Even for someone like me whose theological background is old school Calvinism, 2020 managed to leave me with a bleaker and more cynical take on human nature than I had going in. And that’s quite a feat. There are no two ways about it, Americans are cruel. Like the rest of the world, we were […]
Category: Masks
Five Things I Learned in 2020, Part 2: RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM IS STUPID
It doesn’t take a degree in human psychology to look around at our COVID-riddled planet and realize that either this virus is smart enough to focus its attack on people with eagles on their passports, or we Americans have something wrong with us. I am referring, obviously, to the fact that the United States, despite […]
Fake Plastic Selves
One of the most unfortunate phrases in the English language is “He’s only human.” The assumption lurking behind it is that humanity is akin to weakness, like a crutch, and is therefore something to be ashamed of. I touch on this in the book I am currently writing: A proper Christology reminds us that receiving heavenly […]
The Artist as Foolhearted Masochist
I am reckless. I don’t mean to be — in fact, I often go out of my way to remind myself not to be. I tell myself to hide, to self-preserve, to keep the strap of the mask tight and the thoughts of my heart impregnable. I have spent the better part of my adult […]
“Now I’m Just Turning Tricks….”
I have been a fan of Bright Eyes, and of their lead singer/songwriter Conor Oberst, for a little over a decade. Despite his being a bit off his game when I saw the band live (drunk), and despite his not having the best voice out there (understatement), his powers with a pen are admirable to […]
Itching Beneath the Mask
(This is an abridged excerpt from my latest book. Enjoy. . . .) It is precisely here, when we try to be real, that the true difficulty becomes increasingly overt. If “our Great War is a spiritual war” as Tyler Durden says, then we should expect to be resisted when we begin to question the […]