Saturday, July 7, 2018

Saturday Good Reads


My first blinding flash of the obvious insight for the week: that the retirement of Justice Kennedy from the Supreme Court would be treated by the major news media as Armageddon, global nuclear destruction, and the imminent onset of The Handmaid’s Tale - simultaneously. Given the ensuing speculative and often hysterical media coverage, I was not disappointed. My second blinding flash of the obvious: our news media, like our social media, are widening the gap between Americans. Writing speculation is not the same as reporting news; save it for the op-ed page.

The Battle of the Somme began on July 1, 1916 and lasted until November. But on that first day, 21,000 British and 8.000 German troops died. Using a considerable number of sources, Laurence Dodd at The Telegraph has assembled a minute-by-minute account of the first day of battle on both sides. 

Speaking of war, Mark Malvasi’s family came to the United States in 1907, more than 40 years after the end of the Civil War. But the war, and the South, captured his attention, and he spent time understanding why. “Choosing Southernness, Choosing My Father’s Way” is a long essay, and I understood why, after living in the Midwest for 40 years, I still think of myself as “a Southerner.”

Jim Elliff and Scott Slayton separately talk about the same subject – how we speak in a time of anger and outrage. Stephen McAlpine writes about why certain issues have taken on the fierceness they have – and it’s because of what they’re trying to replace. Zak Schmoll asks why religiosity and intelligence are negatively correlated. Tim Challies interviews his oldest son about the family’s decision to send their children to public schools.

And more.

Faith

Choosing Sides – Kenneth Kovacs at On the Way.

Look. See – Paul Phillips at Medium. 

Christian, Rethink Your Public Speech – Jim Elliff at For the Church.

Watching Our Words in the Age of Outrage – Scott Slayton at One Degree to Another.

The Golden Age of the Church – Aaron Garriott at Tabletalk.

Why Are Religiosity and Intelligence Negatively Correlated? – Zak Schmoll at Entering the Public Square.



British Stuff


American Stuff

A Healthy Respect for Limits: Recovering the American Founding – Mark Malvasi at The Imaginative Conservative.

Life and Culture

There is No Christian Argument for Overturning Roe v. Wade – Samuel James at Letters & Liturgy.

Living in a Border State – Jessica Eddings Roeser at Image Journal.

A Time of Reckoning – Mary Eberstadt at The Weekly Standard.

Choosing Southernness, Choosing My Father’s Way – Mark Malvasi at The Imaginative Conservative.

Art and Photography

Softly and Gently – Susan Etole. 

Schanider’s Malt House – Chris Naffziger at St. Louis Patina.

Misty Morn – Tim Good at Pixels.

Poetry

An Ounce of Pretension – Jared Gilbert at Frivolous Quill.

Sonnets in the Prime of My Life – Tanya Runyan at Image Journal.

History

The Battle of the Somme, as it happened on July 1, 1916 – Laurence Dodd at The Telegraph

A Trip Through New York City in 1911


Painting: Woman Reading with Parasol, oil on canvas by Henri Matisse (1921)

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