Theology That Bites Back
Dear Darla, So it is very good that your father is putting Trent through his paces. I take it that apart from the central question of your last letter, everything appears to be going swimmingly? So let’s get to it. As to that central question, you raised the issue of his past porn use generally …
“A conceited man thinks about himself all the time. A morbid, self-absorbed man does the same, and this means the two men have the same problem . . . ‘Learning how to love yourself’ is not the first step in obedience; it is clambering onto a veritable squirrel-cage run of disobedience.”
The Cultural Mind, p. 137
Letter to the Editor: With reference to your post entitled "So the Answer is 'No'" I don't have a particular argument to make with regard to women in the military, and I am not a Hebrew scholar, ...
“So a humble man and a proud man are not distinguished from one another because the latter does what he wants and the former does not. Rather, they are distinguished because they want different things. No creature ever desired anything from a base outside its own desires. So a humble man delights in God, and a proud man delights in that which is not God.”
The Cultural Mind, pp. 136-137
We should begin with the recognition that naming is warfare. In any cultural collision, each group wants to name the other one, and each group wants to prevent the other group from taking that name and turning it around to be used in a less pejorative sense, or even in a positive sense. Methodist and …
“In order to argue anything, a man has to be able to say this, not that; here, not there; A, not A. In short he has to be able to make distinctions. So argumentation depends on this, and distinctions in their turn depend on having an ultimate ground for making distinctions. In the historic Protestant view, the ultimate and greatest distinction that must be maintained at all times is the distinction between the Creator and the creature.”
The Cultural Mind, p. 132
“We, in the grip of a very bad idea, have thought to repeal some fundamental laws of the natural order of things. Good luck to us all, says I. Let us repeal the law of gravity to cut down on that frictional wear and tear. Let us herd cats. Let us sweep water uphill. Let us feed cheesecake to our horses.”
The Cultural Mind, p. 130
Update: Zions Bank has withdrawn from participating in the festival. Second update: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare pulled its sponsorship as well. Third update: The kids drag event for this weekend has been postponed to a “later date.” Fourth update: ICCU has pulled out. Fifth update: Idaho Power decided to withdraw. Dear J , …
[Concerning Deut. 22:5] “Transvestite men certainly are condemned here, but the language with regard to the women is quite different. The operative phrase in this passage is keli gabar, the gear of a warrior. A woman is not to wear the gear of a fighter. The prohibition is not one of slacks, but rather of helmets and heavy rifles.”
The Cultural Mind, p. 129
