The never ending debate of nature vs. nurture in modern psychology overlooks a third obvious possibility: choice. Medicine and psychology are chomping at the bit to blame all our actions on genetics, chemical imbalances, or bad parenting… just about anything other than choice. The recent rebirth of the classic Batman comic, The Killing Joke, reminded me that there are two kinds of perspectives people have. To some, all the injustice and hardships in life serve as fuel to excuse their poor and destructive behavior. To others, all those hardships and injustices are just obstacles to overcome and opportunities to grow. Continue Reading »

Technorati Tags: alan moore, batman, choice, freewill, nature vs. nurture, the killing joke

I loved the article “Freedom from the Fear of Death” on theocentric.com so much I just had to link to it here

click here to read “Freadom from the Fear of Death”

Rich Vincent is a fellow Christian Mystic (or as he says “wannabe mystic”) who writes some of the best articles on modern Christian culture, practical theology, and Christian Mysticism I have ever seen. His latest article I have linked to talks about how Western Christian thinking is often backward in God’s relationship to death. Where we often attribute death as a punishment or curse from God, the truth is that death is the antithesis and enemy of God.

Technorati Tags: christian culture, christian mystic, Christian Mysticism, death, fear of death

CLICK IMAGE FOR FULL SIZED COMIC STRIP

I have always wanted to do a comic strip, but have always lacked the inspiration for an original strip. Lately, I become enamored with the character of St. Philip Neri. He was a skilled orator and known for his humor. Most importantly, he was an avid proponent of genuine and pure religion. He mocked people who obsessed over looks and appearance, to point of wearing silly clothes in public or shaving half his beard off (which is how he appears in the strip).

I plan on doing at least one strip a month, and at the very least, publishing them here on my blog. I don’t have any plans right now for syndication or other means of publishing, I am just going to see what happens. Please feel free post the strips on your own personal sites, or email them to others. I just ask that you leave the image in tact with the copyright, website, and authorship in place. If you are and organization or commercial organization, I ask that you contact me for permission before re-publishing any of the strips.

Hope you enjoy it! Thanks!

Technorati Tags: Comics, Humor, St. Philip Neri Comic Strip

While Vikings don’t have the cleanest of history, they do star in one of my all-time favorite movies: The 13th Warrior. While the movie didn’t get the best reviews, or much enduring attention, it is frequently revisited by my wife and I. I spend some time thinking about why this movie appeals to me so much, then it finally became clear… It is a movie about real masculinity. Modern day media is full of feminized male roles, it is refreshing to see a movie about men at their best.

In The 13th Warrior, the heroes are a group of rough battle-ready warriors. The viewer of the movie is shown a culture where men live, not for comfort, but for a new challenge. A culture where luxury is rejected in favor of struggle and adventure. They value teamwork and camaraderie and rely on each other for their very lives. Even the physical depiction of the characters as large, strong, hairy, lumbering men is a huge contrast to the popular skinny, weak, and gender-ambiguous male leads we know today (More and more I keep finding myself asking “Is that a man or a woman?”). At the end of the movie, I always feel like I just watched a pretty accurate depiction of male utopia. Continue Reading »

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, Masculine Mysticism, masculinity, the 13th warrior