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On the Nature of Taste and Whether It Can Be Learned

At some point, most people encounter someone whose sense of style, fashion, or decor feels consistently off. At first, this is easy to dismiss as a matter of preference. Taste is subjective, we tell ourselves. But when poor taste recurs across different contexts, it raises a more unsettling question. What exactly is taste? How does good taste develop? Why do some people seem unable to acquire it? Good taste is often misunderstood as trend awareness or personal expression. In reality, it is something far more restrained and disciplined. Good taste is the ability to recognize proportion, coherence, and intention within a given context. It reflects an understanding of relationships between elements rather than attachment to any single element. People with good taste notice balance, scale, rhythm, and absence. They sense when something is excessive, distracts from its purpose, or draws attention to itself unnecessarily. Most importantly, they adapt their choices to context. What works in o...
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Response to a Sermon on the Da Vinci Code | May 2006

Arming peasants with toothpicks of knowledge does nothing in a battle of swords. When you address the Da Vinci Code, the congregation will not be armed on the argumentation battle field to take on a believer in the Holy Grail. Their opponents will quote false and possibly true historical evidence that will make them question both your integrity and your knowledge of your faith. I would encourage the focus not to be on the facts which are all debatable but on faith. Maybe posing the question “If I could prove Jesus did not exist, would you still believe?” What is proof? What is faith? Proof changes from year to year. Faith is a constant. Our frail understanding of our past and the biased writers who have interpreted past events gives us very unstable “evidence”. Historians can’t agree on what happened 200 years ago much less 2000 years ago. But faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Faith is what makes believers strong not knowledge. Knowledge is a by-product of faith. Faith directs our knowledge not the other way around. If someone is truly interested in the validity of Brown’s code, there are plenty of books and movies available that show the disputable evidence of Brown’s theories. I think he wrote an outstanding novel simply to make people think. But I believe that true followers shouldn’t focus on what not to do or not to think but they should focus on what to do and what to think. A much more positive message of faith will encourage the congregation and “proof” will only further the debate.

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