Of Joy and its Absence

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919)

26th President of the United States

The Irony of "New" Tolerance

The United Nations Declaration of Principles on Tolerance (1995) asserts, "Tolerance... involves the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism." But why?  Might one not hold a certain dogma to be correct, to hold it absolutely, while insisting that others have the right to hold conflicting things to be dogmatically true? Indeed, does not the assertion "Tolerance... involves the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism" sound a little, well, dogmatic and absolute?

. . .

For the moment, it is enough to observe that under the aegis of this new tolerance, no absolutism is permitted, except for the absolute prohibition of absolutism.  Tolerance rules, except that there must be no tolerance for those who disagree with this peculiar definition of tolerance.

The Intolerance of Tolerance, by D. A. Carson

Introduction - The Changing Face of Tolerance

Imago Dei

We show our feelings about the Lord, through the way we treat people made in his image.

- Mika Edmondson
Is Black Lives Matter the New Civil Rights Movement? (44:26-44:33)

A Shift in the Purpose of Marriage

The earlier "ideal of marriage as a permanent contractual union designed for the sake of mutual love, procreation, and protection is slowly giving way to a new reality of marriage as a 'terminal sexual contract' designed for the gratification of the individual parties."

John Witte, Jr. (Legal Scholar) as quoted in The Meaning of Marriage, by Tim Keller
Chapter 1 - The Secret of Marriage

Religious Liberty

A religion that needs state power to enforce obedience to its beliefs is a religion that has lost confidence in the power of its Deity.

Onward, by Russell Moore
Chapter 7 - Religious Liberty

Enemies

A man who has made no enemies is probably not a very good man.

Antonin Scalia (March 11, 1936 - Feb 13, 2016)
US Supreme Court Justice

Source: BBC

Biography of Adoniram Judson

Beware of desperate steps; the darkest day,
(Live till tomorrow), will have passed away.

From the biography, Adoniram Judson: Devoted For Life
Chapter 37 - A Sudden Tornado in a Sunny Day