Remember, Remember the 5th of November
Remember, remember the fifth of November, The gunpowder, treason and plot, I know of no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent To blow up the King and Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow; By God’s providence he was catch’d With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah! A penny loaf to feed the Pope. A farthing o’ cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we’ll say ol’ Pope is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah...
America at a Crossroads
If you have any interest at all in current events I imagine you’ve likely spent a fair amount of time pondering or worrying about events in the Middle East. It isn’t uncommon for me to run into people who have managed to develop incredibly strong ideas about what is wrong and how it ought to be fixed. It seems like everyone these days professes to be some kind of expert about the conflict between “the West” and militant Islam. I’ve spent a bit of time myself looking into the matter and have managed to read a small stack of books exploring the history of Islam. Some of these books have veered into a historiography of sorts and have posited theories of how and why the situation that exists today came into being. I do think it is...
RE: Thoughts on Islam and Christianity
It must be Debate About Islam Week. Another Timothy has posted some provocative thoughts on Islam and Christianity, as the title accurately alludes. I posted an extremely long response in his comments section, which you may be interested in viewing. Feel free to add your thoughts as well. Here’s a brief taste of the discussion. He wrote: …Most Christians tend to know virtually nothing about the Qur’an! And yet seem to have the freedom to comment on it regularly. I often wonder: if Christians so often get upset about ignorant things said about the Bible (that mostly can only be attributed to lack of knowledge), how is it then that we are astonishingly quick to make the same mistake? And then my response: The more people who commit questionable...