Jul 30, 2016

Fear, Machines, and Ontological Shaming: Off-site Highlights

(Compiled by Anna)


The blog has been very quiet these last two weeks. One cause of the silence is my recent trip to see relatives and attend the CCLE conference in Ft. Wayne. It was delightful to meet and chat with several blog readers there. Thanks for saying "hi!"

The conference has given me all kinds of thoughts about Lutheranism, education, and the real meaning of classical ed vs. various erroneous understandings of it, among other things. I plan to write some of that up. Meanwhile, here is some recommended reading from elsewhere across the web.

1. When Fear is More Limiting Than a Wheelchair by Stacey Gagnon

This author writes movingly about her special-needs son and her choice to let him take the risks he needs to take. It's inspiring applicable to parenting in general. 

"So, I ask that when you see my son struggle and I appear cold and indifferent, do not look at me and cringe with judgement. Please look my way and smile. Silently share my fear, and encourage me. Because I am raising a man. A man who needs to fall before he can soar. A man whose character and strength will run deep in his veins and will be obtained through scars, falls, and trials. I am raising a man who will get back up, again and again, because his mama said he could."

2. Feminism, The Body, and The Machine by Wendell Berry

This essay is somewhat lengthy--save it for a moment when you have time to chew on Berry's thoughts about marriage, the economics of the home, and feminism. Don't get bogged down in the first few paragraphs. 

"Marriage, in what is evidently its most popular version, is now on the one hand an intimate 'relationship' involving (ideally) two successful careerists in the same bed, and on the other hand a sort of private political system in which rights and interests must be constantly asserted and defended. Marriage, in other words, has now taken the form of divorce: a prolonged and impassioned negotiation as to how things shall be divided. During their understandably temporary association, the 'married' couple will typically consume a large quantity of merchandise and a large portion of each other."

3. Modesty and the Ontological Shaming of Both Women and Men by Abigail Tardiff

This article takes an interesting route to argue that when the burden of modesty is thrust entirely upon one sex or the other--when men act as if it is solely the job of women to cover up, or when women act as if it is solely the job of men to deal with their masculine tendency to be aroused by the female form--we teach the "burdened" sex that they ought to be ashamed of being male or female.  

4. Faithfully Caring for the LGBT Community by Rev. Bill Johnson

This piece from the CPH blog is a good read. The author addresses the need for Christians to show love to members of the LGBT community as well as the need to look beyond our cultural lies about sexuality.  

5. No Matter How Many Priests ISIS Kills, They Can’t Win By Hans Fiene

Despite his reputation as a satirist, Pastor Fiene writes very seriously in this piece about God's forgiveness.

6. Have you seen This Recreation (with doodle illustrations) of the C.S. Lewis radio talk that formed the basis the the first chapter in Mere Christianity?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please note: Comments are moderated and will appear on the blog once we've had a chance to approve them.

Thanks for joining the conversation!