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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
The Reasons For The Season
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(Original posted on December 23, 2002)
While Christmas is officially a celebration of the birth of Jesus, for much of the Western world December 25 has come to be a celebration of family and community. No other time of the year is so thoroughly saturated with images pointing to our highest hopes for such relationships - and no other time of the year so effectively highlights the difference between our ideals and the world as it really is. Jesus came to Earth to bridge not only the chasm between humanity and God, but also that rift that separates people from each other. Christmas reminds us that we live in a broken world, and it seeks to encourage us by showing us through religious and even many secular trappings how that brokenness can be fixed.
Best of holiday wishes to all my readers.
Posted by Alan at
11:56 PM |
While Christmas is officially a celebration of the birth of Jesus, for much of the Western world December 25 has come to be a celebration of family and community. No other time of the year is so thoroughly saturated with images pointing to our highest hopes for such relationships - and no other time of the year so effectively highlights the difference between our ideals and the world as it really is. Jesus came to Earth to bridge not only the chasm between humanity and God, but also that rift that separates people from each other. Christmas reminds us that we live in a broken world, and it seeks to encourage us by showing us through religious and even many secular trappings how that brokenness can be fixed.
Best of holiday wishes to all my readers.
Labels: Blog traditions, Holidays
Sunday, December 07, 2014
Day of Infamy, Day Of Hope
A bit late in the day...
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Today is the anniversary of the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbor. After many years, the war still provokes disagreements between and within both countries. Books, notably Robert W. Stinnett's Day of Deceit and John Toland's Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath, claim that FDR intentionally provoked Japan into starting a war and that he had advance knowledge of the attack. The Japanese have debated among themselves over the treatment of the war in textbooks and proposals such as the issuance of a formal apology for the war and revision of its postwar constitution. Naturally, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a rich source of debate; surprisingly, the Japanese themselves are divided over the ethics of those attacks.
Factions can disagree over the conduct of a war and still find much common ground over what to do with its aftermath. The US and Japan set in motion policies that would promote an amicable political bond and deep cultural ties between our nations. We don't always achieve both goals with nations with whom we haven't warred.
Everybody knows the day of infamy. The day of hope is every December 7 of Japanese-American alliance and friendship.
Posted by Alan at
11:43 PM |
Today is the anniversary of the Japanese strike against Pearl Harbor. After many years, the war still provokes disagreements between and within both countries. Books, notably Robert W. Stinnett's Day of Deceit and John Toland's Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath, claim that FDR intentionally provoked Japan into starting a war and that he had advance knowledge of the attack. The Japanese have debated among themselves over the treatment of the war in textbooks and proposals such as the issuance of a formal apology for the war and revision of its postwar constitution. Naturally, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a rich source of debate; surprisingly, the Japanese themselves are divided over the ethics of those attacks.
Factions can disagree over the conduct of a war and still find much common ground over what to do with its aftermath. The US and Japan set in motion policies that would promote an amicable political bond and deep cultural ties between our nations. We don't always achieve both goals with nations with whom we haven't warred.
Everybody knows the day of infamy. The day of hope is every December 7 of Japanese-American alliance and friendship.
Labels: Blog traditions, History
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