Monthly Archives: July 2013
There’s a refusal to be defined by or accept labels and doctrines. There’s hesitation to adhere to the institutional viewpoint, born from the way religion has been used for political and economic gain, just the same as Jesus rejected. All those things make people feel their faith has been devalued and bastardized. [Young people] want faith in practice, not about details of what you believe but what you actually do. They don’t want to sit in a church bogged down in doctrinal gymnastics; instead, they will get up and go to Haiti and build a house. –Reza Aslan
* writer Jennifer Danielle Crumpton http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+jennifer+danielle+crumpton&qpvt=images+jennifer+danielle+crumpton&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=B7D483F384587647EE51A30B0FB6589D7856AF0E&selectedIndex=1 * * http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-danielle-crumpton/a-helluva-zealot-reza-asl_b_3678420.html?utm_hp_ref=religion * A Helluva Zealot: Reza Aslan Doesn’t Just Bury Fox News, He Resurrects the Young, Progressive Christian Imagination * by Jennifer Danielle Crumpton * Are the spiritual-but-not-religious X and Millennial … Continue reading
An employee who gives information about national security matters to an organization that publishes it online for the world to see is NOT guilty of aiding the enemy. — Charlie Savage
* * * http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/bradley-manning-verdict.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&partner=rss&emc=rss * A military judge on Tuesday found Pfc. Bradley Manning not guilty of “aiding the enemy” for his release of hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks for publication on the Internet, rejecting … Continue reading
Splintered leftist Occupy movement vs. unified right wing Tea Party: The desire for uniqueness can undermine individuals’ ability to capitalize on whatever consensus actually exists. The NYU scientists believe that this psychological dynamic is reflected most notably in the media today, where conservative pundits speak with a unified voice of a movement, while liberal commentators splinter the left with critical and diverging views. — Wray Herbert
* http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+political+tea+party&qpvt=images+political+tea+party&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=8D12138DCB046DBC7A7AADD6D016BDEC664C3CC4&selectedIndex=195 * * http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wray-herbert/why-occupy-wall-street-fi_b_3676789.html * The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street came into existence at roughly the same time, in the wake of the financial markets’ collapse, and each was an angry challenge to the country’s financial … Continue reading
Morning Star Galileo presaged modern astronomy
* Galileo 1564-1642 * * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo * Galileo 1564-1642 has been called the “father of modern observational astronomy,” the “father of modern physics,” the “father of science,” and “the Father of Modern Science.” * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Star#Astronomy * Morning star is … Continue reading
T.S. Eliot 1888-1965: Major poet of the last century — we marvel how sharp and complete and sui generis Eliot’s body of work is, from the outset. The wholeness is there, from the very beginning.
* T.S. Eliot * * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot#Responses_to_his_poetry * We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. — from Little Gidding * … Continue reading
Conscripted into someone’s crises of fear (ego defense) and smallness (arrogance/self-important): Movie “The Way, Way Back” — Trent is … awful. Utterly purposely oblivious to anything but his own ego images of how his life “ought to look” and constantly conscripting the mother, her son and his own daughter into service to that end. He doesn’t beat children or women, at least not with his fists. But he’s a bully, nonetheless. And the worst kind of bully! The kind who believe themselves to be erudite and wise. The kind of bully who is convinced he’s doing you a favor with his condescending, vicious criticisms, his certainty that everyone around him is lucky to benefit from his unique knowledge of how things ought to be.
* http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+egotism&qpvt=images+egotism&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=CEC2BDE2F7ED710A259C1424CE58893E7B4719FE&selectedIndex=9 * Monstrous vain ego maniacs here who hypocritize & pretend authenticity — left to right: George Ariyoshi, Gerald De Mello, Lokelani Lindsey, John Ushijima * http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/steven-kalas/watching-cringing-film-family-makes-real-life-errors * * https://curtisnarimatsu.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/energy-vamps-croix-and-george-brine/ * * My private practice is replete with issues … Continue reading
In praise of Herb Alvarez & the House Church phenomenon
* http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+house+church&qpvt=images+house+church&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=C04E4BB8749CE6FD8B9E12DE76B2172C9CD3A36E&selectedIndex=227 * * Herb is a member of New Hope Christian Fellowship, rooted in Foursquare Gospel: * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Church_of_the_Foursquare_Gospel#Post_McPherson_history * The Foursquare denomination, under Hayford’s leadership, is in “Missional Conversation” with the emerging church movement, claimed to be part of … Continue reading
sage Steven Kalas on atheist C.S. Lewis’ conversion to Christianity: My understanding of the importance and the power of myth is why I offer no shrift to the modern tempest regarding evolution versus creation. I think of that debate as a conversation between two people using two different radio frequencies. Though raised in the church, Oxford professor C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a professed atheist by age 15. In 1926, he met and forged a close friendship with Oxford colleague J.R.R. Tolkien. This relationship became the nexus of Lewis’ conversion to Christianity. After many discussions and spirited arguments, Tolkien is said to have said to Lewis, “Clive, you know what a myth is, yes?” “Of course I do,” Clive assured him. To which Tolkien said, “Well … Christianity is a true myth.” And Lewis was converted and later baptized in the Anglican Church. A myth is in fact not a “false representation of the truth.” A myth is eternally true.
* Christian apologetic C.S. Lewis (the power of supposition over allegory, per Lewis) * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis#Christian_apologist His most famous works, the Chronicles of Narnia, contain many strong Christian messages and are often considered allegory. Lewis, an expert on the subject of … Continue reading
Christian existentialists dating back to the equidistant timeline from Augustine 400 AD 800 yrs. before Aquinas to Aquinas 1200 AD 800 yrs. before us today — demonstrate that Christian faith is justified because it satisfies certain emotional and spiritual needs. Faith in God satisfies these needs. Therefore, faith in God is justified. This argument is not the same as an evidential argument: A person who is convinced of an existential argument says, I believe because I am satisfied when I do. A person who is convinced of an evidential argument says, I believe because there is a good reason to do so. This is different from C. S. Lewis’ argument from desire, which argues that there is an explanation of the source of the existential needs: If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
* Augustine http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+st.+augustine&qpvt=images+st.+augustine&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=D2B087496BE43261F206FC476D6D32C91695D392&selectedIndex=8 * * Aquinas http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+st.+thomas+aquinas&qpvt=images+st.+thomas+aquinas&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=6E986F438A29CED7EB6C902FED32868E82ED3513&selectedIndex=0 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_existential_apologetics * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_existentialism#Notable_Christian_existentialists * * The roots of existentialism have been traced back as far as St Augustine. * * Jacques Maritain, in Existence and the Existent: An Essay on Christian Existentialism, … Continue reading
Musica amore!! In praise of the 44th anniversary of McCartney’s “Oh! Darling”
* http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+oh+darling+song&qpvt=images+oh+darling+song&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=986ADA02DB75204761CD0EE5D0617C3B47A929E8&selectedIndex=56 * * * Pamela Rosenstock’s cover — * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkmQCp_Vqkk * * * * * Anael Azan’s cover — * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykV-xocokFE * * * Nikki Yanofsky’s cover — * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi7G0Rjwfk4 * * Tom Odell’s cover — * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrz3cAqfCcU * … Continue reading
Curtis Narimatsu 