Forming our loves

This is obvious on one hand, but on the other we typically don’t appreciate its truth: we come to love the things we do through a process. I wasn’t born with an innate love of “Star Wars” – I came to love it for a variety of reasons unique to my story as a person. […]

What have we done to love?

We readily believe the above picture concerning “beauty;” why would we think “love” any different? Before discussing how we go about loving others, I want to draw attention to what our culture has turned love into. The meaning our culture gives to love is pretty clear when one spends time listening to music, watching TV […]

How do you know? Part II

This post addresses the false idea of pure objectivity. I want to also share a terrific article I read the other day on a popular contemporary philosophy called materialism which uses so much information from science that its adherents actually think it’s science. The next post will advance the idea that people don’t primarily think and choose beliefs […]

They’re all gonna laugh at you!

I want to talk a bit about what motivates us to think, believe, and act in the ways we do. We have discussed some of the emotional and cultural factors that can influence us, but we haven’t looked at why or how we initially form our patterns of thought and behavior. The first thing to […]

Echoes of your own voice

I want to ask you to focus your powers of observation on yourself to the best of your abilities (it’d be a good idea to seek the input of trusted friends, too; they often see us for who we are better than we do). We’ve discussed anger and lust as two emotions which commonly cloud […]

Angry people

Ahhhh….take a deep breath and inhale the aroma of our culture: “Don’t touch my rights!!!!! How DARE you… “…take away my guns!!!…” “…not let me marry who I want!!!…” “…take prayer out of schools!!!…” “…kill old ladies and the poor!!!…” “What do you think you’re DOING??? How could you… “…vote for that communist??!!…” “…vote for […]

Angry Americans

It’s safe to say that dealing with anger – both acknowledged and repressed – is not something that’s unique to me. I think it’s a common underlying issue for many Americans. By no means is it something that only plagues Americans, but we seem to have a particular flavor that is interesting. Let’s take a broader view of American […]