If there is no God, then why go to all the energy of writing books and producing movies to convince people of the fact? How could it possibly matter? Nothing would matter. Everything would be absurd. Valuing truth would be a random decision, as would valuing anything else. So why bother?
I actually have some idea of what they would say in response, but when it all gets down to brass tacks, they don't really have anything meaningful to say that doesn't depend on a God to make it coherent.
Do they really not see this?
There are Christians who hide from tough questions, and there are some tough questions for which clear and tidy answers are scarce. But to be anadvocate for atheism requires a blindness of sorts, and to be an atheist at all requires a blind leap of faith to believe that all that is apparently meaningful is in the end a temporary flash and noise in an empty room.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A Surprising Update From the Czechs
After my latest entry, I was surprised to see that the Czech President Vaclav Klaus has recently echoed Will's and Thatchers thoughts:
Klaus, an economist, said he opposed the "climate alarmism" perpetuated by environmentalism trying to impose their ideals, comparing it to the decades of communist rule he experienced growing up in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia.
"Like their (communist) predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality," he said. "In the past, it was in the name of the Marxists or of the proletariat - this time, in the name of the planet," he added.
Klaus said a free market should be used to address environmental concerns and said he oppposed as unrealistic regulations or greenhouse gas capping systems designed to reduce the impact of climate change.
Full story at http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/208338,czech-president-klaus-ready-to-debate-gore-on-climate-change.html
Klaus, an economist, said he opposed the "climate alarmism" perpetuated by environmentalism trying to impose their ideals, comparing it to the decades of communist rule he experienced growing up in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia.
"Like their (communist) predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality," he said. "In the past, it was in the name of the Marxists or of the proletariat - this time, in the name of the planet," he added.
Klaus said a free market should be used to address environmental concerns and said he oppposed as unrealistic regulations or greenhouse gas capping systems designed to reduce the impact of climate change.
Full story at http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/208338,czech-president-klaus-ready-to-debate-gore-on-climate-change.html
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Enviro-Tyrants
Shortly after Margaret Thatcher retired from office, I went to go hear her speak on the topic of what trends would take place over the next 10 or 20 years. Her prediction: an attempt by the left to undermine the legitimacy of the nation-state under the aegis of global regulation theoretically necessitated by environmental crisis.
Here is an excerpt from George Will's latest column, on the subject of government activism concerning polar bears and the larger global environmental political movement:
"What Friedrich Hayek called the "fatal conceit" -- the idea that government can know the future's possibilities and can and should control the future's unfolding -- is the left's agenda. The left exists to enlarge the state's supervision of life, narrowing individual choices in the name of collective goods. Hence the left's hostility to markets. And to automobiles -- people going wherever they want whenever they want.
Today's "green left" is the old "red left" revised. "
Baroness Maggie - right again. Let's clean up our air so we can breathe, let's get off our dependence on oil, but let's not live under enviro-tyranny.
Here is an excerpt from George Will's latest column, on the subject of government activism concerning polar bears and the larger global environmental political movement:
"What Friedrich Hayek called the "fatal conceit" -- the idea that government can know the future's possibilities and can and should control the future's unfolding -- is the left's agenda. The left exists to enlarge the state's supervision of life, narrowing individual choices in the name of collective goods. Hence the left's hostility to markets. And to automobiles -- people going wherever they want whenever they want.
Today's "green left" is the old "red left" revised. "
Baroness Maggie - right again. Let's clean up our air so we can breathe, let's get off our dependence on oil, but let's not live under enviro-tyranny.
Monday, May 19, 2008
A Dear John Letter
Dear Jonathan,
I am fairly sure that at this point you are the only who bothers to check this blog, since I haven't updated it in more than a month. Thus the title. I just caught up on the last week or so of entries on your blog. Very interesting and well done.
