tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004262782453430342024-02-20T23:55:25.803-08:00Rummagerummage |ˈrəmij|
verb [ intrans. ]
search unsystematically and untidily through a mass or receptacle: (he rummaged in his pocket for a handkerchief | [ trans. ] he rummaged the drawer for his false teeth.)
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-35190928088578434392016-05-18T19:28:00.002-07:002016-05-18T19:28:52.001-07:00Adorno on the totality of individualism <div>
I have been reading through Theodore Adorno's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Sociology-Theodor-Adorno/dp/0804746834/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463624612&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=adorno+lectures+on+sociology" target="_blank">Lectures on an Introduction to Sociology</a> and I really liked these quotes about how our society is united by individualism and competition and how this might possibly be self-destructive. </div>
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“the totality within which we live, and which we can feel in each of our social actions, is conditioned not by a direct ‘togetherness’ encompassing us all, but by the fact that we are essentially divided from each other through the abstract relationship of exchange. It is not only a unity of separate parts, but a unity which is really only constituted through the mechanism of separation and abstraction.” <div>
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<br />“We live within a totality which binds people together only by virtue of their alienation from each other… it is precisely through the insistence on the <i>principium individuationis - </i>in other words, through the fact that within the dominant forms of society individual people seek their individual advantage, profit - that the whole is able to survive and reproduce itself at all - even if while moaning and groaning and at the cost of unspeakable sacrifices….. precisely because the whole or the totality of society maintains itself not on the basis of solidarity or from the standpoint of a comprehensive social subject, but only through the antagonistic interests of human beings, this society of rational exchanges is infected in its constitution and at its very root by a moment of irrationality which threatens to disintegrate it at any moment.” </div>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-90042196522049246832016-05-18T19:20:00.000-07:002016-05-18T19:20:24.118-07:00Review: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12075" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396830687m/12075.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12075">Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7672">Ludwig Wittgenstein</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1634839545">4 of 5 stars</a>
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"Whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent".... That is the 7th and last proposition of Wittgenstein's seminal work: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. I suppose this could apply to my book review, since I understand so little of this book I should just be silent ;) <br />
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I read this book for two main reasons: because of the historical significance of this work, it is said by many to be one of the greatest philosophical works of the 20th century and to help me understand Wittgenstein's later writings, especially his posthumously published "Philosophical Investigations" which talks about "language games" - a concept and work that is fairly common in modern philosophy and theology. It is a short but dense work in the philosophical family of logical positivism. In seeking to answer the common philosophical problems, Wittgenstein points to the logical errors used in language as a root of all philosophical problems and aims to design a laws for logical language. The book is broken into the below 7 propositions and written in a really interesting point by point manner. The 7 basic proposition are listed below....<br />
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7 Basic Propositions<br />
1. The world is everything that is the case<br />
2. What is the case, the fact, is the existence of atomic facts. <br />
3. The logical picture of the facts is the thought. <br />
4. The thought is the significant proposition. <br />
5. Propositions are truth-functions of elementary propositions. <br />
6. The general form of truth-function is [p, E,N (E)]<br />
7. Whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent
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<a href="http://hacks.michelepasin.org/witt/onesentence" target="_blank">Check out this website for one cool way of reading two different translations of the Tractatus </a><br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1634839545">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-79812214445327044592016-05-10T21:52:00.001-07:002016-05-10T21:52:14.057-07:00Roger Olson on Doubt<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I mentioned in my review of Greg Boyd's book "Benefit of the Doubt", an excellent blogpost by Roger Olson on Doubt. Here is an excerpt from the post titled <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/04/clearing-up-some-christian-confusions-about-doubt/" target="_blank">"Clearing up Christian Confusions about Doubt" </a>: </span></div>
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"Is doubt a necessary, even helpful aspect of Christian faith? Should faith conquer all doubt so that we regard as heroes of Christian faith those who seem to have risen above all doubt?</div>
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I think the answers to these questions must begin with definitions of “doubt.” Much confusion is caused in Christian (as other) conversations by multiple (unstated) meanings of words.</div>
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Insofar as “doubt” indicates <em>skepticism</em> toward God, genuine unbelief, resistance to the submission of trust, I judge it to be always only a stage on the way to stronger faith and not an element of faith itself. This “doubt” is a <em>disposition</em> that resists trusting reliance on the truth of God and God’s Word. This disposition is an indicator of the continuing liveliness of “the flesh” (as Paul calls the fallen human nature). It is a sign of need for greater submission to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit renewing the mind.</div>
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Insofar as “doubt” means <em>lack of absolute certainty</em> it is merely a sign of finitude. Similarly, insofar as “doubt” means <em>partial understanding</em> (of God and God’s ways) it is merely a sign of finitude. I take it Paul is referring to these when he says that now we see in a glass dimly and only in the future will we see face-to-face. In this sense of “doubt” it is an element in faith because it constitutes admission of not-being-God. We are not capable, at least in this life, of “thinking God’s thoughts after him.” His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Admitting that is no sign of unbelief and stands in no tension with true faith.</div>
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Insofar as “doubt” means questioning and wrestling with notions about God we are told to believe but have trouble believing I judge it to be part of the process of “examined faith.” We are instructed in the New Testament to “test all things” and “hold fast to that which is right.” Questioning, examining, reflecting, thinking critically, using our God-given intellects to reason—these can look like “doubting God” when they are only doubting human ideas about God with a disposition of wanting to believe and understand only what God has revealed. This “doubting” is an aspect of what James Sire has called <em>Discipleship of the Mind</em> (1990).</div>
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I think it would be helpful if people would make clearer what “doubt” they mean when they talk about doubt as a positive aspect of the life of faith, of Christian living. Insofar as doubt spurs us on to greater dependence on God’s revelation and faith and insofar as doubt causes us to question half-baked notions promoted by Christian communicators it is positive. Insofar as doubt constitutes a disposition of resistance to God’s self-communication and dependence on him alone for self-understanding and understanding of answers to life’s ultimate questions communicated in God’s Word it stands in tension with faith and is something to overcome with prayer: “Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief.” " </div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "helvetica" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/04/clearing-up-some-christian-confusions-about-doubt/</span></span></div>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-8215762771496206642016-05-10T21:52:00.000-07:002016-05-10T21:52:07.744-07:00Review: Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17350886" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1373225130m/17350886.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17350886">Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18170">Gregory A. Boyd</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1593172120">3 of 5 stars</a>
