blog
Statues
Same beliefs, different approaches. In the spring of 2016 I took a class on literary theory from a brilliant IUPUI professor, Tom Marvin. The class was structured around student discovery and presentation. One of my class projects was to explain the African-American approach to literature. Our text referenced both W.E.B. Du Bois and … Read more
Understanding
“You don’t understand.” I have been gladly married to the same woman for 38 years. We celebrate our anniversary on August 4th. One would think that after 38 years there would be no more surprises, no more to discover, no more need to ask “How do you feel about that?” After 38 years she still … Read more
Mentor
The Marks of a Christian Mentor: A Vocational Description (Part Three) “By guiding attention we take in our hands the key to the formation and the development of personality and character.” Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky[2] “Teacher,” Part One (here), “Scholar,” Part Two (here) My first stint as an educator was chosen by a four letter word: … Read more
Charlottesville
Bigotry is the seedbed of genocide. In the past year I have been both demeaned by a white, female, liberal professor for not saying enough (in her estimation [1]) against racism and disparaged by a white, male, nationalist for not defending my “blood kin,” my nationality, my skin color, my “whiteness.” The most recent incident … Read more
Stealing
I was too poor to buy books. No, I didn’t steal them. Years ago, I was asked by a local group to give a talk about business ethics.Since my degrees focus on “ethics” but not “business” I decided I should visit a bookstore to see what business leaders were saying. Book stores were still plentiful … Read more
Ethics
Everything is founded on faith. Three stories. A group of students and I discussed a question they had heard in class: “Why are humans always at war?” I asked what was said in class. The discussion centered on people needing to make a decision against violence, for peace. I asked if the professor gave a … Read more
Why Do Good?
Our problems originate inside. Our hope originates from outside. Over the last three days I have posted these statements on social media: “Racism” is not the direct result of history, nationality, ethnicity, nor privilege. Racism is the direct result of sin in our hearts. “Greed” is not a result of big business, banking institutions, … Read more
Cultural Christianity
What should matter most? “What happened to the gospel?” This was his first question for me after the election. My brother Brian called on Saturday. We spoke of many things but primary to our conversation was what we together referred to as “cultural Christianity.” Brian and I mean by this phrase that we are concerned … Read more
Truth
“You can’t handle the truth!” “For the general public is being reduced to a state where people not only are unable to find out about the truth but also become unable even to search for the truth because they are satisfied with deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied with a fictitious realitycreated by design … Read more