score for religious people!

thanks to arthur c. brooks for writing up his research in a new book called Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. here's a clip from a beliefnet article:

The book's basic findings are that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans, by any measure.

Conversely, secular liberals who believe fervently in government entitlement programs give far less to charity. They want everyone's tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don't provide them with enough money.

not surprizing to christians, since pure religion consists of helping orphans and widows in their distress james 1:27

careful what you listen to

Gin thu neuere leuen alle monnis spechen, Ne alle the thinge that thu herest stingen. (_Proverbs of Alfred_, c1300)

believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear. i wonder if that goes for what we read as well. it's quite frightening to see what books are out there claiming some kind of expertise on a subject, when looking at the author's credentials shows that they aren't formally educated in it...
beware what may be lurking in the prose you read. it may do your brain more harm than good!

an athiest not to be taken seriously

a while back the topic of sam harris and his thoughts on religion came up at a blog i was frequenting. the blog post linked a youtube clip of him speaking at a convention. he made a comment that totally took a verse of the bible out of context and made a wild claim about christianity. i made the point that someone who is willing to stand up in front of people, pose as an authority on a subject, and then speak about something he a) knows nothing about, or b) is purposely misrepresenting is not to be taken seriously. the blog author has gone off the web, but i hope that he will read these responses to mr. harris' latest book specifically aimed at christianity.


ps - also at the end of the above link are some points about mr. harris' previous work.

is work worth anything?

read this, think about it. whatever you do, do it as for the Lord.

pax

thinking out loud

i have been wondering to myself, as of late, what is the use of this blogging thing anyways. is it a public journal? a place for me to put my ideas; to bounce them around off of random people that come traipsing though?

again i wonder if it is all very egocentric; a strange sort of group navel gazing. now that i think of it, that last comment is directed at a certain type of blog. there are blogs that i read and appreciate that focus on a specific topic. and family news blogs are a blessing in our dispersed age.

maybe those that blog are the ones that have eshewed gathering at the village pub or coffee house to swap stories, and engage in conversation to hash out our ideas.

and so for today, that is what i will conclude. for me anyways, my blog is my conversation with you the random reader who may sit in your chair, or on your sofa, and engage with me in witty debate, a search for truth, or appreciation of what beauties God has blessed our day with.

pax

martyrs

lest any of us forget, much of the world is still a dangerous place for christians. a quick stop by the voice of the martyrs will show you that we are still under threat of property confiscation, imprisonment, or execution for professing the name of Jesus. and throughout the civilized(?) world, speaking out regarding the truth will be met with vandalism and death threats. it's one thing to die for our faith... is it getting difficult, even in the west, to live for it?

logical fallacies

here is a great introduction to some issues in critical thinking and philosophical discourse. it is a gallery of logical fallacies. these are pitfalls to avoid in our own thinking and to watch out for in discussion with others. sloppy thinking is behind much of what ails society. don't be sloppy ;-)

simply christian

why christianity makes sense - by n. t. wright
this was a lovely gift. a book about christianity in the same vein as mere christianity is very welcome in this day of misinformation. it is unlike its predecessor in that nowadays, society at large is pretty much ignorant of christian beliefs. and so mr. wright goes about explaining the good news from a more basic level (therefore not getting to some stuff).

i quite enjoyed reading this book. it was well written. he proposed some interesting and thought provoking analogies to explain what is happening these days with the new-age movement, and other 'spiritual' stuff that is prevalent. for those who know why they believe Jesus, it will be a relaxing read. for those who don't believe it will be a level headed, readable introduction to the faith.

a nice read. thanks j.

worship

i was reading the link that i put up a couple posts ago about the biblical meanings of words, and how they are different than our modern meanings: the one about worship. the conclusion struck me as very relevant.

