Banned Books Week is an annual event that draws much needed attention on the freedom to read or even really the freedom to think. We all should stand up when schools are pressured to prevent students from reading To Kill a Mockingbird , particularly in cases where "concerned parents" believe they are opposing racism and injustice by banning a book that would accomplish more by being read. Are we trying to control what children learn instead of urging them and inspiring them to think? Not only wo...
Oct 09, 2010•39 min
Continuing from last week, prayer may be the best example of establishing religion. From a Christian perspective, if your prayers "in no way establish a religion" then you are not praying. So, does a "pledge of allegiance" to God establish religion? Never mind, Jesus explicitly warns against such public declarations in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Different Drummer: Matthew
Sep 30, 2010•46 min
With a strong Biblical foundation, I have a theory that most prayers at public events like high school football games or graduation ceremonies have more to do with the speaker than God. If you only bow your head to follow a spoken prayer led by someone on a public address system, are you really genuinely praying? I believe prayer is much more than that. Different Drummer: Andy Partridge
Sep 23, 2010•42 min
If we are serious about free market capitalism, then we shouldn't be name-calling or establishing barriers to the free exchange of opinions and beliefs. This notion is consistent with America's founding fathers. It is consistent with the writings of the apostles who spread the word of Jesus without any help from a ruling majority in government. Are we "restoring America" to those perspectives? If you are watching rallies on TV and reading the news, you don't really know what "restoring honor" pr...
Sep 16, 2010•53 min
Where were you on September 11, 2001, when planes hit the towers in New York City? I was facing questions about whether God is in control of all things, and how to reconcile that with acts that scream to be called "un-Godly." My answer involves as much metaphysics as theology. In each case, possible world theory has much to do with how I understand both Providence and prayer. Different Drummer: Richard Linklater
Sep 10, 2010•51 min
"Most Likely To" was both an employer reference, recommending someone I'd once supervised for admission to a university, and a short story with wild anecdotes from college days. Completely inappropriate, but hopefully a bit of fun. Happy Labor Day! Different Drummer: Larry Winget
Sep 03, 2010•39 min
Questions can be valuable even when we don't answer them fully or at all. In a change of pace, here are a few questions that I've mulled over in the past. Some people may find this uncomfortable. I believe facing these types of considerations will lead us to think, or at least to ponder. Stay tuned through the end for the title track of Craig Bevan's CD, "I Think We've Made It." Different Drummer: Terry Gilliam
Aug 18, 2010•46 min
Representative democracy has almost become a joke in the United States of America. The two-party system gives voters a false, and limited, sense of choice where the parties themselves join forces to keep other options out. Worse, it often seems like no one votes their conscience anymore. We complain about the "lesser of two evils" while so easily settling for just that. We will never get anything better until we stop trying to "pick the winner" and start demanding something better than a "race."...
Aug 13, 2010•55 min
We miss huge opportunities to make meaningful connections with people and ideas when we separate science from daily living. Even culturally, we often fail to recognize the implications and possibilities that certain scientific theories present to us. With the laws of motion, for example, something more profound than physics is described in Isaac Newton's work. Different Drummer: Salvador Dali
Aug 07, 2010•26 min
The realm of "the arts" is most likely to present a healthy confrontation of sex, religion, politics and culture. At times in our history, this has been a safe haven for new ideas. At other times, it has been the last stronghold against totalitarian conformity. Few artists have demonstrated this better than this week's different drummer. He is a filmmaker who mercilessly skewered self-righteous religiosity and stood up against fascism as boldly as any soldier. Different Drummer: Luis Bunuel
Aug 04, 2010•47 min
Anyone can believe as I do. Prophets told us that the words of faith are written in our hearts. If I summarize down to a list, it starts to look like cliche. Well, I do not approach this topic as an attempt at evangelism. I cannot "give you my faith." That is, in fact, one of my beliefs: any faith you find will come from your own heart. On the other hand, I can tell you about Permanent Things I've found in my heart. Different Drummer: Larry Crabb
Jul 27, 2010•40 min
A poetry reading sets the tone for the first of a two-part focus on religious beliefs. Negative part first: what I don't believe. In some ways, the state of Christianity in America today is so shameful that you almost have to share your faith by distancing yourself from aberrant views that many people expect to hear from what I call "Politically Active Christianity" or PAC. Different Drummer: C.S. Lewis
Jul 20, 2010•35 min
Americans have a somewhat adolescent obsession with fairness. As an example: most of our sports, including our "football" game, include specific penalties for simulating injury. USA results at this year's World Cup have attracted the largest American audience ever, but FIFA's inability or unwillingness to address simulation of injury will stop the largest sports market in the world from getting fully invested in the planet's most popular game. Different Drummer: Mike Emrick
Jul 10, 2010•42 min
Every four years when all the election talk about "character" starts running wild, I get a reminder that in some ways I'm the ideal candidate for president. If you are only ticking off items on a checklist, what do we value most in a president? I have my own reasons for thinking that I am not the best person for the office. Top of that list: I believe in telling people the truth. Different Drummer: Todd Snider
Jul 04, 2010•46 min
America functions with a careful balance on a couple of ideas. One is majority rule. The other is checks/balances on power. Controls are in place specifically to prevent oppression of minority groups. Always get suspicious when you hear someone complain about "the will of the majority" being thwarted. Does such a majority know what it's like to be on the other side? I don't believe we've advanced as far in race relations as some Americans might suggest. Different Drummer: Carlton Douglas Ridenho...
