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Archive by category Society (Page 4)
In studies of cross-cultural communication, I have never ceased to be amazed at the potential for a disconnect even between those raised together. The unique struggles between nature & nurture, between innate personality & individual experience causes people to assess shared events differently, fostering frequent misunderstanding of each...
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December 14, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Communication, Society, Theology
When I first saw the advertisement of the documentary advertised above, POVERTY, INC. I thought, “Great, another conspiracy piece about how nobody should ever make a profit, how all profit is theft, how the rich are rich because they’ve despoiled the poor.” I couldn’t have been wrong-er. Let...
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December 13, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
A lot of people have terrible things happen to them. Some children are beaten, sexually assaulted, feast on a steady diet of verbally demeaning rhetoric. There is war and oppressive governments finding newer and better ways to keep the citizenry cowed in hopelessness and fear, or distracted with...
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December 12, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
We live in a day of heartfelt excuse making for human sin. On one side, everything is your “parent’s”[1] fault… of course, their faults are their “parent’s” fault, and so on and so on, ‘til the fault in the world is entirely environment based not heart based. No...
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November 30, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society, Theology
I find that political discussion with Christians and non-Christians alike often turns into a confusion between moralizing and good principles of governance. Many seem unable to disentangle their heart’s desire for others from the desire to use the force of government to achieve that desire. Hence, being against...
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November 16, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
While foolishly engaging a Twitter troll the other day, as this egomaniacal barbarian cursed the idea of God and Scripture, declaring Christianity and all other religion the source of all evil, (200 million dead at the hands of atheists not withstanding) I asked the man if he understood...
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October 24, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies, Society
Weasel words are highly emotive words that are used to manipulate perception, transferring feeling to ideas or products or policies. Weasel words take people hostage emotionally pressuring them to buy, or accept, or reject something. Buyer beware! Thinker beware! Voter beware! In my post, “Abuse Can Be a...
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September 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, Society
In every area of life, one needs to be cautious with highly emotive words…. especially highly emotive words that, like most highly emotive words, have no clear definition, or no clear limitations. Weasel words are words that are used manipulatively to transfer emotional sensation from one thing to...
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September 2, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, Society
Can men and women be friends? Of course men and women can be friends… so long as one defines the term friend properly. The real question is, can men and women be friends the way two men or two women are friends? Can men and women have a...
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August 22, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
I don’t read Christian fiction. As an Old Testament scholar, I have an affinity with message in story and, like many of the investigators in my favorite novels, I enjoy the Sherlock Holmes-iness of reaching back through the ages to discern the intention of those masters who wrote...
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August 15, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
No Comment
Living, as Americans, in a culture of divorce makes any dialogue on divorce and the Christian difficult. Indeed, any teaching set forward on divorce and remarriage will no longer be a marginal issue affecting only a small fraction of the Church, but will be tested in every conceivable...
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August 10, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
No Comment
“You are attempting the impossible,” the Dean said to me in 1992. “You can’t get a PhD, be a husband, father, and employee. If you manage to get the degree, you will not be human when it’s over.” That was the best advice I ever ignored. I got...
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August 8, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society, Theology
No Comment
I’ve been asked to preach Psalm 82 in a couple weeks. I was a bit wary at first. The text is rife with scholarly controversy and I was uncertain that I had the time to disentangle the text’s mysteries. Then, a tad embarrassed by my own cowardice, I...
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August 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Old Testament Studies, Society
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I like to think of myself as a nice guy. I think most people who know me would say that I am gregarious, helpful, flexible, self-sacrificing… I go out of my way to help those around me no matter how inconvenient or demanding their needs, and strive to...
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July 22, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
There is a Facebook poster going around that says something akin to “How to start an argument on Facebook. Step #1: Express an opinion. Step #2: Wait.” Civility in social media, whether that entails Facebook, Twitter, or Blogs in general, seems a tad sparse. The faceless nature of...
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July 20, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
It seems to me that hate sells. That often unidentified mass of souls known as the media love hate. They should write a book, Haters Who Love to Hate Hate. Every time anyone does anything, people from the media are on the air live within seconds to report...
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July 15, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
The problem with most race conversations is that, at the core, the message is wrong. It’s the same wrong message that we preach as a society to everyone who feels they’ve gotten a raw deal in life. We are encouraged to believe (meaning demanded to believe) that the...
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July 14, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
Nothing surprises me more than when I make a basic true statement and end up with a meltdown, accusation, or insult. If the word modesty shows up in any conversation with a female under the age of, say 70, they have been trained, not unlike a few Rottweilers...
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July 13, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
The painful lessons of life make the deepest impact on our delicate, and yet ever so dull, minds when we are children. Indeed, I’ve come to refer to pain as “The Great Teacher,” which, given the growing trend of parenting techniques as I reached marriageable age caused me...
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June 24, 2016 Andrew Sargent
New Testament Studies, Society
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I just saw one of those Facebook posters that read, “Repost this if you know someone who is still alive because you can’t afford a hitman.” It reminded me of one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met. He attended Bible college with me back in 1987....
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June 17, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
