Since Holly and I are engaged to be married soon (only 127 days to go!), we have had to think through and discuss the issues of contraception/family planning. One of the issues we have to consider is whether or not for Holly to use the pill. Certainly it is a convenient and commonly used option for contraception. When we first discussed the issue—within a week of engagement, I believe—I expressed my initial resistance to using the pill since I had heard that it can sometimes cause spontaneous abortions when the contraceptive mechanisms don't work. To see what the actual evidence is that this might take place, I picked up a copy of Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? by Randy Alcorn.

In this book, Alcorn shares his own journey of investigating the pill and its various mechanisms for preventing pregnancy. He frames the story by sharing his initial reluctance to question the ethical propriety of using the pill, it having been a method of contraception that he both recommended in pre-marital counseling and used in his own marriage. However, as he digs into the evidence, it quickly becomes apparent that the issue is not as clear as he would have hoped.

The birth control pill in its various forms works by manipulating a woman's hormones to prevent pregnancy. There are several mechanisms by which it accomplishes this, but the primary ones are the following (p.23):

1. Preventing ovulation so no egg is released to be fertilized
2. Thickening cervical mucus so sperm have less likelihood of reaching the egg if there is one
3. Thinning the lining of the uterus so the fertilized egg, if there is one, has less likelihood of implanting and surviving

If human life really does begin at conception and is intrinsically valuable, then the third mechanism becomes ethically problematic. While it is not quite the same as out-and-out killing, it does create an environment which is hostile to the development of human life and in which death is much more likely. In short, it is, in fact, an abortive mechanism.

It is practically impossible to really know how frequently the first two mechanisms fail and the third one is effective, but Alcorn spends a chapter doing his best with the numbers that are available in order to take a stab at figuring out how often the birth control pill might cause abortions. His conclusion: "There is no way to be certain, but a woman taking the Pill might over time have no Pill-induced abortions, or she might have one, three or a dozen of them."

After drawing his conclusions about the birth control pill, Alcorn devotes a long appendix to interacting with the objections that he has received since originally publishing this book in 1997.

Now, I want to be careful not to lay any guilt at the door of people who have chosen to use the pill for birth control. Many people may not be aware of what the pill can do. Others may have heard something or another but don't feel that the ethical implications are sufficiently weighty to compensate for the convenience of the pill. I find Alcorn's evidence to be sufficiently compelling that I choose for us not to take that risk. At any rate, it behooves all of us to be well-informed of both the biological and ethical issues at stake as we make decisions, and Alcorn's book is very helpful in that regard.

The book is inexpensive and can be ordered from the Eternal Perspectives Ministries. It is also freely available in PDF format.

Desiring God's 2008 national conference was titled "The Power of Words and the Wonder of God". They produced a short film that really drives home the point of James 3:1-12.

So pointed, so poignant, so powerful.

(HT: Desiring God blog)

I found The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg to be far more helpful and insightful than I expected. While I had heard of the concept of a "third place" before, the multifaceted approach of the book drew a much more robust image of what such a place is, significantly raising my expectations for what a third place must be.

Here are the characteristics of third places:

• Conversation - Good conversation is the sine qua non of the third place. Everyone can contribute, and each one's personality is allowed full play—and is fair game for friendly ribbing.
• Regulars - Even if secondary to conversation, regulars are likewise essential to the third place. One can go there without a plan or a fixed schedule and expect to find old and new friends and good conversation. Very much like Cheers.
• Accessible - The third place is close enough to walk to several times a week and is free or inexpensive.
• Neutral Ground - The third place is not intimate and guarded as your home is, and you control how much and what kind of interaction you want there.
• Leveling - People of all walks of life are brought to the same level. If there is any hierarchy, it is based on quality of conversation and insight, not social position.
• Taken for granted, Low profile - They are not advertised and don't seek out visitors or passersby. Conversation is what draws people there, not the appearance of the place.

The third place, also referred to as the Great Good Place, is so called because it is the third of three anchor points for our social lives, the first being home and the second being work. After making the initial case for third places, Oldenburg spends a large part of the book sketching some third places from America and Europe, describing them in their ideal form as well as tracing their historical development and their decline through the Twentieth Century. I found this part to be helpful in understanding the third-place concept across culture and history as well as fascinating in all the details that he digs up about them.

The connections that Oldenburg draws between the third place and society in general were so compelling and so broad that it would not be an exaggeration to say that he has changed the way I think about the world. Third places are important not only to individual happiness as a place to let off steam and find respite from the pressures of work and home, but also to the success of democracy, marriage, and raising children. One gets a sense that the isolation that characterizes so much of modern life is more than just an unpleasant way to live; it is an affront to human nature. We weren't meant to live like this; we were meant to live for more.

According to Oldenburg, other cultural commentators, and even my own admittedly inadequate observation, there are few true third places in our communities. Most places are not unique and neither have personality nor allow those who go there to express their personalities. Even the places where people go to hang out and have a good time are generally what Oldenburg calls "BYOF" (Bring Your Own Friend). Most of us compensate for not having third places by either programming most of our free time so we have things to do and people to see or else we hole up at home with "home entertainment" like movies, t.v., and internet. I read the first edition of the book, copyright 1989, so it doesn't deal with the internet, but I think that the profusion of "social networking" and even blogs has much to do with an attempt to fill the third-place void.

It would be an interesting exercise for all of us to walk around our neighborhoods and look for third places. Is there anywhere where you can find regulars engaged in conversation? To find that, you can't just walk by on the sidewalk. Going inside isn't even enough. You would need to stop in and observe the people who are there, take note of who they are (as individuals), and watch (and perhaps experience) how they notice and react to new visitors. Does it feel like Cheers?

I strongly recommend reading this book. Although written by a scholar, it is very accessible. The details included in the book fill in the picture of a third-place much more than can be done in any review. Whether you are looking for a third place or want to be involved in creating third places, the book is essential reading.

Since I'm an engineer and like it when truth can be discerned from numbers, check out this astounding graph of average home prices since 1890:

(Originally from Irrational Exuberance by Robert J. Shiller, 2006, printed in the NY Times Aug. 26, 2006)

That is consistent with a graph that I posted earlier, but the longer time horizon shows just how big the recent bubble was. (Do note that the vertical axis is cut off at 60 rather than 0, so it exaggerates somewhat the vertical scale, particularly the impact of the Great Depression.)

I'd also like to take a short look at a sometimes overlooked group of people who are possibly the most freaked out about the market convulsions that we've seen recently: the retired and soon-to-be-retired. I have years plenty to ride out the present crisis, but not everyone has this luxury. For most people, gone are the days of the fixed-payout pension that was based on years of service and pay grade. Now most people rely on market-based retirement plans like 401k's. Those who were well-set may have shifted their assests to less risky investments and may not be terribly affected by our recent economic woes, but those who were behind in their savings are more likely to have left their investments in higher-return funds in hopes of continuing growth—growth that has now turned to losses and an uncertain future.

Probably you know some people in this situation at your workplace. In my office, I have two coworkers whose retirement is in jeopardy. Both of them are around the retirement age and previously worked all their careers for large corporations. Both of them saw their pensions plans robbed out from under them by "restructuring" and "reorganization" in which they were also kicked to the curb. In the subsequent job search, they found out that most employers are really not interested in experienced engineers; they would rather have cheap engineers! Fortunately, after some time searching for jobs, they both landed at Peak Power and are doing all right, but a normal retirement is financially improbable for them. A conversation earlier this week with Bob, with whom I often cooperate on projects, reminded me of the situation of Willy Lowman from Death of a Salesman, a play I had to read in high school, though not nearly so depressing.