The Good Old Days of the Cold War

Folks,

One of our readers, Timothy Collins, wrote in to inform me of Slate.com’s ongoing column from David Plotz, Blogging the Bible. In the column’s first entry, Plotz, who is Jewish, wonders “What happens when an ignoramus read the Good Book?” I haven’t been keeping up with the ongoing series. Timothy described the column thusly: “It’s incredibly interesting and I thought you like-minded folks might want to check it out.”

As editor, I take plenty of inspiration from Slate.com, which is packed daily with poignant articles on culture, politics and news. The online magazine is a little left-of-center, but I guess we are too, especially within the realm of Christianity. For newcomers looking for a good column to get started in, Seth Stevenson’s “Ad Report Card” runs fascinating analyses of television ads.

An article on October 11th especially caught my attention, especially with my dad, a hardcore Conservative, recently espousing the virtues of Mitt Romney for President in 2008. My dad loves Romney because of the mere fact he’s been elected as the Republican governor of a decidedly liberal state: Massachusetts. The thing is, Romney is also a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

“The Christian Right would never go along with a Mormon as President,” I told him.

Slate discusses my assertion here in an compelling article on Romney’s impact on the Christian Right.

I wish I could say I don’t waste my time playing video games, but, well, I do. My most recent game of choice has been DEFCON, a downloadable game for PC where the player takes control of one continent and wages nuclear war against the rest of the world.

The game, because of its implications, is infinitely more horrifying than the most violent first-person shooters. The graphics are as simple as they come, depicting a war map deep within Cheyenne Mountain, and the soundtrack is beyond ominous. The player maneuvers nuclear subs, stealth bombers and silo-launched missiles into place with the sole aim of wiping out as many of the opponent’s major cities while protecting your own.

DEFCON is a beautifully rendered and frightening depiction at the reality we once faced: that of all-out war with the Soviet Union, where deaths are counted in the millions. Because of the game, I’ve been thinking about the Cold War a lot, remembering how the threat of nuclear war hung over our heads when I was younger. In fact, one of the closest points to nuclear war between Russia and the United States occurred in 1995.

Even with North Korea testing nukes, there seems to almost be a nostalgia concerning the Cold War. I’m not sure why this is, considering the threat of personal danger from terrorism is so slight compared to that of thousands of ICBMs streaking across the sky. It could be that the threat of complete nuclear annihilation is something we’ve survived (at least in theory), and maybe we can survive the next threat.

Anyhow, now that I’ve sufficiently dampened the mood…

As always, we have a good issue for you. Sarah Raymond Cunningham, author of Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation, contributes two articles: one with simple steps on how to live environmentally friendly, and one an excerpt from her book. Coincidentally, Eric White submitted review of the book, and we’re glad he has good things to say. He’s not alone: Dear Church is getting great reviews on Amazon.com.

Elsewhere, Chad Gibbs talks about his 10 year reunion and Stephanie Nikolopolous reviews the film “Jesus Camp”. Trisha Hubbs, a new contributor, discusses how important television has been at certain points in her life, and I decided to tackle the Fall television season, laying out the hits and misses the networks have aired in the last few weeks.

Musically, we have reviews for T.V. On The Radio, Beck’s latest, and an Australian songwriter that Jan Carson absolutely adores.

In our Letters to the Editor section, we’ve introduced polls. Last issue, we solicited our readers for the best U2 album, and this issue we asked who the best band in history is. I’ll give you a hint: U2 is on the list. Our new poll asks: “What is the greatest television show in history?” Send your top 5 T.V. shows to reviews@burnsidewriterscollective.com. Rock the vote! Vote or die! You know, something like that.

In closing, try not to think too much about a crazy North Korean madman developing nuclear weaponry, and keep on truckin’.

Jordan Green
BWC