Tag Archives: Athens and Jerusalem
Civilization and Me
There seems to be something at the heart of historical existence that’s probably incurable. It gets the name of envy or sibling rivalry. And it’s the insurmountable fear that God might love my brother or sister more than God loves … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, American politics, anthropology, anti-semitism, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical Archeology, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, Desire and Authenticity, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, fatherhood, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, medieval, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, racism, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, science, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, Truth, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged Abrahamic religions, Athens and Jerusalem, Biblical narrative, Cain and Abel, conflict across generations, cultural conflict, envy, envy in human nature, Ethics, foundations of Western thought, hatred, historical conflict, history of antisemitism, human nature, Jewish identity, Matthew Arnold, moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, Plato, religion and culture, roots of antisemitism, sibling rivalry, sibling rivalry in the Bible, The Academy, truth and history, Western Civilization, why are Jews hated
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Shell Shocked
Presently, with more than ordinary effort, I am recovering from an attack of temporary memory loss – in delayed reaction to a combat that personally I wasn’t in. Among the young and educated elite, it is now okay – more … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, American politics, anti-semitism, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, racism, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, Truth, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged academic search for truth, Athens and Jerusalem, bad kid, Berkeley cheering for Hamas, biblical history, cheering for Hamas at Columbia, civilizational foundations, Columbia University, confronting a bully, drawing the line, fight for dominance, fight for one’s honor, God as history’s witness, history’s divine witness, Jewish historical experience, Jewish memory, kids’ pecking order, living on the timeline, living your philosophy, living your words, long fasts, meaning what you say, memory loss, Oct 7 2023, Oct 8th pro-Hamas demonstrations, Post Traumatic Stress, resisting the bully, search for truth in the academy, shell shock, stopping the bully, the duty to remember, the House that Plato Built, theosophist, youthful combats
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Easter and Passover
Easter and Passover This year, the climactic commemorative celebration days for each religion actually did overlap. Which raised questions about their possible relationship, or at least how they stand today vis a vis each other. I tend to agree with … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, medieval, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, mysticism, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged Abel's sacrifice, acting acceptably to God, after the Fall, asymmetry of the sexes, Athens and Jerusalem, Cain and Abel, Cain's hatred for Abel, celebration days, Christian doctrine, Christianity, Christianity and culture, Christianity and Judaism, Classical thought, clear of mind, country gospel, despair, despair as premature, Divine proximity, Easter, eating the apple, escaping despair, eviction from Eden, Exodus story, explaining the Crucifixion, face to face, Gan Eden, Genesis 3, gifts of Christianity, God's Jewish pilot project, historicity of the Bible, Holy envy, humanity as sinful, Interfaith dialogue, irreparable faults, irreparable mistakes, Israelite experience, Jewish Theological Seminary, Jewish/Christian coexistence, Jewish/Christian reciprocal forgiveness, Jews contribution to the world, Judaism, Judaism for export, Krister Stendahl, life review, living in history, living realistically, living without disguises, longest hatred, longing for transcendence, meeting God in action, Michael Wyschogrod, original sin, Passover, Passover and theology, politics of religion, pure of heart, Rabbi Irving Greenberg, rabbinical students, religious celebration, religious coexistence, religious differences, religious discussion, repairing relationships, resolving misunderstandings, Resurrection of Jesus, telling good from evil, the charge of deicide, The Garden of Eden, the historical condition, the human condition, the lens of sin, theological discussion, Union Theological Seminary, work obligation, world without Christianity
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