What's Tony Thinking

Summer’s Over, Autumn’s Here and a Mea Culpa

September 19, 2024 — This coming Sunday, September 22, is the official day for seasonal change from summer to fall, the “Autumnal Equinox.” It is one of the two days of the year when the axis of the earth tilts to the sun in such a way that the amount of daylight and darkness are equal. But in case... Read More

Self-Justification

September 16, 2024 — “Self-defense is the most prevalent source of error in our thinking.” That’s a quote from the theologian H. Richard Niebuhr (brother of the more famous Reinhold Niebuhr). What does it mean? Why does it matter? “Self-defense” might also be termed “self-justification.” It means making the case for yourself, for your importance, worthiness, value, etc. I... Read More

What J. D. Vance Gets Right

September 12, 2024 — J. D. Vance has become the whipping boy of liberals (what would Andy Borowitz do without him?). Even Taylor Swift has joined in by signing off her endorsement of Harris/ Walz as, “Childless, Cat Lady.” By now Vance himself probably regrets some of his more “catty” remarks. But what consigning him to ranks of the... Read More

TKO Harris

September 10, 2024 — Was there a knock-out moment? Harris came close when pummeling Trump on his contempt for law and January 6. She also had a series of solid punches when she traced Trump’s history of racism as a landlord, to birther-ism, to Charlottesville. But, overall, it was a ten-rounder that went the distance with a decisive, if... Read More

Pressure’s On, Pressure’s Off

September 9, 2024 — Here it is, the eve of tomorrow’s big Harris v. Trump debate. Feels as if the two Presidential debates have book-ended the summer. The June 27 Biden v. Trump came early in the summer and set-off a wild time of fruit-basket upset. I still wish the Democrats had had an open convention and that a... Read More

Fire Wise and Fire Worried

September 6, 2024 — It is a hazy day here today. Which means that smoke from wildfires somewhere, probably central and western Oregon, has found its way to us in the Wallowas. The haze makes what is normally a cerulean blue sky, deep green forests, ochre moraines and reddish basaltic rimrock pretty much all grey. I’ve seen it worse,... Read More

More On Theology: Natural and Revealed

September 3, 2024 — I once started a Church Council meeting by suggesting that everyone share a recent experience of God’s presence in their life. Someone cited a beautiful sunset. Another spoke of the birth of a grandchild. Someone mentioned a time of closeness with her father. Another spoke of a tree that they found especially beautiful, even magical.... Read More

Gleanings and Group Think

August 30, 2024 — Here are several items I came across in my reading this week that I commend to your attention. There’s a theme that links all these together: the dangers of group think. In an article in Politico on Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a member of our Washington State congressional delegation, MGP offered the a salty opinion on... Read More

What a Difference a Quadrennial Makes

August 27, 2024 — I was in the mountains last week and so missed seeing any of Democrat’s National Convention live. But I’ve been catching up, and recently watched Vice-President Harris’s acceptance speech. Harris rose to the occasion. She embraced the stature and authority of her new position and role as the party’s presidential nominee, even as the party... Read More

Anxiety and Moral Values

August 25, 2024 — Freya India is a blogger at Substack who writes the blog, “Girls.” She is a Brit who has an affiliation with the moral psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, the author of The Anxious Generation. India is also a Gen-Z’er (those born 1997 – 2012) who questions the conventional wisdom, in particular the trading out of moral and... Read More

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