March 2013 archive

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?

Pat Buchanan makes a lot of sense, and on many points I am in agreement with him. But on one point I disagree with him profoundly. Christianity is not the sole property of white people of European descent; the Kingdom of God is open to people of all nations. Like Buchanan, I am concerned that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/03/22/suicide-of-a-superpower-will-america-survive-to-2025/

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Judaism by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

Like most Christians, I think I understand Judaism; this book showed me how much there remains to learn about this ancient and important religion. Jews believe in the Fall, but they do not believe in original sin. They believe in an afterlife, but they do not believe in a bodily resurrection. They believe in hell, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/03/22/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-understanding-judaism-by-rabbi-benjamin-blech/

A History of the Middle East by Peter Mansfield

The best written and most informative book I have read on the modern Middle East. A recurring theme is the way outside powers have shaped and interfered in the destiny of the region. The book is ambivalent about America’s role in the Middle East, arguing that the post-9/11 approach has abandoned the goal of democracy …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/03/19/a-history-of-the-middle-east-by-peter-mansfield/

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

This book is quite simply the most enthralling work of fiction that I have read in the last twenty years. The building of a cathedral in itself is not terribly interesting; what is interesting is the way in which individuals thrown upon their own resources struggle to survive in a harsh medieval world. And the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/03/11/the-pillars-of-the-earth-by-ken-follett/