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Thomas James Farrell is professor emeritus of writing studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He started teaching at UMD in Fall 1987, and he retired from UMD at the end of May 2009. He was born in 1944. He holds three degrees from Saint Louis University (SLU): B.A. in English, 1966; M.A.(T) in English 1968; Ph.D.in higher education, 1974. On May 16, 1969, the editors of the SLU student newspaper named him Man of the Year, an honor customarily conferred on an administrator or a faculty member, not on a graduate student -- nor on a woman up to that time. He is the proud author of the book WALTER ONG'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO CULTURAL STUDIES: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE WORD AND I-THOU COMMUNICATION (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2000; 2nd ed. 2009, forthcoming). The first edition won the 2001 Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book in the Field of Media Ecology conferred by the Media Ecology Association. For further information about his education and his publications, see his UMD homepage: Click here to visit Dr. Farrell's homepage.
On September 10 and 22, 2009, he discussed Walter Ong's work on the blog radio talk show "Ethics Talk" that is hosted by Hope May in philosophy at Central Michigan University. Each hour-long show has been archived and is available for people who missed the live broadcast to listen to. Here are the website addresses for the two archived shows:
Friday, February 10, 2012 Contraception and the Mal-formed Consciences of Conservative Catholic Bishops (3 comments)
The conservative Catholic bishops are denouncing the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate. President Obama will probably cave in to the bishops' pressure for an expanded exemption from the contraception mandate. But he shouldn't. Instead, morally upright Americans should denounce the conservative Catholic bishops and their mal-formed consciences that we saw in the priest-sex-abuse scandal and cover up.
Saturday, January 14, 2012 President Obama Needs to Mourn (Review essay) (3 comments)
Dr. Justin A. Frank's book BUSH ON THE COUCH (rev. ed 2007) should be read alongside his new book OBAMA ON THE COUCH (2011) and alongside other books about grief work. Dr. Frank claims the George W. Bush is incapable of serious mourning. But Dr. Frank makes no such claim about Barack Obama. However, Dr. Frank identifies how President Obama needs to undertake serious mourning regarding nondeath losses in his early life.
Friday, December 30, 2011 Virginia Woolf's Example of Creative Non-Violent Resistance (Review) (2 comments)
Theodore Koulouris explores important new angles of Virginia Woolf's life and work in his book HELLENISM AND LOSS IN THE WORK OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (2011). Through her fiction and non-fiction, Virginia Woolf creatively worked through the losses in her life due to the deaths of important family members and also due to her gender in the historical context of her life. As a result, she lived a life of heroic non-violent resistance.
Sunday, December 25, 2011 How Do We Americans Work Out Our American Identity? (Review) (9 comments)
Keith D. Miller's timely new book is about Martin Luther King's last speech. If we consider Dr. King's final speech as a whole, as Miller does, then we can see that it is a rich addition to the ongoing creation of the American epic through which we Americans work out our American identity. People don't live on bread alone. Dr. King's final speech is a vital national treasure that can help bring Americans new life.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 Walter J. Ong's Reflections on Being an American (Review) (1 comments)
In his first book, FRONTIERS IN AMERICAN CATHOLICISM (1957), Walter J. Ong, S.J. (1912-2003), the American cultural theorist and religious thinker, addressed his fellow American Catholics. He urged them to reflect on their American identity. But certain points he makes about our personal and collective identity as Americans are worth sharing with non-Catholics and even with people who have no religious faith.
