A Valley of Dave's Restless Mind

New found delights: DM Stith.

2011-04-12T12:52:00.004+10:00

I was recently put onto this guy by a friend. He makes me feel like my mind is fizzing away like a Berroca. It's a good thing.

That will be all.

Aaron Weiss (Mewithoutyou) gives some advice to the youngsters...

2011-04-12T10:43:00.002+10:00

Apart from the nominalism, some great wisdom from Brother Weiss.

Some random thoughts on the 'femme fatale'...

2011-04-05T10:16:00.004+10:00

I am currently in the middle of a bunch of assessments for uni so, as you could have imagined, I have been re-watching episodes of Joss Whedon’s spin-off series of Buffy, Angel. This got me to thinking about the archetype of the femme fatale in modern pop-culture.

Apparently there has been some criticism (or a couple of online columnists have been generating the impression of criticisms) of a film that I have been interested in seeing for a while called Sucker Punch on the grounds that the film is ‘sexist’. The reported criticisms stem from the fact that a great deal of the story takes place in a brothel and depicts women being abused and subjugated by men. In response to such allegations the film’s director and cast have claimed that the film is actually empowering to women as it shows the central characters overcoming their oppressive environment with the strength of their minds- a strength visualized with various elaborate kung fu fights against giant CGI robots etc. Now, I haven’t seen the film and am therefore not in a position to pass judgement on whether the criticisms (if they actually exist) are valid, but this kind of defence against accusations of potential exploitation on the basis of empowerment reminded me of an issue that I’ve had for a while with the presentation of women in pop-culture, and, in particular, sci-fi. Film-makers, such as Snyder (Sucker Punch) or Whedon are constantly claiming to be (and are praised for) creating powerful female figures, in order to develop role-models for young women and to subvert assumed gender-roles in our culture. However, it seems to me that people like Whedon (or *shudder* Rodriguez), choose to create powerful heroines and villains specifically to add a legitimacy to their exploitation and objectification. As long as the woman in question is smart, strong and confident, we sensitive postmodern men can feel comfortable with the fact that our heroine is nothing more than a compilation and projection of male desire and is just as enslaved to masculine expectations as good old Barbara from Night of The Living Dead or even Tabitha from Bewitched.

What do you think?

(P.S. For the most blatant example of the kind of thinly veiled exploitation that I’m talking about, check out Whedon’s latest show, Doll House!)

May we reasonably hope that all people may be saved?

2011-04-01T16:26:00.000+11:00

Your thoughts?

Stanley Hauerwas on The Life of The Theologian.

2011-03-01T00:12:00.002+11:00

I came across this interview while thinking about the next post I was going to do and after watching it felt compelled to show it to as many people as possible. It goes for about an hour but is well worth watching if you can spare the time.

Homosexuality and The Church...

2011-02-22T21:00:00.002+11:00

Same Sex: Homophobia and the Church from CPX on Vimeo.

What I have learnt.

2011-02-20T15:23:00.003+11:00

I was talking to a friend of mine recently about the fact that I was coming to the end of five long years of Philosophical study when he asked me a rather terrifying question- "so have you come to any conclusions?" Wow! What a blow that was! I didn't for the life of me know how to answer him! Surely after all this time, after all the books that I've had to read (or half read), surely I must know something!

Well after pondering this cruel question for some time I find myself sheepishly returning to the old Socratic cliche that "I only know that I know nothing". Perhaps a little hyperbolic (in that I have actually learnt a few particular things), but true none-the-less. We live in a culture where epistemic humility is perhaps the most under-rated of virtues, where vocational training is mistaken for education, where politicians are accused of flip-flopping if they change their mind, or of being political idealists (as if this were some kind of evil) if they "stick to their guns", and where conclusions are assessed by the desirability of their outcomes rather than by the strength of their arguments. Perhaps the most damaging outworking of this lack of intellectual virtue to our souls, however, is the tendency of experts in particular areas of inquiry to use their understanding of their field to sell wholesale worldviews. A physicist or biologist feels that her understanding of the mechanics of the universe (or a small part there of) qualifies her to speak on the meaning of it, the psychologist takes his understanding of the factors that are likely to bring about subjective well being and believes that he is qualified to speak to what it means to have a worthwhile existence, or, perhaps most puzzling, the economist takes their understanding of the exchange of goods between persons and makes claims as to what it means to have a just society.

What I have learnt is that the healthy soul makes no unjustified claims to Truth, but more importantly, that the place of truth in our culture is lamentable.

The Pope Vs. The Dalai Lama

2011-02-20T14:31:00.001+11:00

Enjoy.

A website recommendation...

2011-02-14T18:01:00.002+11:00

I've recently been thinking about helping to set-up open discussion afternoons with some people from my Church for anyone from our area who want to discuss life's big questions. In preparation for this I've been searching the interwebs for ideas about questions that could be used to spark conversation and found a great website called soulpancake . Soulpancake is basically a website dedicated to encouraging open and honest discussion of spirituality and philosophy. So... go to it... and look at it...

That will be all.

Radical Feminism, Radical Marxism, Radical Love: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Social Justice

2011-02-05T15:56:00.003+11:00

Thanks to Dawn & Pete for the heads up on this talk. Really thought provoking.

A fresh struggle with the problem of evil.

2011-01-29T17:21:00.001+11:00

As many people know (well a comparatively tiny portion of the community), I have thought, written and spoken about the problem of evil many times over the past few years. By the problem of evil I simply mean the perceived (or perhaps genuine) contradiction between the existence of both extreme moral evil (people acting in decidedly unhuman ways) and suffering brought about as a result of human agency or natural mechanisms, with the existence of the God of the Bible. The answer that I have come back to time and again concerning these things is that God will show his justice through making all things new and somehow salve the wounds of the suffering of the world as it is presently, with the overpowering goodness of the new creation. Furthermore, God has overcome human evil with good, both by demonstrating the severity of sin through taking upon himself its consequences, and by overcoming our genuine (not just felt) moral guild by paying its price for us. I have never believed these points to be a ‘solution’, but rather they have given myself and others enough to move along in faith.

However, recently I have been struggling with the idea of God’s justice in a slightly different way. Over the last few months I have been working as a youth worker with a well known secular charity that seeks to provide care for the most vulnerable and marginalized children and young people in society. The issue that has come up for me here is not simply that the people that I have worked with have had grievous evil inflicted on them (which they have), but that the type of evil that some of them have experienced has left them with an inability to develop into ‘good’ people. For example, realistically, a significant portion of the children that I have worked with who have experienced abuse will become abusers of children themselves. The question that I have been struggling with is simply “how can this moral chaos possibly be resolved with justice and mercy”?

Now I know that any theologians/philosophers reading this will see that there is not much logical weight to this problem, nor is it a profoundly original question, however, existentially, this is perhaps one of the most difficult questions that I have dealt with as a thinking Christian.

Your thoughts?

Plato's analogy of the cave in claymation (at last!)

2011-01-25T16:05:00.001+11:00

Enjoy!

Moralizing with our guts...

2011-01-25T15:14:00.003+11:00

"I've been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and frankly speaking, between you and me, I have come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains."

— Nick Hornby (High Fidelity)

I recently listened to a lecture by Sam Harris based on his latest book The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values , and was reminded of the above quote. Harris claims that his latest work is an argument for moral realism or objectivism on the basis of scientific data alone, claiming that such a work is necessary to combat the Theist's cornering of the market on objective morality. A noble goal but, unfortunately, a dismal failure. Nowhere does Harris show how one can move from the bare facts (the 'is') to any sort of transcendent value (the 'ought') but instead casually dismisses this most basic of philosophical problems, with the profound argument that 'we all just know that human flourishing is the goal of ethics'. This maybe so, but science isn't telling Harris this, instead it is his 'gut', or rather his moral appetite that has been cultivated over 1500 years of Christian civilization. All Harris seems to be doing in this work is beginning with an inherited moral intuition or sense and constructing a narrative out of various facts to justify these feelings (in fact most of the book seems to be concerned with what science can tell us about the best ways of pursuing this preconceived notion of the good rather than justifying what one identifies the good as!).

The only way that I can see morality being more than a mere Nietzschean imposition of desire onto the world (which is all Harris is doing), is if morality is actually foundational to the universe, and the only way I can see this being the case is if the universe is the product of a moral agent.

Peace out.

Apologetics for under tens...

2011-01-11T03:00:00.001+11:00

This is from one of my new fav. TV shows, 'Outnumbered'. Enjoy.

