2 exams and 1 paper down, 1 exam (Geometry) and 1 paper (Freedom's) to go...Hua!!!
***
I'll be done with the semester by Wednesday, and am planning to go up to Carlos O'Kelly's today to see about working again for them over the summer, starting next week.
***
So...plans for the summer: work, go to LTC, spend as much time as possible with Nebraska friends (guys, I want to go hiking!!!!), leave around August 12th or so to drive out to Virginia.
***
I recently remembered a debate on the Civil Rights Act from US History...the Civil Rights movement was indubitably good, but the Act itself was debatably so, definitely on constitutional and arguably on political grounds. That is probably going to turn into a post, and one on which I'd like discussion.
***
On that note, please read this speech by John McCain on his philosophy of the judiciary. It is very encouraging to hear this, and I completely agree with it.
***
Summer reading list:
--Les Miserables (I finished Martin Chuzzlewit last week)
--Getting the Gospel Right (and discussing that with the friend who is graciously allowing me to borrow it)
--Pick Death of Death in the Death of Christ back up, and finish it.
--Finish The Perfectibility of Man
--Finish Calvin's Institutes...hopefully.
--Finish the Hornblower Series? Possibly?
--Finish Lone Survivor, on a Navy SEAL fighting in Afghanistan.
***
Mother's Day was great--the men made a church breakfast for the ladies, which was quite fun.
For the service, we had an "open letter to my Mom" day. I had not written out a letter beyond the card I got her (and gave her the day before), but I wrote down some points and practiced my extemporaneous speaking (Dr. Tallmon would be proud).
***
Mother's Day morning: My mom was playing Command and Conquer: Renegade, and picked up a flamethrower, when I insisted she wanted a more long-range weapon. So then I took the open elevator to the next floor (past the sniper who was stuck facing a wall), but it didn't go all the way up. I had to jump up and pull myself out of the shaft--but while I was trying to do so, my brother climbed on my back and clambered over me. All the while the bad guys on the next floor were looking at me with rather bemused expressions.
But I climbed up and started flaming the baddies with my own flamethrower, except they didn't fall. I realized that my hands were empty and I was making the "whoosh" sound with my mouth. The people didn't even look like bad guys anymore, but were still looking at me funny.
Then I woke up.
The weird thing is that I don't even play Renegade (let alone my Mom): I prefer the strategy style C&C games.
Anywho....
***
Something else kind of weird:
I think I went from being a covenant credobaptist with paedobaptist sympathies to a covenant paedobaptist with credobaptist sympathies Sunday afternoon...I have yet to awaken from that one. I'm still searching the Scriptures on that, but I think it finally sort of clicked.
By "covenant" baptist, generally, I mean the idea that baptism is a sign and symbol (signifying the spiritual reality) of God's covenant with His elect, the covenant of grace, which we receive by imparted faith. I still reject regenerative baptism of all sorts (Lutheran and Romanist) and think that the idea that baptism is a statement of the "commitment we've made to Christ" is just really shallow theology...
The difference between covenant credobaptists (Reformed Baptists) and paedobaptists (Presbyterian/Reformed) is fundamentally on if the children of believers are in some sense comprehended under the covenant of grace and are part of the visible church. The credobaptists say they are not in any sense under the covenant if they are not elect. The paedobaptists would not say that the children are necessarily elect, but are still a part of the covenant, much like all the Israelites were under the covenant without all being elect. In fact, they often draw a comparison between circumcision in the OT and baptism in the New (that's the part I'm still checking on).
***
I was asked last Monday if I believed in Limited Atonement or Unlimited Atonement. And I didn't realize until then how frustrating a question that is...phrased in those terms, there is no short answer. I would agree with Spurgeon that it is the atonement unlimited in extent that actually limits the effect of the atonement, so calling "Particular/Definite Redemption" "Limited Atonement" rather weights the question.
Short answer (free of the terms governed by polemical history) is this: I believe Christ died to redeem His spiritual Israel (the church), and He accomplished His purpose at the cross. I take this view from Scripture as a whole: from the Old Testament prophecies and the New Testament teaching on the intent and accomplishment of the atonement. Granted, there are several NT passages speaking of "all" and the "world," but the Greek words are not consistently used in a universal sense. On the contrary, in most of the passages that are not under debate, they are NOT used in a universal sense...in the context of the clear OT and NT teaching on election, and the teaching on God's purpose in the atonement, and in the context of the verses themselves, it is perfectly acceptable (I believe) to take the more specific application of the Greek words.
That said, I do believe that Christ is truly offered to "whomever will believe." The extent of the atonement one way or the other is never made the basis for NT evangelism, so the argument that we ("Calvinists" so-called) can't evangelize because we believe Christ did not die for all doesn't hold. Everyone (in this particular debate) agrees that everyone who believes is redeemed and everyone who does not believe does not receive the benefits of Christ's death. Though we disagree on the order (redemption or belief, and regeneration or belief), we agree on that much, at least.
Okay, I'm going to stop before I write another paper on this....
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
12 May 2008
03 May 2008
Miscellaneous Update
Alright, the promised update on school and military plans.
This semester is almost done (two more weeks, Huzzah!); I have a 2.5 page Freedom's paper, 8 page Rhetoric paper (I'll be writing a rhetorical criticism of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"), a post-test, and a few finals, and I am done. I'll be done with DL, in fact, after 5 semesters. Hmmm...my thoughts on that will probably constitute another post, so I'll avoid that tangent for the moment.
