Post Tagged 'Civil War'

April 18, 2024

Civil War: A Shallow and Dangerous Fantasy

The new film Civil War may want to be edgy, timely, even thoughtful, but it has nothing to offer beyond surface-level thrills, which makes its grisly portrayal of war feel more like a romanticization of the worst in humans than a warning against it. Continue Reading...

July 04, 2022

How Frederick Douglass found hope on the Fourth of July

On July 5, 1852, nearly a decade before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a freed slave and statesman-abolitionist, offered a profound speech on seeing the Fourth of July through the eyes of a slave. Continue Reading...

May 11, 2016

The Captain of Conscience

The new Marvel film Captain America: Civil War examines the conflict between conscience and coercion, says Jordan Ballor in this week’s Acton Commentary. The latest superhero blockbuster Captain America: Civil War opened to a huge box office as well as to critical acclaim last weekend. Continue Reading...

April 05, 2016

The Corruption of the Best is the Worst

This year will deliver major superhero ensemble films that provide alternative views of the limitations and proper exercise of power. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered this spring to uneven reviews, and Captain America: Civil War is due out later this summer. Continue Reading...

October 27, 2014

Child Soldiers: Another Form Of Human Trafficking

Children in poor and war-torn countries are often trafficking victims. They are lured from their homes with promises of making money in factories or at farms. Sometimes they are kidnapped. And sometimes, they are recruited for war. Continue Reading...

April 10, 2012

Review: Grant’s Final Victory

This country suffers no shortage of heroic tales. For the Union soldier who served under Ulysses S. Grant, there certainly was no greater leader. Often referred to by detractors as “a butcher” for the wake of Union dead left after his victories, he took the fight to the Confederacy. Continue Reading...

November 25, 2010

Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

Text of proclamation: The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the everwatchful providence of almighty God. Continue Reading...

July 16, 2010

God, Gettysburg, and Sins of Omission

There’s a reason why history is important. History is about knowing the truth about our past and therefore about ourselves. Not surprisingly, those who meddle with it usually do so from less-than-noble motives. Continue Reading...