Adam Weinstein’s article on gun violence, It’s Really Hard to Be a Good Guy with a Gun, is a worth a close read. The quick summary: Weinstein grew up with guns, has served in the military, and has a concealed carry licence. Private citizens, “good guys,” legally arming themselves was part of his solution to the growing problem of irrational and unprovoked shootings. The line usually runs, “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a...
I was on holiday in Oslo recently. As I was hoping to get some reading and coffee/beer tasting done, I only visited one museum: The Munch Museum. The Munch Museum, featuring works by the painter Edvard Munch, is actually located right next to the Olso’s Natural History Museum. The Munch Museum is most well-known for having Munch’s popular painting, The Scream; and, the Natural History is probably most well-known for having the (apparently world-famous) Darwinius masillae...
Any critic of Christians and culture always has his or her pickings of what element within our culture one wants to target as a great threat to the development and purity of the Christian soul. Although I might be wrong to say “friends, here is our greatest threat,” I have long been convicted of deceptive and dangerous nature with which Western Christians indulge in comedy. We are in a golden age of satire, when vulgar...
In America and western culture broadly we value critical thinking. Oftentimes we are completely baffled when people are unable to clearly think through situations. We are even more baffled when people believe things without critically assessing the validity of the “truths” which they claim to believe. It makes no sense to us. The freedom to think and evaluate is at the core of western culture. Those who do not value critical thought are strange to...
The title for this post comes courtesy of the Los Angeles Times’ review of “The Book of Mormon,” a musical created by South Park’s creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and Robert Lopez, who is also known for penning that earworm of a song, “Let it Go,” from Disney’s Frozen. It seems that nearly every major newspaper and media outlet had glowing remarks for the creative team behind this musical. I wish I could say...
Last Tuesday, May 20th, we received the news of April Jace, a financial aid counselor at Biola, who was shot and killed by her husband, Michael Jace, an actor from The Shield. It happened on Monday night, and their two young children, under the ages of 10, were in the house. The shock and devastation of this tragedy has left our community with heavy hearts. Seeing the news footage of this situation is a strange...
“I am aware of a bright light. It’s wonderful you get energy from this light.” She was resting, after death, in between life-times. Minutes passed in silence. Suddenly she spoke, but not in the slow whisper she had always used previously. Her voice was now husky and loud, without hesitation: “Our task is to learn, to become God-like through knowledge. We know so little. You are here to be my teacher. I have so much...
If you plan on attending the annual AAR/SBL conference this November in San Diego, CA and enjoy craft beer like we do, then you won’t want to miss out on our reception: the Society for Beer Lovers & Assorted Academic Research (SBLAAR). Save the Date: Saturday, November 22nd from 7:00pm—10:00pm at Saint Joseph Cathedral (1535 3rd Ave, San Diego, CA 92101). Like most people who attend AAR/SBL, I thoroughly enjoy the receptions. Meeting up with...
The trailer for a new film put out by Answers in Genesis has recently appeared. The film is called A Matter of Faith. As one can tell from the trailer, it looks and feels a lot like the recent Christian film, God’s Not Dead. When the latter film originally came out I had my reservations and annoyances, some of which I shared with some friends at the pub, but I decided to let the hoopla...
Is it just me or has there been an onslaught of privacy-related issues lately? Whether it was the defiant acts of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden or the Target data breach, it seems that the ideas of privacy and security have ominously loomed in the collective consciousness. Even this week’s scandal related to L.A. Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling rehashes the issue, just framed in a different way. So, let’s consider for a moment what privacy...
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