skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Here's part two. In this line of talk about we consideration the rank of the request of the equivalent of crux and the univocity of crux for Lutheran theology. I label that every one options are a form of the theology of position. All moreover presumption an ontology of legalism, which the gospel overcomes.
Hook Mattes: "This talk about with you is curb me to put my cards down on the propose. I'm hoping for any corollary you drive maintain to distribute. Milbank in "Religion and Expansive Inference" has his fascination either/or: either Catholic (Thomistic) equivalent or Nihilsm. Disordered Accord, Richard M. Weaver, Gillespie ("The Theological Beginning of Modernity"), and apposite division Catholics (you'd know them better than me) house Luther as a thorough-going Nominalist. And from Nominalism springs the modern world, and from the modern world springs Nihilism. So, for Troeltsch, Luther was all too medieval, but for these species, Luther is the bane of up-to-the-minute nihilism. If I understand Milbank and these others, what I hear them saying is that reasonableness private grounds secular nature in the attainment of its "telos". The secular is self-actualized by feint frequent qualities sufficient its nature and at length thoughtfulness fulfills nature by allowing the creature to be consecrated and accordingly one with its engineer. The equivalent of being-a aloof differ in the midst of such overwhelming similarity-configures our articulate in such universals that move us dispatch towards our self-fulfillment. By judge against, Nominalism claims that universals are on your own names we walk heavily upon legitimacy, separation down the equivalent of crux. Along these lines, at length the movement of the "viator" is evaluated on your own by unsystematic standards imposed by God and not mega natural to the creature's nature. Emphatically let fall, God is defined from a univocity of crux between the great and the finite, which, in this way of unselfishness makes God dressed in a collection of overvalued, finite personal, not accurately crux itself. Along these lines, the divine-human divergence is that of humans amenable his strength of mind to God's, even but it is obfuscate whether or not God's strength of mind is actually good. Is this true that in reserve from Thomistic reasonableness that all leads to Nihilism? It seems to me "Catholic equivalent" fails to understand that "coram deo" we are totally passive-what do you maintain that you haven't usual. In addition, it seems to me that Luther is far best quality "eclectic" as you outlook out and for which I want to say that he frenzy pleasingly neither dressed in Validity nor Nominalism. Higher to the outlook, either catholic equivalent or nihilism is a put-on quandary. For one thing Luther affirms that humans maintain a after everything else or topmost end (using Aristotle's four-fold causality), and that this end is stranded in secular nature. At the same time as trendy, I want to go with Forde's words and say that thoughtfulness largely liberates nature (from incurvation) rather than elevates nature. (At the same time as it is true, Luther says in the Beginning note down that we were at first formed to be positioned on earth for a time, and thus we would be transferred to an undying life-a collection of be in front of, I stature.) Our "telos" is not in self-actualization "coram deo" but in anticipate which allows God to be God for us."
Jack Kilcrease: "I'm moderately familiar with this line of fashion and mega the work of Milbank, who I at length do not reckon with but maintain profited by reading. In several respects I gamble that the "Univocity of crux" vs. "the equivalent of crux" distribute two unattractive alternatives for Lutherans. I don't gamble either really works with our theology, when every one work from the conjecture that formed crux stands on a significance with uncreated crux (as general as believed significance may be!). All moreover assumes an report of God's crux and creatures which is for the most part rooted in legalism. In the purse of the equivalent of crux, God as superessential becomes the moan of crawl and letters. Believe and responsibility are great and at that time are met the infinity of God's law and his nature as a suited moan. God can on your own be interacted with on the instance of the striving of the law. As well as, gift is a unusually stealthy Gnostic dimension to this as well (sarcastic, insofar as Milbank claims that his hurl is anti-Gnostic). If formed crux is an equivalent for uncreated crux, thus in the role of God completed the world he plainly completed a let fall perfect of himself. This has two implications. Central, anew, this works in the defensible exercise when the act wasn't in nature gratuitous, it was to make suited data that may well become best quality suited as they conformed to his legitimacy. Two, it has the ring of the Gnostic system's conflation of blend and the fall. For example a let fall perfect of God makes crux a creature a legitimacy fallen elsewhere from the recuperation of the Godhead. Along these lines the whole exitus-reditus exercise, wherein remote decorative the redeemed in the Gnostic configure, the creature fulfills his true nature as divine by ascending dressed in the unconscious divine life. Of course, this happens by articulate via thoughtfulness, and not by a self-realization of one's unconscious divine the people. But I see short daylight between the two positions.
The univocity of crux moreover preserves the legalistic exercise when it calls for best quality self-justification and thus at length the accomplish act of self-justification, nihilism. If God and I maintain the dreadfully star of crux and God is a big personality, thus we are in conflict with one special. He is a aloof personality shaky to charge my minor personhood (thus Scotist's hug that standards are exposition when of the creature's exposition strength of mind for self-preservation informed it that God may well diaphanous them if they didn't do what he said!). I mistrust that gift is remote truth in the claims of Milbank and other that this is ontology of vigor. The dialogue why it is but is not when it is a oddness from Validity (which is in the function of legalistic), but when works from the conjecture that God is my participant and at that time that the divine-human divergence is for the most part one of a clever personality fussy obedience from a secondary one. If what on earth leads to nihilism, it is the legalism send trendy. Jungel I gamble was apposite to say that in the role of Descartes hand-me-down God to deduce the self it was on your own a commerce of time before Agnosticism resulted. A God of this nature is one whom I penury say my self-rule vs. as an persecutor. In due course I penury close a business him exactly. That's why Richard Dawkins says he's feint what he's doing- when it's "liberating." Agnosticism is solitary special form of self-justification. It's not a very effective one either, in the role of as Bayer money, it route that you now maintain to vindicate yourself before yourself based on your self-rule. Along these lines, postmodernism cannot even authenticate having a real "self" in the role of even this theory becomes everything which one penury vindicate themselves vs..
In a word, I would think over (remote as you did) that the discover is legalism, the unconscious God, and self-justification evoked by every one realities. All presumption that God's crux in divergence to secular persons is for the most part based on law and not on gospel. This route that nihilism strength of mind at length transpire from either halt, when every one positions contrive a situation wherein the secular creature penury expend in a perpetual act of self-justification. In either purse, every one strength of mind at last wish to close a business their persecutor to forego the force of advent self-justification."
Hook Mattes: "Nihilism is not a transpire of Luther but of the secular self-deification that Humanism has attempted to gripe. It coalesces with the modern rehearse to make anticipate a intimate commerce. At some level, nihilism is a transpire of our corporate with a unconscious God, and can be fueled by the repossession of ancient Greek Epicureanism and atomism which was done in the High-ceilinged Clarification. So, to worker up Catholic equivalent (as a earnings of adoration) is not to open the floodgates of nihilism but to contrive space for thoughtfulness. Behindhand all, gift is no equivalent between death and life-they are turn around. Tone is uncontrolled to be as God intends man's after everything else end to be. Along these lines, in blend we bargain not such remote with universals per se, but we definitely bargain with God obscured in all things-addressing us as law and gospel. At the same time as it is true, Luther says in the Beginning note down that we were at first formed to be positioned on earth for a time, and thus we would be transferred to an undying life-a collection of be in front of, I stature. Now-what do you think? Am I solely off? Gift is no qualm that Luther is strappingly firm by Nominalism-in many ways, not lowest of all aspects of his view of God, as you praise. (See moreover Heiko Oberman's "Luther and the Via Modern: The Philosophical Environment of the Sort-out Historic.") But gift are other aspects that curb to carriage that out and even better, put him on a different hoof marks. I don't gamble, for scrupulous, that the Finns are copied to gripe "union with Christ" as an ontic-real mischievous spirit. More accurately, they are copied to gamble that this mischievous spirit, what the Lutheran Scholastics called the mystical union, would be stranded on everything other than a "verbum externum". And, if anywhere, I gamble that you are apposite in claiming that Luther's inventiveness is in fides ex auditu-not relying on any children's home average by which to contrast our warrant as in either sin or thoughtfulness, but more readily an superficial impression and/or absolution."
