Christianity, Homosexuality, and the E. L. C. A.: Events in San Francisco are pushing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America toward a decision regarding the treatment of homosexual clergy; but we should consider whether homosexuality is normal or sin, and how the church should treat sinners.
Comments on One-to-One Marketing on WebCMO: An Internet marketing research newsletter raised some issues about one-to-one marketing, and my response was one of several which resulted in the creation of a forum on their web site. My response was copied from their site to preserve it.
Confessions of a Dungeons & Dragons Addict: An intelligent consideration of conservative Christian charges that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is satanic, the paper discusses exactly what is and is not wrong with this and other role playing games.
A Crisis in Linguistics: Johnny Can't Spell: Modern children don't spell well; is it because of education, or due to something deeper--a changed attitude about language itself which makes the concept of correct spelling somewhat suspect?
The Current Science of Time Travel: This cursory look at the theoretical possibility that time travel might be possible through wormholes also addresses the metaphysical concepts of the consequences of changing the past, looking at the flaws in the two principle theories and alleged proofs thereof, and pointing to an alternative.
Difficult Questions: Questions and Answers for Christian Life and Thought.: This section of the site is dedicated to answering the difficult questions Christians face--their own and those with which they are confronted by others.. This control page lists and links letters received which raise the questions; the answers are linked from them, and from the Biblical Writings section of the complete Writings index.
Exegesis of Paul's Epistle to Philemon: Perhaps my favorite Bible teaching, this looks at the message of a small and often neglected book of the Bible, and finds a great and important truth.
Faith and Gaming: This is the index to the monthly series which explores scriptural arguments, cultural taboos, concepts in fiction, and other areas under the blanket of how faith relates to playing games. Individual articles are described there.
The Future: Originally written as a post to the Link Exchange Digest, The Learning Fountain asked if they could edit this and include it in the January 2000 issue of their e-zine. It's a look at what the future will bring, but more at the difficulty of making such predictions and the importance of focusing on the present and the near-term future rather than trying to be ready for that which is on the horizon.
Game Ideas Unlimited: The series on Gaming Outpost (for subscribers only) discusses many areas of creative thinking and expression as it explores concepts in role playing games.
Infravision, Ultravision, and Physiology: These are some thoughts about the unusual types of vision in role playing games, and what a creature who had such vision might actually see.
Intuition and Surprise: Although presented in connection with role playing games, this RPGnet article explains how those hunches and feelings people get could be quite natural, without any psychic or supernatural ideas.
Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms: The Course of Law: Published in the role playing game e-zine Places to Go, People to Be, this article looks at possibilities for the criminal law process, from the procedures governing arrests through rules of evidence, including some of the nuances of what is meant by "proof". It is the second of an continuing three-article series.
Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms: The Force of Law: The third and final article in the series for the Places to Go, People to Be e-zine looks at how and why we punish, and how those decisions affect our worlds.
Law and Enforcement in Imaginary Realms: The Source of Law: This first of a series in the role-playing e-zine Places to Go, People to Be examines how laws are made, how governments work, and how these are related to culture and society. It was chosen from all of that e-zine's material to be reprinted on Gaming Outpost.
Marilyn Vos Savant's Three Doors: Did the smartest person in the world make a mistake, and if so, how? The controversial argument of the three doors is reviewed, and the reason for the disagreement uncovered. There is an added second page responding to two letters I received on the subject.
M. Joseph Young's Sandy Becker Theory of Eschatology: These thoughts on the prophecies of the end of all things focus especially on why Christians have so many different theories about them.
M. J. Young's ADR's and Surv's Explained: It's a bit of applied math, an example of how characters in role playing games can be rated by the averages, in terms of how powerful they are when they attack, and how durable they are when they are attacked. There's a BASIC program which calculates these automatically, but this is the explanation of what the program does, and how to do it long hand.
...of the Century: I'm annoyed by the hype, but I'm expressing my opinions about Sinatra, O. J. Simpson, and other alleged icons of the age--as well as the hype about the end of a millennium, which isn't when they think it is.
Objective and Subjective Christian Guidance: A look at how supernatural guidance and natural circumstances are combined in providing direction to the lives of Christians.
The Perpetual Barbecue: This short story originally published in The (now defunct) RPG Review e-zine plays with time travel and the theories developed originally in the Multiverser role playing game. It has been reprinted on the award-winning Temporal Anomalies site.
A Primer on Time: Temporal anomalies and sci-fi fans have wanted the page, which explains the basics of my theory on the effects of time travel on time.
The Problem With PokEmon: Written with editorial advice from the Christian Gamers Guild, this response to criticisms of the PokEmon entertainment products discusses what is and is not wrong with the collectible card game, the cartoons, and related materials.
The Problem with the Lottery: The lottery question is viewed as what it is: a tax problem.
Professor Robert Lipkin, the Concert Violinist, and Abortion: A response to an argument which Professor Lipkin created in class years ago, this discusses whether it is unfair to expect a woman to carry a pregnancy to term just because her child might be a great human being.
Quantum Non-Locality Communications: The Real Sub-space Radio: A demonstrated theory in quantum physics could be the answer to interplanetary and possibly interstellar communications.
Reality Check Open Letter to President Clinton: Reality Check invited me to submit a letter to their site which would be addressed to someone involved in the Clinton/Lewinsky matter, and I wrote to President Clinton, and they posted it, with a few edits (they deleted a paragraph). I posted the complete original on my site; they have since removed all such letters from theirs.
The Telephone Area Code Problem: The increasing use of telephone service for computers and other electronic services has led to more area codes, cutting up existing areas and in a growing number of cases allowing two area codes to serve the same physical location. But there may be a simpler answer to the problem.
Temporal Anomalies Writings of Mark Joseph Young: Rather than list each page in the site, which includes over a dozen separate films and twice as many letters with replies, in this index section there is a sub-index page dedicated to the temporal anomalies materials.
Thoughts on the Ten Internet Laws Proposed by C-Net: The Internet giant has proposed a few regulations for the World Wide Web, some of them good--but some of them ill-considered. They have also surveyed their visitors on the subject. This is the introductory page to a collection of my replies to them. These are also indexed from the law sub-index of this index.
Was John Brown a Hero or a Villain?: This question is posed as more than an historical inquiry concerning a civil war icon, but as an issue which has repercussions into an important situation in the present day.
What is an RPG?: This material was excerpted from the Multiverser role playing game Referee's Rules. It explains the gaming phenomenon in a way which is brief yet revealing.
Why Should Cable Television Carriers Pay to Deliver Local Broadcast TV?: A legal, logical, and economic examination of the policy of requiring cable and satellite carriers to pay local broadcast television stations for the right to rebroadcast local programming.
Why Shouldn't You Have Sex If You Aren't Married?: This polemic examines the reasons generally given to teens for why they shouldn't have sex, discusses why those reasons are good but inadequate, and goes beyond them to a more basic reason for waiting to have sex.
I would also invite you to check the Multiverser Information Center. This page gives an overview of the Multiverser role playing game system. Although the page itself is not intended to be an intellectual challenge, I have found playing and refereeing this game to be one of the most intellectually stimulating pursuits in which I have engaged, in addition to being a lot of fun. Also, you are invited to drop me a note, to tell me what you found interesting, or to argue the point.
