English is Dead
Gene Weingarten reports,
It was not immediately clear to what degree the English language will be mourned, or if it will be mourned at all. In the United States, English has become increasingly irrelevant, particularly among young adults.
Alas, poor English. According to Weingarten,
Once the most popular major at the nation's leading colleges and universities, it now often trails more pragmatic disciplines, such as economics, politics, government, and, ironically, “communications,” which increasingly involves learning to write mobile-device-friendly ads for products like Cheez Doodles.
This would be funny if it were not so sad.
Reopen the Box
From Hesiod's Works and Days,
But [Pandora] took off the great lid of the jar with her hands and scattered all these and her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men. Only Hope remained there in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and did not fly out at the door; for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped her, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus who gathers the clouds. But the rest, countless plagues, wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise Zeus took away speech from them.
Sometimes it would be nice to reopen the jar.
Beck, Religion and Politics
Carl Trueman writes,
Nonetheless, in identifying the syncretism of Beck as the major problem in Beck, I think Mr Olasky misses the point. Beck is also both a function and a perpetuating cause of a wider problem in American politics: his idiom is the rhetoric of extremism and fear; he trades in Manichean cliches which see the political world as a very black and white place; he models for the wider world a form of discourse which is a million miles from anything which represents thoughtful, critical engagement with the issues and with those with whom he disagrees; he rarely puts forward a real argument (at least as I would understand an argument, with evidence, engagement with the strongest points of his opponents etc.); his attitude and tone when speaking about legally elected government are difficult to square with New Testament teaching on respect for those in authority (the Greek Apologists did a much better job, in conditions much more hostile to the faith — not to mention, of course, the Apostle Paul); and his continual inflammatory rhetoric about Marxism indicates both a basic failure to grasp what Marxism is (or, rather, what Marxisms are — Marxism these days being akin to `Christianity' as a rather vague catch-all term) and a lack of precision in handling matters that, quite frankly, need to be handled with precision. As Os Guinness indicated at a recent lecture at Westminster, the Religious Right (of which Beck is emerging as an unlikely hero) is often first past the post these days in the incivility of its discourse and of its engagement in the public sphere.
The last observation is especially apropos, sadly.
HT: Jeff Kerr
Keeping Up with the News
Over the years, I've had the pleasure of helping one of my professors back at Lindenwood, Dr. David Brown, with his various web site endeavors. I am especially excited about his new site, which went live a couple of weeks ago. Dr. Brown has repurposed a design I created for him back in 2005 and used it to finally enter the blogosphere.
Dr. Brown is surely nothing short of a genius. I was able to take four of his philosophy classes during my time at LU and they were amongst the most thought provoking classes I've ever had. (He is also the one responsible for talking me into picking up a philosophy minor.) Much of what I learned from him has been helpful in seminary. Part of what made the classes, and talking to Dr. Brown in general, so interesting is his awareness of current trends not only in philosophy, but also various related fields.
What's all of that got to do with his new blog? For as long as I have known him, Dr. Brown has scoured the web for helpful articles related to philosophy, religion, science and other fascinating topics, which he would then e-mail to some of his colleagues and students. Now, he is posting links to those articles on his blog instead of mailing them, which means anyone can benefit from his eclectic, interesting recommended reading.
I think you'll find his news gathering addictive enough that you'll want to keep following his blog.
The Art of Sarcasm
Gruber on the recent discovery of a serious security hole in Adobe Flash Player:
Flash Player for iOS is not affected.
The Wrong Message
So people went ahead and burnt the Qur'an today. What do they expect this will accomplish? Today ought to be a day in which we mourn a very real tragedy in our nation, not sow hate and discord.
I posted a piece about the whole Qur'an burning situation on OFB yesterday. Those interested in the topic may also want to check out an excellent letter Covenant Seminary sent to Terry Jones earlier this week.
Apple Goes Transparent on App Store
Apple has finally provided clear guidelines on its App Store policies, which should make writing a major iOS application feel less like a gamble. Moreover, the relaxing of restrictions on the tools used to create iOS apps ought to eliminate the biggest complaint raised over Apple's walled garden approach to app development.
Gruber has a very good analysis.
Late Night Haiku XXXIV
XCVI. Sometimes the silence
Is less fearful than the sound.
Yet it is not kept.
XCVII. The end of a thing —
Unexpected expected —
Reassesses all.
XCVIII. What of different
Views of the same time and place?
Oh, that they would match!
King of Anything
With Sara Bareilles's new album (affiliate link) coming out tomorrow, I thought I would post a link to the music video of the album's first single, “King of Anything.” If you haven't “met” this song yet, it is delightfully upbeat with a delicious splash of sarcasm. Nevertheless, more than mere fluff, it offers a truthful interaction with a real problem: people who offer advice without being willing to listen.
Below is the second stanza. Bareilles states the real problem in the last two lines of the verse. I think of conflicts I have written about on this blog and mark how well those final two lines describe the cause (or, at least, accelerant) of conflict.
The first rule of counseling is apropos: listening should be primary, opinion giving should be kept to a minimum.
You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunsetI’m not the one who’s lost with no direction
But you’ll never see
You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening
Imagine how many conflicts would never happen if we got the listening down rather than the talking.
Late Night Haiku XXXIII
XCIII. Funny how things can
Happen when you least expect.
Listen as they occur.
XCIV. The rain flows about,
Washing away dry old thoughts,
Inviting new paths.
XCV. Time now past by us,
Invites us to see present.
Let's go forth, forward.
