Mr. Ahmedinejad's very odd address at the U.N. surely cannot be taken to be a sampling of the best of Muslim-nation statecraft, can it? Even the ambassador from Vatican City wouldn't pretend to deliver such a naive cart-load of religious pomp. If he did, the Church would be laughed from U.N. membership.
If it weren't so dire in its potential, it would be farce.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Just discouraging
There are mountains of serious words about Iraq and policy in the Middle East, but not much good debate. When the first premise of one side's argument is "It's a war for oil," there really isn't very far to go in terms of dealing with "the facts on the ground" both in Iraq and the region.
A challenging article ...
.... about how the atheist and agnostic ought to think about and behave toward sacred texts, in the 9/21/07 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Something to think seriously about and examine later. Texts and reading (do they still call this "hermeneutics") are even more critical issues today than ever.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Mother Theresa
It appears that Mother Theresa of Calcutta was not a “flat character” in the annals of the saints of the Catholic Church. Time Magazine has a major article describing the contents of a new book containing excerpts from her diaries and correspondence over the long period of her adult life, especially from the time of her transition from the community of teaching sisters in which she began her vocation through the period of her ministry as founder of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.
She documents a lifelong spiritual struggle, much of which takes the form of a “dark night of the soul” where despite an intense desire for intimacy with Jesus who called her forward, she often found silence, emptiness, and abandonment. Certainly this does not make her less, but ranks her among the great spiritual figures of Christianity. Based on the account here, the collection of writings appears to be a truly remarkable document. A spiritual guide, in the truest sense, is not the cocksure figure waving a baton at the head of a parade down Main Street, but rather one who dares to navigate the lonely alleys and deep shadows, drawing forward the lost, the hurt, the angry, the doubting.
She documents a lifelong spiritual struggle, much of which takes the form of a “dark night of the soul” where despite an intense desire for intimacy with Jesus who called her forward, she often found silence, emptiness, and abandonment. Certainly this does not make her less, but ranks her among the great spiritual figures of Christianity. Based on the account here, the collection of writings appears to be a truly remarkable document. A spiritual guide, in the truest sense, is not the cocksure figure waving a baton at the head of a parade down Main Street, but rather one who dares to navigate the lonely alleys and deep shadows, drawing forward the lost, the hurt, the angry, the doubting.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Reading update
Finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. An apocalyptic story so painful to read that it's impossible to put down. You just have to find out whether the boy and his father live. Why must they? Until the last few paragraphs, they appear to be the last two people who care about others and live on some rudimentary level of principle. All relationships, kinships and taboos, except theirs, have been blasted from the world. (Even the blind prophet in the story isn't very coherent.)
Reading a medieval epic, "The Walking Drum" by Louis L'Amour--his one non-Western, I think.
Still not finished with "Morality Matters."
Reading a medieval epic, "The Walking Drum" by Louis L'Amour--his one non-Western, I think.
Still not finished with "Morality Matters."
"Structurally Deficient"
What in the world does that mean?
It is apparently a bureaucratic designation reflecting the general/categorical condition of a particular bridge, according to its age, type and observed manifestations of aging/weathering/usage, etc. It seems to be used to place a bridge on a given schedule of testing and observation. It does not seem to be, by itself, a panic signal to be ignored or not.
I wish the media would begin to grow up about very basic differentiations in terminology. Many reporters confuse a bureaucratic label with some sort of normative statement, as in "the official was dangerously negligent." It doesn't seem that officials of any sort did anything different with the fallen bridge than they do with any other of the thousands of bridge in the same designation: watch carefully, accelerate the monitoring/testing schedule according to the engineering norms that are currently accepted. It may be that these criteria need to be looked at and updated according to what is learned from the collapse in Minneapolis. But that may not be the need--we just don't know. No one has categorically eliminated any possibilities yet, from acts of nature to problems with the ongoing construction to criminal activity.
In case no one's noticed, there are still operations in progress to recover the bodies of victims.
It is apparently a bureaucratic designation reflecting the general/categorical condition of a particular bridge, according to its age, type and observed manifestations of aging/weathering/usage, etc. It seems to be used to place a bridge on a given schedule of testing and observation. It does not seem to be, by itself, a panic signal to be ignored or not.
I wish the media would begin to grow up about very basic differentiations in terminology. Many reporters confuse a bureaucratic label with some sort of normative statement, as in "the official was dangerously negligent." It doesn't seem that officials of any sort did anything different with the fallen bridge than they do with any other of the thousands of bridge in the same designation: watch carefully, accelerate the monitoring/testing schedule according to the engineering norms that are currently accepted. It may be that these criteria need to be looked at and updated according to what is learned from the collapse in Minneapolis. But that may not be the need--we just don't know. No one has categorically eliminated any possibilities yet, from acts of nature to problems with the ongoing construction to criminal activity.
In case no one's noticed, there are still operations in progress to recover the bodies of victims.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Not buying it
In the new Time, Lev Grossman has a short commentary lamenting the fading of God in the Potter series. True, there's no "Aslan," as in Narnia. But Narnia is far more allegorical by intention. It's apparent that Rowling has no such intention, and probably wants to avoid the theology. That doesn't mean the Power isn't there and isn't essential to the story. You won't find God in LOTR, either. More to be said about this after reading number seven. Can't wait until Friday.
By the way, I didn't know that Louis L'Amour wrote a medieval-themed novel. Found it at the big upscale chain bookstore over the weekend. It's called The Walking Drum. Something else to do.
By the way, I didn't know that Louis L'Amour wrote a medieval-themed novel. Found it at the big upscale chain bookstore over the weekend. It's called The Walking Drum. Something else to do.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Rowling and Lewis
Partway through Prince Caspian. It's episode 4 of Narnia. Without having read secondary materials by people who study these things, it's completely obvious that J.K. Rowling has big time affinities with Lewis. Someday I'll have a life of leisure, and look into this; meanwhile, just delight. Have to finish the Chronicles before next Friday.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Fun with reading...
...now that I have a little time.
Just for pleasure, getting through The Chronicles of Narnia. Started the third last night, A Horse and his Boy.
Just for the challenge: War, Progress and the End of History by Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian philosopher who died around 1900. It's a short series of "platonic" dialogues, the last thing he wrote, subtitled "Three Conversations Including a Short Story of the Anti-Christ". All of today's issues--the morality of war, political realism vs. idealism, etc.--are here.
Preparation for the night class, a new (to me) text: Morality Matters: Race, Class and Gender in Applied Ethics, by Jeffrey R. DiLeo. It's an imposing collection of resources (and a big book) that marches into moral thinking from many perspectives. If I'm a student, I save this one on my shelf for future reference.
Just for pleasure, getting through The Chronicles of Narnia. Started the third last night, A Horse and his Boy.
Just for the challenge: War, Progress and the End of History by Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian philosopher who died around 1900. It's a short series of "platonic" dialogues, the last thing he wrote, subtitled "Three Conversations Including a Short Story of the Anti-Christ". All of today's issues--the morality of war, political realism vs. idealism, etc.--are here.
Preparation for the night class, a new (to me) text: Morality Matters: Race, Class and Gender in Applied Ethics, by Jeffrey R. DiLeo. It's an imposing collection of resources (and a big book) that marches into moral thinking from many perspectives. If I'm a student, I save this one on my shelf for future reference.
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