You know Scott, I’ve been doing a lousy job trying to explain my thoughts on this whole Postman thing. And by relativism, in my head, it was more of a humanistic relativism. Moral relativism in that the cooking show is the same as a war scene; academic relativism in that taking a class on Elvis or the Beatles is equally as valid as that of American or world history; moral relativism where reporters can’t cal the hezbos terrorists and the like; economic relativism of equal outcomes where person X sees desirous item Y and subsequently feels entitled to “buy” such an item on credit to appease the urge of instant gratification. It just seems that relativism, in all its forms, has become the great mediocre-itizer. Without absolute values of quality and right vs. wrong, everything becomes an issue of individual perception; and since we’re no longer allowed to critique perceptions (such as your trained Biblical perspective vs. the arm-chair theologian example)--everything goes to crap. From education to morality. I suggest that the rise of relativism (in all its forms) directly equates to the loss of absolute values, which is a central tenet in the degradation of society.

And as a complete aside, clinical-based grad school programs are now almost exclusively offering night classes--which means that I don’t get home until around 7:30 or 8:00 on the nights in which I teach. (It was a whole lot worse in DC--which was like 9:30 or 10:00!) So anyway--it’s tough for me to get home all wound up, only to relax and sleep a few short hours later. So in such a situation, I sometimes choose to relax (self-medicate?) with a little Baker’s on the rocks. (A 5-ounce serving, and I think I’m going to start freezing distilled water into ice-cubes to preserve the flavor.) And at times, there are few things I enjoy more...