From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
On October 6, 1942, inventor Chester Carlson patented xerography, the process that led to the development of modern photocopying machines. Ever since Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod and bifocal lenses, Americans have been busy coming up with one amazing idea after another. The London Times once wrote that “the American invents as the Greek sculpted and the Italian painted. It is genius.” Here are just a few of the many American inventions that have changed billions of lives.
mechanical reaper
1834 – Cyrus McCormick
sewing machine
1846 – Elias Howe
telephone
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell
incandescent lamp
1879 – Thomas Edison
photographic roll film
1884 – George Eastman, Hannibal Goodwin
modern submarine
1898 – John P. Holland
air conditioning
1902 – Willis H. Carrier
airplane
1903 – Orville and Wilbur Wright
television
1920s Philo T. Farnsworth, Vladimir Zworykin
rocket engine
1926 – Robert H. Goddard
nylon
1937 – Du Pont Laboratories
electronic computer
1942 – John V. Atanasoff, Clifford Berry
microwave oven
1947 – Percy Spencer
transistor
1947 – J. Bardeen, W. Brattain, W. Shockley
integrated circuit
1959 – Jack Kilby, Robert Noyce
laser
1960 – Gordon Gould, Theodore H. Maiman
microprocessor
1971 – Intel Corp.
cell phone
1973 – Martin Cooper
Internet
1960s–1980s – Scientists all over the country
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. You’ll read about heroes, their achievements, and key events that took place “On This Day” in American history. Click here to subscribe.
Welcome to the Intersections Blog, where I try to work out where politics, pop culture, and the Bible meet
So What's This All About?
In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"
P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!
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