One of the most chilling scenes in fiction is the portrayal of a mother named “Pam” in C.S. Lewis’ novel, The Great Divorce. In the story, Lewis envisions the eternal separation between heaven and hell, where we encounter a number of ghostly beings who are invited to visit heaven from what is presumably hell (or possibly purgatory). For a moment, these vapor-like specters are allowed to see the divine realm with their own “eyes.” These lost souls receive one final... Read more
Sex Abuse is perhaps the gravest of all evils against the image of God in man. When it occurs in the Church, it is even more devastating. Unfortunately, we can think of sexual abuse within the Church as a modern phenomenon. A result of the sexual libertinism of our age that has crept into the confines of the Body of Christ. However, this abuse is as old as the Church itself. While many of us think of the Church Fathers... Read more
Recently, Cameron Hilditch wrote an article in National Review highlighting the work of Christoper Rufo. Rufo’s research into the teaching of “decolonization” in our nation’s classrooms is illuminating. In particular, Rufo has documented a direct attack against Christianity taking place in California grade schools. There seems to be an intentional effort to reeducate children away from anything associated with Jewish or Christian values. This pedagogical shift disparages the classical canon of Western literature and thought, as well as the Christian theological... Read more
In a previous post, I discussed three features of Critical Race Theory that should encourage Christians and non-Christians to resist the use of CRT in various domains of American society. Those features were: 1) Critical Race Theory is not a truth-oriented project, 2) Critical Race Theory is purely and only political, and 3) Critical Race Theory is inherently moralistic. In these next two posts, I will argue that a certain strain of CRT thought, represented here by critical legal scholar... Read more
Critical race scholar Angela Harris opens her seminal essay, “Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory,” referencing a short story by post-modern author, Jorge Borges. In Borges’ “Funes the Memorious,” a young man experiences a horse-riding accident. Suffering brain trauma, he becomes lost in a conceptual and linguistic world of his own making. It is a world utterly unique to him. His verbal expressions are entirely nonsensical to others even though they allow him to function in the world and... Read more
What does it mean to be “civil” or to live in a “civil society?” There is a lot of clamor these days about being civil toward each other. Most of us want to see ourselves as a good, civilized people after all. But are we really civil, or do we hold ourselves in too high a regard? Recent statistics on the rise of phenomena like “cyber-bullying” and increased suicide rates over the last 15 years suggest that we are not... Read more
I have not seen much death in my life. A few dead bodies in Afghanistan and a few older friends and relatives days or hours before they passed. Still, one thing I know in spite of never having been an EMT or hospital chaplain is that there are good deaths and there are bad deaths. Death has a profound quality to it, assuming one has had the time to observe it. I have been in the presence of a few... Read more
There is an excellent scene at the very end of the academy-award winning war film, The Hurt Locker. Considering how silly and riddled with error this film can be, it may be the best scene in the whole movie. To my eyes at least it was the most realistic. While on leave, the maverick EOD sergeant, SFC James (Jeremy Renner), goes grocery shopping with his wife. With profound acedia, he makes his way through the aisles. He turns, and there... Read more
A few years back I heard theologian Kevin Vanhoozer describe the task of theology very simply. Theology is “speaking well of God” said Vanhoozer. To my mind this phrase gets at the heart of the theological enterprise. On the one hand it is vague enough to leave needed wiggle-room. Yet it also has enough meat to give us a sense of where and how to begin the theological vocation. At the same time, it implicitly constrains the task of theologizing,... Read more
On 6-26-2021 I spoke with Dr. Harry Edwards and Dr. Jacob Daniel on the use of Critical Race Theory in our K-12 public schools. The live interview took place at the KKLA studios in Glendale, CA on the Apologetics.com radio show: In this discussion we talk about: the new social justice “Diversity, Identity, Justice and Action” curriculum being introduced into the California State K-12 curriculum. the history of Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory whether Critical Race Theory... Read more
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