Thursday, December 8, 2011 Bercovitch on the American Self and the American Covenant (REVIEW) (2 comments)
With important elections coming up in 2012, liberals should arm themselves to fight the Republicans by reading Sacvan Bercovitch's history of the American Self (his capitalization) and the American covenant. Is the American covenant dead, or just dormant? If the Republican party wins the 2012 elections, the Republicans will keep the American covenant dormant, so that it will seem like its dead.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Harold Bloom and Walter Ong Can Help Us Formulate a More Rigorous Critique of Biblical Fundamentalism (1 comments)
In their op-ed piece in the New York Times titled "The Evangelical Rejection of Reason" (Oct. 17th), Karl W. Giberson and Randall J. Stephens are far too lenient in their critique of their fellow evangelical Protestants. A more rigorous critique of Protestant biblical fundamentalism is needed. Harold Bloom and the late Walter J. Ong, S.J., working independently of one another, provide us with ways of understand the Bible.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Justin Frank, M.D., Puts President Obama on the Couch (BOOK REVIEW) (7 comments)
How many OpEdNews readers are not disappointed in President Obama? For all the liberals who are disappointed in him, Justin Frank, M.D., himself a liberal who is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, has written a thought-provoking psychoanalysis of President Obama by using information in the public domain about him. Dr. Frank works with Melanie Klein's approach to analyzing aggression.
Friday, October 14, 2011 Alan Wolfe on Political Evil (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
Alan Wolfe has written a serious and sobering book about political evil, including totalitarianism, terrorism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the politics of countering political evil, or counter-evil. With the 2012 elections coming up next year, Wolfe's book can help us understand why it is important to elect Democratic candidates to Congress and re-elect President Obama.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Understanding the Hebrew Bible with the Help of Harold Bloom and Walter Ong (10 comments)
Yale's Harold Bloom is a Jew who no longer puts his trust in the monotheistic deity or in the covenant. Nevertheless, he has made some provocative observations about the Hebrew Bible. By drawing on the work of the American Jesuit cultural historian and cultural theorist Walter Ong, I hope to show how Bloom and Ong can help us deepen our understanding of the Hebrew Bible.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Donna Hicks on Dignity and Conflict Resolution (BOOK REVIEW) (1 comments)
By coincidence, Donna Hicks' new book about dignity and conflict resolution came out just as the debt-ceiling debate came to an end. President Obama excels at manifesting dignity for people. And he fancies himself to be talented at resolving conflicts. But his talent got him nowhere with the Tea Party Republicans in the debt-ceiling debate. Hicks' book can help us better understand both Obama and the Tea Party Republicans.
Sunday, August 7, 2011 Mayor Bloomberg's Bold New Initiative Is Magnanimous (3 comments)
Michael J. Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City, has undertaken a bold new initiative to try to assist about 315,000 black and Latino young men in the city. Mayor Bloomberg is providing a substantial amount of funding for the initiative from his own personal fortune. For the initiative to be effective, the young men will have to be willing to pull themselves up from their bootstraps. They will need courage to do this.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 More Americans Should Live Heroic Lives of Virtue (Review Essay) (3 comments)
For our American experiment in representative democracy to work optimally, we American citizens must strive to live heroic lives of virtue. Virtue is its own reward. For this reason, the pursuit of happiness is best understood as the pursuit of virtue. But how do we learn to live heroic lives in pursuit of virtue? First, we have to stop being anti-heroes. Next, we need to consider what the pursuit of virtue will require of us.
Monday, July 18, 2011 Robert Moore's Theory About the Structure of the Psyche (Review Essay) (2 comments)
Robert Moore has fleshed out an elaborate Jungian theory of the optimal self system that persons can have. His theory has great merit, even though he has not yet figured out how to operationalize it. Oddly enough, cultivating the four cardinal virtues and avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins can help us learn how to operationalize Moore's theory. I call this approach moral virtue in the service of psychological development.
Monday, July 11, 2011 Good American Citizens Should Be Noble, Not Ignoble Like Anti-Government Republicans (Review Essay) (2 comments)
President Ronald Reagan said that American government is the problem. But I say that Reagan and anti-government Republicans are the problem. Because they are anti-government, they are not fit to govern. Americans should find virtuous and noble Americans to govern. Our American government is for the common good. Thus government is good and necessary. But where are the virtuous and noble Americans we need in government?
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 Americans Should Study ARISTOTLE'S NICOMACHEAN ETHICS (Book Review) (1 comments)
Thomas Jefferson endorsed the idea of a natural aristocracy. But in his inaugural address President John F. Kennedy urged all American citizens to be aristocrats in this country by urging us not to ask what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country. Aristotle's NICOMACHEAN ETHICS can serve Americans today as a guidebook about how to be aristocrats in our representative democracy.
