The principle culprit of the major media’s latest round of non-stop insipid news coverage is of course CBS News and its Sixty Minutes II report based on what the network claimed was a number of documents that cast doubt on … Continue reading
What can the popular book “The DaVinci Code” teach us at back-to-school time? History and critical thinking are inseparable for a good education. If read merely as fiction, The DaVinci Code would be an interesting mystery story. However, when the … Continue reading
Forty years after we graduated about half the Sheffield High School class of 1964 gathered on a July Saturday night at a local Holiday Inn for our fortieth reunion. Four decades had passed since I left Sheffield, Alabama. Located in … Continue reading
José Minaya needs an agent. Labeled the “sex gabber” by the New York Post, Mr. Minaya was fired from his position as a middle school guidance counselor because he talked about sex to students. According to a June 21st Post … Continue reading
Is it hazardous to one’s mental health to change sexual identity from gay to straight? The National Mental Health Association, the nation’s oldest and largest mental health advocacy group made this charge in a recent statement to a gay oriented … Continue reading
What made J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings an Oscar winner? Strangely enough, in an age that purports to be modern and secular, the Lord of the Rings is a success because its structure and vision focus the viewer … Continue reading
Imagine the current members of the White House press corps being transported back in time to the presidency of George Washington. If they were to train their journalistic guns on the “father of our country,” instead of our own George … Continue reading
By now, everyone breathing has heard about Janet Jackson’s flashdance during halftime at the Super Bowl. I didn’t see it. I had checked out to the food table about the time P. Diddy came on. It was a simple choice: … Continue reading
Listening to Sen. John Kerry talk about his new brand of “retail politics” reminded me of the scene in the movie“As Good As It Gets” where Jack Nicholson’s character proclaims to Helen Hunt: “You make me want to be a … Continue reading
I didn’t see it. Alas, I missed the November 11 episode of Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit (SVU) called “Abomination.” The show upset many of my friends and colleagues. Why were they upset? A look at the description of … Continue reading
A groundbreaking new faith-based resource combining original musical and spoken word tracks for high school students, college students and young adults wrestling with homosexual issues, as well as their counselors, is being released during Marriage Protection Week, October 12-18. The … Continue reading
If you knew me, you might guess that I am excited about the prominent role of spirituality in this fall’s prime time television line-up. I am, after all, a former Baptist minister who teaches in a church-related liberal arts college … Continue reading
Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” is as commonplace to the Fourth of July as is hearing news about a symphony orchestra that is on the brink of bankruptcy or another museum having to cut its staff. To rally support for … Continue reading
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following lecture was presented at Grove City College on November 12, 2002. Introduction Whenever I am invited to give a talk, I like to remind my audience of Lord Northcliffe’s classic definition of a newspaperman. “It is the … Continue reading
Dr. Peter Singer, the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University, speaking to the 2002 Animal Rights Conference held in McLean, Va., earlier this month, gave a talk in which he … Continue reading
