In my younger years, my mother bought a recording of the musical South Pacific. We kids played it so often that we learned most of the songs by heart. This past week, one of the songs, “Cockeyed Optimist,” as sung by Mitzi Gaynor, kept popping into my head. Here are a few lines: I have
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Discourse, especially in schools, is miserable these days. As Randall Smith, the Scanlan Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, argues, there are only three options when it comes to uncomfortable topics, “Non-judgmentalism, furious indignation, or ironic detachment.” How he describes his experiences teaching at the college level goes a long way
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At age 14, I was introduced to a debate tactic I never forgot. Called the “Columbo Tactic,” this strategy allowed me to challenge any view I found even remotely illogical, all the while keeping me from having to meticulously, painstakingly articulate my own position. I first heard about this debate method in Gregory Koukl’s Tactics:
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In California, “stranger danger” may be about to acquire a whole new meaning. Forget warning kids. It’s the parents in California who will need to be terrified of strangers if a new bill passes. Snuck into AB 665, legislation ostensibly about extending mental health care to lower-income California youths, is a provision that effectively would
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The long Gospel readings in my church on Palm Sunday offer an unflattering portrait of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Judas sells out his master for 30 pieces of silver and leaves the Last Supper to put his betrayal into action. Later that evening in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks three of his followers
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“All men by nature desire to know,” says Aristotle at the beginning of his Metaphysics. This is a natural, healthy, even virtuous, longing in the human heart. But it can also get us into trouble when that desire is corrupted. ChatGPT and similar AI technologies are powerful information tools, but their use does not come
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