This evening Robert Novak spoke during our dinner at the Defending the American Dream Summit. Yes, I know what some of you are thinking who routinely read my blog. It has not been long since I said of Novak that as he has aged (he is 76) he has gradually stopped doing research and reporting and instead has become a gossip columnist. (And, yes I made a similar claim about the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund who will be speaking to us tomorrow.) But, let me tell you, Novak’s speech this evening and the Q&A session afterwards were both insightful and interesting.
One of the advantages of spending several hours on the highway every day is that I get a chance to listen to lots of recorded lectures and sermons. Today I listened to four of Pete Briscoe’s sermons preached back in May and June of 2007. They were part of his Turning a Kind Eye series and were on the topics of Darfur, The War In Iraq, Abortion, and the Environment.
All four were artfully woven together and Biblically tight. It made me think of a definition of “rhetoric” offered by Agricola. He referred to rhetoric as “the utility of truth.”
All four can be found in the Bent Tree sermon archives. Check them out and let me know what you think.
Historical perspective, political and current event analysis, personal memoir, and Biblical exegesis; — what’s not to like? I finished listening to the seven-disc audio book and immediately started over with disc one again. There was just too much good information to take it all in the first time around.
This week I was privileged to have a hero set through one of my classes. He was a soldier, the husband of one of my students, home for a short leave before returning to Iraq. Yes, I consider him a hero. I consider all of our soldiers heroes who put their lives on the line to protect freedom and democracy.
I am appalled by the behavior towards our soldiers of many of those who disagree with the war in which we now find ourselves engaged. It is possible to debate whether or not the war on terror which is being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan is a just war. Honorable people can disagree. However, honorable people should honor our troops regardless of their opinion of the war.
On the other hand, I am also impressed by the tremendous outpouring of support from every imaginable source; school children send letters of support, communities provide care for family members left here at home, books are collected and mailed, and prayers are offered up to God for their protection and well-being.
Many businesses with social consciences have also participated in supporting our troops. One such business is Larson Electronics located in Kemp, Texas which operates magnalight.com . They have been donating hid lights to units in Iraq which are charged with clearing IEDs at night.
On Sunday’s This Week television show, John McCain stated that Americans are not so concerned about how long we stay in Iraq as they are about the loss of life. I am grateful to Larson Electronics for doing what they can go help prevent the loss of American lives.