Friday, July 1, 2011 Why Americans Should Try to Understand Modernity as Walter Ong Understands It (3 comments)
Walter Ong's account of cultural history can help Americans understand modernity. Americans cheer for the spread of modern democracy, which emerged in modernity. Economic globalization appears to involve the spread of modern capitalism, which also emerged in modernity. The spread of Western-style universities spreads modern science, which also emerged in modernity. Ong's work can help us better understand modernity.
Saturday, June 25, 2011 Matthew Fox's Critique of the Roman Catholic Church (9 comments)
In his new book Matthew Fox develops a thorough critique of the Roman Catholic Church under recent the Polish pope and the current German pope because they have silenced and/or expelled so many valuable voices within the church. Fox highlights a few cases, including his own. But he moves toward a strong positive view of a possible future church.
Sunday, June 19, 2011 Charlene Spretnak's Anti-Modernity Book (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
In her new book, Charlene Spretnak, who comes from a Roman Catholic background (as I do also), works with a strong anti-modernity intellectual framework that happens to resemble the anti-modernity position of certain popes. Even though she is not explicitly advancing Roman Catholicism, her anti-modernity framework should be challenged.
Sunday, June 12, 2011 Three Cheers for American Exceptionalism! (4 comments)
President Obama and the different Republican presidential hopefuls have expressed their views regarding American exceptionalism. Even though I am not running for president, I have decided to set forth my view of American exceptionalism based on the work of the American cultural historian Walter J. Ong, S.J (1912-2003). I do this to challenge President Obama and the Republican presidential hopefuls to match or top my view.
Saturday, May 28, 2011 Susan Anderson Can Help Us Understand Disillusionment Regarding President Obama (BOOK REVIEW) (3 comments)
Susan Anderson's book THE JOURNEY FROM ABANDONMENT TO HEALING is about the loss of love in our personal love-life. But her account of the process of grief over the loss of love in our personal love-life can help us understand the loss of love in our political love-life. Many people who fell in love with Barack Obama in 2008 have been disillusioned by his performance as president.
Saturday, May 28, 2011 Too Many African Americans Are Murdered in the U.S. (2 comments)
Too many African Americans are murdered in the United States each year. The time has come for a concerted civic effort to turn the tide. My position is that enhancing the functional literacy rates among African Americans would be the most effective way to reduce the murder rate.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 In Defense of American Exceptionalism and Christian Social Ethics (BOOK REVIEW) (6 comments)
Unfortunately, we are living through an Ayn Rand revival. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who claims to be a Christian, is a great Ayn Rand fan. But Gary Dorrien's recent books about Christian social ethics can serve as a healthy antidote to the Ayn Rand revival. Indeed, his account of the American tradition of social ethics can help us Americans today to appreciate our American exceptionalism.
Monday, May 23, 2011 Cornel West Should Forgive President Obama for Allegedly Disrespecting Him (1 comments)
Cornel West alleges that President Obama has disrespected him. But we have not yet heard President Obama's side of the story. Nevertheless, Cornel West should forgive President Obama for allegedly disrespecting him, because Cornel West's criticisms help the Republican cause of criticizing and denigrating President Obama.
Sunday, May 22, 2011 In Defense of American Democratic Government and the Common Good (Against Anti-Government Republicans) (2 comments)
The time has come for President Obama and Democratic politicians to stand up to anti-government Republicans who admire Ayn Rand for championing self-centeredness and selfishness, as Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin does. American democratic government was formed to for the common good. But anti-government Republicans are against the common good because they favor deregulation and tax breaks for the wealthiest among us.
Thursday, May 19, 2011 In Defense of President Obama Against Cornel West (11 comments)
Cornel West has blasted President Obama for understandable reasons. To understand the reasons, we need to consider that President Obama has said that Reinhold Niebuhr was an important influence on his thought. In Niebuhrian terminology, Cornel West is very idealistic, but President Obama is trying to be realistic. As a result, Cornel West is understandably disappointed in President Obama.