I've already registered to go on campus in the fall, so, Lord willing, will be on campus August 19th as a technical sophomore, practical junior (61/63 credits). I've preregistered for English Lit. Seminar I (Dr. Libby), Drama (Dr. Hake!!!!), Metaphysics (Dr. Roberts), and Biology/Lab (Dr. Doran). I've been filling out various forms and talking with a couple DL classmates about being roommates. I actually got to talk to one of them on the phone last week, which was great! It is still hard to believe that in 3 months I'll be in Virginia again and on campus with 300-odd other students, but it is slowly becoming more real. I am, of course, excited, in a complex sort of way. That, if it ever ends up on here, will be another post, as well.
Simply put, last time I left Nebraska (when my family PCSed in 2003), I couldn't wait to leave, for several reasons; this time around, while there are certainly some things I will leave gladly, there are even more certainly things and people I shall miss.
But I am excited about meeting my DL friends, and meeting the faculty at PHC, and finally starting my major studies. And I can't wait to go hiking and camping in the Shenandoahs again! It will be nice to be near my grandparents, as well.
Also, God has more than blessed me as far as paying for school. Besides the HSLDA membership grant, PHC gave me a scholarship which will pay a nice chunk of tuition. The American Legion Auxiliary here in Nebraska also gave me a scholarship: that is kind of a funny story, actually. I found out about their program online and called the local ALA representative, and she had no idea what I was talking about. When she called back, she said "No one's asked about that scholarship from us in a long time, and we've never done this before, but we're definitely sending this in to the state department!! I didn't even know about it! This is so cool!" I have a couple more pending, so I'm keeping that in prayer. The Lord has provided, and will provide the means necessary to work His will!
About the military: Many of you know that I am planning to take Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) classes so that I'll be commissioned in the Army after graduation. Since PHC doesn't take the ROTC scholarship because of their no-government-money policy, I have also been planning to contract with the VA National Guard in what is called the Simultaneous Membership Program: basically, I will drill with the Guard one weekend a month, go to the ROTC summer training camps, will be exempt from deploying with the Guard as long as I'm in ROTC, and will draw pay from the Guard, a stipend from ROTC, and will be eligible for assistance via the GI Bill after my first year. The money, naturally, would go to school (and would be quite an assistance). After I graduate, I have the option of staying in the Guard, or going to Reserves, Active Guard Reserves (full-time Guard), or active duty Army. The plan right now is for me to go active duty.
In the meantime, I am registered to go to ROTC's Leadership Training Camp (LTC) at Ft. Knox, KY, from 6 June to 3 July. That camp is basically catch-up for those who haven't taken the first two years of ROTC, and is sort of "officer's boot camp." I'd like to do regular Basic Training, anyway, but it probably won't work out with the other ROTC summer camps, and isn't required for officers commissioned from ROTC.
I went to Creighton University early Friday morning to take my PT test and be fitted for my uniform. I did well on the push-ups and the 2-mile run, but not so well on the sit-ups, so I'll be working on those before LTC. The uniform should be sent out to me, so I can break in the boots before LTC.
Come August, I'll sign with ROTC at George Mason University, take a 3-hour class on Tuesday, and participate in 3 hours of lab (PT and field training) every Thursday. I'm unequivocally excited about that! Those will all build up to Leadership Development Advancement Course (LDAC) next summer, which will pretty much test us on everything we learned our junior year, and will be our time to "showcase" ourselves for the Army.
Now, I talked to MAJ Simms at GMU yesterday, and he said that, despite what he called "PHC's lack of willingness to take money," ROTC was working on a scholarship that could be paid directly to the student. Those scholarships PHC can take. He said that ROTC is planning for it to cover our room and board (about 1/4 of our total costs). The only catch is that it is not for SMP; it is for ROTC folks only. But it's not that much of a catch: since ROTC is my first priority, and I plan to go active duty, and the scholarship would be more than the Guard drill pay, I asked him to definitely keep me updated on that. It would also avoid the potential (unlikely, but possible), that the Guard would not release me to go active duty after graduation, and the more dangerous and likely potential that I could be pulled from school for a domestic Guard call-out.
Speaking of the Army, my older brother will be back from Iraq in June and will have a month-long leave in July (about the time I get back from LTC), so we're all looking forward to that!
Our Father has been very gracious in working all these things together, to His glory. I look forward to seeing what else He has in store! Have a blessed Sabbath and grace be with you all!
Sola Gratia,
Colin
Psalm 2
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
This semester is almost done (two more weeks, Huzzah!); I have a 2.5 page Freedom's paper, 8 page Rhetoric paper (I'll be writing a rhetorical criticism of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"), a post-test, and a few finals, and I am done. I'll be done with DL, in fact, after 5 semesters. Hmmm...my thoughts on that will probably constitute another post, so I'll avoid that tangent for the moment.
I've already registered to go on campus in the fall, so, Lord willing, will be on campus August 19th as a technical sophomore, practical junior (61/63 credits). I've preregistered for English Lit. Seminar I (Dr. Libby), Drama (Dr. Hake!!!!), Metaphysics (Dr. Roberts), and Biology/Lab (Dr. Doran). I've been filling out various forms and talking with a couple DL classmates about being roommates. I actually got to talk to one of them on the phone last week, which was great! It is still hard to believe that in 3 months I'll be in Virginia again and on campus with 300-odd other students, but it is slowly becoming more real. I am, of course, excited, in a complex sort of way. That, if it ever ends up on here, will be another post, as well.
Simply put, last time I left Nebraska (when my family PCSed in 2003), I couldn't wait to leave, for several reasons; this time around, while there are certainly some things I will leave gladly, there are even more certainly things and people I shall miss.
