Abusive theology?

April 29, 2014 By Samuel James

Mimi Haddad, writing for the blog at Christians for Biblical Equality, repeats a familiar mantra for egalitarian and progressive Christians: Complementarism leads to abuse. For centuries, male rule has been perpetuated among Christians in two fundamental ways. First, Christians have asserted the essential difference between males and females, from which males are routinely viewed as superior and therefore the more logical option for leadership and positions of authority… It is easy to see how this can quickly become diabolical in viewing women... Read more

House (M.D.) On The Sand

April 28, 2014 By Samuel James

I discovered two weeks ago that Netflix had added House, MD to its instant streaming library. Able to resist for a few days, I finally caved and am now guilty of “binge-watching,” a newish term for cramming hours of television episodes into a short span of time (thanks to the absence of commercials). Part of revisiting the series has been nostalgic. The show premiered my junior year of high school. By freshman year of college it was one of the... Read more

Christianity and Liberalism: Still Different Religions

April 24, 2014 By Samuel James

In his paradigm shifting book Christianity and Liberalism, J Gresham Machen makes the point that modernism and Christian orthodoxy are not just incongrous; they are fundamentally different faiths. The modernism that Machen was referring to was the “enlightened” theological liberalism of the early 20th century. As scientific discovery (including Darwin) promised to reveal more of the secrets of the universe, mainstream Christian culture found many of its basic tenents unacceptable. In the age of vaccinations, we know people do not... Read more

Evangelical on the Inside

March 23, 2014 By Samuel James

I appreciate Wesley J Smith’s insightful article at First Things, in which he encourages Christians to resist despair over changing cultural morality. He quotes Dennis Miller approvingly in admonishing confessional believers to live “from the inside out,” rather than “the outside-in.” What does he mean? Don’t sweat the general culture’s disapproval. Don’t look “outside” ourselves for personal validation. In short, don’t allow our personal joie de vivre to depend on the outcome of elections, court rulings, media fairness, or what others think,... Read more

Love in the time of Westboro (or, “How Social Media Can Make Me Like Fred Phelps”)

March 23, 2014 By Samuel James

I love watching the broadcasted “Prime Minister’s Questions.” Most Wednesday afternoons, David Cameron, the conservative Prime Minister, will field questions from the House of Commons for almost 30 minutes. It is one of the most well known practices of English government. The session includes a 5 or 6 questions exchange with the “Leader of the Opposition,” the MP in leadership of the political party which opposes that of the Prime Minister. These questions are the highlight reel of the entire... Read more

The twisted logic of empowermentism

March 14, 2014 By Samuel James

I am in full agreement with Ruth Marcus, who vigorously challenges the idea that porn is “empowering” to women. Marcus writes specifically to address recent comments by a young Duke University freshman who has revealed her identity has a prominent pornographic actress. The young woman was quoted as saying pornography was a source of “joy”, “empowerment,” and “artistic outlet.” The actress is not just a passive model but a participant in hardcore movies, becoming the object of explicit and graphic... Read more

Reflections on College, Work, and the Truth about both.

March 8, 2014 By Samuel James

February 28 marked six months I have spent in my first full time job. I graduated college in May after having worked several part time and temporary jobs to pay for my education. During the summer of ’13 I made an important decision: I would delay seeking my Master’s degree and instead find full time work, which would allow me to save money (after several years of spending the majority of what I made). Six months after being hired on... Read more

3 Really Bad Movies (You Should Definitely Watch)

March 4, 2014 By Samuel James

The bad movie is a delightful genre. For one thing, it is an almost never ending source of examples. Just a brief trip to a video rental store (remember those?) will confirm this. Secondly, a truly awful movie is always cheap. Odd how it works, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of price-leverage when it comes to copies of horrible movies (The Matrix Revolutions is on Netflix). But the best thing about the bad movie is how it always... Read more

A Sunday thought

March 3, 2014 By Samuel James

I’m about to conclude Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day. It is an excellent novel, in which I’ve been drawn into the world of a an English butler named Stevens. Stevens serves a prestigious estate called the Darlington House. The novel is first person from the perspective of Stevens, as he takes a “motoring tour” into the English countryside to visit an old friend. During his trip, he reflects on his professional life, specifically, on the question of whether... Read more

Millenials grow weary of job offers

March 1, 2014 By Samuel James

First, a disclaimer: I am not in the technology industry. That will likely never change. I have no experienced the things discussed in an Atlantic piece entitled, “Imagine Getting 30 Job Offers a Month (It Isn’t As Awesome As You Think).” So it’s entirely possible that my response to the post is unjustified, ignorant, and hyper-reactive. The article opens with one of the more opaque demonstrations of inflated self importance that you will see in big-market journalism. An accomplished software... Read more