Happy Flag Day! 🇺🇸

Nothing is better on a summer afternoon than sitting on the porch while reading a good book. So, for today's Texas Minute, I’ll offer a few recommendations from my library.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Monday, June 14, 2021
Modify your email preferences.

But first…

• Over the next couple weeks, the Texas Scorecard team will be participating in a series of “legislative reviews” hosted by True Texas Project around the state. Get details on their website to see what meetings will be closest to you.
      
• Tonight: I’ll be speaking at the at Lubbock meeting, while Brandon Waltens will be at the meeting in Howe and Jeramy Kitchen will be in North Richland Hills. 

“The Maker Versus the Takers: What Jesus Really Said About Social Justice and Economics” by Jerry Bowyer 

• One of the best books I’ve read this year. Bowyer puts the New Testament into its proper historic and economic context. Like the rest of academia, most of America’s seminaries have been gripped by leftists eager to cast Jesus – and all of Scripture – into the false light of social justice and Marxist “liberation.” 
   
• Bowyer masterfully debunks the modern myths, showing a Jesus who praises wealth generated through hardwork… and offers scorn for those who use the power of government to enrich themselves.
   
• For a taste of the book, check out the Texas Scorecard-sponsored Liberty Café podcast interview Bill Peacock did with Jerry Bowyer.
  
  This might be the most important book you read this summer. And consider getting a copy for your pastor!

War of Independence

• “1774: The Long Year of Revolution” by Mary Beth Norton
  
  I read this when it came out last year. It’s incredibly well-written and sourced, as you’d expect from someone like Mary Beth Norton. You will finish 1774 with a better grasp of the real people, and the real debates, that shaped our nation’s founding.

Two selections for Texas history buffs

• “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History” by S.C. Gwynne
   
• “Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde” by John Boessenecker
  
  I read these back-to-back a few years ago. For someone who prides himself on his knowledge of Texas history, these two books nonetheless brought that history richly to life.

Winning the Cold War

• “The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World” by John O’Sullivan
  
  O’Sullivan is an unabashed fan of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and John Paul II. He explores the very special relationship these three leaders – appointed for just such a time – developed as they fought and defeated the Soviet empire.