Saturday, March 22, 2003

•••Nagging Begging Question Talking with Bryan of JCD a few weeks back, a thought occurred to me that I've not been entirely able to resolve. Maybe some of you would like to chew on it, a bit of armchair existentialism and ethics: Was it wrong for Alexander to be "the Great"? [update and clarification] My question seems a little vague, perhaps. What I'm trying to get at with the question -- the question behind my question -- is: Why is imperialism wrong? As one who spends much of my time in active listening to parties with the tendency to talk past one another, I hear the assertion is oft made "Imperialism is wrong" as a point of assumed dogma. I am honestly curious as to the *thinking* and *reasoning* behind the position. Let it be clearly said and understood, kind reader, I'm not meaning to suggest or assert the antithesis (Imperialism is right). I think that people who oppose the war on grounds that this is "American imperialism" might be well served to better articulate a clear definition of imperialism, as well as that path by which one arrives at the reasoned conclusion that imperialism is wrong.   12:39:25 PM   googleit 141     itemlink->

•••Church, World and War Kudos to the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod for putting together some fine FREE resources addressing many of the significant theological issues related to the war. Concordia Publishing House, our denominational publishing entity, has a great collection of PDF files available for download. The inclusion of some guidelines for talking with children, and some of the suggested activities were particularly well done. I'm also delighted to find an excerpt from Gene E. Veith's thoughtful and stimulating book Christianity in An Age of Terrorism called The Cross at Ground Zero.   12:26:15 PM   googleit 140     itemlink->