Journeys with Tim

good morning

Decided on bagels for breakfast this morning and grabbed this shot on my way back. I've wanted to photograph this building for a while, but wasn't quite sure how to do so or what light would look best. I tried this morning - you be the judge of how it looks.

The building stands overlooking the parking lot I use on the weekends. I'm not exactly sure what's inside, but it's part of the university.

A strange justice that is bounded by a river!

I'm presenting on ethical relativism and objectivism next week. In the notes I'm handing out to students I'm including two quotes, one from Herodotus who defends relativism...

For if one were to offer men to choose out of all the customs in the world such as seemed to them the best, they would examine the whole number, and end by preferring their own; so convinced are they that their own usages far surpass those of all others. Unless, therefore, a man was mad, it is not likely that he would make sport of such matters. I will give this one proof among many from which it may be inferred that all men hold this belief about their customs.

When Darius was king, he summoned the Greeks who were with him and asked them for what price they would eat their fathers' dead bodies. They answered that they wouldn’t do it for any amount of money. Then Darius summoned those Indians who are called Callatiae, who eat their parents, and asked them (the Greeks being present and understanding through interpreters what was said) what would make them willing to burn their fathers at death. The Indians cried aloud, that he should not speak of so horrible an act. So firmly rooted are these beliefs; and it is, I think, rightly said in Pindar's poem that custom is king of all.
Herodotus, Histories of Herodotus (3.38) (484-425 BC)

The other from Pascal who's my objectivist...

On what shall man found the order of the world which he would govern? Shall it be on the caprice of each individual? What confusion! Shall it be on justice? Man is ignorant of it. Certainly, had he known it, he would not have established this maxim, the most general of all that obtain among men, that each should follow the custom of his own country…whereas we see neither justice nor injustice which does not change its nature with change in climate. Three degrees of latitude reverse all juris-prudence; a meridian decides the truth. Fundamental laws change after a few years of possession; right has its epochs; the entry of Saturn into the Lion marks to us the origin of such and such a crime.

A strange justice that is bounded by a river! Truth on this side of the Pyrenees, error on the other side…Theft, incest, infanticide, parricide, have all had a place among virtuous actions. Can anything be more ridiculous than that a man should have the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of the water, and because his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have none with him?
Blaise Pascal, Pensées #294 (1623-1662)

People with little philosophical training often hold some form of relativism, but as I hope to show next week, it's not a reasonable position. This is a fun lecture to give. I get to see people wonder about something that is taken for granted in our society. In the survey I handed out the first day of class, most students indicated at least some kind of relativism. We'll see how that belief holds up after next week.

But old habits die hard, I'm sure I'll still hear the "who's to judge who's right and wrong" talk later in the semester. And it still makes for fun discussions. In fact I'm leading off the discussion with a case study of Sati which is the pratice of widow sacrifice. Should be a lively time. Now if only I can find a movie clip to go along with our topic....

Jesus: Fact or Fiction?

Biola University is having a free lecture this Tuesday with Lee Strobel and others. Everyone who attends gets a free DVD. You can't beat that. More info. here.

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Yesterday there were severe weather warnings throughout the day. Today the sky looked great. I went to the park for a quick walk before lunch. I took this on my way up a small dam near a lake.

Dead Poets Society Extra Scenes

Someone has posted extra scenes from my favorite movie. It's at The Lair of the Sweaty Toothed Madman. God bless 'em.

ethics experiments

The first lecture of my summer ethics course went well. I have 24 students, twice as many as the first time I taught the class. I really enjoy teaching this class, the students are motivated and engaging and it's a fun subject.

I'm trying two experiements this semester. The first is a survey I passed out which asks the students about their positions on the issues we'll be discussing. We'll do another one at the end and see if there has been any change. It's a way to 1) find out what the class thinks, in a pre-philosophical way, and 2) see if minds have been changed.

The other experiment is handing out my notes before class. I'm like this idea for many reasons, one of which is that I can include so much more in the lecture - larger excerpts from articles, images, etc. - without the time consuming practice of writing on the board. (Now if I had power point in the class, that might be different). I never liked writing on the board because not only does it waste time, I feel like I've got my back to the class too much of the time which makes discussion harder. I think the class will be more engaging by not having to worry about getting information in the hands of the students. And I also can make sure the notes emphasize what's important.