The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson

2011-01-08T17:18:00.004+11:00

Over the first few days of this new year I have been perplexing myself trying to make sense of the messy and disjointed narrative that is my Christian pilgrimage (btw Scott Pilgrim is a really good film). As a teenager, when I first learnt about Jesus, the narrative that I was given of the Christian life was basically that you begin lost and sinful, you have a dramatic encounter with The Lord, and then you get slowly more holy from that day on. Unfortunately, this is just not my story, and, as I get to form deeper relationships with people who have been Christians for extended periods of time, it seems that very few people actually get this sanitized version of discipleship. Anyway, I was pondering these things and making myself terribly miserable when I remembered Thompson's poem 'The Hound of Heaven'. I always find this poem so refreshing as it turns my gaze away from myself and reminds me that the central character of my story is actually God and that rather than my life being a series of pathetic struggles to improve my soul, it is actually a story of God's pursuit of me despite my constant fleeing.

Enjoy.

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbéd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”

I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,
Yet was I sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.)
But, if one little casement parted wide,
The gust of His approach would clash it to:
Fear wist not to evade, as Love wist to pursue.
Across the margent of the world I fled,
And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,
Smiting for shelter on their clangèd bars:
Fretted to dulcet jars
And silvern chatter the pale ports o’ the moon.
I said to Dawn: Be sudden—to Eve: Be soon;
With thy young skiey blossoms heap me over
From this tremendous Lover—
Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see!
I tempted all His servitors, but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy,
In faith to Him their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.
To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,
The long savannahs of the blue;
Or whether, Thunder-driven,
They clanged his chariot ’thwart a heaven,
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o’ their feet:—
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Still with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbéd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following Feet,
And a Voice above their beat—
“Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.”

I sought no more that after which I strayed
In face of man or maid;
But still within the little children’s eyes
Seems something, something that replies,
They at least are for me, surely for me!
I turned me to them very wistfully;
But just as their young eyes grew sudden fair
With dawning answers there,
Their angel plucked them from me by the hair.
“Come then, ye other children, Nature’s—share
With me” (said I) “your delicate fellowship;
Let me greet you lip to lip,
Let me twine you with caresses,
Wantoning
With our Lady-Mother’s vagrant tresses,
Banqueting
With her in her wind-walled palace,
Underneath her azured dais,
Quaffing, as your taintless way is,
From a chalice
Lucent-weeping out of the dayspring.”
So it was done:
I in their delicate fellowship was one—
Drew the bolt of Nature’s secrecies.
I knew all the swift importings
On the wilful face of skies;
I knew how the clouds arise
Spuméd of the wild sea-snortings;
All that’s born or dies
Rose and drooped with; made them shapers
Of mine own moods, or wailful or divine;
With them joyed and was bereaven.
I was heavy with the even,
When she lit her glimmering tapers
Round the day’s dead sanctities.
I laughed in the morning’s eyes.
I triumphed and I saddened with all weather,
Heaven and I wept together,
And its sweet tears were salt with mortal mine;
Against the red throb of its sunset-heart
I laid my own to beat,
And share commingling heat;
But not by that, by that, was eased my human smart.
In vain my tears were wet on Heaven’s grey cheek.
For ah! we know not what each other says,
These things and I; in sound I speak—
Their sound is but their stir, they speak by silences.
Nature, poor stepdame, cannot slake my drouth;
Let her, if she would owe me,
Drop yon blue bosom-veil of sky, and show me
The breasts o’ her tenderness:
Never did any milk of hers once bless
My thirsting mouth.
Nigh and nigh draws the chase,
With unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy;
And past those noised Feet
A voice comes yet more fleet—
“Lo! naught contents thee, who content’st not Me.”

Naked I wait Thy love’s uplifted stroke!
My harness piece by piece Thou hast hewn from me,
And smitten me to my knee;
I am defenceless utterly.
I slept, methinks, and woke,
And, slowly gazing, find me stripped in sleep.
In the rash lustihead of my young powers,
I shook the pillaring hours
And pulled my life upon me; grimed with smears,
I stand amid the dust o’ the mounded years—
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
My days have crackled and gone up in smoke,
Have puffed and burst as sun-starts on a stream.
Yea, faileth now even dream
The dreamer, and the lute the lutanist.
Even the linked fantasies, in whose blossomy twist
I swung the earth a trinket at my wrist,
Are yielding; cords of all too weak account
For earth with heavy griefs so overplussed.
Ah! is Thy love indeed
A weed, albeit an amaranthine weed,
Suffering no flowers except its own to mount?
Ah! must—
Designer infinite!—
Ah! must Thou char the wood ere Thou can’st limn with it?
My freshness spent its wavering shower i’ the dust;
And now my heart is as a broken fount,
Wherein tear-drippings stagnate, spilt down ever
From the dank thoughts that shiver
Upon the sighful branches of my mind.
Such is; what is to be?
The pulp so bitter, how shall taste the rind?
I dimly guess what Time in mists confounds;
Yet ever and anon a trumpet sounds
From the hid battlements of Eternity;
Those shaken mists a space unsettle, then
Round the half-glimpséd turrets slowly wash again.
But not ere him who summoneth
I first have seen, enwound
With glooming robes purpureal, cypress-crowned;
His name I know, and what his trumpet saith.
Whether man’s heart or life it be which yields
Thee harvest, must Thy harvest-fields
Be dunged with rotten death?

Now of that long pursuit
Comes on at hand the bruit;
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
“And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!
Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I makes much of naught” (He said),
“And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited—
Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child’s mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!”
Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
“Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.”

Francis Thompson (1859-1907)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ero Cras!

2010-12-24T09:36:00.002+11:00

December 24th: Ero Cras (Tomorrow I Shall Come!)

For those of you playing at home, if you a to take the first letter of every one of the titles from the last seven days you can form a backwards acrostic which spells E-R-O-C-R-A-S which means somethings like "tomorrow I shall come", or "I shall arrive tomorrow". Those clever monks!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Happy Christmas,

Love Dave & Sez.

O Emmanuel

2010-12-23T09:26:00.002+11:00

December 23rd: O Emmanuel!

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, hope of the nations and their saviour: come and save us, O Lord our God.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Readings: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 8:8, Matthew 1:23, Haggai 2:7

O come, o come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear,

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Fr. Barron on the genealogy of Jesus.

2010-12-23T09:21:00.003+11:00

As many of you know, I subscribe to Fr. Barron on youtube and find him to be a wonderful commentator on contemporary culture. This is his latest vid. which is basically just an exposition of the opening verses of the gospel of Matthew. Enjoy.

(Man! A bunch of Catholic stuff on here of late! Mum will be pleased!)

Pascal on desire and belief.

2010-12-22T12:23:00.003+11:00

In his Pensées , Blaise Pascal gives the following advice for those who wish to convince others to become religious:

Make religion attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is. Worthy of reverence because it really understands human nature. Attractive because it promises true good.

I was reminded of this quote as I listened to the song bellow today, from what is probably my favourite Australian album, Sunset Studies by Augie March:

There is no such place, o yes I have seen it too
Just a little different from how you do,
A river winding blue among the dunes and a marble bed
A sun that doesn't set but settles.
There is no such place.
If I lower mine to yours would you kiss me on the face?
If you're looking for an unmarked place,
There is no such place -
Blasted in appearance and a composite of fearful minutes
Frozen in the waking instant
Longing, things I long for,
Peaceful nights, strangers at the door,
O come in, come in,
You've been here before.
There is no such place, so perhaps we have a reason
For our long and falling face,
Above all it would be warm but we would keep our heads all
Clear as Winter, storms would be a sight to make us shiver
But without the chill
Of thinking all is hither-thither -
Longing, Things I long for,
Peaceful nights, strangers at the door,
O come in, come through the door,
You've been here before,
You've been here before
There is no such place, o yes I have seen it too
Just a little different from how you do,
A house upon a hill with no windows
Just a can upon the sill
To catch your tears
To feed your garden.

I find this song so moving as it speaks to one of our most basic of fears, namely that, that which we place the greatest portion of our hope in may turn out to be an illusion or a 'chasing after the wind'. For many, this is a reason not to hope or believe in anything- after all, the dogma of the cynic is to expect little and never be disappointed. However, for Pascal appealing to desire is central to apologetics. According to Pascal we must first show non-believers the way in which the Christian hope fulfills their deepest longings, and only then show them that it is in fact true.

Yes! 'wish-fulfilment dreams' we spin to cheat
our timid hearts and ugly Fact defeat!
Whence came the wish, and whence the power to dream,
or some things fair and others ugly deem?
All wishes are not idle, nor in vain
fulfilment we devise -- for pain is pain,
not for itself to be desired, but ill;
or else to strive or to subdue the will
alike were graceless; and of Evil this
alone is deadly certain: Evil is.

