Faith, Fiction, Friends: Saturday Good Reads

Little coverage is to be found in America’s legacy media, but strange things are afoot in Britain, following riots based on rumors, real riots, protests based on single social media posts that didn't happen, and a police and government response that seems rather harsh (people are getting jail sentences for what the police deem is hate speech). Conservative commentator Douglas Murray got caught up in this, when some nice online troll edited an interview Murray did to make seem like he was supporting and encouraging riots. The Free Press in the U.S. and The Spectator in Britain came to his defense. British police have been accused of two-tiered policing, which they adamantly deny, but their own training manuals seems to indicate otherwise. The elephant in the room is unfettered immigration (not unlike the United States), and many see the government as waging war on free speech. One of the most moving things I’ve read is “This Sceptered Isle: Reflections on the revolution in England“ by Joshua Trevino at Armas.

Of course, the United States has its fair share of problems as well. I noted last week that former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard had been targeted as a suspected terrorist by the Transportation Safety Administration. There’s more to the story – far more. It was whistleblowers within the TSA who gave incriminating documents to eight Senate and House committees, and the TSA is going to have an impossible task of trying to explain why this wasn’t a case of political persecution.

Elon Musk has been getting lots of free publicity. An EU bureaucrat publicly made vague threats Monday about Musk’s then-upcoming interview with Donald Trump. Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Metropolitan Police in London, seemed to threaten to arrest Musk for allegedly encouraging the riots in Britain. And then a Washington Post reporter asked President Biden’s press secretary whether the White House should be doing something to censor the Musk/Trump interview. Since when did the Washington Post officially embrace censorship?

More Good Reads

American Stuff

U.S. Civil War soldier receives long overdue honors at London cemetery – Loretto Morris at Stars & Stripes.

A Revolution Captured on Canvas – Blake Scott Ball ay Acton Institute.

Israel

The IDF’s Boot Is on Hamas’ Throat – Andrew Fox at Tablet Magazine.

‘Friends no longer speak to me’: How it feels to be a British Jew after October 7 – George Chesterton at The Telegraph.

Faith

Unqualified and Unwilling – Tim Challies.

Following Jesus in the Desert of Mental Illness – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

The Historic Creeds vs. Passing Theological Fads – Thomas Kidd at Acton Institute.

Pliny the Younger’s Christian Persecution: 3 Lessons for Faith and Endurance – Bryan Schneider at Gentle Reformation.