When we find ourselves in difficult times, it is easy for us to lose hope…to wonder “why?”…to want to give up the fight.  But every now and then, when we least expect it, God shows up in a big way to let us know He is with us and is in control…always…and I am reminded of these lyrics from the song “Praise You In This Storm” by Casting Crowns:  “…as the thunder rolls, I barely hear You whisper through the rain, ‘I’m with you’…”

On the morning of 1 July 2011…that “whisper became a shout.”

What started out as a regular weekly spotlight on one of our great culture warriors at BigDawg Music Mafia – this time on the amazing music of our good friend Chip Murray, a truly gifted singer/songwriter who also happens to be a delightful, down-to-earth blogger – has turned out to be so much more.   We are reminded not only of God’s incredible Grace, but we are also reminded of the sacrifices of our fallen brothers and sisters that enable us to celebrate our freedom.   May this story–Chip’s story–lift your spirits and give you hope.

It is a pleasure and an honor to introduce our friend, Chip Murray.

Chip’s Biography:

Chip got his first guitar (a Stella) at the tender age of 13.  It may have been a cheap guitar, but he quickly found it to be a great tool of expression and a very cool way to connect with people.  Growing up in the turbulent 60’s, the guitar became his life raft and steady friend through the whitewaters of adolescence…. And while the rest of the world seemed to be finding themselves, making their marks and staking their claims, he was tasting the silent sweetness of nowhere.  And yet, by 35 he had lived everywhere from Boulder to Reseda, to Morgan City and the Houston suburb of Bacliff.  He lived, worked, loved, fought, and danced with “the people” on every coast of this great land.  He became one of them, assimilating their culture by inhaling their music and stories into his heart and soul… “Gone Wishin‘,” the debut CD from his band Cavern was his first public “exhale” and but a glimpse of what’s inside.  From “Devil in Me” to “Deja Vu Blues,” Gone Wishin’ is a metaphor for our journey from the darkness to the light….and after “we rest on the wind, we’ll come right back to our mothers again.”- Gibran. (more…)

To begin with, writing this first editorial for Big Hollywood feels as threatening as the moment I entered California to do my first big film-role in Glory Boy, originally and more comprehensively titled, My Old Man’s Place.

“Do I really want that face I see in the rushes  … the one that looks an awful lot like me … do I want it running around the movie houses of the world?”

By then, of course, it was too late. I’d already signed a contract.

Director Elia Kazan accepts an honorary Oscar (1999)

I’ve already said yes to Andrew Breitbart … and though I’ve been writing editorials on enterstageright.com for more than a few years … this actual return to Hollywood … uh … Big Hollywood, no less … is as disturbing as those memories of My Old Man’s Place.

What does Big Hollywood mean?

Is it a tribute or in-house sarcasm? (more…)

When I first started contributing to Big Hollywood, one of the rules I set for myself was to never discuss non-political figures, specifically folks in Hollywood.  There is plenty to write about without insulting members of the industry you are trying to work in.  So, in writing today about Roman Polanski, my purpose is not to malign the child-raping son-of-a-bitch himself, but to discuss the broader cultural ramifications of Hollywood’s support for his vile, child-raping son-of-a-bitchery.

The Founders of this nation understood full-well that a nation of liberty could not long survive without a strong moral foundation.  If government exists to control people, then limited government naturally would control them very little.  The potential upside was tremendous.  If allowed to live free, a human being might pursue their own interests to the betterment of all of society.  Freedom means a man might strive, risk, and fail, but it also meant that he might strive, risk, and succeed.  As this process played out over time, it might well become the single greatest engine for innovation and wealth creation in all of human history.  (more…)

In the comment section of a recent post, I drew some fire for making the following, apparently shocking claim:

We [Americans] see America, from the Pilgrims who signed the Mayflower Compact to the Biblical scholars… who birthed the nation, to the spirit of sacrifice and charity that thrives to this very day, not as a nation of Christians (for that freedom is at the deepest core of our common philosophy) but as a Christian nation.

It seems that there is a growing belief that because our Founders were stalwart advocates for religious liberty, and because some of them had very nuanced and sometimes cynical views about organized religion, the United States was somehow conceived to be a secular nation. This belief is not only untrue, but detrimental to an adequate understanding of the underlying political philosophy of the founding, not least of all because it envisions the government as the nation instead of merely the organization through which the nation conducts its civil affairs, and more importantly because it betrays the singular belief that undergirds the entire American experiment: That the rights of man come not from government but from God. (more…)

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, fifty six of our forefathers signed their names to the Declaration of Independence. They brought forth a new nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

They started a war. My ancestor, Francis Lightfoot Lee was one of those men. They started the revolution that birthed this nation. 

Now we are engaged at a crossroads of history, testing whether the leaders of this nation so conceived and dedicated, still hold those same truths and ideals to be self-evident. 

Iranian citizens have taken to the streets of their cities in the pursuit of freedom and liberty. They sought, and deserved, their own revolution. The Iranian government murdered and persecuted them for it. Our government voted present.  (more…)

March 16 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Broadway opening of “1776.”  Written by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, it went on to run for 1,217 performances.  It’s hard to believe that forty years ago it was still popular to write an unabashedly patriotic musical that openly celebrated American Exceptionalism and painted the founding fathers not just as humans but as the intellectual and moral giants that they were.  Because the 1972 film version is tantamount to a filmed version of the play rather than a Hollywood re-interpretation, its original intent and form is easily accessible to today’s audience.  It deserves a good look and therefore, is this week’s Sunday Matineé.  (more…)