Geoff's Miscellany

I was born in the 80s. This means that I listened to a lot of the best music of the previous century as a child. But as you grow older, some music acquires new meaning, either because of your experiences or because you just finally became conscious enough to listen to the lyrics. When I was in junior high, I realized how creepy or sad his Sting’s lyrics were. Without fail, every song is filled with shades of the dark triad traits or utter remorse at unrequited love.

I had titled this post, ‘random thoughts.’ But many of these are things I’ve thought a lot about. They aren’t random, they’re just topics I’d like to write about/discuss with folks but probably won’t write about for fear of wasting my time (only about two of my posts here have comments).

1. Matthew's gospel really was written first.
2. Sex differences are real, down to the molecular level.
3. With respect to #2, sex differences should be considered a first principle when it comes to raising children.
4. The Beatles are overrated, the Stones and even Fleetwood Mac are better.
5. Other than occasionally being motivating on a hormonal level or linguistically intriguing, rap music is pointless.
6. The typical Protestant/Evangelical articulation of justification by faith alone and 'once saved always saved' are incorrect and potentially dangerous to peoples' souls.
7. Capitalism, insofar as it means, 'non-coercive commerce' is not workable in nations where Christianity is not the publicly preferred religion and practiced with sincerity by a large visible minority.
8. In connection with this, free trade agreements are a mistake.
9. The average humanities degree in the modern university is pointless economically and intellectually empty.
10. The New Testament simultaneously makes room for women as prophets in the church while maintaining the existence of some form of hierarchy in the household.
11. Attempts at analogies for the trinity are bad most of the time.
12. Fiction can be truer than history.
13. The Old Testament has a lot more information about demons are fallen powers than Old Testament scholars tend to acknowledge.
14. While deontological ethics (right and wrong are right and wrong regardless of consequences) is correct with respect to knowing morality, consequentialist reasoning is best for getting people to behave morally.
15. The distinction between law and morality is important for interpreting Scripture.
16. There are multiple true senses to Scripture, particularly the passages of poetry and the archetypal stories prior Abraham.
17. In line with #16, many Biblical stories appear to be designed to promote inquiry from several angles rather than to promote a specific point of view.
18. Dante's Inferno is as much psychology as it is theology and poetry.
19. The average school, if studied without presupposition, would appear to be designed to promote listlessness, ignorance, and inattention.
20. Aristotle's metaphysic is, at least with regard to actuality/potentiality, and therefore causality and the soul.
21. Evolutionary theory contains several logical leaps, provides many satisfactory explanations of the life on planet earth, has no business in a high school biology class, and poses no threat to Christianity.
22. Genetic differences between human groups are selected for environments over thousands or millions of years. (my apparently Scottish self has no business in south Texas, stepping outside is asking for a heat rash, sun burn, or worse).