Author: Sheila Marler
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The Community of Ancient Israel
Reading Time: 3 minutesRobert Bellah wrote in “The Broken Covenant” that American Civil Religion helped form a unified nation. Bellah assumed civil religion was necessary because America was the world’s first ‘new’ nation, a nation of unrelated immigrants who do not share a common history or religion as the populations of other countries do. However,…
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Aftermath
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTo think we were once in awe of that tyrannical infant Even thought he was beautiful, said his long hair was amber grain Yet we can’t deny we admired his daring That his royal cloak of purple mountains thrilled us in parade But now we see his hideous face and turn…
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.40 Calibers
Reading Time: < 1 minuteI left the bristling circle of wunderkind Ominous councilors of the age Harbingers of the end of things But you continued Now there are .40 Caliber holes in my wall, deputies and cameras and evidence I have watched you choose your path I see you on your road well traveled Infamy paves…
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Peter King and Radical Islam in America
Reading Time: 2 minutesRepresentative Peter King, is talking about the radicalization of American Muslims. Apparently he plans hearings in the Homeland Security Committee. I would argue that the radicalization of ordinary Muslims, or Arabs of any persuasion, shouldn’t be so easily assumed; the affinity between Arab culture and al Qaeda is not a natural one.…
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Libya’s non-effect on U.S. Oil Prices
Reading Time: 5 minutesLibya, Gas Prices, and the Big Payday at Your Expense Submitted by Michael Collins, for “The Economic Populist” on Mon, 03/07/2011 – 00:23 Another Triumph for The Money Party The average price for a gallon of gas rose 30% from $2.69 in July 2010 to $3.49 as of March 6. Most of…
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American Empire and Political Insanity
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe fear that America’s founders were really only interested in empire is not new. What is not clear is whether Americans believe the rise of empire is merely something that might happen in the future. I think this must be the case. There are a lot of Americans who still believe their…
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Continued from America and the Constellation Virgo
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis brings to mind the fact that many British officers in the Revolutionary War were Freemasons who actually failed to carry out their orders during decisive battles. I’m also reminded that only a third of the Colonists were in favor of the War. A third were undecided, and the final third…
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America and the Constellation Virgo
Reading Time: 2 minutesI deleted the last post about cultural differences. I sometimes think I’ve written something readable, only to realize later, it isn’t. Part of the problem is that this story has so many side plots. The antagonists would have to include politicians discussing the healthcare debate, for example. Has anyone noticed that when…
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Civil Religion and Enlightenment in Context
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe views in the previous post represent an attempt to show the connection of Enlightenment ideas to civil religion. Enlightenment criticism and analyses of the Reformation usually convey a sense of loss. This is understandable because the Reformation ended the universal influence of the Catholic Church and its institutions, which had been…
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American Civil Religion and the Enlightenment
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn his theory of American Civil Religion, Robert Bellah attempted to attribute America’s sense of community to a common religious factor independent of the church. He said that a specifically American ideology has worked to form a homogenous and unified culture from unrelated immigrants. Because of the United States’ unique beginning, Civil…