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Letters to the Editor
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Wanted:
A Public Philosophy
By Charles Wellborn
During
1963 and 1964 I spent much of my time in an in-depth study of the career of
Walter Lippmann, the political columnist and philosopher. The result was a book
called Twentieth Century Pilgrimage: Walter Lippmann and the Public Philosophy,
published in 1969. The book, I must confess, made hardly a ripple in the wide
sea of political thought.
Lippmann is remembered today primarily as an influential syndicated newspaper
columnist. Indeed, at one point his status inspired a famous New Yorker cartoon,
depicting two dowagers at the breakfast table on a New York commuter train. One
lady says to the other, "Just a cup of coffee and Walter Lippmann. That's
all I need for breakfast." But Lippmann was respected by more than
commuters. When he visited London, he was received by Winston Churchill. Two
lengthy interviews with Nikita Khrushchev, the Russian leader, were
internationally televised and resulted in a best-selling book. And shortly after
John F. Kennedy was elected president, he visited Lippmann for a long session of
political advice and counsel.
Lippmann, however, was much more than a widely-read political pundit. Across his
half-century career he produced a series of thoughtful books. His 1922 work
called...
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Strange
Bedfellows: Strategies Shared by Darwinists and Gender Traditionalists
Rebecca Merrill Groothuis
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Appealing
to Authority
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Inventing
a Public Face
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Creating
Categories for Ridicule
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Obscuring
the Issues
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Camouflaging
the Contradictions
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Conceptual
Cover-Ups
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Concluding
Thoughts
It all began with a
dinner table conversation that my husband and I enjoyed with Phillip
Johnson and his wife.
In listening to Johnson's quiet complaints of how the prejudices
and presuppositions of Darwinists twisted the public discourse on the
question of life's origin, I recognized a familiar pattern.
Much of what Johnson had observed concerning the contours of the
debate between Darwinists and creationists, I also had observed in the
debate between those evangelicals who advocate traditional gender
hierarchy and those who advocate gender equality.
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Persecution of
Christians in America: Say What?
By Frosty Troy
Persecute: To afflict or harass constantly so as
to injure or distress; oppress cruelly, esp., for reasons of religion, politics
or race; to trouble or annoy constantly. Webster's New World dictionary.
To hear the minions of the religious right tell it, they are being persecuted
across the land, martyrs in a secular environment, victims of a government
hostile to the word of God.
Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., has used that agitprop in pushing a constitutional
amendment to Christianize the public schools.
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A Blending of Cultures
By Hal Haralson
[Hal Haralson practices law in Austin and
religion wherever he is. He is a frequent contributor to Christian Ethics
Today.]
"Pops, can we talk to you for a
minute?"
Our son, Brad, and his fiancée, Rachel Jasso, were flush with the excitement of
planning their wedding set for July 12, 1997, in San Angelo.
I had overheard some of their plans. Particularly the blending of the Hispanic
and Anglo cultures by the use of traditions of both in the wedding.
"Pops, we want you to speak at our wedding."
Silence....
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Two Shorts and a Long
By Bruce McIver
As a boy back in North Carolina I grew up
listening to the "Amos and Andy" radio program. It was fifteen minutes
of laughter, static, and family "togetherness" as we all huddled
around the old Philco radio, straining to catch every line of the show.
Andy had a secretary named "Miss Blue." When someone came by his
office to visit he would often interrupt the conversation by hollering through
the door, "MISS BLUE, WOULD YOU PLEASE BUZZ ME!" A second later a
buzzer would sound and Andy would talk through his new intercom with Miss Blue
about some trivial matter. Obviously, no intercom was needed; and, just as
obviously; the whole charade was acted out to impress visitors to Andy's office.
During those days when we listened to the daily program we weren't worried about
any telephone calls from 6:45 until 7:00 in the evenings. Amos and Andy had
absolute priority up and down the party line.
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Updated
Friday, December 28, 2001
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Reforming
Campaign Financing
By
Senator Paul Simon
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Dear
Mr. President
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Bought
and Paid For
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Reforming
Presidential Campaign Funding
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Winner
Spending Per Vote (Opponent’s Spending)
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Time
and Money
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Family Reunion
By William L. Hendricks
- A Wonderful Work
- Bonding and
Prayers
- An Emotional Call
How do you have a family reunion with a family
you did not know you had, and whom you had never met? It is a long story; this
is the short, happy version.
I learned in adolescence I was an adopted child. The circumstances were
traumatic. Adopting parents, please tell your children from the beginning! The
adjustments for all concerned will be easier.
At age 67 I began what I thought would be a futile quest for my birth family. My
adoptive parents were long since deceased. My birth mother's name and date and
place of birth were the only items of information available.
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What's Your Net Worth?
By Glenn Dromgoole
I stared at the question on the form. It asked
simply: What is your net worth?
Well, I had never stopped to figure it. What's my net worth? Not much, I
imagine. Maybe, if I'm lucky, it comes out a little above zero.
But as I gave the question more thought, I realized I couldn't possibly answer
it. Could you?
Net worth is measured in dollars, but real worth can't be counted that way.
How much is a loving husband or wife or best friend worth?
How about your children? How much are they worth? (On a good day.)
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Three Poems
By Wyatt H. Heard
Gleanings from the Internet
Watching the World Go By
Don't Just Worry: Act
By Ralph Lynn
Frank and Ernest of the newspaper comics describe
us more accurately than did the 17th century Frenchman, Descartes, who said,
"I think; therefore I am." Frank and Ernest say, "I think;
therefore I worry."
Robert D. Kaplan, a contributing editor of the Atlantic Monthly, 1996 made a
sort of backpacking trip from the mid-Atlantic coast of Africa across the Middle
East and on to the Indo-Chinese peninsula. His detailed, 476-page record (The
Ends of the Earth: A Journey At the Dawn of the 21st Century, New York, 1996)
gives the reader much to think and to worry about.
Kaplan offers helpful historical information to place each area he visited in
context. He offers tentative explanations as to how and why each area has
arrived at its present situation.
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The
Death Penalty
by Millard Fuller
The death penalty is back in the
news, big time. The case that pushed it forward to the front pages of our
newspapers and as the lead story on the evening news was that of Karla Faye
Tucker, who was executed in Texas in February. This attractive, young, white
woman, a confessed pickax killer, professed a Christian conversion experience
in prison and, by all accounts, truly was a transformed, born-again Christian.
As her
execution date approached, she garnered very vocal support from many people,
including such prominent individuals as Pope John Paul II, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson, Bianca Jagger, and even televangelist and death penalty supporter, Pat
Robertson. In spite of all of this support, she was strapped to a white table
in Huntsville, Texas on February 3 and given a lethal injection which ended her
life on this earth.
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Editorial Report
Very seldom are the readers of Christian Ethics Today accosted with statistics,
reports, policies, or sundry housekeeping details. This third anniversary issue,
however, may be a not inappropriate time to mention a few things.
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