Here is a quick recap of my latest thoughts:
Ava's question of why she needs to know that stuff is an important one. I'm glad you took advantage of the moment. It concerns and saddens me that for so many young people (college students I've met), when they know any of our history at all, it's been "taught" to them in such a way as to dismiss the founders of our country as elite hypocrites whose value choices ("moral failures" would imply an enduring standard to which many of their critics would not subscribe) disqualify them from having anything meaningful to say to us today. Thus a generation - or several, as is more likely the case - has much that is wise, humane, and colorful stolen from it before they are perceptive enough to mentally chew on it and digest it. Here is my thought for Ava: the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is possibly the central idea of what America is all about. To make this idea practical in the governing of a free people, the Constitution was written. To make sure that we stuck to and at last fully lived out this idea, the Civil War was fought. To continue in our mission of spreading this idea, we have fought several wars against tyrants, some of whom wanted to enslave the world to their vicious ideas through a tremendous slaughter. Sometimes we've made mistakes (especially lately) but this has been our mission as a country. Some people don't believe in the principles of the Declaration anymore, and like the Confederate politicians back in the old days, they attack these principles. Right now, we are probably more divided on this issue than at any time since the Civil War. Our mission as a nation - or the question of whether we have one - depends on people like Ava. This is my opinion of why it's important to know this stuff.
Now it's late and I'm too tired to write any more thoughts.
I am fairly sure that at this point you are the only who bothers to check this blog, since I haven't updated it in more than a month. Thus the title. I just caught up on the last week or so of entries on your blog. Very interesting and well done.
Here is a quick recap of my latest thoughts:
Ava's question of why she needs to know that stuff is an important one. I'm glad you took advantage of the moment. It concerns and saddens me that for so many young people (college students I've met), when they know any of our history at all, it's been "taught" to them in such a way as to dismiss the founders of our country as elite hypocrites whose value choices ("moral failures" would imply an enduring standard to which many of their critics would not subscribe) disqualify them from having anything meaningful to say to us today. Thus a generation - or several, as is more likely the case - has much that is wise, humane, and colorful stolen from it before they are perceptive enough to mentally chew on it and digest it. Here is my thought for Ava: the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is possibly the central idea of what America is all about. To make this idea practical in the governing of a free people, the Constitution was written. To make sure that we stuck to and at last fully lived out this idea, the Civil War was fought. To continue in our mission of spreading this idea, we have fought several wars against tyrants, some of whom wanted to enslave the world to their vicious ideas through a tremendous slaughter. Sometimes we've made mistakes (especially lately) but this has been our mission as a country. Some people don't believe in the principles of the Declaration anymore, and like the Confederate politicians back in the old days, they attack these principles. Right now, we are probably more divided on this issue than at any time since the Civil War. Our mission as a nation - or the question of whether we have one - depends on people like Ava. This is my opinion of why it's important to know this stuff.
Now it's late and I'm too tired to write any more thoughts.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Electronic Sunshine
Looney Tunes are good for the soul.
The "Working Can Wait" song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuU65dMq1eg
The classic, hilarious Bugs Bunny hillbilly square dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieYzdiUM3N8
The "Working Can Wait" song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuU65dMq1eg
The classic, hilarious Bugs Bunny hillbilly square dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieYzdiUM3N8
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Gratitude
I've been quite busy with work, and will be until April , so I may not be doing much posting. But I have recently received an answer to prayer and just wish to share my gratitude. God is good.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
R.I.P. William F. Buckley, Jr.
We mourn the passing of William F. Buckley, yesterday at age 82. I've long admired Mr. Buckley, and had hoped to meet him someday. (Alas! as he might have said.) As his friends have noted, he had a greater impact on the country (not to mention the world) than some presidents, as well as having inspired millions of individuals. Of the reflections I've read, the most moving said that great men are rare, great men who are also good rarer still, and even more rare are those like Buckley, who was also "sweet and kind". On my car radio last night, even his political adversaries paid tribute to these qualities. His was a life well lived, one that "redeemed the time". I hope to emulate that aspectof his life (among others) more effectively. I have a shelf full of his books that I'm working my way through, and now I want to go back and get his "Firing Line" videos. But meeting the man in person is off the books this side of Heaven. Thankfully, he lived much of his life so open to the public, that maybe I can pick up some of its flavor still. William Buckley, RIP.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Defining Conservatism
There is some debate currently on what conservatism is. To my mind, it includes the following beliefs:
1. There is a God, and he is not us. He created the universe, but is not confined by it, or by time. He created us (whether this was done quickly or slowly is an in-house debate, but the key point is that we are created by a Creator, not as a result of random events).
