The father in the second edition

"The Puritans used to stress that a child is as warm wax: he will bear a seal that is impressed on him throughout his life. Children tend to enjoy the things their parents enjoy. That which makes parents weep tends to make their children weep. Our children absorb the pathos, ethos, emphases, and realities of who we are, by the grace of God; those impressions are imprinted upon them, often without our being aware of it. Thomas Watson said: 'Love will command honor: and how can a parent but love the child who is his living picture, nay part of himself? The child is the father in the second edition.'"

-Joel Beeke in Parenting By God's Promises (2011), pp. 57-58

Book review: Carson's Intolerance of Tolerance

"Tolerance" has taken on an idolatrous golden calf status in our culture as of late, being the predominant ideology in nearly all areas of life. In his recent (January, 2012) book The Intolerance of Tolerance, D.A. Carson tackles the elephant in the room, arguing against the current form of tolerance, which ironically is no tolerance at all.

Birthed out of a series of lectures Carson has given across the Western world, the main argument of the book is that tolerance has come to be the prevailing mantra of our time. However, tolerance no longer means what it used to, and the new form of tolerance is not very tolerant at all; at its best it is veiled intolerance and at its worst it borders on the absurd. Carson describes the old tolerance as a stance that acknowledges the existence of both right and wrong, and discoverable, defensible truth. This tolerance accepts "that a different or opposing position exists and deserves the right to exist" (p. 3). This tolerance respectfully engages in debates and criticisms. However, as Carson deftly argues, a new tolerance has taken over that is intolerant of the old tolerance.

The new tolerance, Carson argues, is tolerant of all things on the surface, so long as no dogmatic, absolute, judgmental, critical, or disparaging remarks are made. This new tolerance has become part of the unquestioned plausibility structure; it accepts all opinions and renders them all equally valid. But under this new tolerance, right and wrong cease to have any meaning. It does not acknowledge any specific truth, and labels any religion or system of thought that claims to be true as intolerant. Thus, any disagreement - let alone claims to exclusive truth - is demonized as intolerant, leaving no room for anything but a spineless, tyrannical tolerance. The irony, not lost in the title of the book, is that the new tolerance is actually quite vehemently intolerant of anything that isn't tolerant of the new tolerance: "no absolutism is permitted, except for the absolute prohibition of absolutism" (p. 13).

Of course, tolerance is not really an abstract, personified ideal, but is the dominant thinking of the Western world, and that's not to our credit:

"Cultures in other parts of the world often see in Western (new) tolerance, not a mature and civilized culture worth emulating, but a childish and manipulative culture that refuses to engage with serious moral issues...Far from bringing peace, the new tolerance is progressively becoming more intolerant, fostering moral myopia, proving unable to engage in serious and competent discussions about truth, letting personal and social evils fester, and remaining blind to the political and international perceptions of our tolerant cultural profile." (p. 139)

Well researched, engagingly written, and utterly reasonable, Carson provides myriad examples of how this new tolerance has influenced all areas of life. Copious examples of the absurd and maddening new tolerance are given in the religious, educational, political, academic, and news media spheres. But Carson isn't a paranoid alarmist decrying the loss of the modern age or the takeover of secular humanism. Instead, he firmly engages with popular and academic sources, building his case throughout the book that the old tolerance is necessary for a truly free society, while the new tolerance spirals into inconsistency and even tyranny.

The final chapter offers some practical reflections on what to do about the new tolerance, which was helpful. On a personal note, I especially enjoyed his section on the demise of postmodernity, as well as his discussion of the rampant narcissism in our world and in the church. On a more minor note, it was also refreshing to read an "outsider" lamenting the "moralistic therapeutic deism" that Michael Horton, Christian Smith, and others have been drawing attention to.

Though it is a shorter book, Carson's argument is so tight and his argument so cogently intertwined throughout the book, I find it difficult to review. The only blemish in it is his minor digression on democracy and his reflections on the separation of church and state. He lost me a little bit with his church/state discussion.

I really enjoyed it, as it is intellectually stimulating without being stuffy or overly academic. It is also written from a Christian perspective without being overtly so. It reads like how his lectures would be: given to a mixed audience of academics and the public, Christians and skeptics. Carson is a gifted writer with deep insight. I'd heartily recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike.

Note: I received an advance copy of this book from Eerdmans in exchange for an objective, but not necessarily positive, review.

Increasing craving for diminishing pleasure

It took me 27+ years, but I'm finally reading C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters (1942). It's a little off-putting to be reading something from the perspective of a demon, but there are some masterful passages, like this one on pleasure. For those unfamiliar with it, it's written from the perspective of a senior demon Screwtape to his younger nephew, Wormwood. Thus, the "Enemy" here is God and "Our Father" is the devil.

"Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain and it’s better style. To get a man’s soul and give him nothing in return—that’s what really gladdens Our Father’s heart." (pp. 44-45)

The emperor's lack of clothes

Fortunately, postmodernism is on its way out. But much like the devil being bound in Revelation and destroying half the stars with his tail on his way down, postmodernism is still exerting influence even as it draws its final breaths. It knows its defeat is imminent, and it is raging to wreak as much havoc as possible before its demise. What will arise in the vacuum it leaves might be equally as vacuous, absurd, or annoying; but one victory at a time. As we are still picking spoiled remnants of the Enlightenment out of our beards, we will be straining out postmodern influence for many years to come. This is especially true in the church at large, as the church always lags a few years behind academic and cultural thought.

