Life's Inanities and Ironies

 Slightly different kind of blog. Today. I had written this several years ago for a genealogy and history site and I think it's a pretty good retelling of what happened on a February night in 1940 in Rochester, Indiana.  When I was a boy, my grandfather and my great-uncle would sit on the front porch, spinning yarns about their youth and the historic moments that shaped our neighborhood. Their stories covered everything: Uncle Buck’s days mining in the Iron Mountain area of Michigan, his time working at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant during the war, and Grandad McDougle’s romantic tales of courting Grandma in a surrey with bright yellow wheels. Both told me about the storm that passed a tornado less than 50 ft of the house and pointed out the path that was still evident in the trees across from the house. Sometimes their stories were benign. Other times, they grabbed a young boy's imagination and tore off down the street with it. Now, to be fair, both of them had a distinct prop...

In an age that celebrates "user empowerment" and "personalization," a strange frustration has become commonplace. You open Instagram hoping to catch up on posts from the people you actually follow—family, church friends, ministry partners—and instead find yourself scrolling through an endless stream of algorithmically chosen Reels, suggested accounts, and sponsored content. You tap the logo, hunt for the "Following" tab, switch to chronological order... only to have the app nudge you back toward the "For You" experience next time. Or you Google a straightforward biblical or theological question and are greeted first by an AI-generated "Overview" that summarizes (and sometimes subtly frames) the results, with no prominent, persistent toggle to simply turn it off and see traditional links.  You want the off switch . Not because you hate technology, but because you want *control* over what shapes your mind, your time, and your attention. I...

  Digital theology is an emerging field that examines how digital technologies—social media, the internet, algorithms, artificial intelligence, virtual spaces, and online platforms—intersect with Christian faith, practice, doctrine, and community. It asks questions like: - What does it mean to be the church in a digital age? - How does technology shape (or distort) discipleship, worship, and spiritual formation? - Can sacraments or deep fellowship truly happen through screens? - What does Scripture say about tools that extend human reach but also mediate (and sometimes distort) reality? It is sometimes called cybertheology, virtual ecclesiology, or simply a theology of technology. While the term is relatively new, the underlying questions are ancient: How do God’s people use the tools of their age faithfully?   Ecclesiology in Digital Space (The Nature of the Church Online) The central debate concerns whether “church” can truly exist online. Optimistic views argue that worship...

In the early years of the twenty-first century, the internet felt like an open prairie. You could set up a simple blog on Blogger or early WordPress, join a forum on theology, parenting, or classic cars, and enter conversations that stretched across time zones without anyone deciding in advance what deserved attention. The “feed” — if you could even call it that — was raw, human, often messy, and gloriously unfiltered. Discovery happened through blogrolls, links in posts, and patient reading. Serendipity was normal. Today the landscape has changed. Most people experience the internet inside beautifully designed, tightly controlled gardens owned by a handful of corporations. You enter through an app store, follow paths the algorithm has already chosen for maximum engagement, and rarely see beyond the walls. The flowers may be bright, but the soil is shallow. Genuine, thoughtful interaction has become the exception rather than the rule. As a conservative Christian who writes and reads ex...

Religious liberty — the freedom of individuals to believe, practice, change, or reject religious convictions without state coercion, penalty, or discrimination — represents one of humanity’s most significant and fragile achievements. It did not emerge fully formed but developed through centuries of conflict, theological reflection, political compromise, and cultural evolution, primarily within the Western tradition. Its story is messy, marked by both profound advances and tragic regressions. Ancient and Early Christian Foundations In the ancient world, religion was typically intertwined with political power. Empires tolerated diverse cults if they did not threaten order or loyalty to the ruler. The Roman Empire exemplified this pragmatic approach for centuries, incorporating gods from conquered peoples. However, Christians faced periodic persecutions (notably under Nero, Decius, and Diocletian) because their exclusive monotheism and refusal to participate in emperor worship or civic pa...