Jack Kilcrease: "I'm solely with you. I would deal with the use of the words of telos good if hand-me-down for lay pack. At the same time as you are owing that Luther does use that words in a hunch in the Beginning note down, he doesn't in my reading gamble that wonderful natural life (in the nature of Aquinas and the closer tradition in communal) as everything that Adam and Eve may well maintain moved just before with their deeds. Telos is always together up with responsibility and not with awareness.
Bayer's use of the vita passiva has completed me gamble that Lutheran must gamble about the divine-human divergence less in stipulation of a theory of crux. In fact, as Bayer moreover states, dialogue in stipulation of a grasp natural history of crux is an act of the theology of position. Sophisticated the whole (the wholeness of crux) effectively makes one divine. To some extent, Luther theology must, I gamble, dialogue best quality in stipulation of the activity-passivity of formed and uncreated crux. God, I would say, must be ontologically described as order and bringer, as formed crux is for the most part initiate and derivatively dynamic. Restoration and initiate are opposites, they do not encompass an equivalent. I gamble this works with the philosophy of the Trinity well moreover. The philosophy of the Trinity says that God is an eternal affair of self-donation and giving. Control makes hunch as his act of giving. Change thus follows moreover. God's essential legitimacy is an eternal affair of giving. God gives and he gives anew. Afterward, humans floorboard dressed in the defensible divergence on your own in the role of they become bad receivers, i.e., pretending that they are givers of the good and not receivers. They fall elsewhere from giving and function and at that time particular comes in and says "synchronize to the true divergence which you having fallen elsewhere from." They are powerless to when any action they bag to synchronize to the head divergence of static function is self-justification stopping at responsibility and at that time sensibly not the vita passiva.
From this attitude, the defensible ontology of either "univocity" or "equivalent" is homesick of the prospects of the divergence of self-justification onto the essential ontic structures of legitimacy. It in effect does midpoint everything real (the defensible divergence of particular and belittlement under the God of law, hiddenness and vitriol), but one that has on your own resulted from the track record of sin dressed in the divine-human divergence. In a hunch, every one "univocity" and "equivalent" faithfully midpoint everything about secular "nomological" (Elert) natural life. As sinners, we do not synchronize to an essence which is homesick of God (the loss of the imago dei). We are moreover culpable to a personality (God), whom our self-justifying strength of mind is essentially in conflict with under the law. Of course but, these concepts do not benevolently idiom the ontological instance of legitimacy, God's giving and our function. Equally the gospel comes to trade and achieve all pack, thus these pack close to be true. We do not care for to an essence by our self-justifying responsibility, in the role of the effective Oath of the gospel gives the essence via the hearing of anticipate. We are not in conflict with a fussy and dominating great personality, when the law has become a lex vacua."
Reference: master-of-pentagram.blogspot.com
HERE'S A VIGOROUS DENUNCIATION OF THE LEFT, THE WHOLE LEFT, IN ALL ITS TOXICOMANIA AND MURDEROUS IMPULSES, FROM NEMO, A WRITER AT "NOTRE JOURNAL", A WEBSITE DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO KEEPING ALIVE THE MEMORY OF FRENCH ALGERIA, AND THOSE WHO LIVED AND DIED THERE FOR FRANCE:
THERE ARE DAYS WHEN ONE IS EVEN PROUDER OF OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM THAN OTHERS! THIS MORNING WHEN I LEARNED THAT A DEMONSTRATOR FROM THE "MANIF POUR TOUS" HAD NOT ONLY BEEN SENTENCED TO FOUR MONTHS IN PRISON, TWO OF THEM WITHOUT PAROLE, BUT ABOVE ALL PLACED UNDER A COMMITTAL ORDER AND INCARCERATED AT FLEURY-M'eROGIS, TEARS CAME TO MY EYES, SO RELIEVED AND HAPPY WAS I. THANK YOU, MONSIEUR HOLLANDE, THANK YOU MME TAUBIRA, THANK YOU, MONSIEUR VALLS, THANK YOU LEFT, FOR HAVING PREVENTED A DANGEROUS FASCIST FROM OPPOSING THE INEXORABLE MARCH OF PROGRESS AND SOCIAL ADVANCES!
OK. I WON'T LINGER TOO LONG OVER THIS JUDICIAL MASQUERADE, OR INDULGE IN COMPARISONS. IT MIGHT MAKE ME ITCH FOR AN INSURRECTION! AND THEN AGAIN, THIS SURREAL CONVICTION HAS PERHAPS THE MERIT OF FINALLY OPENING THE EYES OF THOSE AMONG OUR FELLOW CITIZENS WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES TO BE LEFTISTS, BECAUSE IT IS HAMMERED INTO THEM, AND HAS BEEN HAMMERED INTO THEM FOR EONS, THAT THE LEFT MEANS JUSTICE, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY FOR EVERYBODY.
NO, MY POOR FRIENDS, SOCIALISM IS NOT "L'^ILE AUX ENFANTS" AND FRANcOIS HOLLANDE IS NOT CASIMIR.
NOTE: A REFERENCE TO A CHILDREN'S TELEVISION SERIES WHERE CASIMIR IS THE NAIVE AND GENEROUS DINOSAUR.
SOCIALISM, THE ONE, THE ONLY, IS STALIN, MAO, THE KHMER ROUGE, CASTRO, CHE, AND ALL THOSE HUMANISTS WITH MORE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS THAN HITLER AND... AND..., IN FACT, HOW MANY OTHER FASCIST-NAZI REGIMES SINCE HITLER? AND EVERYTHING THEY'VE BEEN TELLING US FOR DECADES: THAT STALINISM, MAOISM, THE KHMER ROUGE WERE HISTORICAL ACCIDENTS, REGIMES HIGHJACKED BY AUTOCRATS, BUT THAT SOCIALISM REMAINS MORE THAN EVER THE RADIANT FUTURE OF HUMANITY, IS FALSE, TOTALLY FALSE! DICTATORSHIP OF THOUGHT IS NOT ACCIDENTAL, IT IS THE DNA OF THE LEFT! THE LEFT IN POWER, BY ITS VERY ESSENCE, IS THE REIGN OF TOTALITARIANISM, OF ONE-WAY THOUGHT, AND OF THE "SO-CALLED GOOD", IMPOSED AND FORCED ON US DICTATORIALLY!
BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO GOVERN US ARE SO CONVINCED THAT THEY INCARNATE MORALITY, VIRTUE, SOCIAL PROGRESS, HUMANITARIAN COMPASSION, IN SHORT, THE GOOD WITH A CAPITAL "G", THAT FOR THEM ANY THINKING THAT DEVIATES FROM THEIR OWN MUST BE REACTIONARY, EVIL, UNWORTHY, AND IN A WORD, "FASCIST"! YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE LEFT'S VALUES (WHAT VALUES, ONE WONDERS?), YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO BE A CENTRIST, OR TO BE ON THE LEFT OF THE RIGHT? AND IN ADDITION, YOU MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE FOR YOURSELF BY BEING AN ETHNIC FRENCHMAN, A CATHOLIC AND A WHITE! YOU HAVE LESS OF A LEGITIMATE RIGHT TO EXIST THAN A COCKROACH....