J.R.R. Tolkien, Mythopoeia

O Rex Gentium

2010-12-22T12:10:00.003+11:00

December 22nd: O Rex Gentium (O King of Nations)

O King of the nations, you alone can fulfil their desires: cornerstone, binding all together: come and save the the creature you fashioned from the dust of the earth.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Readings: Jeremiah 30:7-11, Revelation 15:3, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11. Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6

O come, thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Oriens

2010-12-21T16:55:00.002+11:00

December 21st: O Oriens (O Dawn)

O Morning Star, splendour of the night eternal and bright sun of righteousness: come and bring light to those who dwell in darkness and walk in the shadow of death.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Readings: Numbers 24:15-17, Luke 1:78-79, Malachi 4:2

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer,
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee. O Israel.

O Clavis David

2010-12-20T13:43:00.003+11:00

20th of December: O Clavis David (O Key of David)

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and none can shut; you shut and none can open: come and free the captives from prison, and break down the walls of death.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Readings: Isaiah 22:22, Revelation 3:7

O come, thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse...

2010-12-19T20:30:00.003+11:00

Last week at our church a lovely Catholic lady shared with us a liturgical tradition that is designed to help believers prepare themselves for Advent. This tradition involves daily reflection on a particular antiphon that reflects some aspect of Jesus' identity, with Bible verses and prayers for each. I have really enjoyed reflecting on these things and have found it quite refreshing, so I thought I would get you guys to join in! So each day up until the 23rd I shall give you an antiphon some verses and a traditional prayer that will help us remember what a gift the coming of Jesus truly was. Unfortunately we are already 2 days behind so I will have to give you 3 today! But fear not! I hear that by doing three a day you could potentially receive super-powers.

Just as an aside, I find that this type of reflection is particularly helpful for me when I go through dry periods in my faith (which is most of the time). Evangelicals today seem to equate spontaneity with authenticity and as such are suspicious of anything like liturgy, ritual or even reading or praying the prayers of other saints. This is unfortunate. At times, I find it all but impossible to articulate to God what is going on in my heart, and sometimes my heart is such a mess that I can’t bare to bring it before God. This is where I think this kind of reflection can be helpful. Furthermore, through participating in ritual or tradition we can allow the words that we say and the actions we perform to actually shape our hearts so that they do indeed become truly ours and as such, they become truly authentic and reflections of whom we are as individuals and a community, a community which extends through time and space!

December 17th O Sapientia (O wisdom)

O wisdom, coming forth from the Most High, filling all creation and reigning to the ends of the earth; come and teach us the way of truth.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Bible readings: Ecclesiastes 24:3-9, Proverbs 1:20, 8:9 and 1 Corinthians 1:30

O come, thou wisdom from on high
Who madest all in earth and sky,
Creating us from dust and clay:
To reveal salvation’s way.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

December 18th O Adonai (O Lord of Might)

O Lord of Lords, and ruler of the House of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush, and gave him the law on Sinai: come with your outstretched arm and ransom us.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

Readings: Exodus 3:1-6, Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:6

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes in Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

December 19th O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)

O root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the nations; kings will keep silence before you for whom the nations long; come and save us and delay no longer.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Readings: Isaiah 11:1-4, Romans 15:12, Revelation 5:5

O come, O Rod of Jesse free,
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

"There is no sin."

2010-12-15T18:45:00.005+11:00

Sarah and I have been attending a great little Church in Newtown recently that has been a great encouragement to us both. Its made up of around twenty or so wonderful people of a range of different backgrounds whose openness, honesty and generosity of spirit, I believe, exemplifies what it is to be a community. For a number of reasons this little congregation is in the process of making some potentially big changes that may fundamentally alter the way it operates. This, as you could probably imagine, has lead to a lot of discussion and soul searching from its leadership and members, who are anxious to function in a way that best serves God and the community.

Last night Sez and I attended a meeting to discuss the future of our little church. During this meeting my mind turned (as it often does) to a film. The film that came to mind was well known Swedish drama called As it is in Heaven . For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, As it is in Heaven is about a world renowned Swedish conductor who is forced to give up music due to serious health problems. Because of this he decides to return to his childhood home in an isolated rural community, where he hesitantly agrees to conduct the local church choir. Over time this choir begins to take on role of an alternate community to the stuffy and judgemental Church that it belongs to and ultimately breaks all ties with the church. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the conflict between the pastor, who is presented as controlling and judgmental, and his timid wife who eventually embraces this alternative, life affirming community. The climax of the conflict between this husband and wife is a scene where the pastor is accusing the choir of embracing sin, and after hearing this accusation his wife goes to a cupboard in their home and pulls out the pastors secret stash of porn. Upon doing this the wife says "there is no sin!"

This sentiment that there is no such thing as sin, I think, is meant to constitute the core doctrine of the alternative community of the choir. What I find interesting about this is that one of the solidifying moments for the choir is when the members stop turning a blind eye to the abuse of one of its members by her husband. Instead the community gathers around this woman and enables her to find the courage to leave her husband. The strange thing is that the only thing that could lead such a community to protect one of its members in this way is actually recognizing and naming a sin as just that, SIN. The problem with the church in this film is not, therefore, that it believes in sin, but that it obsesses over some, yet ignores others.

If a church is to truly be a community, then it must be willing to both forgive and retain sins (John 20:23).

What do I do with the pieces of a broken heart?

2010-12-14T03:27:00.004+11:00

I thought I would write a post to share with you some of the things that are going on for me at the moment in my thinking and faith. I have recently been re-diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from trauma I experienced over a long period time throughout my childhood. What this means for me is that my mind has learned to protect itself by withdrawing itself from its environment when it is reminded of trauma experienced in formative years. One way that this desire to disengage from my immediate surroundings manifests itself is with an obsession with “big ideas” such as the existence of God, the meaning of life and what it means to be human. By focusing on things such as these I have learned to escape from the pain of dealing with the brokenness of my heart and mind.

If I am to be perfectly honest with myself I would have to say that another way one could say that I have chosen to escape dealing with my immediate surroundings is through embracing the Christian faith in my adolescent years. Karl Marx (or Freud) would explain my conversion like this;

Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.

(Marx, Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.)

So what am I to do with this? Shall I throw off the shackles of religion as a mere crutch or an escapist fantasy? Well… no. While I acknowledge that my own particular psychology was instrumental in my conversion, it is now in spite of my psychology that I remain a Christian. Because of the way that my mind has learned to protect itself I find it all but impossible to fully trust or accept love from others. In addition to this I have learned never to believe that I shall receive anything that I hope for. Basically this means that I am preconditioned not to receive the basic elements of the Christian experience promised by Saint Paul, namely faith (trust), love and hope.

The reason that I remain a Christian is that I am persuaded of its truth. God has used my philosophical defence mechanism and allowed me to build enough of an intellectual foundation to maintain the belief that reality really is the way that Christianity describes it. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near enough to maintain a living relationship with God, but at times it is all that I can manage, and I believe (in my better moments) that God in his mercy is willing to accept this kernel of faith, and perhaps one day he shall bring enough healing for the fullness of faith to develop.

The thing which brings me the most hope in relation to this stuff is that The Bible is full of accounts of people who have the exact same experience of faith as me. Take for example this passage from Job;

But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

Or in the Psalms;

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?

The reason why passageges like these bring me hope is that they show that there is clearly plenty of room in Biblical Christianity for members of the elect who have just such an experience of faith as mine. Most importantly though, I am also encouraged by the fact that Christ himself promises that the Gospel is for people just like me:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

My hope is that one day Christ will take the ugliness and darkness of my narrative and shed the light of new creation onto it, transform and redeem it, so that in the new heavens and earth I will be able to look back and see myself as blessed.

More wisdom from Aaron Weiss...

2010-12-10T23:03:00.000+11:00

Your thoughts?

What makes Australians tick?

2010-12-08T17:56:00.003+11:00

Take me seriously: Hugh Mackay part l from CPX on Vimeo.

This is a fantastic interview from social researcher Hugh MacKay about his latest book 'What Makes us Tick?'. I find the notion of our sovereign desire being the need to be taken seriously, fascinating. I've also been thinking about the way in which this desire is reflected in pop-culture. The clearest evidence of this desire that I can think of in the arts is the archetypal unappreciated or undiscovered genius which has permeated throughout western cultural history since (at least) The Renaissance. I think the reason why we are attracted to films such as 'Good Will Hunting', 'The Pursuit of Happiness' (yuck!) or even one of my favourite films of all time 'Basquiat', is that we want desperately to identify with these figures all of whom have a hidden inner-value that others might discover if they were given the chance. What I think the Christian faith offers people (like myself) with such a desire is a God who can plumb the depths of our 'selves', revealing inadequacies and deficiencies, yes, but also declaring our ultimate value on the cross.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
(1 Cor 13:12)

I think that if we as a Church were to meditate on this desire of both ourselves and our neighbours a world of pastoral and apologetic opportunities could open up to us.

