We tend to see equality of outcome as a sign of fair play, even spiritual holiness, but it’s the devil, not God, who longs for a brutal and boring equality.. Ponder the very foundations for a moment. In the very first chapter of the Bible, God declares a rigid hierarchy. Man is to have dominion..
Author: James Riley - page 3
Rahab, Oppenheimer, Epps (One of these things is not like the others..) I once met an old Marine who served in Okinawa during World War II. He told horrendous stories of machine gun nests opening up every 75 feet, and American GIs tied to stakes and turned into Swiss Cheese for the amusement of Japanese..
On the Road… A few weeks ago a guy pulling a rickshaw on Venice beach called me, “Mr. 80s Man.” It was an unsolicited commentary on my clothing — the khakis, button down shirt, loafers and Ray Bans that have constituted my attire since college, forty or more years ago, back when the classic preppy..
Having been a combatant in more family and political squabbles than I dare count, I am finally beginning to understand Patrick Henry’s powerful lament about the trickery of “hope” itself. At the outset, here, make no mistake: I believe Christian “hope” is a good thing — because the hope there is based on solid ground. ..
Stop Complaining A legal observer I trust is predicting that Kari Lake’s team will not prevail in her suit to overturn Arizona’s gubernatorial election. The lawyer in question is a Kari Lake fan and a vocal critic of Maricopa County’s “election” bureaucracy, so it’s not a matter of bias confirmation. The failure goes to a..
The Wildly Popular Bible Teacher Lacks Depth.. There is much to be said for John MacArthur. He has a high view of scripture and he’s not afraid of being unpopular. After waffling a bit early on in the Covid crisis, he opened his church for worship and defied county and state mandates banning group worship. ..
Epstein’s victims: a metaphor for all of us.. It’s a heart-breaking, cruel and baffling picture: a dewy young woman– anxious to make her mark in the world–is promised the glories of high-society introductions, admission to elite universities, and professional advancement in a club that is chock full of billionaires and luminaries. And, by the way,..
Oh, Zion! Dear Zion! I have a lush novel planned–full of carnivals and music and beautiful girls slow dancing with their young men on moonlit patios. In the broader landscape described here, kindly old men will give sing-song sermons full of teary-eyed spiritual assurance. It will all be set to a big, swelling chorus, and..
..and mistaking them for people.. A “cog,” they tell us, is a motion-transferring wheel with sprockets along its edge. A collection of them, engineered and assembled, as in a Swiss watch, can be so beautiful to behold that some designers have taken to leaving the whole assembly visible to the eye. It’s reassuring to ponder..
As gentle as serpents and as wise as Dodo birds.. So imagine, just for the sake of the depressing mental challenge it represents, a fraternity of world leaders in positions of extraordinary power. These lions of state and corporate power share an ancient, superstitious fear: the world is too just too small and delicate for..