Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Pat and Paris: A Pair of Tares

About the only original thing I've heard or read about the latest Pat Robertson eruption is by my former Chimes colleague Brian Bork. Quoth he:

In my estimation, Pat Robertson is just the "tails" side of a coin whose "head" is the portrait of a Paris Hilton. They are essentially similar pieces of cultural effluvia: both are famous, but no one can really concieve the reason why, both demand an undue amount of cognitive energy because of their ubiquitous cultural presence, both have achieved notoriety via visual media. ... Both also seem to espouse their own peculiar and bat-shit insane brand of morality - morality that few among us can identify with, but nevertheless seem enamoured by it all.


I'm inclined to agree with this, and with Brian's conclusion that despite the Reformed call to engage culture, there is some culture not worth engaging. I don't just defer to Phil. 4:8 on this; indeed, calling a "tare" a "tare" in Brian's words strikes me as a form of engagement, not withdrawal.

If you want some peace and quiet, close your eyes and listen for some harsh reprimands issued by conservatives ... hear anything yet?

Thursday, July 21, 2005

My latest Tribune column:
What is, "like," the point of saying "like"? Turns out linguists have an answer...

Monday, July 18, 2005

The idleness of this blog belies the blogging energies I've been pouring into (among others) the CICW Worship Weblog, including posts on Eugene Peterson's new book, Neal Plantinga on why preachers should read The Grapes of Wrath, and a series of reports from the Preaching Apocalyptic Texts conference at Calvin Seminary.

At my language blog, meanwhile, I've mused about 'which' as a coordinating conjunction and whether the Greek words agrammatoi and idiotai, as used in the New Testament, were insulting.

I'll soon be posting a new issue of Calvin's e-zine Minds in the Making, which I've agreed to edit. I see it as a prime example of how Christianity can be synonymous and symbiotic with intellectual vitality and broad curiosity. One of the regularly featured writers there is sure to be Jamie Smith of Calvin College. Some of the intriguing things Jamie has written or referred me to in the last 24 hours:

- his essay Prophecy and Predestination in Harry Potter.

- his blog post critiquing Jim Wallis' evident (and probably unwitting) Constantinian alignment of religion and politics

- the painting Christ in the House of His Parents

So much for the lazy days of summer...

Friday, May 06, 2005

Congrats to my best bud Klippy, who had his first piece published in the Sunday Reader of the Edmonton Journal. Read it here.
My latest Tribune column:
On the 2nd edition of the New Oxford American Dictionary, which can be held in the palm of your hand.
temp.link/perm.preview

From now on, I'll be posting links to my columns at Inflections, a new weblog I'm starting with my idol, Jim Vanden Bosch, and other profs of mine at Calvin.

I'm also pleased to introduce the new Worship Weblog for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, where I work. The blog of my English 101 class is winding down, but there's a lot there to catch up on (hmm, that last clause wouldn't cut it in my class).

And as always, you can kill a lunch break with my post to end all posts, or with these links I'm yanking from the left navbar:

AH Dictionary

ABC/The Note

Calendar

CPL catalog

Calvin/catalog

Chi.Trib/Tempo

CSM/Society

G&M/SSt

GR/Fl-Tracker

History/Today

Language Log

NYT/Idx/WR

Olbermann blog

Planetizen

Prchg.Now

WP/Outlook

Wk/Briefing

World Clock

more

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Latest Doings
I'm teaching (some of) the writers of tomorrow in my English 101 course. We have a class weblog up at
http://weblogs.calvin.edu/weblogs?/engl101

I hope to have announcements soon about a weblog for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, where I'm newly employed...

... and the return of Inflections.

In the meantime, enjoy the redesigned website for CICW: www.calvin.edu/worship.
Word OriginsMy latest Tribune column:
On the new book Word Origins and How We Know Them.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0503160148mar16,1,3402114.story
Quote I heard and need to retrieve: Kierkegaard said we "tranquilize ourselves with the trivial."
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I felt wimpy earlier this week when a driver wearing a Mennonite bonnet passed me on the highway. I guess I had always equated pacifism with passivity ...

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

map of BoliviaMy latest Tribune column:
On the Chipaya, a remote tribe in Bolivia that speaks a unique language.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0503010280mar02,1,6224749.story

(Chipaya is near Oruro, south of LaPaz.)