You can find the other parts of the interview above here.

The Gospel according to Ben...

2010-12-03T18:33:00.004+11:00

When I first started listening to Ben Harper in my mid-teens I used to hate his stuff with 'religious' content. This, I think, was because I was just starting out in the faith and as such was scared to embrace expressions of faith that weren't 'doctrinally pure', lest I invite God's wrath on me. I wish someone had told me that this was heretical.

AS I picked up Mr Harper's music again recently, I have been musing about the way in which growing in the faith involves an opening of the mind to hear the voice of truth wherever it is to be heard, rather than a closing of the mind (and ultimately the heart) for fear of lapsing into heresy. This is what I think the Bible means by developing a spirit of discernment. So often today I hear people in church circles describe discernment as a way of filtering out the people who are 'wrong' (we usually call them "unhelpful) so that we don't have to deal with them. However, true discernment takes place when the mature soul is able to take a myriad of truth claims and, holding them up to the light of truth, is willing to alter their view of the world accordingly.

For a really good treatment of this issue check out:

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll

Is masculinity inherently destructive?

2010-11-29T23:48:00.000+11:00

I thought that I would post briefly on this topic for a few reasons. Firstly, because it was recently White Ribbon Day here in Australia, a day which is meant to raise awareness about violence against women. Secondly, I have had many conversations over the years on this topic with people of all different backgrounds (one of which began with the question "why do all men hate women Dave?"), including in perhaps the most intimidating of contexts, an art history and theory tutorial. Thirdly, as a child I witnessed from an extremely early age (in fact my first memory includes) the abuse of a female by a male. Finally, I was recently sent a link to the website of an artist named Martin Firrell, who produced a thought provoking (to me at least)artwork called "All Men Are Dangerous". The artwork simply involved these words (ALL MEN ARE DANGEROUS) projected in bold letters onto the wall of a public building. This is what Firrell said about this piece on the website.

'I wanted to write one true thing, something that could be simply regarded as categorically and unchangingly true. At the time, there was intense debate, post 9/11, about terrorism and the role of religion in the modern world. And it struck me that the real issue was not ideological but the essential warring nature of mean. I believe there is a case to be made that masculinity itself is dangerous (important, valuable and necessary, but dangerous) and the good men of this world work to control and direct the inherit menace of their masculinity in order to be good men.' (Source)

I am not sure what to make of this. On face value everything in this statement seems to jive with reality, yet, at the same time, I can't help but resist this kind of sentiment as an attack on a central aspect of my identity (even if he affirms the value and necessity of masculinity).

It seems to me that what is truly destructive is a misdirected 'will to power' that seeks to orientate reality around the self. This is not, I think, an inherently masculine desire, rather, men seem to have typically possessed more obvious opportunities to pursue this desire. A case, I think, can certainly be made that men are typically more egocentric and therefore more susceptible to this kind of temptation, however I don't think egocentricity is at all necessary for us to fall into this vice. It appears to be obvious that one can so identify with a group or community that they effectively become an extension of the self and, therefore, through seeking to promote the interests of those closest to oneself one could simply be masking the same evil present in every narcissist, namely orientating the universe in such a way that ones needs are met and one is able to execute ones power. This seems to lie at the heart of all evils done in the name of nationalism and, perhaps even, religion.

These are just a couple of thoughts, I genuinely don't know quite what to make of this issue. What do you think?

P.S. The picture at the top of this post is the cover of an issue of a comic book called 'Y The Last Man'. The series depicts a world where all but one of the males on earth have been killed by a virus that women are immune to. Really interesting, give it a read.

But on a lighter note...

2010-11-25T16:48:00.000+11:00

This is one of my all time favourite songs.

The King Beetle on The Coconut Estate by Me Without You.

How to dine like a Christian...

2010-11-25T16:07:00.000+11:00

Today I took my Mum to the launch of a great initiative of the Christian Blind Missionary Society called 'Luke 14'. What CBM are attempting to do with this initiative is to equip and challenge churches to make their gatherings and ministries places where people with disabilities can feel welcome and needed.

This issue is of particular interest to me due largely to the fact that my Mum has been living with the effects of a severe stroke for 20 years. Ever since I was a child Mum has constantly insisted that, even more than her significant physical limitations, what she finds most difficult about being a person with a disability is being made to feel like nothing more than an inconvenience by the people around her. God forbid that she should experience this at a gathering of God's people.

Among the speakers was a quadriplegic Pastor who has written a book called 'You Owe me Dinner' which discusses the way in which Christ insisted that who we are willing to dine with is a clear indicator of the reality of our faith. Here is the passage on which both the book and the event were based:

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Luke 14 (NIV)

Imagine what it would look like if we took these words seriously.

Bellow is an add for the Luke 14 program as well as a link to the CBM website. If you are at all involved in church leadership perhaps you could think about implementing some of CBM's suggestions.

http://www.cbm.org.au/content/what-we-do/luke-14

In praise of too much 'book-learnin''...

2010-11-24T15:08:00.000+11:00

I have had the privledge being able to hear Professor Judge speak on numerous occasions and each time has been a great blessing. Due to the deep commitment he has had to his vocation (a concept that I briefly touched on here) Professor Judge is able to draw on an understanding of the development western civilization that only a handful of people in the world could match. Because of this he is able to present a powerful counter-narrative to the consciously anti-Christian ones presented in many academic disciplines.

If by chance you feel that you are being called to serve God through studying/teaching the humanities then I hope Prof. Judge might be an encouragement to you.

Here is the man himself on Christianity's impact on the development of science.

Professor Judge: Christianity and science from CPX on Vimeo.

It's the darkest side of my heart that dies when you come to me....

2010-11-21T14:13:00.000+11:00

Best line ever. These Guys (The Middle East) have such a special place in my heart. They could have one in yours too!

Why I’m not a Bible college student…

2010-11-21T12:41:00.000+11:00

I am often asked by people “when are you heading off to Bible college?” While a little presumptuous, I suppose it is an understandable question. After all, I do tend to rabbit on for hours on end about philosophical theology and philosophy of religion. I also spent a couple of years working for a church. However, seminary just isn’t on the cards for me, and here are a few reasons why.

1. Bible College is not a default option.
For many people the question seems to be “are there any reasons why I shouldn’t go to Bible college?” (or into Christian leadership for that matter). I don’t think this is very wise. As you are probably well aware, I have absolutely no problem with people engaging in study for its own sake, I myself am in the middle of getting a philosophical education simply because I’m hoping that it will make me a better person. However, the way in which colleges in Sydney seem to be set up, it is assumed that while studying theology you will be involved in some sort of Christian ministry/leadership and I do not think that this should be entered into lightly (more on this later).

Furthermore, I can’t help but feel that for many, college seems to be something of an escape. Recently, I came to the realization that in a couple of years I will be commencing a career (probably in social work), and with that will be entering the treadmill of mortgages, family, bills and four weeks annual leave. Suddenly, the idea of going to Bible college became very attractive to me. I’m not sure why this was. Possibly because it gave me another thing to work towards as opposed to having to deal with the present, possibly because it seemed more meaningful and glamorous, possibly because it would mean a level of recognition and affirmation from my Christian friends or perhaps it would just mean not having to deal with being surrounded by people with different opinions to me (who I would have to work with) and deal with the normal temptations that come with being a middle class white person.

2. All of life is valuable.
It seems to be the case, in my part of the world, that in evangelicalism there is a sharp distinction between the sacred and secular lives. This is an abnormality in the history of Protestantism. Historically, Protestants have affirmed both the priesthood of all believers (even people who aren’t priests!) as well as the sacredness of all of life- not just the religious bits! In this sense, whatever a Christian was called to do- whether preaching or planting or crops, exegesis or entertaining, counselling or computer science, the believer could do it for the glory of God, the service of the brethren and the stewardship of creation. This view seems, by and large, to merely get lip-service in evangelical circles today.

For my money, this is because we have adopted a utilitarian view of faith, where the value of any activity or vocation is worked out mathematically based on the amount of possible souls saved. This is bollocks. To find out why I think this is the case, listen to this talk here.

3. I’m not good enough.
This point is really quite simple. I just don’t think that I’m ready, or perhaps suited, for the responsibility that comes with expertise in theology, let alone for Christian leadership. I don’t see this as necessarily a bad thing, after all- for the reasons listed above- I believe my vocation to be as valuable as that of any number of evangelical celebrity preachers (I think I should do a post on celebrity preachers), even if it doesn’t centre around teaching the bible, or evangelism.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1

A podcast/blog recommendation...

