Bedrock

A couple of weeks ago, I suggested that the best way to engage people in constructive conversation about the important issues in our country was to ask questions . I promised then to begin a list of a few questions in some of the major issue areas. This is my first such list. I have tried to ask open-ended questions, the kinds of questions that get people talking without suggesting that you don't really want an answer. Some of these questions require that the asker know something about the issues in question, in fact, most of them do. The purpose in asking is not just to exchange ignorant ideas. For that, we can listen to TV talk shows. In making my list, of course, I'm directing my questions first to you? Their purpose is to get at the heart of some pretty serious issues so that we might work toward a constructive consensus that preserves our freedom and faith. Perhaps you can suggest some better questions or a few that might be added. The goal is to keep the ...

This comes from “ The Lesson ” by Toni Cade Bambara , a story that one of my refugee students had to read and analyze: Then Sugar surprises me by sayin, "You know, Miss Moore, I don't think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs ." And Miss Moore lights up like somebody goosed her. "And?" she say, urging Sugar on. Only I'm standin on her foot so she don't continue. " Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven . What do you think?" " I think ," say Sugar pushing me off her feet like she never done before cause I whip her ass in a minute, " that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me . Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it ?" ( Here ’s a teacher’s essay about the story) The lesson of “The Lesson” seems to be socialism, equal outco...

Thomas Paine published his pamphlet called Common Sense in January of 1776, laying out the arguments for independence from Great Britain . Among his arguments, “ I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense.... ” I wonder what common sense thinking he would offer in today’s political climate? I have a few thoughts on that. “ A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom ,” wrote Paine. Ironically, it is not those called “ conservative ,” who represent “the superficial appearance of being right,” but those wrongly named “ liberals ” (better labeled “ secular progressives ,” who are the entrenched defenders of custom. I wonder how many items we could list, where common opinion stands opposed to common sense? Here’s the beginning of that list: 1) Common sense says that you must kill those who would kill you . As a Christian, I ...

As I read, consider the news, listen to the talk shows, and think about the future, I often wonder what it will take for us to reclaim our country and culture. Voltaire is quoted as saying, “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere,” and that is the problem. Otherwise sensible people accept and even approve of the loss of their own freedom, thinking they are supporting the good. I want every child well-educated, don’t you? I admire good teachers, and our public schools are the best, aren’t they? Nobody wants sick people not to get good medical care, do they? We need the government to keep our food supply safe, protect us from pollution, and keep people from the evils of prejudice, right? I don’t know, exactly, where innocent presumption merges into ignorant thoughtlessness, but at some point, many Americans are like the proverbial ostrich, hiding their minds in the sands of denial, unwilling to face the obvious problems in many aspects of American life a...