Monsieur Jacques d'Nalgar

Monsieur Jacques d’Nalgar is a working curmudgeon with a cat-killing curiosity in politics, religion, history, and other manifestations of irrational human behavior. He resides in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a semi-autonomous region of the United States (a waning political experiment on the third planet of a minor solar system in a remote corner of the Milky Way galaxy), with his wife and other assorted wildlife. ... Jacques is a son and grandson of Baptist preachers, missionaries and educators. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where his father was a school headmaster for more than 30 years (and before that, a B-17 navigator in the last months of WW2). He grew up in the Middle East during the turbulent 50s, 60s, and 70s, but left just before Lebanon’s 15-year civil war nightmare began in earnest. Most reputable historians do not associate the onset of that tragic conflict with his departure. He returned for a visit in 1978, three years into the conflict. His right eye still occasionally twitches as a result. ... After colleges in Oklahoma and 16 years working for a company now forever identified with war profiteering and the dark lord Darth Cheney, he moved his family to Hot Springs in 1994. Jacques spends most of his time reading, blogging under a barely-disguised snotty “Freedom Fries” pseudonym, and staring at the sun. He works tirelessly for the OAFS (Obsessive Alliteration-Fondness Syndrome) Foundation, as both its only benefactor and sole beneficiary. ... Jacques’ political pilgrimage has meandered across much of the regressive-to-progressive continuum. Once a staunch conservative, he found himself suddenly adrift in left field when the rest of the country lurched hard-right after 9-11. He is a frequent critic of our national love affair with wars, rampant nationalism in general, and the resurgent, xenophobic frenzy that masquerades as patriotism. ... He once defined his religious confession as Zen Baptist, a burgeoning movement (of one) within the Southern Baptist Convention, seeking to reclaim the mantle of Christian orthodoxy from fevered fundamentalists just itching for Armageddon. When evangelicals embraced the tangerine wankmaggot Trump and rejected Jesus, he abandoned the family faith and warily embraced Episcopalians' peculiar cocktail of ancient traditions and progressive inclusion. Monsieur d’Nalgar may be reached by sending him your questions telepathically, or by sending him money. He prefers the latter.

Most commented posts

  1. Bane of fundamentalism — 10 comments
  2. An obituary — 10 comments
  3. What we should be talking about — 9 comments
  4. Climate change in Arkansas — 8 comments
  5. Some powerfully stupid stuff — 7 comments

Author's posts

Flying spittle

 I can imagine that in Mr. Greenberg’s mind, any modern comparison to the Holocaust is tantamount to its diminution/dilution and therefore an insult to the Jews’ well-documented suffering.  Also well-documented is the rage provoked by exposing the hypocrisy of Jewish nationalists.  Just ask Jesus… If Greenberg didn’t like your comments, I’m sure he’s thrilled with fellow Jew …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/14/flying-spittle/

Rushdoony

 Yesterday, Monroe asked me: Aren’t there people in the USA who call themselves Christians who truly want a Theocracy here – somewhat like the Taliban described below? http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IC14Df03.html Absolutely. The scariest of the bunch (in my opinion) are the ones who follow and expand upon the teachings of Rousas John Rushdoony (1916 – 2001). He …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/14/rushdoony/

Close call

 Friends, Four years ago this week, I forwarded this now-prescient speech by Ray Close: https://levantium.com/2003/02/09/war-coming/ It’s a long read, but remarkable in how accurately he anticipated the problems that would arise from this administration’s folly.  Well worth reading a second time (or a first, if you’re relatively new to this list). I called Mr. Close …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/12/close-call/

War’s price tag

 Pretend for a moment the war is occurring in a vacuum and we’re not even considering the cost to Iraq and its neighbors.  According to an article published today in New Statesman, the cost for the war and for caring for our wounded and for the tangential impacts, such as the cost of oil, will eventually …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/12/wars-price-tag/

Baptists in Levantium

 Interesting history.  Thank you very much.  I’m curious, because it wasn’t mentioned in the article and perhaps wasn’t germane, but how much Baptist work in Israel/Palestine is with Jewish (secular and confessing) persons and how much is with non-Jewish (i.e., Arab Christians and Muslims and non-Arab visiting pilgrims/tourists) persons?  What are the ratios?  Maybe I’ve …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/10/baptists-in-levantium/

Børre’s nightmare

 http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/350/355/july-war/20070304/20070304-images.html We left Beirut at 9 yesterday and were back 12 hours later. Drove to Sidon and checked in with the army to get permission to enter the occupation zone evacuated by the Israelis in 2000 and which is finally under Lebanese Army control. Then straight to Tyre, Jouwaya, Tibnine and Bint Jbeil. We saw …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/07/b%c3%b8rres-nightmare/

What is trvth?

 Posted by Mike West, NewStatesman.com, 07 March 2007 11:01 When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, ‘What is truth?’, he put his finger on a big issue. Many of us have been brought up with the belief that a thing can only be true if it can be proved scientifically. Even though post-modern philosophers have questioned assertions of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/03/what-is-trvth/