Back for a reprise: A ghost from my Christmas past. This guy is the late Roger Awsumb. In the ’60s he used to play Casey Jones on the “Lunch With Casey” program on a Twin Cities TV station. This is probably the most popular thing he ever did.
Ayn Rand Didn’t Understand Capitalism
Joe Carter breaks down the egoism of Ayn Rand.
“Reason, applied consistently, doesn’t lead us down a straight path to egoism, much less to capitalism. Examined closely, we would find that her entire Objectivist philosophy is founded on this simple question begging premise. . . .
“Ultimately, Rand’s egoism is irreconcilable with both Christianity and capitalism. In fact, since the system fails to have any true explanatory value, it’s difficult to find any reason to adopt Objectivism at all. Fortunately, we don’t have to buy into Rand’s philosophical errors in order to appreciate her fiction. We just have to keep in mind that instead of reading a “novel of ideas”, we are reading a work of fantasy.”
Hunter Baker on the Ruin of Christian Higher Ed
Dr. Hunter Baker observes, “All universities, and certainly Christian ones, face a landscape in which students have been largely replaced by consumers.” He says in his latest book, if Christian colleges try to be like their secular counterparts, they will fail on almost every level, particularly in their stated mission. On the other hand, if they integrate the worship of the Most High with every academic discipline, they will distinguish themselves and accomplish their mission. “Christian colleges can successfully argue that the best education connects with the mind, the body, and the soul.”
This Is Abusive
“All abuse, whether laser-tipped irony or bare-knuckle fisticuffs, is best delivered coolly, without huffing and puffing. The best abuse looks effortless, the work of a ninja not a WWF wrestler.” Patrick Kurp talks about An Anthology of Invective and Abuse from 1929.
Update: Still alive
I’m half way through.
I’ve finished the fall semester in my graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. I’ve completed 18 of the 36 credits I’ll need for graduation, and should have them all this time next year, the Lord willing. It’s all as time-consuming as I expected (no, more – I didn’t anticipate how intensive the work would be), but if I want to qualify for World Domination, sacrifices must be made.
I’ll try to post more often in the free time I’m about to have – the rest of December and most of January. But there are a lot of projects I’ve been putting off, and I find them clamoring for my evening time.
Anyway, thanks for your faithful readership.
Personally, I’m making physical progress. My new, android hip is working fine. The Original Manufacturer Equipment hip (the left one) still gives me some pain, but I’ve joined a health club and exercise it on a stationary bike three times a week. The improvement has been palpable, so I hope that with time I’ll be all better again.
And now, in keeping with the season, a Swedish Christmas song by Sissel:
Starbucks Opens the Coffee Temple
“These days, Starbucks stores function more like gas stations: They’re everywhere, and frequented for fuel,” writes Margaret Rhodes for WIRED. But to compete with third wave coffee roasters for high-end coffee, Starbucks has restored a one-hundred-year-old building to host its Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle. See the article for lots of pictures.
I’m thinking they keep the golden bulls in the back.
How (Not) to Be Secular by J.K.A. Smith Wins CT’s 2015 Book Awards
Many titles are recommended in today’s list of Christianity Today’s 2015 Book Awards, among them is James K.A. Smith’s work on Charles Taylor’s How to Be Secular. Smith makes Taylor’s work accessible to a broader audience and adds a good bit of commentary himself.
In the fiction category, CT picks Lila by Marilynne Robinson and The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.
“Robinson slowly unfolds the story of Lila, a woman not quite defeated by a brutal, hardscrabble life, who discovers hope and security as the wife of an elderly pastor. Together, they wrestle with questions of the meaning of existence and the ultimate fate of humanity. Readers who loved Robinson’s earlier novel, Gilead, will discover the same breathtaking writing, beautifully painted scenes, and strong working knowledge of theology.” —Cindy Crosby, author of By Willoway Brook
And on The Invention of Wings:
“Based on the life of abolitionist Sarah Grimke and a fictional slave girl, Handful, the novel skillfully joins fiction and history, African American resilience and Southern white hypocrisy, Charlestonian exuberance and Quaker idealism. Kidd reminds us that the foundation of social injustice is ordinary human selfishness.” —Betty Smartt Carter, author of Home Is Always the Place You Just Left
‘Manual of Mockery,’ by Ori Pomerantz
Our friend Ori Pomerantz has published another little e-book (I got mine free, for the record). This one is called Manual of Mockery, and its ostensible purpose is to instruct people in how to create good Internet memes.
In fact, it’s an accessible short course in basic logical argument.
Recommended.
VIDEO: “Our Stories of Faith and Film”
Here’s a video of the panel discussion held October 24 during the 2014 Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture, Faith and Film. It was called “The Lives of (Three) Others: Our Stories of Faith and Film.”
Participants:
• John Wilson, Editor of Books and Culture and Editor-at-Large for Christianity Today
• William Romanowski, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Calvin College
• Alissa Wilkinson, Assistant Professor of English and Humanities, The King’s College and Film Critic for Christianity Today Movies
Are We Witnessing a Writing Resurgence in Evangelicalism?
Owen Strachan thinks so. “Be of good cheer, evangelical-arts-aficionados. Good things are afoot.”