Donald Trump and Our Pornified Society

October 24, 2016 By Timothy Willard

What could be duller sounding than the word temperance? So out-of-date. So repressive. So passionless. And exactly the word our country needs. If the political race has done anything good—and that is hard to imagine—it has held up a mirror to our culture and revealed our soulless skeleton. After Donald Trump’s “hot-mic” incident both parties hurled their moralizing grenades, blasting the internet with their hypocrisy. What the parties, and apparently all of us, have forgotten is that the corresponding virtue... Read more

Why Politics of Despair Require Unfashionable Faith

October 16, 2016 By Timothy Willard

On several occasions this week my wife told me, through tears, how heavy her heart felt due to the political landscape and Christians who apparently leave their witness at the social media sign-in page. If you need more evidence of the rancor, just skim the comments section of my last post. But my wife’s heaviness caused us to talk about something else. Something much better. Hope. Beyond Despair Our government is important. But for a moment, we considered the incomparable... Read more

Can We Stop Shaming One Another?

October 13, 2016 By Timothy Willard

Last spring, when it looked like Mr. Trump had the nomination wrapped up, I told my wife I was not going to vote. The choice between Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump seemed like some crazy fiction like The Hunger Games. But I am reconsidering my abstention. Social media and blogs can be shockingly crass, vulgar, and disrespectful in the Christian community, so I usually keep my distance from the wrangling on issues like politics. But today I thought it... Read more

Peace, The Greeting of His Flock

October 11, 2016 By Timothy Willard

The interaction on social media, and even some blogs, over the last few weeks has gone from tense to appalling in the Christian community. At times the attitude from some can seem totalitarian, as people from both sides of the political spectrum use name-calling and voter shaming as a means to get their point a cross. My wife and I have been shocked by this descent into the muck of politics. I believe Christians should bear witness to another way,... Read more

Jason Bourne V. Puddleglum: Who is the Better Hero?

October 7, 2016 By Timothy Willard

Last week my wife and I enjoyed a mid-week date night. “Jason Bourne is still in theaters. I’d love to see that,” she said. So we did. The final shaky-camera-car-chase nearly made her throw up. And I had to close my eyes as Jason, again, brutally beat then strangled his nemesis. No music, just gasps. Intimate death. In the car I asked her, “So why do we like these movies? What is it about Jason Bourne that keeps us coming... Read more

How Should We Live?

September 30, 2016 By Timothy Willard

I don’t have a magic ten-step guide on how to live in this maddened beautiful world. But I do offer this reflection. There’s a second (or third) century document in the early church known as,”The Letter to Diognetus: The Mystery of the New People.” The letter begins: “For the Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a... Read more

Information Storage Under Your Skin

September 20, 2016 By Timothy Willard

Source: WSJ Patrick Paumen doesn’t have to worry about forgetting his keys and being locked out of his apartment. That is because he doesn’t need a key anymore—he simply unlocks the door with a wave of his hand. The 32-year-old IT expert from the Dutch city of Heerlen is one of a growing number of people with electronic implants under their skin, mostly to use as keys or for identification. Mr. Paumen has several such implants, or tags, embedded in... Read more

The Beautiful Is Small: Two Epiphanies From G.K. Chesterton

September 7, 2016 By Timothy Willard

Rudolf Otto presents the idea of the holy in a term he suessed: the numinous. It’s the feeling of profound wonder, as described by C.S Lewis. It’s the goosebumps we get when walking through a wood at twilight, or finishing a haunting novel, or the overwhelming sensation felt during a time of sacred worship. The numinous is one of beauty’s vehicles. I’m always searching for the ways in which they connect; how one incites the other. Beauty and the numinous both reach beyond our rational sensibilities... Read more

How Data Will Destroy Human Freedom

September 6, 2016 By Timothy Willard

Is it so hard to imagine tomorrow? What about the year 2100? With technology progressing at a nearly unimaginable speed, it’s hard to imagine what our world will be like in the future. We already have technology that can predict our behavior based upon our internet searches. What will machines be able to do in 100 years? In 1000? This book review on Yuval Noah Harari’s new book, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, looks asks these questions and more. Source ... Read more

Don’t Expect Safe Spaces

September 3, 2016 By Timothy Willard

Earlier this summer I pinned an article from spiked! concerning “the Decolonise the Curriculum” campaign spreading in higher education. But some institutions are having none of it. University of Chicago’s open letter to incoming freshman is one example of the push for true academic freedom. This post over at Acculturated notes just how insane the PC culture is getting: Last semester, it seemed the PC Left had reached peak absurdity—and that the entire higher education system had caved to its demands.... Read more