Recounts a famously outspoken agnostic's surprising relationship with Christianity H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) was a reporter, literary critic, editor, author--and a famous American agnostic. From his role in the Scopes Trial to his advocacy of science and reason in public life, Mencken is generally regarded as one of the fiercest critics of Christianity in his day. In this biography D. G. Hart presents a provocative, iconoclastic perspective on Mencken's life. Even as Mencken vividly debunked American religious ideals, says Hart, it was Christianity that largely framed his ideas, career, and fame. Mencken's relationship to the Christian faith was at once antagonistic and symbiotic. Using plenty of Mencken's own words, Damning Words superbly portrays an influential figure in twentieth-century America and, at the same time, casts telling new light on his era.

There is power in your words. Our words have great and destructive power. They truly have potency of a dynamite, they can hurt, heal or hinder us and others. We must know what the scriptures us that our words have life or death potentials. But we must choose each hour, of our day to commit to be aware of the words that come out of our mouth. We are going to be held accountable for every single word spoken. To go a bit further the bible tells us that what I think I can become Think about IT, Speak about IT and Be I IT! “Articulation is Activation”. Watch your words change when you: Watch your words Watch your life Watch others Watch God’s word guide and build you and others up! This book will encourage you to watch your words with practical suggestions.

Originally published: London: Allen Lane/Penguin Books, 2014.

Power is one of the most addictive drugs in the world. Those who want it will do anything to get it, including using and abusing their own family members to achieve their aims. Then once they have the power, they will not give it up willingly. Instead, they will go to any lengths to hold on to their power no matter how many people they hurt, believing it is their right to do so!

Ferment is the correct word by which to characterize current Jeremiah studies, a deep and broad stirring that relies on previous scholarship but that seeks to move beyond that scholarship in bold and new ways. This collection of fine essays not only reflects that ferment but in important ways contributes to it and advances the discussion. Most broadly, the current discussion seeks to move beyond the historical-critical categories of Sigmund Mowinckel and Bernhard Duhm and the classic formulation of three sources, A, B, and C. In Jeremiah as in other parts of biblical scholarship, the new questions concern the inadequacy of historical-critical readings of a positivistic kind and the prospect of synchronic readings, either through ideological analysis that seeks to show that ideology shapes the book, or through canonical readings that find a large theological intentionality to the whole of the book. It turns out, perforce, that ideological and canonical readings are closely twinned in their judgment about the literature. This present collection, which includes both new voices and some of the established major players in the discussion, merits important attention.” From the preface, by Walter Brueggemann

Award winning journalist Ted Gup exposes how and why our most important institutions increasingly keep secrets from the very people they are supposed to serve.Drawing on his decades as an investigative reporter, Ted Gup argues that a preoccupation with secrets has undermined the very values--security, patriotism, and privacy--in whose name secrecy is so often invoked. He explores the blatant exploitation of privacy and confidentiality in academia, business, and the courts, and concludes that in case after case, these principles have been twisted to allow the emergence of a shadow system of justice, unaccountable to the public. Nation of Secrets not only sounds the alarm to warn against an unethical way of life, but calls for the preservation of our democracy as we know it.

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