Saturday, April 30, 2011 In Defense of President Obama's Education (Against the Silliness of Donald Trump and Andrew Breitbart) (3 comments)
Donald Trump has pivoted from the birther silliness to new silliness about President Obama's education at Columbia University and Harvard Law School. And the young bomb-throwing conservative Andrew Breitbart has joined Trump's silliness. However, unbeknownst to Trump and Breitbart, James T. Kloppenberg of Harvard University investigated Obama's education and has written about his education in his book READING OBAMA (2010).
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 No Remorse from the Enabler Catholic Bishops (2 comments)
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, published a strong critique of the media in a full-page ad in the NEW YORK TIMES on April 11th. He critiques the media coverage of the priest sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. He attributes alleged distorted media coverage to liberal ideology. But he is silent about the lack of remorse expressed by enabler bishops who transferred abusive priests.
Sunday, March 27, 2011 ALL THINGS SHINING Does Not Shine (BOOK REVIEW) (1 comments)
In their book ALL THINGS SHINING: READING THE WESTERN CLASSICS TO FIND MEANING IN A SECULAR AGE, Hubert Dreyfus in philosophy at Berkeley and Sean Dorrance Kelly in philosophy at Harvard review selected highlights of Western cultural history. But they are not familiar with Walter Ong's work about Western cultural history. As a result, Dreyfus and Kelly shed no new light on Western cultural history.
Thursday, March 17, 2011 James Carroll's Call to Arms (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
BOSTON GLOBE columnist James Carroll, a self-described practicing Catholic, has issued a call to arms to liberals and the Democratic party. He wants us to have a public discussion and debate about what good religion might be and what bad religion is and has been. To advance the discussion of bad religion, he has published another fine book setting forth his critical views of religion in Western cultural history.
Friday, March 4, 2011 Reflections on the Women-in-Science Debate (4 comments)
John Tierney's article in the NEW YORK TIMES has reignited the debate about women in science. In separate articles Alison Gopnik and Shankar Vedantam have analyzed Tierney's article in light of other studies. I draw on Walter J. Ong's insights about male agonistic behavior to further analyze points they advance regarding competitiveness and confidence in one's intellectual abilities, which are hard to measure.
Thursday, March 3, 2011 Was William Faulkner a Conservative Writer? No, Not Quite! (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
The new Gallup poll shows that Mississippi today has more self-described conservatives than any other state in the U.S. William Faulkner was born and raised in Mississippi and wrote about his home state in a fictional form. He is at times described on the Internet as a conservative writer. But a new book shows how and why he was not a conservative.
Thursday, February 24, 2011 In Defense of Invective and Name-Calling (Against Rob Kall) (6 comments)
In his February 19th editorial "How Angry Are You? Time To Channel and Say It Smartly," the estimable Rob Kall said, among other things, "We can't waste our time . . . calling right wingers names. . . . We must not call names." In response, I say that name-calling is OK, provided that it is not just vulgarities. Conservatives are crackpots, so we should denounce them for being crackpots.
Sunday, February 6, 2011 A Practicing Catholic Debates the Questionable Teachings of the Catholic Bishops Regarding Abortion (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
In his new book THE CHURCH AND ABORTION: A CATHOLIC DISSENT, George Dennis O'Brien (aka G. Dennis O'Brien) steps forward as a concerned practicing Catholic to debate the questionable teachings of the Catholic bishops regarding abortion. In light of the antiabortion anguish that the Catholic bishops have stirred up, even non-Catholics who are interested in the abortion debate might want to read O'Brien's dispassionate book.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 Has Susan Anderson Discovered the Big Breakthrough for Self-Help Therapy? (BOOK REVIEW) (1 comments)
In her new book TAMING YOUR OUTER CHILD, Susan Anderson claims that Outer Child work is very effective in helping people learn how to change their behavior. With so many of our fellow Americans in prison for misbehaving in one way or another, we should all hope that she is right. If she is, then Outer Child work could be a big breakthrough in self-help therapy.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Reflections on Grace Elizabeth Hale's A NATION OF OUTSIDERS (Book Review) (3 comments)
Grace Elizabeth Hale's A NATION OF OUTSIDERS can help us understand how white middle-class Americans in postwar America fell in love with imagining themselves to be outsiders. But the poor have endured as the genuine outsiders. The time has come for the Democratic party to work for the poor and to combat the outsider posturing of William F. Buckley, Jr., and radical conservatives in movement conservatism and the Tea Party.
