Archive for 2012

            The strong, visceral horror at the slaughter of little children in Newtown, Connecticut is universally felt in America.  This natural human reaction has led to serious questions about gun control, mental health and security.  Without a doubt these concerns are justifiable, but they fail to address a fundamental question: What is it about modern society that has produced a series of these types of mass murders that are unprecedented in human history? Read the rest of this entry »

There was a recent conservative uproar over the fact that for the fourth year in a row President Obama did not verbally give thanks to God in his Thanksgiving Address (http://news.yahoo.com/obama-thanksgiving-address-calls-unite-behind-wh-doesn-080136187.html).  The whole issue should make us examine the purpose of Thanksgiving and the expectations we have for religious expressions by public officials. Read the rest of this entry »

            There is much to be concerned about in this typical election year of heated and superficial political vituperation that goes under the wholly misleading name of debate.  As a teacher at a Christian school, I am more troubled by the peculiar attraction that the militantly atheist writer Ayn Rand (1905-1982) holds for a number self-styled, right-wing libertarian Christians. Read the rest of this entry »

            In chapter eight we read of Orual’s reaction to Psyche being taken away and a discussion between her and the Fox about the gods.  Orual’s attitude towards the gods is of unremitting hostility, while we see chinks in the armor of the Fox’s philosophy. Read the rest of this entry »

            Chapter 7 of Till We Have Faces narrates the last conversation between Psyche and Orual before Psyche is sacrificed.  It is crucial for understanding both Psyche and Orual, their beliefs concerning the gods and the character of their love.   Ironically, even though this is Orual’s account of her complaint against the gods, Psyche comes off much better than her older sister. Read the rest of this entry »