"...cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.” - Matthew 28:19, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Arabic version.
Worldviews
“Mathematics Can Be Applied to All Areas of Life” — Not So, Says Murray Rothbard
"...the crucial point is that mathematics cannot contribute to economic knowledge." - Murray Rothbard
Simon Cowell for President!
OK, that's a tongue-in-cheek suggestion. For one thing, he’s not a U.S. citizen. But attorney and legal and constitutional analyst Maureen Martin is convinced we need a presidential candidate with the “X Factor” Simon Cowell promotes and embodies.
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The Trouble with Traditionalism
The communitarian conservative agenda is not about just praising a particular set of values and sentiments and then leaving people free to discover what's best for them. "Crunchy cons" are intent on making people better by using government to "incentivize" good behavior, in great part by using regulation to "remedy" the value-destruction they believe is caused by market capitalism. For a full critique of this political philosophy, you should read Frank S. Meyer, which I highly recommend. For now it will suffice to mention just two big problems with Brooks's and Dreher's reasoning. . . .
It Really Is a Wonderful Life
Merry Christmas, everyone. Now is the time to be with family and, if you're lucky, focus on the things that are important.
This leads me to a common sentiment that I've heard. I often hear people talk about how someday they want to do some good. When they make their money, they're going to give back and help the world they took so much from.
Why wait? You can make a difference in someone's life today.
Regrets, I’ve Had a Few—Countering a Contemporary Cliché
To live life without regret. Never to look back, always moving forward. To insert additional cliches about seizing the day and so on.
This seems to be a pretty common theme among the people I meet. There is a sentiment that regretting your decisions is not just a waste of time but an actual detriment to your development, that to look back on your past with a heavy heart will keep you from moving forward.
I regret nothing!
I say that's a lie, and a dangerous one.
The Dance of the Straw Men
If you're a social conservative, chances are you’ve had a conversation something like this:
Conservative: “But if we accept homosexual behavior as normal, how do we retain other traditional taboos, like the one against incest?”
Liberal: “That’s just a straw man. Nobody’s going to advocate incest.”
Now, read this, from Tauriq Moosa, tutor in ethics, bioethics and critical thinking at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (courtesy of my friend Dale Nelson):
Thirdly, and oddly, people exclaim “just” repugnant. We will examine this more closer later. Nonetheless, why should the sexual activities of two consenting adults concern us? This is the same question we can ask those who are ‘against’ homosexuality (which is like being against having blue eyes). It is none of our business what two consenting adults wish to do (as long as no one else is harmed/involved without consent). . . .
We cannot leave it up to the whims of our emotions to implement policies and laws which could, unnecessarily, cause suffering to other people, as is the case with gay people, women, and indeed the current brother-and-sister couple.
Pretty lively for a straw man, isn’t it?
Good Cop, Bad Cop: Crime Tales of Two Eras
To be sure, Ian Rankin, the leading figure in the so-called “Tartan Noir” movement, has been a powerful force in moving British detective fiction away from its cozy, genteel, village and country house gentry stereotype, but in his own day Freeman Wills Crofts did much the same thing, albeit more gently, decades earlier. Both series are well worth reading and discussing today—the two detectives share a defining quality, one that readers will find bracing in an era seen as rife with immorality and excessive concentration of power.
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