Bring back the "Renaissance Man" - by Elle Griffin (elysian.press)
Make America well-rounded again!
People have decried hyper-specialization for years, yet most individuals seem unwilling to challenge it in their individual life. Part of my intention for Justin’s Journal is to encourage an online community of people who are each seeking to expand and improve upon who they are.
The Abolition of Liberty? Religious Freedom and Education Amid Today's Intellectual Confusion ━ The European Conservative
Though our societal elites have taken great pains to avoid seeing this glaring reality, we will never achieve meaningful civic or educational restoration until we abandon the dystopian effort to curtail religious people to the ever-shrinking periphery of society.
The New Right Activism - Christopher F. Rufo (christopherrufo.com)
A thoughtful, but also depressing, read. Furthermore, while I think there’s real truth here…I’m not sure that it’s all true. Key pull quote for my money is:
The most important virtue of our time is courage. In America, there is plenty of grumbling, anxiety, and quiet opposition to the capture of the culture. The activist must accept that he cannot make men courageous, but he can change the system of incentives so that those in quiet opposition — to put it bluntly, the cowardly — make different decisions. The activist must accept the inevitable frustration of victory: there will be those who adopt his positions after it has become safe. This is the price of courage, which sometimes only his closest compatriots will understand.
Confessions of a Social Constructionist (quillette.com)
Having gone through undergraduate and graduate liberal arts programs during this time period, I always suspected large amounts of this “evidence” were simply opinions masquerading as objectively true on the basis of insinuation and excessively emotional defensiveness whenever these “truths” were even slightly resisted. It’s gratifying (and also shocking and depressing) to hear one of its proponents openly admit it.
The problem is: I was wrong. Or, to be a bit more accurate, I got things partly right. But then, for the rest, I basically just made it up.
In my defence, I wasn’t alone. Everyone was (and is) making it up. That’s how the gender-studies field works. But it’s not much of a defence. I should have known better. If I were to retroactively psychoanalyze myself, I would say that, really, I did know better. And that’s why I was so angry and assertive about what I thought I knew. It was to hide the fact that, at a very basic level, I didn’t have proof for part of what I was saying. So I stuck to the arguments with fervor, and denounced alternative points of view.
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Day 11: Sitting in Darkness, Blogging the Light - Providence (providencemag.com)
This is a great reminder of how important it is that we hazard the charge of “hypocrisy” and actually engage in conversations about religion and morality. God has given us a voice for a reason.
Buck up. Find your courage. Take the beam out of your own eye (as best you can) and get to work trying to be the man/woman God has called you to be.
The Da Vinci Code Blunder by Daniel Buttafuoco - Salvo Magazine
If you need a pithy distilled refutation of the charge that Jesus was “voted into godhood” by the Council of Nicaea, you could do worse than this piece.
The Pornification of American Television - Crisis Magazine
Ever heard of Mary Whitehouse?
Me neither.
We should have, though. It turns out this housewife had more insight into society and human nature than many people sporting doctoral degrees in related fields.
How the Federal Government Poisoned Americans During Prohibition, Killing Thousands (substack.com)
Forgotten history is usually forgotten for a reason; And that reason is seldom good.
Still think the government can be trusted to honestly tell you what is (and isn’t) “disinformation”?
🔊Choosing the Right Livestock with Cherrie Nolden | Savanna Institute
We’re seriously exploring adding goats to the ole’ homestead.
If you, too, are looking for a basic introduction to the pros and cons of common livestock, this podcast episode could be helpful.
15 Ways To Use Your Journal To Become Absolutely Unstoppable | by Benjamin Hardy, PhD | Nov, 2023 | Medium
Admittedly, I’ve never been a consistent journaler or diarist. However, Hardy’s suggestions strike me as explanatory of both why I’ve struggled, and how I might take the discipline up again with better results. Perhaps you’ll find it similarly helpful.
The Problem With the Power Plant Rule: In the Biden administration's headlong quest for all-electric, a new EPA rule ignores impact on grid reliability | Paige Lambermont (independent.org)
Might be a good idea to go ahead and get that wood stove installed.
7 Ways to Use Eggshells in the Garden - Birds and Blooms
Though it’s a bit early, I plan to try some of these tips out before our Spring plantings.