The Cost of Lies

March 29, 2023 by Mark Eckel

How many lives will be lost

From our lies, the human cost.

Find out how lies ruin individuals and institutions in our Truth in Two (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (webs ite). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Pictures: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat, Wikipedia

FULL TEXT

“What is the cost of lies?” This is one of the key concerns in the five-part 2019 miniseries Chernobyl. Some may remember the nuclear accident that occurred on Russian soil in 1986. If you have not seen the program, I highly recommend it, as a universal, human warning. The story is told, much like Apollo 13: we already know the ending. But the narrative is so well told, it deserves its 96% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The viewer feels every character’s emotion.

Yet, the case of Chernobyl is not simply about a nuclear accident – as horrendous as that event was for the people who lived it. If I were to summarize the miniseries, I could do so in one word: lies. For those who know something of the old U.S.S.R. or The Soviet Union, you may remember that this was one of many totalitarian regimes during the 20^th century. Like all dictatorial rule, those at the top want to keep everyone in line. Everything is controlled, even words. And the words used by the managers of the Communist regime were lies, lies to deceive, lies to cover up, lies to control.

Toward the end of the last episode, the main character, one of the key figures involved in the actual events, says this about his country,

“Our lies are practically what define us. When the truth offends, we lie, and lie, until we can no longer remember truth is even there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid.”

When I spoke earlier about a “universal human warning” I was not speaking of nuclear power. I was speaking of the power of telling the truth, standing against lies. Every individual, every people group, everywhere, will at some point confront the cost of telling the truth. At Chernobyl, the cost can be counted in human lives. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking and telling the truth, wherever it’s found.

Condoleezza Rice: Commemorating Women’s History Month

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023 by Mark Eckel

A woman who needs little introduction:

Condoleezza Rice

Watch our Truth in Two to find out more about this great woman (full text below).

Pictures: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat

FULL TEXT

At the start of Women’s History month, I want to focus attention on a woman of multiple life roles and many talents: Condoleezza Rice. Dr. Rice is a brilliant scholar, diplomat, political scientist, and is currently the director of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. She helped to guide the United States through its response to terrorism immediately following September 11^th. Dr. Rice served as the National Security Advisor – the first woman to do so – during President George W. Bush’s first term. She then served as the U.S. Secretary of State, during Bush’s second term, the first female African American to do so. Beyond her service to America, Rice served as Provost at Stanford University, again, as the first African American woman.

Rice was told during her teenage years that she was not college material. Condoleezza went on to earn her PhD and became one of the most prominent women of her generation. Rice is also an avid football fan, part of the Denver Broncos ownership group, and is considered to be a concert pianist.

Reading Condoleezza’s book Extraordinary, Ordinary People, I was struck by the acclaim she gave to her parents. Condoleezza’s dad and mom raised her in the Christian faith. She gives them gratitude for all her opportunities and beyond that, their positive spirit. The attitude, the spirit, of Rice’s life is nowhere better explained than when she wrote about racism in her book.

The fact is, race is a constant factor in American life. Yet reacting to every incident, real or imagined, is crippling, tiring, and ultimately counterproductive. I’d grown up in a family that believed you might not control your circumstances, but you could control your reaction to them.

I can think of no better way to begin Women’s History Month than to honor Dr. Condoleezza Rice. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

Be Unpopular

February 27, 2023 by Mark Eckel

If you stand for something,

it will cost you.

Find out why maintaining “unpopular” views means you must sacrifice (2 min vid + full text below).

Pictures: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat

FULL TEXT

One of the most impactful law professors I know is Robert P. George of Princeton University. He has been teaching law students for years. In this Truth in Two, I am quoting Dr. George at length because his focus should apply to each of us. On social media he posted

“When discussing the history of racial injustice, I frequently ask undergraduates what their position on slavery would have been, had they been white, and living in the South before abolition. Guess what? They all would have been abolitionists! They all would have bravely spoken out against slavery and worked tirelessly in the cause of freeing those enslaved.

So, I respond to the students’ assurances that they would have been vocal opponents of slavery, by saying that I will credit their claims, if they can show me evidence of the following: that in leading their lives today, they have embraced causes that are unpopular among their peers and stood up for the rights of victims of injustice whose very humanity is denied. And would they have done so, knowing

(1) that their position would make THEM unpopular with their peers,

(2) that they would be loathed and ridiculed by wealthy, powerful, and influential individuals and institutions in our society;

(3) that it would cost them friendships and cause them to be abandoned and even denounced by many of their friends,

(4) that they would be called nasty names, and

(5) that they would possibly even be denied valuable educational and professional opportunities as a result of their moral witness.

