07.05.09
Notes from church: July 5, 2009
Loss of the capacity to believe in anything beyond the senses, leads to loss of belief in the universe as a moral construct, leads to all theories of salvation sounding abstract, leads to the poverty of having only romance as a filter to approach God, leads to contemporary worship music.
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The Old Testament injunction to “Remember God” is the equivalent of the New Testament “faith”.
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24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, [2] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
This passage simply does not reflect that beloved evangelical dichotomy and shelter: “… a relationship with God based on forgiveness as opposed to one based on performance.” Well, I guess the larger NT does. If you discount all the passages that don’t.
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“Eternal perspective” as used in evangelical preaching, usually amounts to docetism. Only what is done for Christ will last, and so on. The implication — intended or not, people imbibe it — is that only the ghostly souls of men will pass into the next age; spend as little work as possible on things like art, engineering, plumbing. Hay and straw, to be burned up on the last day.
07.04.09
Politics as slander
The end of ethical deliberation is in the New Testament principle “All the law is in this one saying: love your neighbor as yourself.” The purpose of God’s love in Jesus is to restore the human soul for an ethical end — to love. This restoration is prior to any human ethical act but has no other purpose than human ethical transformation.
Power is useless to the lover.
You cannot love someone and intentionally make them look bad to a third party. Love does not highlight the sin, but highlights the good of the neighbor. To speak of my neighbor’s fault in order to diminish him in others’ sight is functionally indistinguishable from hate. Read the rest of this entry »
06.11.09
Healthcare is Frankenstein
Healthcare is an almost unique combination: once a technology is invented, it must be used. The physician has no morally acceptable — or legally tenable — ground upon which to say no. So, every available technology must be offered to every patient. Read the rest of this entry »
The Powder Keg
There are substances that cannot mingle without exploding. There are forces that cannot but collide, violently. These two forces, in the Western democracies, are: cultural diversity, and increasingly centralized governments. These are violently opposed.
“Cultural diversity” is the opiate mantra to the liberal mind. It evokes the image of a rainbow. But on the ground it means diverse values, which means social groups who cannot live closely together. I’m sorry to have be the one to break this news. Read the rest of this entry »
All. Governments. Will. Torture.
No democratic state will take a course that opposes the wishes of her people. Which is why the “ticking bomb” — no, change that — the “kidnapped child” scenario is neither a distraction nor a frivolous inflammation in the torture debate — it is the crux. Read the rest of this entry »
05.12.09
Theodore Dalrymple: The False Apology Syndrome
http://www.incharacter.org/article.php?article=119
The habit of public apology for things for which one bears no personal responsibility changes the whole concept of a virtuous person, from one who exercises the discipline of virtue to one who expresses correct sentiment. The most virtuous person of all is he who expresses it loudest and to most people. This is a debasement of morality, not a refinement of it. The end result is likely to be self-satisfaction and ruthlessness accompanied by unctuous moralizing, rather than a determination to behave well.
The False Apology Syndrome flourishes wherever there has been a shift in the traditional locus of moral concern. At one time, a man probably felt most morally responsible for his own actions. He was adjudged (and judged himself) good or bad by how he conducted himself toward those in his immediate circle. From its center rippled circles of ever-decreasing moral concern, of which he was also increasingly ignorant. Now, however, it is the other way round. Under the influence of the media of mass communication and the spread of sociological ways of thinking, a man is most likely to judge himself and others by the opinions he and they hold on political, social, and economic questions that are far distant from his immediate circle. A man may be an irresponsible father, but that is more than compensated for by his deep concern about global warming, or foreign policy, or the food situation in Africa.
05.01.09
When Balancing Became Swapping
When the federal treasury is large the founding premise of our system of government is gone. The incentives reverse, like a turning tide, and it cannot last.
The original congress had limited powers and minimal money. So they came together to vote the interests of their states, all of whom wanted the central government to stay small. Any flicker of of an impulse to use the central government would be negated by competing votes. The center holds. Politicians get re-elected by protecting their state from the power of the central government, and from other states. But… Read the rest of this entry »
Isaac’s testimony
Out of the blue he turned to me and said:
“Daddy, yesterday in church I read the story of the Good Samaritan, and I felt Jesus enter my heart and my mind was filled with good thoughts. “
March 22, 2009
Inner Voice
Every son ends up alone
with an inner voice
which is the echo of his father’s
love of virtue.
Or nothing.
Ah, what did I ever own, but the stamp from what he loved?
Emotional Empiricism
There is a rhetorical trope in Christian circles that follows this structure:
It must be true because it is what I need.
That is gospel which feels like gospel to me.
The worst offenders are blogging clergy who write long posts decrying the subjectivity of the age, then fend off any threat of sanctification by invoking this pseudo-humility: ”I have no hope other than forgiveness, and any gospel that has anything else is not good news to me.”
God forbid grace should threaten to change you.
