For the duration of the pandemic, I have decided to focus on the positive. Dialectic debate is good and necessary, but for the duration of the fight against the virus this blog is dedicated to helping teachers and students. As a result, some discussions are on hold as we get good cheer and resources out to students. Here is a series done by one of my favorite educators in the United States on Thomas Aquinas. This is Part I. Jill... Read more
If you want some economic advice from a man who got America through the Great Depression, watch American Madness by Frank Capra. This is not Capra’s best motion picture, but even workaday Capra is better than most motion pictures and more educational than an entire online university. After all, Frank Capra kept calm in the panic of the Great Depression, hated the fascists, and resisted Communism. He did this while entertaining us and making films that are (mostly) still relevant almost... Read more
As a boy we sang, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. . .” That seemed impossible to sing today, as so many of us are struggling, hurting. I thought especially of our folk in our hospitals giving medical care to the suffering. They are weary already, though in places like Houston the problems are just beginning. If we are to mourn with those who mourn, then today does not... Read more
Times look bad and the temptation is to extrapolate from who is “winning” just now and draw Big Conclusions. Let’s all avoid this foolishness. Orthodoxy often needs saving from people who look at what is happening now in their part of the world and confuse that with God’s will. The error is easy to make given God, God’s goodness, and God’s work in space and time. God does control history and justice will prevail, the right triumph, and all pain be... Read more
Johnny Cash is a good bard for a pandemic. He is good for most pain, because he felt pain, but endured and still knew the power of love. Some of loves redeemed: family, God, country. A few misplaced loves destroyed, but Cash survived. His vices were those of excess, based on fractured affection, misdirected desire, and addictions. Johnny Cash rarely was motivated by hate. There is always hope in love. He was a red-white-and-blue patriot, but one who could listen... Read more
Sullivan’s Travels may be the movie we need just now.* Sullivan is a guy born on third base who thinks he hit a triple. He has gotten to home plate, but to his credit, his privilege rankles him. He has made fluffy films and is bank for the studios. He wishes to make something “real,” “serious,” and help the depressed in the Great Depression. His bosses point out that Sullivan knows nothing about the not-rich and (again to his credit), the... Read more
The very imperfect will not be the enemy of the good as a cadre of parents unite with teachers and students against all frustrations to learn online. This is not our choice and for millions of other Americans this is not your choice either. Still, our grandparents or great-grandparents were asked to storm Normandy and rivet as Rosie. We are better off by far, though that does not mean our task is easy. Being told you might have broken both... Read more
Scientism Apparently saying we should listen to scientists when they speak about their specialty, but not when they aren’t was easy to misunderstand. This was taken, by a few commentators to be an attack on science when it was merely a warning against scientism, the belief everything can be explained by the scientific method. Of course, the belief that everything can be explained by the scientific method is not known by the scientific method, so from the start there is... Read more
Many politicians are wisely arguing that when it comes to medicine, they should heed medical doctors. They are also clear that when it comes to science, they should look to the scientific consensus. Before anything else, yes. There is a place for dissent from a consensus, for an outside gadfly, but a pandemic is not that time. Oddly, the wise advice that one should heed experts in their field ends when it comes to deciding what to do. Becoming a medical doctor does not make... Read more
We cannot talk intelligently about a crisis if we do not have the right vocabulary. To do the right thing, we need to be able to distinguish all the different parts of complicated problems that pop up in our broken world. One distinction is intention. Actions can lead to intended consequences, but sometimes there are unintended consequences. Generally, a person is not morally responsible for unintended consequences. Another helpful ethical category is active versus passive actions. To do a thing is different from not doing a thing! Thinking more... Read more
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