Textbooks have never been my favorite thing, but today I became extremely disenchanted with them. I read the first chapter in my Child Development textbook, in which the history of the study was recounted. The author attempts to summarize several philosophers' views in the space of a couple pages. Ok, well that's the nature of a textbook. Anyway, these philosophers are ones of whom I have actually read a decent amount (Plato, Locke and Rousseau). And this textbook either gave, for each philosopher, an extremely simplistic view of what they said, or just plain got it wrong. (I should mention that Darwin and Stanley Hall are also discussed briefly, but as I have not read either of them, I don't really know if the textbook got them right or not).

The book claims, for example, that Rousseau believed that children are born naturally good. Ok, that's fine. But it goes on to say, "The role of adults, in Rousseau's view, is to let the natural positive forces in children emerge without restraint." Woah. I've read Emile. And that is not what Rousseau says. On the contrary, he would have parents/guardians very carefully and intricately regulate the experiences that the child has, so that they will come to learn exactly what the adult desires them to learn. It's to such an extreme that I really don't know how anyone could write in a textbook that he says something so different.

Then, this afternoon, I was talking about the chapter with Jonathan. I mentioned that the book says that in the Middle Ages, there wasn't much of a distinction between children and adults; they were just seen as miniature adults. He pointed out what a wrong idea of the Medievals this is.

So, pretty much, I don't want to read this textbook anymore.

All that got me thinking about why we have textbooks anyway. They're certainly not the best way to acquire knowledge. If I want to know what Plato, Locke and Rousseau think, I should read them...not this textbook. But that would take a lot more time. So, I suppose textbooks are used because they can fit a lot of basic, summarized information into a small space. The problem is, these textbook authors have a bias, so everything comes across with a twist.

I guess all this is the cost of majoring in Liberal Studies. I'll end up knowing a little about everything and, consequently, won't have a really strong grasp of any one thing.

When I'm a teacher, I'm going to try to use textbooks as little as possible. And when they must be used, they will not be regarded as the final authority. I would have said the same thing a week ago; but today, I mean it more.

I'm a T.A. for a high school English teacher in the area. Every once in a while he'll call me up and tell me he's got a stack of papers for me to grade. I'll read them and mark them up and take them back to him. Well, right now I'm working on a stack of about 60 "research" papers on capital punishment. It's not very fun. For one thing, it's kind of a depressing subject to read so much about. For another thing, these kids can't write. Many of them have a weak grasp of the English language. It's rare for me to find a paper written in complete, clear sentences. So when I find a sentence with a noun and a verb, and commas in the right places, I pause. Then I type it into Google. And then I (more often than not) find the article from which this student has plagiarized. I make a note of the website so I can let the teacher know, and then I repeat the process. It's bad. I'm kind of sick of it, and I'm only half way through the stack. *Sigh* Well, I guess this post doesn't really have much of a point, except allowing me to vent. Thanks.

Ligers are going to kill us all!

Fortunately, there's an Anti-Liger Alliance to protect us! Here's their website.

What's a liger? A liger is a cross between a male tiger and a female lion. This is different than the tigon, which is less common and is the cross between a female tiger and a male lion. It's also much bigger. Ligers are commonly bigger than either lions or tigers, perhaps exhibiting a kind of gigantism.



Here are some liger websites.

This group has their own ligers! They perform and stuff. Their liger is huge: it's over twelve feet tall when standing on its hind legs! Holy cow!

This site has some more detailed information, as well as some pictures of Ti-Ligers.

The Sierra Safari Zoo has their own liger called "Hobbs." He is big, and he is north of Reno on Highway 395!

Iraqi Elections

This is exciting for Iraq and for the Middle East.

Here's the King of Jordan's opinion on the election. I don't know how representative his opnion is of most Muslims, but I hope that he knows a bit. CNN's Interview with King Abdullah

The BBC's perspective: Iraqi Prime Minister Calls for Iraq to Unite After the Vote

This is an important article by CNN: it shows the response of Arab news headlines throughout the Middle East.

MSNBC offers another perspective, including the promise by the Al-Quaida networks in Iraq that they are not going away.
'World is Watching'

Bush's strategy is that the optimism and hope that are currently being expressed by ordinary Iraqis will now spread into the hearts and minds of other countries in the area of Iraq: resulting in a joyful change to democracy. It's a bit far-fetched, perhaps, but the same thing did happen in Europe (unsuccessfully) following the French Revolution. I'm not sure how I feel about America standing by to prevent Terrors and oppressive reactions by terrified current rulers. It's something that bears consideration.

There's more to write and more to find on the internet about this, but now it's time for study. On the reading list for this afternoon? Darwin's Origin of the Species.

It's National Kazoo Day! Check out Barbara Stewart's inspirational message.

Along the same lines as Jonathan's last post...

I've been using My Utmost for His Highest for morning devotions lately. The last couple of readings have been from Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus warns against letting the cares of this world choke out the one important thing--pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 6:25 (KJV) states: "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on..." This is convicting. He's talking about basic needs here. If He'd said "don't think about how you can have the most money, or the best clothes..." it would be easy for me to brush it off. "Oh, well I don't do that. Ok, on to the next verse." But, no. We're to "take no thought" of our lives. At all. Not even of these basic needs. For one thing, it doesn't do any good. "Which one of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?" (verse 27) And for another thing, isn't God much more capable of taking care of our needs? He knows them better than we do. "Consider the lilies of the field..." (verse 28) If God clothes them more beautifully than Solomon, how much more will He take care of His children? Therefore, He says, take no thought..."But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (verse 33)

I have a friend who once told me, after explaining a rough financial situation she was encountering, "I've made a deal with God: I worry about Him, and He worries about everything else." And isn't that the way it ought to be? God is really the only one qualified to worry about my needs. I don't need to make myself crazy trying to do His job. My job is to worry about Him.

"I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 2)

I have been re-reading Augustine's Confessions, and am struck in a new way by its excellence. As I observe the follies of loving this life falling from Augustine as he approaches Faith in God, I am convicted of my own faulty and misguided loves.

How foolish, though, to love more or as much as God any earthly thing. Surely we cannot think that ambition, pleasure, or anything else that a gracious God has given us can be worth our pursuing it for its own sake? When considered, only a righteous and transcendent God, whose love and goodness are never changing and never ending, can be the proper life-pursuit of any man or woman.

"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,
"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Augustine uses the example of a begger when confessing to God his own follies in this area. He was on his way to being a member of the Imperial court, or some other such exalted earthly position. In order to fulfill this desire, in order to become a recognized and worth-while Roman individual, he had to give a speech on the Emperor. However, he did not find there the happiness which he sought. Here is the text, which is addressing God:

How unhappy I was, and how conscious you made me of my misery, on that day when I was preparing to deliver a panegyric on the emperor! In the course of it I would tell numerous lies and for my mendacity would win the good opinion of people who knew it to be untrue. The anxiety of the occasion was making my heart palpitate and perspire with the destructive fever of the worry, when I passed through a Milan street and noticed a destitute beggar. Already drunk, I think, he was joking and laughing. I groaned and spoke with the friends accompanying me about the many sufferings that result from our follies. In all our strivings such as those efforts that were then worrying me, the goads of ambition impelled me to drag the burden of my unhappiness with me, and in dragging it to make it even worse; yet we hade no goal other than to reach a carefree cheerfulness. That beggar was already there before us, and perhaps we would never achieve it. For what he had gained with a few coins, obtained by begging, that is the cheerfulness of temporal felicity, I was going about to reach by painfully twisted and roundabout ways. True joy he had not. But my quest to fulfil my ambitions was much falser. there was no question that he was happy and I racked with anxiety. He had no worries; I was frenetic, and if anyone had asked me if I would prefer to be merry or to be racked with fear, I would have answered 'to be merry'. Yet if he asked whether I would prefer to be a beggar like that man or the kind of person I then was, I would have chosen to be myself, a bundle of anxieties and fears. What an absurd choice!

(Augustine, Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick. VI. vi (9-10))

Augustine made an absurd choice, true, but I do not think that happiness is an absurd desire. All men desire it more than any other thing on this earth, if one would consider themselves. And that is why we can understand Augustine here, we are all yearning for the same thing he was, in different ways, and are mostly failing to accomplish it. For, temporal felicity this happiness we want is not (for this pleasurable feeling will end), rather, it is the perfect state of the soul that is found through loving God and serving Him always. And that can only be found by prostrating oneself before our Savior, who has offered Grace freely to those who ask of Him, because of a love so deep that He left Heaven, putting off his rightful Glory as God, and dying on the cross for our sins.