But I am excited about meeting my DL friends, and meeting the faculty at PHC, and finally starting my major studies. And I can't wait to go hiking and camping in the Shenandoahs again! It will be nice to be near my grandparents, as well.
Also, God has more than blessed me as far as paying for school. Besides the HSLDA membership grant, PHC gave me a scholarship which will pay a nice chunk of tuition. The American Legion Auxiliary here in Nebraska also gave me a scholarship: that is kind of a funny story, actually. I found out about their program online and called the local ALA representative, and she had no idea what I was talking about. When she called back, she said "No one's asked about that scholarship from us in a long time, and we've never done this before, but we're definitely sending this in to the state department!! I didn't even know about it! This is so cool!" I have a couple more pending, so I'm keeping that in prayer. The Lord has provided, and will provide the means necessary to work His will!
About the military: Many of you know that I am planning to take Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) classes so that I'll be commissioned in the Army after graduation. Since PHC doesn't take the ROTC scholarship because of their no-government-money policy, I have also been planning to contract with the VA National Guard in what is called the Simultaneous Membership Program: basically, I will drill with the Guard one weekend a month, go to the ROTC summer training camps, will be exempt from deploying with the Guard as long as I'm in ROTC, and will draw pay from the Guard, a stipend from ROTC, and will be eligible for assistance via the GI Bill after my first year. The money, naturally, would go to school (and would be quite an assistance). After I graduate, I have the option of staying in the Guard, or going to Reserves, Active Guard Reserves (full-time Guard), or active duty Army. The plan right now is for me to go active duty.
In the meantime, I am registered to go to ROTC's Leadership Training Camp (LTC) at Ft. Knox, KY, from 6 June to 3 July. That camp is basically catch-up for those who haven't taken the first two years of ROTC, and is sort of "officer's boot camp." I'd like to do regular Basic Training, anyway, but it probably won't work out with the other ROTC summer camps, and isn't required for officers commissioned from ROTC.
I went to Creighton University early Friday morning to take my PT test and be fitted for my uniform. I did well on the push-ups and the 2-mile run, but not so well on the sit-ups, so I'll be working on those before LTC. The uniform should be sent out to me, so I can break in the boots before LTC.
Come August, I'll sign with ROTC at George Mason University, take a 3-hour class on Tuesday, and participate in 3 hours of lab (PT and field training) every Thursday. I'm unequivocally excited about that! Those will all build up to Leadership Development Advancement Course (LDAC) next summer, which will pretty much test us on everything we learned our junior year, and will be our time to "showcase" ourselves for the Army.
Now, I talked to MAJ Simms at GMU yesterday, and he said that, despite what he called "PHC's lack of willingness to take money," ROTC was working on a scholarship that could be paid directly to the student. Those scholarships PHC can take. He said that ROTC is planning for it to cover our room and board (about 1/4 of our total costs). The only catch is that it is not for SMP; it is for ROTC folks only. But it's not that much of a catch: since ROTC is my first priority, and I plan to go active duty, and the scholarship would be more than the Guard drill pay, I asked him to definitely keep me updated on that. It would also avoid the potential (unlikely, but possible), that the Guard would not release me to go active duty after graduation, and the more dangerous and likely potential that I could be pulled from school for a domestic Guard call-out.
Speaking of the Army, my older brother will be back from Iraq in June and will have a month-long leave in July (about the time I get back from LTC), so we're all looking forward to that!
Our Father has been very gracious in working all these things together, to His glory. I look forward to seeing what else He has in store! Have a blessed Sabbath and grace be with you all!
Sola Gratia,
Colin
Psalm 2
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
13 April 2008
Announcement and excerpt from USH2 paper
After about half a million edits...
Last Tuesday, I began turning a number of scenes that I've had in my head for a while into a story which I hope could end as a novella, at least. I have only the first chapter written and know what I want to do with the last two chapters; unfortunately, I only know the direction I want to take with the middle section, not the storyline. So I'm not going to bind myself to a set deadline for posting the next chapter, but if you'd like to read the first chapter at least, I've posted it to my Fiction/Poetry blog. I also submitted it, with a few poems, to the PHC Stylus literary publication. Input and criticism (from fellow Lit Snobs and all of my other friends who put up with our delusion that we're the coolest) is appreciated. I'd especially like suggestions for a main title; I currently plan for "Where the Wind Wills" to be a subtitle (and it is, by the way, a reference to John 3, not "Bohemian Rhapsody"...).
Also, our US History 2 paper is a comparison/contrast of Whittaker Chambers's Witness and Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery. Up From Slavery was written in the late 1800s with Southern Reconstruction and the plight of the former slaves in mind, Witness in 1952 about the attempt to expose American Communism, but "for all their differences, they were both tales which brought the epic struggle between good and evil to a human level and made the principles applicable to the ordinary man by showing how ordinary men had fought and struggled with specific manifestations of that war," as I wrote in my paper.
The chief difference, though, in the authors' respective outlooks is one that struck me deeply as I was writing, and I devoted about a page to exploring that facet of their works. I may post more of the paper later, but here is the relevant excerpt for now:
"Washington was inspirational because he extolled the ability of men to raise themselves up from the ashes, and warned them not to allow their circumstances to dictate their future in such a way that they would never improve themselves. He was optimistic that the problems could be resolved and that the American people could put their dark past behind them in the next few generations. While acknowledging the faults of both parties in the past, he truly believed that they could be overcome by hard work and virtuous living—he believed that his object was attainable and that success lay within the volition of him and his fellow man.
