2 Million Page-Views

I see that my blog (web log) today passed 2 million page-views. In fact it is more than this, because I didn't start counting at the start. I don't know where it stands now, but according to Technorati it was once (maybe still is) South Africa's no. 1 Religion blog. OBSERVATION: At the moment, my blog is most read in the United States, Seychelles, Brazil, India, and Vietnam. My most popular post ever is one of my technical posts: on how to wind a metal detector coil (pictured).

Journal of Theology

I was pleased to learn this week that I have a paper forthcoming in the South African Baptist Journal of Theology -- titled Philosophical-Theological Reflection on the Political Engagement of the Church: No Fixed Ideal. I propose that Christian nationalism and (its mirror image) progressive Christian politics both work towards a fixed ideal, while God Himself does not. In God's eyes, evil may be for good, and good for evil. OBSERVATION: The paper was said to be groundbreaking -- although it was not accepted without revision -- I am told that my style is too informal. While I have written many articles on theology, this is only my third paper. 

Kinship Terms

I married into a Xhosa clan. One of the things that struck me early on was that they do not use the familiar English kinship terms. In the more traditional scheme of things, there seem to be no uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces. Brothers and sisters are not always what we call them in English. It seems to me that the more traditional kinship terms are these:

• mothers and fathers (the older generation)
• sons and daughters (the younger generation)
• brothers and sisters (the same generation), and
• brothers- and sisters-in-law

Brothers and sisters include those of the same household. Uncles and aunts may sometimes be distinguished by calling them "little" mothers and "little" fathers. I am not sure whether there is such a thing as "cousins". The photo shows (in English terms) a niece and a cousin of my wife's. In Xhosa kinship terms, a daughter and a sister. OBSERVATION: It is interesting that family members actually treat each other as they call each other.

POSTSCRIPT: I received the comment that similar kinship terms were in use in the Pacific, until Generation Y marked a shift to more English kinship terms.

Writing an Interesting Lecture

It is not hard to write a lecture. It is harder to write a good lecture. But to write an interesting lecture, for me, requires quite some effort and thought. Here is one technique that I use. I tell the class, or the congregation, or the group: here is the common or popular view (say, on what providence is), but this leaves out five things. Here's what it leaves out. Here's the next thing that it leaves out. Here's the next ... OBSERVATION: Usually the common or popular view will leave out several things.

Voice Of A ‘Husband’

In South Africa, there are very many single young mothers. An Education MEC (a provincial cabinet member) has said, "It is an alarming situation, and is unheard of." With this in mind, a minister may not seldom be the voice of a "husband" as it were, to those who are struggling to get through, alone -- whether it be with an infant or an older child or children. The minister is the man who can understand, be practical, be spiritual -- and be their champion when the need arises. Often there is no other such man in their lives. OBSERVATION: And it is a privilege to be that person. The challenges for single young mothers are great.

Causes of Death

Recently I got to thinking of the causes of unnatural death of people I have personally known. "Let me count the ways" ...

literally falling off a log, 

stabbing, 

execution by shooting, 

a hydrogen bomb, 

punching, 

throttling, 

getting eaten by a shark, 

poisoning, 

medical malpractice, 

euthanasia, 

gassing, 

drowning, 

crashing a hang-glider ... 

and I think of several more besides. OBSERVATION: Perhaps it is partly through ministry that I have so many examples. Maybe the most unusual here is death by hydrogen bomb. A woman I knew saw the flash of a hydrogen bomb, and it slowly killed her.

$1,000 a Line

Back in 2021, I sought permission to use two lines from the 1962 hit The End of the World in my forthcoming book. I was quoted $2,000, with $200 up front. I said to my managing editor that the cost was "breathtaking". "It's not cheap," he said. OBSERVATION: I thought of a good solution: say goodbye to two lines of my book. It wouldn't be the end of the world. 

Medical Dictionary

There is a gift that a churchgoer gave me -- in one of those moments that stands out in my mind. He handed me a small, fat medical dictionary -- a brick of a book -- brand new. After that, he committed suicide. I didn't know that this was a final gift. As he gave it to me, he said, "These are all the things that can go wrong with you." It listed, alphabetically, thousands and thousands of things. OBSERVATION: I have wondered whether the thought of these things burdened him. Or, perhaps, his own sufferings at that time? Is one meant to think of the snares that might lie in wait? And yet we all do to some extent: we are all health conscious.

Europe vs. Central Africa

Recently one of my fellow faculty took his students into the seminary library. He told them to select a section, and remove all the books that were written by White men. There was almost nothing left! A professor commented, "With what are we going to replace those empty shelves?" OBSERVATION: I see a parallel at the moment in the fires which are ravaging Europe. The situation in Central Africa is much worse. Did anyone ever tell us that?

The Benefit of Argumentation

I am teaching three seminary courses at the moment -- which is quite a heavy load. I am surprised by the sharpness of my students -- and I ask myself what has made them so sharp -- it is really quite unusual. I am suspecting it is a culture of classroom argumentation, which is known for sharpening students' thinking. OBSERVATION: Which fits me hand in glove. I like to provoke argumentation. So long as it is ultimately upbuilding, or productive.

Big Bad Taxi

My poor car (pictured) got hit by a big bad taxi this evening, on our N2. The taxi was weaving, weaving, weaving, and BANG. This loosened my front bumper, and apparently buckled the taxi's back bumper. OBSERVATION: They didn't stop. I didn't stop. A Swiss knife was enough to fix the damage. Our minibus taxis are notorious.

POSTSCRIPT: This is the second time I was hit by a minibus taxi. See elsewhere on this blog. 

1,403-Word E-Mail

AI-generated letters go to ridiculous lengths now. Yesterday I received an e-mail from Sharon M. Rudy of Rudy Books, offering to promote my metaphysics. It was 1,403 words long, which is nearly six pages double-spaced -- most of it lauding my book. Real intelligence does not find it hard to understand that only artificial intelligence would go to the trouble of writing six pages. OBSERVATION: The flattery has a certain appeal, though: "The book's scope is breathtaking. It covers language, reality, ethics, politics, science, mathematics, meaning, holism, and God. It challenges many of our assumptions and sets out an entirely new metaphysics." The book is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B51WQ4GH

Students in Discussion

This one's just a pretty picture. From the other side of the table, I saw a good angle for a photo, moved around the table, and took this shot -- of students in discussion. Taken with an 18 mm (wide angle) lens. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

AI Snitch

It's another case of: You read it first on this blog. A BBC headline this morning proclaims: Some people's chats with Claude AI found to be publicly available online. Back in April, I reported that Claude had snitched an unpublished paper that I wrote, and put bits of it verbatim on-line. While this was a paper, and not strictly personal -- although, really, it was personal -- it could just as easily have been a personal conversation with me.

Distance Learning

I lecture for a seminary that has distance students, who join a real lecture remotely. But I struggled something awful with the system. It is a little ... call it a robot, which one plugs into a computer, and it gives a 360-degree impression of the room, and integrates everyone from afar. But with all the good will in the world, nobody could really make it work. The audio dropped out, the video dropped out, everything dropped out, it cut out my own multimedia several times, and in the end it appeared to crash my computer. Students were like jack-in-the boxes trying to restore it while I ploughed on with the lecture. OBSERVATION: I'm not sure who said it first -- that we should try something that really worked. And so we did -- and it worked -- and I was relieved and the students were happy. However, it is not as sophisticated as the little robot.