Sunday, January 16, 2011 James Martin's Book About Spirituality (BOOK REVIEW) (1 comments)
James Martin, a young Jesuit, has written an accessible book about Jesuit spirituality. But the slogan of Jesuit spirituality is not "Finding Jesus in all things" but "Finding God in all things." As a result, non-Christians who believe in God, as 85 percent of Americans say they do, might profit from reading this rich book
Saturday, January 15, 2011 Reflections on Sarah Palin's Statement About the Tucson Tragedy (4 comments)
Sarah Palin's January 12th statement about the Tucson tragedy shows how limited her thought-world is. There are reasonable ways to defend Palin from certain criticisms. But her comments both about the shooter and about her critics show just how limited her thought-world is.
Friday, January 14, 2011 Who Was Marshall McLuhan, and Why Is He Important Today? (2 comments)
In addition to popularizing the expression the "global village" Marshall McLuhan has at least five books to his credit that still repay careful reading today. To be sure, he came up with his fair share of observations that should be rejected. But after we sort out the wheat from the chaff, he has offered us a lot of food for thought.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Reflections About Jared Lee Loughner and John Hinckley, Jr. (8 comments)
Jared Lee Loughner's deadly shooting spree in Tucson should remind us of John Hinckley's attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. Teenagers and young adults today need societal assistance in coming of age in the "global village" and learning socially acceptable behaviors.
Monday, January 3, 2011 The Questionable Ethical Teachings of the Catholic Bishops Regarding Abortion in the First Trimester Should Be Debated (3 comments)
The NEW YORK TIMES' editorial about the chilling effect of the actions of Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted makes a number of excellent points. But it stops short of debating the questionable ethical teachings of the Catholic bishops regarding abortion in the first trimester. But as the chilling example of Bishop Olmsted's actions shows, those teachings should be debated.
Monday, December 27, 2010 When God's Kingdom Comes (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
In his new book John Dominic Crossan analyzes and discusses Christianity's Lord's Prayer (aka the Our Father and the Abba Prayer). The prayer includes wording about God's will being done on earth as in heaven. When God's will is done on earth, then God's kingdom comes on earth. When God's kingdom comes on earth, then the people experience the end of the world as we know it. They experience heaven of earth or earth in heaven.
Thursday, December 23, 2010 Bishop Olmsted Is Wrong in the Abortion Controversy in Phoenix (8 comments)
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix is back in the news about an abortion performed in a Catholic hospital in Phoenix in November 2009. At that time, he second-guessed the medical and moral professionals involved in making the decision, and excommunicated the Catholics among them. Now he is making ridiculous demands on the hospital itself. But his basic moral reasoning about that abortion is wrong.
Sunday, December 19, 2010 American Exceptionalism: GOP Presidential Hopefuls Versus President Obama (2 comments)
The GOP presidentials hopefuls criticize one sentence of President Obama's view of American exceptionalism. But the view that he articulates in his full 300-word statement is realistic. However, the GOP presidential hopefuls seem to want to return to the heady triumphalism regarding American exceptionalism that has long characterized movement conservatism.
Monday, December 13, 2010 Reflections on Ian Morris' Book About the West and China (3 comments)
Ian Morris' book WHY THE WEST RULES -- FOR NOW is designed to alert the West about China. Walter J. Ong's account of the cultural history of the West can help strengthen Ian Morris' wake-up call about China. Perhaps Rob Kall should interview Ian Morris about China.
Sunday, December 12, 2010 Can There Be Bottom-Up Change Without Proverbs? (BOOK REVIEW) (1 comments)
Martin Luther King, Jr., was an effective agent of change in the United States. Wolfgang Mieder's new book about King shows how extensively King used proverbs and proverbial expressions in his sermonic rhetoric. Aspiring agents of change should follow his example and use proverbs and proverbial expressions in their speeches and talks.