Chambers was inspirational for nearly the opposite reason: he acknowledged that he was weak, and insisted that his role was thrust upon him against his will—but it was precisely the knowledge that this was his mission, arranged for him by destiny, that gave him the strength to fulfill it, because he knew that the same Providence that had assigned this terrible ordeal to him would direct the results, whether or not those results included his destruction. Chambers was willing to abandon all for the sake of the world and for the sake of destiny--and for his witness against Communism and for truth. He was pessimistic that his sacrifice would result in the ultimate salvation of the world—if it was not destroyed by Communism, it would fall prey to something else—but was certain that the guiding hand of God would nevertheless have a purpose even in this.
He thus inspired to play their part even men who are all too conscious of their own weakness. Their part need not be so crucial as his, nor need it be successful in human terms—whatever their part was, no matter how seemingly large or small, it formed a cog in the plan of Providence. He disagreed with the idea that the world would linearly improve; his hope lay in the ultimate end of the world which no human eye could yet see. This fundamental difference between Washington’s and Chambers’s presentations goes as deep as the level of their worldview, and could be described in religious terms as running as deeply as the difference between the theological concepts of merit and grace, for this is precisely the difference between them."
Last Tuesday, I began turning a number of scenes that I've had in my head for a while into a story which I hope could end as a novella, at least. I have only the first chapter written and know what I want to do with the last two chapters; unfortunately, I only know the direction I want to take with the middle section, not the storyline. So I'm not going to bind myself to a set deadline for posting the next chapter, but if you'd like to read the first chapter at least, I've posted it to my Fiction/Poetry blog. I also submitted it, with a few poems, to the PHC Stylus literary publication. Input and criticism (from fellow Lit Snobs and all of my other friends who put up with our delusion that we're the coolest) is appreciated. I'd especially like suggestions for a main title; I currently plan for "Where the Wind Wills" to be a subtitle (and it is, by the way, a reference to John 3, not "Bohemian Rhapsody"...).
Also, our US History 2 paper is a comparison/contrast of Whittaker Chambers's Witness and Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery. Up From Slavery was written in the late 1800s with Southern Reconstruction and the plight of the former slaves in mind, Witness in 1952 about the attempt to expose American Communism, but "for all their differences, they were both tales which brought the epic struggle between good and evil to a human level and made the principles applicable to the ordinary man by showing how ordinary men had fought and struggled with specific manifestations of that war," as I wrote in my paper.
The chief difference, though, in the authors' respective outlooks is one that struck me deeply as I was writing, and I devoted about a page to exploring that facet of their works. I may post more of the paper later, but here is the relevant excerpt for now:
"Washington was inspirational because he extolled the ability of men to raise themselves up from the ashes, and warned them not to allow their circumstances to dictate their future in such a way that they would never improve themselves. He was optimistic that the problems could be resolved and that the American people could put their dark past behind them in the next few generations. While acknowledging the faults of both parties in the past, he truly believed that they could be overcome by hard work and virtuous living—he believed that his object was attainable and that success lay within the volition of him and his fellow man.
Chambers was inspirational for nearly the opposite reason: he acknowledged that he was weak, and insisted that his role was thrust upon him against his will—but it was precisely the knowledge that this was his mission, arranged for him by destiny, that gave him the strength to fulfill it, because he knew that the same Providence that had assigned this terrible ordeal to him would direct the results, whether or not those results included his destruction. Chambers was willing to abandon all for the sake of the world and for the sake of destiny--and for his witness against Communism and for truth. He was pessimistic that his sacrifice would result in the ultimate salvation of the world—if it was not destroyed by Communism, it would fall prey to something else—but was certain that the guiding hand of God would nevertheless have a purpose even in this.
He thus inspired to play their part even men who are all too conscious of their own weakness. Their part need not be so crucial as his, nor need it be successful in human terms—whatever their part was, no matter how seemingly large or small, it formed a cog in the plan of Providence. He disagreed with the idea that the world would linearly improve; his hope lay in the ultimate end of the world which no human eye could yet see. This fundamental difference between Washington’s and Chambers’s presentations goes as deep as the level of their worldview, and could be described in religious terms as running as deeply as the difference between the theological concepts of merit and grace, for this is precisely the difference between them."
27 March 2008
Yet another US History post
It is odd that most of my philosophical discussions this semester are coming from a history class--I guess that is what I get for having already taken such foundational courses as Constitutional Law, Theology, Principles of Biblical Reasoning, and Philosophy and being left with Geometry, Rhetoric, Freedom's Foundations, and US History. I'll just say that I can't wait to start my major courses...
In the meantime, here is a conversation from US History, stemming originally from a discussion on the difference in American sentiment between World War II and our own day. The first section was written by one of my classmates (reprinted by his permission), and my response is two-fold.
"I think we're realizing that zeitgeist has a lot to do with the public response to government action (it may well be the biggest factor). The general feeling of the 40s was "we just conquered depression and we're damned proud of that," while today's seems to be a more whiny version of "this is hard and I don't like it."
We are what our parents were to our grandparents - rebellious wimps in need of a spanking and some chores. I don't want to rant (since that's so callow), but it seems that our generation of men needs a dose of warrior instinct (in the Fight Club and 300 vein) to combat lethargy and weak wills, while our generation of women needs a dose of motherly responsibility (in the Clara Barton and WWII Women vein) to combat neglect and this idea of an absolute right to total independence."