In short, my challenge to them is this: show me where you have, at significant risk to yourself, and your futures, stood up for a cause that is unpopular in elite sectors of our culture today.”

Every time I read the professor’s words, I have asked myself the question, “What unpopular stands have I taken in my culture today?” For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel. President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.

Secular Theocracies

December 20, 2022December 20, 2022 by Mark Eckel

Unbelievers have theocracies too. Why?

. . . Everyone believes something. Whatever the belief, an assumption regarding origins means a commitment to a god follows. So, either matter (or the universe, consisting of matter and energy) is eternal, or God is eternal. Either raw, despotic power will be the authority, or standards have been given by a beneficent God. My views of the humanities, economics, justice, politics, or whatever sphere of life is under discussion are influenced by my dedication to a theological worldview that gives overarching direction to my thinking and living. But this is not a proclivity unique to me or to Christians in general. Everyone’s lived life is dictated by their theological perspective, their ultimate authority, their god . . .

Find the full explanation and my whole article at Salvo here. (4 min read)

Sign up for Mark’s Friday emails on the pop-up when you go to MarkEckel.com Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (webs ite). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Find all my Salvo articles here.

Photo credit: Josh Collingwood, Getty images (screen shot of the Salvo image online)

Scream: The Reason Halloween is Scary

October 25, 2022 by Mark Eckel

Screaming at Halloween is nothing

in comparison to real screams in life.

Watch our Truth in Two (full text included) to find out what should make us afraid.

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT

Driving down the highways of Indianapolis, billboards advertise Halloween scream-fests. For those attracted to horror, being scared in haunted houses or cornfields is a thrill. But more often than not, October prompts me to remember The Silent Scream by Edvard Munch. Munch’s painting is of a sexless, twisted, fetal-faced creature, with mouth and eyes open wide in a shriek of horror. Munch re-created a vision that had seized him as he walked one evening in his youth with two friends at sunset. As he later described it,

“The air turned to blood and the faces of my comrades became a garish yellow-white.”

He heard vibrating in his ears

“a huge endless scream coursed through nature.”

Edvard was torn. His dad had just died. He lacked his father’s faith in God. Reflecting later on his bohemian friends and their embrace of free love, he wrote:

“God and everything was overthrown; everyone was raging in a wild, deranged dance of life. But I could not set myself free from my fear of this life and eternal life.”

If Christians are to have an answer for Munch or scream-fests at Halloween, our beliefs, our theology, must be anything but dry, dusty, and boring. Theology is lived every moment of every day, whether we think so or not, whether we like it or not. Living theology—incarnational theology, if you will—is no spectator sport. We humans are not in the stands rooting on the home team. No, we are in the trenches, sweat-drenched, foul-odored, trying to get traction on the turf of life, so we can run the next play. The intersection of theology and practice is where we should live.

The Halloween season reminds us that many scream, not from the fun of jump scares, but the everyday life of Munch’s silent scream.

My Truth in Two series during Fall 2022 is a tribute to our son Tyler Micah. We lament his death while desiring to give voice to all who suffer in any way.

[This material is drawn from a sermon I preached on Job 3 at Zionsville Fellowship (Indiana) the spring of 2008. A number of articles have used the same words and ideas since and can be found by searching for “lament” at MarkEckel.com where you can also find a tribute to my son.]

21 Series and Movies to Watch this Summer

June 2, 2022June 1, 2022 by Mark Eckel

One summer Robin and I were catching up on Breaking Bad, at that time considered to be one of the most ground-breaking episodic shows on television. We were so into the storyline that we were staying up until 1 or 2 a.m. saying to each other, “Can you do another one? I can do another one? Wanna’ do another one?!”

It seems that we reprise our experience each summer with another show (or two or three or . . .). This summer I would like to add to my “binge-watching” post from 2021 with a few more offerings here. Again, I would say, please read “parental guides” on imdb.com so you know what you’re getting into or want to stay away from. [I broke down sobbing and could not finish Up In the Air because the storyline was done to me.] And for all who carefully consider the content of any entertainment, please read my writings on forming convictions here and here and here.

