Other Recent Articles
how do we change our behavior?
Dad, Our conversations tend to evaluate religion through the lens of scholarly interpretations. The problem with religion and scholarly discussion is that we can leverage the dialogue to avoid subjects that might get personal, and therefor inhibit growth. When people start to talk about feelings and families, about what they like and dislike about themselves, […]
28Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on how do we change our behavior? | Continued
Hate Crime and the Jena 6
Son, This morning, September 28, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said, “I have never understood hate crime legislation, but if it makes some people feel good so be it.” That is the standard shallow line of the conservatives – and they try to act so innocent. They raise their hands in that Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin pantomime […]
28Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 8 comments | Continued
Father and Son chatter
Son, I copied our chat from last evening. The purpose of this post is it let our readers better understand us. Readers: This blog really is a conversation between a father and a son. Sometimes we chat in the evenings – included in this blog is our chat from last evening. Enjoy 7:13 PM me: […]
28Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Father and Son chatter | Continued
Michael Moore – Sicko on Oprah
Son, Love him or hate him, Michael Moore has struck a nerve in America. He is on Oprah as I write. I am trying to capture the essence of what they are saying. Oprah has people in the audience from previous health care encounters with Presidential Candidates. There are some disturbing and very emotional stories […]
27Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Creating routines for easier mornings…
Dad, I am trying to implement some of the suggestions that I have received from our readers about easing the tension around taking my daughter to preschool. I am being careful to try and do a few things the same way every morning that she has school. She gets to pick out the clothes that […]
27Sep2007 | bryan | 1 comment | Continued
Closed Borders – Unworthy Immigrants
Son, The news media is talking. Politicians are yapping. Bloggers are blogging. Protect America – close the borders! This immigration thing has somehow been tied to terrorism. Immigration is also associated with economic prosperity. So the solution is to build a really big fence and train some pit bull border guards. Arm the general populace […]
27Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Closed Borders – Unworthy Immigrants | Continued
Metaphor, Simile, Allegory, Spirituality
Son, We have been writing about Christianity – and we are struggling to find consensus. That is the nature of discussion about spirituality. The very nature of ‘GOD’ defies the barriers of human language. The result is that we begin using figures of speech: Simile, Metaphor, and Allegory. We can ‘feel the truth,’ but we […]
27Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Responding to Christians
Son, Lay off the Betty Bowers web site – your judgment is beginning to drift. Just kidding. I am extremely pleased with you. I am pleased with your ability with the written word and with your willingness to tackle tough issues. I fear that your interpretation of my post was based more on how you […]
27Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Responding to Christians | Continued
Bill O’Reilly – friend to Blacks
Son, I am watching Al Sharpton on MSNBC. Talk about conflicted! A couple of days ago Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News Pit Bull bred and trained for news media dog fights, said after visiting a Harlem restaurant, “I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship,” Al Sharpton […]
27Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Halo 3 and good neighbors…
Dad, I live in a duplex, upper and lower, and my downstairs neighbor is a video gamer. Some people play their music loud, he plays his x-box. Sometimes he will have a success and blow something up and my daughter will run to the window to see the storm, thinking that she is hearing thunder. […]
27Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Halo 3 and good neighbors… | Continued
What is a Bible Christian?