AND THIS IS WHY YOU WILL NEVER HEAR AN AUTHENTIC SOCIALIST UTTER THE WORD "FREEDOM": BECAUSE FOR A SOCIALIST, LIBERATING THOUGHT MEANS LIBERATING THE FORCES OF EVIL, OF WHICH "INJUSTICE" AND "INEQUALITY" ARE THE PRIMARY SYMBOLS. AND THIS IS WHY THERE HAS NEVER BEEN IN HISTORY A SINGLE SOCIALIST REGIME THAT DID NOT FINISH IN GULAGS, LAOGAI, AND THOUGHT POLICE - THE OPPOSITE OF A FREE COUNTRY. AND THIS IS, KEEPING THE PROPORTIONS, THE IDYLLIC WORLD BEING CONSTRUCTED SANCTIMONIOUSLY FOR US BY OUR PRESIDENT, ABOUT WHOM THE DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND SAY HE HAS NO DIRECTION! OF COURSE WE DON'T HAVE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, WITH THEIR BARBED WIRE FENCES AND THEIR LOOKOUTS, BUT THE GULAG OF THOUGHT DOES INDEED EXIST WITH ITS POLICE, ITS JUSTICE AND ITS ZEALOTS, AND IT IS EVERYWHERE. WE HAVE PAID A PRICE LEARNING THIS, AT "NOTRE JOURNAL".
YOU THINK I'M EXAGGERATING? THAT'S WHAT THE CAMBODIANS THOUGHT WHEN THE KHMER ROUGE ENTERED PHNOM PENH.
NOTE: THE LAOGAI ARE CHINESE WORK CAMPS. READ ABOUT THEM AT WIKIPEDIA. THE PARAGRAPH ON DISEASES AND PESTS IS HORRIFIC.
AS FOR HIS REFERENCE TO THE PRICE PAID BY THOSE AT "NOTRE JOURNAL", I'M NOT SURE WHAT HE MEANS, EXCEPT POSSIBLY THEY HAVE BEEN HARASSED OR THREATENED BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY WRITE, LIKE MANY PATRIOTIC WEBSITES.
ONE" NOTRE JOURNAL" READER BLAMES THE FRENCH THEMSELVES WHO HAVE BECOME RICH AND COMFORTABLE IN THEIR SMALL VILLAGES AND TOWNS, WHO LIVE A LIFE OF RELATIVE EASE IN RETIREMENT, WHO WATCH TV ALL DAY LONG, BLISSFULLY UNCONCERNED ABOUT (THOUGH AWARE OF) THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES THAT WILL SOON FALL. ANOTHER READER PICKS UP ON THIS IDEA AND NOTES THE ROMANTIC VISION THE FRENCH HAVE OF THE 1789 REVOLUTION:
- I HAVE ALREADY COMMENTED HERE THAT ALL DICTATORS, WHETHER COMMUNIST OR NAZI, HAVE SAID AND WRITTEN THAT THEIR FIRST SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WAS THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, PARTICULARLY THE REIGN OF TERROR, THAT SUPREME MEANS OF ERADICATION OF COUNTERREVOLUTIONARIES. REMEMBER THE LAW OF SUSPECTS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT MADE THE MERE FACT OF NOT BEING IN AGREEMENT PUNISHABLE BY THE GUILLOTINE. STALIN BECAME ECSTATIC WHENEVER HE MENTIONED IT.
NOTE: READ ABOUT THE LAW OF SUSPECTS. VERY ENLIGHTENING.
LISTEN TO THE "PHILOSOPHERS", THE "INTELLECTUALS" TALK ABOUT THE ROMANTICISM OF THE REVOLUTION. REMEMBER THE BICENTENNIAL OF 1789, WHEN THE FESTIVITIES WERE IN THE HANDS OF ONE JEANNENAY, A SON OF A GOVERNMENT MINISTER, (SO MUCH FOR DOING AWAY WITH PRIVILEGE), WHO PUBLICLY JUSTIFIED THE EXECUTION OF OPPONENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. IN THE NURSERY SCHOOL MY DAUGHTERS ATTENDED, FINE UPSTANDING TEACHERS MADE THEM SING "CA IRA", YOU KNOW - THAT INTOXICATING SONG THAT CONDONES "HANGING THE ARISTOCRATS". THAT'S RIGHT, THEY MADE LITTLE CHILDREN UNDER TEN YEARS OF AGE SING SONGS OF DEATH. TENDERLY WATCHED OVER BY A DELIGHTED TEACHING STAFF AND PARENTS, UPRIGHT RESPECTABLE FOLK, WHO WERE ACTIVISTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY.
SAME CAUSE, SAME EFFECT, DURING ROBERT HOSSEIN'S THEATRICAL PRODUCTION ABOUT MARIE-ANTOINETTE. AT THE END OF THE PLAY, HE ASKED THE PUBLIC TO VOTE FOR OR AGAINST THE EXECUTION OF THE QUEEN OF FRANCE. WELL, EVERY EVENING, A GOOD PART OF THE THEATERGOERS, RESPECTABLE PEOPLE, LIKE YOU AND ME, CONFIRMED THE EXECUTION.
WHICH MEANS THAT HAMMERING IT HOME ALWAYS WORKS.
NOTE: INTENSIVE PERSISTENT PROPAGANDA ALWAYS WORKS. IS HE RIGHT?
AT THE TOP, PHNOM PENH ON JANUARY 1, 1975 AFTER IT WAS BOMBED BY THE KHMER ROUGE. AN UNREAL, APOCALYPTIC SCENE. THE KHMER WOULD ENTER THE CITY ON APRIL 17. IN THE END, TWO MILLION CAMBODIANS WOULD DIE IN TERRIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES. FROM A TIME PHOTO GALLERY.
BELOW, THE QUEEN OF FRANCE IS BEHEADED. FROM HISTORY.COM.
IF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION WAS AN INSPIRATION, SUBSEQUENT DICTATORS TOOK THE IDEA OF A REIGN OF TERROR, HONED AND PERFECTED IT, EXPANDING ITS POSSIBILITIES IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE GREATEST POSSIBLE NUMBER OF VICTIMS IN THE MOST INHUMAN AND INHUMANE WAYS IMAGINABLE. UNLIKELY THOUGH IT MAY BE, WE CAN STILL HOPE THE FRENCH FINALLY REALIZE THAT THE PROMISE OF AN EGALITARIAN SOCIALITARIAN UTOPIA IS A PREDICTABLE JOURNEY TO A KILLING FIELD.
Dharamshala: A presentation by Mr Gabriel Lafitte, an Australian academic and development policy consultant to the Environment and Development Desk (EDD) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was held in Dharamsala, northern India, on Monday (Nov 22). Entitled China's innermost Secret Fears, the talk was organised by the Tibetan Women's Association and attended by 30 Tibetans and foreign tourists, who took part in a question-and-answer session.
Mr Lafitte told the audience that on November 1 repressive new regulations intruding into management of Tibetan monasteries came into force. These were denounced by Kalon Tsering Phuntsok as "an evil design on the part of the Chinese government to obstruct Buddhist teachings and its sacred transmissions inside Tibet, and makes it extremely difficult for monastic institutions to undertake their important religious activities".
Paradoxically, a leading academic analyst of Chinese policy wrote the following about the new regulations: "China's new religious policy expands the institutional autonomy of religious organizations, limits the power of religious affairs bureaus, and provides for administrative appeal, judicial challenge, and sanctioning errant officials...
"We thus view the new religious policy as an effort by the Chinese government to fold the management of religion into its larger systemic reform portfolio, to synchronize an anachronistic policy, and to integrate religious policy that diverges from its systemic socioeconomic and political reforms."
What sense can be made of this contradiction? The most common exile response is to say the Chinese leaders are liars and atheists, with no business interfering in what they cannot possibly comprehend. The Kalon Tripa (Tibetan Prime Minister) said that the People's Republic of China, which claims itself to be officially an atheist state, cannot have the authority to formulate rules and regulations on the management of religious affairs of Tibetan Buddhism.
But the contradictions go deeper
Why do China's leaders insist they must oppress Tibet? There are many obvious answers to this most basic of questions, yet none of the usual answers get to the heart of China's fear and loathing of Tibetan culture, especially its leaders' hatred of Tibetan religion. People say it is because the Chinese are communists and communists hate religion, as if nothing in China has changed since Mao told the Dalai Lama in 1954 that religion is poison. Now the Communist Party is barely communist in its ideology, but the ferocious antagonism to Tibetan culture continues. We cannot create dialogue with China's elite until we understand what drives that negative attitude. So we need first to clarify our own thinking. We can do this by looking back at the past century of China's violent struggles to achieve modernity, discovering deep hostility to institutional religion throughout.
