This is a brief description of how American Imperialism works: It is not a pretty thing at all. America decides she needs something from another country. That country isn't particularly interested in giving us what we want, so American finds a pretext to invade militarily. We invaded Iraq because we lied and said there were…
Admittedly, there are many things I don't understand. Today I received an email from the good folks at Meetup.com that informed me there are still people who play Dungeons and Dragons. Back when the game first came out, people so struggled to distinguish the game from reality that they would kill themselves believing they could…
Don't you see that it's not what it seems? I don't want to take away from anybody's celebration, but they gave you nothing and convinced you it was something. Then you lined up behind Biden as he signed the bill making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday into law. We have a Congress that can't pass anything,…
It's almost always a good idea to be logically consistent. When we forget that we almost always head down an ill advised path. We hear countries talk about going to war to achieve or preserve peace. For reasons that I can't begin to comprehend, that makes sense to some people, yet we don't hear about…
I was watching a presentation by Joan Chittister recently as part of the Spiritual Directors International annual conference. In it, Sister Joan put forth the Benedictine steps to humility as a solution to what she - correctly, I believe - sees as the loss of values in our overly individualistic society. One of the qualities…
Another day, another fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in the Minneapolis area. The officer's body cam footage seem to reveal that she meant to use her Tazer but somehow grabbed her gun instead. That's a potential reason but is most definitely not an excuse. I found some articles on the Internet that claim…
In light of the King Soopers shooting in Boulder, Colorado, the same tired old discussions are starting anew. At least Congress is starting to be honest and some are admitting they oppose gun control because they fear it would make it difficult when reelection time rolls around. Reflect on that statement for just a moment.…
You cannot be a compulsive liar or gaslighter and be a "good person." Why not? Most of what goes into being a "good person" is integrity. Can I trust what you say? Do you say what you mean? Is what you say consistent with what you know to be true? What would the upside have…
When does appeasement embolden? Anyone who has raised children knows that point exists. Children, as an appropriate task of development, challenge their parents, test limits, and push against the rules. At different ages, different rules are challenged at different levels of intensity, but the challenges happen and those kids are looking for the reassurance that…
If something is an obligation, is doing it really faith or rather fear of punishment? Those of us raised in small-c catholic traditions may recall the idea of holy days of obligation. These were days wherein church attendance was considered mandatory, and failure to attend was considered sin unless you had an officially sanctioned reason…
Craig Bergland 