2. As a result of #1, we humans have meaning and worth, and owe our allegiance to our Creator. Our rights are a by-product of these facts.
3. We are fallen creatures. We do not perfectly reflect our Creator. Man (or humankind) is not perfectible as a species.
4. However, we do reflect him, albeit imperfectly.
5. Because of #3, government is necessary.
6. Also because of #3, government (which is made up of fallen people) cannot be trusted but must itself be limited, constrained, and monitored.
7. The purpose of government must therefore be to best approximate the conditions for the expression of #4 and the rights inherent in #2, always keeping in mind the realities of #3.
8. In order to be financially stable, one must live within one's means. This applies to governments as well as individuals.
9. Free markets should not necessarily be absolutely free, but by and large, they are the best means of producing innovation, invention, and the goods and services that people want.
10. There will not, short of Kingdom Come, be a utopia on earth (see #3). We will maximize our happiness by realizing that we can only hope for a maximized approximation of human potential. This is usually referred to as "freedom" or "liberty".
11. In pursuit of #10, we can usually be guided by Winston Churchill's maxim that democracy is the worst of all systems, except for all the rest.
12. To moderate #11, however, we must remember James Madison's maxim that a system of government must fit the "genius of the people". In other words, not all peoples or cultures at a given time are equally suited to practicing democracy. (The Russians, for example, admire a strong hand by their government. "Nobody ever said Ivan was dumb" as the U.S. military was once fond of saying. Yet Ivan seems to lack the talent of practicing freedom.) Also moderating #11 is C.S. Lewis' leading question: what if monarchy is the means of irrigating the dust-bowl of modern politics? Thus the constitutional monarchy is not necessarily anathema to freedom or liberty.
13. The power to tax is the power to destroy. Taxes are necessary but should be kept to a minimum.
14. Bullies must be resisted, or they will go on bullying.
15. War is hellish, but the willingness and ability to wage war skillfully and decisively can usually preserve peace. Conversely, a people that refuses absolutely to wage war will be enslaved or martyred. Never the less, war is to be avoided unless prudence dictates otherwise.
1. There is a God, and he is not us. He created the universe, but is not confined by it, or by time. He created us (whether this was done quickly or slowly is an in-house debate, but the key point is that we are created by a Creator, not as a result of random events).
2. As a result of #1, we humans have meaning and worth, and owe our allegiance to our Creator. Our rights are a by-product of these facts.
3. We are fallen creatures. We do not perfectly reflect our Creator. Man (or humankind) is not perfectible as a species.
4. However, we do reflect him, albeit imperfectly.
5. Because of #3, government is necessary.
6. Also because of #3, government (which is made up of fallen people) cannot be trusted but must itself be limited, constrained, and monitored.
7. The purpose of government must therefore be to best approximate the conditions for the expression of #4 and the rights inherent in #2, always keeping in mind the realities of #3.
8. In order to be financially stable, one must live within one's means. This applies to governments as well as individuals.
9. Free markets should not necessarily be absolutely free, but by and large, they are the best means of producing innovation, invention, and the goods and services that people want.
10. There will not, short of Kingdom Come, be a utopia on earth (see #3). We will maximize our happiness by realizing that we can only hope for a maximized approximation of human potential. This is usually referred to as "freedom" or "liberty".
11. In pursuit of #10, we can usually be guided by Winston Churchill's maxim that democracy is the worst of all systems, except for all the rest.
12. To moderate #11, however, we must remember James Madison's maxim that a system of government must fit the "genius of the people". In other words, not all peoples or cultures at a given time are equally suited to practicing democracy. (The Russians, for example, admire a strong hand by their government. "Nobody ever said Ivan was dumb" as the U.S. military was once fond of saying. Yet Ivan seems to lack the talent of practicing freedom.) Also moderating #11 is C.S. Lewis' leading question: what if monarchy is the means of irrigating the dust-bowl of modern politics? Thus the constitutional monarchy is not necessarily anathema to freedom or liberty.
