The Necessity of Being a Well-Rounded Person… and How to Pull It Off

I regularly go on about the necessity of forming your own opinions and making stands upon them. But while I’m quite certain about that, there’s another side to such things. We are complicated creatures, after all.

The more we express and defend our own opinions, the more we tend to get locked into them. And that part can be a problem, because none of us – not even the best of us – knows enough to claim that his or her opinions are beyond questioning. Continue reading “The Necessity of Being a Well-Rounded Person… and How to Pull It Off”

It’s Heretics Who Save the World

HereticsThe people who have kept the world from a slide into darkness and pulled it forward have nearly always been heretics of one form or another.

I’m using “heretic” beyond a religious context, but that shouldn’t be unusual, after all, it’s the punisher who makes the heretic. Without punishers, heretics would be no more than people with different ideas. And in our time, the punishers are seldom religious. Continue reading “It’s Heretics Who Save the World”

The Cult of Rules

“The mark of an educated mind,” taught Aristotle, is “to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” And that’s what I’ll be asking of you today. Because as certain as I am that I’m substantially right on this, I’m also sure that its acceptance will take quite some time. But I do want to plant its seeds as best I can.

“The mark of an educated mind,” taught Aristotle, is “to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” And that’s what I’ll be asking of you today. Because as certain as I am that I’m substantially right on this, I’m also sure that its acceptance will take time. But I do want to plant its seeds as best I can. Continue reading “The Cult of Rules”

The Separation of Righteousness and Politics

Righteousness“Righteousness” is a seldom heard word in modern life, but the concept is still very much with us. In fact, political arguments all through the West focus on shows of righteousness.

So, how does someone show themself to be righteous without ever coming near the word? It’s done with a simple trick that you’ll recognize immediately: Continue reading “The Separation of Righteousness and Politics”

Good Things in the Bible

theBibleThe Bible has been loudly and publicly criticized for centuries now. At the same time, it’s most vocal defenders have been those who demand that it be treated as a mandatory oracle. As a result, the public has been given a binary choice:

Either the Bible is horrible, or else it’s divine and you’ll go to hell if you don’t think so.

I think that’s a false choice, but it’s the one most people see. Continue reading “Good Things in the Bible”

Humanity Crucified on a Cross of Iron

CrossIronA few people remember President Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Address, where he warned Americans about the rise of a military-industrial complex… a warning that was stunningly accurate and almost fully ignored.

What almost no one remembers was Eisenhower’s speech in 1953, when he said that under the pressures of fear and war spending, humanity was “hanging from a cross of iron.” Continue reading “Humanity Crucified on a Cross of Iron”