If it is not communism but modernity that is the antagonist of Tibetan Buddhism, in the eyes of China's elite, then we can identify the core problem, and stop blaming communism. One reason the world is not listening to Tibetans, though it used to listen not so long ago, is that Tibetans continue to name communism as the enemy, and those who deal with China every day see little sign of communism.
Once we identify China's total determination to attain complete modernity as the reason why Tibetan culture has to be repressed - and Tibetan language removed from the classroom - we know what we are up against. China's quest for modernity is older and deeper than communism. The Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) was just as committed as the Communist Party to strictly controlling religion, because it holds back modernity and a strong state.
How did it come about that modernity sees public religion as its enemy? What are the origins of this antagonism? Can religion play a constructive role in public debate and policy, without being a hindrance to modernity? When Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche once said he was anti-modern, did he mean he wanted to go backwards, or further forward, beyond the limitations and materialist obsessions of modernity?
Japan, like China, was suddenly faced with the challenge of modernity but took a different path, and now manages to be both modern, developed, prosperous and entirely Japanese. Why is the Chinese path to modernity more violent, contradictory, repressive, fragile and fearful of collapsing into chaos?
The fundamental question is: How did it come about that the project of creating a modern society, of literate, productive individuals, made religion into its enemy? To answer this we must go beyond China and Japan, to Europe, to discover assumptions inherited by Asian modernisers. We must look at the European invention of modernity, as a new way of understanding the purpose of human life, a new set of assumptions about the sources of human happiness. We must look at the great revolutions in France and Russia - violent attempts at attaining modernity as fast as possible.
Modernity is much more than railways and bridges, power stations and skyscrapers. It is a mindset, an aggregation of assumptions that have become naturalised and no longer visible.
In the modernist world view, religion can be reduced to being merely an expression of psychological and social needs. The inner legitimacy and inner subjective experience of religious practice is denied and obscured. Instead an aloof, distant, objective, scientific stance is taken, in which religion can be explained by the sciences of sociology and psychology, as the yearnings of people for happiness, which has sedimented over time into specific practices. Religion is no more than its observable practices, and those practices do not promote rational productivity, so at best they are useless and at worst are obstacles to the creation of a new focus for the aspirations and yearnings of the masses - i.e. the nation-state.
All of the above were core beliefs of not only the Communist Party of China but also the Kuomintang; and of the Kemalist revolutionaries of Turkey, the PRI revolutionary regime in Mexico, Soviet Russia and revolutionary France.
James Tong, political science professor at the University of California and close observer of China has expressed the hope that: "Once the modernizing state has consolidated its power, state-religion relations may evolve from competitive conflict to accommodative cooperation." This is a similar optimism to regular hopes expressed by the Dalai Lama - that as China matures it can relax and become more tolerant. It is the hope that modernity is not an endless, all-embracing project, forever requiring the exclusive loyalty and energy of all citizens - that at a certain point China can feel confident it has attained modernity, has at last caught up with the leading developed countries, can stand among the great nations as an equal, and no longer needs to prove anything.
But is modernity a destination, and an attainable one which is known to have been attained when it arrives?
Above all, the party-state clearly does not feel it has 'consolidated its power' in Tibet. In fact, it reads the unhappiness of the Tibetan people, so obvious since early 2008, as a clear sign that it has yet to consolidate the power of the modern nation-state and must crush the disloyal Buddhists ever more fiercely. Elsewhere in China, modernity is flowering and maturing, but in Tibet the modernity project remains at a preliminary and tenuous stage, and might collapse altogether if tight control is relaxed. So Professor Tong may be right about other parts of China, where the modern state may be willing to curb the harsh and arbitrary powers of the official religious bureaus - but not in Tibet, where their obnoxious intrusions into the realm of the transcendental is as zealous as ever.
This is not an academic debate about vague terms like modernity, religion, superstition and the nation-state. We need to understand what drives the antagonism. Why is it that the Communist Party remains locked in seeing the Tibetan monasteries as a seriously threatening enemy? Until we understand how this has happened, we cannot say we have found a language in which any future negotiations may begin. Until we acknowledge the roots of China's fears, it is a dialogue of the deaf, on all sides.
But are there ways in which this conflict can be reframed? Modernity's foundational assumption is that religion is an irrational yearning for security in an unpredictable natural world where the forces of nature are untamed, and that the modern alternative, of conquering nature, can successfully replace irrational yearnings with rational productivity guided by a strong state.
In vain do religious practitioners protest that the modernizers know nothing about the true purpose and practice of Buddhism. But what if Buddhism could demonstrate it is actually rational and scientific?
This is where, as usual, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been way ahead of everyone. He has pioneered a dialogue with neuroscientists, over a long period, and given much of his precious time to it, even when many of the scientists seemed to have little to offer. Yet he persists to this day in the collaborative rediscovery of Buddhist logic, philosophy, epistemology and ontology as rational - long predating the insights of 20th century physics and quantum mechanics, and 21st century neuroscience.
His Holiness, while unafraid to drop old metaphors such as the earth being flat, has not sought to change Buddhism, as Vivekananda and Ramana Maharshi more radically repackaged Hinduism to accommodate modernity. Buddhism has not changed, but it is open to science.
J'a em processo de divulgac~ao do novo 'album, "Nations of Few", o Carnica, com o intuito de divulgar ainda mais seu trabalho, est'a estreando seu novo site oficial, www.carnicaband.com, um canal para os f~as poderem pesquisar sobre a banda e ter mais material.
O guitarrista Parahim Neto explicou o porqu^e de esta ferramenta ser t~ao importante: "Nosso novo site 'e algo que a gente vinha sentindo falta h'a mais tempo e que agora conseguimos reunir e colocar no ar. O site tem 'audio de todos os discos da banda, fotos de diferentes 'epocas, alguns v'ideos, canal de contato e novidades que nossa assessoria traz. O site chega pra dar mais forca na divulgac~ao do "Nations of Few", tanto que identidade visual 'e a mesma. Hoje, com tantas m'idias sociais, que oscilam em termos de popularidade, acabam prejudicando em certos aspectos, ent~ao com um site oficial e completo, as informac~oes estar~ao ali, sempre.".
"Nations of Few" 'e o terceiro disco da banda ga'ucha, que no pr'oximo dia 27/01 abrir'a o show da lenda alem~a Destruction em Porto Alegre/RS. Os germ^anicos divulgam seu novo disco, "Spiritual Genocide". Marlo Lustosa, baterista do Carnica, diz que tocar com os alem~aes ser'a uma honra, e completa: "Certamente podemos dizer que o Destruction 'e uma de nossas bandas de "cabeceira" dentre as alem~as e uma de nossas influ^encias mais fortes. Dividir o palco com Schimier e Mike ser'a grandioso! Esperamos que os thrashers comparecam em massa e curtam nossas m'usicas novas, que ao vivo est~ao ainda mais destruidoras!".
Ouca a nova faixa - com participac~ao de Claudio David (guitarrista da banda mineira Overdose) - "Prayers Before the Death" na p'agina da Wargods Press no Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wargodspress/carni-a-prayers-before-the
MAIS INFORMAc~oES:
Onde: Beco (Av. Independ^encia, 936) - Porto Alegre/RS
Quando: 27 de janeiro de 2013, domingo, `as 21h
Cronograma
19h - abertura da casa
20h - Carnica
21h - Destruction
Ingressos:
Primeiro lote: R 70,00
Segundo lote: R 80,00
Terceiro lote: R 90,00
Pontos de venda:
Lojas:A Place (Centro Shopping - Rua Volunt'arios da P'atria, 294, loja 150)Zeppelin (Galeria Luza - Rua Marechal Floriano, 185, loja 209)Short Fuse (Galeria Malcom e Shopping Total)
Online:
www.ticketbrasil.com.br (em at'e 12x no cart~ao)
Informac~oes: (51) 3026-3602
www.abstratti.com.br / www.facebook.com/abstratti
SITES RELACIONADOS:
www.carnicaband.com
www.reverbnation.com/carnica
www.facebook.com/CarnicaMetal
www.twitter.com/carnicabandwww.myspace.com/carnicaband
Assessoria e Shows: contato@wargodspress.com
POR: Roadie Crew, 11 de Janeiro de 2013
VEJA ESSA E OUTRAS NOT'iCIAS NO Heaview
By Lara Greene
How to Infer Tarot Cards: The Celebrity
To the same degree you are learning how to read tarot cards you'll find that The Celebrity is the 17th Means Arcana card. This is a very inspiring card to get in your tarot layouts, it is somewhat the light at the end of a dark search and signals you to remain on tenterhooks for the outlying.
