A euphemism is a figure of speech that substitutes a cultured or less offensive term for an offensive one. Everybody uses this figure of speech. It is so common that we hardly think about it. Every time you say “I am going to the bathroom,” you are using a euphemism that substitutes the report of what you actually intend to do with the room that you intend to do it in. There’s nothing wrong with euphemisms per se as they enable us to suffuse our speech with a certain decorum and respect.
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George W. Bush: God’s Whipping Boy?
I am fast becoming a big fan of S. M. Hutchens of Touchstone Magazine. Mr. Hutchens’ writes with an uncommon wit and insight that you just don’t see very often. In a recent post on Touchstone’s “Mere Comments” blog, Mr. Hutchens argues that liberals hate George W. Bush because they view him as a proxy for God. The essay is titled “God’s Whipping Boy,” and it says,
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Michael Gerson on the New Social Gospel
Michael Gerson, former speech writer and policy adviser to President Bush, has written an important essay for Newsweek titled “A New Social Gospel.” The topic of the article is summed up nicely in the subtitle, “Many evangelicals are chafing at the narrowness of the religious right. A new faith-based agenda.”
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Grieving over and Praying for a Fallen Pastor
You cannot have missed the sad news about the former President of the National Association of Evangelicals and Pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I haven’t written about it until now because I simply could not have an opinion about a situation that I know so little about. The first couple of days of reporting included little more than speculation and the transmission of hearsay. But as of today, the picture has become fairly clear. The overseers at New Life Church issued a statement yesterday announcing the ouster of their pastor, and a letter from the pastor was read to the congregation today. Among other things,…
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Wayne Grudem on President Bush
Thanks to Justin Taylor for bringing our attention to Dr. Wayne Grudem’s “Memo on prayer and the Nov. 7 election.” In this memo, Grudem gives an extended explanation of how he prays and why he is thankful for President George W. Bush. Grudem writes, Overall I am so very very thankful for an outstanding, I think excellent President. He has done right. And he is changing world history in a right direction,
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Losing Santorum Is a Loss for the Country
Someone asked me several months ago who I favored for President in ’08. I told him Senator Rick Santorum would be my pick. I meant it then, and I still feel that way now. It seems to me that there are too few politicians who successfully bring their faith to bear upon their politics in a way that is consistent with a Christian worldview. In my view, Rick Santorum is one of the few who does it and who does it well.
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Barney Fife and the Lighter Side of Politics
With all the acrimony and politicking going on these days, maybe this would be a good time for a little instruction from Deputy Barney Fife. He’ll learn you a thing or two about Constitutional government! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgLYXwz0rJ0
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“Halp Us Jon Carry!”
Despite Senator John Kerry’s insulting remarks about U.S. soldiers in Iraq (see previous post), I’m glad to see that our G.I. Joe’s haven’t lost their sense of humor. The New York Post has the story about the picture: “GI’s Drop Smart Bomb on Kerry.”
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John Kerry: I Was for the Troops before I Was against Them
In a speech on Monday, Senator John Kerry implied that only uneducated dullards end up fighting for the U.S. in Iraq, saying “Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” In a subsequent news conference, Kerry refused to apologize for the comment, saying that his remarks were just a “botched joke” (source). It turns out that no one is laughing, and now Kerry has the American Legion calling for an apology even as a Democrat congressman complains, “I guess Kerry wasn’t content…
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Santorum: The Pro-life Candidate
Not long ago, I wrote about Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s re-election bid and his debate with his Democrat challenger Bob Casey on “Meet the Press.” This campaign has been an interesting one to watch if for no other reason than that both candidates are ostensibly pro-life. But the “Meet the Press” debate revealed that Bob Casey is not a principled pro-lifer, as it became clear that Casey does not support the right to life from conception to natural death.