Inappropriate Conversations

"It's far better to say something that should not be said, than not to say something that should be said." Twenty-five years ago on February 7th at 1:37 a.m., I heard this answer to a desperate prayer.  After glancing around the room to see who else had heard this, I challenged the response I'd received in a truly conversational exchange.  Again, I got a direct, accurate, and life-changing answer.  It was as if I drew a line in the proverbial sand, and God crossed it.  I believe in answered prayer because I have experienced it. Different Drummer: Michael Franks

Maybe the reason I believe the Holy Spirit has guided me, perhaps even forcefully, is that I don't have a better explanation for specific experiences that defy any other reasoning.  Or maybe it's simply because it is true.  Either way, for more than three decades now I have earned the title: most likely to be found on a mountaintop in Guadalajara writing the world's most profound three-word sentence.  So to speak. Different Drummer: Aaron Altman Bullying in Rhode Island

There is no great credit to remaining "above" the myopia of liberal v. conservative politics, if you aren't willing to stand.  Too often, a so-called moderate position is simply a way of avoiding issues and not engaging.  The "radical" side is pushing for change, whether it be a moderating influence on those firmly entrenched in right- or left-wing politics, or trying to lead the rest to think more critically about what each side has to say.  Martin Luther King, Jr. gave us one of the best challenges to status-quo centrism in his 1963 letter from jail in Birmingham, Alabama.  Failing to heed these words will continue to bear strange and unwanted fruit in our society. Different Drummer: Billie Holiday

Sports commentary tends to be full of cliche.  "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" is one.  Another you hear often from youth coaches: "It's not about whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."  Well, the positive values so often touted about sports rely on the assumption of fair play, but sporting play is too often the exception.  This is true of players and fans, but evidence strongly suggests that it is equally a problem for coaches, administrators, and the media as well. Different Drummer: Barry Sanders Greatest Events In Sporting History and Barry Sanders (Legends Series)

As it sounds, here is an audio commentary for the classic 1964 animated Christmas special, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."  The show is essential holiday viewing, along with a handful of other Rankin/Bass classics. Different Drummer: Jim Skafish Skafish 2006 NPR Interview

Poems don't have to rhyme all the time.  Formalism, whether a metrical scheme or just assonance and alliteration, can inspire creativity through adherence to the form itself.  On the other hand, the most profound poetry I've ever heard or read came from more freedom to the verse. Different Drummer: Jim Carroll

While recording on National Adoption Day this year, I referred back to a question I've raised in the past: whether a woman who carries an unwanted pregnancy to term and gives the child for adoption is performing a saintly act?  "Heroic" is, perhaps, a better term. Different Drummer: Thomas of Aquino National Adoption Day

"It is time to put the protest back into Protestantism" (Diana Butler Bass). I don't have an advocacy position on the "Occupy" movements, but I believe there are plenty of things happening in our society and economy that are worth protesting.  It's wrong to describe those who are loudly calling for reform "un-" ... if anything, they are taking typically Christian steps and a genuinely American approach.  See the Protestant Reformation or the American Revolution for parallels. Different Drummer: James Stewart 4 Reasons video A Great Awakening

Most pro-life apologists have an issue with Judith Jarvis Thomson's position in "A Defense Of Abortion."  Of course!  They have come to opposite conclusions about one of the most divisive issues of our time.  My quarrel with a number of those apologists has nothing to do with abortion rights or the lives of unborn children.  No, my problem is with dishonesty, made worse since it comes from people who purport to stand up for "truth." Different Drummer: Os Guinness

I can recall times in my life when I would have said that breast reduction surgery is always a bad thing.  I wish I could say that I was "just a teenager" back then, which would make the thought both prurient and obvious.  No, that point of view survived more than 10 years after high school.  In fact, it only matured in very recent years. Different Drummer: Elisabeth Shue