Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 600 )

• Annie Lennox Would Approve, I Believe.

  

  "[T]he press was still the last resource of the educated poor who could not be artists and would not be tutors. Any man who was fit for nothing else could... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2015 SOCIETY

• Immanent Communities, Consecrated Economies: Taylor, Herder, and What We Hope (o...

  

  Last month, at a local symposium on Christian faith and culture, I had the opportunity to listen to and learn from James K.A. Smith, a theologian and, lately,... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2015 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "More Than a Feeling"

  "[T]he press was still the last resource of the educated poor who could not be artists and would not be tutors. Any man who was fit for nothing else could... Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2015 SOCIETY

• Marijuana and the Democratic Problem

  

  This is a slightly expanded version of an editorial which appeared in the Wichita Eagle this morning.This past Tuesday, when the Wichita City Council approved... Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2015 SOCIETY

• Spiritual Responsibility and Self-Sufficiency

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]This is a slightly revised and expanded version of a sermon I gave in sacrament meeting, on January 11, 2015, in Wichita, KS. Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2015 SOCIETY

• What I Said in 9 Minutes About Citizens United

  It seems I'm getting better--the last one of these Citizens United protest meetings I spoke at here in Wichita, I took 15 minutes (or actually, only about 13). Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2015 SOCIETY

• Local Wonderings in Wichita

  

  Wichita, KS, is the home to a wonderful bookstore, Eighth Day Books. (Which isn't my favorite bookstore in Wichita, but that's partly because my wife works at... Read more

  Posted on 20 January 2015 SOCIETY

• Four Reasons to See Selma Immediately

  

  Melissa and I and our two oldest daughters (ages 18 and 14; our third daughter, age 11, wanted to come, and we decided against bringing her--she couldn't have... Read more

  Posted on 19 January 2015 SOCIETY

• Why John Cleese Is, and Isn't, My Favorite Python Either

  

  The title of this post is a reference to this old post of mine, which I wrote after reading the first volume of Michael Palin's diaries. Read more

  Posted on 12 January 2015 SOCIETY

• Blasphemers, Terrorists, and Liberals in Your Neighborhood

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]Would I read Charlie Hebdo? (Assuming I could read French, that is.) Would I want anyone in my family to read it? Read more

  Posted on 08 January 2015 SOCIETY

• The 10 Best Books I Read in 2014

  

  As with movies, I'm doubling my total from last year, and going for a proper top ten. Again, in alphabetical order:All That is Solid Melts Into Air. Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Well, Technically I Think We Have Until October

  

  "[T]he press was still the last resource of the educated poor who could not be artists and would not be tutors. Any man who was fit for nothing else could... Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2014 SOCIETY

• The 10 Best Movies I Saw in 2014

  

  I'm doubling the number from last year, and doing a proper top 10. As before, this isn't my favorite 10 films from 2014, but rather the 10 best movies, from... Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2014 SOCIETY

• What Cuba Teaches Us About Equality, Sustainability--and Poverty

  

  [Cross-posted to Political Context]Every since President Obama announced that the U.S. would relax its travel and economic restrictions on and open up normal... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Five Blessings from Reading (Really Reading) the Five Books of Moses

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]A few months ago, I began reading the Old Testament, a book of scripture which I have never before been able to read all the... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Seeing Him in 2014

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]This year our youngest daughter turned eight, and as her older sisters are busy with other things and her mother has been... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Christmas Memories from Korea

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Despite recent (and ongoing) changes to the Mormon missionary program, the majority of those charged with traveling the... Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Don't Get Essayists Angry!

  

  Regarding the collapse of The New Republic, of which much has been said, Cynthia Ozick (whose wit is legendary), takes the cake:The Siliconian came down like th... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2014 SOCIETY

• The Ten Least Successful Christmas Specials of All Time

  

  Has it really been exactly six years since I last shared this, one of the greatest holiday creations of All Internet History? Apparently so! Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2014 SOCIETY

• Jimmy Durante, New Deal Economist

  Via Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns Money, who is always (re)discovering new and wonderful evidences of the way a very different (and, from my point of view, in... Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2014 SOCIETY