No Grasp of Your Reality

Quotes of the day from the kids:

During lunch, we had red grapes today (instead of the usual green – the red were much fresher at the store this week).
After we rinsed the grapes, and set them on the table, Thomas exclaimed “Mom! They look like RUBIES!”

As Tabitha was preparing for her nap, she reluctantly set down her bottle to change into her pull-ups. She then realized I was near her bottle and froze. She then put her hands on her hips and yelled, “Do not drink my bottle, Mom! That would make me very very MAD!”

Sarah and I spent our Saturday weeding our book collection. Instead of taking them to the library, or (God forbid) throwing them in the trash, we’ve set up a Bookcrossing account, and we’re now releasing all of our unwanted books into the wild.

Here’s how it works: We register our books at bookcrossing.com. When a book is registered, each book gets an identification number. That number is then written on a bookplate along with the url for the bookcrossing site, and glued into the front of the book. Then, the book is placed somewhere in the public. When someone finds the book, they can go to the URL, enter the identification number, and they can find out where the book as travelled.

We’ve done a dozen books so far, and we’ll be sure to do more. Anyone ever found a bookcrossing book?

My wife gave me an early Christmas present, since she thought it would approprite for some of the conversations I’ve been recently been participating online. I’ve been wanted Doug Wilson’s “A Serrated Edge” since Canon Press published it, partly because I’m interested in seeing a defense of humor, and especially irony, but more because my sense of humor has been questioned (even called “sinful”), and I’ve honestly been wondering what guidelines the Bible has for comedy.

I truly believe that there is no such thing as moral neutrality. Murder is sinful, no mattter who you are. However, in a situation where morality does not come into play, then subjectivity is allowed. I don’t like chocolate, even though my wife loves it… neither of us is more moral because of our preference.

So, the question I’ve been mulling over is this… is humor subjective or objective? What parts are objectively moral, and therefore subject to Biblical exhortation, and which are simply subjective preferences?

The first question is whether we can classify humor as an art form The first benefit to me for doing this is now I can take a mundane subject, and expand it into a much more intellectual area. After all, arguing whether there is an objective standard in humor is a waste of time, but arguing that Johann Sebastian Bach was a great composer, objectively speaking is a much more sanctified undertaking. It seems to be a universal truth that Bach was a great composer. But, when we say this, we’re making an absolute statement. Does this mean that we can make absolute statements about art and music?

More later, but do you have any thoughts?

I upgraded our blogging software, and didn’t realize that it broke the ability for y’all to comment. I found out from a reader, and I’ve got the comments working again.