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On
the reading of books:
Someone asked me, "Pastor, what have you been reading lately?
I have not seen anything new on the web site."
Well, to
tell you the truth, I have been reading political and historic
material this summer. Why you wonder? Politics and history have
an enormous impact on the present, on our lives and the way the
media presents its stories. I firmly believe in the dictum that
those who don't learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed
to repeat them. So, are my book reports.
(By-the-way,
if you read anything that was of great interest, I would be happy
to hear about it. I can't say that I will read it. But I may.
Your pastor is a slow reader, and it may take some time before
he gets to it.)
MEN IN
BLACK by Mark Levin, (Regnery Publishers, 2005). The author
is recognizable, as the conservative talk show host on 770 AM.
On the air Levin comes off sounding caustic and mean-spirited.
He writes much better. MEN IN BLACK documents the leftward drift
of Supreme Court. Levin cites the significant cases and personalities
which have shaped, and for better or worse, directed the course
of the United States of America. If you're interested Levin holds
to the constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. He
takes a rather dim view of the justices who recently have turned
to European law looking for help to enlighten American situations.
It is worth a read.
Because history
has shown that a fair number of justices didn't know that it was
time to retire and remained on the bench with diminished mental
capacities, Levin advocates that Supreme Court justices be appointed
for a specific period of time (twelve years?). If they have served
well and are in good health they may be renominated. I applaud
the idea.
GODLESS,
THE CHURCH OF LIBERALISM by Ann Coulter; (New York: Crown
Publishing/ Random House, 2006). This is the second book I've
read by Ms Coulter. (The first was, TREASON.) Connecticut born
and liberally schooled, Coulter self-identifies as a Christian.
She is a NY Times best selling author, a political conservative
who makes her living writing and speaking. (To give you some idea
of how well she is received, I had only to inquire by the title
and the sales assistant at the book store replied, without thinking,
"three aisles, turn left, it's the tallest stack of books
on the table." He was right.
GODLESS is
Coulter's attempt to say that liberals are a religious group unto
themselves. She argues they have their own priesthood, their own
sacrament, and their own martyrs. She writes about what she sees
as the great liberal hypocrisy. While they argue for "a woman's
right to choose" (have an abortion), they will deny the right
of choice to Americans on every other issue from school choice,
to public prayer and Christmas decorations in public places, and
the matter of teaching creation alongside evolution.
Originally
I borrowed the book from the public library. But this was one
I felt I had to own. Of value to me was her argument for "intelligent
design." She documents the holes in the theory of evolution.
A Princeton graduate, she argues hard that academia has halted
its quest for the truth, and closed its eyes to other possibilities.
They have accepted the theory of evolution, "by faith alone."
Coulter posits that on this issue for liberals there is no academic
freedom. And for a university instructor to suggest otherwise
in most places, would herald the end of his employment.
Many Christians
adore her. She is not, however, overly pious. A negative, she
writes as she speaks, sarcastically and tongue-in-cheek, with
razor wit. If you can put that aside, there are some real issues
here that deserve to be grappled with by the thinking Christian
and citizen alike.
1776,
by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2005). I got more of
an education in American history than I bargained for with this
volume. It is true to its title. The book is about the events
of 1776 and that year only. It details battles, especially in
Boston and New York. As you know, we declared our independence
in 1776 and not long after the shooting matches with the British
began. We were lucky to keep our heads down. Poor George Washington
did the best he could with what little the Continental Congress
could send him. The turning point, I( was happy to learn, is the
Battle of Trenton.
THEODORE
REX, by Edmund Morris (New York: Random House, 2001). The
last face added to Mt. Rushmore was that of Teddy Roosevelt. Its
sculptor Gutzon Borglum had his studio in Stamford, Connecticut
where I grew up. Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt's home, lies right across
the Long Island Sound from our beaches. As children we heard this
and it was supposed to be something special. But who would drive
from Connecticut to Long Island? I visited Pres. Roosevelt's home
this summer, and found it be more modest than I imagined. But
the visit was all I needed to take up his biography.
Theodore
Rex (Latin for, Theodore the King) is not difficult reading, but
this volume chronicles Teddy's years as president. As such it
is all about the politics and personalities of the early twentieth
century. It's hard to believe that Roosevelt was president 100
years ago. He was the first modern president, very conscious of
setting the stage for the rest of the twentieth century. He was
a real character who didn't understand the term "no."
Roosevelt is as complex as he is human. He had an Achilles heal,
his ego. But Americans seemed to forgive him for that. He was
very popular, hated and loved.
Morris left
all the myths intact. Roosevelt is larger in my mind now than
ever before. We remember him the canal builder, the cowboy, the
Rough Rider and Cuba's liberator. But he was also the consummate
politician, a monopoly buster, a big game hunter, a philanthropist,
an amateur ornithologist, outdoorsman, Nobel Prize winner, a scholar
and writer, a family man and a friend of the environment. Have
we left something out? Probably. "Teddy" crammed too
many lives into one life time.
From my perspective
Morris might have given a little thought and space to the role
of faith in Roosevelt's life and family. I was left with the impression
that Roosevelt felt that God's hand had put him in the presidency.
But we learn only that he is a Christian, a man with a strong
moral compass.
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