What is the real me? It is certainly more than the matter of my body, because that it changing all the time. The atoms are always changing – but in some sense it is the pattern of how the atoms are formed. That, I think, is what the soul is (agreeing with Thomas Aquinas). It…
Category
Philosophy
Aliens Haven’t Invaded Because They’re Busy Playing Video Games
In a movie theater we all stare straight ahead And wait for something to happen. Some need to be fulfilled, Others just want to be accepted. I think we’ve all seen this one before. It stars that insatiable hunger for what is yet to come, Directed by that unintelligible twitch in our brain Which says…
Glimpsing the Invisible
Tentatively enduring each agonizing gasp, you force your lungs to work but your eyes don’t blink. They finally called your name and you did the very thing you told yourself you wouldn’t do. Two steps ago you were safe in your chair. Now you’re that much closer to that fast approaching future you thought you’d…
I know we’ve only known each other four weeks and three days: Steve Martin, Rob Bell, Aions and Aions
[Speaking to Marie in bed while she sleeps] Navin R. Johnson: I know we’ve only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like…
Why I like Hardcore Music: Art, Morality and Catharsis
The philosophical debate over the moral effects of the arts is hardly new; we can trace it back at least as far as the writings of Plato (ca.428–ca.348 bce) and his most famous student, Aristotle (384–322 bce). Plato argues that we should be suspicious of the so-called “imitative arts,” because they arouse our passions—“Frantic tick…
Heaven is NOT a Utopia
I’ve been following Kester Brewins “Dirty Heaven” series over at his blog (1, 2, 3). It’s basically him reflecting on the above RSA video. What a great read! Here are a few things I’m thinking about after watching the video: I’m pretty much agreeing with Kester that the typical “Utopian” view of Heaven needs re-thought….
Will you lie to vindicate God?
Will you lie to vindicate God? Will you perjure yourself for him? Will you blindly stand on his side? Pleading his case alone? What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you cheat him as you would a man? Won’t he judge you severely if your testimony is false? Your answers…
Why I Don’t Like The Grammy Awards or Pop Music in General
In regard to how I feel about “award” shows, such as the audaciously generic Grammy Awards which took place last Sunday night, I defer to author Mark Twain: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” I’m not quite sure what it is about me that wants…
I’d forgotten how small a newborn was.
I’d forgotten how small a newborn was. She weighed at most, eight and a half pounds. When the sun broke between two clouds and hits us, she scrunched up her face until it looked like a head of cabbage, her tight fists covering her eyes. Then her fists fell away and her face un-scrunched and…
This Is Not A Pipe: Rene Magritte & Michel Foucault Tag Team
The mystical, Platonic identification of words with the essence of things is what many of Magritte’s canvases vigorously assault. Just as in Saussurean linguistics words do not “refer” to things, in Magritte’s Surrealism the painter’s images do not really “resemble” anything whose sovereign presence would lend it the aspect of a model or origin. When…