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-12:14)

Happy Birthday to Jonathan Rowley! He's 22 on the 22nd. That deserves a prize! Last night we went out to dinner with a bunch of friends, and then back to his house. There we played a rousing game of Scattegories. After that, there was a Super Smash Brothers tournament, but it was getting late, so I didn't stay to see the end of it. Tonight we're going to his grandparents' house to celebrate with family.

Yay for Jonathan being alive! It's certainly a reason to celebrate.

Dr. Reynolds has blogged about the backlash to Dr. Dobson's comments on Spongebob Square Pants. They offer a reasonable perspective on a difficult issue.


Here he responds to an article on msnbc calling mainstream Christians "crackpots."

And here he comments on Hugh Hewitt and the situation as well.

I'm posting these because I don't have the time or ability to write a cultural critique of this level, but I do think it's really important to see this perspective. It sounds pretty right on to me, and I find it distasteful to mock Christians, even for making social missteps with true conviction.

The Second Inaugural Address of George W. Bush

I posted this before I ever read it. Now I have, and am impressed, especially by the half before the domestic policy section, which I am not quite sure about.

It is a good speech, in that it reads smoothly and consistently. It is an emjoyable read, suitably light, but with a substantial weight. Its consistent demand of one principle: the cause of freedom, is a real strength that reflects what the presidents' real focus does seem to be.

"America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this Earth has rights, and dignity and matchless value because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and Earth."

This is, to me, the reason that Bush makes a good president. His view of secular government is defined by the duty of protecting the social lives of its people because they are the creations of God. This is the belief and idea that was put forward in the Declaration of Independence, and it is the belief and idea that makes America work where other democracies have not worked. This is what kept America's Revolution from sliding into the Terror, and it is the belief that is the most powerful safeguard and keeper of us all today. Because man matters, because God loves man, we must protect man and not let innocents be killed senselessly.

Good job, President Bush. Here's to four more years!

Jonathan and I have created a new card game. It's called Find Your Family. I'll explain the rules here so you all can have a chance to experience the coolness.

For 2-4 players

The goal: to be the first to get the Jack, Queen, King and Ace of a certain suit--your "family"

The setup: Shuffle two decks together (it's very important that you use at least two decks...we haven't experimented with this completely yet, but we think it might be best to have the same number of decks as there are people playing). Now pick out four cards, one of each suit, and mix them around face down. Each person takes one, without showing it to any other players, to find out what his "family" suit will be. All four cards are shuffled back into the deck. Deal each player four cards. The top card of the deck is turned over to begin the discard pile.

Playing: Player left of the dealer goes first. With each turn, the player must take one card (either from the pile, or from the top of the discard pile) and discard one. Play continues until one player has all four face cards of his "family" suit. At that point, I think it would be cute if he has to say "Family Reunion!" to let the other players know he's found them all, but Jonathan thinks it's sufficient to say, "Yay!" or "I won!" You must decide this for yourself.

Variation: You can also play Find Your Extended Family, where you have to find all the cards of a certain suit except the face cards. It plays the same, but you use nine cards in your hand.

The history of the game: Find Your Family evolved from a game we made up early last semester called Find Your Mom, where you only had to find the Queen of a given suit. That game is much shorter. Plus, we played it with only one deck, so we pretty easily figured out whose Mom was whose. And then it ended with both of us holding onto the other's Mom, refusing to discard. It became clear that we would need to make some changes. Hence, the above game rules.

There you have it. Now, go. Find your family.

Hey! We came back from Mammoth!

We actually came back early from our trip, which turned out to be quite an adventure.

The first sign that our trip was an adventure came when we arrived at the cabin. We toiled the two miles in two hours or so, slowed by heavy packs and sleds to a snail's pace at times. We turned on the power switch and went over to the upper window on the lee side of the cabin that we use to enter during the window. Unfortunately, the key that we had didn't turn the lock. We jiggled and warmed it, and still, nothing happened. The only option was to take the shutter off its hinges. This was an involved and difficult process in the cold and high snow. Finally, we got it off and Dad climbed into the cold and dark cabin.

"The lights aren't working. Someone check the breaker to make sure it's turned on."

Ok... Bill had flipped it on, which takes digging a couple of feet down into the snow. I went over to double check. But, as I looked, someone noticed that some of the power lines from the cabin were laying in the snow nearby.

That's when we realized that, after working so hard just to get into the cabin, it was now going to be a little less welcoming. We all bundled into the cave-like darkness, and went downstairs to where Dad was starting a fire. We looked around for candles. The thing about the cabin is that, during the winter, it's completely under snow. So there're no windows. The only lights were the candles, the fire, an electric lantern that I found in an upstairs attic cupboard, and the headlamps and flashlights that we brought with us.

Anyway, the snow was still really nice, and skiing was a joy. We also made a couple sled runs onto the lake, which is a great place to do it, since the run-out from the run can go forever onto the flat expanse.

Unfortunately, I had to come down early because I was having some sort of severe heartburn-like symptoms that wouldn't go away. I had them for about 16 hours, without any sign of abating, despite taking a lot of heartburn medication. But once we skiied out Saturday evening in the gathering twilight, I got better. By the time we were on highway 395 outside of Mammoth, the symptoms were all gone.

Bill and Becca wonderfully drove me home, and I finally arrived back Sunday morning at 1:30 or so. Libby drove the last leg and got home a little after me. She was a real trooper and learned a lot about how to ski, since this was her first time. She did great!

The puzzle got finished last night. It's very nice to see it finally done.

Jonathan and I are going with his parents and Bill and Becca to spend a few days at the Rowley cabin up in Mammoth. We leave early tomorrow morning, and we'll get back on Monday. It's going to be great! This will be my second trip to the cabin, and I'm pretty excited about it. There will be tons of snow, and we'll do some skiing. That's a funny word: skiing. There aren't many words with two i's in the middle like that. Anyway, I've never skied before, but they're all very experienced, so I'll have some good teachers. We'll see how it goes!

I need to start getting my stuff together. Have a good weekend!

My very cool brother and sister-in-law got me a 1,000 piece puzzle for Christmas. The last few days of my life have consisted largely of putting this thing together. It's got a pretty lighthouse, and cliffs, and some trees, and then lots of water and sky. The water and sky of course have been saved for last, as they have much less variation. This afternoon, however, much progress has been made. One of my roommates, Katie, has a couple of friends over to spend the night. The four of us have spent the last two and a half hours sitting at the card table, piecing it together. They're still out there working on it, in fact, but I needed a break. We had some good conversation and learned some really practical lessons as we worked on it. Some of the highlights:
--"C'mon little piece, aren't you ready to stop being an individual and become part of the Whole?"
--"In puzzles, as well as life, the weird shaped ones often become the most helpful in finding that perfect fit; we can be thankful for the freaks."
--"Maybe you need to stop looking for the perfect piece, and spend more time making sure you become the perfect piece."

There's just some sky left!

Hey, look, everyone! I'm posting! And man, have I got some exciting things to say. To start with, there's this music video of a popular Romanian song. You simply must watch it. The band is O-Zone; the song is Dragostea Din Tei; the result is hilarity.

After that, you should watch the lego version. They cleverly call it LegO-Zone.

You can read a translation of the lyrics here.

And whattheheck, since I'm posting all these links, I'll throw in one that shows a guy dancing to the song at his computer.

Also, as I was searching around for these treasures, I found out an interesting piece of information. This song is not original to O-Zone. Oh, no. The band that wrote it is called Haiducii, or The Outlaws. Ah, I get it now.

Today I worked 11 hours. Last week I worked 9 or 10 hours a day, but I'm shooting for 12 hours a day for the rest of this week. Anyhow, that means that I don't have time to post very much.

In further news, Libby Moothart and I have reached a new point in our relationship. Today I've added her to my blog. She can now post the neat things she's been thinking and finding and doing during her (much) less busy days this interterm. So this momentous occasion will work to augment the paucity of my blog's posts.

Lem's posted a great passage on love and marriage by C.S. Lewis on his blog. It's pretty late at night for me to add anything to it, but this is the big event in my life right now.

