Author Archives: hderienzo

Can a nation united by division sustain itself? Kwame Anthony Appiah in his intriguing book, The Lies That Bind, Rethinking Identity, commented on the fantasy of shared identity based upon assumptions of pure ancestry. Notwithstanding, he posits that nation-building is almost exclusively based on the concept of shared identity. He describes the modern understanding ofContinue reading “The Divided States of America”

What follows is a letter from Pastor John Pavlovitz, followed by my response. Pastor Pavlovitz describes himself on his website (https://johnpavlovitz.com/about/) as “a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. A 25-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry…committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities.” His warning concernsContinue reading “A Progressive Response to Liturgical Capture”

What happened on January 6, 2021, was a clear example of mob rule, but not “mob rule” in the manner that many of our nation’s founders feared. Their fear of “mob rule” caused Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay and others to push for a representative form of democracy, one that prevented absolute rights forContinue reading “A Democratic Republic Turned Against Itself”

In light of recent testimony at the January 6th Committee, testimony that Donald Trump knew that attendees of his rally were armed and dangerous, but not targeting him, I decided to repost this blog. Was January 6th our 1923 Beer Hall moment or our 1933 Reichstag moment?

Another massacre of children, this time at an elementary school in Texas, following close on the heels of the most recent massacre of people shopping in Buffalo. When will this end? This is the question we ask. We even hear it from politicians or at least those who are not beholden to the gun lobby.Continue reading “When Will This End?”

An interesting book, but I have to admit that I came close to putting the book down a number of times. This was due to my sense that the author over-analyzes, over-parses, and strains, in my view, to try and fit his rather unique analysis into incredible boxes – such as “sustained incipience” or “stalledContinue reading “BOOK REVIEW:  Dreaming the Present: Time, Aesthetics and the Black Cooperative Movement by Irvin J. Hunt, University of North Carolina Press (2022)”

This book is a worthwhile read, especially for those who think that civil war is only something that can happen elsewhere.  It is not inevitable; nothing in our control is inevitable.  But it can happen here, and Barbara Walter makes clear that many of the pre-requisites for civil war are already prevalent in our countryContinue reading “Book Review: HOW CIVIL WARS START, by Barbara F. Walter (Crown, New York 2022)”

“Nor public flame, nor private, dares to shine;Nor human spark is left, nor glimpse divine!Lo! thy dread empire, Chaos! is restored;Light dies before thy uncreating word:Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall;And universal darkness buries all.” — Alexander Pope, The Dunciad In the poem above, Alexander Pope is describing a system descending into chaos,Continue reading “Empathy/Vicarious Living; Power/Strength; Self-Transcendence/Self-Subjugation; Social Harmony/Entropy”

Book Review: The Dawn of Everything by David Greaeber and David Wengrow                                                                                “Why do we assume that people who have figured out a way for a large population to govern and support itself without temples, palaces, and military fortifications – that is, without overt displays of arrogance, self-abasement and cruelty – are somehow lessContinue reading “Book Review: The Dawn of Everything”

Reflecting on the Murder of Ahmaud Arbery (originally written in the Spring of 2020, after the initial arrests were made in the case; the three assailants were convicted of murder just last week — 11/24/21 — by a jury of 11 White jurors and 1 Black juror):  [We deceive ourselves when] “talking about the failureContinue reading “Reflections on the Murder of Ahmaud Arbery”