My concern about doing this is that students use the notes as a substitute for the course and not come to class. But because the students are older, I don't think it will be a problem.

As a student I've always appreciated teachers who gave us their notes and I'm sure my students will like it too.

!

We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God, who is sending love letters to the world.

...Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

I've heard it said that not only is the Church here for us, but we are the Church, and we are here for the world. It's a shift in attitude about how we see those who haven't found Jesus that's much needed. I think this is constant with the idea of a missional mindset that is gaining in popularity within the Church. It's good to see.

...

The morning was spent putting final touches on the first lecture of my summer class. I'm doing Ethics 200 which discusses major Western ethical theories and some of the big issues of the day (abortion, euthanasia, etc.).

I always enjoy preparing for lectures; deciding what to include. This week I'm thinking about showing a clip of The Invisible Man. It's a perfect illustration of The Ring of Gyges story from Plato's Republic. Imagine someone who is invisible. Would they behave morally? Probably not. The point is supposed to be that no one would if they knew they could never be caught.

I think it says something about our character. I'd be in serious moral trouble if I could turn invisible. It's God's mercy that I can't. But the story also says something about why we ought to be moral. Should we be moral just so we aren't punished? If so, then we think morality has just instrumental value, not intrinsic value. But don't we think morality has intrinsic value?

Maybe we should be good because the good is its own reward. We aren't good because we want something, we simply want to be good. I do. I bet you do too.

B&W at OPK

Another shot from Oak Park Lake this time in B&W. Captured at about 7 pm.

ray of hope

After two and a half weeks of gray overcast skies, we finally get a break. I went to Oak Park Lake after dinner to celebrate the return of the Sun. Good thing too because I was in a foul mood all morning, grumbling that I hadn't seen the Sun in a while. It's not so bad if it rains, but it's just been nothing be gray. It did rain last night, and we even got some lightning which is always exciting.

Life Dream # 25 Falling asleep under an old porch with a warm blanket, a few candles and hot chocolate, watching a lightning storm pass overhead: the sound of rain, the flash and crackle of thunder. Sweet dreams.

jinky art

Jinky Art is my new favorite Photoblog. Simple and fun.

community

I've submitted a photo for wordphoto.org. Check it out when you can. The theme is tan.

UPDATE: The site is down for now, so please check back later.

UPDATE: It's back up. My photo is here.

make up our lives

From Christian Quote of the Day...

In religion, we are not asked to make up our minds, we are asked to make up our lives...We may refuse to make up our minds, but our lives get made up, one way or the other...Whatever we believe with our minds, our lives are committed either to God's way or to the God-denying way...

A. Leonard Griffith (1920- ), Barriers to Christian Belief [1962]

Play

A nephew and niece playing around at the wedding rehearsal.

Starship

The Starship theatre here in Lincoln is one of the city's treasures. I like it because all movies are just 2 bucks. Movies show up here after they've been in theatres awhile but usually before they come out on dvd. For 2 bucks you can't go wrong.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom

Thanks Mom for everything you’ve done. Thanks for making sure I have a comfortable place to stay when I visit. Thanks for buying my favorite food, cooking my favorite meals, and letting me use the car! Oh, and thank Dad for that too.

Thanks for all our talks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, dishing family gossip, and passing on church news. And thanks for not always asking, “So...when are you going to get married?” For all your support, prayers and advice - thank you.

I love you mom. See ya soon.
Tim

at the railroad

The downtown area in Lincoln has a neat little historic railroad station. This is a close up of the tracks just outside the station.

welcome back broadband

Seems like the worst is over. The latest worm spreading around caused my connection speed to slooowwww, but now I'm back, and it feels great!

I've been testing my speed here. From the looks of things, it looks like the world internet speed has been slow all over.

arrrghhh

Few things are as frustrating as a slow internet connection for us broadband users. Now I know a possible cause.

???

I was a little late getting to church this morning because of some sort of marathon/Run. (I tried looking for information about it, but couldn't find any). Looks like there were lots of people involved having fun. It was a good day for it, party sunny and cool.

Luther

As usual, Martin Luther is right on...

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

reformatting

Well, it took me all day, but I successfully reformated my desktop computer. The longest part of the process was backing up all the files I wanted to keep. The computer didn't have a CD burner (which it does now) so it took me forever to transfer files to the laptop.

But now it's done. There's a few programs I want to download from the internet, but that won't take long. It feels like I have a new computer!