In conclusion: "Worship" is often used to refer just to the time of singing and music in our services, but it is clear from contextual study that worship is a life and lifestyle, not just acts in isolated pockets of time. Worship can mean serving in a soup kitchen, or going on a mission trip, or conducting a ministry of some sort -- and we may consider deeply how far our Western, individualistic perceptions have in some cases taken us from the NT ideal.

i recommend you read that essay, and give some thought to it. we are instructed to pray continually. i think that we are also called to live lives of worhip.

the modal fallacy

ah, the english language; a source of wonderful beauty and mind numbing consternation. the way we naturally express our thoughts in english doesn't help when trying to explain very specific philosophical nuances. the modal fallacy goes like this. we would naturally say something like this:

if john has one son and two daughters, he has to have at least one daughter.
john has one son and two daughters.
therefore john has to have at least one daughter.

but think about it... that's rubbish. he doesn't' have to have any kids; daughters or sons. it is true that if john has one son and two daughters he will have at least one daughter, but it's not true that he must. in other words it is incorrect to mistake a logically necessary condition, as a logically necessary truth.

this holds for a number of philosophical problems. they are dependent on this misusing of modal concepts. if you're interested, please check out this article by Norman Swartz.

what does it all mean....

as christians reading the bible, and looking back on bible times, it is necessary that we understand what the authors meant when they talked of certain subjects. the culture of the ancient near east was very different to our modern western one. it's very dangerous for us to read the words of the bible using our modern vocabulary and understanding. thankfully there are serious scholars, of various faiths (or lack thereof) who study the way that people in the culture of the ancient near east thought and acted. three sources of this kind of information are: Malina's The New Testament World, Malina and Neyrey's Portraits of Paul: An Archaeology of Ancient Personality and deSilva's Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity.

to give a quick taste of what's inside, please check out these essays, they may change the way you think about your christian walk: what is faith, what is hope, what is love, what is mercy, what is worship, what is humility, what is repentance?

pax

code debunking

hi all. just in case you haven't read any really good articles debunking the rubbish in that book named after a renaissance man named leonardo, read this. if nothing else, mr. brown has got non-christians asking questions about christianity; this is good. so let's be prepared to answer them!

gridblog #1 - the good book

yes, i'm a little late to the blog-party, but here are my 2p...

the book is God's inerrant word. that statement has taken lifetimes of people far better qualified than i to explain. therefore i'll just give you some of my thoughts on what an impact that has on my life.

it is the revealed truth of how God relates to humanity, and how he expects us to behave as his children. it tells me how to relate to God, and everyone else in creation.

lately the all embracing nature of its truth has been changing the ways i look at many things in life. the presuppositions we bring to our day to day existence. how our world view is shaped, and the implications that has for how we live.

not to say that it's crystal clear and simple to apply. the christian walk might well not be so interesting if it was...

pax

the cornett has arrived

last tuesday, my cornett from CMI finally arrived. it has been a long wait, but so far i'd say it was worth it. i have progressed from making rude, flatulent, noises to making sounds that might be considered to have a pitch! i think that i have got something close to an octave range on it now: d' - d''. according to the tutor book i should need to get to at least c' - a''' (historically the range of a cornett is g - d''', or maximally f - g'''!?). that's a ways off for this aspiring musician. here are some pix of my new fave toy:

what colour is the sky in your world?

i don't remember when the thought first occurred to me. the first recollection i have of it is talking to my brother in the kitchen on le jeune. what colour do you see the sky as? if i was in your head would i recognize it as blue? or would it look green or pink?

we all know the sky is blue because we have been told so. common colours are named, and we have accepted certain archetypal representations to point to. the sky is blue, grass is green, blood is red, paper is white, and so on. but, if i was in your head, would what your brain perceives look to me like that? there's no way to know. maybe if i could see what you see, it would be a psychedelic vision of fluorescent pink skies, blue trees, streets paved with gold, and populated with gray scale people.

could this account for people with a good sense for the visual arts? the colours they perceive line up well with the population average? and perhaps people who have the most aweful fashion sense... maybe it does look good to them... hmmm...

so, what colour is the sky in your world?