2010-11-20T10:38:00.000+11:00

I friend of mine sent me a link to this http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/ great blog/podcast about philosophy/apologetics/politics/theology. I thoroughly recommend it for anyone interested in these issues or anyone who wants an intro to philosophy or to brush up on their critical thinking skills.

Why I am a vegetarian...

2010-11-19T11:54:00.000+11:00

I can't help but think that every time I tell a fellow christian that I am a vegetarian they think at least one of two things about me.

#1. He's losing his faith and slipping surreptitiously into Gaea worship.

or

#2. He's been thoroughly socialized by the lefty-scum at uni.

Neither of these are the case. I decided to stop eating meat for a couple of simple reasons. Firstly, the combination of the amount of land required to farm (and therefore the amount of land that needs to be cleared) the amount of livestock that we consume, the amount of land required to grow the grain that we feed the livestock, the emissions caused by refrigeration of meat and the emissions caused by the transportation of both meat and livestock are one of the biggest contributors to the environmental disaster that we are now facing and will continue to face for the foreseeable future. Not eating meat is a small way of minamizing my personal impact on the enviroment as well as a type of penance for the way that my civilization treats God's creation.

Secondly, while I have nothing against killing animals for food or as a means of protecting echo systems in and of itself, the conditions that factory (but not necessarily all) farming subject animals to demean us as human beings and are completely anti-creation.

When I thought about writing a quick post to clear this issue up, I thought that I would have to write a little bit about why I take climate change as seriously as I try to, but my friend Byron has a blog all about it. Check it out here. Btw, its was largely through reading Byron's blog that I decided to go veg in the first place (so be careful).

Your thoughts...

Chinese Translation by M. Ward...

2010-11-17T14:18:00.000+11:00

This song has been popping into my head every few minutes since I first listened to it a few months ago. At first I was echoing a comment I just read under this clip on youtube "what the fuck are the answers to the questions?!!". I then assumed that it was providing a pseudo-Eastern answer by repeating the questions over and over until they loose meaning and we can just enjoy Ward's hot licks. At the moment I'm thinking that the answer that Ward provides in this song is actually in the shared experience throughout history of the questioned and questioner. For some reason this now seems like a satisfying answer.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...."

Top 5 movies that I've seen this year (for the first time)

2010-11-17T10:07:00.000+11:00

5. A Serious Man

The Coen brothers are by far my favourite film makers working today, and quite possibly my favourite of all time (the only other real contender being Hitchcock). The film is basically a loose adaption of the book of Job. The central figure, an Orthodox and pious Jew, begins to have his life fall apart despite his desire to be a 'serious' man. Most people that I know who have seen it hated the ending but I thought it was terribly clever, especially if you go back and read Job carefully. Give it a watch.

4. Rope.

I know, I know how could a Hitchcock fan have neglected seeing this for so long?! Well firstly BACK OFF! WHAT ARE YOU THE FILM POLICE?! and secondly, wait until you see the next one on the list. At the center of Rope is a gimmick. Basically Hitchcock wanted to remind us all how clever he was by making a film that made no cuts (except out of the need to replace film canisters). However, what I found more impressive was the moral lesson upon which the films narrative is built. Watch it!

3. Casablanca.

Oh this is just getting ridiculous now isn't it?! I put off watching this for ages mainly out of the compounded guilt of so many years without seeing it (which is classic Dave). But having seen it, it is a near perfect film. The script is tight, the premise is simple and the performances are astounding. The thing that I found most interesting about the film is how surprising and counter-cultural the ending is, despite how heavily referenced the film is.

2. Boy.

Trying to work out which order to put these last two films in was really hard! So I basically just flipped a coin. For those of you who don't know, Boy is a Kiwi film by Taika Waititi (creator of Flight of the Conchords). The plot is pretty simple (and you can pick up most of it from the trailer), but what stands out is the amazing performances from a mainly child cast. YOU MUST WATCH!

1. A Single Man.

This was one of the most beautifully crafted films that I have seen in a very, very long time. It basically deals with the themes of grief, depression and ultimately redemption. The director utilizes colour in a fascinating way, shooting mainly in greys and beige to reflect the central characters subjectivity, but occasionally allowing little bursts of vibrant colour as we are reminded of the goodness that can be found in the world, even during the worst periods of our lives. I thoroughly recommend it!

Those are mine, hows about yours?!

In a Valley of This Restless Mind

2010-11-16T10:44:00.000+11:00

For those of you who are interested, the title of the blog comes from one of my favorite books, In a valley of this restless mind by Malcolm Muggeridge. It is a stylized (and often very sarcastic) account of Muggeridge's own journey from atheism to Christianity. It opens with Muggeridge sitting in a church hoping to find God. He opens the Bible and reads the words "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God". This begins a quest for Muggeridge to find some philosophy or system that will purify his heart, and in turn, allow him to 'see God'. Most of the rest of the book is taken up by Muggeridge investigating various candidates such as Marxism, Scientific Naturalism, Utopianism and even Christianity. If you can find it anywhere, give it a read.

That will be all.

If you could have a beer/coffee with anyone in the world today, who would it be?

2010-11-16T09:26:00.000+11:00

Here's an interview with Aaron Weiss from the band mewithoutyou. I think if I could spend an hour with anyone in the world, it would be this guy. Hows about you?

On the Emerging/Emergent/Whatever Church...

2010-11-14T22:19:00.000+11:00

I have a friend who often asks me what I think of the 'Emergent Church'. The problem is I don't really know much about it, and, to be perfectly honest, I don't really care much about it either. This is because I think they are reflective of a period in cultural history that is on its way out and as such, their relevance to the culture seems to be already diminishing.

The period to which I refer is one that rejects the past as a guide to the present and the future. From what I have read (and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading some of these guys), proponents of emerging Christianity seem to be desperate to dissociate themselves with the institutions of the past, and in doing so, remove themselves from the guilt and controversy of such institutions. My problem with this is twofold. Firstly, our/western culture seems to be desperate to reconnect with history due to a massive crisis in identity. This is what I would say is behind the massive rate of conversion from evangelicalism to Catholicism and Eastern-Orthodoxy in the U.K and U.S. People are desperate to find their identities through connecting with an institution whose history spans millenium, while emergers seem to be fixed on the here and now (which is reflective of the consumeristic culture in which the movement was conceived).

Secondly, this is just not the way that God deals with us as individuals or as a Church. God does not simply erase our pasts, nor does he pretend that our sins never happened, instead he takes our whole history and redeems it, transforming it gloriously into a story of his salvation. In the same way, I think we should accept the denominations that we choose/find ourselves in, warts and all, and seek to continue and redeem their narratives. As the Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft said, "In an age when revolution becomes tradition, tradition becomes revolutionary."

Now, all of this said, I love the writings of guys like Donald Miller and Rob Bell, and nothing that I have said should be taken as a dismissal of all of their fantastic work in reaching people for whom their message is extremly relevant. A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a talk by a guy called Peter Rollins at Bell's church, Mars Hill, which I absolutley loved and wish I could work out how to post here. As a substitute here is Rollins talking about/defending 'emerging christianity'. Enjoy.

I'm Back...

2010-11-14T22:12:00.000+11:00

A little older, a little wiser, a little fatter, a little more literate, I return to the world of blogging.

A philosopher recommendation: Alvin Plantinga...

2009-12-09T23:14:00.000+11:00

Yeah, not really (unless you happen to be a philosophy student or philosopher and then a thoroughl recommend him). Just thought I would post this vid. from The Centre for Public Christianity featuring one of my academic heroes, Alivin Plantinga. Enjoy.

Reasons for God from CPX on Vimeo.

A band recommendation: Mumford and Sons...

2009-12-08T19:38:00.000+11:00

Sez and I have been listening to these guys for a while. Recently I have been very pleased to see a wide range of musicians genuinely wrestling with profound spiritual and philosophical ideas without necessarily resorting to cliche. M & S are a great example of this. What do you think of this song? (words can be found below)

The Cave:

It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be

And I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

A blog recommendation: A wealth of Riches.

2009-12-04T17:45:00.000+11:00

A friend of mine put me on to this guys blog, and I must say that I am thoroughly impressed. It is basically a channel for the author to share his encyclopedic knowledge and deep love of film and film history with the world (but not in an uptight, pretentious douchey kind of way). And all from a Bible-college student ta boot!

Check it out here.

A film recommendation: Three Days of The Condor.

