Monthly Archives: May 2011

Let Me Not Love Thee If I Love Thee Not

By Robin Bates | Published: May 22, 2011

In threatening God that he will find another master, George Herbert sounds like a five-year-old threatening to run away from his mother. Deep down, he is acknowledging that he has no choice but to love God.

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Bulls vs. Heat, a Homeric Battle

By Robin Bates | Published: May 21, 2011

I designate the Miami Heat as the Greeks in Homer’s Iliad. After all, they represent a kind of dream team, kings from different city states coming together to seek glory. The Bulls are like the Trojans in that they have only one top-tier fighter. Derrick Bell is their Hector.

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Vote for My Budget or I’ll Shoot Myself

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2011

Threats by Congressional Republicans to vote against raising the debt ceiling limit—which would result in the United States defaulting on what it owes–reminds me of the scene in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles where the black sheriff (Cleavon Little) threatens to shoot himself.

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George Orwell and Waterboarding

By Robin Bates | Published: May 19, 2011

An indication that defenders are not entirely at peace with the practice is their use of a euphemisms. They don’t call waterboarding “torture,” even though the U.S. used to call it torture and it has generally been considered torture since the Spanish Inquisition used it. They instead call it “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Anyone who knows George Orwell’s 1984 recognizes this as classic doublespeak.

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Doctor Faustus and Depression, Ctd.

By Robin Bates | Published: May 18, 2011

Here’s an account of how a student of mine turned to images of devils and hell such as are found in Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus when she was suddenly fell victim to depression at nine years of age.

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Can the Mississippi Be Bullied?

By Robin Bates | Published: May 17, 2011

It appears that New Orleans will be spared the flooding that has occurred further up river, thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers playing God and determining who gets protected and who goes under. While it’s certainly amazing what the Corps has accomplished, but one can’t help but think of Mark Twain’s skepticism in Life on the Mississippi almost 130 years ago.

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Class of 2011: Brains Deeper than the Sea

By Robin Bates | Published: May 16, 2011

St. Mary’s College of Maryland President Joseph Urgo turned to an Emily Dickinson poem as he talked to graduates about the value of a liberal arts education.

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God’s Non-Explanation for Suffering

By Robin Bates | Published: May 15, 2011

As I think of the deaths and the destroyed communities that natural disasters have recently caused, from the Japanese tsunami to the Alabama tornadoes to the Mississippi flooding, the Book of Job comes to mind. After all, it is a story that addresses that most fundamental of questions, why do bad things happen to innocent people?

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Chicago’s Roman de la Rose

By Robin Bates | Published: May 14, 2011

What’s in a name? Would Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose by any other name smell as sweet?

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