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| Uncle Sam's QuizMSNBC claims that it has “picked some of the tougher questions that'll be used by immigration officers” on the “new version of the U.S. citizenship test” slated for implementation this fall. Maybe so, but the selected questions are still not very difficult: I scored 100% (yes, on the first attempt; no, without looking things up). Of course, since I was overseas for most of my upbringing, I didn’t get the “benefit” of going through the US public school system. 
If you’re interested in taking the quiz yourself, click here.
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| Of Worship and IdolsThis
month’s issue of Tabletalk contains a
compelling article by Rev. Terry Johnson which addresses head-on some of the
controversies surrounding “worship” practices in many modern
churches. I am including a snippet of it
below; for those of you who are interested, the entire article can be found here. It’s short and
well-worth the read—in the first part, he demonstrates why our theology of the Lord’s
Supper should inform our celebration of it far more than our personal
preferences, and in the second he soberly warns against thoughtless acceptance
of novel worship practices...no matter how trendy.
Enjoy!
“By definition worship must be about God, not
my amusement. Here is where disagreement exists: stages, theater-lighting,
bands, dancers, dramatists, hand-held microphones, all up front, the service
performed on behalf of an audience relaxing in theater-style seating. Is this adiaphora? Normally, issues of seating, lighting,
placement of musicians, style of platform might have qualified as things
indifferent, just as the elevation and adoration of the host might have been
considered adiaphora. But a line has been crossed in our generation. Much of what passes
for worship today is nothing more than lightly baptized entertainment....” | | |
| From Joseph Epstein’s Weekly
Standard article
about America’s
“Kindergarchy”—or the new order created by the preferred parenting style of modern folks: So often in my
literature classes students told me what they "felt" about a novel,
or a particular character in a novel. I tried, ever so gently, to tell them
that no one cared what they felt.... Despite
what their parents had been telling them from the very outset of their lives,
they were not significant. Significance has to be earned, and it is earned only
through achievement. The article itself is quite long and makes too many good points
for me to try to summarize them. You can read it here. Thoughts? ***
On a completely different note, my friend Caleb has an
excellent post
about Sex and the City and real
American sexual mores. With that, I’ll quit posting links. | | |
| The NYT vilifies veterans and liberal bumper stickers screech
about Iraq,
the “endless” war. Former presidential candidate John Kerry insults the intelligence of the average US soldier. Meanwhile, the honorable
men and women of the US
military quietly go about their business in Iraq
and Afghanistan. This week, the Weekly Standard has an
excellent piece about acts of bravery not likely to be covered by the
broadcast media. It’s a valuable alternate perspective on the war, a refreshing bit of competition to the conventional media narrative (the one depicting
soldiers as pathological, unhinged, and monstrous). I’d love to see all the military-loathing American media
types fly over to Iran or Russia
and set up shop. I don't think it would take more than a week for them to develop a strong and lasting appreciation for the invaluable role the US military plays
in the protection and preservation of our liberal democratic freedoms. | | |
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Hurrah! A favorable review for the second Narnia film.  | | |
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