Jesus contradicts the Mosaic law not to impose an alternative law, but to propose the practice of grace. A life lived by the practice of grace is going to have an unpredictable, nonconforming aspect to it. Many of the central concerns of human society (the rule of law, the sanctity of life, sexual relations, contracts,…
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Thoughts
Diseases of The Rich–Spirit level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
The book argues that there are “pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, (and) encouraging excessive consumption”. It claims that for each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and…
Ignorance is Bliss: Is It Valid to Feel Hopeless About Occupy Wall Street?
Research shows that a more accurate notion of one’s powerlessness can result in a greater feeling of helplessness and is associated with depression. Several classic studies show that moderately depressed people are more critically thinking than those who are not depressed. Researchers Lauren Alloy and Lyn Abramson, studying nondepressed and depressed subjects who played a…
Death Is The Destination We All Share | Steve Jobs Speaks About Death
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is…
Doing Something So That Nothing Really Changes | Occupy Wall Street,The Matrix & a Vulgar Joke
In the good old days of Really Existing Socialism, a joke popular among dissidents was used to illustrate the futility of their protests. In the fifteenth century, when Russia was occupied by Mongols, a peasant and his wife were walking along a dusty country road; a Mongol warrior on a horse stopped at their side…
Loving Yourself and Loving Others: Does Jesus Prescribe Psychotherapy?
I don’t think Jesus is saying anything at all about self-esteem in the second Greatest Commandment. And it worries me a lot that churches are leading with messages of self-love. I don’t think Americans need to hear a message that starts like this: “The first thing you need to do is work on loving yourself….
Live in A Corporatocracy Much?
“A Corporatocracy within society, denotes a system of government that serves the interest of, and may be run by, corporations and involves ties between government and business. Where corporations, conglomerates, and/or government entities with private components, control the direction and governance of a country, including carrying out economic planning (notwithstanding the “free market” label)” (Wiki)
Thoughts on Live Music vs. Recorded Music & Revolution
Matthew: it’s ok sorry if I am missing your point Me: Here is what I’m getting at plain and simple: I think our problem today is not the lack of well accessible content. The crisis for me is that it is disembodied. Me: Sitting around a piano singing together is an act of revolution man….
The Only Thing We Need To Be Good Philosophers: A Prayer For My Son
THE ONLY THING WE REQUIRE TO BE GOOD PHILOSOPHERS IS THE FACULTY OF WONDER. Babies have this faculty. That is not surprising. After a few short months in the womb they slip out into a brand-new reality. But as they grow up the faculty of wonder seems to diminish. Why is this? Do you know?…
Early Christians and Their Deluded, Prurient Love
But Romans frequently criticized the Christian emphasis on love as somehow a little deluded and perhaps prurient, suggesting that followers of the Jesus Way made it known that theirs was a path of love. Early Christians insisted that love–not rationality or politics or even virtue–was the primary bond between God and humans beings. Love was…