“If there’s any historical development over the past few years that has reinforced the new allergy to devil’s advocacy, it’s the ascent of actual fascists…”
If there’s any historical development over the past few years that has reinforced the...
Category Archives: Culture
“…many things…fall in and out of fashion for reasons that have more to do with fashion than with reason”
Surely many things, including bikes, fall in and out of fashion for reasons that...
“’Pics or it didn’t happen’ gained traction because in an age of bountiful technology, when everyone is armed with a camera, there is no excuse for not having evidence”
It’s a glib reply to a comrade’s boasting — coming out of Internet gaming...
Teenagers’ “speech is the site of rebellion, and their slang provides shelter from adult scrutiny”
Teenagers may not be able to drive or vote or stay out past curfew...
“Cultural blind spots are the inevitable consequence of transitioning from one culture to another”
Obituaries are commemorative totems for the natives and educational tools for immigrants. The native...
“I never imagined that the Baptists I knew in my youth would come to seem mellow, almost slackers by comparison”
I’ve talked to people who say they’ve happily dispensed with God, and don’t even...
“…recognizing that culture shapes behavior and that moral frameworks matter doesn’t require thundering denunciations of the moral choices of the poor”
…when you have a cultural earthquake that makes society dramatically more permissive and you...
“A great TED talk is reminiscent of a tent revival sermon”
I grew up among Christian evangelicals and I recognize the cadences of missionary zeal...
“Instead of sola scriptura, TED and its ilk offer more of a buffet-style approach to moral formation”
TED talks routinely present problems of huge scale and scope — we imprison too...
“In a society rife with theories and practices that flatten and shrink and chill the human subject, the humanist is the dissenter”
…a complacent humanist is a humanist who has not read his books closely, since...