Challenging Prejudices: The Duty To Love And Respect All

February 2, 2025 By Henry Karlson

People can be quite cruel, finding all kinds of excuses to ignore the human dignity of others. Ageism, sexism, and racism all represent evils which not only undermine human dignity, they do so on a rather irrational basis (accidental features such as the color of one’s skin or one’s gender). Christians should know better. Scripture constantly gives examples of those who have been unjustly mistreated, sometimes by Jesus’ own disciples, who God defended, making it clear that God wants us... Read more

My Journey From Fundamentalism To Comparative Theology

January 31, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

There was a stage in my spiritual and theological development when I was influenced by fundamentalism, and with it, tended towards a puritan-like extreme; it began in middle school, and, to some degree, continued with me until my Freshman year in college. How it affected me changed over time. For example, I was a major fan of role-playing games, and in the horror genre, and owned many games and novels which I would eventually sell because I came to believe... Read more

Navigating the Tension Between Freedom and Obedience

January 29, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

Society requires people to work together to promote the common good. It should be obvious that we must rely upon each other, that we can’t do everything all by ourselves. We all have skills and expertise which we can and should use to contribute to the common good, even as we must rely upon the skills others have, some of which we might never be able to attain if we tried. There will be people who have expertise in areas... Read more

Mississippi’s Bill: A Step Towards Modern-Day Slavery?

January 27, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

It is sadly obvious to me that many of the social advances we have seen the past hundred years, advances related to the dignity of the human person, have proven to be quite fragile and easily overturned. This is because we have not entirely cleansed society from the evil ideologies which undermined human dignity, nor the practices which arose from those ideologies. While we might have thought they were put in check, but even if they had, they are coming... Read more

Idols In Our Heart

January 26, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

We are meant to cast aside all our idols, especially those built upon and promote ideologies which directly reject God’s ways. We are called to be holy, to experience the presence of God with and in us, but how can we do that if we constantly put up barriers between ourselves and God? This is what we do whenever we sin; the greater the sin, the greater the barrier, with the greatest sins being those which directly reject and undermine... Read more

The Dangers Of Pride And Self-Hatred

January 23, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

The world around us is good; it was created by God as good, and so should be treated as good. We should show it due respect, because by respecting it, we respect the one who created it. We, similarly, should acknowledge we were created good, for once again, if we do not do so, we would suggest our creator created something which was bad or evil, and in doing so, we would denigrate God. We must be respect ourselves in... Read more

From Sodom and Gomorrah to Today: The Struggle for Justice

January 21, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

Sodom and Gomorrah are frequently brought up in Christian conversations, but often for the wrong reasons. Too many think of them only in relation to sex, and not to the fundamental errors Scripture indicates lay behind the destruction of the cities. Politicians, and demagogues, like to mention them for the sake of culture wars, once again, dealing with sexual matters, while ignoring the real reason why the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah cried up to heaven. Yes, there was sexual... Read more

My Country Tis a Thee

January 20, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

I see a small, clammy hand, Grasping after the world. My country, pounded in sand: As the oligarchs are thrilled. My ancestors died, To give us liberty, The pilgrims’s pride, Now undermined bitterly. Every mountainside, Free to be demolished. As we see the rising tide, Which should be admonished. Once I could love, The rocks and rills, With birds soaring above, Thy woods and hills. Let us all awake, Let the silence break! Dirty air we will partake, Clean water,... Read more

The Christian Way: Kindness, Compassion, And Community

January 19, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

Compassion and mercy are both qualities which Christians must embrace in their lives if they are going to be faithful to the call Christ has given them. Christians should be kind and caring, taking into consideration the needs of others, whether or not they are Christians. With their fellow Christians, they are expected to form a bond of love, to come together and live in harmony with each other, presenting to the world the love of Christ through the love... Read more

Wisdom From Abba Antony For His Feast Day

January 17, 2025 By Henry Karlson

0 Comments

After learning that he had been called to a special kind of life, one which was not meant for many, St. Antony the Great went to the Egyptian desert, putting all his trust in God, believing that God would make it possible for him to do what God intended him to achieve. While there were ascetics before him, some who helped train him in the way of asceticism in his youth, and there were even some who went into the... Read more