Imagine the Smiths, a family somewhere in the South wherever football is loved, which is pretty much everywhere. These Smiths (they can be black or white) are a football family through and through, the women being every bit as enthusiastic about the sport as the men. From high school, to college, to the pros, this family follows… Continue reading It’s your culture, not your skin colour
Author: M.C. Atkins
I have six wee bairns who are all seventh-generation Henry County, Tennessee, and all from the same doe. It is the people of Henry County that I most want to reach but I am writing to Southerners generally. I am without credentials but rather dare to speak by the same authority as the little boy who cried 'The king has no clothes!' My core belief and starting point is that like everything, we humans have a nature, it is not so hard to understand, and to pretend that it is other than it is, is to jump off a cliff. Which is what we Americans have in fact done.
Think twice before getting married today
We have a human nature, unchanging and unchangeable, and marriage is born of this human nature. Marriage is not a social construction. It is within the respective natures of man and woman to be drawn to each other to form a long-term, mutually supportive union, that is recognised by their tribe. This union is the… Continue reading Think twice before getting married today
The root cause of the proliferation of the crazies amongst us
It seems obvious that in the great majority of what we call mass shootings in America these days the shooters are mentally unstable men and usually young. They are men who are, for whatever reason, broken. Considering the nature of their sudden appearance, the immediate solution must be to harden (as we now say) the… Continue reading The root cause of the proliferation of the crazies amongst us
So what if Japan’s population shrinks?
What is it to live well? What is quality of life? Hard questions to answer for sure, though maybe a bit less so than, 'Where did we come from?' or 'Why are we here?' I think quality of life must include living securely amongst those you love, or at least those you understand and trust.… Continue reading So what if Japan’s population shrinks?
To the Editor of the PI in response to Ms Neese regarding the Sentinel
This letter is in reply to Sue Neese's letter of 11 October. In her letter to the editor she ask Henry Countians, again, to remove the Confederate Memorial (the Sentinel) on Court Square. We should do so because it memorialises and honours the institution of slavery and thus stands as its advocate. This according to… Continue reading To the Editor of the PI in response to Ms Neese regarding the Sentinel
A culture divided, a country to follow
As a native born Southerner of British origins I am culturally what I call a 500-Year-Protestant. I can say that my people have been Protestant since their-lord Henry VIII decided that he needed to get in front of the Protestant Reformation, crown himself head of the church in England, and divorce and remarry whomever he… Continue reading A culture divided, a country to follow
Sex: We cannot have our cake and eat it too
Since the founding of our country, the ideas of individuality, freedom, and equality have been elevated above the family and tribe (or polity or people) while the importance or relevance of the latter two have been systematically diminished. We have furthermore elevated human happiness as a supreme good, at the expense of duty, responsibility, and… Continue reading Sex: We cannot have our cake and eat it too
Only by understanding, wisdom, and discipline can we survive the good times
'Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.' G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain There are two constant imperatives borne of man's human nature. He will first seek security, and then contentment or pleasure. These ideas may be summed up in the… Continue reading Only by understanding, wisdom, and discipline can we survive the good times
What came first: the egg, the chicken, or the henhouse?
Grave this on your memory, lad: A world is supported by four things, the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous, and the valor of the brave. But all of these are as nothing without a ruler who knows the art of ruling. Make that the science of… Continue reading What came first: the egg, the chicken, or the henhouse?
Christianity: The opiate of the masses
Karl Marx (1818-1883), the founder of communism, said that religion is the opium of the masses. That is, its function was to sedate them. For Marx religion gave an illusory happiness (or comfort) that prohibited those thus sedated from achieving real happiness, that is, happiness here on Earth in this life. Thus religion impeded his… Continue reading Christianity: The opiate of the masses
Look Away... 