"Perhaps this is reopening a can of worms that was sufficiently aired last semester (though it doesn't have to be such a reopening), but I wish to point out that the "empowerment" of women and the effeminization of men go hand in hand. Unfortunately, as women are willing to take charge (or demand the reins [in the case of the suffragette movement), men are often all too willing to cede it, especially if they don't see any good reason to hold it themselves (this would be the case when they don't see the Scriptural command for them to be the head of their households and in church leadership, etc.). It could be debated which comes first, though that's not my object: they are definitely complementary. The more important issue is which needs to be changed first, as men simply asserting their authority/responsibility over unwilling women isn't going to get far (I believe I remember the slogan "forced submission isn't truly submission," and I agree to a point).
The other option is women dropping their power where it is the man's responsibility and leaving it to the men to step up. I'd question the practical wisdom of this initially, but it actually makes sense if one considers the point that if women aren't to have responsibility in a given area (and I'm not talking specifics right now), then it is not incumbent on them to hold up that area of responsibility. If something falls through because the men didn't stand up in their area of responsibility, it is their fault and responsibility--not the women's. Perhaps the women could show a bit more trust in God's providence in our respective spheres of responsibility--and perhaps a bit more trust that some, at least, of the men WILL step up. Just a thought.
In any case, I suppose I have quite enough to worry about as a man needing to take on my own responsibility.
Anyway, I was pondering what has caused the shift, and one cause at least is ironic. The public schools are rife with the idea of self-reliance and self-esteem and "believe in yourself." For that matter, some of the churches are (Joel Osteen, anyone?). But my suspicion is that these people are looking at themselves and suddenly find that they ARE weak. For all the individualistic propaganda, they find that the individual IS weak.
To an extent, the Great Generation and the generations before were also independent and self-reliant (like the pioneer stock they were), but they were not individualistic, and their independence was in a large way centered around others, if that makes sense. In other words, they had an "I can do this" attitude, because they were fighting for a principle higher than themselves and received strength to achieve their goals.
All that the contemporary individualist has to fight for is himself--and is it worth it?"
In the meantime, here is a conversation from US History, stemming originally from a discussion on the difference in American sentiment between World War II and our own day. The first section was written by one of my classmates (reprinted by his permission), and my response is two-fold.
"I think we're realizing that zeitgeist has a lot to do with the public response to government action (it may well be the biggest factor). The general feeling of the 40s was "we just conquered depression and we're damned proud of that," while today's seems to be a more whiny version of "this is hard and I don't like it."
We are what our parents were to our grandparents - rebellious wimps in need of a spanking and some chores. I don't want to rant (since that's so callow), but it seems that our generation of men needs a dose of warrior instinct (in the Fight Club and 300 vein) to combat lethargy and weak wills, while our generation of women needs a dose of motherly responsibility (in the Clara Barton and WWII Women vein) to combat neglect and this idea of an absolute right to total independence."
"Perhaps this is reopening a can of worms that was sufficiently aired last semester (though it doesn't have to be such a reopening), but I wish to point out that the "empowerment" of women and the effeminization of men go hand in hand. Unfortunately, as women are willing to take charge (or demand the reins [in the case of the suffragette movement), men are often all too willing to cede it, especially if they don't see any good reason to hold it themselves (this would be the case when they don't see the Scriptural command for them to be the head of their households and in church leadership, etc.). It could be debated which comes first, though that's not my object: they are definitely complementary. The more important issue is which needs to be changed first, as men simply asserting their authority/responsibility over unwilling women isn't going to get far (I believe I remember the slogan "forced submission isn't truly submission," and I agree to a point).
The other option is women dropping their power where it is the man's responsibility and leaving it to the men to step up. I'd question the practical wisdom of this initially, but it actually makes sense if one considers the point that if women aren't to have responsibility in a given area (and I'm not talking specifics right now), then it is not incumbent on them to hold up that area of responsibility. If something falls through because the men didn't stand up in their area of responsibility, it is their fault and responsibility--not the women's. Perhaps the women could show a bit more trust in God's providence in our respective spheres of responsibility--and perhaps a bit more trust that some, at least, of the men WILL step up. Just a thought.
In any case, I suppose I have quite enough to worry about as a man needing to take on my own responsibility.
Anyway, I was pondering what has caused the shift, and one cause at least is ironic. The public schools are rife with the idea of self-reliance and self-esteem and "believe in yourself." For that matter, some of the churches are (Joel Osteen, anyone?). But my suspicion is that these people are looking at themselves and suddenly find that they ARE weak. For all the individualistic propaganda, they find that the individual IS weak.
To an extent, the Great Generation and the generations before were also independent and self-reliant (like the pioneer stock they were), but they were not individualistic, and their independence was in a large way centered around others, if that makes sense. In other words, they had an "I can do this" attitude, because they were fighting for a principle higher than themselves and received strength to achieve their goals.
All that the contemporary individualist has to fight for is himself--and is it worth it?"
06 March 2008
And hello there...
For those who were rejoicing in my absence, my reduction in online presence is due to a tragedy striking my laptop's hard drive, which has gone to meet the great motherboard in the sky. I don't have as much time on my parents' desktop, so I've not been on here; I'm just updating right now to let you know that, yes, indeed I'm alive. Not much is new here, except that we've finished Dad's blacksmithing shed behind our garage, and we fired up the forge last Saturday and hammered away at some old railroad spikes. We have also tapped 12 of our maple trees for syrup, and the first batch is on the stove. Once we have some pictures of the whole process, I'll put some up!