Phil is preparing to enter marriage with his girlfriend of over three years. We were friends with Phil for only a month after arriving at Biola in the Fall of 2001 before he and Alisha were going out. It's worked out beautifully, and we've seen them grow incredibly both as a couple and as individuals. They're people of admirable character, and Phil has provided wonderful leadership and love in our house with his commitment to a common purpose of community living. Alisha, too, has noticably matured, growing into a God centered woman with serious concerns for his kingdom, as even a fairly shallow acquaintance over the last few years could reveal. Their relationship is a great opportunity for growth for the two of them, and our whole community is excited about this next step.

Tomorrow is the rehearsal, and Friday's the main event. Exciting times for all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I found an interesting article on the history of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" through Hugh Hewitt's blog. Here's the link: Mark Roberts.

While I was typing out "Hark the Herald Angels," I accidentally typed "Hark the Herald Angels Sin." That's a funny typo.

Star Wars Christmas Album

The above link is to a site making fun of a Star Wars Christmas Album. Yes... a Star Wars Christmas Album. I'm not joking. Not only is it Star Wars, and Christmas, starring Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, but also it has BON JOVI! Anyway, the link has all this amazing information on it. So I submit it for your viewing pleasure. Be warned, though, it is laced with a lot of profanity.

An interesting piece of information was found by my girlfriend the other day while she was reading Christy, the book about a teacher in rural poor mountain American communities way back when.

It turns out "Mountain Dew" refers to moonshined alcoholic beverages from the back mountains! I know, I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true!

Here's the link she sent me: The History of Mountain Dew". This is a reliable source, too, since it's the drink's main website.

It's interesting that people think it will sell better if it uses alcoholic names. I, personally, don't buy soft drinks because of that, because, hey, I want a soft drink! Curious history lesson, though.

I read a good definition of poetry this semester.

Samuel T. Colderidge's definition, found in his Biographia Literaria, is, in my opinion, pretty spot on. His view is that poetry is the most pleasurable form of written expression, and this is because it is an organic whole. That is, every part plays into every part, and the unified idea is thereby communicated the most effectively. The pleasure comes from looking into the details and finding, again and again, more of the whole: the idea (hopefully a truth) that the poem communicates.

The problem for the Romantics in defining poetry was the use of meter. Coleridge's definition resolves this: meter is a way of organizing words such that every one has a proper place. This allows the words, in a way that a novel can never achieve, to each have an ideal place, a place where they can communicate the idea most effectively through rhythm and rhyme, etc. Meter also allows one to create a feel that prose cannot, for example, the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner is written as a mariner's ballad. This kind of poetry is intrinsic to a certain kind of England, and creates the character of the Mariner. It creates a time and a place through which the character can be understood while minimizing narrative time.

That's why poetry can be so condensed, and why dense poetry is so pleasurable, it's food for thought for days and days.

The Sophomore Torrey students are going to be able to use this text as their text this year in reading Chaucer. This is cool, becuase they'll be reading the actual book in the actual language, using this helpful site. This version of Chaucer is an edited version that uses the archaic vocabulary, but it's glossed with modern English equivalents and modern spelling. From looking over a tale, it looks to me that sometimes the gloss will be absolutely necessary but sometimes it will be redundant. All the same, it's a neat opportunity.

The version can be found here: Michael Murphy's Chaucer.

Here's a link to a site without the modernized spelling that includes a great deal of Middle English literature available to the public, including Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer: both Troilus and Cressida and the Canterbury Tales. I love these kinds of databases.

The Middle English Collection at the University of Virginia Library.

To even get a sense of what this is saying, sometimes, you'll need this site, which provides a neat introduction to translating Middle English into Modern English, and teaches some interesting things aobut Modern English in the process.

I saw Torrey Theater's production of a Christmas Carol last night. It inspired me to be happy, merry, and charitable this Christmastime. Good production. I almost cried when Tiny Tim died during the Christmas Future section. And when I came out I was full of Christmas cheer. If that's not a good production of a Christmas Carol, then I don't know what is!

I'm also reading the book with Libby. It's very good, as well. The stage production borrows most of its lines straight from its pages.

Anthony Flew, a leading British atheist, has become a theist. This is a major earthquake in the philosophical world.

Famous atheist now believes in God from Yahoo News

Also, the philosophical journal headed up by professors at Biola University, my own school, are going to publish an interview with him discussing his change in beliefs. While he's not a Christian, he is very sympathetic to the Christian religion. Here's a link to the interview:

Anthony Flew interview on Biola's Website

What strikes me in reading the interview is how reasonable a fellow Flew is. He's the sort of rational person that a fellow wouldn't mind talking to about anything. If someone is willing to change a belief that's very important to them because the evidence suggests that they're wrong, when thay're as old as he is, then they are humble in the face of Truth. That's just a great attitude for someone to have. I hope that this is the first step in a progress towards the true God.

I found something else at Jonathan's Ink, a Torrey grad's site, citing this interesting article by an atheist in response to Flew's conversion. Carrier tries to downplay and dismiss it.

Richard Carrier at secweb.com"

It sounds like a rear-guard action to keep more people from following Flew out of the coop. Fair enough.

A week and a half until the official end of the semester. Today is, in a sense, the last Wednesday of the semester.

I've had more than enough thoughts in the last week to fill a hundred blog posts, but the busy days have crowded them out of my mind. Exteriorly enforced mental discipline is not pleasant, but perhaps I'll grow from it.

Anyway, if there's one time I might be able to post, it's right before I start my work for the day. On the slate for this morning is a chapter of Historiography work in my text-book, followed by a dose of St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica on the Incarnation and the salvific power of Jesus Christ, God incarnate but true man, who walked earth 2000 years ago. To combine the two subjects of the morning: consider that Jesus Christ's life is a historical reality. Jesus really did walk and talk and do the miracles that the Gospels record. God really was walking on earth, 2000 years ago. God walked the earth, and yet... I still struggle with sin and not living entirely for this same God.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Listening to a lot of music lately, as I'm working at my computer continually. I've decided that the song that most represents for me this summer is Run, by Snow Patrol. This British rock song elicits, still, strong emotions and melancholy thoughts. Also, it brings back mememories of sitting on the back porch with Libby, or Lem (There's a particularly vivid memory of him dancing all crazy to the song), or Phil, with the music very quietly playing in the dark night.

It was nice when it was so warm we could all relax outside into the late evenings on Friday nights. Even so, the summer was somewhat melancholy because it didn't seem like I got to spend enough time with Libby. Funny thing is, I still don't feel like I get to spend enough time with Libby, and I'm not sure that I do get to spend any more time with her than I did in the summer... in fact, perhaps less. But the semester is soon to end!

I am tired of it, so it's about time. I wouldn't mind returning to this last summer, if only for the pleasant night-time weather, which is now replaced by chilling cold, which sends us all rushing indoors.

My first project once the rush of the semester's end is itself over, is to develop Christmas spirit, of which I've only felt glimmers at Church and in a few reflective thoughts walking from one place or another on Christ's wonderful gift. But, the general communitity spirit hasn't effected me yet. Christmas lights spark slight interest, but then are forgotten because of all the stress. I used to really like Christmas lights. I hope that I do again this year.

Erk.

Erk indeed, I am going to go to bed, now, because I think I have exhausted any useful work on my thesis, which I am turning an extensive outline in of tomorrow. It's not as much as I'd like to turn in, but I'm proud of what I did get done because I like my argument, which is of course the meat of the whole paper.

I like the argument because I think I'm right and I think nobody else has ever argued it before. That's great!

This is worthy of comment: Holland has instituted policies that allow taking an infant's life, after birth, at the consent of the infant's parents or in cases of extreme pain or insolvable illness.

Two reports:

Here

AP News service

Some commentary:

Hewitt

Reynolds

Some strange things are on the internet. Here are two of them:

1. Hannukah is brought into the new millenium with this hip rendition of a new Hannukah song. It's to the tune of that song by OutKast.

2. Llamas finally receive their due laud with this ballad, a fascinating mixture of text, graphics, and joyful music in one fabulous shockwave file.

Enjoy, if you can. Personally, I'm enjoying the last stages of a paper due tomorrow.

I'm about to go to bed. I was just finishing up some formatting for a paper due tomorrow. *yawn* This is a good song by U2, from their new album. This is really their most Christian album, yet, I wonder if it will affect their popularity. Time will tell.

"Yahweh"

Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don't make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticise
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break

This is chock full of Biblical imagery. Good stuff.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

After finishing up my first paper of this weekend, I took a couple of hours and went to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow at the Dollar Theater. I'm glad I did. It passed two hours quickly and engagingly.