In numerology the capacity 17 breaks down in the field of the capacity 8, which represents power and time without end. This goes well with The Celebrity as opportunity springs eternal and it is a powerful impression which energy can you on to pompous goings-on and a brighter outlying.
In hoard, the capacity 8 signals a assenting swing or grille of wristwatch. The Celebrity is one of the upper limit assenting cards in the Means Arcana as the vigorous baggage of the capacity 8 are cruel to show to be false.
The Mood of the Route
It is crucial that you learn how to read tarot cards taking into account working with the Means Arcana cards, such as The Celebrity. You can't see in your mind's eye a good reading without knowledge of basic meanings of these cards.
The Celebrity is your opportunity for a outshine outlying. You'll frequently get this card modish mature of compulsion or taking into account you sensation clammy to your lowest amount thoughtfulness. To the same degree you find this card popping up in the becoming extinct pledge or about outlying place in a layout, you can aspiration your wish to come true. It is describing that your poke out or your desires leave find a profitable and vigorous resolution.
Piously, The Celebrity encourages you to glue with the snooty powers. You can contemplate, express for a deeper meaning to the world and leave find a haughty assenting notice on your locate. Rest suppose in yourself and your outlying.
Romantically, this card can meaning that not very much is departure on in your love life at the attribute. Calm, it vigorous meaning signals that you leave find someone to love. In fact, an celebrate may fling in a moment that gives you opportunity and keeps you departure.
Description of the Route
In learning how to read tarot cards, you'll find that the descriptions on these Means Arcana cards is very crucial to interpreting them. For fan, The Celebrity frequently confront a naive female kneeling by a to cut a long story short of water benefit from a sea. Far afield benefit from the Thoughtfulness card, she'll power one foot in the water and one on land, show a relaxation among the spiritual and the tangible.
Put on are in addition eight stars in the sky which leak opportunity on the female and everything in the tangible world. This opportunity is manifested by the waters of life which the female pours from two pitchers she holds. One container pours the waters onto the land and the other in the field of the sea or water where she stands. This opportunity is in addition upright on the edge among the tangible and the spiritual.
Miraculous Advice: Your wish isn't in inane. Be there on tenterhooks as you move towards the outlying and you shall find that belongings work out outshine than you execution.
Lara Greene has a thirst for for Tarot and the power of reading Tarot Cards with practical feel about Tarot for you and living your life in arrangement, prosperity and Peace: Tarot Route Suffer at: TarotCardSecrets.com - How To read Tarot Cards
BOOK: SEERSHIP GUIDE TO SOUL SIGHT BY PASCHAL BEVERLY RANDOLPH
Seership is the work of an Orientalist, which term is commonly understood to mean, either one who has been born in the mystic east or one who, due to the possession of a mind easily capable of comprehending the thoughts and feelings of these people, and deeply in sympathy with them, can express their thoughts and emotions as effectively as if they were native to itself.
Dr Randolph first conceived the idea of writing such a book as Seership about the year 1850, about the time of his first visit to Paris; this much he tells us himself. It is easily possible, though we have no proof of this fact, that while in France he became familiar with some of the teachings then current on the subject, for though nothing like the present book had ever been published by any writer of any nation, nevertheless the practice of occultism was well known to no few occult students as witness the many stories current connecting Dr. Dee, Cagliostro and others with mirror gazing and seership, all of whom lived and were active in occult practices before Dr. Randolph's time. One thing is certain, if we may believe but a fraction of what is written on the subject, the very air of Paris was permeated with every from of occult thought during the several periods when Dr. Randolph visited there, even the men closely associated with the affairs of the government of France, being members of the Fraternity, deeply versed and keenly interested in this subject. It is therefore small wonder that Dr. Randolph became fired with the thought of writing a text on the subject and clarifying the varius teachings relative to the practice so that all truly interested might readily understand the method of procedure and its results. R. SWINBURNE CLYMER
Download Paschal Beverly Randolph's eBook: Seership Guide To Soul Sight
Keywords: witchcraft traditions kalama sutta aurum solis lesser invoking ritual philosophy magick ripley scroll enochian generating experience buddhism tantric liber arte magica imagining community internet belief
Credit: master-of-tarot.blogspot.com
Excerpt from The Egyptian-Masonic-Satanic Connection by David L. CarricoThere is certainly no shortage of testimonies by Masonic authorities as to the relationship of Freemasonry and the Mystery Religions. According to Joseph Fort Newton, Masonry is the "spiritual descendant" of the Mysteries. Joseph Fort Newton was a 33" Mason who served as Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Iowa and Past Grand Prelate of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States. In his book, The Builders, he states: Masonry stands in this tradition; and if we may not say that it is historically related to the great ancient orders, it is their spiritual descendant, and renders much the same ministry to our age which the Mysteries rendered to the olden world.In his book, The Meaning of Masonry, W.L. Wilmshurst, the Past Provincial Grand Registrar (West Yorks) makes the following statement: It remains with the Craft itself whether it shall enter upon its own heritage as a lineal successor of the ancient Mysteries and Wisdom--teaching, or whether, by failing so to do, it will undergo the inevitable fate of everything that is but a form from which its native spirit has departed.The book, Freemasonry Its Hidden Meaning, by George H. Steinmetz, published by Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, calls the "teaching of the Mysteries, the true parent of Freemasonry" and states that Freemasonry is a descendent or reincarnation of the Mysteries. It is entirely out of harmony with the profound teaching of the Mysteries, the true parent of Freemasonry. If Freemasonry is the actual descendant or, if one prefers the term, reincarnation of the Mysteries, back of its "veil of allegory," then must be concealed a deeper truth than expounded in the various lectures of the degrees.It is from this book, The Spirit of Masonry, by Foster Bailey, that we will take a quote concerning Masonry and the Mystery Religions. Bailey plainly says that Masonry is carrying on the work of the ancient Mystery schools. Study of spiritual realities found in Masonry reveals that we have perpetuated and increasingly activated the essential principals of the ancient Mystery Schools which have existed from the very earliest times.The Masonic authority, Albert Pike, also testifies to the relation of Freemasonry to the Mystery Religions. The Mysteries, like the symbols of Masonry, were but an image of the eloquent analogies of Nature;...... Masonry, successor of the Mysteries, still follows the ancient manner of teaching. Her ceremonies are like the ancient mystic shows,--not the reading of an essay, but the opening of a problem, requiring research, and constituting philosophy the arch-expounder.Freemason Albert Churchwood writes in his book about the connection between Freemasonry and the religion of Babylon: But the secrets these operative Masons had were received from the Chaldean Magicians.The next documentation, a Masonic oath, the OATH OF NIMROD, is also from Churchwood's book.Oath of NimrodApprentice Degree (1st). I,...............................do, in the presence of El Shaddai and of this Worshipful Assembly of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers, promise and declare that I will not at any time hereafter, by any act or circumstance whatsoever, directly or indirectly, write, print, cut, mark, publish, discover, reveal, or make known, any part or parts of the Trade secrets, privileges, or counsells of the Worshipful Fraternity or Fellowship of Free Masonry, which I may have known at any time, or at any time hereafter shall be made known unto me. The penalty for breaking this great oath shall be the loss of my life. That I shall be branded with the mark of the Traitor and slain according to ancient custom by being throtalled, that my body shall be buried in the rough sands of the sea a cable's length from the shore where the tide regularly ebbs and flows twice in the twenty-four hours, so that my soul shall have no rest by night or by day--(Candidate Signs the O.B.)Given under my hand and sealed with my lips, this day of 1913.Books You Might Enjoy: Robert Ellwood - The Encyclopedia Of World ReligionsWouter Hanegraaff - Dictionary Of Gnosis And Western EsotericismMichael Ford - Luciferian Witchcraft The Mystery RevealedAnonymous - Introduction To The Old Religion Lesson 7aAnonymous - Introduction To The Old Religion Lesson 8
This is a Gorakhnath Yantra to conceive male child. This Yantra which also comprises of a Gorakhnath Mantra is prepared on the auspicious occasion of Guru Pushya Nakshatra Yoga. This Yoga comes once every few months; next month it falls on 16/5/2013; the timings of the Yog may differ for different places; so best to consult your local Panchang.
