The Wife and Mother
a poem
A poem by Theodore Venables, to H. J. Hopewell. Psalm 146.
Theodore Venables | 24 Sep 2021 | 0 comments
The Wife and Mother
Six Limericks Written on an iPhone
In big data we trust
Original verse on new tech and its creators, by Theodore Venables.
Theodore Venables | 15 Sep 2021 | 0 comments
Sheep-Kickers and Other Turncoats We Have Known
Regrouping when our champions fall
Even our favorite thinkers and leaders may fail. Thinking through why they do can help us hold onto hope and find ways forward. This article looks at ideology as an infection, offers warning signs for flakiness, and draws lessons from recent Christians who have turned on their faith communities because of the culture wars.
Theodore Venables | 25 Apr 2021 | 0 comments
On Showing Honor
Rethinking Mental Frameworks and Southern Honor Culture
An essay responding to David French’s treatment of white evangelicals and honor culture in the South.
H. J. Hopewell | 10 Mar 2021 | 1 comment
You have to live with your mind your whole life. You build your mind, so make it into something you want to live with.
Arguments for quietism are ancient, and have already been dealt with. Sayers’s play about Constantine needs a revival. From her introduction: “If the Gospel was to be ‘preached unto every creature,’ then Christianity must some day cease to be the cult of a minority, and the power of purse and sword must eventually pass into Christian hands—as indeed the Lord himself had told his disciples that they must.”
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Emperor Constantine
Theodore Venables | 24 Sep 2021 Read more
A good dissection of one category of turncoats—the most zealous of the sheep-kickers, with more names, and more disturbing details. They really are of a piece. Poor Audrey Assad.
Mike Duran: The Spiritual Wasteland of Ex-Evangelicalism
Theodore Venables | 5 May 2021 Read more
A thoughtful and personal response to a potentially trivial news item. Reminds me of Jennifer Roback Morse’s story of her mother-in-law’s death. How we grow old, and with whom, is not trivial. And, of course, money can’t buy respect, or love.
Stephen McAlpine: We need to grow old together
Theodore Venables | 5 May 2021 Read more
Who sets your mental agenda? Wilfred Reilly asks a good question: “Is this something that I would even notice exists, if people were not telling me to panic about it?”
Wilfred Reilly: A very basic question to ask
Theodore Venables | 26 Apr 2021 Read more
I touch on fame (and focus on calumny) in my piece on turncoats. The peril is real. Those who reject orthodoxy are sadly predictable.
George Weigel: Hans Küng and the Perils of Fame
Theodore Venables | 23 Apr 2021 Read more
This is one of the most important distinctions: “The existence of racism … does not validate every diagnosis of its cause [or] every prescription for its eradication.”
Giles Udy: How Critical Race Theory Captured the Church
Theodore Venables | 21 Apr 2021 Read more