First thing that strikes a viewer of this movie is the novel lense effects. Everything is surrounded by a blur and ethyreal glow. This is done for two reasons, that I can tell. One, it adds a fantastic feel to the movie. This fits in well with its antique comic book style. Second, it helps to combine the live action characters and their computer generated settings. The thing is, the whole movie is filmed in front of green screens and then filled in with computer generated robots, people, and scenery. All the acting - there are only maybe thirty people acting in the entire movie - is filmed, which is good since computers cannot communicate in the same way that people do.

Along the lines of live actors, the director made an interesting choice: he had quite close shots on the faces of the people in the movie. This was nice, as it helps you connect with the character. This isn't as extreme as in the Good the Bad and the Ugly, but that wouldn't have fit in this movie.

The actors portrayed did a tolerable job. Jude Law was good, and Gwenyth Paltrow was, too, and their interaction got better as the movie went along. Actually, the whole movie seemed to get better as it moved along. The intentionally thrown-back style wasn't enough to sustain my interest, but the plot did, from probably about a quarter of the way into the movie. From the point when Jude Law and Gwenyth Paltrow are drawn together in the action, there was enough action to keep me entertained. Their relationship was pretty funny, too, as neither is trustworthy.

The premise is this: It's some time around the 1940s, and Gwenyth Paltrow is a reporter on the trail of a mysterious case in which scientists are disappearing slowly. As she makes a break, monstrous robots march into New York and wreak havoc. Enter Sky Captain, a pilot who runs a mercenary organization that benevolently aids the free countries of the world. Slowly they unravel the mystery of the missing scientists and robots, finding a sinister plot involving a doomsday device and the end of the world.

I liked it, and the romantic tension between Jude Law and Gwenyth Paltrow is quite humorous. I think it would be a pretty good date movie. I can't remember any cussing, and the violence wasn't at all gory. A clean, fun, movie... good for the whole family.

Amazon.com has a section for free mp3 downloads. If people so desire, they can upload their music onto the site. It's a pretty neat idea, especially since Christmas is coming! I'm going to get some free Christmas mp3s. Awesome cool legalness.

Marvin Olasky participates here in some inter-Christian ideological discussions on political "single mindedness." A difficult issue, but one worth considering. His article is here

The judicial theories of the more liberal leaning ideologues are frightening. It may well be that the single issue for voters ought to be a support for the Constitution, as properly understood. I really think a vote for Kerry was a vote against the Constitution, because his intellectual presuppositions destabilize the document as a basis for a country's law. And that pretty much sinks America's heart.

This is an interesting perspective on Iraq.

This is a picture of me. Behind me is the eminently lovely Libby Moothart. She's the best.

I look disturbed in this picture, but I assure you that any such disturbance only enhances my quality of living, rather than in any way interfereing with my functionality.

Rolling Stone magazine's top 500 is readable at their website. Imagine, number three, is a rediculous, self-referentially incohrent song. That it is so popular boggles my mind. I really can't understand the appeal, besides a pleasant tune.

There are other songs, by the Beatle's (a more level headed group than Lennon alone, from what I can tell), that deserve greater recognition. Bah!

Big news over on Dustin's blog (and no, it's not just that he actually posted). So... congratulations to the happy couple!

It's raining outside... really really hard.

I had always interpreted "sheets of rain" as describing vertical patterns of rainfall, but tonight it's giant drops coming down in horizontal sheets, that make the ground dance with deflected rain a foot in the air. Freak shower, but one that I appreciated very much.

Thanks, God.

Marsupials.

Wonderful animals.

Truly. They're one person on the outside, but in a little pouch, there's another life! Growing there, waiting to come out. I see some cool metaphorical tints to the animal. But the thing is, if you're the average google user trying to find something out about something like a marsupial, you're going to end up on my blog.

While there are many strange things that lead people to searching my site, marsupials are probably one of the most common hit gatherers.

Other things include:
1. Zwingli
2. pictures of Rachel robinson (who apparently works for mtv?)
3. bill and becca (that one came from texas)

But just today I got a hit from someone searching for "small marsupials." Another time I got "marsupials with big eyes." That one is creative.

So, here's some info on marsupials.


http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/marsupial/marsupial.html

http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/8.htm


Dunart's are so cute. Have fun!

Keats' poem, "Sleep and Poetry" is excellent, as well. It's much longer than the Elgin Marbles, but his vision of poetry is fascinating. I find his view of a mature poet fascinating.

The poem is very pleasurable.

This marine was a true soldier-gentleman.

It's still Wednesday, but my time stamp will say it's Thursday. It's an hour off.

Today we talked about sin in class. St. Thomas' view of sin was, as normal, very reasonable. We're getting into soteriology now with which I disagree, but that's ok.

It's interesting to talk about sin. When in a Torrey session, one of the most important things is to strike on something that you don't know, something that you don't understand. If the unknown thing is good, it will inspire love in you as you strive to draw nearer it. This echoes the great pursuit of the soul for its creator, and is indeed part of the same pursuit, on smaller scales. But sin is just not the sort of thing you can love. It actually doesn't really exist, as a thing, but only as a perversion of other things, as imperfections of perfection.

What I found myself loving was humanity, instead. The leader of our session wisely led us in that direction. The goal was to understand the soul, and we ended up spending a lot of time talking about the will, and basically Thomistic anthropology. And, as interseting as it was, this is the first session we've really spent talking about anthropology. Last session was creation, which could have served as a kind of bridge from theology, but it didn't really work. Instead, this session seemed... dirty. Not dirty in the sense that it was sinful, but dirty in the sense that man is a low being, and not worthy of worship. God's glory, in our sessions too often obscured by obfuscation in language, and our own incapacity for comprehension, still shone threw in the nature of the thoughts we considered. And now it's just not as good.

All the same, I hope that in understanding man, and how we fall into sin, I can myself avoid it more often in the future. It is also helpful in appreciating the cross. Sin is truly wicked, and it is all our own fault.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

On Seeing The Elgin Marbles For The First Time
John Keats

My spirit is too weak; mortality
Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep,
And each imagined pinnacle and steep
Of godlike hardship tells me I must die
Like a sick eagle looking at the sky.
Yet 'tis a gentle luxury to weep,
That I have not the cloudy winds to keep
Fresh for the opening of the morning's eye.
Such dim-conceived glories of the brain
Bring round the heart an indescribable feud;
So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,
That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude
Wasting of old Time—with a billowy main,
A sun, a shadow of a magnitude.


I don't think this is anywhere near the best poem ever written, but as it's Keats, and thus by the pen of a man with a remarkable poetic talent, I'm posting it here. It's a puzzling work, I find. the metaphor of the eagle is evocative but a bit confusing. And the middle section, about not having the cloudy winds to keep fresh puzzles me more than the rest of it.

The poet is responding to looking at the Elgin Marbles, which are the Athenian Parthenon's frieze, brought to England by Lord Elgin (hence the name of the marbles). I wanted to know what they were representing but, as is often the case, the meaning or story of the marbles is obscured by the story of what is happening with the marbles. Such contemporary concerns are far from interesting, but I suppose relevant to some.

This link needs a little context. In the summer before we moved into our former apartment, in Tropicana by Biola, my roommate, Phil, needed a place to stay. He ended up staying in the apartment of a friend who got married partway through that summer. While on his honeymoon, this fellow found some video games at a garage sale and sent them down for Phil to keep safe. Among these video games were a number of comic books.

These comic books were not just any comic books, though. No, they were Masters of the Universe Mini-comics, complete with overblown product placement. Phil immediately recognized their value as troves of golden humor, and acquired them from our friend. They are now, and have been for more than a year now, permanent residents of our bathroom.

So, here is a very comprehensive listing of these comics, including, I think, the ones we have.

He-man comics at He-man.org

Move to Canada!

Canada's Immigration Website

If you're a leftward leaning American, then you're probably dissatisfied with the movement of our country. That's fine. You can move to Canada!

Here's a picture taken after the heavy October snows that swept over the Sierras. It's incredibly white. Not only that, but the snow has outlined the long valley caldera, right around Crowley Lake. I think you can see Lake Mary, but I'm not sure exactly, it's a fairly distant satellite image in real color. You can see Edison and Mono, though. Mono is a peculiar shade of green, and stands out from the rest of the visible lakes because of its color.

