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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Friday, January 15, 2021

Opus 2021-026: Cornerstone Considerations: D of I, History Is Happening

A document that often gets ignored in our discussions of the foundations of the country is the Declaration of Independence.  It is not the Constitution.  The Constitution is our core legal document.  At the same time it is part of the thinking and philosophy that makes us what we are.  It shows us what was going on in the minds of the Founders.  It needs to be considered.

When I was teaching American history I tried to get the middle school students to paraphrase parts of the Declaration of Independence.  I told them to pretend they were trying to put it in words that their five year old brother would understand.  These eighth graders could not do it.  I tried for years and rarely could get across the idea of restating in simpler words.

Take for instance the first phrase,

When in the Course of human Events,...
A typical “paraphrase” of a modern eight grader would be, “When human Events Course”.  After I quit screaming and they removed my straight jacket I would go back and try again.

What does it mean?  How do you put it simply?  How about, “As life goes on” or “All during history”.  Is that too hard?  Evidently.

The Founders were immersed in history.  They read and studied.  They argued and discussed.  Were all of their facts correct?  I doubt it.  Did all of their arguments make sense?  Don’t make me laugh.  Were they always consistent?  No, they were always human.  That having been said, they called each other to account and tried to see what had worked and what had not worked.

We are involved in human events.  Life is going on.  We need to pay attention and put in our two cents worth.

homo unius libri

2 comments:

Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.