Rooted in Assurance

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” -   C.S. Lewis Last week, my little sister took me to get my nails done for the first time. When we walked in, the woman at the counter started asking several questions, and I felt bad because I couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying; I'm completely ignorant when it comes to this area.  My sister came to my rescue and responded for me, explaining that I was getting them done like hers. But then they separated us.  It was that feeling of losing my mom in the grocery store as a kid, and I was a deer in the headlights. The guy asks if I want long nails; I immedi...

"Terrorism in its purest form is self-help by organized civilians who covertly inflict mass violence on other civilians."-Sociologist Donald Black It takes no debate to see that the bombings in Austin are a tragedy. The community, and social media, is up in arms over the lack of media attention and refusal to label the incidents as terrorism. In answer to the question of media, it does appear they are distracted by other topics that are considerably less important. I cannot speak for their intentions. I can say, though, that from a sociological perspective, pouring media attention on this situation may only lead to more bombings. Complaining about situations beyond our control with circumstances beyond our understanding only furthers the negativity. As for labeling, just because something is evil or a tragedy does not mean that it is an act of terrorism. The holocaust was a tragedy, pure evil. But the holocaust is labeled as genocide, not terrorism. We can spend...