Tag Archives: Christianity
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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Paradigm Shifts
Paradigm Shifts We live under the sheltering umbrellas of our worldviews. To the point where we would feel naked if we were caught in the street without them. That being the case (that we run around conceptually clothed, whether we … Continue reading
Posted in academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eternity, ethics, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, political movements, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twenty-first century, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 4 Gospels, accosting lone females, Arun Gandhi’s The Gift of Anger, Christian creed, Christian missionary, Christianity, Christians, competing theologies, conceptual framework, condescension, conscientious objector, Crucifixion of Jesus, death of Jesus, devout family, dialectic, Doylestown Bookshop, empty tomb, flagrum, former Muslim, Gandhi’s influence, Interfaith dialogue, Islam, Isle Saint Louis, Jesus resurrection, love of truth, Mahatma Gandhi, medical student, Muslim missionary, Muslim/Christian debate, Muslims, Nabeel Qureshi’s “Seeking Allah Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity”, New Testament, non-judgementalism, non-violence, pacifism, paradigm, paradigm shift, Paris, philosophical friendship, philosophically sophisticated, philosophy student, religious commitment, religious debate, satyagraha, secular faith, Shroud of Turin, Socratic argument, the Qur'an, worldview
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The Ex-Terrorist Comes to Town
The Ex-Terrorist Comes to Town Yesterday our temple sponsored a lecture by Kasim Hafeez, a Brit of Pakistani origin who had seriously resolved to give his life for jihad and then changed his mind. Everybody on the planet has an … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, self-deception, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Never Again", Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel, Amalekites, anti-semitism, anti-Zionism, BDS, Ben Gurion airport, biblical foundation, Bosnia genocide, British urbanity, Canannites, chariots of Israel, Christianity, dead Jews, demagogue, devout Muslim, Elijah, Elisha, extremism, First Temple, genocide prevention, good Jews, Greek Civilization, Hamas, hating Israel, Herodian structure, Hezbollah, Hittites, Holocaust, identity crisis, IDF, Islam, Israel as foundation, Israel's contributions to the world, Israeli Arabs, Israeli Druse, Israeli security, Jebusites, Jewish anti-Zionism, Jewish Federation, Jewish Israelis, Jewish self-defense, Jews outnumbered, Jihad, Josephus, Kasim Hafeez, King Solomon's Temple, lost dignity, Muslim militants, Pakistan, Pakistani immigrant, Peace Center, Perrizites, Philistines, political agitation, political science, political status, preaching to the choir, prejudice, Presbyterians, questioning assumptions, radicalization, retreat from Gaza, retreat from Lebanon, righteous hatred, Roman Civilization, Rwanda genocide, Second Temple, spirituality, story of humanity, terrorism, theism, victimization, Western Civilization, Western religion, Western Wall, Yom ha Shoah
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“Living in History”
“Living in History” That’s a theme of mine, though it’s easier to give the theme a name than to say exactly what it means. I can hone in on it by at least by saying what it’s not. If you … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, chivalry, Christianity, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Jews, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, mortality, mysticism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, slave, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged absurdism, accidents, action, Advaita Vedanta, against the odds, agnosticism, agnostics, anomalies, anti-religious, anxiety, apostasy, argument, atheists, being fired, being human, belief system, Brooklyn Bridge, censorship, certainty, Christianity, clarity, close-mindedness, closure, cognitive virtues, communism, conceptual defeater, corrigibility, corrigible hypotheses, cosmetic concerns, counter-example, cultural relativism, data, deconstructionism, despair, dialectic, disappointment, disillusionment, dissenters, Divine Presence, doubt, doubters, dread, empowerment, epistemological doubt, Eric Voegelin's "Autobiographical Reflections", evidence, evidence for God, facism, Faith, false consciousness, false gods, fears, fixed idea, Freudianism, genius, getting pregnant, getting sick, Gnosis, God, guidance, Hinduism, historicizing, historiography, History, honesty, hope, hopeless situations, hopelessness, humility, hypotheses, Idealistic Monism, Ideologues, inconstant faith, inner certainty, Intellectual fashion, intellectual reversal, intellectual rigidity, Islam, Jean-Paul Sartre, Judaism, knowledge, lifelines, misanthropy, misology, moral realism, Party Line, philosophy, Plato's Phaedo, police state, problem of history, Procrustean bed, reality, refuting instance, religionists, religious people, repression, Right and Wrong, rigidity, Sartre's "Hope Now", serene faith, shattered nerves, Shekinah, skepticism, Socrates, subjective relativism, sure-footedness, talent, the half-dark, the Other, the true God, theists, uncertainty, unconscious doubt, unpredictability, writer
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Looking Out for Number One
Looking Out for Number One Quoted in full, Rabbi Hillel’s famous saying goes like this: If I am not for myself, who will be? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? Though … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, action, alienation, anthropology, art, autonomy, Christianity, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, health, identity, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, love, memoir, modernism, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, peace, power, psychology, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, time, Uncategorized, Zeitgeist
Tagged alternative treatments, baptism, bereavement, Bucks County, cancer standard of care, charity, Christianity, conversion ceremony, conversions, cynicism, death, distractions, Downeast Maine, egoism, farewells, friendship, funerals, grief, horseback riding, indifference, intimacy, Jewish sages, Judaism, life and death, memorials, mikvah, mitzvot, mortal illness, mourning, number one, obsequies, opportunism, personal presence, personal relations, purity, Rabbi Hillel, rabbinic wisdom, religious affiliation, religious conversion, religious obligation, sages of antiquity, selfishness, Shekinah, sickness and health, social defenses, social facade, social static, solipsism, temple congregation, Valery Rybakow, Weltanschauug, worldview
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“Tenderness”
“Tenderness” There is a southern black woman, about two generations after slavery, who figures as the heroine in a novel by Zora Neale Hurston. In the scene from which the lines below are taken, she has met a man who … Continue reading
Posted in action, alienation, art, autonomy, chivalry, contemplation, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, faith, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, nineteenth-century, non-violence, ontology, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, power, psychology, race, relationships, roles, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of woman, theism, time, twentieth century, violence, war, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Five Variations on the Theme of Japanese Painting", "Leo's Orphans: A Survivor's Musings on the Power of Protective Tenderness", "Their Eyes Were Watching God", 613 mitzvot, Abigail L. Rosenthal, American novel, awareness, black women, Christian clergy, Christianity, commandments, conflict resolution, conformism, evidence, Exodus, heroine, injuries, interfaith, Israelites, Japan, Jewish observance, judgementalism, Leo Bronstein, living the moment, Maimonides, marital relations, mindfulness, Nazi genocide, novel, Passover, past lives, peer pressure, Rabbi, Reform Judaism, reincarnation, Shoah, shunning, slavery, Terror, The South, unleavened bread, Yom ha Shoah, zen, Zora Neale Hurston
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“Christianity, Judaism, and Women”
“Christianity, Judaism, and Women” I don’t know how you feel about this, but I take for granted that a religion represents (among other things) an erotic style. If I were to convert to another religion, I would be changing the … Continue reading
Posted in academe, culture, desire, erotic life, faith, femininity, gender balance, life and death struggle, literature, masculinity, nineteenth-century, philosophy, political, relationships, sexuality, social conventions, the problematic of woman
Tagged Beatrice Portinari, chivalry, Christian idealized woman, Christian woman, Christianity, courtship, Dante, desire, erotic life, eternal feminine, Faust, Goethe, Gretchen, Jewish woman, Judaism, lech lecha, Leo Bronstein, men and women, nature of desire, Rachel at the well, religion, sex, The Covenant, Women
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