Philosophy Archives - Page 2 of 22

Religion Breeds Good And Bad Spirits In Adherents

January 13, 2025 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Repentance Reflects Your Mindset
Not Your Knowledge

Before we begin, a clarification.

When I mention the word spirit, I’m not talking about a personal being, like the Holy Spirit or a demonic spirit or even the human spirit. I’m talking about attitude, perspective or outlook.

In a word, mindset.

Your personal spirit is the core of your being. Your attitude reveals which way your spirit is leaning. Attitude is the barometer of how well you’re doing spiritually.

Attitude and spirit are, of course, inalterably connected but they aren’t the same. When people cheer loudly and excitedly at sporting events, they are said to have lots of spirit but that expression of spirit is different to the personal spirit from which it derives in the same way thoughts are different to the brain.

I’m focused on your attitude, not your personal spirit. [Read more…] about Religion Breeds Good And Bad Spirits In Adherents

Judgment vs Judgmental

January 11, 2025 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Judgment Is What We Do
Judgmental Is What Others Do To Us

Judgment and Judgmental are two concepts that are easily confused. They aren’t the same. Judgment is something everyone uses everyday for every decision. It’s a process we go through before making decisions.

Sometimes we side with our better judgment. Sometimes we ignore better judgment. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad but either way, the outcome is what we do to ourselves.

There are many skills needed to make good judgments (analytical thinking, emotional intelligence, patience, ethics, pragmatism, and more) but the more important issue is something we don’t usually talk about.

We need to make judgments because we don’t automatically have all the answers to the situations that confront us regularly.

We are not all-knowing. We can’t see all the details.

King Solomon’s first test as a leader is a good example. When two prostitutes squabbled over a baby, Solomon relied on a skill we don’t often associate with good judgment, emotional intelligence (I Kings 3:16-28).

It was a tangled mess. Two mothers were claiming to be the parent of one baby and there was no clear physical evidence to prove one true and the other false.

The ability to judge these situations was scarce. No one knew how to solve this problem so they resorted to the King. The good judgment he employed in solving this problem made him widely respected and it reveals the value of good judgment.

It wasn’t Solomon’s charisma, good looks or physical stature that won the hearts of his people. It was his wisdom (good judgment) that made him great in their eyes. [Read more…] about Judgment vs Judgmental

Autocracy Inc.: A Book Review

December 15, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Political Chaos Anywhere
Is A Threat To Democracy Everywhere

Anne Applebaum, the author of Autocracy Inc. is an American journalist and historian. Her writing has focused on the history of communism and other social issues in central and eastern Europe.

Her book is well documented and an easy read.

The title really drew me in.

Autocracy Inc.: The Dictators Who Want To Run The World

It is, of course, no revelation that dictators want to run the world and we know who the dictators are: Putin, Xi, Lukashenko, Kim and several others, all of whom are mentioned in the book.

What most people don’t realize is that these leaders have little in common. I doubt they even like each other. As far as I know, they don’t socialize on a regular basis.

Put them all in a locked room for an extended period of time and it’s likely only one would emerge still standing. [Read more…] about Autocracy Inc.: A Book Review

Fighting The Good Fight Involves Debate Not Pugilism

May 26, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

If All We Do
Is Say What’s Already Been Said
We Haven’t Done The Job

It had been several years since I last spoke to this individual. Through others, I had remained aware of what was happening in his life and it became apparent that he was aware of happenings in my life too, but other than exchanging a like or two on Facebook, a distant wave here or there, nothing. So it was a surprise when I got his message that he wanted to FaceTime.

I agreed, of course. We had been acquainted for thirty plus years at that point. I knew him as a kid growing up and I was familiar with the various stages of his development. His story was quite typical.

He grew up in church but, as often happens, his Christianity was mostly superficial. He was a quiet rebel as a youngster: alcohol, drugs and sex. Always nice on the surface. Always pleasant and full of potential but into some serious stuff in the background.

As you might guess, the background issues began taking over and became more apparent as he grew older.

He was loved through it all and, thankfully, came to his senses at a later stage.

And when he did, he was loved just as much at that point as he’d always been. The difference now was that he was also applauded, honored and appreciated for making his way out of an addictive situation. He had apparently become quite dependent on both the alcohol and the drugs. Overcoming in that situation has to be respected. In his case, he did more than just overcome addiction. He also went to university and gained a credible degree. Impressive! [Read more…] about Fighting The Good Fight Involves Debate Not Pugilism

10 Thoughts On Doing Good Works

April 23, 2024 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Acting Like A Good Person
Is Better Than Claiming To Be One

The idea of doing good works – things that are honorable, useful, dignified, helpful, kind, etc. – often takes a beating and, strangely, the beating comes from the people you’d expect to be doing the most good, Christians. Christians can some times sound anti good works.

There is a reason for that but the reason doesn’t justify the negativity.

Let me explain.

Christians are those claiming born-again status, and the salvation associated with born-again happens completely apart from any good works we can do. In other words, salvation is by faith through grace. It’s made free by the death of Jesus on the cross and is offered purely by God’s grace and kindness. That means you can’t good-works your way into heaven.

I agree with that. If Jesus didn’t pay the price for our sins, there aren’t enough good works in the world to cover that sin but some go a little too far with that idea and suggest that before salvation humans are incapable of doing any good at all. The idea is so senseless it doesn’t deserve a mention much less an argument.

But, for the record, there are too many non-believing individuals in the world doing good things to suggest that a sin nature puts good works beyond reach until after salvation.

Is it a good work for soldiers to defend their country against all enemies foreign and domestic? Are Christians the only ones who defend their country?

Even if you believe that only Christians are capable of doing good works, there’s too little of that happening and too few who encourage it. Some Christians become quite defensive, almost insecure, when anyone suggests we should do good works. They immediately begin chanting grace through faith – all of which is good – but it doesn’t apply. It also doesn’t mirror what the Bible says.

Jesus had some positive things to say about good works. You could take His comments as commands but before we get to that, what exactly qualifies as a good work? [Read more…] about 10 Thoughts On Doing Good Works