In his recent book The Intolerance of Tolerance, D.A. Carson explains that though postmodernism as a movement is dead, its influence is still widespread. The premise of his book is that "tolerance" has come to be the dominant idiom of our time, even as its definition has changed over the centuries. The old meaning of tolerance is defined as holding to the truth while acknowledging the reality of other people holding to other truth claims, with room for respectful disagreement and criticism. The newer definition of tolerance is that of  claiming that all truths are equally valid except for those that are intolerant. In more extreme cases, the new tolerance does not acknowledge any truth, and labels any religion or system of thought claiming truth as intolerant. Thus, voicing any disagreement, criticism, or claims to exclusivity is ironically demonized as intolerant, leaving no room for anything but "tolerance," which is no truth at all. Full speed ahead to the absurd. The following quotation is worth reading, and Carson uses "tolerance" here in the newer way.

"Regardless of the widespread inability to agree on what it is, postmodernism has exerted incalculable influence in much of the world. Disagreement over the essence of postmodernism cannot blind us to its effect. Almost all sides agree that as a movement postmodernism is dead. Except in some American undergraduate programs, its luminaries are no longer read - certainly not in Europe, whence most of them sprang. Yet the effluents of postmodernism, however defined, are still very much with us, shaping our thoughts and cultural values. What cannot be denied is that, in its wake, countless millions of people find it difficult, at least on some subjects, to think in terms of truth and error, much preferring to think in terms of differences of opinion, of varying perspectives. The dawning of postmodernism coincided, at least in part, with the increasing diversification of the populations of many of the world's metropolises. The impact of this increasing empirical pluralism is multiplied many times over by the digital revolution: with minimal effort we find ourselves exposed to an incredibly broad diversity of cultures, opinions, interpretations of history, languages, and so forth. Moreover, in the virtual world we can create our own realities. All of this conspires to push questions of truth to the margins while magnifying the importance of tolerance...Regardless of the terminology pragmatism now commonly eclipses both nature and religion as cultural authority. But if in its most aggressive forms postmodernism has declined, it has left a residue of subjective eclecticism that fosters the elevation of tolerance to the enthroned status of supreme virtue." (pp. 73-74)

Further, to borrow a C.S. Lewis-ism, postmodernism is built on ladders in the air. The postmodern emperor has no clothes, to mix metaphors. The absurdity of postmodernism has been staring us right in the face, and it is finally starting to show. As leftist scholar Terry Eagleton writes:

"For all its vaunted openness to the Other, postmodernism can be quite as exclusive and censorious as the orthodoxies it opposes. One may, by and large, speak of human culture but not human nature, gender but not class, the body but not biology, jouissance but not justice, post-colonialism but not the petty bourgeoisie. It is a thoroughly orthodox heterodoxy, which like any imaginary form of identity needs its bogeyman and straw targets to stay in business." (qtd. in Carson, pp. 82-83)

We must keep fighting to expose the bogeymen and straw targets of postmodernism for what they are. The best ammunition against such absurdities is the gospel, and especially the "foolishness" of the forgiveness of sins and the incredible triumph of the resurrection.

Laying a musical foundation

I was raised on the Doobie Brothers and CSNY, Gershwin and Handel. While I may not have understood or appreciated such music growing up, it stuck with me. Perhaps overt or perhaps unbeknownst to them, my parents laid a good musical foundation for me. They gave me a head start in my musical understandings and tastes from exposing me to good music. My high school musical tastes notwithstanding, I attribute much of my love for music throughout my life to my parents. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

I've been thinking about this more recently now that Mikayla is old enough to recognize that there is music playing, and dance to it. This is my attempt at a representative list of albums across genres that I hope to play for her many times over the next 18 years, in order to unashamedly influence her musical appreciation - if not her actual musical tastes. I know I have omitted some great albums, and by no means is this all that Mikayla will hear from our speakers. But it's a discussion starter at the least. A whole other related post could be what music I want Mikayla to associate with me, much like how I associate America with my Mom or Beethoven with my Dad. In alphabetical order...

1. The Allman Brothers - The Fillmore Concerts. One of the most brilliant live recordings of all time, by one of the greatest classic rock-era bands (and arguably my favorite). The epic 56-minute Whipping Post --> Mountain Jam gives me goosebumps every time. Pink Floyd was a close runner up in the classic rock category, but their live Pulse pales in comparison.

2. Bach's Mass in B Minor.  Though this magnum opus stands or falls on its own, it contains two of the most sublime pieces of music in history: "Cum Sancto Spiritu" and "Et Resurrexit."

3. The Decemberists - The King is Dead. Not my favorite Decemberists album (Picaresque takes that title), but this is a more accessible album (and still very good). It also contains Mikayla's favorite song to dance to: "Calamity Song," as well as several guest appearances by another artist on this list, Gillian Welch.

4. Derek Webb - She Must and Shall Go Free. It was hard for us to choose between Webb, Sandra McCracken, Matthew Perryman Jones, or one of the Indelible Grace albums, but this has three of our all-time favorite songs on it: the title track, Lover, and The Church.

5. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis. The sheer amount of musical talent on this album is easy to overlook thanks to the sheer delight of listening to these two paragons of jazz.

6. Gillian Welch - Revival. I really hope Mikayla loves Welch's music more than I do. Listening to her sounds you've known her all your life.

7. Grateful Dead - American Beauty. I could easily have put Workingman's Dead or Europe '72 here instead, but this is the closest to my heart, and has received the most plays over the years.

8. Handel's Messiah. Not much needs to be said for this. Our version of choice is Christopher Hogwood's masterful recording, introduced to me by my brilliant college roommate.

9. Leo Kottke - 6 & 12 String Guitar. Incredible musicianship on this 1969 gem, and so much fun to listen to. I always find myself wanting more after the ~35 minutes are over. One of the preeminent guitar virtuosos of our age, whose enormous influence is difficult to measure.

10. Railroad Earth - Elko - Another great live recording by another favorite band. Americana, bluegrass, improv, rock. Great songwriting, tight musicianship, and deep passion are all on display here.