Friday, November 26, 2010 When Will Winner-Take-All Politics End? (BOOK REVIEW) (2 comments)
Jacob S. Hacker of Yale and Paul Pierson of Berkeley have ably delineated the rise of winner-take-all politics. Radical conservatives are the bad guys who brought on this ignoble development. But the Democrats do not emerge as the good guys wearing white hats because they contributed to this ignoble development, although not as much as the radical conservatives did.
Monday, November 22, 2010 Reflections on James T. Kloppenberg's READING OBAMA: DREAMS, HOPE, AND THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION (1 comments)
In his new book about President Obama, James T. Kloppenberg deepens our understanding of Obama by situating him in the American tradition of political thought. But Obama's relative inarticulateness regarding abortion emerges in stark relief in this book. He needs to learn how to set forth a reasoned position regarding when specifically human life begins.
Friday, November 19, 2010 Is "Material Spirit" a Contradiction in Terms? No! (BOOK REVIEW) (13 comments)
Troels Engberg-Pedersen's account of pneuma (spirit) in Paul the Apostle's writings shows how atheists and agnostics can understand Paul to be writing about the "material spirit" and spirituality of materialists. You don't need to believe in God in order to have a spiritual life and hold certain moral values. Engberg-Pedersen's book should counter Ann Coulter's self-congratulatory book GODLESS.
Thursday, November 11, 2010 Dallas Bishop Kevin J. Farrell's Views About Abortion Are Unreasonable (1 comments)
After Southern Methodist University sent out the announcement that SMU Prof. Charles Curran would be presenting a public lecture critical of the U.S. Catholic bishops' challenges to abortion laws,Dallas Bishop Kevin J. Farrell (no relation) issued a detailed statement criticizing points in the announcement. But the bishop's stated views about abortion are unreasonable.
Thursday, November 11, 2010 Reflections on Paul Krugman's THE CONSCIENCE OF A LIBERAL (1 comments)
Liberals disheartened by the mid-term election results should read Paul Krugman's book THE CONSCIENCE OF A LIBERAL to help bolster their spirits to renew the good fight against conservatives.
Thursday, October 28, 2010 The Catholic Bishops Want No Debate About Sexual Morality (1 comments)
In 2008 two Catholic moral theologians published a book in which they carefully criticized traditional but not infallible Catholic teachings regarding sexual morality. But now the Catholic bishops have published a dismissive commentary on their book. Because of the prominence of Catholic moral teachings in public debate in this country, many Americans should read what the bishops have said and the book they dismiss.
Thursday, October 14, 2010 What's Wrong With Stanley Fish? (1 comments)
Commenting on cuts to the humanities at SUNY-Albany, Stanley Fish calls on university presidents and chancellors to defend the claims of the humanities in public discourse. But Fish himself does not defend the humanities in his opinion piece. Moreover, in his book SAVE THE WORLD ON YOUR OWN TIME (2008), he tries to debunk the over-arching goals that can be used to defend the humanities, for example, social justice.
Monday, September 6, 2010 An Open Letter to John Rickford of Stanford About the Ebonics Debate (1 comments)
Gary Simpkins' reading research shows that dialect readers help improve reading instruction for African American students. Of course reading is important for the aural-to-visual shift in cognitive processing that Walter Ong has described, which is involved in the actuation of cognitive potential.
Saturday, June 12, 2010 Celibacy Is Not the Heart of the Matter in the Priest Sex Abuse Scandal -- the Bishops Are! (3 comments)
James Carroll to the contrary notwithstanding, mandatory celibacy for diocesan priests is not the heart of the matter in the priest sex-abuse scandal -- the bishops are! Nevertheless, Carroll is right to call attention to the resistance to change in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy.
