Mark’s Articles
Christmas Tree of Life
“There are two ways through life, the way of nature and the way of grace” begins Terrence Malick’s film The Tree of Life. The history of the Christmas tree is uncertain, but the most likely origin story is that when the Church banned “mystery plays” in the 16th century, the “Paradise tree” (the tree of life and the [...]
Peace That Transcends Understanding
“Anxiety is born out of having something to lose.” – Jeff Nichols I took my wife to the film Take Shelter recently to see how its writer, Jeff Nichols, unpacks his and our society’s angst through a parable of a family at the brink. The film follows the journey of a working class family haunted by [...]
Don, Doug and the Devil’s Dirty Work
Our family Halloween viewing tradition is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken in which Don Knotts plays a jittery (what else) local who stumbles across a murder disguised as a haunting. The last scene is the clincher, in all its subtle ghostly glory. What everyone had discounted was indeed true — there was more than met the eye. [On a [...]
Competing Spirits of the Age
“Pure terror and havoc & Free stuff. Just smash shop windows and cart out da stuff u want.” BBM Message, London, August 8, 2011 While the streets rage in London, there is also a debate raging over the cause of the rioting. Is it economic disparity, hopelessness and desperation? Is it a breakdown of the social [...]
Virtue in Gaming
I can’t go back to Imperial City. I stole a horse. In the computer game Oblivion from the Elder Scrolls series, one of many fantasy-based games inspired by J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, you can steal. But not without consequence. Not knowing the rules as well as I should, to make up time between villages [...]
Gaga Revolution?
In his recent book 33 Revolutions Per Minute, Dorian Lynskey catalogues “protest songs from Billie Holiday to Green Day.” The fundamental question he asks is not whether anyone is making them, but whether anyone is listening. Lady Gaga represents a relatively new breed of cultural revolutionary. Fully aware of the fickleness of fame, she has [...]
When Khomeini and Culture Collide
Superman caused a stir last month. Just when we thought the birther debate was put to rest, another citizenship controversy flew in to replace it — Superman’s decision to renounce his U.S. citizenship in Action Comics issue #900. In case you missed it, Superman appears in Iran to express solidarity with the Green Revolution and, [...]
Compassion and Politics
I am a Republican. For six years I was the third-ranking leadership staffer in the United State Senate. I am a conservative. For sixteen years I served as former Senator Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) top staffer. And I am hopeful. With new leadership in Congress and a new Presidential cycle underway, we have an opportunity [...]
It Takes a Story
A few weeks ago, we spent time with Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), for me the most compelling character in the Lord of The Rings trilogy. When you spend time with Sean, you realize how perfectly he was cast. Sean and his business partner Ned Lott are adapting Lois Lowry’s Number The Stars, one of her [...]
Integrity and The Entrepreneur
What do you do when you are faced with two bad choices, and don’t know which is the least of the two evils? After working for 16 years on Capitol Hill, I started a new firm called The Clapham Group, named after the small community of evangelicals outside London at the turn of the eighteenth [...]
