"To introduce into philosophical discussions a sneer at a creed's antiquity is like introducing a sneer at a lady's age. It is caddish because it is irrelevant. The pure modernist is merely a snob; he cannot bear to be a month behind the fashion."
--G.K. Chesterton, All Things Considered
--I--
Scandal is a word which is misused (and abused) almost as much as hypocrisy--or tolerance, for that matter. Therefore, Mr Mark Shea does a great service to our "culture of victimism" (as he calls it) by writing an essay which explains what scandal is--and isn't--in response to a question asked by one of his readers..
--II--
My friend Mr Colin Gormley has a post about drawing attention to our good qualities--and how often doing this means that we are altogether lacking in those qualities. We often try to describe ourselves as we wish that we are, not how we actually are. Ironically enough, when we tell ourselves that we are (say) humble over and over and over, we often end up by being very proud, that is, we lose what little humility we may have had.
--III--
One topic I come back to time and again is the relationship between dogma and doctrine--the unchangeable truths (rooted in eternal Truth) and our evolving understanding of them. It's an interesting topic--one which is related to, for example, the fact that God Himself is eternal and unchanging, but our understanding of Him changes and develops as our understanding in general changes and develops. These truths have all been revealed to us, but their meaning is still unfolding, we are still discovering their significance, application, or implications: or, as Dr Stacy Trasancos puts it, "it isn’t dogma that evolves; it’s man’s understanding of it that develops."
--Bonus--
.I've noticed that the newly unveiled asteroid mining venture--Planetary Resources--is looking for some people with backgrounds in optics and laser systems. They also ask some interesting questions on their application questionnaire.
No comments:
Post a Comment