Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Culture

What’s going on, who we are, and what the big deal is.

  • Scholars speak of the book, Song of Songs as love poetry to GOD. That it takes its form from the romantic poetry genre and applies it to love of GOD. It possesses a certain sensuality that is scandalous, if for no other reason than it talks about breasts and sex in ways that would make…

  • The biggest problem we’re facing in the 21st Century involves the limits of inclusion. It is at the heart of the so-called culture war, the immigration debate, and post-9/11 foreign policy. We are seeing it now in matters of race: in policing and in flags: and in matters of guns and safety. And we are (quite remarkably)…

  • Why the lion?

    The reason we can condemn an asshole who goes halfway around the world to kill a lion is because it’s a safe thing to condemn. It is safe to say animal cruelty is bad. It is safe to say what he did doesn’t really count as hunting. It is safe to say rich people can get…

  • Is this the end? Phyllis Tickle has long argued that the fight over human sexuality and marriage is the last battle of the culture war. It is the last plank of the cultural conservative political platform; and the plank is crumbling. That is why the fight has been so brutal. She argues that conservative Christians…

  • We finally made it to Wild Goose. After the last four years saying “I really wish we could go,” which became “let’s give it a try,” which became “we’ll go next year.” It finally became “we’re going!” We just got back from the Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, North Carolina this weekend. Rose and I…

  • Several years ago, I made a nearly nightly trip to Barnes & Noble to read and write. I had discovered Seth Godin’s books Tribes and The Dip and I was starting another: Lynchpin. This was the book I was looking for. In a very literal and figurative way. It was the book. The book I…