13. The power to tax is the power to destroy. Taxes are necessary but should be kept to a minimum.
14. Bullies must be resisted, or they will go on bullying.
15. War is hellish, but the willingness and ability to wage war skillfully and decisively can usually preserve peace. Conversely, a people that refuses absolutely to wage war will be enslaved or martyred. Never the less, war is to be avoided unless prudence dictates otherwise.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Roughing It
My friend Jonathan recently bought a painting at a garage sale for $1.50. I don't particularly like it, but he does, and it's inspired him to create his own low-cost gallery on his walls. This made me think of what a good bargain can mean to me.
When I go to Yosemite on my own, or with my brother, part of the enjoyment I get is from the fact that I can live on almost nothing and have a fantastic time. The feeling of being able to stay in a campsite for 12 bucks, and have breakfast, lunch, and dinner for under 20 (or less), that I can have a hot shower for two dollars and feel like a million bucks, somehow makes me feel young and that the world is full of good possibilities. Whereas if I pay hundreds and stay in a lodge room, it's nice but...something is missing. It's not the money savings, but a feeling of being more in tune with the real essentials of living well. Everything seems to have more flavor and excitement. A gluttonous feeling of waste slides off. I appreciate each thing more fully.
When I go to Yosemite on my own, or with my brother, part of the enjoyment I get is from the fact that I can live on almost nothing and have a fantastic time. The feeling of being able to stay in a campsite for 12 bucks, and have breakfast, lunch, and dinner for under 20 (or less), that I can have a hot shower for two dollars and feel like a million bucks, somehow makes me feel young and that the world is full of good possibilities. Whereas if I pay hundreds and stay in a lodge room, it's nice but...something is missing. It's not the money savings, but a feeling of being more in tune with the real essentials of living well. Everything seems to have more flavor and excitement. A gluttonous feeling of waste slides off. I appreciate each thing more fully.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Wistful
I'm a bit wisful this evening - the proximate causes including my wife's temporary absence while she visits her parents and my semi-exhaustion from the project I'm working on. Fatigue, Vince Lombardi famously said, makes cowards of us all. But I also feel more heavily than usual the absence of my dad. It has been more than a year, and the pain is not generally so acute as it once was. But I notice that many of my former enthusiasms have been tempered by a sense of the evanescence of all things temporal. I understand more personally the expressions I noticed as a kid on the faces of older people as they consider today's pleasures in relation to times and people gone by.
The feeling of futility tells me I need to draw nearer to God. The wistfulness is partly an incorrect view of things (i.e., I'm not seeing things in light of what God tells us of what's ahead in eternity) but is also a reminder that this world is not my home. Sigh. How often I am reminded, and yet the lesson hurts still.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Spoonful of Sugar...Please!
I am struggling to force myself to do work that does not appeal to me in the least. I can think of a thousand things I'd rather be doing. I pity every child in school who has to force himself to sit in those chairs and do hour after hour of (what is to him) drudge work. I am both the child and the taskmaster right now. To see if I could find something encouraging on the internet to inspire me in this task, I found this admonition from William C. Gannett, author of Making the Most of Life (1886) admonishing us to “the very fundamentals of all fine manhood and fine womanhood, the fundamentals that underlie all fulness and without which no other culture worth the winning is even possible,” namely:
- power of attention
- power of industry
- promptitude in beginning work
- method and accuracy and despatch in doing it
- perseverance
- courage before difficulties
- cheer
- self-control and
- self-denial "
The sermon in church this past Sunday was on giving thanks as you go through trials of all kinds. The pastor advised that if we cooperate with God and learn the lessons the first time, maybe God wouldn't have to keep bringing us round again and again through the same thing. Those who love me can pray I would not be mutton-headed, and would learn to exercise these qualities in the present state of self-imposed torture in which I find myself.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The Dirt Man!