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This is one of several books on doubt and christianity that has come out in the last couple years (a few others: Barnapas piper: help my unbelief. Pete Enns: The sin of certainty). I think this was a good book, but not a great book. To be honest I think people would be better off listening to the "house of cards" sermon series that Greg preaches to learn the essential core ideas of Boyd's thoughts on faith and doubt which I will quickly summarize as (1) biblical faith is covenant/relationship based, not certainty-seeking/intellectual based; (2) christocentric faith- Greg proposes the idea that we should believe in the Bible because we believe in Jesus, not that we should believe in Jesus because we believe in the Bible. For him this important, b/c it means our faith is not based on interpretive disagreements or views of authorship but rather the center of our faith is in who Christ is and what he has done. (3) Wrestling it out - I think the most significant takeaway for me from this book is the overall attitude and message to wrestle with difficult questions from a place of relationship and commitment to God. Don't wait to be certain to be committed to following Christ, follow Christ in the midst of uncertainty. This is like being in a marriage where one does not wait for the problems to be fixed or to know the other person completely before committing to love them. In a marriage, you choose to commit to loving the other despite mysteries and problems. <br />
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The book is good, but like I said above, I would encourage people to listen to the sermon series or even just the single sermon below:<br />
<a href="http://whchurch.org/blog/3819/toppling-the-house-of-cards" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://whchurch.org/blog/3819/topplin...</a><br />
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One last thing, on the subject of doubt. Roger Olson has a really good blog post titled "clearing up some christian confusions about doubt" (link below). For anyone interested in christianity and doubt I would encourage them to read that short but excellent blogpost. <br />
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/04/clearing-up-some-christian-confusions-about-doubt/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereol...</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1593172120">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-28740539181674400112016-04-28T11:16:00.001-07:002016-04-28T11:16:17.332-07:00Bauman on Love, Commitment and Sacrifice <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few Quotes from Zygmunt Bauman's book "the art of life" about love, commitment and sacrifice:<br />
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<span class="s1">“By loving we try to recast fate into destiny; but by following the demands of love, the logic or <i>ordo amoris;</i> we make our destiny a hostage to that fate… This is why love tends nowadays to be simultaneously desired and feared. This is also why the idea of a commitment (to another person, to a company of persons, to a cause), and particularly of unconditional and indefinite commitment, has fallen out of popular favor. To the detriment of those who let it lapse - since love, and self-abandonment and commitment to the Other, which is what love consists of, create the only space where the intricate dialectics of destiny and fate can be seriously confronted.” (pg.40)</span></blockquote>
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<span class="s1">“ ‘ Sacrificial culture is dead,’ declared Gilles Lipovetsky bluntly in his 1993 postface to his stage-setting 1983 study of contemporary individualism. ‘We've stopped recognizing ourselves in any obligation to live for the sake of something other than ourselves.’ Not that we have turned deaf to our concerns with the misfortunes of other people, or with the sorry state of the planet; nor have we ceased to be outspoken about such worries. Neither is it the case that we’ve stopped declaring our willingness to act in defense of the downtrodden, as well as in protection of the planet they share with us; not that we have stopped acting (at least occasionally) on such declaration.s The opposite seems to be the case: the spectacular rise of egotistic self-referentiality runs paradoxically shoulder to shoulder with a rising sensitivity to human misery, an abhorrence of violence, pain and suffering visited on even the most distant strangers, and regular explosions of focused (remedial) charity. But, as Lipovetsky rightly observes, such moral impulses and outbursts of magnanimity are instances of ‘painless morality’, morality stripped of obligations and executive sanctions, ‘adapted to the Ego-priority’. When it comes to acting ‘for the sake of something other than oneself’, the passions, well-being and physical health of the Ego tend to be both the preliminary and the ultimate considerations; they also tend to set the limits to which we are prepared to go in our readiness to help.</span><span class="s1">As a rule, manifestations of devotion to that ‘something (or someone) other than oneself’, however sincere, ardent and intense, stop short of self-sacrifice. For instance, the dedication to green causes seldom if ever goes as far as adopting an ascetic lifestyle, or even a partial self-denial. Indeed, far from being ready to renounce a lifestyle of consumeristic indulgence, we will often be reluctant to accept even a minor personal inconvenience; the driving force of our indignation tends to be the desire for a superior, safer and more secure consumption.” (pg.41-42) </span><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1"><br /></span></blockquote>
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<span class="s1"></span><span class="s1">“Love, which we need to conclude, abstains from promising an easy road to happiness and meaning. The ‘ pure relationship’ inspired by consumerist practices promises that kind of easy life; but by the same token it renders happiness and meaning hostages to fate. To cut a long story short: love is not something that can be found; not an <i>objet trouve</i> or a ‘ready made’. It is something that always still needs to be made anew and remade daily, hourly; constantly resuscitated, reaffirmed, attended to and cared for. In line with the growing frailty of human bonds, the unpopularity of long-term commitments, the stripping away of ‘duties’ from ‘rights’ and the avoidance of any obligations except the ‘obligations to oneself’, love tends to be viewed as either perfect from the start, or failed- better to be abandoned and replaced by a ‘new and improved’ specimen, hopefully genuinely perfect. Such love is not expected to survive the first minor squabble, let alone the first serious disagreement and confrontation…” (pg.132-133)</span></blockquote>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-22049836409956786732016-04-28T11:10:00.000-07:002016-04-28T11:10:06.541-07:00Review: The Art of Life<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3245200" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Art of Life" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375673245m/3245200.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3245200">The Art of Life</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26260">Zygmunt Bauman</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1623298681">5 of 5 stars</a>
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5 Stars!<br />
This is the first book by Zygmunt Bauman that I have read, and now I want to read all of his books. Bauman's writing is a blur of sociology, philosophy, history, theology, art and all things good. There will be a few dry passages here and there, but overall he has a sharp bite to some of his messages and speaks directly to the heart of our modern culture. This book is about a lot of things, but in a simple way he is trying to critique the fear of commitment and sacrificial love in modern culture and promote the idea that to live life artfully takes time, commitment, discipline, sacrifice and charachter; a happy life does not just fall in our lap it is made and fought for. Bauman, hits on a lot of other subjects regarding modern life; but the call to commitment and sacrifice in the art of life is a main core of this book. In the last page of the book, Bauman ends with these words on love/commitment:<br />
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“Love, which we need to conclude, abstains from promising an easy road to happiness and meaning. The ‘pure relationship’ inspired by consumerist practices promises that kind of easy life; but by the same token it renders happiness and meaning hostages to fate. To cut a long story short: love is not something that can be found; not an 'objet trouve' or a ‘ready made’. It is something that always still needs to be made anew and remade daily, hourly; constantly resuscitated, reaffirmed, attended to and cared for. In line with the growing frailty of human bonds, the unpopularity of long-term commitments, the stripping away of ‘duties’ from ‘rights’ and the avoidance of any obligations except the ‘obligations to oneself’, love tends to be viewed as either perfect from the start, or failed- better to be abandoned and replaced by a ‘new and improved’ specimen, hopefully genuinely perfect. Such love is not expected to survive the first minor squabble, let alone the first serious disagreement and confrontation…” (pg.132-133)<br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1623298681">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-36873435809871801272016-04-26T15:44:00.002-07:002016-04-28T11:17:21.317-07:00September 1, 1939 by James W. Auden <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">I sit in one of the dives</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">On Fifty-second Street</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Uncertain and afraid</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">As the clever hopes expire</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Of a low dishonest decade: </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Waves of anger and fear </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Circulate over the bright</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">And darkened lands of the earth, </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Obsessing our private lives;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The unmentionable odour of death </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Offends the September night.