You know you’re winning an argument when people have to resort to caricatures and distortion. And that’s what’s happening in the debate about “clean” Christian fiction. One such ruse often employed by defenders of “clean fiction” is that people like me are on a crusade to include expletives in Christian fiction. It’s not framed as [...]
A steel mill was the hub of my hometown. Kaiser Steel flourished during WWII before eventually going bankrupt in the late-eighties. The mill attracted a breed of hard-working, hard-drinking, earthy folks. This grit was embodied perfectly by the Fontana high school football team. Always competitive (and nasty) the Steelers won several state titles before finally [...]
“My terror was the salute that mortal flesh gives to immortal things.” — Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis Till We Have Faces disturbed me. In fact, the scene that the above quote comes from haunted me for weeks after reading it. In it, the protagonist Orual persuades her beautiful sister Psyche to break her [...]
I hate being labeled. So when someone recently asked me about my religious background, I described myself as a religious mutt. I suppose the term could appear derogatory, but I don’t see it that way. In fact, I kind of revel in advocating mutt-ism. Part of it comes from my personal religious experience. I was [...]
Let me apologize ahead of time. But I probably missed something. I mean, when did people’s “feelings” become so sacred? You know, this hyper-sensitivity to how Christians are perceived, whether or not we are making someone feel condemned or accepted or excluded or depressed or affirmed or… whatever. Intentionally hurting people’s feelings? Wrong. Being unconcerned [...]
This is the first non-fiction article I ever had published, circa 2005. A theme still near and dear to my heart. § § § In a glass jar in a Wisconsin hospital, there was a brain. At first glance it looked like any other brain – soft, grey, cauliflower-like. There was no apparent damage [...]
Rohullah Nikpai‘s appearance at the 2012 London Olympics is a reminder of just how important nationalism can be. In the 2008 Olympics, Nikpai, of Afghanistan, won a bronze medal in taekwondo. It was a truly historic moment. Why? Because it was the first Olympic medal ever won by his country. Now Nikpai returns bringing higher [...]
It’s been suggested that people go to church to find out how to get to heaven, and people have sex to find out what heaven feels like. In both cases, humans are instinctively craving heaven. We just look for it through different means. Or as G. K. Chesterton put it, “Every man who knocks on [...]
Back in 2006, in a post entitled In Praise of Bad Reviews, I lamented the echo chamber that is the Christian review circuit. It is hard for a Christian author, especially a non-established, small name author, to get professional reviews. Before you go off, let me clarify: Certainly, “amateur” reviewers can offer quality reviews. They [...]
Atrocities like the Aurora theater shooting force us to ask questions. CNN Belief Blog went to Twitter to ask Where Was God in the Aurora Massacre? Examiner.com asked Did Batman influence James Holmes’ actions? and proceeded to explore violent images (films, music, video games, etc.) and their potential affect on culture. Of course, the debate [...]
