In the wake of the grand jury verdict in Ferguson, I’ve seen thoughtful commentators trying their best to do two things. On the one hand, they want to listen carefully to our African American neighbors who experience racial prejudice in their interface with law enforcement and with the criminal justice system. They want to give due regard to systemic racial inequality that still exists in our country. On the other hand, they also want to be fair in their evaluation of Michael Brown’s death and how his death relates to the overall racial disparity in our criminal justice system. This has been a difficult balance to strike in the wake…
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Godless virtue is no virtue at all
I’ve been reading through Jonathan Edwards’ treatise on The Nature of True Virtue. This book can only be properly understood in connection with Edwards’ earlier work The End for Which God Created the World. In that earlier work, Edwards shows that God is the first and best of beings and that the purpose of all things in God’s universe is to glorify God’s own magnificence and goodness. In The Nature of True Virtue, Edwards argues that true virtue consists in having one’s heart attuned to that great reality—the glory of God. Virtue, therefore, can only exist in those who know and love God above all else. Edwards says it this…
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Trailer for the new Star Wars movie
The trailer for the new Star Wars movie was released yesterday, and it already has over 13 million views on YouTube. The new series will be directed by J. J. Abrams. The conclusion of the matter: The Abrams trailer is already better than all three of the prequel movies. No kidding. As Darren Franich recently described it, This is a trailer that features X-Wings, Stormtroopers, Tatooine, the Millennium Falcon, a red lightsaber, and a red-brown desert speeder—it’s like an Episode IV mixtape, “Now That’s What I Call A New Hope!”
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Leonard Fournette blows up an Aggie defender
I haven’t blogged much on football this season, but I’m ending my neglect tonight. And it’s all inspired by a smashmouth play by freshman running-back phenome Leonard Fournette. In LSU’s victory over A&M earlier this evening, Fournette had one run in which he ran right over an Aggie defender. It was positively Hershael-Walker-esque. He blasted the guy. It was painful to watch. See it for yourself above or below. Wow.
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George Stephanopoulos’s interview with Darren Wilson
In this portion of the interview, Darren Wilson recounts his confrontation with Michael Brown. Wilson says it was the first time he’d ever fired his gun in the line of duty. He also says he has a clean conscience.
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A few thoughts on Ferguson
I’m reluctant to say anything, so I will say very little. Here are my thoughts on the morning after. 1. We still have race issues in this country. As President Obama said last night, we’ve made progress, but we have by no means arrived. It is an enormous grief that African Americans feel so regularly alienated by police and by the criminal justice system more broadly. It is a great sadness that black fathers have to have sobering conversations with their sons about encountering the police without getting shot—a conversation I never had with my father. As a people, we are not yet what we should be. It does no…
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Odell Beckham Jr’s catch of the decade
Your browser does not support iframes. Last night, Odell Beckham Jr. had what many people are calling the best catch by a receiver in a very long time. It was certainly the catch of the day and the catch of the year. But it might also be the catch of the decade and even of the century. The NBC announcer says it’s the best catch he’s ever seen.
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If you didn’t get the SNL joke, this post is for you.
SNL’s opening sketch has been making the rounds over the weekend (see above). It lampoons the President’s executive order granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. It occurred to me that there are probably countless viewers who don’t get the joke because they are too young to remember the source material for this skit. For those of you who fall in that category, this post is for you.
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The Owlings: A Worldview Adventure Story
It’s holiday season and time to think about gift ideas. I just came across this new little book written and illustrated by Dan Dewitt. It’s titled The Owlings: A Worldview Novella. The book focuses on four talking owls: Gilbert, Clive, Dorothy, and Reuel. You likely recognize the names: G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, and J.R.R. Tolkien. From the publisher’s description: The Owlings is a worldview adventure for readers young and old alike about a young boy named Josiah who discovered an important lesson from some unlikely visitors. Get ready to meet Gilbert, a talking owl, who is joined by three of his friends to explain the greatest truth in…
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What’s wrong with reparative therapy?
I have expressed my own concerns about reparative therapy on this blog in the past. But Heath Lambert has perhaps the most thoroughgoing critique from an evangelical perspective that I have yet seen. He focuses his attention on the work of Joseph Nicolosi and writes, I am convinced that one of those unbiblical approaches to change is reparative therapy. Reparative therapy (RT) is infamous in the current cultural context. It has received scorn in the media, politics, and psychology. Many people, including Christians, have embraced it because of the promise of change it holds out to homosexual men and women. Because of the controversial nature of the therapy it is…