It is quite high resolution.
Sierra Snowfall

Since yesterday I've had one Libby Moothart as my girlfriend for more than a year! Woo hoo!

Man, Half-Life 2 is coming out in a few days, and Halo 2 JUST came out. If I had an infinite supply of money and time, I would have some fun. As it is, I won't probably play either of these games, as I have no X-Box, and my computer's about half the necessary requirements (actually, maybe less than half...) for Half-Life 2. This is probably a good thing.

This is an interesting idea. A blog called Belmont Club is compiling up to date commentary specifically (at the moment anyway) on the battle going on in Falluja. From the title, it appears their plan is to produce instantaneous contemporary history, and make it available outside of the main-stream media. While intriguing, I don't think it's a very good way to do contemporary history. All the same, the social function of another route around CNN, CBS, etc. is fascinating.

Blogspot, in hosting free blogs that allow freedom of use in a way Xanga doesn't, or any other place, really, is playing a big role in the blogging movement. I wonder if they're proud of it. I think perhaps they should be, although blogs I think are somewhat limited in their reliability.

This blog has gotten more and more political of late. For this perhaps I owe some regret, for it is somewhat time consuming and more than a bit out of my area of expertise.

That said, here, have some more politics:

Jonah Goldberg writes an article that I think does a good job of exposing some funny tendencies of the Left.

I liked these bits the best:

"There's no time here to dismantle fully the edifice of condescension and ignorance constructed by Maher and Smiley (I put Dowd in a different category). But what offends them so much about religion is that it is a source of authority outside — and prior to — politics. What has offended the Left since Marx, and American liberalism since Dewey, is the notion that moral authority should be derived from anyplace other than the state or "the people" (conveniently defined as citizens who vote liberal). Voting on values not sanctified by secular priests is how they define "ignorance." This was the real goal of Hillary Clinton's "politics of meaning" — to replace traditional religion with a secular one that derived its authority not from ancient texts and "superstitions" but from the good intentions of an activist state and its anointed priests. Shortly before the election, Howell Raines fretted that the worst outcome of a Bush victory would be the resurgence of "theologically based cultural norms" — without even acknowledging the fact that "theologically based cultural norms" gave us everything from the printing press and the newspaper to the First Amendment he claims to be such a defender of.

"What Maher, Raines, and Smiley fail to grasp is that all morality is based upon transcendence — or it is merely based on utilitarianism of one kind or another, and therefore it is not morality so much as, at best, an enlightened expediency or will-to-power. It is no more rational to vote based on a desire to do "good" than it is to vote based on a desire to do God's will. Indeed, for millions of people this is a distinction without a difference — as it was for so many of the abolitionists progressives and civil-rights leaders today's liberals love to invoke but never actually learn about."

I think this is a really critical point to make between liberals and conservatives. Although liberals would have you believe that they are the voice of progress and we the voice of stubborn foolishness, both groups acutally exist within the same categories, the liberals are positing ideas that have true or false values, and living by them, just like conservatives. The argument has to be about whether or not these ideas are true. "Voting on values not sanctified by secular priests is how they define "ignorance." This was the real goal of Hillary Clinton's "politics of meaning" — to replace traditional religion with a secular one that derived its authority not from ancient texts and "superstitions" but from the good intentions of an activist state and its anointed priests." The ideas Goldberg presents here are what I spoke of earlier in this blog when I said a vote for Kerry would be a vote for French Revolution style democracy. Their revolution scraped vainly at the Godhead, endeavouring to pull even Him down from his throne. They placed the god of reason in Notre Dame. To them, rights were given by the state, and thus the Terror was not unthinkable. People died because of beliefs like this. Beware of them.

Oh yeah, and I wrote a post earlier today that made this same point, but deleted it, because I felt it might not have shown sufficeint charity to those with whom I disagree. But here's the same idea from someone else: "I think the great irony of this election is that for all the talk of how the bigoted Right won, the Left's loss has sparked far more bigotry. Their clever trick is to defend their hatred of the religious by calling it a hatred of bigotry itself — a rationalization no liberal would tolerate from any other kind of bigot." It's true. There is more hate in Michael Moore for George Bush than for Osama Bin Laden. As Christians, our transcendent moral code dictates we must love even our enemies, and as hard as that is, I hope we can live by it.

Wisconsin school's allow the teaching of creation

Strong responses by evolutionists as indicated in this manner is a sign of fear of new ideas (or old ideas re-appearing). How funny that groups so keen on "intellectual freedom" really have no interest in intellectual freedom at all.

They are afraid of losing their hold on our culture.

I think this is the authentic teaser for the last of the prequels. Anyway, it's worth a peep, anyway. Looks gritty and dark, and they've gotten James Earl Jones again for Vader. Maybe. Obviously, a lot of the quotes are from the other movies.

The Trailer

Some neat pictures of a volcano erupting in Ireland courtesty Bubbs and my sister-in-law. They may be viewed here.

You can also get real color satellite imagery here. The earth observatory website is one of my favorites, it has some really beautiful images of earth, in very high resolutions.

From msnbc: In the end, Ohio was the fulcrum, and exit polling data suggested that it was older voters and white evangelical Christians who clinched the deal for Bush. The president won 56 percent of the vote among voters ages 60 and older, and he took three-quarters of white evangelical voters, who made up 25 percent of the state’s electorate.

Evangelicals won the election for Bush, as Dr. Reynolds has been saying, the conservatives of America are the majority of this country. It just took some muscle flex, and Bush has been re-elected.

A comment by Dr. Rood, a very bright professor of mine here at Biola, got me thinking about the mission of America. Often, people like John Kerry, dilute the traditional goal of the United States by removing from it a universal grounding. In other words, my country can't be the best country in the world, because there are so many countries, and there's no absolute basis upon which to base a claim for supremacy.

Here's the deal though, America IS the best country in the world: and to be an American entails a belief in this, at some level or another. This is because, America's a creed of sorts, as G.K. Chesterton points out. To be an American means to think that this grand experiment of democracy has the ability to be successful. And the reason it will be successful seems to stem from its basis in the nature of man and the universe.

To base something as an accurate representation of the natural order of things is only possible when the order is knowable, obviously. So, Kerry is a bad choice, and I hope that he's not elected today, because Mr. Global Test doesn't seem to believe in the efficacy of Reason.

I voted today, doing what little I could in this gigantic republic. It is in God's hands whatever the result will be.

American Pie is here expounded with helpful annotation.

Curious.

Stem Cell Research

I have found that the position of those opposed to embryonic stem cell research is rarely well represented on mass media sources. I do not know why, except that the bias of the media supports it. I suggest, however, that it is an inhumane practice very much worthy of our censure.

The basic position of those members of society who, like me, will be voting against Proposition 71 is this: experimenting on human beings is morally reprobate.

The problem with a lot of society today is that they have no real conception of what humanity is. Naturalistic thought truthfully provides no reasonable basis for the sanctity of human life, or even a sufficeint definition of what humanity is. Evidence of the latter is that nobody treats human cells better than other cells, despite their genetic identity.

Those of us who believe in the soul define personhood metaphysically. That is, there is an immaterial element to all humanity, which is called the soul. I can see no reason to believe that a human being, biologically, is not a human being metaphysically. And since the dignity of humanity comes from the possession of this immaterial substance (in conjunction with the matter, it's in no way morally flawed), abortion is immoral.

Abortion should never be cemented by building upon it other frameworks. Using aborted embryonic stem cells is like using a murder victim's body for research without their consent. I can't vote for the government to supply money to such an endeavor.

I'm tired.

It's interesting that so much of the world has a strong opinion about the American election. It's also interesting that so much of it is opposed to George W. Bush. Of course, by "world" I can't actually mean the "the entire population of the world." There is no way to poll the entire world, and a very great deal of it is not informed and has no opinion, I assume, on the American election.

The World watches America vote

Anyway, in a sampling of people around the world who are concerned with American politics and are not Americans there seems to be a majority that disagrees with Bush, as well as I can figure. This is somewhat tentative, still, but I'll go with it.

Why? Why do they care? And why do they oppose Bush?

I think the questions end up answering themselves if one sees them as one and the same. That is, they care because of Bush, and that's why they oppose him. America's current offensive stance against terrorism, while the strongest and most effective strategically, is also likely to be one of the most offensive. People are worried when the world's giant is angry.

