September 2005 Bookshelf
Some challenging materials for September including a book on pornography, European fascism, and an interesting book on Buddhist practices.Sam Harris on Secularism & Religion
This article, written by Sam Harris the author of The End of Faith, is one of the most compelling disertations on secularism and its compatibility with spirituality I have read in the last 18 months. I strongly encourage people wrestling with finding common ground between various religions, or more importantly, with their secular family & friends, to read his article and book (the paperback has recently come out). You will not regret the time spent wrestling with his propositions.The Anatomy of Fascism
As American society has grown increasingly polarized, we have all become more willing to accommodate thinkers from our own camps that mercilessly attack opposing thinkers in the vilest of terms. Ann Coulter is one such example for conservatives – her last book How to Talk to Liberals, if You Must is hateful at a humorous, theoretical and pragmatic level. Dissent is essential in a democracy and the idea, even if hopefully incorporating humor, is dangerous that representatives of a contrasting ideology are not worth talking to.Book Review: Pornified
Pornography has become so ubiquitous that it can now be rightly called a part of our common culture. Female porn stars, and not soft core stars the likes of Pamela Anderson, regularly make the leap from their adult film status to rock video icons, spokes models, best selling book authors and advertising mavens. We have so perfected human sexuality as to make its visceral appeal to the average man next to impossible to resist. Men who, in an effort to be honest, are willing to acknowledge the sexual gravity they feel pull them when walking through Barnes & Noble or stand next to the magazine rack at the 7/11, often find themselves confused over their conflicting emotions. ...Katrina & Poverty
It has been suggested that the problem with poverty is that the rich and middle class really do not care about the plight of the poor. There is certainly some truth to this. In fairness, it is easy to mistake someone who does not care, for an individual who does not know how to actually be a part of making a difference in the lives of the impoverished. The reality is that an answer to the plague of poverty does not present itself easily; consequently, this difficulty makes dialogue over it innately hyperbolic, punitive and terse. Conservative and liberal ideology is each right about one dimension to their respective political orthodoxies; however, each is also wrong ...The Federal Political Dimension to Katrina
The delta of the Mississippi River where New Orleans sits is essential to incoming and outgoing freight within the US. We may, however have to recognize its economic necessity but build a city reflecting this reality coupled with the environmental limitations of a mixed industrial and non-industrial city in an area prone to hurricanes and, by necessity, settled below sea level. This would be a terrible loss to America as the culture of New Orleans would be much missed; however, the economic realities coupled with the loss of life Katrina’s progeny might cost are too high a price to make the city anything less than a river port.Katrina
Some initial thoughts on Katrina and her aftermath follow ... more to come.Questions for Faith
What I love, admire and appreciate about the Emergent movement is its willingness to acknowledge the past and present mistakes of those who wrap themselves up in the Christian faith. Who the Emergent movement speaks most importantly to are those people who desire a worldview with an encompassing Christian ethic that can be communicated to those around them. In addition, what the Emergent movement has tapped into is people’s desire to have the spiritual side of their being nourished, but with a diminishing emphasis on the brittle dogmatisms of evangelical faith.Story - Friend or Foe?
We fear losing the historicity of our beliefs out of fear of what we can not know (eternal security, fate of the soul, etc.) and as an inevitable consequence of this, by elevating facts (story inevitably does this – it is a weaker version of fundamentalism – it still says this / our story is superior) above transcendence. Story is a last means of defending sacred texts from fundamentalists who, by taking them literally, expose them to scrutiny they are unable to withstand. Perhaps missed most by people such as me is this point: story has value because we all need means by which we can wrap questions of meaning, purpose and change around. Story does ...About MysteriousFaith
“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
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