</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Accurate scholarship can</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Unearth the whole offence</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">From Luther until now</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">That has driven a culture mad,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Find what occurred at Linz,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">What huge imago made</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">A psychopathic god:</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">I and the public know</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">What all schoolchildren learn,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Those to whom evil is done</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Do evil in return.</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Exiled Thucydides knew</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">All that a speech can say</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">About Democracy,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">And what dictators do,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The elderly rubbish they talk</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">To an apathetic grave;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Analysed all in his book,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The enlightenment driven away,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The habit-forming pain,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Mismanagement and grief:</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">We must suffer them all again.</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Into this neutral air</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Where blind skyscrapers use </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Their full height to proclaim </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The strength of Collective Man, </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Each language pours its vain </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Competitive excuse:</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">But who can live for long</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">In an euphoric dream;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Out of the mirror they stare, </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Imperialism's face</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">And the international wrong.</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Faces along the bar</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Cling to their average day:</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The lights must never go out,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The music must always play,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">All the conventions conspire</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">To make this fort assume</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The furniture of home;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Lest we should see where we are, </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Lost in a haunted wood,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Children afraid of the night</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Who have never been happy or good.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The windiest militant trash </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Important Persons shout</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Is not so crude as our wish: </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">What mad Nijinsky wrote </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">About Diaghilev</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Is true of the normal heart; </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">For the error bred in the bone </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Of each woman and each man </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Craves what it cannot have, </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Not universal love</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">But to be loved alone.</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">From the conservative dark</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Into the ethical life</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The dense commuters come,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Repeating their morning vow;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">'I will be true to the wife,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">I'll concentrate more on my work,'</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">And helpless governors wake</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">To resume their compulsory game: </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Who can release them now,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Who can reach the dead,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Who can speak for the dumb?</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">All I have is a voice</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">To undo the folded lie,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">The romantic lie in the brain</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Of the sensual man-in-the-street </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">And the lie of Authority</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Whose buildings grope the sky: </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">There is no such thing as the State </span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">And no one exists alone;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Hunger allows no choice</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">To the citizen or the police;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">We must love one another or die.</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Defenseless under the night</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Our world in stupor lies;</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Yet, dotted everywhere,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Ironic points of light</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Flash out wherever the Just</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Exchange their messages:</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">May I, composed like them</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Of Eros and of dust,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Beleaguered by the same</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Negation and despair,</span><br style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="font-size: 17.6px; line-height: 22px;">Show an affirming flame.</span></span>Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-59879169105796563842016-04-21T16:30:00.000-07:002016-04-21T16:30:21.513-07:00Robert Fogel's Four Great Awakenings<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Great-Awakening-Future-Egalitarianism/dp/0226256634/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461108536&sr=1-2&keywords=robert+fogel" target="_blank">Robert Fogel's book "the fourth great awakening and the future of Egalitarianism"</a> is on my too read list, but here is <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/256626.html" target="_blank">a pretty good summary of the four phases of great awakenings in western religious history </a><div>
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<tr><th bgcolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="4"><span style="color: #330099; font-family: New York, Times New Roman, Palatino;">Phases of the Four Great Awakenings<br /> </span></th></tr>
<tr align="center" valign="middle"><td> </td><td bgcolor="#6699CC"><span style="color: #330099;"><b>Phase of Religious Revival</b></span></td><td><span style="color: #330099;"><b>Phase of Rising Political Effect</b></span></td><td bgcolor="#6699CC"><span style="color: #330099;"><b>Phase of Increasing Challenge to Dominance of the Political Program</b></span></td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="middle"><td><b>First Great Awakening,<br />1730-1830</b></td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1730-60: Weakening of predestination doctrine; recognition that many sinners may be predestined for salvation; introduction of revival meetings emphasizing spiritual rebirth; rise of ethic of benevolence.</td><td>1760-90: Attack on British corruption; American Revolution; belief in equality of opportunity (the principle that accepted the inequality of income and other circumstances of life as natural, but held that persons of low social rank could raise themselves up—by industry, perseverance, talent, and righteous behavior—to the top of the economic and social order); establishment of egalitarianism as national ethic.</td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1790-1830: Breakup of revolutionary coalition.</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="middle"><td><b>Second Great Awakening,<br />1800-1920</b></td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1800-1840: Rise of belief that anyone can achieve saving grace through inner and outer struggle against sin; introduction of camp meetings and intensified levels of revivals; widespread adoption of ethic of benevolence; upsurge of millennialism.</td><td>1840-1879: Rise of single issue reform movements, each intending to contribute to making America fit for the Second Coming of Christ (these included the nativist movement, the temperance movement which was successful in prohibiting the sale of alcoholic drinks in 13 states, and the abolitionist movement that culminated in the formation of the republican party); sweeping reform agendas aimed at eliminating all barriers to equal opportunity; antislavery; attack on corruption of the South; Civil War; women's suffrage; continuation of belief in equality of opportunity.</td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1870-1920: Replacement of prewar evangelical leaders; Darwinian crisis; urban crisis.