2009-12-04T17:27:00.000+11:00

A friend of mine shared this amazing film with me last night. Primarily, it is just a wonderful "spy" thriller (though the central figure is not actually a spy) full of all the twists and suspense which make thrillers of this era great. On top of this it both reflects and predicts political and ethical shifts that were taking place in western culture, namely the compartmentalization of the categories of identity, morality and profession. I would love to say more on this issue but feel like I should let you watch the film first...hmmm. I know! Go watch it (if you're sneaky you can watch the whole thing on youtube) and I shall write more on this in a couple of days.

Peace,

-Dave

Moore from Fr. Barron...

2009-11-12T02:03:00.000+11:00

Overall a good review. I would, however, have liked to hear as generous an interpretation of socialism as the one offered by J.P. of capitalism.

Your thoughts...

One of the best responses to the New Atheist movement I've heard...

2009-10-30T07:10:00.000+11:00

Enjoy.

p.s. Excuse the atheist bashing of late, am preparing some lectures that deal with it.

You're too stupid to be an athiest...

2009-10-27T05:06:00.000+11:00

An example of how to answer a delicate question...

2009-10-25T04:21:00.000+11:00

I know of very few Christian leaders or teachers that have mastered the art of answering emotionally loaded questions. Indeed, I see a lot of Christian leaders who seem to sanctify offensiveness in the name of for zeal truth. However, a love for the truth must always entail a love for those that we wish to proclaim it to and this, I believe, must always include a respect for, and understanding of their cultural sensitivities. This is never more important than when dealing with issues of sexuality and gender.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

-Dave

Spirituality for the Spiritually Impoverished

2009-10-16T00:34:00.000+11:00

Hello,

I am currently writing a series of lectures on Christian sprituality designed for those of us who feel like they are (or are indeed) spiritually dead or dying. I am basically wanting to look at what people see as the biggest stumbling blocks in following Jesus, be they intellectual, emotional or moral and to identify some strategies for dealing with them.

The titles of the talks are:

1. Faith for the faithless

2. Love for the loveless

3. Hope for the hopeless

So I was wondering if you could help me out? What do you find to be the biggest barriers that people have re: following Jesus?

-dave

Psychology as Religion

2009-09-19T07:18:00.000+10:00

Hello,

Sorry I haven't been posting very much lately, things have been a bit heavy for me of late (I know, what else is new eh?). Anyway, just thought I would let you know that I found a very interesting lecture online entitled 'Psychology as Religion' by Professor Paul Vitz from NYU.

Check it out here

It is obvious that we as a culture give a remarkable ammount of epistemic weight to psychology (or more accuratley, to psychologists). This is probably not a bad thing in its self, however, when the narratives that psychologists use to interpret human behaviour and identity are left unquestioned and are simply absorbed by the culture, we are indeed dealing with something more religious than scientific in nature. Prof. Vitz, provides a great analyisis of this problem from within the discipline.

Peace.

p.s bethinking.org has a ton of great resources on a ridiculously wide range of topics. Check them out.

Christians for (some) Christian music...

2009-08-28T18:39:00.000+10:00

I am currently listening to a couple of fantastic Chirstian bands. This, as many of you know, is an experience which is very foreign to me. Now, I understand that much of aesthetic judgement is subjective, however, as I have argued before, I think that there are some objective problems with the Christian music industry, just as I believe there are some elements of aesthetic judgement that are objective. Primarily, the issue with the Christian music industry is that it is indeed just that, an industry, and music is simply churned out by this machine in a style and form that evokes the desired response from its consumers. In this sense the market determines the form that much Christian music takes and because of this, I would argue, much Christian music falls into the category of craft rather than art.

However, I have of late been suprised to find some genuinley authentic and creative examples of music created by Christian artists, thanks to imput by a couple of brothers and sisters who have taken it upon themselves to rescue me from my cynicism. Although I am by no means a musically talented person, music is an extremly significant part of my life and I can not express how incredibly valuable it is to me to listen to wonderful music that offers reflections and inights into beliefs that are at the core of who I am.

Anyway, I thought I would share a couple of tracks from two of my new favourite bands, both of whom I think are both musically and lyrically brilliant. Enjoy.

Blood by The Middle East

In a Sweater Poorly Knit by Mewithoutyou

You can check out both bands on myspace at www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast and www.myspace.com/mewithoutyou

Pascal on contentment...

2009-08-27T00:31:00.000+10:00

“The present is never our goal: the past and present are our means: the future alone is our goal. Thus, we never live but we hope to live; and always hoping to be happy, it is inevitable that we will never be so.”

Blaise Pascal, The Pensees

This is true.

I'm back...

2009-08-14T01:15:00.000+10:00

So, it's been a while but I am back.

Things have been crazy for me over the last few months with a stressful end of semester, followed by writing a series of lectures that I couldn't help but feel unqualified (both intellectually and spiritually) to give. Chuck in some good old fashioned mind-numbing depression and insomnia and that pretty much brings you up to speed with the Dave.

On the up side, I did read some fantastic books in preparation for these talks which I would warmly recommend to you.

Firstly, Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. This is a fantastic analysis of the way in which the change in our dominant form of communication (typographic to televised) has changed our epistemology. He begins the book by suggesting that civil-libertarians were too quick to celebrate when the year 1984 came and Orwell's distopia was nowhere to be seen. Postman suggests that, while we are indeed free from the tyrannical Big Brother, there is another kind of tyranny slowly taking over the western world, a tyranny prophesied by Huxley in his Brave New World. According to Postman we are living in a world where we are being slowly enslaved by our desire for entertainment and that any discourse that fails to entertain is robbed of epistemic weight. As he says in his preface;

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.

Give it a read!

Secondly, Knowing Christ Today by Dallas Willard. Now this is a must read for any Christian university student! In it Willard lays out how it came to be that spiritual and moral knowledge came to be divorced from the academy and seeks to give insight as to how Christians in the academy can maintain the conviction that the gospel corresponds to reality and not just a small section of it. I found this book immensely encouraging and would again, strongly recommend giving it a read.

Finally, What is Art by Leo Tolstoy. This a fantastic treatment of a significant philosophical issue, argued from a thoroughly Christian world-view. In it Tolstoy demonstrates the way in which Art can remove our natural state of alienation from each other through shared emotional experience and is in this sense deeply redemptive. I would especially recommend it for my brothers and sisters involved in the arts.

That is all.

-dave

p.s. both uni and talks ended up going quite well. Give thanks to The LORD for he is good...

p.p.s the pic at the top of this post is from a hilarious website that edits Garfield out of Garfield comic strips and in doing so transforms them into existestial musings. Check it out here

A Film Recommendation...

2009-06-19T22:31:00.000+10:00

Hey there,
Sair and I just watched an amazing film called Reign Over Me. Basically, it's about a guy who's family was killed in 9/11 and now lives a completely solitary life and suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome. When, by chance, his college room-mate runs into him (having not seen him for many years) they rekindle their friendship and a process of healing begins. I loved this film because it is a celebration of grace and, oddly enough, friendship.

It wasn't until after watching this film that I realized how little our culture reflects upon friendship. Whenever a deep love between two friends (particularly male friends) is displayed in film or literature, there is often a strong tendency to read homoeroticism into it (e.g The Lord of The Rings films). However, brotherly love is something that, throughout history, has been celebrated in the arts. Perhaps this phenomena may have some connection with our culture having no room for a love that does not seek to devour or posses its object. How sad...

How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron's beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.

Psalm 133:1-2

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty....

2009-06-09T10:28:00.000+10:00

Usually metaphysical reflection, depression and lack of sleep are a combination to be avoided. Recently however, these factors lead me to an utterly profound experience which I fear I am at a loss as to how to describe.

It all began with reflecting on the nature of conscious experience after a mind boggling lecture on the German Idealist Fitche. Fitche stressed that all conscious experiences take the form of a consciousness of something. This lead Fitche to reject the existence of God, because a God who pre-existed the world could not have consciousness of anything and so could not have consciousness at all. This did not phase me at all as I am lucky enough to believe in a trinitarian God who not only can be conscious of himself, but also, in some way, embodies an interpersonal relationship. This did however get me thinking about the nature of God, and specifically what it means for God to be a person. This is as far as I can explain my experience in any coherent manner. All that I can possibly say is that I was laying in bed contemplating these things and was completely overcome with an overwhelming dread and awe at the vastness of God. I began thinking about the fact that before there was matter and energy God had existed for an eternity, that for him there was no amount of time, large or small, before the universe existed, because time itself had yet to come into existence. I thought about the fact that for God the billions and billions of years before even the building blocks of life existed were nothing more that an instant. I thought about the vastness and complexity of all of the universe and how it is the human capacity for reflecting God's character which surpasses all else in space and time in greatness. In short it was one of the most profound experiences of all of my years as a Christian. I am not sure what it means, how to communicate it or how it happened but I am very thankful for it.

