By NANCY PATRICK I grew up in an era when people talked about shame and understood it. Today’s permissive culture tends to excuse bad behavior in an effort to avoid appearing prejudiced or judgmental. Although past generations may have taken too severe an approach to shaming people guilty of committing social taboos, modern societies seem to have gone overboard in
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury John and Mary Smith had ordinary names, but their extraordinary 60-year marriage was anything but that, ending with her death one year ago. It had to be a marriage made in heaven, because they hardly had any planning time during a six-week courtship between their initial blind date and wedding in 1961. They defied
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ACU’s Baptist Studies Center is hosting a webinar on Monday, Feb. 21, exploring the topic, “Women in Ministry: Becoming Advocates for Half the Church.” The webinar originally was planned as a run-up to an on-campus event in March at Abilene Christian University. But the on-campus programming was postponed until next fall due to COVID concern, said Myles Werntz, director of
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By LORETTA FULTON The T-shirts said “McMurry Serves” and the actions backed it up. Fifteen McMurry representatives, including alumni, faculty, staff, students and a couple of “not yet War Hawks” sorted food and packed boxes Saturday morning at the Food Bank of West Central Texas. The effort was part of the “McMurry Serves” initiative sponsored by the Alumni & Friends
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON Many bad things can happen in a sports arena. Most of the time, they are forgotten and, although they may affect the game’s outcome, have little impact past the game in which they happen. People get frustrated and angry, but it soon subsides. Very few times, what happens on the playing field provokes hatred and contempt from
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Sand lines have been drawn by many of us, indicating that we know as much as we care to about certain topics. Faced with repeated barrages, we either ignore them or strike back with unambiguous “we’ve-had-enough” gestures. Granted, such scenarios are played out largely by “geezers” and “geezerettes,” mostly because there’s so much “new
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By JIM NICHOLS We had a brief snap of winter weather recently—three days of ice, cold, even some snow. It was rather meager compared to other parts of the country, but, for those of us who like winter, it was fine. I was thankful for our good furnace in the house, lots of bed blankets, flannel lined jeans, and my
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Registration is now open for Summit, which will be held on the campus of Abilene Christian University March 31-April 1. Summit was scheduled to be held in fall 2021 but was postponed due to COVID. Early registration ($30) ends on Feb. 28, and regular registration ($50) ends on March 15. Reservations will not be accepted after March 15. Summit registration includes the following:
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON From September 1857 to June of 1858, Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens served as a “cub pilot” on the sidewheel steamboat, “Pennsylvania.” Due to a stormy relationship with the pilot, William Brown, his service abruptly ended. However, before this happened, he secured a job for his younger brother, Henry, as a “mud clerk.” A “mud clerk” did odd
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Spirit Of Abilene 