The Christian Rationalist

Category Archives: Philosophy

Mindless Replicators

4 Comments Posted by Sam Elder on March 2, 2015

In thinking about my discussion last week based on the movie Selma, one question struck me later as obviously the natural question that I didn’t ask:

Why is activism dead?

In fact, the movie gives a striking example of activism working as it’s supposed to, and it isn’t far off from reality, insofar as the Selma marches did change the national consciousness and put political pressure on President Johnson.

And yet, as I wrote about last week, it doesn’t seem to be accomplishing as much today. This should be a bit puzzling: Surely it would be even more possible to organize protests with today’s social media. It’s easier than ever for great orators to put out content to attract others to their cause. In another part of the world, ISIS is literally taking over territory with recruits from all over the world. Take a moment to think about it, to notice your confusion (at least, if you’re as confused as I was): Why is protesting so ineffective?

Selma, protest tactics, and the false hope of moderation

7 Comments Posted by Sam Elder on February 23, 2015

I watched the Academy Awards (yes, the whole thing) with my church community group last night, and one of the most moving moments was when Common and John Legend performed the song Glory from Selma, right before they won the award for Best Original Song. As they pointed out in their acceptance speech, Selma is a timely movie, because its spirit exists today in movements from the US to France to Hong Kong.

I came across one of the best discussions of the movie on a website I normally peruse for its excellent sports analysis. Mark Harris of Grantland primarily responds to some of the criticism of the movie’s portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson, but has many interesting things to say along the way. His defense of the genre of historical fiction as providing value beyond mere recitations of facts is stirring, but I want to focus on another point of his.

The Apologetic Value of Modern Day Miracles

14 Comments Posted by Sam Elder on June 14, 2014

Why are some very smart people Christian, and some aren’t? This is an important question, because we can’t both be right. In this post, I share my new approach to rationalist Christian apologetics, and why I think there are still important questions that need to be answered here.

Good Friday and Christian Music

4 Comments Posted by Sam Elder on April 20, 2014

Yesterday was Good Friday. For the last several years, it’s been the Christian holiday that I’ve most consistently emotionally connected with. Easter is a close second, but in this post I’d like to discuss a more general topic that I think explains why I’ve connected with Good Friday.

When I first started attending my church, City on a Hill in Brookline, I loved everything about the church, but surprisingly, it was the music that stood out the most. For a long time, I wasn’t really sure why. I knew that they sung a different mix of songs than I was used to, and somehow I loved them, but it wasn’t until a sermon by Fletcher Lang six weeks ago that I realized why.
Read more of this post

Philosophy

Newer posts →