Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 600 )

• Contentious Christmas Arguments in Utah, and Elsewhere

  

  Mathew Parke expresses his hopes for his people (and mine) in Utah, in the wake of last week's same-sex marriage ruling:[T]he thing that strikes me as hopeful... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2013 SOCIETY

• The Surprising Nativity: A Chrismas Homily

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent] The passage from the New Testament which always hear this time of year includes these important, well-known lines:And there... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Saturday Night Live Music: "In the Bleak Midwinter"

  A spare and haunting rendition of this carol, by the wonderful Scottish folk singer Bert Jansch. This old recording isn't the best, but it's all we have, so be... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Some Random Thoughts on the Utah Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

  

  So Robert Shelby, a federal district court judge in Utah, handed down Kitchen v. Herbert yesterday afternoon, declaring Utah's refusal to permit or recognize... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Why Decriminalizing Polygamy Will Hurt the Affordable Care Act (or Possibly...

  

  I'm not lawyer, so feel free to dismiss the following speculations as completely groundless. But they seems at least plausible to me, nonetheless.First, the... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2013 SOCIETY

• A Semester of Teaching Sustainability

  

  [Cross-Posted to Front Porch Republic]The semester has come to an end here at Friends University, and students are leaving campus for their holiday break. Read more

  Posted on 14 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Why I Like Popes (Some of Them, Sometimes)

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Jorge Mario Bergoglio was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. I didn't take any notice--but then, I'm neither... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2013 SOCIETY

• The Last Recorded Performance of the Greatest Acoustic Guitarist of Our Era

  And no, I don't know what "our era" is supposed to mean, but I wanted to shoot for something grandiose. Anyway, what a wonderful find on YouTube this is: Michae... Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Mice of a Certain Age

  

  A rather vulgar (though not dirty) cartoon, and a very male one as well. For all that (or perhaps even because of it), a funny, poignant, hopeful piece of art.... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2013 SOCIETY

• Being Thankful for National Communities and Civil Religion, Sometimes

  

  [Cross-Posted to Front Porch Republic]Amongst those Americans who believe that the civic virtues which make both popular government and a fulfilling independenc... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2013 SOCIETY

• Thanksgiving with the Bartlets

  It's basically a given, among both dreamy-eyed liberal lovers of the show and Clinton-hating conservative mockers of it, that The West Wing was fundamentally a... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2013 SOCIETY

• U2: Where Pomposity Becomes Sublime

  Haters will hate, of course, but screw them: when Bono gets his high-pitched growl going, and The Edge starts with his sparkling clean guitar lines, and Mullen... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2013 SOCIETY

• The Greatest Presidential Speech of All Time

  I have been, for over twenty years, entirely persuaded by Garry Wills's argument: that the Gettysburg Address, given by Abraham Lincoln on this day, exactly... Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2013 SOCIETY

• What Some Kansans Are Saying About Health Care

  

  I haven't written a post about health care in America, and more particularly the Affordable Care Act, in a long time. I've mentioned it, sure, but usually in... Read more

  Posted on 08 November 2013 SOCIETY

• Why Do I Keep Creating Libertarians?

  

  Just to be clear: I know my title is an exaggeration. I don't "create" libertarians, or anything really, as a university teacher (not even always, as much as I'... Read more

  Posted on 04 November 2013 SOCIETY

• "Please Tell Me This is Some Kind of Sick and Tasteless Joke!"

  Yesterday, the spirit of Halloween was strong in the KIVI Channel 6 Boise newsroom yesterday, as their sports director went all-out as Ron Burgundy. Read more

  Posted on 01 November 2013 SOCIETY

• Does America Need a Civil Religion?

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent] The website Patheos asked me to answer the above question, in no more than 800 words. Here's what I came up with (a... Read more

  Posted on 01 November 2013 SOCIETY

• Sefdom in Equestria, the Libertarian Manifesto of the Millennial Generation

  

  This has apparently been bouncing around the internets for a while, and thus is probably fake, but I don't care. I've only just seen it, and it's a revelation. Read more

  Posted on 08 October 2013 SOCIETY

• Books and Authors and Reading

  

  The New York Times has published a delightful interview with Malcolm Gladwell; it's all about books and authors and reading, and thus is, of course, perfect bai... Read more

  Posted on 06 October 2013 SOCIETY

• "Maybe That's Why They Call a Trade a Trade"

  My old friend Matt Stannard (debater, law school graduate, rabble-rouser, one-time--and perhaps, in some ways, still--socialist revolutionary, and now an... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2013 SOCIETY