Two New eBooks at Amazon Kindle!
- Details
- Written by Rex M. Rogers
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
- Details
- Written by Rex M. Rogers
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
- Details
- Written by Rex M. Rogers
Celebrities, politicians, and media use euphemisms as handy deflections to questions they don’t want to answer or don’t know how to answer or don’t want to answer in historically understood moral categories. These euphemisms pass for excuses or even erudition, but they don’t really offer anything substantive and can be misleading or downright wrong.
Consider these:
- I was lucky.
This comment is regularly made by entertainment stars on late night TV talk shows or by sports figures when they are asked about their success. In an effort to sound, or maybe to give them the benefit of the doubt to actually be, humble, the accomplished star does not say, I am great (unless they are Muhammad Ali); I am enormously talented; I worked hard and by hook and crook clawed my way to the top; I am blessed – especially not this one because this implies there is a God who distributes talent and grace and admitting this in public media isn’t politically correct.
Problem is, taken at face value, this means that the star is saying I did nothing, I have no talent, did not work hard, and am not responsible for anything I’ve accomplished. Pretty bleak view of themselves, humanity, and existence. It’s all dumb, blind fate.
- I just want her/him to be happy.
This comment usually comes when a former spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend has left the person behind. Or it comes when parents hear of their son or daughter’s decision to pursue some odd sexual expression.
Problem is, does the person’s happiness trump all other considerations?
- I’m not really religious but I’m a very spiritual person.
The celebrity making this statement may be honest or may just be dodging the deeper meaning of a question, but either way, the idea is that it’s not really socially kosher anymore to be overtly religious, but it’s apparently OK to be “spiritual.”
Problem is, spiritual can mean anything and nothing.
- He’s/She’s dealing with his/her demons.
This is a frequent media comment when some celebrity or politician has gone off the deep end but the media doesn’t want or know how to talk about the person’s choices in moral terms. Certainly, sin is not in the mix, so a reference is made to demons.
Problem is, demons can mean anything and in particular can mean that whatever is going awry in the person’s life, it’s not her or his fault. It’s the demons. So, this is a great way to duck accountability and blame something, anything but one’s own moral choices.
- Mistakes were made.
This is the time-honored non-apology-apology. It’s a way of saying something so it sounds like you took responsibility but in actuality you did not take responsibility. Corporate CEOs say this when their company is struggling with a bad product; celebrities and especially politicians say this when they want to sort-of-own-but-not-own bad press.
Problem is, who made the mistakes? The person saying this rarely says I made mistakes. And if what happened was actually a mistake, then it perhaps was without intent or culpability, so you blame frail humanity. This may be accurate. Humans are frail and we make mistakes. But usually, this comment isn’t referencing actual mistakes. It is referencing premeditated choices. Someone acted and knew what and why they were doing what they were doing. This is not a mistake. It is willful forethought with intent.
- Just have faith.
This comment is a favorite of celebrities on late night TV. It’s an all-purpose way of providing some kind of optimism and sometimes the full phrase is “Just have faith in yourself.”
Problem is, faith in what? Faith is as good as what it trusts. Faith in yourself may be good pop-psychology and perhaps helpful self-confidence, but as a religious or moral philosophy capable of dealing with life’s greatest challenges, it’s a non-starter.
- I have to follow my heart.
This celebrity comment is sometimes presented as “You can’t help who you love,” which usually references some sexually progressive idea, i.e., I am pansexual, or I cheated on my wife because, well, I had to.
Problem is, once again, this comment seeks to side-step individual responsibility because it is saying that somehow the person is doing what they are doing and can’t help doing so.
Euphemisms may not all be bad or wrong. Saying someone “passed away” rather than he or she “died” is often used to soften the sad news. But euphemisms that obscure and deflect accountability ultimately do not serve the speaker well, let alone anyone else.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
- Details
- Written by Rex M. Rogers
SAT-7, the largest Christian satellite broadcasting network in the Middle East and North Africa, often speaks of its “holistic” ministry.
Holistic means we believe our Christian faith requires us to actively care for the whole person: spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual, social.
Yes, SAT-7 regularly shares the Gospel, the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
In addition, SAT-7 works to bless people in their everyday circumstances.
Programs address building marriages, nurturing children, adoption, women’s issues, substance abuse, freedom of religion and human rights, employment training. Other programs address children and youth issues like trauma healing, bullying, dating.
With some 15 million children out of school in the Middle East due to conflict or crisis, SAT-7 ACADEMY produces educational programs offering instruction in English, Arabic, Mathematics, and the Sciences.
Social concern is a means of loving our neighbors and demonstrating the Gospel.
SAT-7’s ministry is holistic, teaching the “whole counsel of God” for the whole person.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
- Details
- Written by Rex M. Rogers
When culture rejects the idea of objective truth all that’s left is irrationality.
American culture is now not just embracing but celebrating irrationality. What else explains abortion-on-demand all the way through even post-birth, gender fluidity, freedom of speech only if we agree, rejection of evidentiary rule of law in favor of rule by feelings?
Our irrationality is rooted in our embrace of moral relativism, which is now the basis of American culture’s worldview. This is perhaps most obvious in matters of human sexuality.
Doing what’s right in your own eyes sexually, that is, with public approval, cannot happen as long as religion, specifically biblical Christianity, is influential in people’s hearts and minds. So sexual progressivism in all its forms has become the point of the spear pushing total rejection of Judeo-Christian values as the historic basis of American public morality and culture. This push is organized, aggressive, and in the name of tolerance the most intolerant silence-opposing-views movement at work today.
This moral chaos shows up in, among other things:
- Abortion
- Huge percentage of homes with no father in the home, i.e. kids growing up without male parental influence
- LGBTQ+, same sex marriage
- Debt complacency- Living not just beyond our means; living beyond our children’s means
- Dividing walls of hostility between groups: gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, culture
- Loss of civility, morality, optimism replaced by a coarse and obscene culture, hysterical politics
Francis A. Schaeffer’s phrase “true truth” foresaw our current “your truth vs my truth,” subjectivism and relativism, “truthiness,” feelings-the-measure-of-all-things, and the mess we have now with “fake news” and “alternative facts.”
Along with the phrase “celebrating irrationality” to describe our culture I’ve used the phrase “sophisticated ignorance,” like Athens in Acts 17. The superstition and D.I.Y. religion is evident in rejection of moral absolutes and the idea of objective truth, then an embrace of chance, feelings, and subjectivity over reason, and an inclination toward new forms of paganism.
If you think abortion is “life-sustaining” as does the governor of Michigan, so it is. If a baby in the womb or even born alive is not wanted, it’s not a human baby.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Celebration of irrationality.
Irrationality is now a way of life for more and more people.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
- Details
- Written by Rex M. Rogers
One year ago today I had my heart attack. I had a stent procedure, changed my diet and began walking a few miles each morning, lost weight, and otherwise returned to my life, family, and calling.
Heart attacks get your attention, though. “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
I am grateful to the Lord for his protection and blessing, to the Drs and nurses for their expertise, and to my Good Wife for her decision in the wee hours of that night: “We’re going to the E.R. Now.”
So, I’ll quote a verse my Mother quoted to me many times as I was growing up, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24).
And I’ll cite my favorite chorus, “God is so good. God is so good. God is so good to me.”
He’s good to you too.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.