Andy Unedited
Exploring Books, Life, and Writing
Most of us think of ourselves as reasonable, rational human beings who make decisions and come to conclusions using facts and logic. I know I do. That’s also what Langdon Gilkey thought of himself and his two thousand fellow prisoners in a Japanese detention camp during World War II. He was amazed to find out …
In December 2000 a story appeared in several British newspapers, including The Guardian, about a man in New York, George Turklebaum, who had been dead at his office desk for five days . . . and no one noticed! Coworkers at “the publishing-services company” often passed by his cubicle and said hi without it registering …
Fifteen years ago Sandy and Jim invited us and three other couples to form a neighborhood book club. We’ve been meeting ever since. We rotate hosting our get-togethers, with the hosts selecting the book and leading the discussion. Without trying, our books (and occasional movies) have been split almost evenly between fiction and non-fiction. We’ve …
We the Fallen People 6 Original sin is not a popular notion. You sure won’t find Oprah supporting it. The idea that we are born with a tendency to do wrong, to be selfish, to ignore the common good is just downright unAmerican. As McKenzie notes in We the Fallen People, “A New York Times …
OK. You want to convince teens who don’t use sunscreen that they really should. How do you go about it? Do you marshal facts about skin cancer? Explain how ultraviolet rays work? Add arguments about increases to health care costs? Then offer examples that support your case? When we want to persuade someone, our tendency …
A Lenten Reflection Why would God need the cross to forgive us? Isn’t he powerful and merciful enough that he could just have declared us forgiven and reconciled? Why would Jesus have to die? This is a point Muslims sometimes make. In fact, they say the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 backs …
We the Fallen People 5
Should religion and politics mix? Many today decry the involvement of “evangelicals” while others hail their impact. Religion has always had an influence. But are there better ways and worse ways to do it? In the 1830s Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his classic Democracy in America that the clergy wielded extraordinary and positive influence …
We the Fallen People 4
What has made democracy in America work despite its drawbacks? One weakness Alexis de Tocqueville noted in his classic Democracy in America sounds all too familiar today. In the 1830s he saw that the most noble and qualified people were seldom elected. Instead those who won office often bowed to the lower impulses of the …
We the Fallen People 3
You’ve seen the surveys. Most people think they are more friendly, more intelligent, more honest than average—an obvious impossibility. We have a hard time seeing ourselves objectively. We are just too close, and too likely to accentuate our virtues and minimize our weaknesses. It’s true of groups (sometimes called ethnocentrism) as well as individuals. How …
A publishing consultant, a friend told me, said that a nonfiction book title should hit the felt need of readers. He wondered what I thought. Felt need is an important consideration. The better we know our audience, the better we will be able to identify the concerns they have on the job, in the home, …