Russellarbenfox

LATEST ARTICLES ( 622 )

• Blame Christmas

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Towards the end W.H. Auden’s For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, written 80 years ago, Auden gives an imaginative... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2022 SOCIETY

• Justice and Inclusion: From Isaiah’s Pen to Our Eyes and Ears

  

  [Cross-posted to Religious Socialism. A version of this post originally appeared on By Common Consent]Back in 2014, I embarked on a read of the complete Old... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2022 SOCIETY

• Bono, Christian Neoliberal (but Also, Perhaps, a Little Bit More)

  

  [I was asked to write about Bono's memoir for Current; my review is here, but, as usual, I've posted my longer version here, as a Christmas gift to U2 haters an... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2022 SOCIETY

• Friendly Disagreements with Justice Stegall (A Continuing Series)

  

  [This is an expanded version of a column of mine making the rounds here in Kansas; as usual, I pretentiously felt I needed more space to make my point... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2022 SOCIETY

• Thoughts on Reading (and Being Surprised By) Isaiah

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent]Back in 2014, I embarked on a read of the complete Old Testament, with a close focus on the text. Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2022 SOCIETY

• Planning and "The Politics of Beauty": Reflections on Stewart Udall

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic] John de Graaf, an author, filmmaker, and friend of Front Porch Republic, has recently completed a documentary tribute to ... Read more

  Posted on 11 November 2022 SOCIETY

• Wondering About a (Highly Unlikely, But Not Inconceiveable) Local Wave

  

  At the Great Plains Political Science Association annual conference held last weekend at Wichita State University, four political observers--three of them... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2022 SOCIETY

• Two Voices for Evan McMullin

  

  [I've written about the intriguing Mike Lee-Evan McMullin Senate race in Utah before, and it's not hard to figure out where someone like me would stand in such ... Read more

  Posted on 28 October 2022 SOCIETY

• Back to the Bottom-Line (Apocalyptically and Practically Speaking) at the Land...

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic]The cabin pictured here, both with its original inhabitant and with some of my students and I standing in front of it, is ... Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2022 SOCIETY

• On Philosophy, Religion, Nazis, Conservatives, Leftists, Damon Linker, and Me

  

  [Damon Linker--pundit, author, oft-infuritating centrist, and all-around great human being--recently lost his father, and is taking a break from his Substack... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2022 SOCIETY

• What Emporia (and Kansas) Has Lost

  

  [Two weeks ago, Emporia State University President Ken Hush pushed through a plan that allowed him to engage in a devastating "restructuring" of this small,... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2022 SOCIETY

• A Comic (But Not Comical) Take on Mormon History

  

  [Cross-posted to By Common Consent] As an intellectually-inclined, book-obsessed, life-long member of the Mormon Church, I have read many histories of my... Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2022 SOCIETY

• Biden's "Soul of the Nation" Speech, Take 2

  

  [This is a rewritten version of a post of mine from two weeks ago, which this morning appears on the website Current. My thanks to Eric Miller for editing and... Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2022 SOCIETY

• On Constitutions, Democracy, Fascism, and Biden's Big Plea

  

  "It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire [extreme MAGA] philosophy that underpins [it]….it’s like semi-fascism."Biden did not say those words in his “Soul of the... Read more

  Posted on 02 September 2022 SOCIETY

• A Random Thought on Mikey Kaus

  

  A few days ago Robert Farley, of Lawyers, Guns Money, posted the latest entry in his wonderful "Oral History of the Blogosphere" project, this one focusing... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2022 SOCIETY

• Seven Theses on Kansas, "Popularism," and Value Them Both

  

  Well, my predictions from yesterday were wrong (mostly; I was still right about Kris Kobach getting the Republican Attorney General nomination). Read more

  Posted on 03 August 2022 SOCIETY

• Three Predictions Regarding the Abortion Amendment Vote in Kansas Today

  

  These four images are just a sampling of the yard signs which have sprouted everywhere in my west Wichita neighborhood over the past couple of months; a complet... Read more

  Posted on 02 August 2022 SOCIETY

• Why I Have a Pro-Choice Sign in My Front Yard (Even Though I Don't Call Myself...

  

  [The publication Current asked me to write up my thoughts about abortion; I ended up writing nearly 3000 words. A much, much shortened version of the essay belo... Read more

  Posted on 28 June 2022 SOCIETY

• 80 Macca Years, 80 Favorite Macca Songs

  

  Today, Sir Paul McCartney turns 80 years old. A few publications and websites, in honor of this milestone, are listing, or asking other artists to list, 80 out... Read more

  Posted on 18 June 2022 SOCIETY

• Diversity, Race, and Radical Hospitality in a Bible-based Community

  

  [Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic] A month ago, on May 16, just two days after a racist lunatic murdered 10 black Americans in Buffalo, NY, perhaps 100... Read more

  Posted on 14 June 2022 SOCIETY