There’s been a lot of talk about cancel culture recently. People have been really riled about children’s books and potatoes. There’s been a lot of talk about censoring certain ideas and perspectives. I’ve done an episode on cancel culture before, but I thought it worth re-visiting this week since we have been so immersed in the conversation for the last few weeks. And it should come as no surprise that I’m here to tell you – cancel culture is not censorship. [Read More]
Episode 44 – Christian Nationalism
I know all the words to the Air Force song, the Marine’s Hymn, the official Army song, and other military hymns and songs and have since my youth. I am not from a military family. Nobody in my family was in the armed forces except my grandfather, who served for a short time in WWII. But I know all the songs. The reason I know these things is because the church I went to when I was in junior high and high school went freaking nuts on July the 4th. They spent almost as much time and energy getting ready for their July 4th celebration as they did for their Easter celebration, it seemed. [Read More]
Episode 43: Grievances and the Golden Calf
The book of Exodus in the Old Testament tells the story of the children of Israel’s escape from slavery out of Egypt. They spend a lot of time wandering around in the wilderness, exploring their relationship with Yahweh, before they settle in what would ultimately be deemed “The Promised Land.” [Read More]
Episode 42 – Terms and Definitions*
I was talking with a listener in the past week and she said she wished we would talk a little bit more about how words and word choice mattered. And I thought that was such an important thing that we could spend some time on it today. So I thought I’d talk about two related things – definitions and word choice. [Read More]
Episode 41 – The Impeachment and the Importance of Rhetoric
I want to take a few disparate thoughts and put them together.
In 2003, a man named George Edwards III wrote a book called On Deaf Ears which argued that what the president says doesn’t really matter. Edwards posited that presidential rhetoric was basically meaningless and didn’t cause people to change their opinion or their behavior in any substantial way.
Years later, after Trump was elected, I changed the syllabus to my political rhetoric class. I wanted it to reflect the times we are living in. I have taught that class a few times in the last four years and in that time the intro to the class has been some variation of this: [Read More]