Rounding up ideas and information since 2008
I’ve just finished reading The Gulag Archipelago, by Solzenitsyn. Somehow it seems a warning to our own time, as well as a record of past inhumanity in the name of so-called progress.
Because of the content of the book, I’m inviting discussion over here instead of over at Suitable For Mixed Company. I’d especially like to hear from those of you who made it through all three volumes.
Charles J. Chaput offers some straight talk on New Life in Christ: What it Looks Like, What it Demands (First Things, May 11, 2009).
Notwithstanding that Chaput is devotedly Catholic, and William Wilberforce adamantly wasn’t, this article reminds me of Wilberforce’s writings on real Christianity.
This is from March, but it seems that some Catholics in Europe are tired of attacks on churches and the Pope, etc., and are staging counterprotests. (And for their troubles they are being labeled “far right” by the press.)
Robert at Expat Yank takes on some of those who would like to “free” us from Christianity without stopping to think what it has meant even to unbelievers.
These two posts add a bit of perspective to the rise (and fall) of current cultures and governments. They address decidedly different factors, but I think they both add to the discussion of how we got where we are, and what we have to fight to keep from losing what we’ve gained.
“Created Equal: How Christianity Shaped the West”, by Dinesh D’Souza (Imprimis, November 2008)
And Mark Steyn says that Europe and America tend to be novelty crazed in different ways.
Have you seen Volition yet? It’s an interesting (and artistic) take on the choices confronting individuals who live in a society that classes some people as subhuman. (I found the ‘behind the scenes’ video interesting, too. It’s available on the same page as the film.)
Parents: I recommend screening this one before you invite the kids to watch.
Cross-posted at Suitable For Mixed Company.
hat tip: Michelle
