“Fear of ET as invasive colonists presupposes that the aliens have no culture or history of their own — that they are merely an anonymous, imperial horde. Andrea Smith has written of “the racial logic of Orientalism” as marking “certain peoples or nations as inferior and as posing a constant threat to the well-being of…
Diary
Relaxation and Rigidity are at Opposite Ends of the Spectrum
“[Relaxation and rigidity are at opposite ends of the spectrum], and the rigidity of our quantitative way of understanding our world has boxed things and set up very complicated, but still linear, relationships. This is a product of industry, of mechanization, [and] this kind of thinking goes way back. And the problem with this thinking…
Not Talking About Something Doesn’t Make It Go Away: Reflections on Metaphysics
“After Aristotle had sketched the best science available in his day, he wanted to go further. What implications did that science have for the nature of the physical world with which it dealt? His intention was to develop the meta-physics only after the physics. If science had always followed this pattern the role of metaphysics…
It’s too late. We can’t Stop Jesus from going to the cross: Crucifixion and Ecological Catastrophe
“But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” –Luke 23:28 I am a big fan of artist Paul Soupiset’s Lenten Sketchbook projects. Every year he usually does one and this year it has been great as usual. The image Paul has created…
What is a social “safety net” and why do we need them?
“The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set maximum hours and minimum wages for most categories of workers…These and other measures protecting workers and the public came to be known as the social “safety net”. In this analogy, the participants in the capitalist system are like acrobats swinging on a trapeze far above the floor…
The Bippity Bop Bop Bible is NOT…
“The Bible is not the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. We go to the Bible because of the testimony of the saints that the Word of God can be encountered there through faithful reading which is an active process of interpretation not passive reception. Readings of the Bible which hurt people…
Love is Oblivious to Morals
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” –Matthew 7:12 … “Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of…
Not all things experience, but there is experience in all things: Misunderstanding Panexperientialsim
“Some critics of process like to make fun of the idea of panexperientialism. They misconstrue the doctrine to mean that everything has experiences—everything without exception. They can then talk about how silly it is to claim that a chair has feelings, or that a stone or a rock can think. The “pan” in panexperientialism means…
Life Should Be Cooperative, Not Competitive: Permaculture, Design, and Economics
In the economy we have constructed, more importance is placed on the invented world of products and currency than on the real, natural world. In this system our value as humans is determined by how much stuff we have. But no natural systems function this way. Natural systems do create greater abundance as they develop,…
The Cultural Dimension of Radical Islam
While there are many ways that the growing ideology of radical Islamism can be countered and resisted, my focus here is on the cultural dimension of the problem. Although Muslims have been keen to adopt the technologies of modernity, they have yet to adopt the cultural values of modernity. However, it is the liberal values…