Dad, I think that this is what you are worried about, but fear not, I am not interested in any of those questions. All of the questions on that page can be answered with another question, like “What?” Or “Who cares?” Or “Are you serious?” Harry Emerson Fosdick was a preacher at the height of […]
26Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on What is a Bible Christian? | Continued
Challenging some assumptions about Christianity…
Dad, I am afraid that I must take exception to some of your comments in your last post. Not because they are wrong, but because, as you said, this is a complex subject. First, my wife and I are not on a journey to become good Christians. We are already good Christians. We are on […]
26Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Challenging some assumptions about Christianity… | Continued
Blending Christianity with Humanity
Son. I am proud and happy that you and your wife are determined to be good ‘Christians.” With that said, I worry. I worry because Christianity is the source of most of the mental health virus of ‘shoulds’ in America today. I should be more loving, I should be more forgiving. I should be more […]
26Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Blogs versus real journalism
Son, We are having fun with this blog, but we sometimes write about serious stuff – and we want to be taken seriously. If we want to be taken seriously then should there not be some due diligence on our part – Some standard by which we hold ourselves accountable? The blogosphere is viewed by […]
26Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 3 comments | Continued
Betty Bowers: oh, so clever…
Dad, I sent you that link about Harry Potter. I didn’t really read it because I have heard enough of all that, but I knew you were reading one of the books. You are right, though, it is funny. Actually, its very funny, and it is powerfully real. Betty Bowers is one of my new […]
25Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Betty Bowers: oh, so clever… | Continued
Cursed by Clever Harry Potter Humor
Son, Someone got to us. That web site previously referred to as some wacko fundamentalist is actually a spoof on on wacko Christianity – it is very well done! Here it is again! I love a good joke – even if it is on me. Now why would I be so ready to believe all […]
25Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Cursed by Clever Harry Potter Humor | Continued
On Space Men and House husbands
Son. We are a society perverted by our own successes. What are the first two things we ask when we make a new acquaintance? What is your name? and What do you do? I think that has become an equally challenging issue for women in America. Is that a necessary by-product of capitalism? Must we […]
25Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Harry Potter and the Fundamentalist curse
Son, Hey, check out this quote from an anti-Harry Potter website. (Click here to see the site.) This lady is probably afraid of H.G. Wells. “Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), wearing a Dorothy Hamill unisex hairstyle resurrected from the 1970’s by America’s First Lady Laura Bush, is Jesus Killer Rowling’s (and you wonder why she goes by […]
25Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Michael Vick and anger
Son, I really comes down to this: What is the basic principle on which you place value in another human? My answer – the simple fact that he or she is human – no more is necessary. Is the value less stringent for other creatures on this earth? The sadness I feel over the Michael […]
25Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Michael Vick and anger | Continued
michael vick: de-humanizing a public figure…
Dad – “I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God’s creatures in such cruel and brutal contempt.” – West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, on those who participate in dog fighting and raise dogs for dog fighting I fear that the world […]
25Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on michael vick: de-humanizing a public figure… | Continued
rough weather in stay-at-home-dad land
Dad, Today is a school day and I dropped my daughter off with another screaming fit. This time she actually attached on to me and I had to pry her off. It was terrible. It has been a little over a month since she started and she seems to want to go less and less. […]
25Sep2007 | bryan | 2 comments | Continued
Jesus denies authoritarian rule…
Dad In the book “Pillars of the Earth,” Ken Follet tells the story of a monk, Prior Phillip, and his attempt to create a respectable village amidst the anarchy of the civil war between King Steven and Empress Matilda. There is a minor character who is a monk that betrays Philip to aid the authoritarian […]
25Sep2007 | bryan | 2 comments | Continued
Pordopoddies – Great Plains Americans
Son, Have you ever heard of the Pordopoddies – a Native American tribe of what is now Kansas. At least one of the current candidates for president is an ideological descendant of this little known, but important, tribe. You grew up on the Great Plains of America. You should know some of the mythology of […]
25Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Pordopoddies – Great Plains Americans | Continued
Ahmadinejad – Ohmydidhesayjihad
Son, Ohmydidhesayjihad? Take a close look at what right wing religious fundamentalism produces. Deny the Holocaust? How about denying Evolution.? Ponder the real cause of the September 11, 2001, attacks on America? Ponder the real cause of Global Warming? Fundamentalism has become a joke to the thinking people of the 21st Century. Omdidhesayjihad is no […]
25Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Ahmadinejad – Ohmydidhesayjihad | Continued
Family systems
Son, Our family system is one of intelligent people. We don’t always act like it – but most of us have the intellect expected of 21st Century educated Americans. Every now and then you will hear a nugget of wisdom from someone close to us. So why is it not consistent, and why is there […]
24Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Family systems | Continued
politicians and politicking
Son, I did an experiment with two political campaigns. I copied two of our ‘posts’ and then went to two different Presidential Campaign web sites. I ‘pasted’ the copied material into the comments section of the two sites and sent it off. I used Hillary Clinton and John Edwards as my test subjects. I should […]
24Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on politicians and politicking | Continued
diplomacy: lessons from the road
Dad, I am learning about diplomacy and listening. I haven’t posted in a couple of days because I was on a road trip with my cousin. I spent about ten hours in his truck with him, and I began to realize that if I was intentional about not opening my mouth when i disagreed with […]
24Sep2007 | bryan | 2 comments | Continued
Iran and War/Diplomacy
Son, Are we on the path to war with Iran? Even the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is saying, “We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war.” Robert Gates, the United States Defense Secretary, said, “…all options are on the table.” I hope that means the option of diplomacy. So what […]
24Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Iran and War/Diplomacy | Continued
Patreus remembered
Son, He came. He testified. He disappeared. Where did that man go? He left the States and went to England to testify there about progress in Iraq. They want to hear what he has to say – so do I. General Patreus is truly a man of honor – caught in a war with unforeseen […]
23Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Patreus remembered | Continued
Publishing A Novel
Son, I have written a novel. Now – how do I get it published? I finished the novel last February. I wrote a goofy synopsis and sent it to about fifty agents. Most of the agents curtly responded, ‘Uh…No thanks.” Some of them wanted to see more samples of the story. I have received several […]
23Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Publishing A Novel | Continued
Blog Statistics from the Eastern Shore
Son, We have had this blog for a month. We have 109 posts, 48 comments, and 1,130 views. I think that means that your wife checked on us 334 times, my brother in Virginia checked 297 times, and that one friend that you have checked 288 times. As near as I can tell from the […]
22Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 4 comments | Continued
Marxism and McCarthyism
Son, Conservative commentators are out of control. I am on a toot about the irresponsible comments of Michael Reagan! Because there are some of us who believe in the merits of health care for all Americans, Mr. Reagan calls us Marxist. This type of name calling discredits the history of noble discourse, also guaranteed by […]
22Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Marxism and McCarthyism | Continued
Free Speech and Health Care –
Son, Distortions abound! Michael Reagan – son of a noble man, is grasping at straws. His latest weekly column is a feeble attempt to compare rights with ethics. Mr. Reagan uses distorted logic to compare the ‘right to health care’ to the ‘right to free speech.’ All of this in the interest of blasting the […]
22Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
Parenting – missing the point
Son, I am embarrassed again. I read some of the comments to your post on being a house husband. They got it – I ran around it. The comments you received were considerate of your sense of self – my response was an academic discussion on semantics. Why is it so difficult to just simply […]
21Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Parenting – missing the point | Continued
Social creatures and semantics
Son, (Note – some of the language here may be offensive.) Your sensitivity to semantics has merit. Humans, by nature and nurture, are social creatures. All of us have the need for acceptance, a sense of belonging. We understand our level of acceptance through our language – the terms people use to describe us. We […]
21Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 3 comments | Continued
Housewives; House…Husbands?
My wife was reading a book a while back and there were some interesting points about language and the way that we relate to our family. I only read the parts that she showed me, so i don’t have an entire picture of the subject material, but a couple of things stuck with me. One was that we have moved into a culture of “stay-at-home moms” and even “stay-at-home dads,” and we have vilified the idea of a “housewife” as being derogatory.
21Sep2007 | bryan | 4 comments | Continued
road trips and family…
Dad, As may know, I am taking a road trip this weekend with my cousin to pick up a dishwasher from his sister, who lives in Maryville, Missouri. In other words, I will be in your neck of the woods. I was invited because my cousin thought that it was critical that we go and […]
21Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on road trips and family… | Continued
Giuliani – terrorists and mobsters!
