“Searching for answers to escape from this dilemma, Muslims have developed three major responses: secularism, reformism, and fundamentalism. Secularism holds that Muslims can only advance by emulating the West . . . Reformism, which offers a murky middle, is very popular. Whereas secularism forthrightly calls for learning from the West, reformism sneakily appropriates from it …
Who Knew?
“Reading promotes continuity, the gradual accumulation of knowledge, and sustained exploration of ideas. Television, on the other hand, fosters fragmentation, anti-intellectualism, and immediate gratification” (Gene Edward Veith, Reading Between the Lines, p. 21).
Denying or Affirming
“It is true that at no time and upon no occasion, though your life and all the lives in the world lay upon it, may you deny the least truth, but there may be a time when God does not require you to make profession of everything you believe to be a truth” (Burroughs, Irenicum, …
Worshiping in the Will of God
As faithful worshiping Christians, we all want to live our lives in the will of God. Unfortunately, this has led many Christians into the unbiblical practice of trying to find the will of God beforehand, in order to be able to go do it. This practice seems very pious, but it actually little more than …
Profound Frustration
“Muslim society has a hard time explaining what caused the loss of power and prominence . . . Whatever index one looks at, Muslims can be found clustering toward the bottom, whether in terms of military prowess, political stability, economic development, corruption, lack of human rights, health, longevity, or literacy” (Daniel Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches …
Disturbing the Disturbed
“Disturbing the corruptions of men who will oppose out of malice is not something to be greatly regarded. When Christ was told that the Pharisees were offended He cared not for it, but made a great matter of the offending of any of His little ones” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 114).
The Guy in the Teapot
Not surprisingly, Richard Dawkins places the evolutionary process at the center of his argument. “This book will advocate an alternative view: any creative intelligence, of sufficient complexity to design anything, comes into existence only as the end product of an extended process of gradual evolution” (p. 31, emphasis in the original). This might be hard …
Resenting the Disaster
“This inner sense of confidence helped imbue Muslims with an unparalleled loyalty to their religions. Added to this internal confidence was the fact that Muslims enjoyed outstanding success during their first six or so centuries. To be a Muslim meant to belong to a winning civilization. This pattern of success started right at the beginning: …
How Do You Solve a Rose?
“Take a rose. How will you proceed to solve a rose? You can cultivate roses, smell them, gather and wear them, make them into perfume or potpourri, paint them or write poetry about them; these are all creative activities. But can you solve roses? Has that expression any meaning?” (Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the …
The Wicked Limber Up Their Bow
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! In the Lord I trust, How can you talk to my soul like that? How can you taunt, saying, “Fly like a bird To your mountain home?” The wicked limber up their bow, They set the arrow on the string, To shoot …