Luther, Dirty Harry, and Wyatt Earp

My students and I just reached the part of the semester in political  theory where we cover Martin Luther’s On Secular Authority.  In that book, he brilliantly addresses the Sermon on the Mount, insisting that Christians must observe it.  But how, you might say?  If we constantly turn the cheek, evil men will prey upon the whole earth.  Not so, it is for this reason that God has ordained the state, says Luther.

I am especially taken with this passage:

[T]he kingdom of the world is nothing else than the servant of God’s wrath upon the wicked, and is a real precursor of hell and everlasting death.  It should not be merciful, but strict, severe, and wrathful in the fulfillment of its work and duty.  Its tool is not a wreath of roses or a flower of love, but a naked sword; and a sword is a symbol of wrath, severity, and punishment.

As I read it, I can’t help but recall Dirty Harry wondering aloud before a notorious criminal whether he’d fired six times or only five.  Or perhaps better yet, I think of Wyatt Earp in the film Tombstone provided with a marshall’s badge and declaring, “Tell ‘em I’m coming, and hell’s coming with me!”

Why do we like these movies?  It is  because we recognize there is something wrong with a state that ignores its primary function which has to do with the restraint and punishment of those who do evil.

Charlie Chaplin and the Cell Phone: Explanations

It's a big deal on the net right now that a filmmaker seems to have found a woman talking on a cell phone back in 1928 in the features section of a Chaplin film.  Here are a few problems:

1.  If you come from far enough in the future to time travel, you probably aren't carrying a phone about the size of a Motorola Razr.

2.  Whoever put the DVD together could have inserted this person.

3.  Okay, you have a cell phone, where are the towers you need to get a signal?

4.  Okay, you have a cell phone, who are you talking to on the cell phone?

5.  My suggestion is that she's holding something black against her face.  A cold compress for pain in the jaw or ear, perhaps?

Rand Paul, Victim of Hypocritical Secular Smear Job

In my book The End of Secularism, I have a chapter which is a case study demonstrating that the high-minded adherence to secularism is easily discarded by leftists whenever they find religion convenient to their agenda.  Were I to rewrite the book today, I would include the ad being run against Rand Paul by his opponent in the Kentucky senate race.

Here’s the text of the ad:

“Why was Rand Paul a member of a secret society that called the Holy Bible ‘a hoax’ – that was banned for mocking Christianity and Christ?” asks a voice in Conway’s ad. “Why did Rand Paul once tie a woman up? Tell her to bow down before a false idol and say his God was ‘Aqua Buddha?’ “

Now, first off, I have to say that the claim against Rand Paul has to do with a stunt from his college years at Baylor.  Having read the original story about Rand’s classmate’s claim, it was clear that he and a friend engaged in a fairly typical fraternity-style prank.  I am familiar with the “secret society” he belonged to at Baylor.  It is a humorous part of campus-life.  A little edgy, but viewed as a real part of the Baylor tradition.

More important, though, the text of the ad shows that liberals are more than ready to use religion as a political issue when it suits their purposes.  If the shoe were on the other foot and a conservative were running an ad of this nature, many gray eminences of church-state separation would come forth from the Ivy Leagues, Washington, D.C., and New York City to explain to us how scurrilous and unprincipled it is.

I have yet to hear from Barry Lynn or any of the other great separators of church and state about the Conway ad being run against Rand Paul.  And we won’t hear from them.  Because this story doesn’t fit their template of conservatives using religion for to engage in holy war.

 

Marx and Genetic Inheritance

You know, I'm looking at the two most recent transfers of power in Communist countries — from Fidel to his brother Raul Castro and from Kim Jong Il to his young son — and I'm wondering how I missed the part in the Communist Manifesto where the leaders of the revolution leave their offices to their family members.

The state doesn't wither much, does it?

The Survival of Bookstores

Amazon has pretty much destroyed the world of bookstores.  Their price is always superior.  And they get you to buy more so you can have free shipping to your door.  I am sure that many go to bookstores to browse and hang around only to go home and use Amazon to order the book they saw and wanted.  

Several days ago, I tweeted about the future of bookstores.  I suggested that they need to accept what they have become, which is pleasant places to hang out.  People like to be in a Barnes & Noble even if they don't want to buy their books there.  My idea was that they should charge membership fees like health clubs.  If you want to hang out in Barnes & Noble and use free wi-fi amidst a beautiful collection of books, magazines, DVD's, etc., then pay some monthly fee for the privilege.  

After making the suggestion, I realized that Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million both do something like what I mentioned.  They have cards which qualify members for discounts on merchandise, food, and coffee.  The only problem is that it's not enough.  Instead, membership should be required to enter the store, just like at a Sam's Club.  Plenty of people would pay to become members of a very nice bookstore and the membership fees would be enough to allow the merchants to reduce their book prices to more competitive levels.  

Think about it, big bookstores.  As much as I love Amazon, I don't want you to go away.  

The Folly of a Second Stimulus

Across the airwaves today, I have heard the president speak with urgency about our crumbling infrastructure and about how many Americans are "forced" to spend more on transportation than on food. 

I am so impressed with his call, I am moved to ask a question.  If the need for infrastructure spending is so great, then why in the name of all things Shovel Ready didn't we use the first GIGANTIC stimulus to address the problem???

Many Americans must be asking exactly that question as the president's call rolls echoes far and wide.

It wouldn't be because the White House simply delegated the first stimulus to Congress to spend just any old way they wanted, would it?

Nah, that would just be plain unwise.

My Amazing Grace

Ruth signed me up to be the surprise family reader at Grace's kindergarten class on Friday.  I showed up the end of lunch and Grace was thrilled to see me.  As was the rest of her class.  When a parent shows up, they all act star struck, as if Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt had suddenly arrived.  

We walked to her class from the lunchroom with our hands behind our backs to prevent us from interfering with one another.  Upon reaching the classroom, the kids sat down on a rug and Grace's teacher briefly introduced me.  I read The Little Red Caboose (who always came last, but saved the day) and Robert the Rose Horse (about a horse who prevents a bank robbery with a giant sneeze).  As I read, I kept catching Grace's eye and felt my heart leap as I saw her bursting with pride and satisfaction to have her daddy holding forth in front of her class.  Each time, I struggled to master myself so as to avoid choking up with a surge of emotion to see my child so pleased with me.  Somehow, I got through it.  What a wonderful experience.

Later that day when I got home from work, I asked Grace questions to get her reaction.  Was she happy I came to her class?  Did Daddy do a good job reading?  Did her friends have a good time?  She astutely avoided all these queries and said directly what I was trying to discover from her in a roundabout way:  "Daddy, I love you."