The word “manifesto” is often associated with the Socialist Manifesto of Marx and Engels (1842). But in a more general sense it is a public declaration of intentions as issued by a government or a political party. If Jesus had a manifesto, or inaugural address, it probably would be what we now call his Sermon […]
In general usage the idea of a persecution complex refers to an unhealthy state of mind that causes persons or groups to assume that they are the victims of an evil conspiracy that has singled them out because they are different than the mainstream. The term therefore is apt to cause many of us to […]
An 8/5/2013 alert on a Homeland Security website says, “There are growing concerns that an al Qaeda affiliate could use a new generation of liquid explosive, currently undetectable, in a potential attack, according to two senior U.S. government officials briefed on the terror threat that has prompted the closing of nearly two dozen U.S. embassies. […]
Could one of our problems be that we are trying to think our way to God? That thought comes, surprisingly, from a Calvin College professor of philosophy. In a Christianity Today Online interview of James Smith, a professional thinker observes, “Human beings are at their core defined by what they worship rather than primarily by […]
Last night I had a chance to hear a lecture hosted by our regional World Affairs Council. The speaker was an articulate member of the international diplomatic core who walked us through the complex issues of: Rhetoric and reality—the difference between what is said and done. Interests vs values—the tendency to act in the interpretation […]
A science reporter for Public Radio International recently became interested in how many of us experience songs that suddenly pop into our heads and then play over and over until we wish we could get them out of our minds. We’ve talked here before about why we sometimes wake up with a song running through […]
On my flight back to the States I read a book that I’d heard talked about by some of my co-workers. It’s called Leadership and Self-Deception and takes a thoughtful look the way our inclination to ignore the needs of others results in the kind of self justification and self-deception that ruins whole organizations, families, […]
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he writes out an extended prayer that expresses his longing that his readers will be given by God the ability to understand something of the immeasurable height, depth, and breadth of how much God loves them. Do you think this prayer has anything to do not only […]
An ABC news site says today that lawyers for Sirhan Sirhan, the convicted killer of Robert Kennedy, will present new evidence at a parole hearing that Sirhan did not act alone and was hypnotized to commit an act that he now cannot remember. They will also argue that ten independent witnesses all say that Sirhan […]