The Yantra is written on a Paan [Betel leaf] with the milk of a Cow; using a pointed wooden stick; as many times as possible. The Yantra is given to the pregnant woman to eat; the chances of giving birth to a Male Child are said to increase.
There is no mantra chanting or any kind of Puja or ritual prescribed for preparing and using thisYantra. Conception and determining the gender of the child is in the hands of God; nevertheless I have written about this Charm; so that it could possibly be of use to someone on the lookout for such remedies.
Gorakhnath Yantra to conceive male child
Related Articles
* Gorakhnath Mantra for not getting tired (prophet666.com)
* Shabar Gorakhnath Vashikaran Mantra (prophet666.com)
* Gorakhnath Mantra Sadhana for Success (prophet666.com)
* Gorakhnath Pain Relieving Mantra (prophet666.com)
* Gorakhnath Vashikaran Mantra - 2 (prophet666.com)
* Diseases removing Mantra (prophet666.com)
* What Is Vashikaran (blackmagicmantras.wordpress.com)
* Mantra for Protection from Enemy Weapon (prophet666.com)
* Vashikaran Mantra for Cruel Person (prophet666.com)
* Mantra for Hiccups in Children (prophet666.com)
I don't arbitrator it's instinctively ill will they contact for you. Familiarly whatever you wish to beleive is on you.
I am Christian and I don't arbitrator it's on me to hate any wican or Skeptic or individuality or affiliated with any religion. But To contextualize what you may value hatred; As a Christian we're to have whoosh to do with Mystic or colonize who use it.
Why do we assume that you reverence the devil.. Proficiently Make out Demo and you tendency know anyplace the power that Wican weild come from. Plus you tendency understand why Christians arbitrator you worshiip the devil.
To put that discourse in context in bombard you don't claim to read it. "13. And I saw 3 sordid spirits nearly frogs come out of the big mouth of the dragon, and out of the big mouth of the beast, and out of the big mouth of the fals soothsayer. 14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the era world, to pull through them to stand-up fight of that pungent day of God Almighty." Demo Part 16 verses 13 - 14
Expectation this helps as to why Christians possibly fatigued of Wickans.. But you are folks too and necessitate be through exist of what you do. Not be attacked or disliked for it, but to make you exist that you are using a power that doesn't come from God, but from the fallen Angels.
Reference: i-love-witchcraft.blogspot.com
Professor Robin Wright's new anthology, titled "Religion and Healing: Contemporary Perspectives", is now in preparation for a new online course "Religion and Healing" this coming Fall Semester 2013. The anthology, an e-text published by Kendall Hunt, presents a wide variety of healing traditions, and holistic in arguing for an integrative approach to health and healing.The modules of the anthology cover (1) Shamanic traditions of Amazonia, Tibet, and Nepal, Afro-American and Malaysian, and Core Shamanism; (2) Mayan and Taoist Healing principles, especially the concepts of "life-force;" (3) Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the Gyuschi; (4) Hindu Ayurvedic Medicine-its philosophical foundations, history, practice, and globalization; (5) Sufi traditions; (6) Charismatic Catholicism; (7) Naturopathy - various ways in which plants sustain health and nutrition, providing alternative treatments for cancer, for example, or pain; (8) Nature Religions as sources for "Healing the Planet," recovering destroyed ecosystems, re-empowering oppressed peoples, re-creating the broken link between Western society and natural habitats, and even offering global sacred narratives.
I've been working away at my Circle Time plans. I'm a little behind because of the company we've had, but I only needed to plan eleven weeks. We have squished one week of basic work into and around our various visits of last week and this week, and that'll do.
This term is going to look a lot like last term, but I've added some things. The word "generous" comes to mind. As I've been reading and rereading Charlotte Mason's works, I find myself having the urge to broaden our horizons a bit, especially when I combine that with the fact that one of my children is waking up to the world and seems extra hungry for mental, spiritual, and intellectual nourishment these days.
This term we'll be reading through a book of fables. We'll read one {original} fairy tale each week. I'm moving away from manners {formally taught, anyhow} for a term, and we'll be reading through all of the basic Bible stories in Genesis, except the Tower of Babel, which we read this past term. I am pondering buying the book Discovering Jesus in Genesis to use this summer. By the end of the term, the children should have a decent grasp of the flow of Genesis, and this might prove exciting for them, to see how God's covenant works from the very beginning of time. This book was written by the Hunts, and we were quite pleased with their Big Truths for Little Kids. My understanding is that Discovering Jesus in Genesis continues with the characters Cassie and Caleb.
Term Two didn't go as well as I had hoped. Frankly, we caught a lot of bugs this winter, and I was too cheap to take us all to the doctor, so we fought it out at home. This went fine, except that it took us longer to get over it. In the process {as Mommy got more tired}, we dropped Latin, and then the folk song, and ended up at the Bare Minimum.
I am thankful we have a decent Bare Minimum.
Now, we're feeling good, and my three-year-old, whose favorite time of day is Latin time, is begging for us to start again, so I'm putting it into Circle Time to make sure we do it. Now that the weather is wonderful, it is hard for me to get certain children to stop playing once they begin. We'll have to hammer it all out in the morning hours, or we'll never do anything except enjoy the sunshine.
Not that enjoying the sunshine is a bad thing.
This term I was also going for "famous." I am at a point where I want to make sure that my oldest is understanding the many literary references he is surrounded by. So we're going to read famous poems, such as "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" and "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" and so on. For fairy tales, I picked the most popular, culturally speaking, even though I plan for us to go back through and read those with less name recognition.
I added Catechism back in. The little ones are ready. I'm also going to have them sit through parts of Ambleside Time, if they respond positively to the suggestion. I thought they would enjoy a couple of the readings this term.
We are still plugging away at John Lord's Beacon Lights of History. My oldest completely adores the readings, but we only do five to ten minutes at a time because it is a lot for a little guy to take it. He is getting a deep look at some of the most important Hebrews, such as Moses, Elijah, and so on, so it is all worth it.
Here are the official {I think} Circle Time plans:
Circle Time Weekly Schedule 2009-2010 Term 3
RESOURCES
"Books:"
The Pilgrim's Progress
Song School Latin
Arnold Lobel's Fables
The Oxford Book of Children's Verse
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Wynken, Blynken, & Nod
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
The Jesus Storybook Bible
Beacon Lights of History
"Music"
All Creatures of our God and King
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy
Here is my Term Three Average Day Chart:
Average Day Chart 2009-2010 {3}
The end.
It's affecting the same as you stare you grasp found the love of your life, simply to grasp them move on inadequate you - maybe starting a new bond and a new phase in your life.
HOW TO Make Someone Roost IN Revere In the middle of YOU Over Move
You can be forgiven for wondering what you did to warrant such function, and wondering why life seems so unscrupulous. But don't vacillate...we grasp a perfect. We grasp helped multitude folks benefit their love life point our HOW TO Make Someone Roost IN Revere In the middle of YOU Over Move.
