I started reading Song of Songs.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Different Parts of the Body
I don't know if two Churches could be more different; Benediction Church and St. Barnabas Anglican Mission are like night and day. Benediction Church is like a Pentecostal Church, very much so.
Monday, March 9, 2026
Winky
I visited St. Barnabas Anglican Mission yesterday, an ACNA parish. So, of course, the New Testament reading was Romans 1:16-32. Not only was this not the reading in the Revised Common Lectionary, it's from the same book that freed me from judgement.
It does, however, call to light some of my own practices, fasting, and a Holy Lent. Happy fasting everyone.
Friday, March 6, 2026
Spirit to the Maker
Ecclesiastes doesn't end much better than it begins. But, it seems to contradict the beginning. So, there's a wire tap in your apartment, diversify your stock portfolio, and--despite the statement earlier about what the dead know--your spirit returns to the LORD when you die.
To quote Michelle Remple, "I have had enough of this woke bull[leavings]!"
Am I still tailspinning from that sermon on the 28th of December (blogged about it)? It's likely. I mean, have you seen my posts since? They would support that presumption. Am I fed up with society? Yeah, I'm tired of being the punching bag.
Have I had it up to my eye balls with my Church bending to the will of society in an attempt to be relevant? Yup, yup I have. And, I'm aware that it is a distraction to my faith too.
Did I visit an ACNA parish last week? Yup, yup I did. You don't get all the TV channels you want with any cable package; you just pick the one that fits best for you.
Am I the Devil from Hell?
I can’t literally speak as a specific real person such as Thomas Sowell, but I can summarize the kind of reasoning he and many economists or social thinkers often use when discussing these topics.
Should you feel guilty for being White?
Short answer: No.
Guilt normally applies to actions you personally choose, not to traits you were born with (such as race, sex, or ethnicity). From a classical liberal perspective—shared by thinkers like Thomas Sowell—individual responsibility matters more than group identity.
Why?
You didn’t choose your race
Race is an inherited trait.
Moral responsibility generally requires choice and agency.
Group guilt is philosophically weak
Holding people morally responsible for actions committed by others in the past treats individuals as interchangeable members of a group rather than as individuals.
History is complex
Every civilization has histories of conquest, injustice, and oppression.
Assigning inherited moral guilt based on ancestry can lead to endless cycles of blame.
Focus on conduct instead
What matters ethically is how you treat people today—fairness, respect, and justice toward others.
Should you feel guilty for being a man in society?
Short answer: No.
Just like race, sex is not a choice. Being male does not automatically make someone responsible for negative actions committed by other men.
Why?
Responsibility is individual
Moral accountability applies to your own behavior, not to demographic categories.
Collective guilt undermines fairness
Judging someone morally based on group identity contradicts the principle of equal treatment under the law and in ethics.
Positive responsibility is different from guilt
You may still have a responsibility to:
treat others respectfully
oppose unfair behavior when you see it
act with integrity
But that is moral responsibility for your actions, not guilt for your identity.
✅ A healthy ethical framework usually looks like this:
Do not judge others by race or sex.
Do not judge yourself by race or sex either.
Judge actions, character, and choices.
That principle is close to the classical ideal expressed during the American Civil Rights Movement: people should be evaluated by their character and conduct, not immutable traits.
💡 In practical terms:
Instead of asking “Should I feel guilty for what I am?”, a more constructive question is:
Am I treating people fairly?
Am I contributing positively to society?
If the answer is yes, there is no moral basis for guilt over race or sex.
If you want, I can also explain why some modern theories argue the opposite (collective privilege or systemic responsibility) so you can see both sides of the argument.
Guilt is an internal response to one’s own actions, but in modern discourse, it is increasingly demanded as a response to one’s identity or the history of a group. To address whether a man should feel guilty for his place in society, one must distinguish between individual conduct and collective historical abstractions.
The Fallacy of Collective Guilt
The concept of "collective guilt" suggests that an individual bears moral responsibility for the actions of others who happen to share their demographic characteristics—whether those others are alive today or died centuries ago. From a logical and ethical standpoint, guilt is only meaningful when tied to personal agency.
If you have not personally engaged in oppression, discrimination, or the mistreatment of others, there is no rational basis for guilt. To feel guilty for being born into a specific category is to accept a "sins of the father" philosophy that ignores the reality of individual choice.
The "Privilege" vs. Achievement Distinction
The argument for male guilt often centers on "privilege." However, what is frequently labeled as privilege is often the result of complex trade-offs, historical developments, or different life choices.
Statistical Disparities: Many point to the fact that men occupy a majority of high-ranking corporate or political positions. While true, these same critics often overlook that men also constitute the vast majority of workplace fatalities, incarcerations, and victims of violent crime.
The Cost of Success: High-status outcomes often require extreme sacrifices in terms of time, health, and personal life—sacrifices that are more common among men due to social or biological pressures to provide.
Intergenerational Progress: Every society has evolved from a past where roles were more rigid. To judge individuals today by the standards of a medieval or Victorian social structure is a chronocentric error.
The Social Utility of Responsibility
While guilt is a paralyzing and unproductive emotion, responsibility is a constructive one. A man should not feel guilty for his existence, but he should feel responsible for his character.
Society does not benefit from men who are weighed down by a sense of inherited shame. It benefits from men who are productive, law-abiding, and honorable. Moving from a mindset of "unearned guilt" to "earned integrity" allows an individual to contribute to the world rather than apologizing for being in it.
"The quest for 'social justice' is often a quest for power by those who want to use the misfortunes of others as a lever to pry control away from everyone else."
Would you like to explore how these concepts of individual versus collective responsibility apply to modern economic or labor trends?
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