</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="middle"><td><b>Third Great Awakening,<br />1890-?</b></td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1890-1930: Shift from emphasis on personal to social sin; rise in belief that poverty is not a personal failure ("the wages of sin") but a societal failure that can be addressed by the state; shift to more secular interpretation of the Bible and creed.</td><td>1930-1970: Attack on corruption of big business and the right; labor reforms; civil rights and women's rights movements; belief in equality of condition (principle that equality is to be achieved primarily by government programs aimed at raising wages and transferring income from rich to poor through income taxes and finance welfare programs); rise in belief that poverty is not a personal failure but a societal failure; expansion of secondary and higher education; attack on religious and racial barriers to equal opportunity (leading to later attacks on gender-based assumptions of behavior and discrimination based on sexual orientation).</td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1970-?: Attack on liberal reforms; defeat of Equal Rights Amendment; rise of tax revolt; rise of Christian Coalition and other political groups of the religious Right.</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="middle"><td><b>Fourth, and Current, Great Awakening,<br />1960-?</b></td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">1960-?: Return to sensuous religion and reassertion of experiential content of the Bible; rapid growth of the enthusiastic religions (including fundamentalist, Pentacostal, and Protestant charismatic denominations, "born-again" Catholics, Mormons); reassertion of concept of personal sin; stress on an ethic of individual responsibility, hard work, a simple life, and dedication to family.</td><td>1990-?: Attack on materialist corruption; rise of pro-life, pro-family, and media reform movements; campaign for more value-oriented school curriculum; expansion of tax revolt; attack on entitlements; return to a belief in equality of opportunity.</td><td bgcolor="#6699CC">?:</td></tr>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-86760767780136099792016-04-19T16:26:00.000-07:002016-04-19T16:26:33.004-07:00Review: Reason in History<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25242" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Reason in History" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388594059m/25242.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25242">Reason in History</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6188">Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1615246310">4 of 5 stars</a>
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I really recommend this as a good introduction to Hegel's philosophy of history. I had attempted to read his larger work but was struggling through this and then found this copy of one of his lectures on the topic and devoured it in a couple days. Whether you agree with Hegel or not, you know when your reading him you are reading a great mind; and his work is incredibly influential still to this day. <br />
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Here are some quotes just skimmed off the top of this deep but short lecture: <br />
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"The sole thought which philosophy brings to the treatment of history is the simple concept of Reason: that Reason is the law of the world and that, therefore, in world history, things have come about rationally.... That this Idea or Reason is the True, the Eternal, the Absolute Power and that it and nothing but it, its glory and majesty, manifests itself in the world - this, as we said before, has been proved in philosophy and is being presupposed here as proved." (pg.11)<br />
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"it is a widespread fabrication that there was an original, primeval people taught immediately by God, endowed with perfect insight and wisdom, possessing a thorough knowledge of all natural laws and spiritual truths..." (pg.12) <br />
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"divine Providence is wisdom endowed with infinite power which realizes its own aim, that is, the absolute, rational, final purpose of the world. Reason is Thought determining itself in absolute freedom." (pg.15) <br />
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"But in mentioning at all the recognition of the plan of divine Providence I have touched on a prominent question of the day, the question, namely, whether it is possible to recognize God - or, since it has ceased to be a question, the doctrine, which has now become a prejudice, that it is impossible to know God. Following this doctrine we now contradict what the Holy Scripture commands as our highest duty, namely, not only to love but also to know God. We now categorically deny what is written, namely that it is the spirit which leads to truth, knows all things, and penetrates even the depths of divinity. Thus, in placing the Divine Being beyond our cognition and the pale of all human things, we gain the convenient license of indulging in our own fancies. We are freed from the necessity of referring our knowledge to the True and Divine. On the contrary, the vanity of knowledge and the subjectivity of sentiment now have ample justification. And pious humility, in keeping true recognition of God at arms length, knows very well what it gains for its arbitrary and vain striving." (pg.16) <br />
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"In the Christian religion God has revealed Himself, which means He has given man to understand what He is, and thus is no longer concealed and secret. With this possibility of knowing God the obligation to know Him is imposed upon us. God wishes no narrow souls and empty heads for his children; He wishes our spirit, of itself indeed poor, rich in the knowledge of Him and holding this knowledge to be of supreme value. The development of the thinking spirit only began with this revelation of divine essence. It must now advance to the intellectual comprehension of that which originally was present only to the feeling and imagining spirit." (pg.17) <br />
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"world history is the progress of the consciousness of freedom" (pg.24)<br />
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"nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion." (pg.29) <br />
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"reason governs the world" and later... "God governs the world"<br />
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"one's particular purposes contain the substandard will of the World Spirit." <br />
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"The assumption (of the noble savage) is one of those nebulous images which theory produces, an idea which necessarily flows from that theory and to which it ascribes real existence without sufficient historical justification." (pg.54) <br />
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"the idea of God thus is the general fundament of a people" (pg.64) <br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1615246310">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-87160105328322699692016-04-19T16:25:00.001-07:002016-04-19T16:26:19.296-07:00Review: Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3329064" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442340583m/3329064.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3329064">Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/60394">Kathleen Norris</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1586771876">4 of 5 stars</a>
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Norris' "Acedia and Me" was a great book, a little bit slow at times (I suppose that's fitting for a book about acadia) but it is a book with great depth and most importantly it made me want to be a better person, husband and to live life full of love and wonder. The subtitle says it all - this book is about Acadia in the midst of marriage, monks and a writers life. Kathleen weaves a nice combination of quotes from ancient monastic writers, examples from english poems and lit and her own personal life.<br />
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Here is a good summary quote from the book: <br />
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"What does it mean to have learned how to love, reject the fleeting pleasures of infatuation for the deeper satisfactions of commitment? Or to have apprenticed myself to the discipline of writing, so that I now crave the desert journey of revision as much as the initial burst of creativity and flow of words? Or to have undergone a religious conversion, replete with fervor and gladness in its early stages, and now marked by aridity and pain? If I find myself starved for the merest hint of spiritual ardor, I know I have arrived in a place where many others have been. The monks and mystics of my faith all teach that persevering in a spiritual discipline, especially when it seems futile, is the key to growth." (pg.261)
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1586771876">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-38069080029677180712016-04-19T16:25:00.000-07:002016-04-19T16:25:52.176-07:00Review: The Road<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6288" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Road" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1439197219m/6288.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6288">The Road</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4178">Cormac McCarthy</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1586763828">5 of 5 stars</a>
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I don't read fiction as much as I should, but I could not put this book down. I was up till 2 am reading it and went to bed with a racing heart b/c I got so engaged in the book. The two quotes that will stay with me for a while from this book are:<br />
