On this blog in history: November/December 2003

As I’ve been doing these posts linking to material from the archives (my way of addressing the concerns Jared Wilson raised about the ephemerality of blogs as a medium), I’ve been working my way through posts from the first part of last year. There isn’t a lot from the middle of 2007, though, so for the moment I’m going to jump back to the end of 2003, when I first started doing this.“The Occupation of Iraq Means Liberty”
That line comes from a column by Kamel al-Sa’doun, an Iraqi then living in Norway, writing in a London-based Arabic daily, who called the U.S. invasion and occupation “a blessed and promising liberation for Iraq, even if the U.N., Europe, Russia, India, and all the Arabs say otherwise.”“Evangelism”? What’s that?
On the controversy over Avodat Yisrael, a Messianic Jewish congregation planted by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and what it said about the PC(USA) and evangelism.No guru, no method, no teacher
On the incarnational art of Van Morrison.“All Americans”? Uh-huh, riiight . . .
On the illusion of post-9/11 international goodwill.“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
No, network execs weren’t any smarter 43 years ago, just luckier (maybe).“There’s too much to do—I’m bored.”
On the overstimulation and emptiness of contemporary Western society and how it stimulates us to sloth.A tree grows in Brooklyn
On Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the place of holidays in the public square.