Both Worlds

Regular readers will have noted the addition of a Links page to this blog some time ago. Note also that I do not call it blogrolling. Everything to do with this blog is hand-crafted by my son, Mad, and we do not "buy in" technology from outside. This means that you get here the quality that goes with the term "hand-made"; this is no machine-made site from a production line designed for the mass market. No, in this blog you have the quality that goes with careful craftsmanship from the hands of real people (it may at times resemble those lop-sided pots produced by your "artistic" Aunt Jemima but, hey, we're learning all the time).

Some blogs have a list of links as long as your arm. I try to limit my list to those that I visit every day. In this way, I don't submerge any recommended links in a multitude so extensive that it never gets read, let alone used. And the intention is, as always, to offer quality. If you hover the cursor over any of the blogs listed in my Links page, you will see a brief summary of the reason for its inclusion. I can guarantee that the reason given is never "Well, he blogrolled me so I'm returning the favor (even though his site's awful)."

Every so often I come across a blog that deserves more than just a link. Some time ago I posted an article regarding one of these, Hereunder. And now I find that it's time to bring another excellent blog into the spotlight.

This is Gary Bourque's blog, Both Worlds. I have been reading Gary for some time now and am astounded at both the quality of his writing and the breadth of his interests. If you have a look under his About section, you will see that he ranges from writing to sport, culture to American Idol (how did that get in there?), politics to the family, financial markets to matters of faith. Now there's a Renaissance man, if ever I saw one.

One of Gary's recent posts, Engaging Minds, Good Conversation, pointed out three other blogs where he is engaged in discussion. All three are excellent examples of reasoned and insult-free debate, a rarity in the blogosphere and the real world. If you enjoy logic and debate without rancor, I recommend that you have a look at these.

The first is a "discussion about personal freedom and its relation to public morality". This made me think about the difference between political debate in Europe and America. I may be wrong (not having bothered with politics in Europe) but it seems to me that Europe no longer thinks about the roots of its political systems. Usually such things are taken for granted and political discussion is far more likely to center on such things as the price of beer and whether to ban fox hunting or not. In America, however, the basis of the political system is still a live issue and is debated intensively wherever intelligent people meet. Just as an instance of this, there is an ongoing struggle at the moment between the left and the right regarding the exact meaning of the separation of church and state, something that is fundamental to how the Americans regard their country.

Obviously, one of the reasons for this continued interest in the political system is that America is so young in historical terms. But I think there are other reasons involved too. The destruction of education has progressed farther in Europe than in America and the result is that there are fewer people who have the capacity to think logically about such issues. The recent emasculation of the House of Lords in Britain is an example. This was done without any reasoned debate at all and was, apparently, merely the result of a presumption that the Lords served no useful purpose apart from occasionally blocking "the will of the people". There seemed to be no understanding whatsoever of the historical and less visible functions of the Lords and Britain will be the poorer for their abolition, in my humble opinion.

Gary then points at a conversation he is having about the reasons to believe in Christianity. I have not contributed to the discussion, partly because I arrived late and also because it was more fun just to watch. If I had been moved to comment at all, it would have been only to point out that Icarus Goodman, the atheist in the discussion, made his best point when he said, "A revelation is only a revelation to the man who truth is revealed to. When that man tells another what happened to him, then that is just one man telling another man a story." It's a good point because it highlights a fundamental fact about Christianity that has been glossed over in this particular debate: that, through Christ, we can come to know God personally. And this really is the ultimate answer to all of Icarus' objections - that I believe in God because I have met Him.

In the third of the discussions, Gary and Patrick O'Hannigan have a very learned debate on certain points that divide the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. Far be it from me to intervene in such deep theological issues. However, I would agree with Gary when he says that there is less disagreement between Patrick and himself than might appear from the length of the discussion. And, of course, being a Calvinist in my own theology, I am quite sure that the matters they discuss will not count at all when the Lord comes to separate the sheep from the goats.

Remember that I am pointing out just one of Gary's posts. He updates regularly and, as I mentioned, he ranges through all sorts of subjects. His latest is an interesting suggestion that environmentalism is a modern religion and, in earlier posts, you will find considerations of the progress of American Idol (I'd love to know what he sees in it!).

Take my advice: set aside some time and have a good look at Both Worlds.