This experience also gave me a new level of sympathy for people who claim that the vastness of God makes any claim to know him untenable. For many the very idea that God could be conform to any form of religious system is absurd, furthermore, many others believe that God is too vast to even be considered personal in any real way. Kant was one thinker that had this kind of understanding of God and the limitations of the human mind to understand him. However, unlike Kant, I can rejoice in Emmanuel! God with us! in the person of Jesus. What a fantastic mystery it is that this utterly transcendent God became utterly accessible to us in the incarnation.

Qausi-mystical experiences are cool!

That is all,

-dave

'Laughing With' by Regina Spektor

2009-06-03T21:41:00.000+10:00

An amazing song which raises a mirror to the religious cynicism of the western world. Give it a watch/listen!

That is all.

The Centre for Public Christianity

2009-05-29T02:22:00.000+10:00

I went along to the launch party for CPX (free booze is free booze) and came away quite dissapointed. It smacked so much of the "salvation through organization" nonsense so prevalent in our bloated western churches. I have, however, been pleasantly suprised and humbled by the fantastic work that this organization has been doing. If you are at all interested in apologetics I thoroughly reccomend checking them out here.

Here is a great example of some of the stuff they are doing...

On being wounded by a Nazgul blade...

2009-05-28T15:55:00.000+10:00

'But', said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, 'I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.'
'So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, to lose them, so that others may keep them...

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Ring

I remember, when I first read The Lord of the Ring, being so dissatisfied with the ending. It seemed so unfair that Frodo didn't get to hang out in the shire enjoying the fruits of his victory. Instead, Frodo had to leave Middle-Earth because the evil that he had endured during his quest could not be undone in this world.

However, Tolkien was reflecting a deeply Christian view of evil. Once we become victims or perpetrators (and we all are both), we all become wounded in a way that will not be fully healed until Christ makes all things new.

I have been reflecting on this on a deeply personal level lately. Last week I began getting counselling for depression and was told that there is a high chance that I have post-traumatic stress disorder. While I am optimistic that through treatment I can greatly increase my emotional well-being, it is clear to me that, to some extent, the wounds that I have received in the past will stay with me until glory.

This, however, is the case for all of us. We are all wounded by the evil done to us and we all dehumanize ourselves through doing evil to others. But in the resurrection we see the first day of a new creation, a creation that is free from the tyranny of evil and death.

"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

-Dave

Rowan Williams on knowing an infinite God...

2009-05-27T15:32:00.000+10:00

Your thoughts?

Chesterton on tradition...

2009-05-25T20:58:00.000+10:00

But there is one thing that I have never from my youth up been able to understand. I have never been able to understand where people got the idea that democracy was in some way opposed to tradition. It is obvious that tradition is only democracy extended through time. It is trusting to a consensus of common human voices rather than to some isolated or arbitrary record.

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy.

I am often weary when Christians declare themselves non-denominational or claim with bravado that "the only creed they need is the Bible". Traditions and denominations are important because they offer a critique of our current practices and opinions from a different historical context. I feel that when we divorce ourselves from the history of our denominations we silence the voices of the saints through whom Christ has been working in the world for thousands of years and we make ourselves victims of whatever the prevailing wisdom of our generation happens to be.

As Lewis says in his great work The Abolition of Man;

You cannot go on seeing through things for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to `see through' first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To `see through' all things is the same as not to see.

I can't help but think that the modern trend of denominational skepticism, in the end, amounts to a type of doctrinal blindness.

Your thoughts?

-dave

We live in a spiritual world, yes we do, yes we do....

2009-05-14T14:58:00.000+10:00

I am often confused (and sometimes angered) when Christians use the term "spiritual" in ambiguous or misleading ways. A Christian going through depression can often be described as being in a state of "spiritual depression", an area where there is widespread paganism is often described as "spiritually dark" and Christians often distinguish between "spiritual" and "natural" gifts. I imagine what people are referring to when they use the term "spiritual" in such ways is some sort of interaction between non-physical beings with the physical world, but I would argue that this type of usage is dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, it elevates the things that we deem "spiritual" to a realm outside of human responsibility or perhaps even manageability, and secondly, it diminishes the status of what we deem "natural" goods or regular, mundane types of evil.

But we live in a universe created by God and this, I believe, makes the universe we live in a spiritual gift. Furthermore, we as humans are imbued with characteristics that reflect the nature of our creator and so we are by nature spiritual.

This view has some very important implications. Firstly, there is nothing more demonic a human being can do than to treat others in such a way that their capacity to reflect God's nature is diminished. For example when we turn people into objects or commodities through pornography, prostitution or unfair work laws we diminish their God-likeness in that they are no longer beings for themselves. Or when a child is so badly abused or neglected that they loose the ability to love, trust or see themselves as intrinsically valuable, God's image has been defaced, his character is distorted in the child. Such things are spiritual in nature if anything is.

Furthermore, when an alternate to Jesus is set up as ruler of creation, be it a person, institution or philosophy, Jesus' lordship is being challenged and spiritual mutiny is taking place. We as Christians have a tendency to label countries that practice animism as spiritually dark, but what of nations such as ours that have adopted humanism as their narrative or teach that personal peace and happiness are the only goods? Surely an idol is an idol?

But I did not actually decide to write this to vent or to criticize but to encourage. All of us have the capacity to act redemptivley through our relationships with others. When, through love, we enable and encourage people to love, trust, create and worship we are restoring (perhaps in a small way) the glorious reflection of God in their lives. In this way, people who devote their lives to educating, to social justice, counselling, medicine or the arts have a spiritual vocation (even atheists) and those of you in these fields should rejoice (or perhaps persevere)because of this. But it is not limited to those working in specific fields, all of us have the ability to "bring out the best" in others through love.

As many of you know, I had quite a horrific childhood. My earliest memory is of domestic violence, my mother suffered a stroke when I was 8 leaving her both physically and mentally handicapped, my brother and I were both badly abused and were finally abandoned when I was 13. Before I had reached puberty I was already on a road to a dehumanized existence. However, through the grace shown to me by a kind Christian family I was given the opportunity to grow into a very different type of person, a person who, while remaining tainted by sin, is able to reflect something of who God is into the world.

So if you want to do spiritual work I would suggest that, rather than checking out Bible colleges, the first thing you should do is ask yourself how you can display redemptive love to the people around you. There is nothing more spiritual than this.
As Lewis said in his essay The Weight of Glory:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.

In love,

-dave

Update on Dave's despair over death of blockbusters

2009-05-09T19:11:00.000+10:00

Faith restored after seeing Star Trek. All is well in the world.

An uplifting verse for you...

2009-05-08T12:51:00.000+10:00

They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.
2 Kings 17:15 (NIV)

This is a verse that I keep coming back to in my studies, particularly those chilling words "They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless". In all areas of the academy the notion that there is anything particularly special about human life is being constantly eroded. This seems to follow from that basic spiritual law that we become what we worship. Worship nothing and we become nothing.

that is all.

-dave

The world I was born into....

2009-05-07T14:11:00.001+10:00

Continuing from last post....

I was born into a world that was terrified that the powers that be would press buttons and in doing so annihilate the human race. I was born into a world where the generation that brought us "free" love and fought against western imperialism grew up to be just as materialistic as any other. I was born into a world that had liberated itself from sexual repression but now faced the most widespread and lethal pandemic in recorded history. I was born into a world that had killed the author and embraced nothingness and most importantly I was born into a world that had rejected the past as a guide to the present and the future.
So where does someone born into such a world derive meaning from? Well one answer can be seen in film makers like Kevin Smith and Quintin Tarantino, not by any means the most gifted artists in the world, but certainly reflective of a generation.
Both of these film makers embrace popular culture as an over-arching narrative through which life can be understood. I often hear Christians reacting against any number of facets associated with these film makers works such as Smith's blasphemy or Tarantino's ultra-violence, yet what disturbs me most about these films is that they are reflective of our society's replacement of 80's sitcoms for the Bible as our culture's narrative.
Being the first western generation that as a whole has grown up biblically illiterate Gen X has been in search of stories that can fulfill the role that religion once played in framing our experiences and provinding identity. However, at the same time Gen X was taught that any attempt to provide a narrative was pure power play and so the very concept of an over-arching narrative was rejected. This however was problematic as human beings can not live without a narrative and so pop-culture stepped in and we as a generation absorbed it into our consciousness.
How we relate to one another, how we make moral decisions, what we give epistemic weight to, are all shaped by our common stories. So much so that in philosophy classes an oft quoted Hollywood cliche will often carry more weight than an argument that has been thought about and developed over thousands of years.
And so I celebrate when I see blockbusters that are driven by powerful stories, that challenge cultural assumptions, that raise philosophical questions, because, for better or for worse (mostly worse) these are our stories, and this is why I lament the fact that Wolverine was crap.

