Cavity Emptor

If, as James tells us, the tongue is a fire, then the tooth must certainly be its kindling. After all, what other part of your body is so small that can cause such trouble? For the first time in seven years, I went to the dentist today. That’s right: seven years. It wasn’t as if … Read more

Free Books! (If you win)

Tim Challies of the eponymous Challies.com is giving away Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and Richard Ganz’s 20 Controversies That Almost Killed A Church. To enter the drawing for the books, sign up here before March 17th, 2005. Enter referral I.D. # 41225.

Starring Bill Moyers as Chicken Little

Bill Moyers is off his rocker. Newly retired from his journalistic career at PBS and other outlets, Moyers has been keeping the fires burning via a string of articles, speeches, and interviews all with basically the same point: fundamentalist Christians who think the rapture is coming soon have taken over the government and are eliminating … Read more

A Mystery Unshrouded?

Check out N.D. Wilson’s article, “Father Brown Fakes the Shroud,” describing his experiment to reproduce an image on a cloth in the manner of the Shroud of Turin. The conclusions are interesting but the methodology and creative thinking is even more facsinating. Hat Tip: J. Mark Bertrand

McCain-Feingold Comes To Blogging?

In an interview with CNET, FEC commissioner Bradley Smith discusses possible effects of impending internet regulation on bloggers. Smith notes that if bloggers reproduce any of a campaign’s material (think of the ubiquitous GeorgeWBush.com news feeds on blogs in the 2004 campaign), it could constitute a violation of Campaign Finance Law: If Congress doesn’t change … Read more

One Point Five

I just finished upgrading to WordPress 1.5 and it works beautifully (as far as I can tell…). If you have any problems, let me know—I’ve already been banned from the comment section once. All in all, the upgrades look very helpful. I’m anxious to poke around more and see all its expanded capabilities. The upgrade … Read more

Faith, Evidence, and Credibility

A recent Guardian article on the psychological/physiological nature of belief proves once more that the widespread understanding of faith is misunderstood: Faith has long been a puzzle for science, and it’s no surprise why. By definition, faith demands belief without a need for supporting evidence, a concept that could not be more opposed to the … Read more

There’s No “We” in iWorld

Echoing Christine Rosen, Andrew Sullivan has a thoughtful article on the cult of the iPod. He wonders just how good for society is the isolation that comes with personal technology: Walk through any airport in the United States these days and you will see person after person gliding through the social ether as if on … Read more

DVD Roundup

For the sake of his damsel, every guy worth his salt must endure the “chick flick” (not to be confused with Chick tracts!) every once in a while. My most recent test of endurance involved the Nicholas Sparks tear jerker, The Notebook. Although my tears remained in their ducts, I found the film surprisingly enjoyable, … Read more

Naked and Not Ashamed

The quote of the week, from a story about “clothing optional” dining: “Wearing clothes and going to church does not protect you from moral evil,” Stafford said, lamenting what she saw as a tendency to demonize people just because they like to be naked. Well, it doesn’t protect you from moral evil, but it offers … Read more