Clint Eastwood’s new cinematic work, American Sniper, is a work of glorified patriotism. In last week’s edition of The Bagpipe, Mr. Jantomaso even described it as “awe-inspiring.” From my perspective, Mr. Eastwood seems to have picked up the torch from Kathryn Bigelow, director of the 2013 Academy Awards flop Zero Dark Thirty. Just like Bigelow, Eastwood has found a way to shimmy into several Oscar nominations by feeding Americans the narcissistic justification they need in order to feel cozy about our government’s actions abroad.
Read moreDear Sufjan Stevens,
I hope you don’t remember me because that would mean one of several things. Either a) that I didn’t actually bother you by sweatily interrupting your conversation with that tall man in the camel jacket, or b) that I did bother you by deciding we should meet, but that you’re also a terribly forgiving person who is sympathetic to all the twenty-something Anglo-Saxon, Protestant dudes who think you’re a big effing deal, or c) that you’re forgetful, which works because then, hey—no harm no foul.
Read moreIn my room hangs a poster advertising an end of the world party. It was strewn with Mayan puns, a ping pong tournament, and there was a band no one knew about. I found it in a restaurant and pub on the uneventful 21st of December, 2012. It hangs (and usually falls) with pride in my room. It represents a very fun night of great food, lots of laughing, and my horrifying attempt at learning how to ice skate. On this night, I also happened to be a third wheel.
Read moreWhether you like it or not, the 2016 presidential election is underway. As President Obama begins the last two years of his presidency, the field of would-be candidates eagerly jockey to replace him. What begins now, a year before primary voters cast their votes, is the “invisible primary,” where potential candidates work feverishly behind the scenes to court donors, create campaign apparatuses, and boost their name recognition and policy credentials. While many see Hillary Clinton’s nomination for the Democratic Party as inevitable, the Republican field is anybody’s guess.
Read moreI can’t take credit for the title of this article. It’s actually a little nugget I read on Chris Larson’s Twitter feed a couple of years ago, and I’ve thought of it a lot since the first time I read it. His words,”Preaching is not a postlude to worship,” present clearly an idea that I think is applicable to the Church and, more specifically, the way we approach chapel.
Read moreEver since a notorious incident involving a serpent and some infamous fruit, sin has been a pervasive and destructive influence in both our world and individual lives. This original sin broke the world, and all people to come after Adam and Eve have been born tainted by it. But the good news for sinners is this: Christ died for us and the stain of sin is removed. However, to leave the past sentence as it is would be a limited presentation of the Gospel.
Read moreWhen I was eighteen, I first stepped on the red carpet. I wasn’t the object of the incessantly flashing paparazzi cameras, but I stood to the side and watched as unbelievably beautiful, famous people passed slowly by me, close enough for me to touch. They smiled and the flashing lightbulbs exploded from every angle. Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore. There they were, these monuments of film, dripping with wealth and charm, effortlessly causing everyone to fall in love with their beauty and charisma. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. They were magnetic, drawing people’s gazes towards them like flies to light.
Read moreI have a 6x10 foot American flag hanging in my room. It is sixty square feet of red, white, and blue glory.
Read moreEarlier this week a friend started reading to me an article entitled “10 Women Christian Men Should Not Marry.” I became more and more incredulous as the article condemned marrying older women and even said God created [woman] to be subject and obedient to her husband. And then he gave justification for why he was saying that woman was created for man and I was stopped in my tracks. He cited the Bible itself, specifically 1 Corinthians 11:8-9: “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” A sentence that I had thought was just another ignorant statement from a misguided sexist was actually a Bible verse. This bothered me, and I didn’t know what to do with it. In fact, I am still struggling through understanding this verse and others like it.
Read moreSept. 20th, Emma Watson, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, addressed the United Nations at their headquarters in New York regarding gender equality. Her speech focused on unifying the world in the gender equality movement but did not offer specific solutions for achieving that equality.
Read moreIt’s a new year. And if you’re anything like me, you spend a little time taking inventory of your life. This usually leads to dissatisfaction, followed by a commitment to change things in the next 365 days. This is the new year’s resolution.
Read moreOne of the most important events in world news to transpire over Christmas break was the terrorist attack on the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Read moreDid you know the Safety and Security (S&S) office doesn’t like it when people write articles about them? Okay, so that’s a given…but seriously.
Read moreDid you know the Safety and Security (S&S) office refuses to make public the rate or amount of overturned tickets through the appeals process?
We didn’t.
Read moreUntil I began writing this article, I was completely oblivious to Covenant’s lack of female chapel speakers. Until now, you may have been too. Out of the 24 chapel speakers scheduled for this semester, only two are women – Dr. Alicia Jackson and Christiana Fitzpatrick. In the past six years, only 23 of Covenant’s chapel speakers have been female, and that number includes an entire school year – ’09-’10 – where not a single woman spoke in chapel. (The archive of past years’ chapel schedules can be found on Covenant’s website, in case you want to double-check my statistics. I’m not a math major.)
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