Category Archives: Arts and Culture

BJ Harris and “Illusions of Freedom”

My son is an amateur magician, and last night he clued me in to Harris III, an illusionist who has a completely different take on “Illusions of Freedom.” It’s not the same philosophical question we’ve been talking about here, but it’s good stuff.

November 18, 2009 – 7:17 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture, Life and Choices | Comments Off

The Best Mystery Novel?

I read Dorothy L. Sayers’s The Nine Tailors several years ago, and today I just finished it again, on audio this time. I think it’s my all-time favorite mystery novel. What’s yours?

October 6, 2009 – 6:38 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Outrageous Government Censorship of Religious Speech

First question: What on earth could Maine have been thinking?! Bangor, ME - Today the Christian Action Network (CAN) filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Maine for censoring a fundraising letter state officials claimed contained “an inflammatory anti-Muslim message.” Maine officials fined and banned CAN from mailing any future letters under the threat of criminal …

October 2, 2009 – 12:14 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Comments (1)

“A Texas-Sized Defeat for ‘Western Civilization’”

My college friend Rob Koons was putting together a concentration on “Western Civilization and American Institutions” at the University of Texas, but he got the plugged pulled on him in a manner that was not only unceremonious but also confused, contradictory, and educationally unwise. He learned some lessons from the experience, including: Our program was rightly …

August 7, 2009 – 5:25 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (6)

On Judging By Appearances…

… a video commentary. You’ll be astonished. The song is from my all-time favorite musical, the most gloriously Christian of all works of modern popular culture, Les Misérables. Enjoy. Hat Tip to Stand to Reason

April 14, 2009 – 4:21 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Comments (1)

Life for a Biographer

Quite a story here: I know the biographer A. N. Wilson primarily because I read parts of his biography of C. S. Lewis for one of my theses; he has also written biographies on John Milton, Leo Tolstoy, Hilaire Belloc, and Jesus. Additionally he wrote the book God’s Funeral: The Decline of Faith in Western …

April 5, 2009 – 6:10 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture, The Faith | Comments (3)

What Drives Hollywood

Hollywood Trivia: What’s the one occupation an actress a female actor can portray on screen that’s most likely to earn her an Oscar? What proportion of women in the world consider this a healthy role model? What is it that really drives Hollywood? Is it doing the rest of the world a bit of good? …

January 24, 2009 – 6:55 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Comments Off

“Only Natural” on ID Arts Blog

I send my thanks to ID Arts for publishing my story, “Only Natural.”

January 11, 2009 – 2:58 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture, Origins and Science | Comments Off