Much ink has been spilt over the years by people trying to convince each other that America either was or was not founded as a Christian nation. What if it doesn’t matter?
To those who say Halloween originated as a demonic event, I reply that today it is kids and costumes and candy. To those who say that martial arts started as Eastern spiritualism, I reply that, so long as it is done without meditation, it is just biophysics. To those who say that Christmas trees are druidic idols, I reply that, unless you’re bowing down before them, pretty dying trees are just pretty dying trees, like big smelly flowers.
You can’t evaluate a practice by it’s origins. Instead, you must look at its current reality. Thus, although it seems like an advantage to plant the Christian flag over the founding of this country, the real questions are whether we are today a Christian nation and, more importantly, can you explain why you think we should try to be so regardless of whether we are?
TOD 01.08.08
Proverbs 18:9 teaches us, “He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.” This is far more than just a hyperbole discouraging laziness. Imagine a particular day in which one man builds a house and another man burns it to the ground. In contrast, imagine if the builder had simply stayed in bed all day. No construction, no arson. At the end of both days, value is the same: no new houses. (Of course, I’m ignoring the lost raw materials only for simplicity’s sake.)
That’s what this proverb is getting at. Time is nothing but the potential to build things, serve people, and create value. Failing to use our time productively deprives the world of these valuables just as surely as if we actively destroyed such work by others. We are in effect robbing the universe of the riches it could have held.
A hungry man doesn’t care whether the food he doesn’t receive was from a farmer being too lazy to harvest or from a burglar destroying the food pantry. His hunger doesn’t know the difference. The imperative, “Whatever your hand find to do, do it with all your might,” is much more than just a piece of occupational advice.
That’s what this proverb is getting at. Time is nothing but the potential to build things, serve people, and create value. Failing to use our time productively deprives the world of these valuables just as surely as if we actively destroyed such work by others. We are in effect robbing the universe of the riches it could have held.
A hungry man doesn’t care whether the food he doesn’t receive was from a farmer being too lazy to harvest or from a burglar destroying the food pantry. His hunger doesn’t know the difference. The imperative, “Whatever your hand find to do, do it with all your might,” is much more than just a piece of occupational advice.
TOD 01.07.08
I dislike expressions which depend on bad logic. For instance, “God gave you two ears and one mouth, you should use them that way.” If so, then wouldn’t biology also require that we listen more than we breathe and use our fingers about five times as much as we use our elbows? Surely such absurd conclusions are no more invalid than the other one. When I said this on my show recently, a caller challenged me to find a pithy replacement that might more rationally encourage people to listen more. I didn’t have to look far.
“He who restrains his words has knowledge…Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise…” (Proverbs 17:27-28) “A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind.” (Proverbs 18:2) “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.” (Proverbs 18:13) Perhaps they aren’t as cute as their modern substitute, but at least they have the virtues of being time-honored and not illogical.
Besides, wouldn’t it be nice if people taught true principles by way of the Bible rather than silly analogies?
TOD 01.04.08
We all judge others. Contrary to what some people say, this is natural, and the more you try to stop judging, the more deeply into self-hatred you will sink. It’s as futile as trying to eliminate hunger or sexual desire. Just as with those other drives, the key to handling the judgment impulse is learning how to indulge wisely rather than foolishly.
Instead of merely following our appetites, we learn to satisfy them according to good principles. We replace immature judgments, like those based on race or beauty, with mature ones, like those based on competence or integrity. Sometimes we even set aside legitimate judgments because of more important concerns, such as befriending sinners or forgiving people.
For my own part, I have had to learn to judge people not by whether they share my beliefs, but by whether we can talk with each other. I learned to stop making agreement the price of admission to my companionship. Such a price is simply too high for the people God wants me to love.
Instead of merely following our appetites, we learn to satisfy them according to good principles. We replace immature judgments, like those based on race or beauty, with mature ones, like those based on competence or integrity. Sometimes we even set aside legitimate judgments because of more important concerns, such as befriending sinners or forgiving people.
For my own part, I have had to learn to judge people not by whether they share my beliefs, but by whether we can talk with each other. I learned to stop making agreement the price of admission to my companionship. Such a price is simply too high for the people God wants me to love.
TOD 01.03.08
A relativist is someone who thinks that he can decide morality for himself. The error is thinking this is a matter of degree. It’s not. You either are one or you are not. Oh, sure, most people don’t look like moral anarchists. They only abandon certain parts of morality.
They wouldn’t murder, but they might have premarital sex. They wouldn’t steal, but they might disobey their parents. They don’t realize that there’s no difference between a partial rejection of morality and a total rejection of it. The phrase “just a little disobedience” is absurd because there are only two options: morality and relativism. Morality means following God, a culture, or a philosopher such as Kant. Relativism means doing what morality requires unless I don’t want to.
That’s the key. If I retain the power to decide when to obey or not, my only submission is to myself. So even if I look moral most of the time, I’m really putting on a charade. Thus, it’s simple. There’s no such thing as a little relativism.
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