So, why should this not worry conservative voters? Well, when did the majority ever start dictating what truth is? In general, the countries in which people may have an opinion on this subject are going to be more technologically advanced, since the polls are taken on the internet. These countries of the world, unfortunately, are likely to be the least Christian. How does this matter? Christians can understand like nobody else taking a stand for something that one sees as true. A death for others is the foundation of our faith, and martyrdom is the very meat of our early religious history.

In other words, America has the unique condition of being the most Christian country in the world at the present moment.

This also explains why this election is so heated, it really does boil down to a Christian versus non-Christian world-view, or at least world-views consistent with Chrsitianity versus a secular, French Revolution style, understanding of the Constitution.

Torrey Conference ended up being pretty good, session-wise. I've gotten nowhere near enough work, done, though, as I thought would happen.

All of the speakers had good style and pretty good messages. None of them were perfect, of course. One gave an exposition of Romans 1-11 in order to do Romans 12. It was really good, as he layed out completely a reading of Romans that comes straight out of Luther. That was an enjoyable trip down the backbone of Protestant theology, even if it's hard for me to understand.

I'm convinced there is a forensic element to justification, but I'm not convinced that's all there is. It seems to me there must be a change of soul in order for God's knowledge of us to remain correct. So, are regeneration and justification really different things?

We also had a pleasant Calvinist exposition on Ephesians 2:8 Thursday night that was thrown into a sermon on sovereignty largely to irritate the Wesleyans and Armenians in the crowd, as the speaker admitted. As I tend in the Wesleyan direction I knew he was poking at me, but I wasn't really bothered. I'm not bothered by God's sovereignty and I don't see the verse saying what he thinks it says.

Today's sessions were somewhat poor. The last session was a sparsely attended worship session that I wasn't all that inspired by. My taste in worship has changed somewhat dramatically since I regularly attended Calvary. I just don't speak that language from the heart anymore. The liturgy appeals to me more. But I don't think that the worship service was awful. It was mainly a taste issue (based on what I think are probably real issues in the worship movement). He definitely was from Orange County, though. He really spoke the dialect. There's an intonation that's so typically Orange County, mainly, especially in the South/Central OC young white people subculture.

Torrey Conference is this week. What a burden!

Instead of being at all a time to relax a little and learn some sound Biblical teaching, it is a time when I have twice as much time that's required to be spent in a class but just as much homework and work. What a joke!

Biola should excuse upper classmen from Torrey. If not all upper classmen, at least commuter upper classmen, or all seniors. It's a joke to expect us to go to the same number of conferences as Freshmen when we obviously have a lot more work to do. Our professors are less inclined to care about Torrey conference homework-wise than other professors. I have two important papers to work on, a session to prepare for next week, and a senior thesis to log a lot of hours on. What a great opportunity! I could worship God by doing the thing that I should be doing in a dedicated manner. Or I could go to a sermon of potential value. It's just frustrating, especially since there's no more reasonable grace for exemptions.

I'm trying hard to not be cynical, but I really am struggling with this.

They don't make movies like they used to...

Tonight I celebrated the end of my school week by partaking in some good old fashioned Indiana Jones action. I hadn't seen the Temple of Doom yet, so I checked it out from the Biola library in order to educated my previous ignorance with the brilliant light of new knowledge. I don't regret it.

It's a really suspenseful and dark movie. From the opening fight scene on there is rarely a moment where you're entirely relaxed. Libby and I were reassuring each other that it would be alright at several peak scenes just because it was so hard to believe that it would be. I don't think I've seen an action movie that builds suspense as constantly and consistently nearly as grippingly as this movie did.
It has some really disturbing things in it, too, which made it surprising that it was rated only PG. They freaking carve a man's heart out of his chest.

It's always fun watching Indiana Jones, though. I love Harrison Ford's character and acting, as well as his boy side kick. The girl was a little annoying, but that's somewhat par of the course, from what I remember from the first movie. The women are always getting in trouble and increasing the tension.

The gripping roller coaster style ride of this movie is about as good as you can orchestrate in an action movie. I wish they still did this as well, but I think action movies have moved on to different focuses now.

I got rain-wet walking from the library to my car ealier under a rainbow pregnant sky. The ominous darkening East frowned fiercely against the brilliant Western blue. Today was an exhilarating day to be alive.

The Trinity

I had the priviledge of journeying with 9 other students today through three hours of a discussion on the Trinity via Thomas Aquinas. It was one of the most enjoyable sessions that I had for a long time. I was able to grasp a vision of what a unified trinity might look like for the first time in my life. Thomas' view may not be completely correct, but it works well enough to guide one's thoughts in contemplation of God. So here's a summary of what we talked about, likely mostly for my own benefit in posterity.

His arguments begin with procession. There are, in a human soul, two kinds of inward processions. If our soul is created in the image of God, then these two kinds of processions will be present in God. These processions might be understood as conception in the intellect and love, which is any movement of the will. Concepts are words: thus the Word is the Concept of God within God. God being God, any concept He had would be perfect. This is the Word. God's internal movement (He is pure act, after all) towards Himself (and us, in God's conception of us) is a movement of His whole self, and thus the procession of the Holy Spirit is fully God.

To distinguish between the three persons whose essences are identical, St. Thomas relies on relations. Based on the processions, we can understand 4 relationships in God: Filiation, the relationship of a son to a father; Paternity, the relationship of a father to a son; Spiration, the relationship of the Father and the Son to the Spirit (a special kind of relationship used to describe God's will's procession); Procession, the relation of the Spirit to the Son and the Father.

There is an important, but difficult to understand distinction in what kind of relationships exist upon which his arguments rest. That is, there are relative relationships: the relationship of one thing to another. This kind of relationship does not inhere as an accident in the thing related. That is, if I move about my keyboard in front of or behind my monitor, it won't change the keyboard at all. It will be relating to the monitor in a different manner, however. The other kind of relation is the relation of something in which there is an inherence of accidents. An example of this is the black coloring of a Bible's cover. The Bible isn't defined by the black, so the black must be relating to the book in some way.

Aquinas takes this distinction to say that this second kind of relation in God will not be accidental, but essential. This is based on his simplicity doctrine, which I won't argue for here. Those relations I described earlier are all essential in God, then.

From this discussion, Aquinas is free to move on to the discussion of Persons. Personhood is defined as distinct substance of a rational nature. But, wait, isn't substance essence? How can there be three persons of distinct substances if there's only one essence? This problem is solved by a proper understanding of what substance is. Substance can be understood either as essence (or ousia) or it can be understood as the genus of things that are. St. Thomas eliminates the first definition and clings to the second, which has three properties. One part of this is the important term "hypostasis." This is understood as that which accepts accidents. That is, what underlies all of my blond hair, blue eyes, etc. When people refer to me, they don't refer to my accidents, but tomy substance or hypostasis. It can also mean the "natural thing," in which part I am in substance a human. My substance is the human substance. In another way I am "subsistence," or an individualized something.

The last article we worked on in session was the most difficult but most rewarding part of our journey. It is Question 29, Article 4 of the Summa. In this section he explains his vision of the Trinity in more detail than he had yet done (I suppose he's been doing this all along, but this article is a kind of culmination). There is a lot of work done in a few sentences of the last paragraph in the responsio of this article, but it's worth looking at.

Here's the text:

Now distinction in God is only by relation of origin, as stated above (28, 2, 3), while relation in God is not as an accident in a subject, but is
the divine essence itself; and so it is subsistent, for the divine essence
subsists. Therefore, as the Godhead is God so the divine paternity is God the Father, Who is a divine person. Therefore a divine person signifies a relation as subsisting. And this is to signify relation by way of substance, and such a relation is a hypostasis subsisting in the divine nature, although in truth that which subsists in the divine nature is the divine nature itself.

He says this:

1. Distinction in God based on relation.
2. Relations in God are essence of God.
3. The Divine Essence is self subsisting.
C1: Therefore the Relations in God are subsistent.
C2: Therefore the Godhead is to God as Paternity is to God the Father.
4. God the Father is a Person.
C3: Therefore Divine Person signifies a relation that's subsisting.
C4: This signifies relation by way of substance, and this is a hypostasis subsisting in the Divine Nature!

This explains the Trinity. It lays out a relationship between the Persons and Essence that makes sense with a simplicity of God doctrine. It's pretty beautiful, if you see it. It's probably easiest to see when talking about with someone, though. Then the image is shared and it's pretty exciting. It comes together and makes sense. You can see how each person is God, truly, and how God has distinctions that are Persons, truly. It's a great beginning to two more sessions on the Trinity. I'll be leading the next one.