Son, Rudy Giuliani has the best track record of fighting terrorists. He has been fighting terrorists for 25 years. And he is pretty good at it. He is good at putting them out of business and into jail. Not one other candidate has his credentials. Ok – so what is a terrorist? I have to […]
21Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Giuliani – terrorists and mobsters! | Continued
Rednecks, faith, and self-help
Son, I ate breakfast at a truck stop today. My lady friend and I went to breakfast and we talked about Perkins and Denny’s and other franchise places. Then we decided to go to the local truck stop – you know, greasy spoons, heaping hash browns, sausage gravy, that stuff. The clientèle was what I […]
20Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Rednecks, faith, and self-help | Continued
Bill of Rights – a conservative document
Son, If we define ‘conservative’ as limiting the powers of Government, then we can justly define the Bill of Rights as a conservative document. I am fascinated when self described conservatives scream and holler when a purported ‘criminal’ is granted the rights guaranteed to any American. How many times have we heard, “Those criminals have […]
20Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Bill of Rights – a conservative document | Continued
Economic Conservative or Social Liberal?
Son, I like to tell people that I am an Economic Conservative and a Social Liberal. Are these opposing forces? That depends on how the News Media defines the terms. The problem with labels is the inflexibility of thought or compromise. When I think of Economic Conservative I think of being cautious with my money. […]
20Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
Political Base – Boston Tea Party
Son, Those rabble rouser’s went down to the dock and just dumped the British Tea into the harbor. “Take that!” Our country was founded by rabble rouser’s. Where are they? If a bunch of us went down to the dock today to dump the toys coming from China into the harbor – we would be […]
20Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Political Base – Boston Tea Party | Continued
Art of Congress – Negotiating
Son, If I negotiated with a car dealer like the U.S. Congress negotiates within their chambers I would still be driving a 1992 Chevy Pickup. One-upping the next guy is more important than moving forward. This is not liberal or conservative – this is fear of being labeled as ‘not being faithful to their base‘ […]
20Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Art of Congress – Negotiating | Continued
Conservatives have their say
Son, Someone responded to your concern about where the liberals have gone – They commented with a definition of conservatism. Here it is: ” American Heritage Dictionary – Cite This Source con·ser·va·tism (k?n-sûr’v?-t?z’?m) Pronunciation Key n. 1. The inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order. 2. A political philosophy or […]
19Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Conservatives have their say | Continued
Counting Crows – Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby
Dad, I still love the Counting Crows and their music. I have been listening to this song, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby, about once a day for a month now, and trying to figure out what all of the imagery is about. I think that it is about a guy (the singer, Adam Duritz I guess) who […]
19Sep2007 | bryan | 1 comment | Continued
Bush tax cuts
Son, Something is wrong with the U.S. Economy. George W. Bush and his Republican cronies lowered taxes a few years past to provide stimulation – if that is sound logic, what happened? A couple of things. Economics is not really rocket science – think income and expense. Bush and the Republicans lowered the income and […]
19Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
Federal Reserve interest rate cuts
Son, I was worried about the economy. Now I am really worried. The Federal Reserve takes their responsibility very seriously. Their willingness, even eagerness, to cut an important interest rate tells me that I was not worried enough. I am relieved that someone who can actually do something is taking action. Sometimes us regular folks […]
19Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts | Continued
the social gospel and Gary North…
Dad, I read this quote this morning and thought that I would share it with you… “Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents” – Peg Bracken I also read an article from a guy named Gary North about the Social Gospel. the “Social Gospel” […]
19Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on the social gospel and Gary North… | Continued
Baking: Culinary Artist vs. Kitchen Technician
Dad I am interested in baking my own bread. I know that this is something that you have some experience with. I believe that there are two kinds of cooks – the ‘culinary artist’ and the ‘kitchen techinician.’ I tend to be the culinary artist, and that style of cooking is more about developing a […]
19Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Baking: Culinary Artist vs. Kitchen Technician | Continued
Church of Love, or Church of Law?
We have been reading a lot about fundamentalism of late. There is rhetoric abound about love vs. law. We tend to embrace the church of love and despise the church of law. Its just who we are. So, we are continually trying to reconcile our belief in the forces of love and our suspicion […]
18Sep2007 | bryan | 1 comment | Continued