the evangelical outpostReflections on culture, politics, and religion from an evangelical worldview.Thirty Three Things (v. 68)- June 30, 2008 1. The Market and Human Nature -- from a 2005 Q&A with the conservative scholar Roger Scruton (via Rod Dreher): MG: What deleterious consequences result from the "free market ideology" you mention Are there particular economic arrangements that conservatives ought to prefer Scruton: The free market is a necessary part of any stable community, and the arguments for maintaining it as the core of economic life were unanswerably set out by Ludwig von Mises. Hayek developed the arguments...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/thirty-three-th-62.html Celestial Teapots, Flying Spaghetti Monsters, and Other Silly Atheist Arguments- June 25, 2008 You have to pity the modern atheist who attempts to present arguments for her cause. Unmoored from any respectable intellectual tradition, each generation is forced to recreate anti-theistic arguments from scratch. The result is that the claims which they believe to be clever and damning often turn out to be, to use a technical philosophical phrase, just plain silly. Take for example, the Flying Spaghetti Monster. According to Wikipedia, The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of a parody...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/celestial-teapo-1.html Thirty Three Things (v. 67)- June 23, 2008 1. The Last Traffic Jam The average U.S. citizen completely ignores the regularity with which the automobile kills him, maims him, embroils him with the law and provides mobile shelter for rakes intent on seducing his daughters. He takes it into his garage as fondly as an Arab leading a prize mare into his tent. He woos it with Simoniz, Prestone, Ethyl and rich lubricants--and goes broke trading it in on something flashier an hour after he has made the last payment on the old one. To a...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/thirty-three-th-61.html The Gospel of Juneteenth- June 20, 2008 Although bad news travels fast, good news often takes the scenic route. That appears to have been especially true during the Civil War. Although Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became official on the first day of January 1863, word didn't arrive in Texas until June 19, 1865. On that day Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston with news that the war had ended and that those who were once enslaved were now free. One of Granger's first acts upon landing in...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/the-gospel-of-j.html Six Thoughts About Jesus- June 19, 2008 Over the years people have asked me why, since this is an evangelical blog, I don't mention Jesus more often. My usual glib answer is that I prefer not to name-drop just because I'm on a first name basis with the Creator of the Universe. I also take offense at the implication my sole mission as an evangelical blogger is to end every post with an altar call. While it's true that I don't casually use the name of Jesus, I believe that, like Flannery O'Connor's South, this blog...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/six-thoughts-ab.html Family Resemblance- June 17, 2008 Note: This is my belated Father's Day post. Intentionally belated, because it's not really the sort of thing one should post on Father's Day. "You look like you're Ukrainian," said the lady at the cosmetic counter. I had been hoping that no one would notice the dutiful henpecked husband waiting for his wife. Apparently, my attempt at invisibility had failed. "No, he's not Ukrainian," my wife answered without looking up. "He's just a mutt." But as I stood there, attempting once again to fade.http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/family-resembla.html Thirty Three Things (v. 66)- June 16, 2008 1. Cory Doctorow on judging one's own writing: One of the things I've noticed about writing every day is that there are days when writing that page feels like flying. Like the hand of God reached down and touched my keyboard, and every word is just pure gold. And then there are days that I feel I'm writing absolute, totally forgettable junk that shouldn't have been committed to phosphors, let alone saved to disc. The thing is, a month later, you can't tell the difference. The difference...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/thirty-three-th-60.html Don't Marry a Proverbs 31 Woman- June 13, 2008 Note: I originally wrote this post in 2006 with the intention that it would be provocative. On reflection I see that it is a bit overstated and certainly less nuanced than it needs to be. "Career woman", for instance, has a range of connotations, making the term nearly worthless for shoring up my main theme. Still, I (mostly) agree with the bulk of what I wrote and (completely) stand behind the last sentence. But, as always, I'm open to reproof and correction.On the list of claims that are...http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/dont-marry-a-pr.html LOLCat Comm:Cat Macros as Communication- June 11, 2008 Note: I'm on semi-hiatus this week so original blogging will be light. I'm reposting stale old material that I hoped you missed, so that it will appear fresh and new. Not long after Al Gore invented the internet, his wife Tipper uploaded a picture of the family cat launching one of the most ubiquitous trends in web culture. But over the past year, a strange subgenre called "lolcats" or "cat macros" has developed, turning a meme into a form of folk art. As the Wikipedia entry explains,..http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/lolcat-commcat.html Thirty Three Things (x2)Special Edition- June 9, 2008 Note: The following are the 1 and 2 items from Thirty Three Things posts 33-65.33 -- 1. YouTube University: YouTube has struck deals with major universities, creating dedicated channels from which schools can distribute their media content. Check out the channels for UC Berkeley and University of Southern California. 2. How to blog a conference 34 -- 1. Even Good Vampires are Bad 2. Privacy and an argument against premarital sex36 -- 1. Like... could you just say it Slam poet Taylor..http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/2008/06/thirty-three-things-x2-special-edition.... |