As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Unfortunately, conspiracy theories play upon our fear by supplying a more powerful emotion: rage. Fear can so quickly morph into anger because it provides an object: they are to blame, they caused this, they deserve retribution. There will always be a willing audience for people to scapegoat.” - CToday
“How deadly is Covid-19 compared to seasonal flu, past pandemics, or car crashes? To offer context, we have produced two charts showing coronavirus deaths along with deaths from other common causes in the past to which the disease has recently been compared.” - New Atlantis
All humans are political and ideological. We’re political in the sense that we have beliefs about the groups we’re part of—what those groups ought to have done in the past, ought to do now, ought to do in the future, and what sort of people should lead them. And we certainly have strong views about the groups we’re not part of.
“Christlikeness looks different in different domains. Just consider: Christ offers particular commands to women and others to men; some to masters and others to bondservants; some to fathers and others to children; some to young men, others to old men, and still others to older women; some to pastors and others to church members.
“Taking a walk around my rural neighborhood, I’m fortunate that my circuit involves a significant elevation gain. The physical exertion of climbing slows my mind’s chatter. I’m working my body, but my mind rests.” - Intellectual Takeout
Main points:
“The resulting delay, which we’ve called ‘redundant deliberation,’ happens when people take too long to make a choice between difficult options. We’ve found indecision is the most dangerous aspect of a high-stakes situation. ” - The Conversation
“If reasonable arguments can be made exegetically then perhaps we ought not to anathematize people who believe differently than we do on issues such as this. Perhaps someone can believe that David and Bathsheba committed adultery and still support the #metoo and #churchtoo moments.” - Dave Miller
“See, your truth (and my truth) may not the be the truth—and that’s not just my truth but the truth.” - TGC
“A ‘conspiracy theory’ is a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot, usually by powerful conspirators…. These conspiracy theories are not simply restricted to a fringe population.
Discussion