Psychology: Snake Oil for the 21st Century

You have to wonder how some people ever get to wear the robe ― and, by the same token, how a framed piece of paper on the wall inspires such confidence in people.

I pondered all this recently when I read about an 18-year-old Texas youth named Ethan Couch, who was tracked to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico by U.S. Marshalls after he absconded from justice to avoid the consequences of a probation violation.

The Meaning of Mass Shootings

Another mass shooting in America. Many are rightly screaming, “Terrorism” and others, “Gun control!”

A Thanksgiving Tale

I once ate nothing but rice for three days. It wasn’t a diet or a fast; I was broke. I had managed my money poorly during the previous weeks, and work was scarce to begin with. Finally, I got up one morning, peered into my wallet and found nothing there but lint. My next paycheck was a week away.

The Crucible

As many readers are aware, I had a collision with an automobile in June (while riding my bicycle) that could easily have resulted in my death. I wrote about it here not long after it happened, before I fully realized what I was dealing with. Of course, I knew the medical facts: two broken ribs, a herniated disc in my back, and unspecified head trauma that was bad enough to erase a substantial part of my memory of the incident. The last thing I remember was the moment I realized there was going to be a collision. Then I woke up in the emergency room around an hour later.

What is Truth? A Reader’s Challenge

A reader named Charlie wrote with his thoughts about my last post, “The Age of Slumber:”

Good post. I’ve been reading an even more eloquent version of the same ideas from Timothy Keller called Reason for God.

The Age of Slumber

Nearly all of us have heard the saying, “Most people would rather hear a good lie over the truth any day.” When people hear this, they laugh and nod in agreement. Yet, though we acknowledge the human tendency to believe what makes us feel better, how many of us actually do something about it?

Wheat Pennies

When I was 6 years old, I got good and mad at my mother. I don’t even remember what it was about, but I kept quiet ― either that or she was intransigent on the issue. I don’t remember, but whatever the case, I was stuck with what I felt was an unacceptable situation. So I waited until she and my father were out of the house for the evening, evaded the babysitter, sneaked into their room and raided Mom’s collection of wheat pennies.

When Truth Hurts

This article has been building inside me for a long time. I have hesitated to write it, since it will touch directly on a subject that has been debated ad nauseum on social media for many years without any meaningful resolution. I suspect that some people actually choose confusion because it justifies a good brawl. My intention here is not to persuade my opponents to switch sides ― only to clarify the issues.

Friendship with God

From God to Us

Some would argue that not everyone seeks friendship from God. What about atheists? What about people who just want God to leave them alone to live their lives the way they see fit?

First, I don’t believe there are any honest-to-goodness atheists.

America’s Ghost

It was midnight — pitch black — and I was descending a steep hill on my bicycle without a light. I had been fortunate so far; there had been ample streetlights. Now, however, as I hit the sharpest incline, the last streetlight faded behind me, and I hurtled down, squinting to pick out the white dashes in the center of the road. I wasn’t worried about cars; they would have headlights, which would solve my problem.