Now and then I realize how much of my writing results from trying to make up for having answered someone’s good question badly.
When people say that the standard of virtue is declining, it is considered shrewd and knowing to reply “Every age thinks it was better in the old days.”
(To the tune of “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” here sung by Fats Waller.
I'm gonna sit right down and write a good objection
And then show why it can't be true
I’m gonna fill it up with smarts
We are not just knowers, but seekers, who spontaneously incline toward certain realities other than ourselves.
Query:
St. Augustine seems to have allowed for prostitution on the grounds that the evil that would arise from stamping it out would exceed the evil of letting it be with restrictions.
TEXAS CITY SUFFERS SUB-SUB-ARCTIC COLD
Portent of Global Cooling, Scientists Warn
AUSTIN, TEXAS (CMM) – An unexpected summer cold snap shocked the Texas capital yesterday as the mercury plunged to minus 17,966° F.
Last semester some of my students asked whether, if it were possible, we should do something to our genes so that, barring accident, our lifespan was unlimited.
Our lifespan in this world, mind you. It’s a tempting thought, but consider.
If we were immortal, no new generations would arise to replace us.
Fatherhood is taking it in the chops these days, and fanatics use the term “patriarchy” as a synonym for oppression. Against all that is this:
Shame is not the same as guilt – or perhaps it would be better to say that there are several kinds of shame.
To hide one’s sins from others really is the shame of guilt. But to practice modesty is the shame of innocence.