Friday, May 22, 2020

Reading "Dracula" According to its Own Timeline


Since it's World Goth Day, I thought I would reveal a current project I am hoping to get through. It should be easy enough and so far so good.

Dracula is definitely one of my favorite novels of all time, but it's been a while since I read it. For a long time I have said that I wanted to read it according to its own timeline. The novel is written in a diary format and takes place chronologically and largely in England and Transylvania within the same year between 3 May and 6 November.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Remembering Dr. Ravi Zacharias


In March 2020, it was revealed that world-renowned Christian apologist and evangelist Ravi Zacharias had been diagnosed with a malignant and rare cancer within his spine. With sadness, he succumbed this morning to this cancer that crept into his life a few months ago. He was 74 years old.

I can't say I knew Ravi personally, but I did take two courses of his while I was a student in Charlotte, North Carolina. One course was on World Religions and the other was an Introduction to Christian Apologetics. Pretty much the entire school took those two classes, being a popular and celebrity name, so it was almost impossible to interact with him during that time, though we did meet and I even have a few photos with him somewhere. If there is one thing I remember about meeting him, is that he was a very gentle and humble man, always with a smile on his face. In the classroom, he taught from a level of deep knowledge and personal experience, and you left every class not only better informed on a particular subject, but even inspired since he couldn't help but teach without his words invading your heart as well as your mind.

Monday, May 18, 2020

Not an Obsolete Debate


I think now is a good time to think about human freedom and whether or not our rights come from God or from the government. After all, the Declaration of Independence, by way of justifying the enormous steps the Founding Fathers were about to take, states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men . . .” That is, first comes the Creator, who then endows his creatures with “certain unalienable rights,” and then the creatures form governments to “secure those rights.” Does the government today, not only on the federal level but on the local state level, recognize the fact that they are merely in existence to secure the unalienable rights endowed on humanity by the Creator, or do they think that our rights come from the government itself? This is an interesting debate that is going on in our country today.

Friday, May 15, 2020

Covid 19: Judgment Day


A few weeks ago I recorded my thoughts on the state of the world in the current circumstance we are in, told through some of my experiences since I last wrote about them on March 16th, and I concluded with my opinion on these matters and what should be done now. I got into some political issues as well. I never published this. It totaled 23 pages in length, written quickly with many random thoughts. I was going to publish it here. As I thought about it, it was decided by me to delete it and wipe it from existence. Even though I stand by everything that was written, I thought it best to not share with the public. This was my judgment, and I stand by it.