Christianity Is Not a Suicide Pact

Decisions, decisions.

The Anabaptists may not think of their absolute pacificism in that way, and strictly speaking they are correct, but would they seem so calm if they understood the dangers? Maybe they can be credited with a strong faith, but what sort of credible witness do they provide if the law to defend one's self and family is of divine origin?

Everyone's Talking about Community and the Common Good

Do we have a problem with the lack of community in mass population centers? Yes. Do conflict-averse "conservatives" have a solution? No. Punditry is not engaging in personal conflict, not even when one is supposedly "communicating" with one's opponents through articles and the like. Let them do it in person and see what their response is.

 The lockdown has given me more time to respond to various articles and postings on the blog, but it's not something that I will continue for much longer, as it gets repetitive, and various "conservative" intellectuals are probably not going to realize their errors and change. It may be time to focus completely on other projects, or to do some real writing.

Law Liberty: Plagues, Ancient and Modern by Pavlos Papadopoulos

There are encouraging signs that the coronavirus is forcing us to rethink the conditions of human flourishing. https://t.co/NsfZF9ras8

— Law & Liberty (@LawLiberty) May 19, 2020

The terror of a deadly virus for which we have no cure has reminded us that we are not gods; so, too, in a subtler way, has the isolation into which it has forced us. It is up to us to decide, now, to rise above the level of the bestial and recall the proper means and ends of human life, to be found in restored and re-embraced community.

The author is a member of the faculty at WCC so he should use the school as a basis for understanding what community requires, and how the school falls short of being a full, i.e. political, community.

Oddities

A bizarre dream about two Korean actresses (no one in particular in mind though I was trying to think of their names even while dreaming) and their tragedies... not sure if it would be passable as a movie idea but given the state of Korean cinema today, who knows?

Time Vortex

First time I visited Pho Spot in Syvale... 9/11/2016. Feels like yesterday.

Had a Dream of Him

But got his name wrong, and he was much younger. Part of a dream about traveling to the Mainland and back.

Current Guilty Pleasure

Yellowstone - the story of Kayce and his wife is the least interesting to me.





"Yellowstone Theme" LIVE by Brian Tyler

In Memoriam

I'm not sure what the theological explanation would be, but it does seem like G*d has a sense of humor.

Incongruity? Our disordered attachments?

Not that He is laughing at us but He does seek to deflate our expectations of ourselves.

Fortunes for fortune cookies are meant to be flattering and generalizing but some of the ones I found today seemed spot on for one reason or another. Self-opinion or self-conceit?

Lessons that won't be learned

by the chinos here...

A memorable Quote

"I've never denied that I was a sociopath; everyone in my family is."

Morning commute from Sacramento on Interstate 80 to the Bay Area is crazy. Too many people going too fast (75, 80 mph) without a safe distance separating cars. Stupid driving. If people are in such a rush to get to work (and presumably to leave work) because they live too far, what does that say about their quality of life?

Spring Cleaning for the Blog

Too late for that, as it is almost summer -- but I should check the links and drop the ones that are defunct or no longer recommended.

Dehlia Low, "State of Jefferson"

Spent a weekend with good people outside of blue California. Nice, polite people, no cultural Marxist bullsh*t.

God save red California...

If I do move, things with ----M will either end well or poorly. Yesterday I was thinking it might end well, but it was emotion-driven. Who wants to part on bad terms? So emotion was leading to false forgiveness. But after that passed I was back to what I had been thinking up to now -- what is the point? After all, what sort of substantial relationship do I have with them? And how is that going to change between now and a departure date a few months away?

Besides, if I don't move, I am still inclined to cutting most, if not all, ties with the group, so why should moving change anything?

Hearing Cappella Romana in person was worth it, even if it was with discounted tickets. Hopefully they will be back in the Bay Area soon.

A light day... not eager to return to work.

The last young adult events, yesterday and tonight?

A dream about a CT team going into a city shopping center to respond to active shooters -- but the last sensation I had of an AR magazine was a 10-round one, not a 30-round one, so that's how the magazine well and magazine felt. Commiefornia.

Good manners make life with other people, especially strangers more pleasant, and preserve the polite fiction that a community exists.

A German girl, 4th gr: "You remind me of my uncle [who lives in Germany]." Thought that was humorous.

And one of the 4 year-olds, Ibero-American: "I am Jason. He is a bad guy." Why do their parents let their very young children watch horror movies? I don't understand, even if we are not getting their best and brightest.