A Few Good Words

"Cicero," Cesare Maccari Christian educators are often eager to dismantle moral relativism as part of "worldview" curricula or humanities courses. This is understandable: the vast majority of Americans are (unknowing) moral relativists in 2018, long after the position was abandoned by most serious philosophers. But in my experience, many realist v. relativist arguments quickly devolve into shouting matches about Hitler . These rhetorical bloodbaths end with both parties feeling self-righteous and more entrenched in their position. I sense that these arguments aren't good for a Christian's witness. Why can't Christians be more persuasive on a topic where they clearly have the high ground? One key mistake Christians make: moral relativism deserves some credit. Most moderns who repeat sayings like "everyone has their own morality" or treat ethical debates as matters of personal preference don't do so because they've carefully refl...

Tyler Cowen argues at Bloomberg that the sheer volume of "news" we must sort through to be informed modern citizens is more problematic than supposed "fake news." Readers with access to so much information about the various tragedies in our world are left jaded and cynical. Thanks to the internet, we also learn the many flaws and quirks of leaders and experts, from banal personal details on their Facebook, to their wild teenage Twitter posts, to more serious expos és about them. (Undoubtedly, Andrew Jackson's presidency would have suffered if he'd had a Twitter account). This feature of our world isn't going away anytime soon. There are loads of reasons to argue the Information Age is, on net, good for humans. Today's volume of quality reporting and available information act as a valuable check on those in power. Accountability is, generally, good.  But our oversaturated marketplace for news can clearly corrode societal trust, attention, and...