Plato loved a good time. If he made a mistake in his writing, it was assuming all men are too concerned with physical pleasures. Many are, but some are not and those who were not used his prophetic extremes to reject all physical pleasures. It’s impossible to imagine Plato, a man of his world, going that far, but bad students will always take hyperbole as commandment. This is sad. No statement is so clear that people will not pervert it. Jesus said, “love... Read more
I once gave an entire talk on the nature of beauty. I finished and immediately a hand went into the air. “What,” the mother said, “do you think of Harry Potter?” In certain contexts answering that question at all will swamp whatever people have heard up to that point. I explained this and passed on answering the question. The next time I was invited to that group someone asked if I was going to give the “Harry Potter talk” again. Not talking... Read more
Don’t kill the Hitler Youth. Kids get raised in bad places, in evil times, and by wicked teachers and parents. Jesus told us we are to love our enemies and treat others as we would wish to be treated. Christians value peace so much that a minority of Christians are pacifists, while the rest of us are never for war. We will fight if it is the last option, but even then only under certain circumstances. With two billion present Christians... Read more
I have never heard him be vulgar. I have never heard him be crude. If you hurt him, he will forgive you, pray for you, and move on. If you think that gentleman are no more, you need to know: there is one cavalier left. We can still make gentlemen like Daniel Reynolds. Why should you care? Good parenting matters and good parenting begins in letting your kids grow up. Daniel is a thinker, an innovator. Sometimes these types... Read more
Want to keep your school on track? Thirty years of observation and reading have given me an idea of how to do it. I have observed Christian schools (from elementary through university) after these Christian schools became different from what the founders intended and not in a good way. Elvis leaves the building, founders age and die, and then the homogenized, poll watching credentialed fix things by ruining them. Generally this drift occurs in whatever way the surrounding culture is... Read more
Can you live with a dumb phone instead of a smartphone? Before giving my opinion, I wanted to try and the answer is “yes.” Ten dollars a month got me a flip phone that texts (unlimited) and calls numbers. It had a rudimentary browser, but I had them shut even that off. That’s all the phone does. It is perfect for work. Texting is necessary to my job, but email has faded as a means of communication. Waiting an hour... Read more
Croquet is the new craze at our house. Age and general ineptitude have made it (nearly) impossible for us to beat our adult children at badminton, though we will keep trying. Croquet, however, that is another thing altogether. So far as I can tell it requires little or no endurance, already a plus for aging knees, and relies on skills that we have retained (ability to breath, basic vision, strength to hold a wooden mallet). And it is fun. The... Read more
Bromiders don't--or cannot--explain their moral reasoning. Bromiders only pick targets that are socially safe for their friend group. Bromiders never show why people might choose the bad instead of the good. Read more
Does the Bible Endorse Slavery? Two common historic types of slavery are slavery based on economy and slavery based on race. The Old Testament acknowledged the existence in ancient times and attempted to regulate it, making it more humane. The New Testament undermines the viability of all slavery by calling for slaves to be treated as “brothers,” but does not call for immediate abolition. Indeed, when Paul sent the slave Onesimus back to his master Philemon, he wrote that Onesimus... Read more
The existence of beauty suggests that God exists and that He is good. Beauty is not a sufficient proof for God’s existence, but it serves as a confirmation for anyone whose belief in God is based on other reasons and experiences. The harmonious plan of the cosmos allows for variation and freedom for created beings. There is a fundamental pattern and order to creation, but also room for the unexpected within the design plan. Too much regularity would seem stagnant,... Read more
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