Creatively Advancing into Novelty
“Nothing endures but change” –Heraclitus Throughout my life I have encountered people who think differently than me; people who have different beliefs, ideas, convictions, and ideologies than me. This is inevitable. But what I’ve found to be most problematic about engaging with someone who has a differing opinion, stance, viewpoint or idea on something is…
“People say that marriage is broken, or that marriage is up-for-grabs. Neither is true. Actually, there are two marriages in America.” –Tony Jones Earlier today, in an online conversation about the possibility of clergy being forced to marry same sex couples against their will due to the recent SCOTUS ruling legalizing same sex marriage (SSM),…
Everyone has a hidden agenda. Except me! –Michael Crichton I guess I never really thought about it much before but, yea, people who use the word “agenda” to describe those who’s opinions they disagree with are essentially just saying they don’t necessarily have a logical reason to disagree with these opposing views but, because of…
“…US.White men, such as myself, have proven ourselves to be one of the most dangerous groups in the country. We are the most likely demographic to be responsible for killing sprees, leading dangerous cults, or plotting acts of violent treason–what we might call White Male Terror. At the same time, white men show a sneering…
“What bio-cultural sciences show us is that exactly this in-group anxiety and out-group antagonism is intensified by religion, i.e., shared imaginative engagement with supernatural agents. Priming people to think about invisible agents that may be watching them, and participating in emotionally-arousing, synchronically organized, causally opaque rituals, reinforces superstitious beliefs and segregative behaviors. This has been…
Psychoanalysis is a peculiar protest against the casual dismissal [of] religion as an archaic anomaly that shall soon pass. It concordantly rejects the liberal dream of a politics without theology and claims instead the political is necessarily theological. The conscious rationale manifesting as justification for any religious belief or policy position can be addressed, mitigated,…
“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…
“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…
“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…
The Earth is sacred revelation. We know this fact when we are troubled. Often, when we need to work through a problem, we take a walk in a park, or go outside and sit under a tree, or visit one of our “sacred places” in the natural world, or spend time with our pets, or…