Tag: culture

culture, homeschooling, religion

Christians as a “Creative Minority”

I came across a great quote today from Pope Benedict which presents a way of thinking about living an authentic Christian life in our modern, western world:

We do not know what the future of Europe will be. Here we must agree with Toynbee, that the fate of a society always depends on its creative minorities. Christian believers should look upon themselves as just such a creative minority, helping Europe to reclaim what is best in its heritage and thereby to place itself at the service of all humankind. (See the whole article by Benedict here.)

Toynbee was a British historian who looked at history as a series of rising and falling cultures. In his understanding, cultures are shaped by the particular challenges their culture faced. The role of the “creative minority” was to offer solutions which addressed the challenges of the times. There’s a very interesting and long discussion to be had regarding how this works, however, I have kids to take care of so I’m going to cut it as short as I can. Continue reading “Christians as a “Creative Minority””

Unknown's avatarRebecca TrotterLeave a comment
culture, current events, politics

My brain is going to explode

A few minutes ago, I sat down to read an article on slate.com criticizing some column David Brooks wrote about the Duke lacrosse team scandal (don’t really care about it, but the headline writers at slate are so good, they make you want to see what an article’s about). Apparently David Brooks had been complaining about the race/class lens being used to look at the … Continue reading My brain is going to explode

Unknown's avatarRebecca TrotterLeave a comment
culture, current events, entertainment

One for the "Duh!" department

On MSNBC.com, they’re reporting on a study which found that “Sexually charged music, magazines, TV and movies push youngsters into intercourse at an earlier age“. They think this is because being surrounded by such media influences create a “norm” of early, frequent, fun and consequence free sexual activity in the minds of young people. Gee – ya think? Continue reading One for the "Duh!" department

Unknown's avatarRebecca TrotterLeave a comment
culture, current events, entertainment

One for the “Duh!” department

On MSNBC.com, they’re reporting on a study which found that “Sexually charged music, magazines, TV and movies push youngsters into intercourse at an earlier age“. They think this is because being surrounded by such media influences create a “norm” of early, frequent, fun and consequence free sexual activity in the minds of young people. Gee – ya think? Continue reading One for the “Duh!” department

Unknown's avatarRebecca TrotterLeave a comment
culture, current events, family, kids

The disappearing generation gap?

Today over at the National Review Online, Myrna Blyth has an article making fun of life coaches. In it she makes reference to a New York Magazine article about parents in their 30’s and early 40’s who, in her words, “in their hoodies and their retro sneakers, have decided it is really very cool to remain childish even when they have children of their own. … Continue reading The disappearing generation gap?

Unknown's avatarRebecca TrotterLeave a comment