A fair summons to those in the theological disciplines to… wait for it… be more well-read! As if we didn’t have enough to read already! But I think the criticism is fair and I would wish to not be irresponsible. sigh. Time to add more books to the list. https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2020/07/61444/ In this 1999 article from the CATO Institute, Milton Frieman argues that businessmen tend to make poor decisions regarding their interactions with the government.

A great article by Dr. Timothy Willard which seeks to argue what the church should be doing about art and the problems of contemporary art. I would hope that in good time Redemption Studio would be an aid to such a reclamation. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/desecration-beauty/

This is one of the few helpful reads I have found on the internet regarding immigration. The other was Kevin DeYoung on TGC. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/immigration-policy-must-be-based-on-more-than-an-appeal-to-compassion/ There is a lot to discuss here, and as DeYoung points out, we cannot use simple platitudes for making big decisions. Wisdom demands more from us. https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/09/56067/

An absolutely fascinating post! This gives a philosophical framework explaining why we do not need to fear the rise of machines. As some in our political world and scientific world warn of either the domination and conquering of machines a la Terminator or the replacement of humans and the devaluing of humans, something like the rise of AI can actually force us to have to think about what makes humans unique and special.

With so many cases having arisen out of the disastrous and faulty ruling of 2015, it is good to see religious liberty being defended on various fronts. While we as Christians don’t put our hope in political power or political victories, for our sole hope is in Jesus Christ, the matters and affairs of the state are important. The Reformers, such as Calvin and Luther, certainly understood this. The church is facing difficult things ahead in the Western world; the trials currently underway are only the beginning.

Interesting thoughts about how to process the cultural shifts made by the Internet. Not unlike the argument I made in my poem, “The Search Engine Lament”, the book under review by Greg Bailey discusses how having a vast swath of information makes us process the information we have less. The Search Engine Lament Even companies are marketing in this way, arguing against information overload. (There was another company which marketed against it based on the idea that our brains would freeze because of how much information, but I can only seem to find Bing’s.

Quillette has been an interesting source of ideas. Though this article was published a couple of months ago, it makes some valuable points about what is the purpose of free speech. https://quillette.com/2019/08/18/free-speech-matters-even-when-its-not-protected-by-the-first-amendment/ UPDATE: 20200916 Well said. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/condemning-cuties-noncontroversial/ For a response (with which I disagree): https://quillette.com/2020/09/17/dont-listen-to-the-outrage-cuties-is-a-great-film/ Rom 3:8 “And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.”

I was converted in part out of a political ideology and as part of that move, I took a two-year political hiatus in which I neither read nor watched the news. (This all followed a destructive act of anger on my part and God’s gracious humbling.) Following my return from political abstention, I slowly began to digest the news, wary of becoming enraged, concerned that I did not know what my fellow man was experiencing around me.

Desiring God has said it well. In the age of social media, our ability to argue, debate, critically think, analyze, synthesize, and the like have been degraded, corroded, and starved. Unlike the humanistic renaissance, if Wikipedia doesn’t include something (and hasn’t edited it out of existence), people are bound not to know the history of their ideas, culture, faith, or the like. Many modern peoples are happy eclectics, believing in disparate doctrines and ignoring the gulfs between them.

See also Postermodernism. Social justice is a light and fluffy term; it is meant to carry so much weight and yet defining it is like holding onto water: it changes anytime you try to put a definite meaning to it. Our goal is witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the good which comes from the light of God shining into the dark places of the world. I have too often heard the very theologically incorrect statement that people will be converted by our acts of service and kindness.

Jordan Peterson took many by surprise after he showed an interviewer’s logical problems. What has interested many on the political right is his biblical quotations and references, yet what many fail to realize is that his thoughts are little more than a repeat of the German higher critics from the 18th through 20th century. In particular his thoughts reflect those of Strauss, the father of radical theology whose thoughts come out of then-contemporary Hegalian thinking.