I grew up on video games. My best friends and I used to walk a couple of miles to “Tokens” on Old National Highway. We’d leave with as many quarters as we could scrounge out of the sofas, hoping to find bottles to trade in on the way. Back then, our favorites were Scramble (Jody […]
The Impeachment of President Musharraf – we will miss him
August 18, 2008 By
Former President Musharraf, was a favorite target of just about everyone. Islamists of every stripe (Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the religious parties, and many among the religious elite) hated him because of his attempts to rein in (and stop funding/supporting) militant and terrorist Islamists in his country, his attempt to moderate the practice of Islam […]
Orthodoxy and the State – Preliminary Thoughts on Immigration Policy
August 18, 2008 By
[FIRST POSTED ON AUGUST 18 2008; UPDATED ON OCTOBER 10, 2008] I am not a political activist – my activism is “in the trenches”, building up the community of Christ rather than than trying to lobby the government. But as a citizen in a democratic country who pastors the same, and as an amateur political […]
AF President – NIMBY on Bombing
August 14, 2008 By
Last weekend, the beleaguered President of Afghanistan made a passionate plea on behalf of innocent civilians for an end to airstrikes. This is not the first time that he has done this (last year he was moved to tears on the subject), and it does point to the difficulty of the situation. On the one […]
Random updates – and one technology that does NOT work
August 12, 2008 By
It has exciting here recently. Two weeks ago I attended the Ukrainian Orthodox League Convention; then the next week I went to Florida with my family. Now I am almost caught up with the things that accumulated in my Inbox over that time. The Ukrainian Orthodox League convention was awesome. We (my oldest son, a […]
Should Clergy Talk about Politics from the Pulpit
August 3, 2008 By
The Johnson Amendment of 1954 changed the IRS code so that churches that support or oppose candidates for public office would lose their non-profit status. This past Sunday, a group of pastors challenged this by using Scripture to analyze the campaign positions of Senators McCain and Obama. They did this hoping to challenge the constitutionality […]
PK PM Gilani Defends COIN Strategy
July 29, 2008 By
The Prime Minister of Pakistan said almost everything he needed to say if he is to have any hope of keeping aid flowing and keeping us out of PK territory. FWIW, this is the same script that the Musharraf regime used, although PM Gilan did not mention (or at least the APP did not report) […]
Introspective Reminder to Christian Leaders
July 29, 2008 By
For those who are called to lead, we are first called to serve. We are called to be witnesses and martyrs. But first of all, we are called to be Christ. It is heartbreaking to see so many Christian leaders burn-out. We (if I may be so bold as to include myself) carry so many […]
US-PK Talks today in Washington
July 28, 2008 By
This from APP, on the scheduled talks today between Pakistan’s Prime Mister Gilan and President Bush; “WASHINGTON, July 27 (APP): Urging Washington to be patient with the elected government’s anti-terrorism strategy, Pakistan’s envoy in the United States Husain Haqqani Sunday hoped that Congress would be receptive to Pakistan’s views on security in the region.” He […]
A Funny Thing about Memory and Analysis of Change
July 28, 2008 By
When I was working for the government, I got to spend a lot of time researching why objective analysis was so difficult. I am out of that business now, but it is neat to see that problems of analysis are not confined to the world of international/comparative politics. Even simple parish priests get to see […]
