“I don’t believe in God but I’m very interested in her.” –Arthur C. Clarke I recently listened to another great interview with theologian/philosopher, LeRon Shults. Every time I listen to LeRon he challenges me and gets me thinking. I really appreciate this about him. Reflecting back, though, every time I hear LeRon talk about his…
Category
Politics
Just Be Nice. Everything Will Be Peachy!
A wolf came upon a lamb who had wondered too far away from the security of the fold. Instead of simply attacking, the wolf resolved to justify to the lamb why it was that it should be eaten. ‘Last year, you grossly insulted me’, said the wolf. ‘Impossible’ cried the lamb, ‘I was only born…
Abolishing the Distinction Between Bosses and Employees
“The fact that the state regulates private capitalist enterprises and operates state capitalist enterprises does not reduce the capitalist structure of an economy. So long as employers, private or state, hire laborers to produce commodities and generate profits that the employers “exclusively” receive, the economy has a capitalist structure. So long as it is exclusively…
War: Not Realistic but Simplistic
“Warmongers often claim that they are only being realistic, that peace is a great idea and all but that’s just not how the world works. This claim of realism is often just a narrowing of events and an ignoring of the context of the situation. It’s not being realistic, but simplistic. They claim to be…
The Approved and Honored Teachings and Techniques of American Society: Guns, Mass Shootings, and American Culture
“The American youth who open fire on their peers, neighbors, classmates, and teachers offer us the opportunity and the impetus to grapple with a contradiction at the heart of the USA. For what are these “mad” youth doing but applying the approved and honored teachings and techniques of American society…just in the ‘wrong place’ and…
Political Correctness: Plague or Progress?
“A plague is upon us, he warns. Harmless jokesters and joy-bringers are literally being figuratively strangled by the long, thin goblin-fingers of “political correctness” (which is a fancy term for “not treating people who are already treated like garbage like garbage”), even though all they were trying to do was just say anything they want…
Individuality vs. Individualism and Three Generations of Human Rights
“We follow Aryeh Neier in describing the three types as “blue,” “red,” and “green” rights. Roughly, on his model “blue” rights are civil and political rights: the rights to individual liberties…“Red” rights are economic and social rights, rights that focus more on the quality of life. “Green” rights are collective rights such as the right…
Does owning a gun implicitly say you’re a vengeful person?
“Contrary to what many gun advocates argue, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data reveals that having a gun provides no statistically significant benefit to a would-be victim during a criminal confrontation.” The above quote comes from an article written for The Trace by Evan Defilippis and Devin Hughes. The two writers cite recent research…
Luxury is the Wrong Word to Describe Childhood: Citizenship and White Privilege
“The concept of it being a luxury to have your young son play with a water gun in a public park is a problem…luxury is the wrong word to describe childhood. The idea of white privilege being the ability to interact with police and not be treated like a fully armed terrorist is not privilege,…
White Male Terrorism Must be Called Out
“…US.White men, such as myself, have proven ourselves to be one of the most dangerous groups in the country. We are the most likely demographic to be responsible for killing sprees, leading dangerous cults, or plotting acts of violent treason–what we might call White Male Terror. At the same time, white men show a sneering…