Jun 30, 2010•46 min
My father has been gone for close to two decades now. I miss him more than I ever have. I'm still not yet older than he was when he died, and I sense that his life experience could inform me greatly today. Some sociologists believe that the absence of dads is a big factor in the problems we are facing. There may be many things that our children, collectively, are not hearing from fathers. Not just hard words, either; the list surely includes laughter. Different Drummer: Jacques Clouseau
Jun 20, 2010•37 min
When it comes to drugs and drug policies, we'd better say much more than just "no." In many ways, the "just say no" campaign invested its power in the simplicity of ignorance. After all, if you merely abstain then you never have to understand what you are abstaining from. Or do you? Education is crucial because knowledge is the only way to avoid being duped ... or doped. Different Drummer: Steven D. Levitt
Jun 16, 2010•58 min
Knowledge is power, and it is very difficult to resist temptations that come out of nowhere. Being prepared and understanding consequences are crucial ways of making good choices when other options are very tempting. When I was growing up, 10 years old, education was the approach my parents and my church used for sexuality. And it wasn't "abstinence only" either. I openly wonder whether my Protestant denomination would handle sex education the same way today, or at all. Different Drummer: Alex C...
Jun 04, 2010•45 min
Equality in marriage is a fairly new idea, and I wonder if our society takes for granted something that we've only begun to experience. In the past, a wife was legally regarded as a possession. At times, marriage has been viewed as a political tool or even an economic exchange, referring to the dowry concept. The notion of Companionship Marriage is unique in granting marriage a value all its own, where the partnership is truly between spouses rather than governments or families. In a seemingly u...
May 31, 2010•56 min
Pentecost may be the most important celebration in the Christian calendar for me. It is also horribly under-regarded. Christianity recognizes Trinity: God interacting with creation in three primary and personal ways. One of those is through creation itself. Christ is another. What about the third? When Christians talk about "God changing hearts and lives" they are referring to the Holy Spirit. I've heard some people resist the notion that such a manifestation of deity could be called a person, b...
May 22, 2010•40 min
Here's an Inappropriate Conversation about how to have an inappropriate conversation. Things only grow when you shine your light on them. Fair-skinned as my family is, though, how do I let the sun shine in without getting burned? Even more important, I need to make sure the storyteller doesn't get in the way of the stories I need to tell. Different Drummer: Allison Downing http://www.simplysyndicated.com/
May 16, 2010•38 min
Few relationships are as complex as mother and child. Even from the first few days of life, a connection is evident that lasts a lifetime in the best circumstances. Family and friends have shared their grief in recent years at the death of mothers. It speaks volumes about what is missing when we feel so left behind. Different Drummer: Corrie ten Boom
May 08, 2010•22 min
I don't put my faith in time, so in one sense there is no such thing as a decade. I also don't believe that trends start and stop exactly on a ten-year cycle. Most importantly, I don't believe we should make decisions based on "good old days" that never really existed. So, what do I believe in? Cause and effect, for one, and that understanding is completely consistent with my faith in God. Different Drummer: Dede Allen
May 03, 2010•53 min
Here is an old saying I agree with: It is wrong to make “best” the enemy of “better.” I’m on board with the argument that there never was a real Christian response to the Sexual Revolution in 1960s and 1970s America. The reason is certainly a reckless refusal to compromise, even to the extent of shutting down discussion. Different Drummer: David R. Mace
Apr 24, 2010•43 min
The story "Boiling Point" is a fable that functions like a parable about the true political spectrum. As opposed to locking into a partisan side of any issue by embracing "past truths," the story recommends a more open-minded and challenging approach. Truth must always be sought, no matter where the pursuit leads. Different Drummer: Jon Stewart
Apr 13, 2010•40 min
America wastes an amazing amount of time arguing about "liberal" versus "conservative" as if those represent a meaningful range. Far from being the entire political spectrum, it's not even a slice of a pie-chart that must be understood if we intend to advance as a society. Different Drummer: Jello Biafra
Apr 10, 2010•46 min
What does it mean to give up something for Lent? It's a Christian concept about preparing for Easter. That idea is consistent with adding the right type of thing as well, as an act of devotion. One of those Lenten undertakings from my past includes a part of a short story that could be titled "The Least Of These." The sermon within that story addresses themes in the heavy metal song "Godless" and indirectly asks a question: why not give up hate for Lent? Different Drummer: Stephanie Davis
Apr 02, 2010•47 min
Are there biopics about Jesus worth seeing? Yes, just not many. Most films based on the gospels fail to live up to their source material. The worst have come from Hollywood -- no surprise there! One of the best was made by a Marxist homosexual whom the Vatican has denounced multiple times. Strange bedfellows, indeed. Odds are, you have never heard of my favorite. This dead genre experienced a resurrection in 2000. Different Drummer: Jesus of Nazareth
Mar 26, 2010•42 min
March 20th is World Storytelling Day with the theme of Light and Shadow. Do we bring antagonists out of the shadow and into the light? Or, as a song by The Offspring discussed in its lyrics, do we "keep 'em separated"? Gangs don’t find peace by drawing boundaries; instead, those lines set the time and place for violence. Less overtly, when large parts of our society engage in quiet violence – denial of one another’s “right to exist” – it stops us from becoming the people we are all meant to be. ...
Mar 19, 2010•38 min
Different Drummer is the idea that unique individuals “march to the beat of a different drummer.” I want to identify those who take it further: actually being "the drummer" and laying down a rhythm for others to follow. I believe a great deal of good can be done in the world if you aren't too careful about who gets credit. That's the main reason I'm not seeking any credit. On the other hand, I hope to live within that mantra about "not being too careful" by spreading around some credit generousl...
Mar 14, 2010•45 min
