May 11, 2019 | Culture, Epistemology - Trust
I was recently listening to the late great R.C. Sproul talk about a very large problem for atheists (agnostics as well because they are practical atheists). Since atheists are materialists (the material is all that exists, there is no God or spiritual reality), they must argue that meaning is possible in a purely material universe. The way Dr. Sproul put it is that atheists claim we spring from a meaning-less universe, and we are hurling toward a meaning-less oblivion, and he asks, can it be possible to find true meaning between these poles of meaning-lessness? Good question. The atheists answers blithely, of course we can! Not so quick.
(more…)
Apr 1, 2019 | Culture
Probably not, but it should be. If you’re not familiar with the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), it was published in 1852 to communicate to the American people the evils of slavery. Many people who were not involved in slavery, especially in the north, often had no idea how brutally slaves were treated by their masters. One overview of the book says:
Stowe’s vivid characters and portrayal of their struggles opened reader’s eyes to the realities of slavery and the humanity of enslaved people. Stowe hoped the novel would build empathy for the characters and, in turn, for enslaved individuals.
After seeing Unplanned, there is no doubt that anyone with an open mind and a shred of humanity would be cut to the quick over the realities of abortion, and the humanity of the babies who lives are unceremoniously, coldly, snuffed out.
(more…)
Nov 11, 2018 | Culture, Explanatory Power
Given this is ostensibly a blog about parenting, and that I soon have a book about parenting to be published, and we live in the 21st century, I can’t escape commenting on homosexuality. As you know it is ubiquitous in our culture, and if you have children you won’t be able to escape addressing it with them either. We’re confronted with it all the time. Just recently we were watching a new TV series called Manifest. It’s interesting because it has a Lost-like premise, and it’s always good when mystery is inserted into popular culture, but the writers just had to introduce homosexual characters into the plot. I turned it off. The same happened with the Amazon show Man in the High Castle, and off that went as well. Yes, I know, that’s narrow-minded and judgmental of me, but I serve a narrow-minded, judgmental Savior (just read the gospels carefully, and you’ll see lovey-dovey, affirm everyone Jesus is a figment of wishful thinking, and popular cultural imagination).
(more…)
Oct 7, 2018 | Culture
I don’t often get into political discussions here because this is a website about apologetics for my Christian faith and worldview, but I’ve also practiced apologetics for my political and economic convictions with my kids all their lives. These convictions of course stem from my Christianity, so are an extension of my Christian view of reality. I have sought to persuade my children that they make sense to me, and ought to make sense to them as well. I am convinced my children would no more become left-wing, progressive, liberals than that they would become secularist agnostics or Hindus. Which brings me to Tim Keller and the concept of “social justice.”
(more…)
Sep 4, 2018 | Culture
Life can be so ineffably sad sometimes, and when I recently read about the suicide of a high-profile pastor I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It made me angry even as it broke my heart. Commenting on a situation like it is fraught with danger in an age such as ours, so I will tread as lightly as I can. The reason for my trepidation is that our secular age imposes certain values and interpretations of reality upon us that are antithetical to our faith, and Christians have imbibed many of them. It’s very difficult not to because that’s the way culture works; you breathe it’s air, you absorb its values, and its way of seeing things, its interpretation of reality.
(more…)
Jul 25, 2018 | Culture
The subject of this post may sound vaguely familiar, but with a very postmodern, 21st century twist. Many are familiar with the beloved 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables. Netflix has adapted the novel into a series called Anne with an E, and it bears only a passing resemblance to the children’s book of another, less “enlightened” era. The creator of the series, Moira Walley-Beckett, worked as a writer and producer of AMCs hit series Breaking Bad, which may not be the best preparation for bringing Anne of Green Gables to the small screen.
I’d never read the book, but during the first season I came across an article at the liberal Slate magazine with the apt title regarding the series, “Netflix’s dark, gritty reboot of Anne of Green Gables has all the subtlety of a chalkboard smashed over your head.” I wasn’t sure about the chalkboard in the first season, but 7 episodes into the second season, I realized the aptness of her title. Thus my version of the book’s title as gay, and I don’t mean happy. More of that in a second.
(more…)
Recent Comments