Monday, May 10, 2010 The Time Has Come to Resurrect Karen Horney's Way of Thinking About Neurotics (1 comments)
We should resurrect Karen Horney's way of thinking about neurotics. For both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are neurotics. As a result, we in the United States today are ruled by neurotics. Horney's discussion of eight neurotic solutions to our inner conflicts allows us to see which three characterize the neurotic Republicans in Congress and which five characterize the neurotic Democrats in Congress.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 Martha Nussbaum on Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (Book Review) (1 comments)
President Obama endorses career education. As a result philosopher Martha Nussbaum rises to defend the humanities in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education by explaining why democracy needs the humanities. But Obama's career education doesn't need the humanities. So we should have a national debate about Nussbaum's claims and Obama's endorsement of career education.
Monday, April 19, 2010 Pope Benedict Speaks About Penance, But Without Any Specifics! (2 comments)
At a Mass closed to the public, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about penance. But he "didn't specifically mention priest sex abuse" or specific actions by bishops or specific penance. He did quote Peter the Apostle on the "need to obey God instead of men." So I would urge Roman Catholics and others not to obey the men in the Vatican about abortion in the first trimester, because they do not have a monopoly on moral reasoning.
Monday, April 12, 2010 Hold on There, Robert Samuelson! Let's Think This Through!
In his NEWSWEEK column, Robert J. Samuelson has denigrated what he styles "the politics of self-esteem." But the rhetorical tendency involved in what he describes is a tendency associated with what Aristotle refers to as epideictic rhetoric, civic rhetoric about values -- not self-esteem. Proposed legislation usually involves competing goods. As a result, debates about the various values involved are inevitable.
Sunday, April 11, 2010 Let Us Never Forget the Confederacy and Slavery! (15 comments)
Governor Robert McDonnell of Virginia has proclaimed April as Confederacy History Month. Indeed, all Americans should remember the Confederacy and the sophistical arguments advanced to defend slavery.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 Whereforth Are Thou, Harvard? (1 comments)
To turn the terrible tide of political and cultural conservatism that has plagued the United States during the last four decades, we need to renew not only political liberalism, but also liberal arts college education against the inroads of professional education, including specialist graduate education in liberal arts fields. Therefore, I call of the faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard to lead us in the needed renewal.
Saturday, April 3, 2010 Not For Profit, Eh? Hold on There, Martha Nussbaum! (1 comments)
Martha Nussbaum's forthcoming new book NOT FOR PROFIT: WHY DEMOCRACY NEEDS THE HUMANITIES has a terrible title. According to her title, I studied philosophy and English not for profit, even though I thought I was profiting from them. I hope that readers disregard the title of her book but profit from reading it.
Thursday, April 1, 2010 Whitmire's Book WHY BOYS FAIL Delineates the Problem, but Not the Solution (3 comments)
Richard Whitmire's new book WHY BOYS FAIL delineates the problem, but not the solution. No Child Left Behind is not the solution. But the basic solution has been set forth by David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson is their textbook for teachers entitled CREATIVE CONTROVERSY: INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGE IN THE CLASSROOM.
Sunday, March 14, 2010 Who Was Walter Ong, and Why Is His Thought Important Today? (1 comments)
I want to sing the Song of Walter Jackson Ong, S.J. (1912-2003). His thought is important for people today to understand, so that we can get our bearings about Western culture in the world today. Had Samuel Huntington understood Ong's thought about Western cultural development, he could have used Ong's thought to deepen and strengthen his clash-of-civilizations thesis. The clash of cultures is inevitable, but violence is not.
Thursday, March 11, 2010 The Clash of Cultures Is Inevitable, but Violence May Not Be
With economic globalization, modern Western capitalism and the culture of capitalism are making inroads in pre-modern parts of the world today. In addition, U.S. foreign policy is promoting modern Western democracy and the culture of democracy in pre-modern parts of the world today. As a result, the clash of cultures is inevitable, but violence may not be.
Thursday, March 11, 2010 With Pluck American Liberals Should Fight Today's Conservatives
American liberals today should strengthen their inner-directedness and idealism and optimism and adaptability, so that they can effectively fight the conservative challenges of our time. With pluck and a little luck, liberals should be able to prevail against today's conservatives.
