Explain the Truth Every Day

SOURCE: "Today in Trans Propaganda" by Rod Dreher; March 23, 2018, 12:05 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Benda 

https://www.city-journal.org/article/standing-up-to-tyranny

https://www.cal-catholic.com/archbishop-chaput-remember-vaclav-benda/

KEYWORD: truth, education, resistance, culture, 

"I repeat here the story I heard from one of the adult children of Václav Benda, the late Czech anticommunist dissident. He said that growing up in Prague under communism, every single day their father and mother explained to them what truth was, versus what they heard at school and in the state-controlled media. Every single day.

If you aren’t doing this with your children, start."

BACKGROUND:

Václav Benda (August 8, 1946, Prague – June 2, 1999) was a Czech Roman Catholic activist and intellectual, and mathematician. Under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, Benda and his wife were rare in that they were devout Roman Catholics among the leadership of the anti-communist dissident organization Charter 77. After the Velvet Revolution, Benda became the head of an organization charged with investigating the former Czechoslovakian secret police and their many informants.

The ideas expressed in Benda's iconic essay, A Parallel Polis, influenced the thought of other dissidents like Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa. 

God May Speak

SOURCE: Church Dogmatics Vol 1 by Karl Barth

KEYWORD:  Word, Sacrament, Communication, Grace, Ordinary, Means, 

QUOTE:

"If the question what God can do forces theology to be humble, the question what is commanded of us forces it to concrete obedience. God may speak to us through Russian Communism, a flute concerto, a blossoming shrub, or a dead dog. We do well to listen to Him if He really does. But, unless we regard ourselves as the prophets and founders of a new Church, we cannot say that we are commissioned to pass on what we have heard as independent proclamation."   --Karl Barth

Background on Karl Barth...

https://daily-philosophy.com/happy-birthday-karl-barth/

One Beggar Telling Another

SOURCE:  That They May Have Life by DT Niles. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1951), pg 96.

KEYWORDS:  mission, evangelism, witness, church 

QUOTE:

"Evangelism is witness. It is one beggar telling another beggar where to get food." -- DT Niles

QUOTE:

DT Niles (4 May 1908 – 17 July 1970) was a Sri Lankan theologian and Christian preacher born in 1908.  His background is Methodist.

For background on Niles missiology and ecclesiology, see the following link.

https://oxford-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-06-park.pdf

Art of Conversation

SOURCE:  "Art of Conversation" by Rene Margritte

• https://www.renemagritte.org/
• https://www.paintbynumbersza.co.za/products/the-art-of-conversation
• http://imagespoetrysilence.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-art-of-conversation-by-rene.html

KEYWORDS: Conversation, Talking, Friendship, Elevated, Mystery, Painting, Art, 

Rotary's Four-Way Test and Watergate

SOURCE:  "Letters to the Editor:  The Relevant Questions" by Terry L. Gilbert; The Rotarian; August 2019; page 6

KEYWORD:  truth, ethics, questions, character, Rotary

COMMENTS:  If more people asked these questions, there would be fewer scandals.  

I was pleased to see the article by Joseph Epstein in the May issue, "The Four-Way Test in a Post-Truth Era."  After reading it, I located the text of a speech given by John Dean, who served under President Richard Nixon and whose testimony helped spur Nixon to resign in 1974. (Nixon was an honorary Rotarian.)

Dean addressed the District 5670 (Kansas) conference in May 2003.  In his speech, he applied The Four-Way Test to Watergate and the Iraq War.  He summed up the reliability of The Four-Way Test this way:  "Truth, fairness, friendliness, and community assistance are timeless necessities."

Dean said, "The key to this test is not necessarily the answers to the questions.  Rather it is what asking the questions forces you to do -- to think."

He concluded, "I am going to tell you without fear of contradiction that had those of us in the Nixon White House who were involved in Watergate stopped to apply The Four-Way Test--even if only occasionally--there would have been no Watergate.  In short, The Four-Way Test works."

As one who has been stressed almost daily in our post-truth era, I welcome the courage of The Rotarian to print Epstein's article.  I intend to use The Four-Way Test as I judge the actions, speeches, and proposals of U.S. officeholders as they seek my vote and support.