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"He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the interstate earth. Darkness implacalbe. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like groundfoxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it." (pg.110) <br />
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"She said that the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time." (pg.241)
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1586763828">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-13191366910350960142016-03-15T16:42:00.000-07:002016-03-15T16:42:15.079-07:00Review: Democracy: A History<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1215749" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Democracy: A History" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328863600m/1215749.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1215749">Democracy: A History</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7024758">John Dunn</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1580770869">3 of 5 stars</a>
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This book gets 5 stars for content and quality but 3 stars for being difficult to read. I am sure if I was a little better versed in political philosophy and the history of democracy it would not have been as difficult to read. I am just saying this as a warning for the would be reader that it is a good but not easy intro to the history of democracy. However, since it was a short book (188 pages before about 40 pages of notes) it was like a small dive into the deep end. <br />
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Dunn splits the history of democracy into two comings - the first coming (ch.1)- athenian democracy and the 2nd coming (ch.2)- modern day democracy from the lens of the french and american revolutions. Both chapters have great historical context, original thoughts and a good overview of each democratic era and model. As a beginner to political history I was introduced to characters like Pericles, Robospierre and Babeuf along with the usual suspects of Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Locke, the Federalists etc. <br />
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After going through the two "comings of democracy", Dunn has a chapter titled "the long shadow of thermidor" that I recall being mainly about "egoism and equality" as political forces and how modern day democracy embodies egoism perfectly as to allow the people to put up with under the belief that they live in a society where everyone is equal (this is my very simplistic idea of his well worded and complex presentation of the dynamics of equality and egoism within modern political systems going under the name of democracy). His last chapter is titled "why Democracy" and seeks to answer the question "why has democracy become the standard system of legitimating political power in the modern world. This chapter also has some good original thoughts on the modern push for "deliberative democracy" and an enlivening of the publich sphere and some good reflections on the pitfalls and importance of representative democracy. <br />
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One of the more interesting and constant themes throughout the book is actually about the word democracy. In a way this book tells the history of a word and how it has been used and understood by people from Athens till today. I did not know that "democracy" was usually said with negative connotations for the larger part of philosophical history ranging from Plato up to the Federalist party that wrestled with how to use the term. So Dunn wrestles with how this word which used to be viewed negatively and as a sign of a country in chaos became a rallying cry of hope and has enabled America and Britian to storm into Iraq by justifying the move as liberating from tyranny and establishing democracy. How did democracy shift from a negative political term to a modern day war cry? This question, and Dunn's answers, rolls throughout the whole book. <br />
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Quotes:<br />
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“Why should it be the case that, for the first time in the history of our still conspicuously multi-lingual species, there is for the present a single world-wide name for the legitimate basis of political authority? Not, of course, uncontested in practice anywhere, and still roundly rejected in many quarters, but never, any longer, in favor of an alternative secular claimant to cosmopolitan legitimacy.” (pg.15) <br />
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“When any modern state claims to be a democracy, it necessarily misdescribes itself” (pg.18) <br />
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Pericles: “for we alone regard the man who takes no part in public affairs, not as one who minds his own business, but as good for nothing…. it is not debate which is a hindrance to action, but rather not to be instructed by debate before the time comes for action.” (pg.27) <br />
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“What happened in France in the few short years between 1788 and 1794 changed the structure of political possibilities for human communities across the world almost beyond recognition.” (pg.92) <br />
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“A representative democracy was no system of direct citizen self-rule. Instead, what it offered was a system of highly indirect rule by representatives chosen for the purpose by the people.” (pg.122) <br />
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“Once the happiness and strength of a society is placed in riches, the exercise of political rights must necessarily be denied to those whose fortune provides no guarantee of their attachment to the creation and defense of wealth. In any such social system, the great majority of citizens is constantly subjected to painful labour, and condemned in practice to languish in poverty, ignorance and slavery.” (pg.124) <br />
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“In America, once the Constitution was firmly in place, democracy soon became the undisputed political framework and expression of the order of egoism.” (pg.125-126) <br />
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“To delegate government to relatively small numbers of citizens but also insist that they be chosen by most, if not all, of their fellows was a cunning mixture of equality and inequality.” (pg.128) <br />
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“As a modern political term, democracy is above all the name for political authority exercised solely through the persuasion of the greater number, or for other sorts of authority in other spheres supposedly exercised solely on a basis acceptable to those subjected to it.” (pg.132)`<br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1580770869">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-81104851061232206412016-03-05T14:34:00.001-08:002016-03-05T14:34:43.428-08:00Review: Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10903721" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365462714m/10903721.jpg" border="0" alt="Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore" /></a>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10903721">Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/29173">Peter L. Berger</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1570590576">4 of 5 stars</a>
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Great book! <br /><br />An autobiographical account of Berger's sociological career that at times looks at his religious/theological journey as well, though it is not the main focus. One of the values of this book is that he summarizes almost every book and paper he wrote, giving the context of his life at the time, what the book was about and what he thinks about now. Berger has written a lot of books that I want to read (Social Construction of Reality, In Praise of Doubt...), I felt like this was a good place to start to get an intro of his work before diving into some of his specific projects. <br /><br />Berger's perspective is unique and mature; it comes at the end of a long and diverse career and he doesn't fit neatly into an ideological box as some of his stances will upset both liberals and conservatives. He speaks briefly but sharply on a wide range of topics in this book: economic development of third-world countries (marxism vs capitalism), development in S.E. Asia in light of Weber's protestant ethic, Pentecostalism in South America, Evangelicalism in America, culture wars and politics, multiple modernities and globalization, development after apartheid in South Africa, the ins and outs of academia, basic explanation of some key figures and concepts in sociology and even a sociological look at comedy. For some this list might be boring, but for others it is a treasure to have such a great mind writing on so many topics in less than 250 pages.
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1570590576">View all my reviews</a>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-13126300137379252032016-02-23T16:34:00.000-08:002016-02-23T16:34:14.796-08:00Peter Berger on Constructivism Peter Berger's "Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist", an autobiographical sketch of his sociological career, is a mix of light anecdotal stories and brief reflections on important topics such as the sociology of religion, secularization, race relations in the U.S. and the cultural movement of the 60's among other things. I personally enjoyed his 1-2 page comments on the Postmodern movement associated intellectually with Derrida and Foucault and popularly with the mantras of "relativism and tolerance". His important work with Thomas Luckman, "the Social Construction of Reality", is viewed as some to be influential in this postmodernist/constructivist school; and so he spends some time addressing misconception of his work on the sociology of knowledge as a green light for absolute relativism and absence of facts. Below is quotes from pg.94-95 of his book where he defines the constructivist/postmodernist philosophy and gives his criticism of it and describes where he is in relation to it. The basic jist of what he has to say is "yes everything is interpretation, but not all interpretation are equal".<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The [constructivist] argument goes something like this: Since all reality is socially constructed, there is no objective truth or at least none that can be accessed. Indeed, there are no facts, only 'narratives.' There is no objective way to make epistemological judgments as between the 'narratives.' But what one can do is to 'deconstruct' them - that is, to unmask the interests that they invariably express. These interests are always expressions of the will to power - of class, or race, or gender. And here, of course, postmodernism links up with various ideologies of the Left - Marxism, 'post-colonialism', 'Third Worldism,' and all the various strands of identity politics (notably radical feminism and 'queer theory').</blockquote>
