“I love Rosalind!” “Oh. Wait! I love Juliet!” And so starts the great tragedy Romeo and Juliet where the “hero” Romeo manages to mess up everyone’s life by his lack of chastity. Preparing to teach the play has reminded me of how healthy the play is: love, eros, and natural law all mix together, but when Romeo gets the mixture wrong . . . there is an explosion. Shakespeare was an entertainer, but like all great writers, he knew that learning... Read more
The world is so connected that every action we take has implications that cannot be imagined. As a result, we cannot predict outcomes with any surety. What seems practical might fail and what seems irrational might work. God works tirelessly bringing what is best to the world. No human can ever see the intricacies of that plan. God’s will accounts for all the free will of devils, angels, and men from the past, present, and future. God’s will cares for... Read more
A simple way to know a religious grifter is to look for fear mongering. The religious grifter uses fear to create a crisis and the crisis is an opportunity to sell product. If there is not trouble in River City, with a capital T, then there is no need for the grifter’s product. We need to hear bad news, and some of the cultural trends in America are very bad, but beware when it comes tied to a product. You... Read more
The worst liar I ever knew was my athletic trainer, though I doubt he meant to lie. He had been taught a series of slogans which he would break out at the drop of a barbell. . . and I dropped barbells frequently. One of my least favorite mottos he had was: no limits. I am not sure what he meant by this, but I am very, very sure that all the possible meanings were very wrong. When it came... Read more
Smart people who can be unloving while supposedly loving people live in the false charity of lies. Truth can be misused, but remains irrepressibly true while love can degenerate into moral cowardice combined with a hug. Love should grow in knowledge. Love demands knowledge of the beloved . . . as even the merely infatuated know. In the first blush of eroticism, a single date can contain more conversation and disclosures than mere acquaintances might share in a year. Why knowledge? Knowledge... Read more
Saturating in a great book is good, in two great books better. Laches is one of Plato’s shorter dialogs and full of wisdom on living the good life as is Philippians. The great Jewish rabbi Paul placed (out of time!) in dialog with the greatest philosopher gives me fresh insight to both men. Paul is writing a letter to a gathering of people he is pastoring and I am reminded that a letter invites dialog. Paul was inspired by God in writing this... Read more
The Washington Post is no friend of right-to-life groups. Read their story and then watch the video, if you can stomach it. Here is what nobody denies: an executive of Planned Parenthood calmly discusses crushing a baby during an abortion so she can salvage body parts while munching on her salad and sipping her wine. These body parts will be used later in medical research . . . and there may be a slight profit involved for the clinic (though... Read more
Once upon a time, my adult children, still in the demographic often described as “young,” were complaining that they were invisible. None of them fit any descriptions used to fit young adults-the stereotypes or the boxes. Are they conservative? Sort of, but in different ways. Are they liberal? Sort of, but in different ways. In fact, other than being our children they are not a class that agrees on too many things amongst themselves. I enjoyed hearing two of them... Read more
Chik-Fil-A be warned. Standing in the Legion of Honor, a stunning collection of art in a beautiful building with a world class view of the Golden Gate, I got to listen to three students discuss the chicken company. One of them was being offered a job (“Can you believe it?”) in social media and networking when some other person was the intended recipient. “I think I will take it just to . . . ” she said loudly and then... Read more
Socialism has this going for it: it sees a problem and it proposes a very direct solution. Kids are struggling to get the schooling they need and Bernie Sanders has the solution: free college. This jolly solution has the advantage of being easy to understand, free is a simple concept, but immoral in practice. Sanders would help the poor by paying off the educrats already robbing them of quality education. Cutting out the middleman and just giving these grifters in... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In