I filled out this survey, too. Mayhap I ought to post my "Mother of all surveys" survey sometime (My DL friends and Michael K. should remember that one), just to get all possibilities for future survey questions out of the way. Ha!
Finally, in Freedom's Foundations, we are discussing the Constitution and the Federalist Papers; one of my classmates took the optimistic view that Americans are more educated than any other people in history, so are well equipped to make good political decisions--in short, we ought to be thankful and not be too worried about America. That prompted this essay, with which I shall leave you for now:
The Insufficiency of a Godless Education
By Colin Cutler
"Now what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, Sir!"
So opens Charles Dickens's Hard Times, with the schoolmaster being impressed--willingly--with the importance of "Facts." The novel is a bitter invective against this idea that "facts alone are wanted," and I would concur in Dickens's indictment.
It is said that the modern American is more educated, on average, than nearly anyone else in history. I disagree. I concede that more facts are being presented to more people in America than in most other countries at any given time in history. I disagree, however, because a debatable and insufficient definition of education is being used. First of all, education based solely on facts (as our public school system, by and large, is) neglects the personal aspect of humans; it reduces them to "reasoning animals." Ultimately, it can only teach them what has happened before them, not what they ought to do--and thus deprives them of direction for their reason.
More specifically, however, the emphasis of "education" upon facts is empty if one cannot understand those facts. Cornelius Van Til spoke of materialism as a system of uninterpreted facts--"brute facts," in his phrase--which, precisely because they simply existed without interpretation, could not be interpreted unless the materialist was willing to take a "leap of faith" in projecting a subjective interpretation of the fact. This would, of course, be a denial of everything materialism stands for. In other words, facts may be, but they have no meaning. And it is at this very point that materialism fails--and with it, the typical model of "education," which is indubitably founded on materialism.
A short digression: though the non-materialistic New Ageism has made some inroads in public schooling, as well, it is not the foundation of it. Further, I would agree with one of my professors in saying that the rebellion against God takes the form of a Janus face of rationalism/irrationalism. They are two sides of the same coin and, whether the proponents of each side realize it or not, are indispensable to each other. I make this point to qualify my identification of public schooling with strict materialism, but there is another point here that I will revisit below.
Yes, the children of America are taught facts. But are they taught how to analyze those facts and discover what they mean? Many high school students have read Shakespeare, but how many could tell the significance of Shakespeare's work and why it is relevant to us? You and I can see a statement of the human condition and the universe in Shakespeare's tragedies--as well as Shakespeare taking a shot at explaining why things are as they are--but how many students are taught anything more than "Shakespeare was a great author and you need to read 'Julius Caesar' for English so that you can see what great writing looks like"? Then they are lost because they can not see what is so great about Elizabethan language. They are told to define a "theme," "plot," and "tone," and can probably tell one what they think the theme, plot, and tone of a given story are, but how many can analyze that theme and tone in light of what it ultimately means and whether or not it is an accurate summation of reality?
It is analyzation that America's "education" fails to teach, and precisely analyzation that materialism implicitly forbids, if taken to its ultimate conclusion. The teachers are then reduced to asking the students what they think of the works and what it means to them. Here we see the irrationalist side of rebellion. Though few take it as far as Derrida's Deconstructionism, the emphasis is on subjective interpretation, with little or no regard for the objective Facts of who the author was, his historical context, his religious beliefs, etc.
Further, we as Christians are to see the Facts in their historical context as a part of God's plan of history. A Divine "plan of history" is, of course, wholly discarded by materialists; there are fatalists, naturally, but their sense of destiny is deterministic, not based in a Divine Providence. We must be careful that we also do not divorce the facts of history from their meaning as a part of God's plan for His universe. Frankly, if a person is not taught God's interpretation and purpose in history (and thus the meaning of the facts of history), he is not educated. If a person is taught in a materialistic mold, not only is God excluded, but he has no way of making any sense of the facts. He has no purpose, and facts--his "education"--will do him little good in such a state.
I filled out this survey, too. Mayhap I ought to post my "Mother of all surveys" survey sometime (My DL friends and Michael K. should remember that one), just to get all possibilities for future survey questions out of the way. Ha!
Finally, in Freedom's Foundations, we are discussing the Constitution and the Federalist Papers; one of my classmates took the optimistic view that Americans are more educated than any other people in history, so are well equipped to make good political decisions--in short, we ought to be thankful and not be too worried about America. That prompted this essay, with which I shall leave you for now:
The Insufficiency of a Godless Education
By Colin Cutler
"Now what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, Sir!"
So opens Charles Dickens's Hard Times, with the schoolmaster being impressed--willingly--with the importance of "Facts." The novel is a bitter invective against this idea that "facts alone are wanted," and I would concur in Dickens's indictment.
It is said that the modern American is more educated, on average, than nearly anyone else in history. I disagree. I concede that more facts are being presented to more people in America than in most other countries at any given time in history. I disagree, however, because a debatable and insufficient definition of education is being used. First of all, education based solely on facts (as our public school system, by and large, is) neglects the personal aspect of humans; it reduces them to "reasoning animals." Ultimately, it can only teach them what has happened before them, not what they ought to do--and thus deprives them of direction for their reason.
More specifically, however, the emphasis of "education" upon facts is empty if one cannot understand those facts. Cornelius Van Til spoke of materialism as a system of uninterpreted facts--"brute facts," in his phrase--which, precisely because they simply existed without interpretation, could not be interpreted unless the materialist was willing to take a "leap of faith" in projecting a subjective interpretation of the fact. This would, of course, be a denial of everything materialism stands for. In other words, facts may be, but they have no meaning. And it is at this very point that materialism fails--and with it, the typical model of "education," which is indubitably founded on materialism.
