Driving 5-10 miles-per-hour over the limit is a lot like premarital sex, by which I mean sex between two people in an exclusive relationship who hope one day to marry. Both behaviors seem like they are honoring a principle or rule. But in reality they are just violating it in a similar-seeming enough way that the doer can deceive himself into thinking that he’s not just making up the rules himself. “Well, at least it’s not as bad as what I could be doing. Besides, everybody else does it.”
See, it’s a fairly easy thing to say whether you are obeying a rule or not. Driving 55 in a 55 zone is endorsed. Driving 56 is not. And nothing about the fact that 56 isn’t 80 will ever make 56 be 55. Simple. Likewise, if you are already married, then sex is endorsed. If you’re not, it isn’t. And showing how far premarital sex is from casual sex or how similar it is to marital sex will never make it okay.
Just something to consider the next time you’re wondering why the same teenager who sees you “speeding just a little bit” doesn’t heed your stern warning to abstain until marriage.
TOD 10.31.07
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” This Biblical idea states the profound truth that our real selves are the ones on the inside. But there’s also a misunderstanding here. Many people wrongly believe that defending their beliefs is necessary because it’s a matter of defending their identity. But just as our characters are always improving, we need to view our beliefs as works in progress also.
We must move from knowing that our thoughts matter to knowing that they matter enough to deserve improving. As such, we should view thinking itself as a skill which needs training and practice just like any other skill. And when a skilled coach criticizes our thinking, that’s helpful rather than an assault on our person. Until one of our core beliefs is that it is more important to be right tomorrow than to have been right yesterday, we will be always limited to being whoever we already are.
Precisely because thinking is so important, I must learn to be less attached to the way I do it now so that I can do it better in the future.
We must move from knowing that our thoughts matter to knowing that they matter enough to deserve improving. As such, we should view thinking itself as a skill which needs training and practice just like any other skill. And when a skilled coach criticizes our thinking, that’s helpful rather than an assault on our person. Until one of our core beliefs is that it is more important to be right tomorrow than to have been right yesterday, we will be always limited to being whoever we already are.
Precisely because thinking is so important, I must learn to be less attached to the way I do it now so that I can do it better in the future.
TOD 10.30.07
David Horowitz is a libertarian and advocate of academic freedom, and, last week he was a speaker at the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week put on by the College Republicans at Emory University. When he took the stage, another group of students stood up, turned their backs, and began chanting for him to leave, calling him a racist and a sexist. Eventually, he left the stage, and the speech was cancelled.
Many things could be said, but this mostly shows the moral hypocrisy of such people. This barbaric form of mob censorship was organized by the “National Project to Defend Dissent & Critical Thinking in Academia,” a group which apparently defends dissent by preventing it from occurring. There once was a time when the mantra of American liberty was, “Though I detest your opinions, I will defend to the death your right to express them.”
Only time will tell if the leaders politically closest to these student tyrants will affirm this idea and condemn them. My hope, sadly, is not my expectation.
Many things could be said, but this mostly shows the moral hypocrisy of such people. This barbaric form of mob censorship was organized by the “National Project to Defend Dissent & Critical Thinking in Academia,” a group which apparently defends dissent by preventing it from occurring. There once was a time when the mantra of American liberty was, “Though I detest your opinions, I will defend to the death your right to express them.”
Only time will tell if the leaders politically closest to these student tyrants will affirm this idea and condemn them. My hope, sadly, is not my expectation.
TOD 10.29.07
We tend to see what we have already seen. Put another way, we tend to see what fits best with what we already believe. It’s a phenomenon psychologists call “theory-laden perception,” and all it means is that we tend to interpret new data in the way that best fits with our commitment to our previous interpretations of old data. As one person explained, “People, not eyes, see.”
When a racist is mistreated by someone of a different race, his contempt for that race is strengthened. When the same racist is mistreated by someone of his own race, he writes it off as that person just having a bad day. Not only do we tend to see things this way, but we also tend to seek out information we hope will confirm our existing biases. This makes us feel wise. When passing a bad driver on the road, we tend to look to verify that the person is of the right gender, age, race, or distractedness by technology to confirm our condemnation.
If the end goal of an act is to feed evil, however, wisdom lies in not even beginning the search.
When a racist is mistreated by someone of a different race, his contempt for that race is strengthened. When the same racist is mistreated by someone of his own race, he writes it off as that person just having a bad day. Not only do we tend to see things this way, but we also tend to seek out information we hope will confirm our existing biases. This makes us feel wise. When passing a bad driver on the road, we tend to look to verify that the person is of the right gender, age, race, or distractedness by technology to confirm our condemnation.
If the end goal of an act is to feed evil, however, wisdom lies in not even beginning the search.
TOD 10.26.07
Bumper stickers I’d love to see on somebody else’s car, but probably wouldn’t have the guts to put on my own:
- Sloppy thinking is sloppy Christianity.
- Angrier-than-thou is not the same as holier-than-thou.
- Honk if you like my driving.
- My children do not derive their sense of self-worth from bumper stickers.
- War is always the answer.
- Stop being such a gay-basher-basher.
- In your mind, what does the word “limit” mean, as in “speed limit?”
- Practice what you preach: be more tolerant of my intolerance.
- Honk if you despise people who honk their horns for no good reason.
- Your bumper says you serve Jesus, but your speedometer tells a different story.
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