That is all.

-dave

p.s I'm in the process of developing these ideas into a series of lectures so feed back would helpful : )

Some thought on X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the death of the blockbuster

2009-05-04T13:49:00.000+10:00

Why must everything I love be taken from me in such a horrific manner?! Now, anyone that knows me will know that I am a sucker for pop-culture. I love it's simple formulas and the way that its creators have to work hard at adding subtle nuances within the set structure of their genre to keep it interesting. However, lately I must confess to having lost faith in the Hollywood blockbuster.
Gone are the days of the original Star Wars trilogy, of Terminator 2 and the first two Aliens films! Now, I would be the first to admit that these films are not high-art, but they were films that were driven by stories and stories that were driven by ideas, ideas about the nature of the universe they depicted, about good and evil about how corporations will inevitably bring about the destruction of the human race! But today's blockbusters are the Pirates of the Caribbean 3's, the Troys, even (dare I say?) the new Star Wars trilogy, films that are essentially "about" slow-motion action sequences.
It's obvious what's going on, film-makers (or more accurately film executives)ask the themselves what people enjoy/remember about the big action blockbusters and assume that if they capture these things and incorporate enough of it into their new product it will be just as good, if not better. For example, what did people like about the first Matrix?... bullet cam! people freezing in mid-air before kicking other people in the face! mind-bending plot-twists! black leather! Surely a film with with these elements but magnified, multiplied and drawn out to a ludicrous degree will have to be great?!
Sadly not. While people may think that this is what they enjoy about these films, I think that what people actually want is a coherent picture of a world, whether ours or some other, where relatable people make difficult choices. Sure, visually stunning stuff is great, but only so far as it supports this basic goal of all great stories. A film that tries to center itself around explosions and people flying off motor-bikes into helicopters will always leave us feeling empty.
But why am I so worked up about this? Well before I was introduced to Jesus as a teenager I knew Luke Skywalker and Bruce Wayne. These films were my mythology, they presented me with an understanding of what it was to be a human being and what my responsibility as a human being was in the face of evil and this is what myths have always done... However, I think I should get back to my essay. I shall return to this topic again later.

That is all.

-dave

p.s. Wolverine was really bad, that's what sparked this rant.

I'm still not sure what irony is but this has got to be close...

2009-05-02T15:43:00.000+10:00

I was trying to find Nick Cave's song 'God is in the House' and accidently clicked on a Hillsong song of the same name. If you have a spare couple of minutes watch them back to back. I'm sure you'll be as amused as I was.
-dave
p.s. I think I'm with Nick ; )

Why is it so hard to be human?

2009-05-01T11:29:00.000+10:00

Since the enlightenment (perhaps even before?) philosophers and artists have been struggling to give an accurate account of self-consciousness. Looking especially at the early German phenomenologists and the french existentialists you see a great deal of anxiety over human freedom and agency, what it is and how it can be explained naturalistically.
For example, in Sartre's Being and Nothingness, he describes two common types of fear associated with standing on the edge of a cliff. Firstly, there is the fear associated with being a mere object in the world, an object which is part of the stream of cause and effect, that for any number of reasons could be caused to fall (i.e the edge of the cliff could crumble). The second type of fear however is associated with our being free-agents. Have you ever stood on a cliff or on a train platform and not trusted yourself to not jump off, not because you wanted to die but simply because you could? According to Sartre this is the angst of being overwhelmed by your freedom. You could jump couldn't you? how do you know that you won't?
Sartre goes on to give an account of how we should conceive of ourselves in light of this and what it means to be a for-its-self type of being, but this is not what I was wanting to get into here. Instead, I wanted to share some wisdom that Schaeffer gave which I think explains the anxiety that modern thinkers experience over being persons.
When talking about the naturalistic conception of the universe, Schaeffer often used an analogy between human personhood and the evolution of the fish (as you do). According to Schaeffer (as well as common sense) fish developed gills because they enabled them to live in the environment which they inhabited. However, a fish could not have developed gills in a world solely made up of solids and gasses as it would suffocate. Or on the other hand, land animals developed lungs but could not have developed them in a world of liquids and solids alone or they would drown. In both cases the creatures can not survive if their physical make-up is not in line with the nature of the world that they inhabit. In the same way humans have developed aspirations of personhood, but according to the naturalist, the world we inhabit is fundamentally impersonal. If the naturalist is correct, We are therefore not equipped to survive in the type of world we inhabit.
There seems, therefore, to be only two responses to this state of affairs for a society which adopted naturalism as its overarching narrative, either we begin killing ourselves on mass or attempt to completely dehumanize ourselves through living to consume. Wait a minute.....
We could, of course, bite the bullet and entertain the idea that the foundation of existence is indeed personal and that we are in some way reflective of this, but that would, I suppose, be irrational and would challenge our freedom. What to do, what to do?

-dave.

The value of stories...

2009-04-26T14:59:00.000+10:00

Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme
of things not found within recorded time.
It is not they that have forgot the Night,
or bid us flee to organized delight,
in lotus-isles of economic bliss
forswearing souls to gain a Circe-kiss
(and counterfeit at that, machine-produced,
bogus seduction of the twice-seduced).
Such isles they saw afar, and ones more fair,
and those that hear them yet may yet beware.
They have seen Death and ultimate defeat,
and yet they would not in despair retreat,
but oft to victory have tuned the lyre
and kindled hearts with legendary fire,
illuminating Now and dark Hath-been
with light of suns as yet by no man seen.

From Mythopoeia by J.R.R. Tolkien

Heard a sermon on Acts 17 this morning and couldn't help but think of this poem.I cry everytime I read it. That is all.

A book recommendation...

2009-04-26T06:41:00.000+10:00

The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

I read this cheeky little piece of neo-platonic philosophy earlier this year after finally finding a copy (with a decent translation) in Sair's uncle's bookshop.
I want to give it a big ol' plug for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's a great summary of classical thought! and secondly, because it gives a great example of a faithful and wise Christian reflecting on the value of pursuing truth and living virtuously in a corrupt world.
Boethius was a Christian philosopher and statesperson in 6th century Rome, who became a political prisoner when he was falsely accused of treason by his rivals. His work, which he wrote while in prison, is an account of an imaginary conversation between Boethius and a personification of philosophy, where he questions the justice of his situation and the fruitfulness of his life-long pursuit of wisdom and virtue. A familiar story.
While I certainly don't agree with a lot of Boethius' conclusions, it is a beautifully written and reasoned account of one persons reflection on the intrinsic value of the good over and above personal peace and freedom. An extremely relevant message for the world we inhabit today. Give it a read.

That is all.

(p.s. It's also short)

Whedon the Theism Slayer

2009-04-26T06:02:00.000+10:00

I found this clip on youtube after a long, post-assessment Buffy binge. While his comments may be nothing to write home about, I do take interest in this "coming out" analogy that the pop-atheists keep using (see Dawkins, God Delusion etc.). I find Whedon's use of it particularly interesting in light of the fact that he established (or at least greatly contributed to) the sci-fi/fantasy cliche of the small group of persecuted outsiders, in the know about the true reality of the world, fighting for justice in a world that hates them. You know, that old doozy.
Man, I wish I was part of a group whose views are rejected out-right by establishments like the media and academy without conversation. Oh, wait...

Hey there.

2009-04-24T05:33:00.001+10:00

So I'm back.

As you may know, I decided to quit my previous blog 'Dave and the Eternal Silence' after a long battle with unresolved doubt and, lets face it, severe mental health issues.Many of my previous readers probably would have noticed an increasing level of cynicism and despair in my posts as I tried to grapple with being an orthodox Christian while throwing myself headlong into philosophies which are, for the most part, antagonistic to non-materialists.

My decision to restart my blogging was sparked by a reemerging desire to make something of the crappiness of my faith. I am reminded of a mock corporate motivational poster that depicts a sinking oil-tanker with the caption 'The purpose of your life could be to serve as a warning to others'. That is something of the vibe that I'm going for with this blog. I am convinced that God's power can be displayed in my weakness and I hope that as I relate to you my various struggles that you will, in some way, be encouraged to keep going in yours. Furthermore, for those of you who do not subscribe to the Christian faith, I hope you will see that it is possible for a believer to take seriously the universal search for truth, even when it seems to be at odds with the faith.

But above all I wish to be honest and to reflect on life with humility and sincerity.

Yours in Christ,

-dave

p.s. I just found the pic I was talking about.