A short digression: though the non-materialistic New Ageism has made some inroads in public schooling, as well, it is not the foundation of it. Further, I would agree with one of my professors in saying that the rebellion against God takes the form of a Janus face of rationalism/irrationalism. They are two sides of the same coin and, whether the proponents of each side realize it or not, are indispensable to each other. I make this point to qualify my identification of public schooling with strict materialism, but there is another point here that I will revisit below.
Yes, the children of America are taught facts. But are they taught how to analyze those facts and discover what they mean? Many high school students have read Shakespeare, but how many could tell the significance of Shakespeare's work and why it is relevant to us? You and I can see a statement of the human condition and the universe in Shakespeare's tragedies--as well as Shakespeare taking a shot at explaining why things are as they are--but how many students are taught anything more than "Shakespeare was a great author and you need to read 'Julius Caesar' for English so that you can see what great writing looks like"? Then they are lost because they can not see what is so great about Elizabethan language. They are told to define a "theme," "plot," and "tone," and can probably tell one what they think the theme, plot, and tone of a given story are, but how many can analyze that theme and tone in light of what it ultimately means and whether or not it is an accurate summation of reality?
It is analyzation that America's "education" fails to teach, and precisely analyzation that materialism implicitly forbids, if taken to its ultimate conclusion. The teachers are then reduced to asking the students what they think of the works and what it means to them. Here we see the irrationalist side of rebellion. Though few take it as far as Derrida's Deconstructionism, the emphasis is on subjective interpretation, with little or no regard for the objective Facts of who the author was, his historical context, his religious beliefs, etc.
Further, we as Christians are to see the Facts in their historical context as a part of God's plan of history. A Divine "plan of history" is, of course, wholly discarded by materialists; there are fatalists, naturally, but their sense of destiny is deterministic, not based in a Divine Providence. We must be careful that we also do not divorce the facts of history from their meaning as a part of God's plan for His universe. Frankly, if a person is not taught God's interpretation and purpose in history (and thus the meaning of the facts of history), he is not educated. If a person is taught in a materialistic mold, not only is God excluded, but he has no way of making any sense of the facts. He has no purpose, and facts--his "education"--will do him little good in such a state.
14 February 2008
The Concert Last Friday and Other Stories
First of all, an explanation as to why I’m up at midnight writing this….I had a cup of tea this afternoon, a 20 oz cappuccino at about 5:15 pm, and an energy drink at about 6 o’clock…and then was irresistibly drawn into a 30-minute slumber at 6:30. For the record, that much caffeine in my system is highly abnormal. But the weird thing is that caffeine seems to put me to sleep. Until I wake back up. And now I’m wired and can’t go to sleep….I have a strange metabolism….
Anyway, the concert last Friday. Several brass and percussion musicians from the Heartland of America Band of the Air Force performed a free concert at a local high school, and we went to see them with another homeschooling family. I have seen the Heartland of America Band once before, and they are a remarkable set of musicians (the sort that has the paradoxical effect of both inspiring me and driving me to despair in my own playing…). This particular group had four trumpeters, two percussionists, three trombonists, a tuba, and a euphonium, if memory serves. They played a wide range of pieces:
Bizet’s “Habanera” from Carmen. The vocalist was quite good, and the effect of having all brass instruments in the background was interesting. I have always liked this tune; unfortunately, it was spoiled for me by the fact that the only really funny Super Bowl commercial this year used this exact same piece, so I couldn’t get the Doritos ad out of my head. Oh, yes, and then the Gilligan’s Island episode where they set Shakespeare to music and sang the “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy to this tune. Yes, it is more or less ruined for me….
A few scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (“The Street Awakens,” “Montagues and Capulets,” and “Friar Laurence,” I believe). Very well done, and I quite liked the “Montagues and Capulets.” The martial rhythm of that scene was well suited to a brass ensemble.
In the spirit of the season, they played a few love songs, mostly jazz, but also “El Belle Noche,” from Lady and the Tramp. I had not heard that song for quite a while; it was quite good, and two of the trumpeters added some special effects by placing their bells into a bowl of water. The bubbling sound produced was quite the crowd-pleaser!
They had two soloists. One of their trumpet players played the cornet piece “Song and Dance” by Philip Sparkes. He struggled with a few of the high notes near the end, but it was still quite impressive overall, and it was a most enjoyable piece to which to listen. The other soloist played a section from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto in F minor. Had they not said he was English, I would have guessed that Williams was American by the sound of the piece; it had the rhythmic quality and heavy use of pentatonic scales that is typical of American music and evoked images of the western deserts in my mind. In any case, it was a beautiful piece of music.
The band played a few more songs, including a Sousa march and a choral piece by Bach, and then closed out with an Armed Forces salute. We stood for the Army (my brother) and Air Force (my dad), and by the time it ended, everyone in the auditorium was standing just to show their support, whether or not they’d served. They also played an encore of “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” which brought back a lot of memories and inspired me to look through our music books to find our patriotic sheet music.
It was quite an impressive concert, and afterwards, the 6 of my family who were there and 8 of the other family descended en masse upon Dairy Queen, destroying whatever hopes they may have had of locking up at a decent hour. There we had quite a good time as well, discussing over our Blizzards such things as cars, guitars, video games, PC v. consoles, Donald Duck impressions, school, making prank phone calls, and how women are so unfathomably strange....
