technology
Out-Loud Discussions
In past generations, communication was limited. Society was largely agrarian and the modes of communication and the technology to deliver such to people outside one’s immediate circle was limited. It wasn’t non-existent, nor was it undesirable. Quite the contrary. Human beings are social animals and all have a desire to communicate and need to communicate. In modern times, it was the…
What Our Grandparents Have Always Done
I’ve been following opera and Italian food expert Fred Plotkin for a number of years now. Politically, philosophically (in large measure) and theologically, we would likely find ourselves opponents. He is a self-described “pleasure activist and egalitarian,” whereas I assent to an orthodox understanding of a divinely ordered hierarchy in the universe and recognize–in a phrase that may…
The Rise of the Machines (and the Fall of Man)
A little over sixty years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien defined what he meant by a machine: By the [ word “machine”] I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of development of the inherent inner powers or talents — or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating: bulldozing the real world,…
The End of the Soldier
Chesterton famously commented, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” In this pithy statement, Chesterton encapsulates the end or purpose of a soldier. We saw this honored with the posthumous awarding of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Army Chaplain…
Seeing and Teaching
by Guest Author, Edmund Miller The Gospel of John tells the story of Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who goes out at night to find and to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he says, “we know you are a teacher come from God, for no one can work the signs that you work unless God is with him”(3:2)….