God is. The Trinity
Wed - 07/26 /2017
A classic question asks, “If god is completely complete in and of himself, if he is totally fulfilled, fully self-sustaining, lacking nothing; then why does anything exist beyond god?”
Read More…
Read More…
justice or something
Tue - 07/18 /2017
Last week the Prime Minister of Canada issued a formal apology and ordered the Canadian government to pay $8+million (10.5million Canadian dollars, although Canada refuses to disclose the amount officially) to Omar Khadr. Mr Khadr previously pleaded guilty to tossing a grenade that killed Sgt Christopher Speer, a US Army Delta Force medic. Another American soldier, Sgt Layne Morris was partially blinded in the attack.
No court anywhere ordered this action. What prompted Prime Minister Trudeau? Is this about justice? Or something else? Read More…
No court anywhere ordered this action. What prompted Prime Minister Trudeau? Is this about justice? Or something else? Read More…
the simple and the gentle
Tue - 07/11 /2017
In the classic The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights, characters carry a myriad of often antiquated titles; kings, queens, sorcerers, barons, knights, maidens, squires, damsels, etc. Still, I was surprised to discover that in the legend every character fits into one of two broad classifications: the simple or the gentle. Even more surprising was discovering a king could be among the simple and a servant among the gentle. Read More…
wonder woman
Mon - 06/12 /2017
In two weeks the latest super hero movie earned $435million internationally. More than a little controversy spiced up traditional Hollywood promotion of the Wonder Woman movie. October 2016 the United Nations designated Wonder Woman an honorary ambassador, a publicity coup for some marketeer and all-too-revealing of what the UN is all about—symbolism over substance. Just two months later the UN dismissed their ambassador for the “empowerment of women and girls” due to protests from Muslim nations. Read More…
memorial day
Mon - 05/29 /2017
The bugle call Taps is played by the US military at dusk, and at military funerals and commemorations. Perhaps the most famous playing of Taps was at the 1963 funeral of President John F. Kennedy. This bugle call was arranged in 1862 during the US Civil War by Union Army General Butterfield. Within months it was being used by both Union and Confederate armies. In 1874 Taps was officially recognized by the United States Army.
There are lyrics to Taps. When sung they are, like the simple 24-note tune, both calming and haunting: Read More…
There are lyrics to Taps. When sung they are, like the simple 24-note tune, both calming and haunting: Read More…
disagreement & charity
Tue - 05/23 /2017
This past weekend graduates walked out of Notre Dame’s commencement when Vice President Pence began his speech. By all accounts they protested respectfully, departing quietly. They acted out of disagreement with some policy of the Trump administration, likely immigration policy. Critics said students should have heard-out Mr Pence, but Administration policies are readily available and widely known. So it’s unlikely the protestors acted ignorantly.
The apostle Paul initiated a meeting with those who disagreed with him. And give them credit, they accepted. Read More…
The apostle Paul initiated a meeting with those who disagreed with him. And give them credit, they accepted. Read More…
Ah! Mother, mother
Mon - 05/15 /2017
All Quiet on the Western Front has strangely but accurately been labeled both the greatest war novel, and the greatest anti-war novel of all time. The original copyright, in 1928 as Im Westen Nichts Neues, was by a WW1 German combat veteran. Erich M. Remarque’s novel, which was banned by the Nazis, includes an account of a combat soldier home on leave. Read More…
freedom of expression
Mon - 05/08 /2017
Free speech is now suspect. Students at Vermont’s Middlebury College shut down a speech by social scientist Charles Murray, sending one Middlebury professor to hospital. Across the country violence at UC Berkeley forced the cancelation of a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos. Perhaps like me, you see such events as evidence of an illiberalism infecting our post-Christian culture.
Professor Jonathan Haidt of New York University sees something more. He claims campus protests that shut down free speech are rituals carried out by adherents of a new religion. Read More…
Professor Jonathan Haidt of New York University sees something more. He claims campus protests that shut down free speech are rituals carried out by adherents of a new religion. Read More…
transgenderism
Wed - 05/03 /2017
Trangenderism. That’s the term lawyer David Boyle used in his friend of the court brief concerning the transgendered boy (born a female) whose suit of the Gloucester County School District in Virginia went to the US Supreme Court. The student wanted to use male bathrooms. The school district objected, offering the accommodation of private bathrooms.
I’ve spent weeks slogging through this case’s Proceedings and Orders, looking for the science—the biology that supports transgenderism. I must be missing something because I’ve found nothing. In fact I’ve failed to locate the science that supports transgender claims. Read More…
I’ve spent weeks slogging through this case’s Proceedings and Orders, looking for the science—the biology that supports transgenderism. I must be missing something because I’ve found nothing. In fact I’ve failed to locate the science that supports transgender claims. Read More…