Columbus Day is this week.

There was a parade in Denver held up by some American Indians and other protesters, reported as front page news by cnn.com. In recent years it has occurred to me, as a result of a more educated mind and greater time in books, that Columbus, and the image of Columbia, are critical symbols in our national fabric. Unfortunately, these have been discarded as the outmoded images of Manifest Destiny and non-politically correct western-centered pride.

There were definite, truly evil things that happened as a result of Columbus' discovery. He did things that he ought never have done in America. But equally true is that we still owe him our recognition. Sure, the Indians were in North America before anyone else, and the vikings were the first Europeans over here. But the reason that we owe Columbus recognition is not the novelty of his find, but the heritage of his discovery. The Native Americans and vikings' discovery did not lead to our country's existence. Our country's existence stemmed from the Rennaissance wanderings of one Christopher Columbus. And to not recognize that would be unfair and proud. And the recognition of Columbus' gifts in different modes, including a single day can be positively seen as a little repayment of a vast debt.

So, remember Columbus Day! Be proud of being an American, and be thankful that Columbus made that possible!

Justin Shelby is doing a lot better today! He is conscious and responsive. This is a major answer to a lot of peoples' prayers. As tomorrow is the first day of the week after the event, it looks like a long hard time is finally coming to an end. Praise be to God!

My blog is over a year old, now. I started it October the first of last year, and now it's October the eigth of this year. I've come a long way since then.

Curiously, I'm reading the same things now in my Romantic Literature class as I was a year ago in Torrey. We have moved on to Coleridge, leaving Wordsworth behind us for the moment.

Coleridge's style of poetry is more enticing to me than Wordsworth's. His descriptions of nature, I think, fit the sensibility that I have had tempered in my experiences in the mountains. Anyway, I've enjoyed what I've been reading so far. Today in class we began discussing "Kubla Khan." This poem is the most eerie pieces of poetry that I have ever read. I literally tremble when contemplating it for any length of time. I suppose further study would eradicate this intensity of response, but for the moment it is thrilling.

The most directly pleasing aspects of this poem is its power to replicate in your soul the exact feelings described in the metaphor. This, to me, is a powerful argument that what is described in the poem is not only Nature and inspiration, but our nature, from which inspiration flows. The pleasurable fear it produces is a result of it describing in pleasing terms what I am like, both good, evil and powerful in my tremendously vital imagination. When I say pleasing I do not mean "so much fun inside of myself" but rather I am attempting to capture the natural movement of the soul towards beauty which results from reading beautiful language. The poet draws us with his eloquence to imagine his metaphor, and then we realize its power, and withdraw instinctively from the disturbing quality it possesses, and perhaps feel a little betrayed by a poet who demonstrates, and then claims, a powerful authority over us.

Anyway, here's the poem, which was published by Coleridge preceded by this introduction:

Kubla Khan

IN Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea. 5
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills
Where blossom'd many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills, 10
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But O, that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted 15
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced;
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst 20
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion 25
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reach'd the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war! 30

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device, 35
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she play'd, 40
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me,
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long, 45
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair! 50
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Cute kittens!

This picture on Dustin's site made me do a google image search for kittens. Kittens sure are cute. They're so small! And they've got big eyes, and big feet! Cats really are wonderful creatures to have as pets. I wish I didn't have a cat allergy. Die nose die!

Doom the movie?

Oh the horrors that this may unleash.

Ghengis Khan's Palace?

Looks like they might have found the Khan rulers palace. Sweet. Genghis Khan connected East and West, destroyed the Islamic Caliphate of the Middle East (or what was left of it) and threatened Europe. His followers maintained a peaceful trade route from China to Europe, letting Marco Polo travel overland to China. Very sweet to find out more about him.

I've been watching the Mount Saint Helens cam pretty religiously lately. And today I was totally watching when it erupted! It's still frame, but it was fun none the less to be one of the first people to see the images. I'm so cyber-connected it's not even funny.

Looking at Lem's pictures of the Joshua Tree trip make me want to go back there again. The sky's so blue, it just looks pleasant. I love California, it's so beautiful.

I love the desert, especially in Joshua Tree's exotic high desert vallies and rocky outcroppings. The sun kisses it intensely under the clear blue dome towering above you.

I also like the spaciousness, the wide open freedom. I noticed today how each house of the city is a person-space. There is so little non-peopled space around me right now. But if I drove to Joshua Tree there would be easily accessible, non-peopled wilderness. It is awesome.

The ocean is pretty much self-explanatorily awesome. In session it struck me that standing on the beach and gazing out over the ocean is like our perception of God sometimes. We can see the ocean, and recognize that it is the ocean. We can even describe some positive things about it. We can also describe it by remarking on what it is not, it's limitless, it's depthless, etc. Same with God. We can see Him sometimes, and we can know some things about Him, but He extends far far far out of our range of sight. And that's just the surface. There are inexhaustible depths below His relations to us.

And of course, California's mountains are some of the most beautiful in America. The dizzying sheer plunges in the Sierra Nevada provide ample food for a beauty starved soul. Crystal lakes forested thickly by arrow-straight pines, marching in rows up into the granite wilderness make me home sick. I realized that I only got to go to Mammoth once this summer. That's really sad. I miss the sun drenched alpine meadows nestled amongst solid granite towers so much. Shoot, it makes me homesick imagining it.

Must read more Wordsworth, must mature imaginative faculty, to be able to connect in my parlor to the most sublime natural things. There's a transition from loving California: the Romantics. I don't know if Wordsworth's ideas are the best, but the man loved nature, and the man connected to it in a unique way from which we can learn at least a route of pleasure.

I'm going to bed now, because it's very late. I'm staying up mostly to listen to a Smashing Pumpkin's CD of Phil's. I enjoy early 90s rock a lot more than most things that are being made today, and a heck of a lot more than all the 80s junk that's being shoved in our face recently.

The Debates:

The political debates, for me, a decided voter, are still a fascinating spectatcle.

Here are some of Bob Novak's notes from the debate, on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/blog/09/30/novak.blog/

Hugh Hewitt's blog weighs in with commentary and a scorecard:

http://hughhewitt.com/#postid973


My thoughts:

In the beginning I was a little disappointed in Bush, because I found him repeating the same theme in the same way too often. He kept pressing Kerry's view on Iraq, some times in ways I thought were unnecessary. An addendum might be that I am not your swing voter, and so my responses may not be accurately generalized.

Kerry's view of Iraq came off very weak, all the same. He refused to say that Iraq was a mistake, when he was asked, and tried to synthesize his old statments, of Iraq being a threat, and agreeing we needed to go in, while condemning Bush's choice and lamenting our mess over there. I found his synthesis required straight out contradiction, and was ultimately convoluted untruths. It would be better if he committed one way or the other. Bush does not have this problem.

Interestingly, Kerry claims greater subtlety than Bush. Bush is not subtle in the debate, true, he is straightforward. Kerry is less direct, but I don't see him as being subtle in any consistent or logical way. Major bummer for him.

I had wished that Bush had addressed the development of tactical nuclear weapons jab. It was a good move on Kerry's part. It reflects powerfully his view of the world, which is much less US-centric than Bush's. For example: the "global test" cited by Kerry for discerning the proper time for pre-emptive strike.

I used to think that way, until I read Shakespeare's King John. Now I'm convinced that serving another people above your own would be a wicked way to lead. Bush's duty is to his country, and he recognizes this. To what does Kerry owe his allegiance first and foremost?

I watched Andy Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind today.

How happy is the blameless Vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sun-shine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resigned.

-Alexander Pope, from Eloise to Abelard.

The movie is a creative story surrounding the relationship of a man, Joel, played by Jim Carrey, and Clementine, played by Kate Winslet. Because of the rocky nature of their relationship, after one year Clementine decides to erase all of her memories of Joel, without telling him. It was an impulsive decision to break up with him.

Joel decides to exact his revenge by following suit. But, as the memories disappear he realizes how much he treasures them, and a great deal of the movie takes place inside his head, as he frantically attempts to rescue whatever memories that he can, while the crew of the company he has hired works feverishly to finish the job he hired them to do.