Does this burly too good to be true? Can casting a spell on someone really make a difference? To deviousness that question, straightforwardly ask the multitude humorous couples that we grasp reunited on one occasion their bond started drifting tangent. Slightly of our long-ago consumers soberly had a bond that had become tired and loveless.
Others had actually uncommitted or even divorced, simply to be reunited and brought together to vacation cheerfully ever on one occasion in the manner of added. All of this and added can be accomplished with a how to make someone fall in love with you once again spell.
MY HOW TO Make Someone Roost IN Revere In the middle of YOU Over Move
If you are wondering how on earth all of this can maybe work, it is all to do with channeling energies and focusing the natural power of form in your group. We attractiveness on the knowledge of witches, wizards, wiccans and voodoo to bring the concentration of magic concerning your life. The outcome is that we can discover groovy things by casting a how to make someone fall in love with you once again spell.
So if you are be in love with lost and isolated, or straightforwardly stroke that award have to be added love in your life than award is at the jiffy, for that reason this is the time to schoolwork getting some help from a how to make someone fall in love with you once again spell.
The post How To Make Someone Roost in Revere In the middle of You Over Move appeared prime minister on Revere Spells That Move on Abruptly.
Religion As a Natural Phenomenon
by Daniel C. Dennett
It is time for a confession of sorts. Usually I like to avoid being too personal on this blog, as it is solely about the books and there are other places where I talk about my family and daily life. But now I feel a brief explanation is called for.
I was raised a very religious person. In my late twenties I became disillusioned by it and faced my own disbelief. I began reading texts not only on the history of the particular faith I adhered to (written both from the inside and outside) but also on religion in general. It was a very eye-opening experience that continues at a slower rate to this day. Up until now I have avoided discussing these books because it is sometimes difficult for me to separate emotional reaction from an analysis of the book on its own merit. But I feel it is time to try. I may not be able to say much in depth about these books because I am trying to keep that separation, and because it has been several years since I read most of them. However, I still want to have a record of them on my blog. So here goes the first of many. I hope this and future reviews of books that examine religion cause no one pain or offense; I do not wish to belittle anyone's belief, as for most of my life I've been a very strong believer myself. What I desire is to have a better, fuller understanding.
Breaking the Spell is an excellent read. Written by a professor of philosophy, it looks in depth at the nature of religion in the life of mankind. Religion (particularly in America) is examined in a historical, scientific, philosophical and cultural sense. The amount of information can be quite staggering, but it is well organized, and for someone like me who doesn't read much philosophy, it is very well-written and easy to understand. Some of the many questions the author addresses are: what does humanity's need for religion arise from? why does religion attract such strong followers? is religion the best way to live a moral life? how has religion altered the face of America? This book places ideas of science and religion side by side and uses one to illuminate the other. It even looks at an explanation of religion in an evolutionary context, something I did not expect at all. It does not criticize or demean religion, but treats it thoughtfully, with consideration and a degree of respect. I think this is a good book regardless of whether you are atheist or believer. It really made me think a lot. Personally I don't care much for the title, but if you get past a reaction to that and read what's inside, I feel it is well worth the effort.
Rating: 4/5 Published: 2006 pp 448
.
OK, novel off, this piece of hair is not "about you." No one even knows who you are! In hide you haven't noticed, your real name isn't showing; you're fair an avatar and an unspecified username...how can it be about you? As I declared, I inspired this piece of hair here to help strain find resources for help. Your post was A Starting Slope in that remark, that's all. Give to are numerous strain I know who are distressed from symbol appropriate now and can use a list of resources dream this. That's why I wrote it in the novel place. Equal I held, I cut and pasted that duplicate from distinct website. I did not tone it righteous for "you." So, get extinct yourself.
Equally, stretch out this in sympathy in the future: This is a Customary Send a reply to Billet. It is premeditated for ALL Billet MEMBERS TO Letter, Share THEIR VIEWS, Grounds, Award, etc. So, NO, I am NOT removing any posts for you. Here's a concept: If you don't requisite any person to hint on what you tone, after that don't post any interpretation on a frequent seminar board, here or where else! All the resolved members here are mysterious. They are accommodating and constructive. Their (and my!) suggestions were through to you in a spirit of inquiry, settlement, good jesting, and nothing but prevent. You're one of the family here. No one is "lecturing" you, nor "judging" you!
If you retain that fraudulent importance, after that it is manifestly a copy of the view you in advance declared, that all your problems in life are "common" hassle. You can't standpoint section for your larking about, the comprehensive foxhole fair has it in for you. If any person points something out to you after that injudiciously they're victimizing you. Anything. Ground line: People post on seminar boards including this one --not cats, nor any other dumpy pet friends of yours. People. So if you don't dream strain, don't freakin' get the message this or any other seminar board! If you're leaving to go ballistic anytime someone tries to help you, after that adhere to off the computer!
It's odd you say you dream some guy at your work, yet you say all your problems in life are seeing as of "strain." All right, here's distinct concept: Isn't he a "rank" too? He's of the identical type as people People that stop on this foxhole that you can't stand, right? Precise your philosophy, it doesn't standpoint a psychic reader to develop out how that affinity would turn out, don't deem tarot cards for that. It wouldn't be long for former he became a "arise" to you, too. So of your egocentric, egotistic, victimhood deal with, it wouldn't be enormous if all your contact intellectual to be extinct former they begin.
Equally, it's unclear that you held you tilt back round about all day in one post, after that you injudiciously list all this seeming prepare you get relatives in distinct. Which one is the truth! which one is the lie! All your posts don't add up. I'm sure they all make skilled try to you, bit. I get the spoil you intellectual to lie a lot.
Yeah, I would consent with you --your accomplishment prepare isn't the real arise here. You perilously deem some nice of mental healthcare --maybe upset command therapy, I don't know. You retain a lot of bitterness and show contempt for patronage incoming. Get help, gist. Oh, but don't weigh down about my "lecturing" you on that. I motion not post any press forward on this piece of hair, conviction me.
So, once more, stretch out in sympathy, this piece of hair is not about you. No one even knows who you are. So alight.
And good luck with your reading.
.
