The Don: By What Standard?


“Everyone is indignant when he hears the Germans define justice as that which is to the interest of the Third Reich. But it is not always remembered that this indignation is perfectly groundless if we ourselves regard morality as a subjective sentiment to be altered at will. Unless there is some objective standard of good, over-arching Germans, Japanese and ourselves alike whether any of us obey it or not, then of course the Germans are as competent to create their ideology as we are to create ours. If ‘good’ and ‘better’ are terms deriving their sole meaning from the ideology of each people, then of course ideologies themselves cannot be better or worse than one another. Unless the measuring rod is independent of the things measured, we can do no measuring. For the same reason it is useless to compare the moral ideas of one age with those of another: progress and decadence are alike meaningless words.” —C.S. Lewis, “The Poison of Subjectivism” in C.S. Lewis Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces (HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), p. 658

The Apologist: If the Universe Sounded Awful

There is a story that once, after the musicians had played Cage‘s total chance music, as he was bowing to acknowledge the applause there was a noise behind him. He thought it sounded like steam escaping from somewhere, but then to his dismay realized it was the musiaans behind him who were hissing. Often his works have been booed. However, when the audience boo at him they are, if they are modern men, in reality boomg the logical conclusion of their own position as it strikes their ears in music. —Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There

Explaining Viticulture with Masonry