The movie ends up being an enjoyable meditation on the nature of relationships, their troubles, and the solution to these troubles. It reminds me of the river Lethe, at the top of Purgatory in heaven. However, the erasure of memories in Dante had a nobler purpose. It was the final purgation of all evil, and the memories were re-instated with the holy context given to all of life in the vision of God that is the felicity of Paradise.

The movie is rated R, though, so it's to be approached with caution: it has a lot of swearing and some sexual content. That's not too suprising.

I registered on-line today to get a free Stat Counter for my site! I look forward to seeing all the neat information I can get. Thanks to Phil for the tip. If you want one, it's easy, free, and hasn't got any spam attatched or anything! Check it out at www.statcounter.com.

Banana Phone, meet the Badgers.

I was in Joshua Tree this weekend with Phil, Lem, Dustin, Joe, and Tim.

It was fun. It was kinda hot, though, in the 90s. We camped at Black Rock, which is actually barely on the outskirts of the park, and you can't access any of the rest of the park from it. It doesn't have any of the rocks, but it does have nice fauna and flora. It is also a little higher than the rest of the park, so we were hoping that would moderate the temperature a bit. It's also the closest part of the park.

I learned a little more about coyotes on this trip. They were all around our campsite, I think because they can get water there. At night we would hear them singing, a burst now and again would bely their nearness. The night we arrived I saw one run by our campsite in the moonlight. I really could see its shadow better than its body, but it sped by like a hovering ghost. It looked supernatural. Later, as I stood, admiring the morning's golden radiance on the desert, a jack rabbit burst out of a nearby bush, maybe 3 or 4 feet away from me on my left, and sped thumping by, ears flat on his head. Immediately following this a coyote burst out of the bush, saw me, made a quick left turn, slowed to a lope, and disappeared behind a bush several yards away. I followed, curious to see more of the dog, but he was not to be found. This is despite me constantly watching the bush for further movement, and looking in the desert all around it. It is as if it disappeared. His craftiness really took me by surprise, but it reminded me again of the Coyote of Navajo legends.

Staplers!

Staplers are a wondrous invention of the Civilized World, designed to organize and collect our lives into handy manageable stacks.

One can call these inventions any number of things, but one of the best things to call them is "click-clicks." Why? Because that's what they sound like when you use them, which is onomatopeia. Murmur is another good word that's onomatopeiac. My girlfriend has introduced me to this innovative presentation of the concept of Stapler with her poetic genius.

My girlfriend is a Stapler Goddess. She dwells on Olympus in the mailroom. Her favorite staplers are small. That way they are cute and handy. These staplers are therefore the most blessed of all, as she pays them special attention. She is a good goddess, unlike all those other amoral Greek deities. We're all lucky to have her looking out for our office supplies.

All Hail Queen Libby! Majestic Goddess of the Click-Click! Beauty weilding staples of healing and comfort!

The Prophet of the Goddess speaks, there is a revelation. "Keep clicking on."

The revelation is over. Go back to your meaningless lives.

Whoa! What's this? Dustin Guenther has a BLOG! Check it out!

Dustin's Blog is SO COOL!

Check out Banana Phone on Phil's site!

Early one morning
With time to kill
I borrowed Jebb’s rifle
And sat on a hill
I saw a lone rider
Crossing the plain
I drew a bead on him
To practice my aim

My brother’s rifle
Went of in my hand
A shot rang out
Across the land
The horse, he kept running
The rider was dead
I hung my head
I hung my head

I set off running
To wake from the dream
My brother’s rifle
Went into the sheen
I kept on running
Into the south lands
That’s where they found me
My head and my hands

The sheriff he asked me
Why had I run
And then it came to me
Just what I had done
And all for no reason
Just one peace of lead
I hung my head
I hung my head

Here in the court house
The whole town was there
I see the judge
High up in the chair
Explain to the court room
What went through you mind
And we’ll ask the jury
What verdict they find

I felt the power
Of death over life
I orphaned his children
I widowed his wife
I begged their forgiveness
I wish I was dead
I hung my head
I hung my head

I hung my head
I hung my head

Early one morning
With time to kill
I see the gallows
Up on a hill
And out in the distance
A trick of the brain
I see a lone rider
Crossing the plain

And he’d come to fetch me
To see what they’d done
And we’d ride together
To kingdom come
I prayed for god’s mercy
For soon I’d be dead
I hung my head
I hung my head

I hung my head
I hung my head

I like the Johnny Cash version of this song.

A few items of interest:

1) This website contains interesting flash animations that involve kitty cats in music videos. Some of them are creative, but I can't vouch for all of them. Trippy. So, check out Rather Good

2) Tonight I'm going to enjoy some free tickets, courtesy of the Torrey Honors program, to see the Lord of the Rings symphony at the Hollywood Bowl. This is my first time going to the Bowl, and the music's good. I'm looking forward to it.

3) I was thinking about Chesterton's article today about America, when I happened upon a section in my historiography that peaked my interest. It talked about a Tory historian who was exiled from America. An American exile seems strange to me. But it's not. If you disagree with the Creed of America (our Constitution), then you haven't got any real call to be an American. And Chesterton talked about it, but the full implications were driven home.

In other countries, you can have different ideas about government and live there, because the government isn't based on an idea, but on a state of affairs. But in America, the social contract is defined by the ideas in the Constitution. Doesn't this entail those that are living document advocates of the Constitution should be thrown out of the country? They disagree the document means anything, anyway, in a proper sense of meaning. :-)

So, this kinda ticks a guy off:

Spanish Newspaper advertisement

There's some controversy on how to properly translate it. I take it passively, as a charitable translation, and am still offended. One spanish blogger diagrees. He says you should translate it actively. The two ways to take it are: 1) You can do a lot in a day, imagine what can happen in three months. Or, 2) A lot can happen in a day, imagine what can happen in three months. My initial translation was the second, as I said, because I don't think people would be that inhumane. But, if you think about, it's still an example of sensationalistic News reporting that is trying to make money explicitly off other people's suffering.

HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!


Visit the The International Talk Like a Pirate Day Website

More Chesterton on our great country:

It may have seemed something less than a compliment to compare the American Constitution to the Spanish Inquisition. But oddly enough, it does involve a truth, and still more oddly perhaps, it does involve a compliment. The American Constitution does resemble the Spanish Inquisition in this: that it is founded on a creed. America is the only nation in the world that is founded on creed. That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence; perhaps the only piece of practical politics that is also theoretical politics and also great literature. It enunciates that all men are equal in their claim to justice, that governments exist to give them that justice, and that their authority is for that reason just. It certainly does condemn anarchism. and it does also by inference condemn atheism, since it clearly names the Creator as the ultimate authority from whom these equal rights are derived. Nobody expects a modern political system to proceed logically in the application of such dogmas, and in the matter of God and Government it is naturally God whose claim is taken more lightly. The point is that there is a creed, if not about divine, at least about human things.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/martin.ward/gkc/books/america.html It's from a book he wrote on visiting America (What I Saw in America) published in 1922.

I think he has a better idea about the nature of America than most Americans have anymore. It's a common sense, clear cut, obvious interpretation. If people'd look, they'd see he's absolutely right. I hope that America doesn't forget the Declaration of Independence, because without it we're no better than the Terror, and we're bound to be in for it sooner or later.

Here is an article by Chesterton titled: On American Morals. It is dated, of course. It seems to be from the 1920s, and was published in '29.

His general criticisms are that America's moral values are not based on any sort of reasonable system, but rather on irrational association. I wonder if he is not in some way right. Alcohol is by no means inherently evil in and of itself. It has no moral quality. For that matter, neither does cocaine. But, on the other hand, things can be dangerous and unfit for the commonweal because of mankinds' weaknesses.

The last paragraph I found particularly punchy and thought provoking because Chesterton attacks racism. I wonder, however, whether or not Chesterton is attacking a particular American quality or a particular human quality. The quality of irrationally associating doesn't seem inherently human, though it may be inherently democratic. I wonder how fostered American idealogy is by those in power. If you can create a population that's hedonistic it will assist the selling of goods. If you can create a non-thinking populace, then demagogues will find power much more easily.

If you haven't ever seen Johnny Cash's video of "Hurt" you probably should. It's the most powerfully sad music video that I've ever seen. It makes me so lonesome I could cry.

Lem took this cool picture of me. Man, I'm cool!



He has a few other pictures from a trip a small group of us took to Denny's last night. It was pretty fun. I drank ranch dressing with a straw.