“Sentimentality, as we have seen, finds expression in autonomous, pragmatically based decisions on right and wrong, and in the refusal to declare absolute standards on all matters, including poverty. What sometimes seems to be an intellectual vacuity in humanitarian polemics is associated with this trait, which we may think of as the propensity to define …
Look at the Warts Right
I need to explain the background of this one first. Other than the news and an occasional football game, our family has not really been a big teevee watching family. As a result, my ignorance of the world of sitcoms is nearly perfect, which led to the obvious conclusion — I need to blog about …
Ressentiment
“The twisted path from humanism’s soaring tributes in honor of the human divinity to the consequences of modern humanitarianism is best explained by the concept of ressentiment. When Nietzsche wrote his celebrated attack on Christianity, he transliterated this word from the French because he could find no German equivalent . . . When Scheler’s book …
And That Means Nobody
“Nobody who rejects the first four commandments’ call to reject idols and worship the true and living God can be expected to recognize any ultimate significance in the last six commandments’ ethical requirements” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 47).
Why Humanism Can Cry Me a River
“Humanism thrives on sentimentality because few religions are more dishonest in their doctrinal expressions. Unable to withstand dispassionate analysis, which would reveal its lack of foundation, it stresses feeling rather than thought. That is what makes sentimentality so vicious. People can get good feelings from almost anything” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 46).
They Like Core Values Instead
“Modern humanists are hostile to any notion of law that is external to the legislative organs under human control, and this means that morality cannot be predicated on universal codes” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 43).
Why Patriots Don’t Like the Patriot Act
First, nothing I am about to say is in any way a defense of Eliot Spitzer. Second, I would encourage you to read this article, and ask yourself the following questions: Is the Patriot Act devised in a such a way as to be directed at terrorists, and nothing but terrorists? No. Can the Patriot …
Trinity Fest 08
Well, we keep having a blast at Trinity Fest, and so we intend to keep having them. The registration process for this coming August is now open, and so, please, have at it. Also please note the restructured happiness on the pricing. The theme of the talks this year will be “Great Cities of the …
One or the Other
“All idols belong either to nature or to history. The whole creation falls into those two categories, and there is no other place to which man can turn to find a substitute for God. Any idol that is not an artifact of the natural world is an artifact of the social world” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols …
Why Discussions Get Hot Sometimes
“And that explains the vehemence with which attacks on someone’s assumptions are met; they are often attacks on that person’s unacknowledged religion” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 8).