Current Events

Everyone is Waiting For You to Make a Mistake: Neoliberalism and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism

February 9, 2018 culture, Current Events, Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology

“Self-oriented perfectionism is the tendency to hold oneself to an unrealistically high standard, while other-oriented perfectionism means having unrealistic expectations of others. But “socially prescribed perfectionism is the most debilitating of the three dimensions of perfectionism,” Curran and Hall contend. It describes the feeling of paranoia and anxiety engendered by the persistent — and not…

Everybody is Their Own Galaxy

February 1, 2018 Art, Christianity, Current Events, Philosophy, Poetry, Theory

“All tribes unite at the Godhead and then walk away with their differing tribal missions: that is the aim of the 21st century, to achieve that realization and walk from the whole toward infinite fracturing into communities that reflect what its members actually believe. It is the only way to purge ourselves of guilt and…

At least some form of continuity between mind and nature…

January 10, 2018 Current Events, Ecology, humanities, Philosophy, Science, Theology, Theory

“A central feature of any naturalism is that there is at least some form of continuity between mind and nature – or, that mind “stretches” to meet nature (in the words of John Dewey). But, what is “mind” within a naturalistic register? A basic premise for naturalists such as Charles S. Peirce, John Dewey, George…

Yes you’re human too, that’s why more is expected of you.

January 5, 2018 Art, Christianity, culture, Current Events, Politics, Theology, Theory

“The notion that political enemies are human, too, sharing our common human hopes and fears, triumphs and vulnerabilities, is often deployed in a way to downplay political division and enmity. In reality, though, the fact that our enemies are human, too, is what makes them morally accountable. If they were inhuman monsters who thrived on…

Artists and Authors aren’t geniuses or gods.

November 29, 2017 Art, Current Events, Philosophy, Theory

“Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, William Burroughs, Richard Wagner, Sid Vicious, V. S. Naipaul, John Galliano, Norman Mailer, Ezra Pound, Caravaggio, Floyd Mayweather, though if we start listing athletes we’ll never stop…They did or said something awful, and made something great. The awful thing disrupts the great work; we can’t watch or listen to…

Guns & Crack (WARNING: WHITE GUY GUN RANT)

November 13, 2017 Current Events, Philosophy, Politics, Thoughts

In all of my conversations with men who own guns for “self-defense” (the vast majority of them being white men, btw) every single one of them comes out at some point trying to save face (presumably not wanting to sound like a complete monster) by saying something like, “I’d never want to kill anyone, it’s…

Your Freedom Is In Being Last: Even More Thoughts on Freedom and Free Speech

September 13, 2017 Christianity, culture, Current Events, humanities, Philosophy, Theology

“Then he punctuates the story with one of his most theologically challenging statements: ‘Thus the last will be first and the first will be last.’ And the privileged people who worked a full day are irate. They can’t believe it! They were expecting equality. They were expecting to get paid more than the people who…

Rich and Poor and Black and White All Over: Brief Reflections Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Latest

September 8, 2017 Christianity, Current Events, Philosophy, Politics, Thoughts

“That black people, who have lived for centuries under such derision and condescension, have not yet been driven into the arms of Trump does not trouble these theoreticians. After all, in this analysis, Trump’s racism and the racism of his supporters are incidental to his rise. Indeed, the alleged glee with which liberals call out…

Toward Omnisensitivity: Society, Parenting, Freedom, and Increasing Our Scope of Concern

August 17, 2017 Art, Current Events, humanities, Philosophy, Politics, Theory, Thoughts

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others” –Nelson Mandela With all that’s been going on lately regarding the evocation of “free speech” from hate groups on the right, I wanted to jot down some more reflections…

A Call to Confession and Repentance (On Charlottesville Being Terrorized)

August 14, 2017 Christianity, Current Events, News, Politics, Thoughts

A call to confession and repentance: 1: Trump contributed heavily to normalizing the Alt-Right and, specifically, White Nationalism; i.e. because Trump actively sought out this faction of voters and pandered to them, these groups were legitimized and empowered. We have just witnessed this reality in Charlottesville. The unashamed massive turnout, along with the explicit violent…