maverick philosopher

i have been doing a lot of reading about philosophy and appologetics the last while, thanks to my brother-in-law's brother-in-law. a recent addition to my links section has been that of the maverick philosopher. i have enjoyed reading a number of his blog posts. it's pretty heavy stuff, so be warned! thankfully he seems to be towards my way of thinking (as much as i've read so far anyways ;-) i hope to learn lots from his site. i would definitely recommend. his refutations of naturalism, scientism, positivism and relativism are brain expanding and welcome. enjoy!

slinging

following a link from my friend tim to wildwoodsurvival
to read an article about making fire with a chocolate bar and a pop can, i also came across a link to slinging. yes, i mean as in the ancient weapon of 'dangerous dave'! as with all things now, the revival of this ancient projectile flinging device has gone online. all i can say is, very cool.

colour science

what do you get when you mix psychology, physiology, computers, and a can of paint? i'm sure that these guys could help you figure it out... color matters.

colours affect moods. colours affect vision, your body, and have applications on a whole pile of stuff. does colour affect taste? these guys have an answer.

i am a christian

following my own admonition of a month back i want to share what i believe and why.

i believe there is one God. i believe that Jesus is his son.

currently my evidences consist of the Bible, testimony contained therein, and external historical evidences corroborating it's claims.

ah... summer...

the summer dresses
flowers twirling on parade
forgotten things stir

arnold retires!?

i guess that it happens to all of us. after a time we want to retire. arnold robinson, bass for the nylons has retired. i have many fond memories of singing along to his parts; even won an air-band competition with some friends with 'love potion #9'. below is the post from the nylons site.

After 26 wonderful years with The Nylons Arnold Robinson has decided to move on to the next stage of his life and retire as the bass singer for the group. His career with The Nylons has taken him to all corners of the earth and enriched his life with a world of experience and fond memories.

Arnold will have an ongoing interest in the group and will be supportive as The Nylons continue their legacy in performance and on record.

Arnold can be reached at arobi44@yahoo.com regarding his activities in stage presentation and consulting.

The group has always been greater than the sum of its parts and The Nylons will continue as a premier force in the world of vocal music.

- nylons

ad eminem?

no... ad hominem! for someone who is new to the critical thinking field as a formal area of study with all kinds of jargon, it's cool to find terms for stuff that makes sense!

basically it goes like this. so-and-so says "bla". someone who doesn't agree with so-and-so says they're a moron so bla can't be true. how often does this happen? and in all kinds of situations? it can go the otherway too. so-and-so says "bla". they are instead a great person, so bla must be true. how often does that happen?

the problem with this kind of reasoning is that whether or not so-and-so is a moron/genius, "bla" must be proven/disproven by logical means. maybe the moron is right for once and the genius is wrong!?

basically i guess we could look at it this way... truth is truth whatever the source.

link to wikipedia for ad hominem

where have the real men gone?

today i offer for your enjoyment a short quote from the book that my wife bought me for father's day.

Society at large can't make up its mind about men. Having spent the last thirty years redefining masculinity into something more sensitive, safe, manageable and, well, feminine, it now berates men for not being men. Boys will be boys, they sigh. As though if a man were to truly grow up he would forsake wilderness and wanderlust and settle down, be at home forever in aunt polly's parlor. "Where are all the real men?" is regular fare for talk shows and new books. You asked them to be women, i want to say. The result is a gender confusion never experienced at such a wide level in the history of the world. How can a man know he is one when his highest aim is minding his manners?
-john eldredge, wild at heart

men and women are different. i think that it's time that society recognize that instead of trying to squish us all into some kind of androgynous mold as though there is nothing different about us except our hardware.

do we know how to think?

i've heard it said, and i have started saying it too, "common sense ain't so common". especially when dealing with matters of religion, do we know how to think - how to identify what's valid in the morass of ideas.

in our modern society of moral relativism, it is difficult to convince people that there is such a thing as moral absolutes, or even that there is such a thing as truth. is one person's opinion really just as valid as any other's? or are some right and some wrong?

what a brave new world that would be! a world where there is something - someone - that you could be sure of. a world where right and wrong are spelled out clearly. a world where there is absolute truth, not just subjective matters of perspective. can we handle that much certainty? whoops, off chasing rabbits...

