Book Review: Rebooting and Revival of Our Republic (2016)

Ideas for remediating an NFG system
by Brendan Kelly (2106 1st CD candidate for Congress–IND, New Hampshire)

brendan_kellyThis is a nicely composed and formatted missive by a longtime resident and gadfly of the Free State, Mr. Brendan Kelly, whom I know from my former ‘early mover’ days (2005-2007) in that beautiful ever-liberty-hopeful state of New Hampshire. He and I did not hook up so much in the days I was there, but have stayed in touch as fellow authors who feel compelled to lend our weights to the the country’s conversation of ‘Live Free or… well, just wander off and not make a fuss, letting the pods and podmasters have their way with us.’

What Brendan is to me is living, breathing proof that people of quite different philosophic origins/directions can be so one-minded—or is it one-souled—when it comes to what kind of country we want to share. Indeed, Mr. Kelly has been extremely generous in his praise of my own recent novel, The Truman  Prophecy, which extols the virtues of independent consciousness consistent with my days as an Ayn Rand super fan. Although I’ve mellowed with some Eckhart Tolle spirituality (The Power of Now) since then, I don’t regard any mainstream world religion as good for what ails our species. Especially, Christianity.

Brendan on the other hand is a devout churchgoing, bible-reading Christian. His faith means everything to him, yet, unlike many who turn to God, Brendan is fine with letting each of us go his own way so long as we hold to the nonaggression principle. Here’s a view showing his practical, humanitarian side: Continue reading

Movie Review: Life of Pi (2012)

Rudyard Kipling meets the Dalai Lama ____ 9/10
by Brian Wright

A remarkable experience, this film by Ang Lee. A significant cinematic achievement on several levels, three that I can think of immediately:

  1. the exploration of faith and spirituality as it develops in a freethinking Indian boy whose father is an advocate of reason
  2. an unusual, gripping adventure story that captures the imagination of young and old alike
  3. a technical marvel integrating spectacular computer-generated imagery (CGI) with live action seamlessly

And to top it all off, perhaps the most important quality lies in the story’s tug on the heartstrings as one puts oneself in the shoes of the protagonist at the end. The emotional scale is huge in this resolution, amplified by the fact that the viewer has been through the wringer of a 200+ day ordeal of survival at sea. Continue reading

Guest Column: Reason vs. Faith

No compromise
by Ron Burcham

Light BulbThis one came my way via an email exchange Mr. Burcham had been part of. And I thought his concise and absolute statement was one of the more heroic expressions of loyalty to the human world of reason and science I had read. Right arm! How many times are we accosted by the purveyors of supernatural Jesus to buy into their Byzantine fantasies or face dire, eternal consequences? Remember Jesse Ventura’s comment in a 1999 Playboy interview: “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people…”[1] (That’s a big reason I put Jesse on my short list of national leaders who can unite the country under the Constitution and solve real problems in the real world.) — bw, editor Continue reading