Modern culture is a mighty force...

Modern culture is a mighty force. It is either subservient to the gospel or else it is the deadliest enemy of the gospel. For making it subservient, religious emotion is not enough, intellectual labor is also necessary. And that labor is being neglected. The Church has turned to easier tasks. And now she is reaping the fruits of her indolence. Now she must battle for her life. ...J. Gresham Machen image by Vic Nanda

The Lost Virtue of Courtesy

It doesn't necessarily "get better."
Gina Dalfonzo
12/16/2010

Excerpt:
Could it be that, as a post-Christian society, we no longer have any clear notion of why we should be considerate of other people? The whole idea of political correctness was formulated as a sort of secular version of "Love your neighbor as yourself," and yet the backlash it created seems to have made things worse than ever. How often have you heard someone justify an unkind remark by saying, "I'm sick of being politically correct"?...

...Christian courtesy is rooted and grounded in the idea that every person—however much we may dislike him or her—is made in the image of God and precious in his sight. It is an ideal that we may struggle to live up to, but the struggle makes us better people; it reminds us to show kindness when every impulse and instinct is urging us to do the opposite. It requires of us something deeper than a rally or a video, something more than the obligatory apology that follows most celebrity catfights. It's a lifestyle that has to be consciously lived every day. image

Full essay here