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It's Time to Go Home Eddie: Living in our false realities

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  Growing up, my father introduced me to the The Far Side  comic strip by Gary Larson. We had several of his collections lying around the house—especially in the bathroom.  Being well before smartphones, this is the kind of things people did while on the toilet. As a teenager, I initially found them just silly and amusing. But over time, I came to realize they were more than just funny—they were brilliant.  There was a subtle, nuanced exploration into  human psychology through the anthropomorphizing of cows, spiders, dogs, and inanimate objects. His intentionally awkward drawings added to the humor, wit, and intelligence of his single pane observations. And yet, I am not sure Larson was trying to be brilliant, which ironically, adds to his brilliance. He was famously reclusive, avoiding interviews and public attention, leaving us to interpret his motives for ourselves. Regardless, The Far Side managed to be both hilarious and deeply insightful, and that's what c...
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Progressive Christianity

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Some months back the Twitter algorithm started dropping a number of progressive and liberal Christian pastors, academics and "influencers" in my feed.  Not sure how or why that happened.  I suppose I clicked on some religious content and so Twitter decided I needed to see more.  Or Elon's takeover disrupted the algorithm.  In any event, I began to wonder down a number of Twitter rabbit holes and following all sorts of people and issues.  It has all been fascinating, in a weird sort of way. Being from a conservative, autonomous, nondenominational church, I was somewhat ignorant to all of the conflicts and controversies that exist in the larger Protestant landscape.  Typically, I have been focused on our congregation and not really caring about what John MacArthur thinks, or the SBC, or Beth Moore, or Tim Keller, or....  But Christian Twitter has so much to say! Progressive Christian Twitter has really opened my eyes to the other side of the spectrum and...
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The Virtue of the "Historically Marginalized"

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The Supreme Court closed out its term this past week with a number of high profile cases.  Two of these cases, Students for Fair Admissions   and the 303 Creative LLC.   cases were about lawful and unlawful discrimination.  In  Students' ,  the Court ruled that colleges and universities violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, essentially stating that affirmative action admission policies unfairly discriminated against students on the basis of race.  In the Creative LLC   case, the Court ruled that an individual could not be compelled to engage in speech that violates their conscience, thus allowing an individual to discriminate against another on the basis of their protected freedom of speech. Both cases got the Left foaming at the mouth and calling for judicial reforms, court packing, and all of the other typical hissy-fit dramatics one expects from the Left when they don't get their way.  Much of what you hear ...
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The Syndrome Syndrome

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One of the greatest movies of all time is The Incredibles.  It is funny, witty, and includes some very conservative themes.  Plus, I love Craig T. Nelson.  One of the most conservative lines in the movie is from the villain Syndrome when he menacingly states, " When everyone is super, no one will be ."  I wonder if many leftists and progressives caught the dig at their collectivist approach to society?   Syndrome's transformation from Buddy, the young, naïve super fan of Mr. Incredible, to the malicious and evil Syndrome is also very informative to the human condition.  In fact, we see it replicated throughout history over and over.  When Mr. Incredible rejects the younger Buddy's attempt to be a sidekick, Buddy internalizes the rejection and believes he has been unjustly victimized and marginalized.  This event triggers a need to exact justice, not just with Mr. Incredible, but society at large. Much of history is filled with people who have...
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The Larger Truth Lie

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The recent death of Jordan Neely has me thinking once again about the power of narratives in our current culture.  So many people willingly allow themselves to jump to conclusions their predetermined narrative creates.  Although much has been written about our narrative driven world ( some of my prior thoughts ), I still find it an important topic to discuss and understand.  Narratives are the frameworks we use to interpret and make sense of our world and the events that happen along the way.  They contain accepted beliefs about the context of those events, along with assumptions we hold about those involved.  Narratives allow us to fill in the holes and gaps of stories we may not understand or have sufficient evidence.  They often contain elements of truth or an appearance of truth, which make them more appealing.  Most of the time, however, narratives are dismissive or  a rationalization of inconvenient truths or facts. Narratives are also prec...
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More thoughts on Trans

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In previous post , I attempted to articulate that the narrative regarding the danger and harm facing transgender people was largely rhetoric serving a larger political agenda.  In other words, the claims made by activist regarding the health and safety of transgender people lack sufficient evidence, but is a critical aspect of the movement.  In less words...I don't buy it.  However, I wanted to continue this discussion about transgender movement and why I think it is problematic and provide some other thoughts. I discussed the data regarding the suicidal behaviors of the trans community.  One thing I didn't mention or comment on was the obvious contradictions between the transgender activists claims, the current data, and the historical perspective.  There have always been folks who didn't fit nicely, or even remotely into the gender roles of their biological reality.  Some of those individuals were willing to push the boundaries of societal acceptance and ...
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The Truth About the Transgender Narrative

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I have recently sat through a number of local school board meetings and have left fascinated, confused, and depressed.  What was once a really boring and often little attended affair, school board meetings have now become Jerry Springer episodes.  Crowds filled with anger and vitriol and armed with propaganda of their social media echo chamber are storming these meetings with torches and pitchforks, ready to burn it down.  The issue?  Broadly speaking, LGBTQ.  But much of it revolves around the “T” in that acronym.  And that is where much of my fascination lies.  The transgender movement, to me, has moved at a speed and with a magnitude I have never seen before. I am amazed that so many are willing to untether themselves from reality and believe that a man can become a woman or vice versa.  I am dumbstruck by the fact that people, with a straight face, can claim that cutting off a child’s breast or penis is an option to help one affirm their gende...
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