Without further ado, here is a list adding to my offerings that Robin & I have found compelling:

Under the Banner of Heaven is a crime drama limited-series based on a true story occurring in a Mormon community in the 1980’s. [Hulu]
Joe Pickett concerns a game warden whose detective skills outshine the local magistrate. The series is based on a composition of C. J. Box page-turners. Box’s books will surely be the basis for future on-screen action. [Hulu]
The Dropout is the true-life tale of Elizabeth Holmes who created Theranos duping scientists and board members alike. The limited series continues to ask the question, “How do you know what to believe?” [Hulu]
The Offer is based on behind-the-scenes finagling that created one of the most iconic motion pictures of all time – The Godfather. I found myself wondering how many other stories could be told about the difficulty of getting a movie made. [Paramount +]
Better Call Saul is winding down to its last episodes later this summer. Of course “winding down” should probably be “winding up,” the six season series is so good. Vince Gilligan has outdone himself as the creator of the prequal to his outstanding Breaking Bad. [AMC+]
Maid is a hard-to-watch, must-see story of a young woman in the throes of emotional abuse along with the consequences of good and bad decisions. I recommended this to a class at public university wherein almost all the young women responded, “Oh yes! Everyone has to see this series!” [Netflix]
Dopesick is the disgusting story of family greed which helped to produce the opioid crisis. The awfulness of addiction for individuals and its impact on medical institutions is crucial to understand. [Hulu]
Five Came Back documents (yes, it’s a must-see documentary) the impact of WWII on some of the premiere movie directors in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s who were shooting footage for the military. I was shocked at what I saw for so many reasons. By the way, It’s a Wonderful Life takes on a whole new meaning after seeing what combat experiences did to the famed director Frank Kapra. [Netflix]
Bosch “Everyone counts or no one counts.” I loved this series so much that after the last season finished I re-watched the whole series again. One of the best cop shows ever, with a stoic combat-hardened Vonnegut-quoting atheist detective played by Titus Welliver. Not to be missed. [Amazon]
Stranger Things has dropped its fourth season. If the first three are any indication, I can’t wait for this one. [Netflix]
Longmire has been out for a while but if you missed it, catch up. Based on mystery novels by Craig Johnson, these seven seasons are enjoyable, engaging television. I loved the shows for the wit and wisdom of a stoic go-it-alone Wyoming sheriff. I’m a sucker for “stoic.” [Netflix, A&E]
Yellowstone, 1883 (and soon to come 1932) is the saga of an American family. There is much to love in this show, including the not-so-subtle questioning of land as property. If you missed it, make sure to note that Taylor Sheridan was/is the writer/creator/producer, sometimes director/actor in these shows. Sheridan is hot in Hollywood. His storytelling skills are unparalleled. And make sure to watch Hell or High Water and Wind River two movies I constantly tell people about, also Sheridan creations. [Paramount+]

I’m rounding out my 21 summer offerings for 2022 with nine movie titles; some “old” (by a few years!) some new. I was just pacing through my “watch list” (which has over 200 movies, SMH). Search them out on imdb.com or rottentomatoes.com to see if they might be for you. [Links to imdb included.]

Pig, Mr. Jones (my review),Joy, Harriet, Please Stand By, A Star is Born (2018), Darkest Hour, The Founder, The Gift

Post Script. I care so much about movies that I wrote a book about how Christians should review film. You can get an overview of the importance of word-pictures related to Scripture related to movies in an address I gave to Moody Bible Institute in 2009.

Picture Credit: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat

Postman’s Warning

April 8, 2022 by Mark Eckel

I still remember sitting in my car, just having come out of the bookstore, beginning to read his book Technopoly. I had already read Amusing Ourselves to Death and considered him to be an American prophet. And it was in 1999 that my son and I got to hear him do a reading at a bookstore in downtown Chicago.

Neil Postman followed in the footsteps of other prophets, people like Orwell and Huxley. They warn us about ourselves and our focus on DISTRACTIONS. We think we have no need for a purpose outside of our own “personal peace and affluence” – that from another prophet, Francis Schaeffer.

If you have read this musing, this far, you might consider spending a few minutes contemplating the introduction of Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death. May it cause a pause in thought, pondering both the present and the future, the temporal and the eternal.

We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.

But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another – slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture.

Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us.

This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Celebrate Women’s History Month

March 7, 2022March 1, 2022 by Mark Eckel

She escaped slavery into a life of freedom.

Watch our Truth in Two as we celebrate nurses and women everywhere (full text and links below)

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Carnegie Center

FULL TEXT

At the beginning of Women’s History Month, we at the Comenius Institute want to celebrate Lucy Higgs Nichols.

According to the Historical Marker Data Base, Lucy was born a slave April 10, 1838, was owned by the Higgs family that by 1850 lived near Bolivar, Tennessee. She gained her freedom in 1862 by escaping to the 23rd Regiment, Indiana Volunteers camped nearby. She worked as a nurse for the soldiers as they fought in many major battles of the Civil War. She mustered out with them in Louisville in 1865.

According to the Carnegie Center in New Albany, Indiana, Lucy was more than a nurse. Listening to the recording on Carnegie’s website, Lucy would sit with the wounded and dying Union soldiers. She would tell them they were brave, and their families were proud of them.

