Posts by Joel Arnold
Should We Legislate Morality?
For years I have been perplexed when it comes to religious liberty. Should gay marriage be illegal? Definitely. What about adultery? Not so sure. No question in my mind that heroin should be illegal. But should we outlaw alcohol too? One over-worn stock phrase is that “you can’t legislate morality.” And in fact, history demonstrates…
Read MoreThe Hero of the Story is Always God
Everybody loves a good story, and Scripture has some of the best. Try to read through the story of Esther without laughing at the ironies. Try to read through the account of the man born blind (John 9) without crying. Or even better, trying reading out loud through a story with dialogue like Daniel 2,…
Read MoreWhat will be left when the dust settles?
At the outset of the present quarantine, everything was bizarre, electric, and controversial. People filled their time arguing over lethality, R₀ rates, and balancing lives with dollars. But the shock, the novelty and the drama are wearing off now. What about when quarantine just turns into a long, dull wait? Managing terror is one thing.…
Read MoreWhen Viruses Loom Larger than God
I (like you, no doubt) am tired of thinking about COVID-19 already, though my browsing history might betray me. I’ll abstain from taking a side on whether COVID-19 merits the panic it has created or not—the question belongs to epidemiologists for now, handed off to historians soon after. Of greater interest to me has been…
Read MoreSmart Machines and Foolish People
An interesting law suit developed in 2016 between the electric car maker Tesla and a Korean man who bought one. That’s because Tesla offers a self-driving mode where the car is supposed to recognize walls and park itself. The plaintiff was inside his car when it drove through the garage wall, destroyed several structural posts,…
Read MoreFind Your Passion? Or Live for a Greater Cause?
I try not to make a habit of this, but I’m going to start out by telling you a lie. It’s a lie that you already know and might already believe. It fills advice columns, podcasts, self-help books and Disney movies. Like the most insidious of lies, it even beckons us to make it the…
Read MoreWhat do you think happens when we die, Keanu Reeves?
The Late Show is hardly a bellwether for the state of America’s philosophizing or the condition of its soul. Except when it is. Several cultural commentators have observed that in the last two elections, some of the most blunt, honest discussions of our national situation came, sadly enough, through comedians. We expect them to break…
Read MoreEmbodying Masculinity in a World that Rejects It
I received an invitation to speak for a weekend conference for men, discussing our roles in the family and the church. Topics like this kill me. The preparation quickly turned into an exercise in personal conviction and repentance. How do I speak on being a good husband and father when at every turn I see…
Read MoreBrexit and the Coming of the Last Days
The non-ending Brexit story propels me back to the time when the European Union introduced the Euro. It was a dramatic first at the time—multiple countries casting their fates together under “ever increasing union.” In many people’s minds the EU was about to eat our lunch, not unlike the way many Americans view China today.…
Read MoreWhen the Doctor Says to Terminate
Unsurprisingly, politics regularly brings abortion back into the public discourse. Brazen politicians today publicly defend partial birth abortion and worse. Some even disgustingly advocate so-called “after birth abortion”. Of course, “killing unborn children” is hardly the way most Americans would prefer to describe it. It’s more persuasive to focus on the really vexing examples—the stories…
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