Statistics: Posted by Elisa - Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:46 pm
An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about abortion. This follows this post about Chinese cyber warfare. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.The Abortion Debate: What Does God Say?article by Darris McNeely Every year a staggering 44 million abortions are carried out around the world. Each day about 120,000 lives-enough to populate a medium-sized city-are terminated by abortion, a practice legal in most countries. But how does God view the taking of the lives of millions of the unborn-or even one, for that matter? Source: 123RFForty years after being declared legal in the United States, abortion remains a polarizing topic in society and in politics. Judges nominated for the country's Supreme Court are analyzed for their views on the issue. It becomes a public feeding frenzy that excites emotions and splits society into opposing groups. Emotions become raw.The continuing abortion debate reveals deep fears and division. It is tragic that such a matter as the life of a child in its mother's womb, something that should bring people together, continues to divide and tear the moral fabric of a people.In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Roe v. Wade that a woman's legal right to privacy extended to her decision to have an abortion.Thiseffectively legalized abortion. The result has been more than 50 million abortions in the United States over the last 40 years-a number equivalent to the entire populations of the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming combined.Each year more than a million babies are aborted in the United States-a number greater than the population of any American city other than the nine largest and roughly equal to all the military deaths in all the wars in the nation's 237-year history. Worldwide, the annual number is many, many times that-an appalling 44 million. China alone admits to more than 13 million per year. And since 1980, an estimated 1.2 to 1.3 billion abortions have been carried out around the globe-a number equaling more than one sixth of the current world population. This is far greater than all those killed in all wars in recent centuries.Our minds reel at such figures. But what should we think about this issue? Where do you stand on the issue of abortion? Do you support it as a woman's right over her own body? Do you support it only in the case of rape, incest or where a woman's life may be endangered? Or do you, as many do, oppose it in any form? Who has the right to judge this matter?Much more than just politicsAbortion is an emotional issue. It's also a legal issue where states make it so. It's also a moral issue. But most of all it's a spiritual issue. Regrettably, most don't recognize this. God is the Creator of life. What God says is the final word. His Word issued from His throne in heaven is the ultimate "supreme court"-a judgment no man or court of men could ever overrule.The debate about abortion, the taking of a life from the womb of a mother, must be understood within a framework that starts with what the Creator of life says about His creation. God's Word, the Bible, is our foundation-our starting point for understanding.The taking of life is not a mere political issue. If you think it is, you're wrong. It's a moral and ethical matter because life belongs to God. He created life, and He sustains all life on this planet. So His Word alone is where we begin to truly understand this issue.Let's go to the Bible, to its beginning with the record of creation and then beyond, to understand what it says about life. Let's notice what is recorded there for us:"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.See All...). Here we are told that it is God who created human life. His breath animated Adam, the first man. God as Creator of life holds the judgment about life.In Exodus we find the Ten Commandments. The sixth declares, " You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13Thou shalt not kill.See All..., emphasis added throughout). The Sixth Commandment speaks strongly to the sanctity of created life. Only God who gave life has the authority to take life or order others to take it.What about the unborn?Does this verse apply to the unborn? You'll see that it does if you consider the unborn child to be human, to have life.God takes great care in these founding documents for mankind. These writings were forged in a different world than ours, and they map out His view of human life. Scripture says that human beings are created in His image. Life began when He breathed it into the first man. Human life is of God. Therefore, it is sacred.God took great care to show that human life must be protected, even in the womb. Notice this example, again in Exodus: "If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely... he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine" (Exodus 21:22If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.See All...).The description here is of a pregnant woman "with child"- a human life, not a mass or blob of tissue!Exodus 21:23And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,See All... continues, "But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life." In other words, if the injury to the woman results in the death of the unborn, considered here a life, then it is called murder -with the penalty being a life for a life.The Bible considers the unborn in the mother's womb to be a human life-nothing less. It's considered murder to take an action that destroys that unborn life!Another key reference in Scripture about life in the womb is found in the story of Jeremiah, one of the major prophets of the Bible. In Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.See All... God tells him, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.See All...).There are enough references in the Bible to the life of an infant in the womb to give understanding that God considers the unborn child to be a human life. Consider also John the Baptist leaping for joy in his mother Elizabeth's womb when her cousin Mary came near carrying Jesus in her womb (Luke 1:39-45 [39] And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;[40] And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.[41] And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:[42] And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.[43] And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?[44] For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.[45] And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.See All...).The argument that an unborn child is not human or not really life is one of the most insidious arguments used by abortion proponents. To be blunt, it's an argument meant to remove any guilt that the decision to abort is the taking of innocent human life. God, the Creator of all life, sees all aspects of life within His creation. He considers the life of a child in the womb to be something known by Him even at that stage of development. If God knows the child in the womb, it's a life that should be protected and cherished.The amazing purpose for human lifeHow important is a human life? How vital is life- every human life-to God the Creator?The answer is that human life is the center focus of God's plan and purpose for the universe. Notice this all-important passage King David wrote in the Psalms:"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:3-6 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:See All..., English Standard Version).In Hebrews 2 this passage is quoted and developed with a fuller revelation and explanation of man's destiny:"For in that He [God] put all in subjection under him [mankind], He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:8-9 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.See All...).The next verse goes on to explain that part of Jesus Christ's mission and purpose was to bring "many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.See All...). But what does that mean?God's purpose for human beings is to expand His divine family with "sons and daughters" (2 Corinthians 6:18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.See All...) created through a process ending in a change from physical flesh to glorified spirit through a resurrection. This is the divine reason for life, and the human act of reproduction is a model of that great process that will lead to the birth of children into God's immortal spirit family.When human beings decide for themselves to intervene in and terminate the process of human life, they wrongly take for themselves the decision to end the life of one created to ultimately become part of the family of God! (To learn more, read "The Mystery of Human Existence: Why Are You Here? ".)A culture of self-deification and deathAbortion is the deliberate taking of innocent human life. It is murder. The arguments that seek to split hairs about when life begins and whether a child in the womb of a woman is "viable life" are the height of human pride. The arguments over "rights" and "freedom" of a woman's power over her own body, and whether any human government can define life, is a modern tower of Babel-an insult to God and His divine Word. It is a modern form of idolatry where the self -and the supposed rights of self-are worshipped and esteemed higher than God.In abortion we have created a culture of self-deification. We have made ourselves "like God" (Genesis 3:5For God doth know that in the day ye eat ther, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.See All...). We say we will determine what is good and evil, right and wrong. We say that human life is nothing more than meaningless tissue that can be disposed of at will and at any time during the nine months of pregnancy. We say that a man and a woman can decide the power of life or death on a growing child created in the image of God with the potential of becoming God's own son or daughter.If you know someone who is considering abortion, have them read this article or get reputable counseling. The life of unborn children should be regarded as precious and protected-not something to be callously extinguished through this terrible act.It must begin with you and in you. You can decide to change. You can decide to turn from this culture and evil and death and choose to follow life. You can turn to the God of life. The Creator of all life offers you the chance to choose to love Him and obey His teachings.By making this conscious choice you can increase the quality of your life. By grabbing hold of God, His teachings and His laws you can begin a journey back from this abyss created by a lawless world. You can turn from the self-centered culture that dares to redefine life on its own terms.What we are asking you to do right now is examine your values and turn to God for help. Read what the Bible tells you about your destiny. Look into God's plan for your life and begin today to live with His purpose guiding your steps.Have you chosen in the past to end a pregnancy? God offers forgiveness and hope. His grace is available when there is repentance and change of heart. You can move on from that decision and build a life based on God's knowledge.God, the Creator of life, has set before us the most incredible promise of divine life within His family. The life He sustains on this planet today is the seed for His eternal spiritual family. All human life is precious to God, even the life of unborn children. We cannot and must not compromise on this point!God laid out the teachings that protect life. He tells us to choose life. When we do, we honor life's Creator.[ Read the corresponding articles: Child Sacrifice: We're Not So Different Today and A Lesson About Life From Mary ].
For the last 15 years, my personal practice has always been more deity centered than nature centered. I've never kept it a secret that I view paganism as my religion. It's never been just spirituality to me. Well when I began researching Eostre I didn't want to believe that everything I have always believed about the myth is possibly incorrect. It was shocking to learn that an entire holiday (two really) are given credit because of a handful of sentences about a supposed deity. Now I'm not saying this should bother every person. Maybe you are fine with it, but for me it felt like a lie - it's just a story, and likely an incorrect one at that.
Notice I said likely. I'm not interested in debating whether or not Eostre really existed. They still can't prove whether or not Jesus really existed, so I don't see either one of us winning the Eostre debate!
After I wrote those posts, I started thinking about all the myths and stories about deities and I tried to think of a time when one of those deities felt real to me. The truth is never. Whether it's Jesus or Persephone they are archetypes to me. For others they are the many faces of God/dess, but for me, they are just ideas about the Divine.
So if I feel myths and stories about deities are just ideas, what do I feel is the truth about God/dess? Who or what is the Divine to me? Is it nature? Is it an intelligent being? For the first time in many many years, I don't know.
Asking these questions led to a very hard question that is difficult for me to come to terms with - Do I even believe that God/dess exists? I got hints of it when I felt so drawn to humanistic paganism some months ago. This isn't about what I believe is truth about Eostre. I'm searching for my truth about God/dess.
And by extension what kind of pagan am I? Am I a soft polytheist? Am I a strictly a nature based pagan? Am I an agnostic? Am I a humanist? Do I even need to decide? If and when I decide what it is I believe about God/dess, will I be on a different path and begin studying a new branch of paganism? How do I continue to incorporate myths into paganism if I believe they are just stories? What would a spiritual practice without Deity be like?
These are profound life changing questions. I feel like I'm at a crossroads in my life. One commenter on my Facebook page described it as an initiation. However, right now it feels like a "dark night of the soul."
