Morality

Besides the arts, however, many theoretical studies also play their part in making morality possible, in saving it from the blindness and narrowness which have so often limited its use. They make the facts intelligible to us; they help us to interpret the world in which we must move. This is plainly true of history, of anthropology and the other social sciences. But most of all it is true of psychology, which can have a central. function.
- Mary Midgley. Wickedness. (200)

Weaver on Education

History has always been a sobering discipline because it presents the story not only of man's achievements but also of his failures.
-Richard M. Weaver. "Education and the Individual"

Evil

As long as one believes that the evil man wears horns, one will not discover an evil man.
-Erich Fromm. The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness

The Prince of Motown

Prince Fielder signed a $214 million, nine year deal with the Detroit Tigers. Good luck keeping that pitching staff together! This is good for the Rangers, although not as good as if Washington signed him. It means, in all probability, that the Rangers can go ahead and resign Josh Hamilton. Fielder has more long term upside, he's younger and more durable. But Hamilton is box office, a fan fave, like Michael Young. He symbolizes an attitude that plays well. And, if he is re-signed, it means he will not go to the Angels which was a possibility.

Education

Nothing can be plainer, when we consider it, than this fact that education is discriminative. It takes what is less good physically, mentally, and morally and transforms that by various methods and techniques into something that more nearly approaches our ideal of the good.
-Richard Weaver. "Education and the Individual."

Yu-Phoria

Last month the Rangers made news when they posted $51 million to the Nippon Ham Fighters for the rights to negotiate with pitching phenom Yu Darvish. Wednesday was the deadline and they announced the signing of a six year $60 million deal. This was so important that they broke in to all the local news programming.
Who is Yu Darvish? He's 25 years old, about 6 feet 4, weighs about 240. Over the last five years pitching in Japan his ERA has been under 2, his strikeouts over 200. His throwing style is the conventional American 3/4 style, with comparisons to Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. And now he gets to work with Ryan and the Maddox brothers (Mike and Greg)( yes Cy Young, Atlanta Braves Greg Maddox).
What does he mean to the Rangers? First and foremost, box office: this kid is a draw. He means that the Rangers will do what it takes to stay at the top. It more than compensates for the loss of C. J. Wilson. It means for another exciting season in Arlington.

The Modern Schism

Martin E. Marty.The Modern Schism: Three Paths to the Secular. 1969 181 pp.
The reality of the secular has come to obsess modern religious thinkers. This volume analyzes the complex story of The Modern Schism, an episode in the cultural and spiritual history of the West which has had fateful consequences for contemporary society.
Marty argues that during the nineteenth century, there occurred a cluster of events more devastating to- and potentially more hopeful for- Christianity than anything that happened during such similar periods as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. He traces three different types of secularization which together make up the "modern schism," shows how they have developed in the West, and where they are leading man today.
By contrasting the ways in which the old Christian order was attacked in Europe, ignored in England, and transformed in America, the author points to present alternatives to that order and what they mean for society.

The BCS--A Week Later

OR, Why Alabama is and should be number one.
First, let us look at the game itself. Has there ever been such a game between the top two teams where one team's defense so totally dominated the game? The final score was 21-0, five field goals, one touchdown. But a look at the defensive statistics gives the rest of the story. LSU had 92 yards of total offense...for the game. They crossed the fifty yard line once, midway through the fourth quarter. Nothing worked for them. Even their punter was sub par. They had Tyrann Mathieu, the "Honey Badger", but I doubt his name was called more than three times the entire game.
Some argue that LSU and Alabama were a poor match. It certainly turned out that way. If the situation had been reversed and LSU dominated, I would agree that Alabama did not belong in the game. But what to do when it is the number one team that does not belong? Oklahoma State had a better argument that they should have played for the BCS title than LSU but the rules did not allow it.
The rules for the BCS title game are relatively simple. Take two polls and some other ranking system, put them all together, read the entrails, and the top two teams compete for the title and it is agreed that the winner will be the champion. But some people don't like the rules. One writer voted LSU number 1, while four voted for Oklahoma State. They might cite the injustice of the system but protest votes don't work.
This argument is flawed on many levels. Oklahoma State argues they had as much right to be there as Alabama. After all, there loss was in overtime on a field goal. But it was to unranked Iowa State. People overlook the fact that OSU blew a 17 point lead. They excuse it by the tragedy of the death of the women's basketball coach. Sorry, but that is called life and it is unfair.
Others have complained that it wasn't a glamorous match up-is this a football game or a beauty contest? To quote Andy Griffith, "What it was, wuz football".
This game and the response points to one of the ills of our society. I call it "Al Gore Syndrome". If you don't like the results, change the rules. In the 2000 election, Gore demanded a change to the way ballots were counted in Florida, the infamous "hanging chad". He also wanted another recount after the official recount. When we don't like the result, change the rules, or get a court to do it for you.

ROLL TIDE

Laissez les bon temps rouler TIDE.
More tomorrow o the aftermath of this game as a reflection of our society.

The Lost Cause

For those men believed in something. They counted life a light thing to lay down in the faith they bore. They were terrible in battle. They were generous in victory. They rose from defeat to fight anew, and while they lived they were formidable. There were not enough of them; that is all.
-John W. Thomason quoted in Dobie, A Texan in England(238)

J. Frank Dobie

Although I have not read much in the way of Texas Literature, I have read a fair amount over the last year about Texas Literature. Anybody who delves into this topic must deal with the overwhelming presence of J. Frank Dobie. Dobie, perhaps more than any other author defined Texas as Western. The iconic event for this occurred back in 1939 when the Texas Institute of Letters awarded its first "Best Texas Book" to Dobie over Katherine Anne Porter. Politics aside, it points out a dichotomy in the identity of Texas, Dobie represents the West, Porter the South.
If one looks at a road map of Texas, taking I-35 as their guide, one can best see the division. To the east is that Texas which is Southern, to the west Western. The awarding of the TIL prize signified that Texas was hereafter to be considered a Western state.

A Texan on Culture

A cultivated mind is the Guardian Genius of Democracy.
-Mirabeau B. Lamar

It is interesting to note that J. Frank Dobie gave this quote (unattributed) in A Texan in England when comparing the recreational activities provided by American forces (Red Cross Huts) and English forces (lecture series)(210).

More McGrath

There is unquestionably a general trend among theologians, from the Renaissance onwards, to adopt an attitude to the past consonant with the experience of, and perspective on, the world particular to their specific social group within their specific sociopolitical and cultural system. Alister McGrath.The Genesis of Doctrine. (152-153)

History

It is therefore necessary to register a certain degree of hesitation concerning the image of "selecting" criteria for evaluating the authority of the past, in that this image suggests an active choice on the part of the agent. A more nuanced account of this process would suggest that a certain outlook on the authority of the past is (possibly unconsciously) presupposed within the group to which the theologian belongs, reflecting its social needs and aspirations, and that this is received and assumed as self-evidently correct. -Alister McGrath.The Genesis of Doctrine. (153)