Mere musings on culture, life, and theology by Samuel James
Samuel James on October 9, 2017 In Ross Douthat's weekend op-ed on the lecherous Harvey Weinstein, he makes, in passing, what I think is a very important point: If liberals want to restrain the ogres in their midst, a few conservative ideas might be helpful. First: Some modest limits on how men and women interact professionally are useful checks on predation.…
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Samuel James on October 2, 2017 The main reason I wrote my reply to Ben Domenech about Hugh Hefner, and the main reason I'm thankful to First Things for running it, is that I sensed—correctly, as it turned out—that Domenech's sentiment was more widely shared on the Right than conservative evangelicals might want to believe. "Cultural conservatives," those who argue not…
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Samuel James on September 28, 2017 C.S. Lewis wrote that "a man with an addiction is a man with very little sales-resistance." The fortune and fame of Hugh Hefner (1926-2017) is evidence that Lewis was right. To be fair, Hefner did not invent pornography, and what his media empire did promulgate is probably considered mild compared to what the internet now…
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Samuel James on September 27, 2017 This is one of the most bizarre interviews you'll read this year. It took me a couple readings to determine whether it was satire. The Amazon book attributed to the interviewee is real enough, so there goes that theory. Now, one thing I'd like to gently rebuke my fellow evangelicals for is the tendency we…
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Samuel James on September 25, 2017 A quick taxonomy: The patriotism of duty is the patriotism that involves material acts of fidelity to one's country. This is the patriotism of military service and other varieties of selfless sacrifice. This is where patriotism becomes embodied, and its ideals take on specific actions worthy of praise. The patriotism of affection is the patriotism of…
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Samuel James on September 22, 2017 It's been astonishing to watch fellow conservatives redefine everything--and I mean everything--they say they believe in order to defend President Trump. I'm now hearing from some that the President's vulgar and hostile remarks about NFL athletes' kneeling during the national anthem are not a gross attack on free speech. Why not? "It's a private corporation!…
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Samuel James on September 22, 2017 One of my regrets from my college years is that I didn't receive a more literary education. By God's design I attended a Bible college that at the time had only theological or ministerial degrees (now, they offer a Humanities degree, a Philosophy-Politics-Economics honors program, and more options). So I spent the vast majority of…
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Samuel James on September 19, 2017 Stakeholders in the NFL cannot lose—at least not under the league’s current structure. Owners split money from the league’s massive TV deals and other media revenue streams. That stream is so dependable, so huge, and so guaranteed that it’s done what large, intractable pools of cash have done since the invention of markets. It has…
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Samuel James on September 18, 2017 I didn't watch the Emmys last night (in fact, I didn't know they were on). But the morning after Hollywood award shows is always an interesting time on Christian social media. One of the most reliable tropes in evangelical "cultural engagement" is the blog or Facebook post about how godless showbiz is, and how the…
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Samuel James on September 15, 2017 Senator and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine believes that both conservative and liberal Christians should be able to find common ground on healthcare. In an op-ed for Christianity Today, Senator Kaine writes that Christ’s commands to care for the “least of these” should galvanize Bible-believers on both sides of the political aisle to find compassionate…
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