An Introduction

Your first question should be, and probably is, "What the crap is up with the title of this blog?"

If you know me pretty well, it's likely that you already know my favorite band is Thrice. They have a song called "That Hideous Strength." It's super heavy, a bit emo, and the lyrics go as follows:

Oh, that I could scream,
And the world would stop and listen
And these scars could speak in volumes.

But who has ears to hear?
Or eyes to see?

Again I scream,
But my voice is buried in an unearthly silence,
Like in nightmares when ghosts steal your breath.

I pray that power be not in my words,
But in truth that supercedes the mind of man.

And our dead hope,
And our blind faith in means that look to justify the ends--
I feel a presence in the room
I feel cold fingers close around my neck.

Without you I am lost...
Let mine eyes not fail with looking upward.

Dustin Kensrue, Thrice's lyricist and lead singer (and one of my heroes), was referencing a book by C.S. Lewis with the same title. The quote under the title of this blog comes from the following paragragh in that book:

Have you ever noticed that the universe, and every little bit of the universe, is always hardening and narrowing and coming to a point? ... If you dip into any college, or school, or parish, or family - anything you like - at a given point in its history, you always find that there was a time before that point when there was more elbow room and contrasts weren't quite so sharp; and that there's going to be a time after that point when there is even less room for indecision and choices are even more momentous. Good is always getting better and bad is always getting worse: the possibilities of even apparent neutrality are always diminishing.

I have a passion for politics which is motivated by my love for humanity and my love for my country. As a tiny, insignificant particle in the sweeping vastness of world history, the most I can do is inform and be informed. I try to learn about what's going on in the world--the ins the outs and the whys--and then try to make sense of it. I try to figure out what matters the most, what I should love, and what I should hate.

My conviction is that everyone has the sacred responsibility of fashioning an educated opinion about the world around them. Opinions motivate words and actions, and those words and actions are what improve or diminish the conditions of homes, communities, and nations.

Apathy is the great hideous strength. The worst crimes of humanity have been perpetrated by a very few amidst an ignorant, apathetic many.

"Therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her." (Proverbs)

To that end, I'll keep myself abreast of what's happening in this world, and this country. And out of what I learn, I'll share what seems to be most important. This blog is my meager contribution in the war against that hideous strength.