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This amalgam of theoretical trends has become enormously influential in American academia over the last few decades, and in many places it has become an oppressive orthodoxy. But these trends have been popularized far beyond academia. They have a pronounced affinity with a widespread relativism... It is a widely diffused worldview, in which the only real virtue is 'tolerance' and the only real vice is 'being judgmental."</blockquote>
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The disastrous intellectual and indeed political implications of this type of nihilism cannot be followed up here. But it should be clear why Luckmann and I have felt constrained to say repeatedly, 'We are not constructivists' (perhaps imitating marx's statement 'I am not a Marxist'). Our concept of the social construction of reality in no way implies that there are no facts. Of course there are physical facts to be determined empirically, from the fact that a particular massacre took place to the fact that someone stole my car.... Reality indeed is always socially interpreted, and power interests are sometimes involved in some interpretation. But not all interpretations are equal. If they were, any scientific enterprise, not to mention any medical diagnosis or police investigation, would be impossible. As to the most radical formulation of this 'postmodernism' - that nothing really exists but the various 'narratives' - this corresponds very neatly with a definition of schizophrenia, when one can no longer distinguish between reality and one's fantasies. </blockquote>
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Luchamn and I would place ourselves in a tradition of sociology rooted in the Enlightenment project of seeking to understand the world by exercises of reason. Many 'postmodernists' have proudly described their purpose as the end of the Enlightenment project. We understand our sociology as a defense of that project." </blockquote>
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<br />Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-51236369550188889042016-01-26T18:53:00.000-08:002016-01-26T18:53:21.205-08:00Influential Books in Academia Came across two cool links while browsing <a href="http://www.openculture.com/" target="_blank"> openculture</a> aobut influential books in academia. The first is called <a href="http://explorer.opensyllabusproject.org/" target="_blank">"the Open Syllabus Project"</a>, by a group that I think is from Columbia University, the Open Syllabus Project took over 1 million syllabi and figured out what were the most commonly studied books in higher educational institutions and made <a href="http://explorer.opensyllabusproject.org/graph" target="_blank">a pretty cool data chart to see it on</a>.<br />
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The other link is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/10/on-the-origin-of-species-voted-most-influential-academic-book-charles-darwin" target="_blank">an article from the Guardian</a> that talks about a UK poll of publishers, librarians and academics about what were the most influential academic books. The number one book was Charles Darwin's "the Origin of Species" and the list of the top 20 in alphabetical order are below:<br />
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<a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2013/sep/19/stephen-hawking-history-time-simple-video" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; border-color: rgb(110, 153, 179); color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; outline: 0px; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2015/oct/05/original-suffragette-mary-wollstonecraft" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/17/immanuel-kant-philosophical-argument-shot" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/19/100-best-novels-1984-george-orwell-nineteen-eighty-four-robert-mccrum" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/feb/09/darwin.bestseller" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jun/13/middleeast.israelandthepalestinians" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">Orientalism by Edward Said</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/may/27/rachel-carson-silent-spring-anniversary" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">Silent Spring by Rachel Carson</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/25/karl-marx-communist-manifesto" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Communist Manifesto</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;"> by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/14/classics.shopping" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Complete Works of William Shakespeare</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/oct/27/female-eunuch-40-years-on" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/26/in-praise-making-english-working-class" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Making of the English Working Class</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;"> by EP Thompson</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/05/einstein-equation-emc2-special-relativity-alok-jha" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Meaning of Relativity </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;">by Albert Einstein</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/dec/18/scienceandnature.science" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/mar/26/machiavelli-prince-power-good-evil" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/aug/05/shopping.plato" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Republic by Plato</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/sep/08/featuresreviews.guardianreview3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jan/08/top10s.debeauvoir" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/13/class-richard-hoggart-social-media" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Uses of Literacy by Richard Hoggart</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/audio/2011/oct/06/big-ideas-podcast-adam-smith-audio" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;" /><a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/sep/07/ways-seeing-berger-tv-programme-british" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.0625rem; color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none !important; transition: border-color 0.15s ease-out;">Ways of Seeing by John Berger</a>Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-77919304282183254302016-01-24T12:47:00.000-08:002016-01-24T12:47:03.146-08:00MLK Day- Bernie, West, Turner and Killer Mike This is a pretty relevant weekly talk because of the recent MLK day and the rise of Bernie in the polls. If you do not really know much about what Bernie is running for then check out <a href="https://youtu.be/LCnrQZbqIQU" target="_blank">a video series he does with the rapper killer mike</a> or some <a href="https://youtu.be/S5vOKKMipSA" target="_blank">interviews he has with vox</a>. Those are good ways to get to know what Bernie Sanders is running for. I mention those, because Sander's proposed policies are not the central theme of this but rather implied and if you don't know what he is calling for then you might not know how he lines up with king.<br />
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All in all, just a great panel of speakers and it made me want to get <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Radical-King-Legacy/dp/0807034525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453668388&sr=8-1&keywords=cornel+west" target="_blank">Cornel West's new book "the Radical King",</a> a collection of some of Martin Luther King's more liberal teachings.<br />
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<br />Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-59232368662504061442015-11-23T19:30:00.000-08:002015-11-23T19:30:30.946-08:00Pope Francis' Encyclical - "on Care for our Common Home" <br />
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<iframe height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_CQmNRKsO5ddUJSanktV09jQmc/preview" width="640"></iframe>Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-13370816950468819632015-11-23T18:35:00.000-08:002015-11-23T19:32:22.005-08:00Augustine Warning of FoolishnessAugustine warning Christians about talking nonsense on topics they don't understand and deterring people from wanting to come talk to them with their questions about "resurrection, eternal life, etc." This is from his work on the literal meaning of Genesis, which can be read on <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_s0kIgD0nCcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=on+the+literal+meaning+of+genesis+augustine&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP-Y-PgajJAhXNKogKHVgRAlQQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Google books.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn (…) If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason?"</span></blockquote>
Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-16549133895133415772015-10-24T19:46:00.000-07:002015-10-24T19:46:00.648-07:00Read The FathersHere is a great find on the inter webs, <a href="http://readthefathers.org/" target="_blank">http://readthefathers.org</a>, a blog that has put together a reading plan of the church fathers. It is a 7-year plan through the patristics while reading 7 pages a day at most, it started with Clement of Rome and over three years has gotten to Jerome.<br />
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I signed up for the daily email on the blog and am really enjoying getting an email from them everyday with a link to the reading for that day. They also do a few things other than the daily reading, like blogs on different figures in the church.<br />
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Anyways, check it out, its a really great resource.<br />
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<br />Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-33358130066304204272015-09-21T11:23:00.000-07:002015-09-21T11:23:00.166-07:00“Faith” from Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft (pg.72-73)<blockquote>
<br /><span class="s1">"Faith is first. But what is it? It is not mere belief, or mere trust, though it includes both. Belief is an intellectual matter (I believe the sun will shine tomorrow; I believe I am in good health; I believe the textbooks). Trust is an emotional matter (I trust my psychiatrist, or my surgeon, or my architect). Faith is more. It flows from the heart, the center of the person, the prefunctional root out of which both the intellectual and the emotional branches grow. Faith is the yea-saying of the I, the commitment of the person. </span><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1"></span></blockquote>
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<span class="s1">The object of faith is God, not ideas about God. It is essential to know things about God, but it is more essential to know God. Saint Thomas Aquinas, that most rational (not the same as rationalistic) of theologians, insists that ‘the primary object of the act of faith is not a proposition but a reality’, God himself…. The creedal truths about him are a description of faith, a defining, a statement of structure. The creeds are like accounting books, God is like the actual money. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">Though the root of faith is not intellectual, its fruit is. ‘Faith seeing understanding’, <i>fides quarens intellectum -</i> this was the operative slogan for a thousand years of Christian philosophy. ‘Unless you believe, you will not understand’ - faith first. But ‘in they light we see light’ - understanding follows. How accurately the saints knew God; how mistaken all the unbelieving geniuses were!</span></blockquote>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">Faith is more active than reason. Faith runs ahead of reason. Reason reports, like a camera. Faith takes a stand, like an army. Faith is saying Yes to God’s marriage proposal. Faith is extremely simple. Saying anything ore would probably confuse it. Most of what is written about faith is needlessly complex. The word <i>yes</i> is the simplest word there is. "</span></blockquote>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-17694716284529564272015-09-21T11:21:00.000-07:002016-01-26T18:54:43.691-08:00Timothy George on Karl Barth as a "church theologian"<div class="tr_bq">
I enjoyed <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/09/theology-worth-smuggling" target="_blank">this article by Timothy George on Karl Barth.</a> The whole article is good and worth reading, I especially enjoyed the beginning note about Harvey Cox smuggling Barth's Dogmatics into the Soviet Union. Below is an excerpt from the article about Barth as a "church theologian": </div>
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"Karl Barth was a churchly theologian. What does this mean? In the first place, it refers to the fact that, unlike the majority of professional theologians, both in his day and in ours, Barth did not possess an earned doctorate. This was obviously not from any lack of scholarly ability on his part, but rather from his prior decision to pursue pastoral ministry rather than an academic career. For twelve years Barth served as a pastor, first as a pastoral assistant at a German-speaking congregation in Geneva and then as pastor of the Swiss Reformed Church in Safenwil, a small industrial town in the Aargau. Barth’s distinctive theology emerged out of his pastoral struggles. What does the preacher say to the waiting congregation every Sunday morning? How dare he say anything at all? This tension between the preacher’s duty to speak for God, on behalf of God, and the enormous presumption, indeed the impossibility, of doing so is at the very root of Barth’s theological discovery. He once put it like this: “We ought to speak of God. We are human, however, and so cannot speak of God. We ought therefore to recognize both <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">our obligation </em>and<em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"> our inability</em> and by that very recognition give God the glory.”<br />
Barth’s theological training in the great liberal tradition of Schleiermacher, Ritschl, Harnack, and Hermann had not prepared him to deal with this dilemma, nor had his immersion in the Swiss version of the social gospel movement, an involvement which earned him the title “red pastor” for a while. Barth was haunted by the question King Zedekiah posed to Jeremiah long ago: “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jer. 37:17). This question, which is every preacher’s question, propelled Barth back to the Holy Scriptures, where he discovered a new orientation for preaching and a new basis for theology.</blockquote>
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Barth is a churchly theologian in another sense as well. He understands theology, which he defines as “the scientific self-examination of the Christian church with respect to its distinctive God-talk,” to be a spiritual discipline within the community of faith. The purpose of theology is to serve the integrity of preaching, and thus it is part of the church’s humble worship of God. Following his stint as “a young country pastor,” as Barth referred to his Safenwil days, he spent the rest of his life in four university settings: in Göttingen (1921-25), in Münster (1925-30), in Bonn (1930-35), and finally in his native Basel (1935-68).</blockquote>
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<span class="drop-cap" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; font-size: 4em; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px -0.2em; padding: 0px 0.2em 0px 0px;">T</span>here is a sense, however, in which Barth never left the pastorate, for all of his work as an academic theologian—lectures, addresses, books, disputes, and sermons—was intended to serve and build up the church. This commitment is reflected in the title he gave to his major theological project. After publishing the first volume of his <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Christian Dogmatics</em> in 1927, he abandoned this effort and made a fresh start under a new definitive rubric,<em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Church Dogmatics</em>. In Barth’s view, theology can never be a mere branch of “religious studies,” a scholarly activity pursued with presumed objectivity and lack of personal commitment. As Barth would say near the end of his career, theology is not an end in itself but rather a service in and for the community of Jesus Christ. “Theology is committed directly to the community and especially to those members who are responsible for preaching, teaching, and counseling. The task theology has continually to fulfill is to stimulate and lead them to face squarely the question of the proper relation of their human speech to the Word of God, which is the origin, object, and content of this speech.” Theology must be done in the service of the church or it is not a <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">ministerium Verbi Divini</em>.<br />
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Despite Barth’s sturdy determination to be a theologian in the service of the church, he can be acutely critical in his statements about the church. This was especially so in Barth’s early writing, in which the gospel is depicted in stark opposition to the church. An easy equipoise between these two realities is not possible, for “the gospel dissolves the church and the church dissolves the gospel.” The church, Barth seems to say, has become not a means to God but rather a substitute for God, an idol.<br />
In the church, the “Beyond” is transfigured into a metaphysical “something” which, because it is contrasted with this world, is no more than an extension of it. In the church, all manner of divine things are possessed and known, and are therefore not possessed and not known. In the church, the unknown beginning and end are fashioned into some known middle position, so that men do not require to remember always that, if they are to become wise they must die. In the church, faith, hope, and love are directly possessed, and the Kingdom of God directly awaited, with the result that men band themselves together to inaugurate it, as though it were a <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">thing </em>which men could have and await and work for.<span class="drop-cap" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; font-size: 4em; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px -0.2em; padding: 0px 0.2em 0px 0px;">W</span>hat Barth protests is the domestication of God in the structures and institutions of the church. The church understood as the repository of religious consciousness, or as the apex of “Christian” civilization, or as the private club of moral rectitude, could no longer be the place where the thunder and lightning of God’s grace breaks through to human beings. It was necessary, Barth felt, to write “Ichabod” over the door to such a church precisely so that the gates could be opened to let the King of Glory enter in. He put it like this: “Only when the end of the blind alley of ecclesiastical humanity has been reached is it possible to raise radically and seriously the problem of God.”<br />
