How can Christians learn to stand against the emerging empire without becoming either cranks on the right, or closing ranks with the envious on the left — those who would have no problem with such immense power being wielded, just so long as it was not being wielded by America? In virtually all political discourse, …
God Is Love
“When I was living as a Muslim in Egypt, I was always puzzled by a little saying that the Christians used to put on their cars or frame in their shops. The phrase of Allah Mahabe, or God is love. These two words are never put together in the Quran. I always thought, I wonder …
Aristocracy is Not Deity
“[Virginia Woolf] protests and complains as a woman and as a writer, but above all as a human being, who has discovered with bitterness that being born privileged does not alter the conditions and limitations of human existence” (Theodore Dalrymple, Our Culture, What’s Left of It, p. 75).
Follow the Leader
“And what you told me about the evils done by Christians—these people were Christians in name only. They disobeyed the word of Christ and they were led astray by the desires of their hearts. The Bible says, ‘The heart of man is deceitful.’ Because of this, you will see no difference between the actions of …
The Dull Pornographer
“Yet literal-mindedness is not honesty or fidelity to truth—far from it. For it is the whole experience of mankind that sexual life is always, and must always be, hidden by veils of varying degrees of opacity, if it is to be humanized into something beyond a mere animal function. What is inherently secretive, that is …
Church Sign Smackdown
What if there were a web site that allowed you to generate your own church signs. There is? You could perhaps wind up with a battle of the church signs. HT: Scott Linn
Just Goes to Show
The happy fallout from the NYT article continues. Here is my former undergraduate advisor, Nick Gier, telling the sorry tale of how I squandered the legacy of my UI philosophy degree. First, Gier has clearly opted for a different strategy in his response to this article — some of his fellow Intoleristas have been fit …
Work It Off If You Can
“The offenders must repent before Allah, but Allah decides whether or not to forgive him. On Judgment Day the person will discover whether or not Allah will forgive him . . . In short, Allah alone decides whether a person is forgiven. If he commits a big sin, he is at Allah’s mercy. If he …
When Vice Gets Good Press
“When did we no longer appreciate that to dignify certain modes of behavior, manners, and ways of being with artistic representation was implicitly to glorify and promote them?” (Theodore Dalrymple, Our Culture, What’s Left of It, p. 55).
Potoked Again
Reactions to the NYT article were not long in coming. This one comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the world’s richest civil rights organization. Mark Potok, author of this article, was upset that Molly Worthen, author of the NYT piece, wrote a balanced, critical piece when the SPLC clearly sees the crying obligation for …