In other news, the US History post that I shared was intended to state my withdrawal from further political discussion, but, alas, was but the beginning of a thread that ended up with 64 posts. Apparently, some people thought I was perfectly serious about the "divine right of kings" statement (and I was only half-joking, but the intention was tongue-in-cheek), and then that discussion led to discussions of the place of Scriptural morality in politics (i.e., should Scriptural law be applied in a republic), and it went downhill from there. Still learning when to keep my mouth shut....
Also, I posted a new old poem on my fiction/poetry blog, an essay comparing presuppositional and classical apologetics on my theology/philosophy blog, and a Western Literature essay on Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot on my Lit Crit blog. I really want to post some original essays, but I have about half a million ideas running through my head, from literary sketches to thoughts on a Christian epistemology to the theological allegory of Moby Dick, and haven't sat down to write one of them....I need to. And I shall. Eventually.
Finally, I made a little web page with all of the recordings I've made so far that I'm willing to share. I went on a recording spree last weekend and recorded 5 or 6 songs, including one with my glass slide: "I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole," which was a Depression-era blues/gospel song by Blind Willie Johnson. It was rather a different musical and vocal direction for me, but very fun. Unfortunately, I dropped my slide today and it shattered, so I'm back to the knife blade for now...Anyway, enjoy, critique, and comment. If you like any of them, feel free to download!
Sola Gratia,
Colin
P.S. It is now 1 in the morning, and I am finally sleepy...ugh...
Anyway, the concert last Friday. Several brass and percussion musicians from the Heartland of America Band of the Air Force performed a free concert at a local high school, and we went to see them with another homeschooling family. I have seen the Heartland of America Band once before, and they are a remarkable set of musicians (the sort that has the paradoxical effect of both inspiring me and driving me to despair in my own playing…). This particular group had four trumpeters, two percussionists, three trombonists, a tuba, and a euphonium, if memory serves. They played a wide range of pieces:
Bizet’s “Habanera” from Carmen. The vocalist was quite good, and the effect of having all brass instruments in the background was interesting. I have always liked this tune; unfortunately, it was spoiled for me by the fact that the only really funny Super Bowl commercial this year used this exact same piece, so I couldn’t get the Doritos ad out of my head. Oh, yes, and then the Gilligan’s Island episode where they set Shakespeare to music and sang the “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy to this tune. Yes, it is more or less ruined for me….
A few scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (“The Street Awakens,” “Montagues and Capulets,” and “Friar Laurence,” I believe). Very well done, and I quite liked the “Montagues and Capulets.” The martial rhythm of that scene was well suited to a brass ensemble.
In the spirit of the season, they played a few love songs, mostly jazz, but also “El Belle Noche,” from Lady and the Tramp. I had not heard that song for quite a while; it was quite good, and two of the trumpeters added some special effects by placing their bells into a bowl of water. The bubbling sound produced was quite the crowd-pleaser!
They had two soloists. One of their trumpet players played the cornet piece “Song and Dance” by Philip Sparkes. He struggled with a few of the high notes near the end, but it was still quite impressive overall, and it was a most enjoyable piece to which to listen. The other soloist played a section from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto in F minor. Had they not said he was English, I would have guessed that Williams was American by the sound of the piece; it had the rhythmic quality and heavy use of pentatonic scales that is typical of American music and evoked images of the western deserts in my mind. In any case, it was a beautiful piece of music.
The band played a few more songs, including a Sousa march and a choral piece by Bach, and then closed out with an Armed Forces salute. We stood for the Army (my brother) and Air Force (my dad), and by the time it ended, everyone in the auditorium was standing just to show their support, whether or not they’d served. They also played an encore of “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” which brought back a lot of memories and inspired me to look through our music books to find our patriotic sheet music.
It was quite an impressive concert, and afterwards, the 6 of my family who were there and 8 of the other family descended en masse upon Dairy Queen, destroying whatever hopes they may have had of locking up at a decent hour. There we had quite a good time as well, discussing over our Blizzards such things as cars, guitars, video games, PC v. consoles, Donald Duck impressions, school, making prank phone calls, and how women are so unfathomably strange....
In other news, the US History post that I shared was intended to state my withdrawal from further political discussion, but, alas, was but the beginning of a thread that ended up with 64 posts. Apparently, some people thought I was perfectly serious about the "divine right of kings" statement (and I was only half-joking, but the intention was tongue-in-cheek), and then that discussion led to discussions of the place of Scriptural morality in politics (i.e., should Scriptural law be applied in a republic), and it went downhill from there. Still learning when to keep my mouth shut....
Also, I posted a new old poem on my fiction/poetry blog, an essay comparing presuppositional and classical apologetics on my theology/philosophy blog, and a Western Literature essay on Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot on my Lit Crit blog. I really want to post some original essays, but I have about half a million ideas running through my head, from literary sketches to thoughts on a Christian epistemology to the theological allegory of Moby Dick, and haven't sat down to write one of them....I need to. And I shall. Eventually.
Finally, I made a little web page with all of the recordings I've made so far that I'm willing to share. I went on a recording spree last weekend and recorded 5 or 6 songs, including one with my glass slide: "I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole," which was a Depression-era blues/gospel song by Blind Willie Johnson. It was rather a different musical and vocal direction for me, but very fun. Unfortunately, I dropped my slide today and it shattered, so I'm back to the knife blade for now...Anyway, enjoy, critique, and comment. If you like any of them, feel free to download!
Sola Gratia,
Colin
P.S. It is now 1 in the morning, and I am finally sleepy...ugh...
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