For we are dumb and policed
“For we are Young and Free.” What a lovely line. I think of swimming at the beach, a cheering crowd at a concert, a happy family eating Christmas lunch. Or we might think of the freedom to live where we want, to study what we want, to work where we want, and to buy what we want. Below these delightful tip-of-the-iceberg freedoms, lie the four foundational freedoms of conscience, assembly, religion, and expression. Freedom of conscience is your freedom not to be coerced to act against your convictions about what is good and what is evil. Mel Gibson’s 2016 movie Hacksaw Ridge, for…
Coming to One’s Senses (Jonah 2)
Jonah rebelled against God’s clear command to go to Nineveh, and instead took off to Tarshish in a ship. But you cannot hide from God, and God sends a great storm which eventually leads to Jonah’s being tossed overboard, and spending three days in the belly of a great fish or whale. This has caused a lot of controversy. Many whales cannot swallow an orange, let alone a man, although sperm whales are the exception. One hears all sorts of stories – C. F. Keil tells of a whole horse (dead, admittedly) being found in a shark, and also of…