While it is a bit of an oversimplification, there are essentially two perspectives within institutional Christianity. One says that belief is a matter of memorizing facts, scripture, and doctrine. Success in this view is like passing a final exam. Entering through the gates of heaven in this view involves taking a test on an IPad.…
This is a brief description of how American Imperialism works: It is not a pretty thing at all. America decides she needs something from another country. That country isn't particularly interested in giving us what we want, so American finds a pretext to invade militarily. We invaded Iraq because we lied and said there were…
It's almost always a good idea to be logically consistent. When we forget that we almost always head down an ill advised path. We hear countries talk about going to war to achieve or preserve peace. For reasons that I can't begin to comprehend, that makes sense to some people, yet we don't hear about…
When does appeasement embolden? Anyone who has raised children knows that point exists. Children, as an appropriate task of development, challenge their parents, test limits, and push against the rules. At different ages, different rules are challenged at different levels of intensity, but the challenges happen and those kids are looking for the reassurance that…
The truth is that most of us pick and choose the things we feel are important, never stopping to look at the sum total of what garners our support or checking those things for consistency. Consider that people become really energized over the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which they feel (rightly or not)…
Craig Bergland 