several thousand years of natural law, and they shouldn’t. This is not about equal rights nearly […]
A Modest Step Toward Educator Preparation Reform
Last November, the Texas State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), on which I was appointed to serve by Governor Rick Perry, narrowly approved a very controversial rule authorizing probationary certification to aspiring teachers who want to be licensed to teach using an alternative to the traditional certification route, typically through the colleges of education. Recently, […]
Freud And Lewis
For a fascinating read on two of the 20th century’s dominant intellectuals, I recommend The Question of God, by Dr. Armand Nicholi. The theme is a theoretical debate between two giants, Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis, who never actually met, but whose lives surprisingly paralleled and whose thought, in the end, anchored opposite poles […]
Thoughts On Immigration Policy
There will be much more to say later as it plays out in Congressional deliberation and the election campaigns, but for now President Bush deserves credit for putting into play the thorny problem of illegal immigration. There is much not to like about his proposal, but what better time to debate it than during an […]
The Coming Islamic Reformation
I have previously commented on the fact that the war on terror will be a major transforming event for the Arab Middle East, and I was reminded of the degree to which this is well underway by the report of a recent interfaith conference in which the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl conferred with […]
2004 Election Kickoff
With President Bush’s State of the Union speech and the Iowa and New Hampshire Democratic primaries behind us, the election year is underway, and the choice could not be starker. The Democrats are obviously eliminating all moderates and anyone who espouses support for the campaign in Iraq, and Bush, for his part, is openly defiant. […]
The Continuing Attack On The First Amendment
“Congress shall make no law…….abridging the freedom of speech.” What part of this passage is so difficult to understand? In a continuing dismantling of the founding principles underlying the First Amendment, the U. S. Supreme Court confirmed a direct hit on free speech in upholding the Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Much as the Court […]
The Civic Education Debate
“Properly speaking, there is no such thing as education. Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to the next.”—G. K. ChestertonI am reminded of the above quote, which is among those taped to my desk, by numerous articles and commentary highlighting the debate over civic education in America’s […]
If This Is Governance, I Prefer Gridlock
As much as he deserves credit for his bold foreign policy, the President deserves criticism for a total lack of restraint in domestic spending, and, as much as they wish, administration apologists cannot lay it off on wartime spending as the culprit. As the Heritage Foundation reports, since 9-11-01, 55% of the total federal spending […]