1 Peter 3:15 and a Loving Apologetic (Part 1)

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Christian apologetics is as old as Christianity itself. While the word apologetics may sound funny, it doesn’t mean to apologize, but rather, “to give an explanation or justification.”

This is where we get our word apologize, the basic meaning to explain we now take to mean expressing contrition. While apologetics is not about being sorry, it is also not about being rash or reckless. For Christians, it just so happens that the humility it takes to be sorry is the same humility it takes to defend our faith in Christ, because our faith begins with the repentance of our sin and the confession of Christ as savior. Continue reading →

Self Esteem: What Matt Walsh Gets Wrong and Why It Matters

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Last week Christian conservative blogger Matt Walsh, who writes for The Blaze, published a video for PragerU, titled “Why Self-Esteem is Self-Defeating.”

Walsh’s argument in the video is that teaching people to have self-esteem is a fantasy that does more harm than good. He makes several good points, but falls short of applying them appropriately.
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A Simple Way to Comprehend Kneeling at National Anthems

Posted by Caleb Coy on

As of this month, over 27 NFL players have chosen to sit, kneel, or raise a fist of solidarity during the procedural playing of the US national anthem.

This has strangely been met with some very angry reactions. People who don’t know what’s going on see rich football players refusing to comply with the pledge and imagine it’s just a bunch of spoiled brats who haven’t seen combat and therefore don’t respect what soldiers are dying for.

Some people in America seem to hate Colin Kaepernick more than they hate racism. That is part of why he initiated this wave of lamentation and solidarity. Continue reading →

An Architectural Historian Weighs-In On Confederate Monuments

Posted by Caleb Coy on

A thoughtful middle ground

John Fea's avatarThe Way of Improvement Leads Home

Confederate_soldier_monument,_Union_County,_AR_IMG_2583

Back in the days when I was a post-doctoral fellow with the Lilly Fellow in Humanities and the Arts, I had a Valparaiso University office next to a young architectural historian named Louis Nelson.  (Actually, we were also next-door neighbors on Valparaiso’s “famous” McIntire Court).  Nelson left Valpo after a year in the program and headed off to Charlottesville to become a faculty member in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.  Today he is a Professor of Architectural History and the Associate Dean of the school.  Nice work.

Over at the website of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, Nelson argues that Confederate monuments should stay and be contextualized.  Here is a taste of his interview with the website:

The national debate surrounding confederate monuments is often presented in very narrow terms – as a battle between those who want them to stay and those who…

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from the Warblr—Will the Religious Right Wake Up on the Right Side of the Bed?

Posted by Caleb Coy on

This past weekend The Warblr chose to publish my Op-Ed. I am thankful for the opportunity.

Will the Religious Right Wake Up on the Right Side of the Bed?

“I wish I could say that the Charlottesville horror—those coddled little Nazi’s with tiki torches shouting “white lives matter” at a statue until someone was killed by a terrorist—was completely isolated from our culture, that this is not America. But it is America, because you’ve tolerated it for far too long. You’ve allowed the lunatic fringe, the alt-right, the conspiracy peddlers, and the petty rumor mill to influence you, hijack your religion, seduce your otherwise outstanding zeal.

You helped create this. Will you repent of it?”

 

#Charlottesville

Posted by Caleb Coy on

I visited the campus of UVA one when I was a kid. It was a peaceful day, and I recall it as a mostly boring tour of a pretty campus and some pretty buildings. It was a history field trip, because something about Thomas Jefferson starting the college.

I remember those awkward history lessons about how when the college was founded people owned other people as slaves and treated them like animals. We knew this was wrong. When I was a kid, I knew racism was wrong, and if you asked me, I would tell you it’s wrong to drive a car through people for no reason.
Continue reading →

25 Reasons This Parent is PRO-Vaccine

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Fall is almost here, near time for back to school, time for kids to get their shots.

SHOTS? You mean when the government makes you get stabbed by a needle full of disease and toxins?

Yes, I do mean that. And I do mean to have my children immunized based on every doctor recommendation our pediatrician gives us. Here are 25 reasons why I make this informed decision, and why I very strongly suggest everyone do the same. Continue reading →