A Thinking Reed

  • What kind of populism?

    The premise of this Newsweek article is that Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is poised to become the leader of a bloc of conservative Senate Democrats–who, not coincidentally, are up for reelection in 2012–in opposing aspects of President Obama’s “progressive agenda.” Webb, we’re told, is a “Jacksonian populist” who thinks that Democrats don’t pay enough attention…

  • Toward a Christian affirmation of religious pluralism

    Over the holiday weekend I read Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki’s Divinity and Diversity: A Christian Affirmation of Religious Pluralism. Though it only clocks in at about 120 pages, it’s one of the better books I’ve read on the subject. Suchocki, professor emerita of the Claremont School of Theology and a noted process and feminist theologian, takes…

  • Friday Metal: Always thankful for Black Sabbath

  • Giving thanks?

    Obviously, if you’re going to eat meat this is the way to do it. Still, I’ve always found the idea of “giving thanks” to an animal when you kill it to be kind of weird and self-serving. After all, it’s not like the animal has a choice. (Video at the link is fairly graphic.)

  • The German miracle?

    Mixing social democratic values with Jimmy Stewart localism, Germany’s economy is running rings around America’s. “What we have here is stakeholder capitalism, not shareholder capitalism,” says Hubner. And like most mittelstand [i.e., a family-owned small and mid-size manufacturing firm] owners, he adds: “I live where my company is located. I want a good image in…

  • But I thought he was the new Hitler!

    Looks like Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be on the way out.

  • Things to be thankful for

    My friend Chris Hayes guest-hosted Rachel Maddow’s show last night and did a cool segment on things to be thankful for in American public life. You can watch it here.

  • Revolt of the elites

    The American Prospect’sAdam Serwer has a good piece on the recent anti-TSA backlash, noting that the American public’s ire has only been aroused at government infringements on personal liberty now that it seems to be affecting solid middle-class (read: economically privileged, white, non-Muslim) citizens. The amount of freedom Americans have handed over to their government…

  • Is universal vegetarianism (or veganism) possible?

    In his interesting book Beyond Animal Rights, philosopher Tony Milligan considers, among other questions, whether the whole world could be vegetarian (or vegan). If not, this could be considered a strike against these two dietary choices. The problem, he argues, is that we need to transition to a more ecologically sustainable system of food production,…

  • Lutheranism for beginners

    I have a good friend who just joined a Lutheran church. He’s been reading the collection of Luther’s basic theological writings edited by Timothy Lull, et al., but he asked me for some suggestions for further reading on Lutheranism and Lutheran theology. This is the list I sent him, which, while shaped by my own…