According to the men from the camp, Lucy was a ray of light who sang songs reminding the men of their homes. She gave the men hope. Because Lucy had no home, after the war some of the men invited her back to Albany, Indiana. There Lucy married and tended to the needs of her neighbors as a nurse. Fifty-five surviving veterans wrote depositions acknowledging Lucy’s role as a nurse in the Civil War. A special act of Congress awarded Lucy her pension from the U.S. Army. Today, you can visit Lucy’s grave and the Carnegie Center in New Albany, Indiana.

Take a good look at the picture of Lucy from the Carnegie Center. It was taken at a reunion of the 23^rd Indiana Volunteers. Notice how Lucy is at the center of that photo. She is surrounded by white men, Union soldiers for whom she cared. I can think of no better way to make a statement about Lucy’s heroism as a woman and the honor of remembering her story.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally thankful for the everyday heroism of women everywhere.

Indiana. #veterans #indianablackhistory @blacknurses #civilwarnurse

https://carnegiecenter.org/exhibitions/remembered-life-lucy-higgs-nichols/

1776unites.com

March 7, 2022February 22, 2022 by Mark Eckel

A voice deserving to be heard.

Robert Woodson and 1776unites.com

Watch our Truth in Two to find out why Woodson should be heard (full text and links below).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, 1776unites.com

FULL TEXT

The 1619 Project has received applause throughout the majority media since it was published by The New York Times. There are those who have risen to acclaim its importance. There are others who have stood to question the document’s historical accuracy. You can find the pro and con perspectives in hyperlinks at the end of this Truth in Two.

The 1619 Project suggests that the real commencement of America should begin when the first slaves were brought to this country. I had heard quite a bit about the publication. So I studied it. As I began to research the claims of its writers, I also started to read about those dissenting voices. But my eyes went wide when I read the writings of Robert Woodson and his work at the website 1776 Unites. Since Mr. Woodson’s work has received far less press attention, it is appropriate to consider his claims.

Robert Woodson was born in 1937 in Philadelphia. He and his four siblings were raised by their mom after his dad died. Woodson is an Air Force veteran and has a long history in the Civil Rights movement and community development. Woodson’s concern is for the best approach to upward mobility. Woodson, an African American man, has brought together a cadre of black scholars and activists who study workable ideas. Together, they believe that the country best able to deliver opportunities for success is the United States of America. 1776 Unites has created curriculum to teach both the history of our country and its opportunities for people today. And among many essays on the site, 1776 Unites is critical of ideas found in the 1619 Project.

The year 1776 was chosen as the basis for Woodson’s work, as he says,

“Throughout her checkered past, America has been and remains a beacon of hope to people around the world. Join us in exploring stories of truth, perseverance, and triumph that acknowledge America’s failures but celebrate her enduring promise.”

For Truth in Two this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally thankful for the life and work of Robert Woodson.

https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/01/24/the-1619-false-history-project/

https://1776unites.com/essays/the-crucial-voice-of-1776/

The demands of public history (New Yorker)

Denzel

March 7, 2022February 15, 2022 by Mark Eckel

There is only one.

Denzel.

Watch our Truth in Two to learn about Denzel’s Christian faith (full text, links below).

Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, https://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/inspiring-stories/motivational-stories/guideposts-classics-denzel-washington-inspired-to,

FULL TEXT

“There are going to be two lines, the long line and the short line. I want to be in the short line.” So said Denzel Washington in a recent interview with The New York Times. Having followed Denzel’s life for decades I have always been impressed by his life story. You can find a link to my 2016 essay about Denzel’s life and work at the end of this Truth in Two.

In this most recent interview at the end of 2021, Denzel sounds as if he is a preacher in the pulpit

“The enemy is the inner me. The Bible says in the last days we’ll be lovers of ourselves.” And then he adds, “What is the long or short-term effect of too much information? It’s going fast and it can be manipulated in a myriad of ways. And people are being led like sheep to slaughter.”

It is here that Denzel says he wants to be in “the short line.” Denzel Washington has played iconic, Academy Award winning roles. Now he wants to direct more, as in his latest work A Journal for Jordan a story of love and loss, about heroes and sacrifice. According to The Times article Denzel promised his 97-year-old grandmother he would

“attempt to honor her and God by living the rest of my days in a way that would make her proud. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”

His grandmother’s influence is evident when Denzel says,

“This is spiritual warfare. I’m not looking at it from an earthly perspective. If you don’t have a spiritual anchor you’ll be easily blown by the wind and be led to depression.”

Follow Denzel Washington’s work and interviews. He is keeping that promise to his gramma. He is bringing God’s light to Hollywood. For Truth in Two this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally wanting to be the short line with Denzel.

https://www.nytimes.com/…/denzel-washington-man-on-fire…

https://warpandwoof.org/denzel/