back on topic. critical thinking is not something that is covered in k-12, or Sunday morning. so is it any wonder that people seem to be swayed by the most ridiculous and ill founded of arguments because it seems to be grounded in common sense.

i would like to challenge all of us human beings to look at what we believe and why. have a basis for our beliefs. know why we believe what we believe. have reasons why it is the one way. and if we find it is not based on anything, scrap it and find the one that is.

yidaki

what a great instrument. most will have heard of it called a didgeridoo (in any of numerous different spellings), but that is just onomatopoeia. yidaki is it's name in the language of it's originators.

it's cool to think that somewhere in the outback, some dude found a hollow log and picked it up and made some cool noises with it. then someone figured out that termites hollow the logs for you. what a wild instrument. if someone today had come up with the idea we'd think he was a quack!

my reason for posting about yidaki today is that you can construct one, or more likely find one in your home. any tube of sufficient length and diameter can make a cool didge-like noise. if you want to 'make' one PVC pipe is an inexpensive medium. a length of pipe around 1.3m long, give-or-take. yidaki sound wild, and there is something distinctly un-modern about playing one. it takes you out of the everyday existence; time just flies by. also, i dare say that the breathing involved must be therapeutic.

so go grab some big long tube-ish thing you have around your home. make rude noises down it with your lips, and birdcalls, catcalls, whatever. go a little on the wild side. forget yourself for a bit...

if you'd like to read more of the history or physics have fun.

fathers

my thoughts today are with my dad. i'm thankful to him for the way he modeled many of the behaviors that i now try to emulate, either consciously or subconsciously. it's true that our estimation of how wise our fathers are changes throughout our life time. right now the dad-o-meter is very high. i often marvel at all the stuff i remember him doing. the skills he has that i still have no grasp of. he still amazes with his knowledge of various unrelated topics.

here's to you dad. you are a singular individual. i love you.

math & music

yes everyone says that music is mathematical.... ok they don't, but it turns out that music is all about math. sound is vibrations in the air. vibrations at a certain frequency, we call notes. and more specifically, notes are related to each other by very specific ratios. the simplest four would be: unison, perfect octave, perfect fifth, perfect fourth, major third. or in notes this could be starting from a c: c', g, f, and e, respectively. as mathematical ratios they would be 1: 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, and 5/4. if your really interested in some of the nitty gritty, check this wiki page on intervals.

now, this makes me wonder if one could write music that is based purely on math. is it possible to describe or produce a work based solely on math? and if produced would it sound any good? i have a feeling that this might be what 'new music' is about. who knows, food for future bloggings.

so back to math-music... i think that it would be interesting to try to write some music based on mathematical series: geometric, exponential, hypergeometric... who knows maybe even Taylor series! i wonder what it would sound like? maybe music could be produced by random number generator, with notes, chords, and dynamics determined by some statistical method? i'm sure some computer science jocks have tried something like this, but it's fun to think about... maybe you could have your own background music generator that could have it's coefficients tailored to your preferences of key, tempo, style, etc.? music just for you...

is anything sacred anymore?

modern society seems to have largely decided that nothing is sacred. and anything that someone may hold up as special or sacred is immediately attacked, marginalized, and pulled down into the morass.

back in antiquity, some things were sacred. some things were so special - so sacred - you didn't dare to even speak their name.

maybe some things are special. maybe some things are more important. maybe some things are sacred after all.

rude noises... musical sounds...

i have been interested in the possible sounds and physics of the human voice for a long time. the last few years that interest has come to include wind instruments. there are many kinds of wind instruments, but the kind that i'm writing of today are the brass, or lip-reeds as they are also known. this includes everything from the cornett to the cornet, alphorn to the digeridu.

