Category: Philosophy

  • By Selwyn Duke Weathering a maelstrom of controversy, Geert Wilders’ cinematic warning about Islamism has finally made it to cyberspace. The path it’s taking may be more interesting than the film itself; Wilders’ domain www.fitnathemovie.com was frozen by Network Solutions, the movie was removed from host Liveleak.com’s servers after threats against its staff and then…

  • In response to my conversion piece, V wrote: Having authored a book [on the subject], I naturally paid close attention to your argument.

  • By Selwyn Duke My recent piece about how we should react to those who pray for our conversion evoked a greater response than I had supposed it would.  (I expect Howard Stern, rap stars and all other things scatological to attract attention, but not something frivolous like philosophy).  Most of the emails were positive; however,…

  • By Selwyn Duke There recently was a story about a German Jewish leader, Charlotte Knobloch, who criticized Pope Benedict XVI for allowing a traditional Easter prayer that calls for the conversion of the Jewish people. Her reaction raises an interesting issue, as praying for conversion isn’t unique to Catholics any more than taking offense to…

  • One of the sad things about philosophical works and social commentary is that some of the greatest examples get lost in the recesses of libraries and the Web and are seldom seen again.  An example of this is "20 Questions for Pro-choice People," by philosophy professor Mike Pakaluk.  Although most college professors are so far…

  • By Selwyn Duke It seems like just yesterday that many were reading liberalism’s epitaph. After the Reagan years, Republican Revolution of 1994, retreat of the gun-control hordes after Al Gore’s 2000 defeat and George W. Bush’s two successful presidential runs, many thought conservatism was carrying the day.  Ah, if only.

  • Nevertheless, there is a queer quality in that time [the Middles Ages]; which, while it was international was also internal and intimate. War, in the wide modern sense, is possible, not because more men disagree, but because more men agree.

  • By Selwyn Duke Believe it or not, three Mississippi legislators, Bobby Shows, W.T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, have proposed a law that would prohibit restaurants from serving those with "friendly fronts." Imagine that, denying a business its best customers.

  • By Selwyn Duke World Net Daily is currently running an article about how people who embrace non-traditional spiritual beliefs exhibit more psychological problems and anti-social behavior than traditional believers. 

  • By Selwyn Duke Although I’m not fond of psycho-babble terminology, if we can speak of emotional IQ, I can say it’s not very high in general.  We live in the age of Oprah — who has an encounter group masquerading as a TV talk show — the age of "I feel your pain."  Thus, it’s…