Barth’s critique of the church here is more like that of Luther than that of Wycliff, Hus, Savanarola and other pre-reformers who protested vigorously against the abuses of the late medieval church. Such matters are mere trifles compared to what Barth calls “the blessed terribleness of the theme of the Church which is the very Word of God—the Word of beginning and end, of the creator and redeemer, of judgment and righteousness.” In this dialectic the church is divided into two parts—the Church of Esau and the Church of Jacob. By this designation Barth does not refer to confessional differences, say, between Roman Catholics and Protestants, nor to different theological camps such as conservatives and liberals. The Church of Esau is “observable, knowable and possible,” whereas the Church of Jacob is where the truth of the gospel triumphs over all human deceit. This latter church, Barth goes on to say, is “unobservable, unknowable, and impossible . . . capable neither of expansion nor of contraction; it has neither place nor name nor history; men neither communicate with it nor are excommunicated from it. It is simply the free grace of God, his calling and election; it is beginning and end.”<span class="drop-cap" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: left; font-size: 4em; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px -0.2em; padding: 0px 0.2em 0px 0px;">H</span>ere we are at the headwaters of Barth’s dialectical ecclesiology. It is not hard to see why those with a vested interest in the church—any church—would respond to Barth’s rhetoric with consternation and reproach. If the church is utterly unknowable, unobservable, so detached from history that one cannot speak of it properly, then very practical questions ensue: To whom do we pay our tithes (or church taxes in the state churches of Europe)? Who shall train the church’s ministers, and how? Who shall write the church’s liturgy, or lead its worship, or send out its missionaries, or do its pastoral care? It has always seemed to some of Barth’s critics that his “bifurcation” of the church would lead inevitably to ecclesial nihilism.<br />
But this is to miss the deeper point that Barth is making. It is necessary, he believed, to be so decisively <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">against</em> the church, precisely in order to be so unreservedly <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">for </em>it. Even in <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;">Romans</em>, where the language of diastasis reaches fever pitch, Barth always remains with both feet firmly planted within the physical, finite, fallen, Esau-like church.<br />
We must not, because we are fully aware of the eternal opposition between the Gospel and the church, hold ourselves aloof from the church or break up its solidarity; but rather, participating in its responsibility and sharing the guilt of its inevitable failure, we should accept it and cling to it.<br />
We must bear the tribulation of the church as participant-observers. Only through sharing its anguish are we able to pray for revival and work for reformation."</blockquote>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-26560357840485629342015-07-31T21:23:00.000-07:002015-07-31T21:23:22.206-07:00Bauchkham on Moltmann's Eschatology <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Moltmann" target="_blank">Jurgen Moltmann </a> is a german reformed theologian at Tubingen who in a way is carrying on the theological legacy of Barth. He is known for his "theology of hope" which centers around resurrection and eschatology. Here are some quotes by Richard Bauckham explaining Jurgen Moltmann’s Eschatology taken from Alister Mcgrath’s Christian Theology Reader (3rd ed. - pg.671-672).<br />
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<span class="s1"><i>“the eschatological orientation of biblical Christian faith towards the future of the world requires the church to engage with the possibilities for change in the modern world, to promote them against all tendencies to stagnation, and to give them eschatological direction towards the future of the Kingdom of God. The gospel proves relevant and credible today precisely through the eschatological faith that truth lies in the future and proves itself in changing the present int he direction of the future.” </i></span></blockquote>
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<i><br /><span class="s1">“Authentic Christian hope is not that purely other-worldly expectation which is resigned to the unalterability of affairs in this world. Rather, because it is hope for the future of the world, its effect is to show present reality to be not yet what it can be and will be. The world is seen as transformable in the direction of the promised future. In this way believers are liberated from accommodation to the status quo and set critically against it. They suffer the contradiction between what is and what is promised. But this critical distance also enables them to seek and activate those present possibilities of world history which lead in the direction of the eschatological future. Thus by arousing active hope the promise creates anticipations of the future kingdom within history. The transcendence of the kingdom itself beyond all its anticipations keeps believers always unreconciled to present conditions, the source of continual new impulses for change.” </span></i></blockquote>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-84382829072404293032015-07-30T01:42:00.001-07:002015-07-30T01:44:42.388-07:00Discussion about Christianity in Politics I really enjoyed this <a href="https://youtu.be/7Ky32FX03GA" target="_blank">Discussion between Greg Boyd, Chuck Colson and Shane Claiborne</a> about christianity in politics and find it very relevant with the 2016 election approaching.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Ky32FX03GA" width="640"></iframe>Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-30069769527415346852015-06-21T01:10:00.001-07:002015-06-21T01:10:45.840-07:00Slow Reading<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">In the past I have practiced speed reading and greatly benefited from it. Besides increasing my reading speed about 3 times my beginning rate it has also taught me is to be a disciplined, focused reader with goals for how I read. But recently I have come across another style of reading and one that is just as important of a skill as speed reading : SLOW READING. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">The below two resources, an MP3 from regent summer program and an article from…., describe what I mean by “slow reading”. What I mean by slow reading is: meditative, reflective, thoughtful, critical reading. In the 21st century their are copious amount of written material in the form of blogs, published books, articles, tweets, etc., that can end up being superfluous and overwhelming. Speed reading is certainly helpful when dealing with so much information; but “slow reading” is also important. This looks like setting aside time to not just devour a book, but to slowly read and take stops to contemplate, write questions in the margins, respond in prayer, formulate a discussion question and talk about it… etc. Don’t just read alot, read well! Read in a way that shapes you, that gets deep into your inner man and allows the words to become powerful. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Slow-reading is reminiscent of the ancient practice of “lectio divina” and fits well in the stream of the biblical tradition that places a high value on the spoken and written word. God created through speaking, gave man the role of “naming” animals, sin and pride divided languages at Babel, when Israel needed to be warned and restored God said prophets to speak the prophetic word, Christ is the incarnate word of God, the gospel as a verbal proclamation has the power to raise people from death to life, early church ministry was built on “word-based ministry” of preaching, teaching, prophesying, evangelizing (Eph.4), throughout all church history the people of God have read the book of God and still today discuss the depths and riches of meaning in the text that have not been completely mined for thousands of years. SO… the christian tradition is a tradition that values spoken and written word, we as christians should be good readers… both fast and slow! </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Here is a good talk on “slow reading”, it describes its importance as well as gives a small <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>insightful history of reading: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/regencollege/deep-reading">https://soundcloud.com/regencollege/deep-reading</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Here is an article on Slow Reading: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/15/slow-reading">http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/15/slow-reading</a></span></div>
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Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300426278245343034.post-64862430065388540652015-03-26T00:14:00.000-07:002015-03-26T00:19:21.643-07:00Notes on N.T.Wrights Christian Origin series vol.1-3 by Andrew PerrimanIn a Previous post I mentioned Andrew Perriman's notes on N.T. Wright's Christian Origin Series. I struggled to post a pdf of them last time, but was able to now. Here they are below. And the link to the original as well as some other good resources by Perriman is: <a href="http://www.postost.net/2003/09/christian-origins-and-question-god" target="_blank">http://www.postost.net/2003/09/christian-origins-and-question-god</a><br />
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<iframe height="480" src="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_CQmNRKsO5dSGxmUGxUNUJ2NnM/preview" width="640"></iframe>Luke and Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04783085820437397071noreply@blogger.com0