Wandering Elder

With little fanfare, Marvel and Netflix have released The Punisher  series.  In keeping with the dark mood of Daredevil and Luke Cage, the Punisher is a heavy show to watch.  But it gets a little tedious and tends to drag as well as ask the question, "How much blood can one man loose and still not require major surgery?" Of course this is still a comic book character and things don't have to work like they might in, say, a Jason Bourne movie.  A great example of that would be the inept federal agents that repeatedly can't seem to comprehend that a building might have more than one exit (they might want to apply for a job with the FBI on The Blacklist ). The character of the Punisher was better in Daredevil.  The juxtaposition of the two characters made for some really interesting dialogue as well as prompting the ideological debate about violence and justice.  Without that foil, the Punisher comes across rather wooden. The first episode was the best, ...

Allegations are just that.  Sometimes they are strong sometimes they are weak.  But they are allegations.  I believe they should be investigated and then  once the evidence is in, the verdict rendered.  I know that sometimes I sound as if I think politicians should bow out based on allegations.  I have to admit I am not always sure about that.  Perhaps it depends on the allegation and the severity of it.  I mean, wouldn't it behoove our political landscape if people had to suspend their campaigns until things were cleared up?  Of course I know, given our political landscape, that the "clearing up" probably wouldn't happen in a timely manner and would become another means of political warfare. But they should be addressed.  They should not, however, be the means of judgment.  Allegations should begin the process.  And that applies across the board.  Our rush to judgment is something of a sad commentary on the nature o...

So, the inevitable blowback seems to be beginning. With the RNC backing Roy Moore (while also calling for Sen. Franken to step down), we begin to see the powers wanting to keep their power regardless of the obvious nature of "flexible" standards that apply when needed and don't apply when they would cause the party to lose power. We are seeing the in news the strange spectacle of Billy Bush being fired while Donald Trump remains president.  Ted Cruz calls for Al Franken to step down while defending Roy Moore.  Democrats push to have John Conyers to step down while the GOP doesn't do the same for Moore (any more).  Perhaps because to do so would put them in an awkward position of having to hold people accountable to the same set of standards. And then we have the great stories about Wes Goodman, congressman from Ohio who was an anti-LGBT conservative who was caught having sex in his office...with another man. And one of Trump's former Oklahoma campaign mana...

According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, telling the truth is both a matter of moral character and "a matter of correct appreciation of real situations and of serious reflection upon them."  I do not wish to minimize Bonhoeffer by utilizing only this quote or idea.  His essay, What is meant by 'telling the truth'?  is one that is meritorious of study and reflection.  What I do  wish to address is the simple profundity and lucid yet almost foreign idea of telling the truth. With the ascension of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States, lies and falsehoods have become so frequent and so often passed off as the truth that truth itself finds short shrift in the fact that the task of simply pointing out and naming the lies has become a full time task.  Refutation and argument have little time to take place before a new list of fabrications arise. While I don't agree much in Rod Dreher's book The Benedict Option , I do find that his statement about Trump...

There is a saying that you have to strike while the iron is hot.  Apparently now is the time to strike on issues of sexual harassment.  Let me be clear.  Strike away! It is a little overwhelming to hear day after day new allegations, and the scope and severity are just as bad.  Perhaps though, and this is just perhaps, we as a country have finally awoken to an issue (would that we could react as quickly on issues of race and violence). I find it interesting that allegations  are enough to end careers (except for some  politicians and public figures it seems).  I do have a little bit of a problem with that.  Only because allegations are just that: allegations.  Yet the fact that some actors have quit roles and shows just over allegations seems to me to be some kind of declaration of guilt.  Perhaps, and again - perhaps, we are coming to a point where we can actually learn to value  persons as persons and not sexualize or obje...

A few days ago, I was walking down the street and was approached by an older woman who, very pleasantly I might add, handed me a small folded piece of paper.  "God bless you," she said as she then turned her attention to the person walking behind me. So far as being handed something by someone, it was perhaps one of the nicer ones I have experienced.  No plea, no questions. But as I read the paper she handed me, I found that I suddenly had a whole raft of questions. The piece of paper was a "Personal Invitation...to you."  It was "From, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd." Ok. So I read on.  And in reading on I became aware of the fact that had I not  already had a background in the Christian faith, I would possibly have been very confused or bewildered by the passages on the inside of the folded paper. For example, the first part of the paper read as follows: "...who is called [apparently this is supposed to follow the opening line...

Thor:Ragnarok is wonderful.  It is brightly colored and filmed expertly, the story is fun, the humor is great, and the action is fulfilling. Thor:Ragnarok is terrible.  It looks like a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, the story is a poor attempt to do a Hulk movie - in particular the Planet Hulk story, the humor detracts from the emotional punch the movie could  have had, and the action seems to cover some unfortunate plot holes. So, Thor: Ragnarok is up for grabs, comic fans. All in all, I did enjoy it.  I found it to be a far better sequel than the second entry, "The Dark World" which had a great plot, but then went off key by trying to pull a fast one with the Loki story, a story that was more or less ended in the Ragnarok story, though somewhat unconvincingly.  Odin had Loki hide him so he could die in peace?  "Oh, and by the way, I forgot to tell you boys that when I die it is all going to fall apart.  And you have a sister.  That I locked...