I was thinking recently and decided I wanted to add a section to my website to blog about issues of church and faith. It's interesting to consider what role the Internet might have in the lives of today's and tomorrow's young people -- could it be a catalyst for encouraging kids to explore and share their faith?
What does it mean to be conservative? Liberal?August 23, 2008
This post is in response to a friend
Vaughn's post.
...
You're touching on a fascinating topic that I think most Christians have debated in their minds on many an occasion: What does it mean to be conservative? What does it mean to be liberal?
One of the interesting things about these two words is that they paint with a very coarse brush. In a sense, they draw a line in the sand and suggest that a person is either a conservative or a liberal. But as we all know, the universe is not two dimensional. In terms of beliefs, methods of thought, and personality, people are highly dimensional creatures. And while not all of these dimensions are completely independent of one another, there exists a lot of variation out there!
That being said, it's interesting to look at the matter in terms of a viewpoint of simplicity VS a viewpoint of complexity. Sometimes I see the world from simplistic viewpoints and other times I see the word from complex viewpoints.
Part of the issue, I feel, is that of unknowns. If the "veil was lifted", so to speak, so that everyone knew the truth and was on the same page in terms of theology, science, etc., then there might not be much to talk about in terms of conservative VS liberal thought.
I guess it's because of the fact that we live with so many unknowns that there is even a context for such things as conservative VS liberal thought to exist. And that seems to answer the question, at a certain level. Many conservative thinkers, as you point out, are more confident in what they believe. This confidence sort of acts as "the veil being lifted", and so in their firm beliefs, that makes the world much simpler.
More liberal thinkers I think are less likely to firmly believe things about the world's great unknowns. They are more likely to say, "we simply don't know", and in a world of great unknowns, things are suddenly a lot more complicated. This is like an equation with more variables being harder to manipulate and solve.
And so I think much of it comes down to how confidently a person believes their beliefs, and how broad those beliefs are.
RelationshipJuly 8, 2008
Thesis: One of the fundamental properties of the universe is relationship.In both the physical and spiritual world, the idea of relationship looms large. It is at the very fabric of the universe.
Without relationship, numbers couldn't exist, space and time couldn't exist -- pretty much nothing except for perhaps a singularity, and even that doesn't make much sense.
Through the generationsJune 17, 2008
Something that strikes me about Genesis is that we follow several successive generations. It was one thing for Abraham to follow God, but it is impressive that Issac, then Jacob, and finally Joseph all carried on the walk.
Taking that idea a bit further, isn't it amazing that, here we are thousands of years later, and generation after generation, the walk continues?
So while the next generation may be a perpetual cause for concern, perhaps we only need to look back to take comfort in what lay ahead.
older >>