Sunday, March 7, 2010 Garry Wills Wants Liberals to Fight the Good Fight Against the National Security State
I hope that American liberals will heed Garry Wills' call to fight the good fight against the National Security State that conservatives have instituted. The National Security State overthrows our American way of life. So liberals should get their act together and muster the political courage to stand up and defend our American way of life against the conservative onslaught of the National Security State.
Saturday, February 27, 2010 A Reply to the New Vatican Document about "New Age" Spirituality
The male chauvinists in the Vatican are once again up to no good in the new Vatican document about "New Age" spirituality. The male chauvinists in the Vatican try to rally conservative Roman Catholics to continue to believe the myths of orthodox Christianity because the male chauvinists in the Vatican want conservative Catholics to continue to support them in the lifestyle they've grown accustomed to.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 David Brooks, James Cameron's "Avatar," and the Evil American Empire Abroad (1 comments)
The New York "Times" columnist David Brooks finds James Cameron's movie about a white messiah figure offensive. In the movie "Avatar" a turncoat Marine leads the highly romanticized natives against the evil empire of the whites. But we should not allow ourselves to be distracted by Brooks' quibbles about political correctness. The American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are going to have to be stopped by Americans.
Thursday, December 17, 2009 Stop American Evil, President Obama! (1 comments)
For humanitarian reasons, President Obama should stop American involvement in the supposedly humanitarian wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Too many people have already been killed in these two unjust wars. But the two top al Qaeda criminals still have not been captured and brought to justice.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 What Kind of Man Are You, President Obama -- Another LBJ?
President Obama is escalating American involvement in the war in Afghanistan, just as President Johnson escalated the war in Vietnam. But Obama should stop following LBJ's example and start following President Kennedy's example of resisting military ventures. Just as LBJ's war in Vietnam was a hopeless cause, so too Obama's war in Afghanistan is a hopeless cause.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 Dawkins' Atheism Is OK, But So Is Theism (2 comments)
Richard Dawkins' militant atheism does not rebut attacks on evolutionary theory. Instead, his attacks of religious faith in God are tantamount to changing the subject. We Americans should allow not only freedom of religion but also freedom from religion for atheists such as Dawkins. But attacks on evolutionary theory should be vigorously rebutted, as James H. Fetzer has rebutted them in his book "Render Unto Darwin" (2007).
Friday, November 13, 2009 Archbishop Burke: No Communion or Church Funeral for Pro-Choice Catholics
Archbishop Raymond Burke and his followers want to punish pro-choice Catholics by denying them communion and a church funeral. But the time has come for Catholics and others to think through the dubious moral premises of the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion, before the Senate limits legalized abortion on demand in the first trimester, as the House health care bill does.
Friday, November 13, 2009 Bishop Tobin Is Un-American for Denouncing U.S. Rep. Kennedy (3 comments)
In a public letter Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Rhode Island has denounced U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy for disagreeing with the Catholic Church's teaching against abortion. But this is not an infallible teaching, because it has not been promulgated as an infallible teaching. As a result, it can be questioned and challenged by American Catholics, including Re. Kennedy.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Speak Up for the Health Care Bill, President Obama!
President Obama should speak up more strongly for the health care bill. This bill is one way for the federal government to lend a helping hand to those among us who need a helping hand with health care coverage. Obama should speak up more strongly to rally voter support for the bill.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Congress Should Pass Public Funding for Abortion in the First Trimester
Conception without the woman's consent is tantamount to rape. As a result, legalized abortion in the first trimester should stand as the law of the land, and it should be legally supported through public funding.
Friday, November 6, 2009 Is the New York Times Anti-Catholic for Publishing Maureen Dowd's Criticisms of the Catholic Church?
Maureen Dowd published certain criticisms of the Catholic Church's "unassailable patriarchy" in her regular column in the New York Times under the title "The Nuns' Story." But the archbishop of New York has charged the Times with being anti-Catholic. But it is fair for the Times to publish criticisms of practices of the Catholic Church under certain circumstances.
Saturday, October 10, 2009 Why Obama Should Shun the Pope's Views on Abortion (1 comments)
President Obama and members of Congress should shun the pope's views on abortion and shun the Catholic bishops' objections to the health-care bill because their objections are based on the pope's views on abortion.
