Lions and Eagles

Heard on the radio this morning that the latest scare is the possibility of people on terrorist watch lists being able to legally buy guns. I understand the worry, really I do. The people on those lists are supposed to be potentially really bad guys, and if there's any one we want to keep away from guns, it would be the really bad guys. But before we jump on board with this, please let me present a couple of reasons to think twice about using terrorist watch lists in this way. First, what are these watch lists exactly? My understanding is that they aren't lists of people who have already done something bad. They are lists of people who are suspected of being likely to try something really bad in the future. Like Tom Cruise in The Minority Report, our protectors in law enforcement want to catch the crime before it happens. But unlike Tom Cruise, we don't have a trio of bathing precious to give us indisputable evidence from the future. We don't know what will happen, or...

A responsible nation takes care for the integrity of its borders.  Just as a responsible homeowner takes care that windows and doors can be closed securely.  Not that doors have to be locked all the time if the neighborhood is safe. But just letting complete strangers come and go without knowing who they are or what they're doing is asking for trouble. Even if a cop or city worker comes to your door,  you check to make sure that they are wearing the right uniform and carrying the right credentials,  and you don't let them wander around without knowing where they are.  That's not racism or paranoia,  that's basic responsibility. This metaphor extends to the Syrian refugee situation. Someone comes to your door claiming to be afraid for their life. Might be a neighbor you know,  might be a stranger. Might be an abused spouse,  or depending on the neighborhood, someone running from a gang fight. You want to help, but will helping put your family in d...

We're deep in the Presidential primary season for next year. Some candidates have dropped out already, most are still standing. I believe there are currently sixty possible final face-offs between Democrat and Republican that we might see next year. I'd like to focus on just a few. I call them the "Not Again" race, two "This Should Be Good" races, and the "What The...?" race. Not Again I've been around nearly four decades now. I cannot remember a full four-year term when a person named Bush or Clinton was either President, or working directly for the President. From the first time I remember knowing anything about the country, George H. W. Bush was Vice President. Then, he was President. He was followed by Clinton. Who was followed by Bush. Who was followed by... some guy who hired another Clinton as Secretary of State. I am tired of Bush and Clinton. I don't particularly trust either one of them. I don't believe that either one ...

It's about that time of year when I look at the ballots in my area, and with the power of the internet, find out what's really going on with elections both local and national, and figure out for whom I want to vote. This time around, it happens that the only elections going on are -very- local, and the only seats I have to vote for are the Mayor of Tyrone and one seat on the Town Council. But local matters a lot. So, here goes.

One of my Facebook friends started a conversation inspired by this article  on ideas that Theatres should take up for their survival. The full thread is here . I just wanted to capture one of my own contributions: On supporting artists with our paychecks, I think the best we can do is to fight the economic culture of debt and dependency that we have. Help people learn to get out of debt and build personal wealth, not as a goal in and of itself, but as a means towards the end of enabling more generous giving. I'm a big Dave Ramsey fan, and he talks a lot about giving as the end goal of achieving economic freedom. We've got some great theatre programs for teaching physical health, and mental health. Why not have some support for personal financial health? That's my radical idea. While we're at it, teach aspiring artists to treat student debt like poison. Get an education, but don't get into debt for it. As far as tax dollars, I'm going to make myself very un...

I recently ran across an article by a Presbyterian minister on 10 political things one supposedly cannot do while following Jesus. While I respect the author's viewpoints and even praise some of his motivations, I did personally find the article to be very heavily weighted towards one side of the political aisle. In order to offer a counterbalance, I thought I might offer my own list of 10 more political things, as seen from a different perspective. This will get long, but I'll ask you to bear with me. I feel it's very important to be clear not only with what I am saying, but also with what I am very specifically not saying. 10) Allow public expressions of faith to be silenced If you have good news, the best news in the world, do you not want to share it? If the news you have may save countless lives, are you not obligated to share it? The Gospel is Good News. Indeed, we have a Great Commission from our Lord himself to spread his News to every tribe, every tongue, every...

This is for all my theatre friends in the Atlanta/Fulton County area. Now if you know me, you know that I love theatre. I have been onstage, backstage, in the box office, on a theatre board, and many, many times just in the audience. I married a beautiful actress that I met while doing Shakespeare, and many of my dearest friends are theatre folk. I've been excited to support community theatre, professional theatre, educational theatre, puppetry, dance, and more. This is about the news that the Fulton County Arts Council almost lost their funding from the county recently. At the recent County Commission meeting, it came down to a decision between supporting the actors or new beds for the women's prison, and it looks like some of those ladies are just going to have to sleep on the floor for a bit. So, if you're a woman in Fulton County, try not to go to jail, okay? You know that I love and support the arts. At the same time, my wife and I have been listening to a lot ...