As I work this evening, I am listening to an interview with a professional investigator of the paranormal on the "Coast to Coast" show. He is skeptical of most of the things he has been called upon to investigate, from UFOs to haunted houses to sightings of the Moth Man. If only he could see what I've seen today! When I got up this morning, I heard a lot of grunting. Simultaneously, a man made of dirt - dirt! I kid you not! - gathered himself up and stood beside my bed. He has been with me ALL DAY and is WITH ME EVEN NOW! He's watching the screen as I type. Not only that, he's not just a mindless clod (clod, get it?) because even though I can't look into his eyes right now, I can tell he's thinking about what I'm writing.It gets stranger. The dirt man was accompanied by a woman made of dirt, as well as a child, also made of dirt. Strange you may think it, but the dirt man seemed quite fond of them, caressing them with his hands of earth. He looked up at the sky earlier tonight and seemed to be moved by the beauty of the evening clouds.
He shows no sign of leaving, and evidently plans to be there when I go to bed. I won't be surprised if he stays with me all my days.
Amazing! A man made out of dirt, who not only functions physically, but also thinks, perceives, and feels. How did he come to be, this man of the unthinking, unconscious dust? Was he made in a moment, or did it take eons?
Either way, it would take a miracle. As any truly skeptical investigator could tell you, dirt just doesn't get up and do those sorts of things all by itself.
- Chris Ross
The Highlights of History
I don't know if anybody is reading my posts or not, but if they are, they (you) should pay particular attention to this one. Every year around new Year's day, Hugh Hewitt posts his six-hour conversation from 2002 with Dr. Larry Arnn, President of Hillsdale College, free to download (website listed below). They discuss the highlights of Western history, and the conversation is intended to be a sampler for people to find things they would like to learn more about. Dr. Arnn is a neat guy, and so is Hugh Hewitt. By "neat" I mean in this case that they are good, smart, wise, and worth listening to. I listened to the whole thing last year when I was painting part of my house. It was so good I think I'll listen every year. It's a really worthwhile experience for anybody who likes history and would like to know what it means to be Western in terms of ideas and outlook. You can listen or get the podcast at :http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/Show.aspx?RadioShowID=5
Thursday, January 3, 2008
My Theory on Dragons and Giant Movie Monsters
People are fascinated by dragons. Tolkien knew: the worm fires interest, from Fafnir to Smaug to Ancalagon the Black. The more the Cloverfield monster is like a dragon - i.e., lizard like and (this is a must) breathes fire - the greater its chance of capturing the popular imagination. I'll grant that wings in this case are not a must, since a monster as big as a skyscraper that breathed fire and could also fly is just a bit much to take on.
You're all laughing at me, I know. But you just wait and see if my theory holds water. If movie studios asked my opinion more often before they dumped millions into their movies, I could help them make a lot more money. [Yes, I know that the coolest movie dragon ever, Vermithrax (pictured above right) was in a movie that only fared modestly at the box office. But it was Vermithrax that made it possible for that movie to attain the status of a cult classic rather than a forgettable flop.]
You're all laughing at me, I know. But you just wait and see if my theory holds water. If movie studios asked my opinion more often before they dumped millions into their movies, I could help them make a lot more money. [Yes, I know that the coolest movie dragon ever, Vermithrax (pictured above right) was in a movie that only fared modestly at the box office. But it was Vermithrax that made it possible for that movie to attain the status of a cult classic rather than a forgettable flop.]
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Reading and Mental Health, Or Not
This will have to be an abbreviated post today. Maybe I can expand tomorrow. With regard to Cloverfield: the Wikipedia article on Cloverfield noted that there were erroneous rumors that the movie was based on H.P. Lovecraft's horror stories. I looked up the article on Lovecraft. Fair disclosure: I've never read Lovecraft. But it's amazing to me that, just as there are linkages between authors that enrich the soul (I'm thinking, for example, of the Inklings, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers) there are apparently linkages between authors whose works tend to impoverish the soul. I guess I thought of them as being birds that flew solo. Silly of me, I guess. Lovecraft, and some of the authors connected with him, seem to have one link after another to suicide, mental illness, depression, atheism, cosmicism (which is the belief that human life is not so much meaningless as it is inconsequential and doomed), and racism. Then I went into a comic book store today. I keep forgetting why I gave up comics in between my visits. This is why. Darkness has largely taken over. It's depressing. C.S. Lewis said of Boswell (which could have been said of Lewis as well) that "to read him is to grow in mental health". Without wishing to condemn any person (especially those I have not read first hand) or any genre, I think I can say that I'm reminded that there are those authors for whom the opposite is true.
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