what is intriguing about the brass family is that it takes something that babies do, "buzzing" with their lips and turns it into music. apparently making rude noises is not rude after all, provided you do it down a long pipe! the physics (acoustics) that describe the making of music by..... ahem.... doing whatever you want to call it... down a pipe, are relatively straight forward. greatly simplified, the fundamental (lowest note) is determined buy the length of the pipe. other notes that can be played are multiples of this frequency. this doesn't give us many notes to play with (bugle, natural trumpet). so what do we do? drill holes, make valves, do anything we can to make it possible to change the length of the pipe on the fly while we're playing! this way we can fill in the notes that we were missing before.

in the end, the way that the pipe, the mouthpiece and the bell (if that instrument has one), all work together to change our rude lip noises into something interesting and beautiful to hear. something worthy of donning good clothes and paying money to see and hear. something that doesn't make us laugh out loud when we see men and women in formal tuxes and gowns performing. behold, the brass instrument!

teach your child to read in 60 days

i am just getting ready to teach my son to read using the same phonetics based "box of games" that my mother used to teach me. it's all material that was written and thought of in the '70s.

to my amazement it seems that there is still some sort of argument amongst academics about how to teach kids to read. the two camps are phonics and whole-word. to make the comparison simple, i'll put it like this: with phonics you teach what the letters sound like (as well as some other weird combinations), with whole-word you teach kids what words look like (recognize the whole word). which would you rather try to do? teach 45 sounds and the letters that make them.... or try to teach your kids to memorize by sight every word in the english language? in mandarin you have no choice, with an alphabet you do!

putting all the academic mumbo aside, my mom taught me to read/spell using phonics, and that's how i'm going to teach my son. it works.

just my tuppence.

quel lascivissimo cornetto...

as a birthday present from my wife i received "How to Play the Cornett" by Jeremy West. this gracious gift will go miles towards me making noises that are more melodious than rude when my resin cornett arrives from Christopher Monk Instruments a few months hence.

now your obvious question - unless you are a fan of Monteverdi, Gabrieli, and Bassano - what on earth is a cornett (also variously known as cornetto and zink)? well.... imagine, if you will, a recorder with a brass type mouthpiece; six finger holes and one thumb hole at the top, made of wood, and sounding “like a ray of sunshine piercing the shadows, when heard with the choir voices in the cathedrals or chapels” according to someone in 1636.

the cornetto was the 'cool' instrument from about 1500-1650. every group that was any good had cornettos in it. the top players were the highest paid musicians of the day. its use in virtuoso music was at least equal to the violin, with much of the music indicating "violino o cornetto" meaning that either was a suitable choice. there are a number of theories as to why its use died out. one has it that many of the greatest players died out during the Venetian plague of 1630 leaving few to teach the instrument; another that since it is a difficult instrument there were few players to begin with, and the development of violin technique and new instruments like the oboe made it outdated.

thankfully for classical music buffs, interest has been revived in the last half century and there are now a good number of players world wide, and groups making recordings for us to enjoy: Jeremy West, His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts, Bruce Dickey, Concerto Palatino, and many more.

as an example of the sound i have linked a cornett/vocal duet from the website of Kiri Tollaksen: In Dulce Jubilo

buona notte tutto!

aha! that's better

ok, we seem to be in business now. let's try posting a picture.... hmmmmm.... what's out the window?

the weather today has been kind of variable. this was taken during a breif respite from the rain shower that has been falling on and off through both cloud and shine.

rain stops, for a while
spring is fresh, and clean, and green
sun low in the west

testing.... testing.... 1....2.....3.....

i'm not sure what's going on. status says that my last post is published, but it's not showing.... and neither are the changes to the links. so this is a test of the publishing again, to see if this will kick start it. there was a message while i was publishing last night about there being a problem with the servers but an 'engineer' was 'aware'....

so many settings!

that was a blur. i have set a bunch of settings in the blogger.... hopefully i haven't broken anything. if there are any settings that would make this blog more useful, please email me as i'm still completely ignorant of how this whole thing works.

hello world!

well.... this should be interesting....

i had wondered about this blogging thing.... thought that it might be a bit narcissistic. ;-)

i guess we'll see how far this rabbit hole goes, eh?