http://cyberblogue.com/wp-content/updates.php I’ve been impressed recently by the intelligence, articulateness, and unapologetically rakish character of Christopher Hitchens, and curiosity about and respect for the man prompted me to take a look at the fashionable atheist books of the day, beginning with his God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. As is always the case with modern […]
Category Archives: Religion
The Feast of the Conversion of Paul.
25-Jan-11The wisdom of the old churchmen is shown by this most unusual feast, the Feast of the Conversion of the holy Paul. It is the only conversion thus enshrined as a feast of the universal church, though many of the saints had conversions of importance. But Paul’s conversion has a clarity of insight to it […]
An extraordinary talk by Brene Brown on vulnerability. I’ve recently had a spate of conversations with people about why I would describe myself as religious – they themselves find religion unnecessary at best, and know that there many things about religion that I object to. And here is seemingly a good example of religion […]
Establishment Christianity.
21-Dec-10Astonishing statement by a U.S. servicemember on DADT, reported to me by a friend: “This is the first time my government and my religion are in conflict.” What an indictment of establishment Christianity. On the normal processes of military operation – killing, torture, violence – a soldier can see his Church as favorable or irrelevant. […]
Oswald Spengler, a great and underrated philosopher, rigorously described the different modes of thinking – and hence experiencing – which constituted science and history. From the scientific perspective, phenomena are conceived as continually possible. If certain causes are provided, certain effects can be procured. The hallmark of any scientific experiment is that it must be reproducible. […]
“Tell me, you who wish to be under a Law: have you not heard the Law? It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a maidservant and one of a free woman. The son by the maidservant was according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman was according to the […]
Slave to Secrecy.
26-Sep-10The older my former students get, the more astonished I am by them – these people I knew as children now lead lives whose richness and complexity equals or exceeds mine, and it occasions strange thoughts in me – a kind of autumn feeling, watching the harvest come in, so fast, it seems. One story […]
“The Mosque.”
24-Aug-10I’ve been out of the loop as far as news goes, and I will say that I really cannot believe that this mosque controversy has gone on so long. I’m utterly willing to say that anyone who believes in taking away the right of the builders to practice their religion in any place that they […]
On Bad Religion.
18-Aug-10“The thickest veils between man and Allah are the wisdom of the wise, the worship of the religious, and the piety of the pious.” – Bayazid Bistami Thinking recently about Religulous – and the religious error of pursuing religion without first pursuing humility.
Into Eternity.
18-Feb-11Asprópyrgos I saw the well-reviewed documentary “Into Eternity” last week, and was not too impressed, though I don’t quite regret the two hours. There has to be some excuse for making a movie out of what might be a thousand-word essay; and “Into Eternity” does not offer that kind of visual or experiential payoff. The facility […]