Updating Herod’s slaughter of the innocents, Scott Bates imagines a soldier who takes a principled stand and refuses to participate.
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Tag Archives: violence
The Perfection and Poetry of Tyrants
W. H. Auden’s chilling “Epitaph on a Tyrant” matter-of-factly shows the deadly but seductive simplicity that characterizes dictators like Qaddafi and Assad.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad, Dictators, Muammar Qaddafi, W. H. Auden Comments closed
Can Humanitarians Stop Violence?
The Oscar-winning film “In a Better World” explores how to respond to the world’s violence in an authentic and uncompromising way.
Twain and Libya’s Bloody Endgame
The slaughter continues on in Libya, with the number of dead now in the thousands as Qaddafi turns his mercenaries, machine guns and tanks on his own people. While other parts of the country are in the arms of the resistance, he is holed up in Tripoli. It appears that he will indeed fight to […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Libya, Mark Twain, Middle East, politics Comments closed
The Moment Kindheartedness Walks In
Sometimes when I get depressed about the state of the world, I do two things. First, I remind myself that too often I allow myself to be stampeded into fear by media headlines, which use adrenaline to hook us. Second, I recollect the many generous and kind people in my life and in the world. […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Kindness", Tintern Abbey, William Wordsworth, Yusef Komunyakaa Comments closed
A Champ on the Field, a Thug Elsewhere
Sports Saturday Although it is a downer on the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, I can’t help but think of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger through the lens of Joyce Carol Oates’ terrifying short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” This is one reason I will be not be rooting for the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ben Roethlisberger, Football, Joyce Carol Oates, Philadelphia Story, Sports, Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Comments closed
Happiness Is a Warm Gun (Shoot, Shoot)
Following the Columbine High School shootings, outrage against permissive gun laws led, not to tougher gun laws, but to pushback by the National Rifle Association. The NRA went on to help George W. Bush squeak by Albert Gore in the 2000 elections and has since become so bold that the 2006 Congress was afraid to extend […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ballad of the National Rifle Association", guns, Scott Bates Comments closed
Lost Paradise Syndrome in Tucson
Spiritual Sunday As I teach Beowulf for the umpteenth time, I am struck once again by its beautiful rendition of the Genesis creation story. I’m also struck by how the invocation of that beauty calls forth human horror. Exploring the linkage provides some insight into the mass killings we have almost come to expect. The […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Religion, Tucson killings Comments closed
A Gritty Child in a Tough World
Film Friday (Warning: The following essay contains spoilers) I watched Ethan and Joel Coen’s remake of True Grit last Friday and now can’t help but think about it in terms of the Arizona shootings. Will our young people, faced with all this violence, grow up as tough as 14-year-old Mattie Ross? Yesterday’s Washington Post had […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Arizona shootings, Clint Eastwood, Film, True Grit, Unforgiven Comments closed