On Madness and Christianity

Information overload has driven us insane to the point we act like devils of hell to each other. Especially the faithful.

Photo of author with additional illustrations made by the author

“Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason.”
— G. K. Chesterton

It’s reported Spartan boys joined the agōgē as young as seven years old.

I’ve often dwelt on the concept of the agōgē, a training environment in which young children were educated, taught physical and military prowess, philosophy, and discipline. The term now, however, means little to what it once did. There are fitness regimes and schools that promise to deliver the same experience (or results) as the ancient Spartans. Though, were these businesses to actually do so, child services and the police would come calling.

For instance, within the agōgē, children stole food because they were underfed. If they got caught, their instructors beat them. The historian Xenophon explained that this practice was in place to teach the boys stealth and resourcefulness. Besides merely being malnourished, the boys trained barefoot, slept on beds of reeds, and by age twelve, received one garment of clothing — a cloak.

The point of the school was to prepare the boys for the harshness of combat and realities they…