Two quick thoughts today (both related to Dan Crenshaw*): One In a widely-denounced skit on SNL, SNL actor Pete Davidson recently made fun of Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw for the patch he wears over his eye from an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Crenshaw, age 34, got blown up in 2012—the summer following my last summer in Afghanistan. In this piece, Crenshaw writes that, while he agrees with the criticism levied at Davidson: “I also could not help but note that this was another chapter in a phenomenon that has taken complete control of the national discourse: outrage culture. It seems like every not-so-carefully-worded public misstep must be punished to the fullest extent, replete with soapbox lectures and demands for apologies. Anyone who doesn’t show the expected level of outrage will be labeled a coward or an apologist for bad behavior. I get the feeling that regular, hard-working, generally unoffended Americans sigh with exhaustion — daily. Was I really outraged by SNL? Really offended? Or did I just think the comment about losing my eye was offensive? There is a difference, after all. I have been literally shot at before, and I wasn’t outraged. Why start now?” More: “So I didn’t demand…Continue reading When you can be the victim . . . don’t!
Month: November 2018
One hundred years later: World War One
One hundred years ago yesterday, “on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month,” World War I ended. Like most history-lovers, I grew up deeply entrenched in World War II and Civil War history. The American War of Independence would be the next most likely war I studied, followed by Vietnam. Forgotten? World War I. probably spent less time learning about this war because of the small scale of U.S. involvement compared to the European nations. I also think the war’s nature—trench warfare with very little maneuver—captures the burgeoning platoon commander’s attention far less than the maneuver warfare and gallantry of the American Civil War and World War II. In the last few years I have been trying to beef-up my historical study of topics I don’t know much about—Napoleon, MacArthur, and, sadly for a former Marine Corps officer, the Pacific Theater of World War II. World War I was brutal. Orders to the front line were a near-death sentence. It’s a day after the anniversary, and I hope you took a moment to remember the millions of men who died or were injured in the “war to end all wars.” If you find yourself without a…Continue reading One hundred years later: World War One
“Nones”
So the fastest growing “religion” in Minnesota and the country is “Nones,” the Star Tribune reports. In reading this article, I was struck by the interviewees’ infantile understandings of religion and Faith. L.P. said that “[she] can’t imagine that only one religion has access to the pearly gates,” said Lisa Pool, explaining her church breakup after class ended. “I realized there are all kinds of different paths to being a good person.” [Let’s ignore L.P.’s probably snide reference to “the pearly gates” and analyze her thoughts. First, L.P. does not understand that the goal of life is not to “be a good person.” The goal of life is to glorify God and reach salvation. And if the goal of life was to be a Good Person™, L.P. must admit that either (i) there is no definition of “Good,” so each person (Hitler) is good if he acts in accordance with what he believes is good or (ii) there is an objective reality stemming from some universal truths indelibly written on the heart of each human. Second, L.P. alludes to the oft-cited complaint with religions that they each deny that other faiths provide a path to salvation. But L.P. is wrong: for example, the Catholic Catechism…Continue reading “Nones”