Tag Archives: problem of evil
Wickedness and Suffering
Wickedness and Suffering Does that heading about cover it? Eugene Ionesco, the brilliant Franco-Romanian playwright, wrote Tueur sans gages [Killer without wages], a play that opens with his characters marveling over the great neighborhood to which they feel fortunate to … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a beautiful neighborhood, alligator attack, anti-Zionism, autobiographical book, C-Span, career pinnacle, coping with grief, delegitimation of Israel, dystopia, earthly paradise, Elaine Pagels’ The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels’ Why Religion? A Personal Story, enlightenment ideals, Eugene Ionesco, fear and denial, fleeing for one’s life, fragile heart, Franco-Romanian playwright, genocidal preparations, God’s grief, God’s master plan, God’s suffering, green card, haves and have nots, Helen Zia’s Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution, hiking accident, human fragility, ideal places, immigration benefits, immigration dangers, Ionesco’s Killer without wages, Ionesco’s Tueur sans gages, losing America, love at risk, mad killer, moral equations, moral equations unbalanced, opportunistic progressives, perfecting the world, plight of refugees, political narratives, power of unreason, problem of evil, refugees worldwide, repairing the world, selective reporting, sheep and wolves, successes and losses, suffering and malice, suffering in nature, the beautiful people, The New York Review of Books, the suffering world, the world’s grief, true love, un beau quartier, utopian community, virtue signaling, wickedness in man, world-shattering grief
Leave a comment
“Birthday!”
“Birthday!” The way you can tell that “I” don’t choose these topics (but respond – as if to an inner prompt) is instanced here: why would anyone (over twenty one) choose that one? My acupuncturist tells me that I’m 29 … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, beauty, childhood, chivalry, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, institutional power, life and death struggle, literature, love, memoir, mind control, modernism, mortality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, non-violence, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, power, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a life of one's own, acupuncture, Aging, Authenticity, bad checks, battening the hatches, being duped, being misinformed, biography, birthday, bitterness, blunders, celebration, chi, children blaming parents, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, cosmic perspective, countering depression, cultural mistakes, cutting losses, delusions of love, depression, disappointment, dramatic people, extraordinary people, facing facts, fascinating people, fear of aging, filial piety, global perspective, global suffering, God's eye view, going strong, heartbreak, honoring father and mother, human history, Leo Bronstein, life foundation, life missteps, life mistakes, life path, life's unfairness, looking younger than your age, mentor, misplaced hopes, mistaken beliefs, mistakes of the culture, mistakes of youth, native ground, native track, necessary mistakes, negative acts, old souls, original life, originality, overprotection, parent-child relationships, parenting, Parenting 101, personal pathway, personal presence, Plan A, Plan D, problem of evil, problem of pain, public intellectuals, rebellion, recovery, recuperation, refusal, romantic delusions, spectator, strong personality, tapering off, unfairness, victory, Walking Wounded, war wounds, winding down
Leave a comment
“The Suffering of the Situation”
“The Suffering of the Situation” While the record snowfall piled up, higher than my shoulders where it touched the house in some corners, I was not thinking how beautiful it all was. I was not breaking out the marshmallows to … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, journalism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, masculinity, master, medieval, memoir, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, mortality, nineteenth-century, non-violence, ontology, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, race, 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 586 B.C., 70 A.D., Abigail L. Rosenthal's "God and the Care for One's Story", abuse, abuser, angels and demons, azuv, Benjamin Disraeli, Bible, blizzard, chess masters, Christian love, colonialism, commentators, Conor Cruise O'Brien's "The Seige: The Saga of Israel and Zionism", conquerers and conquered, conquest, cultural influence, E.U., empire, enabling, Europe's future, European Union, exile of the Jews, expulsion of the Jews, family history, First Temple, game plan, Gandhi, genealogy, genius, George Soros, hegemonic cultures, Henry Kissinger, Herbert Ausubel's "Flower of God: A Jewish Family's 3000-year Journey from Spice to Medicine", hubris, hyssop plant, idealism, ideology, imperialism, informers, Ladino, lamed vovnik, master plan, Middle East strategy, Moorish, moral rank, philosophy, political power, political theory, post-biblical, Power, pride, problem of evil, prophecy, realpolitik, satyagraha, scapegoats, Second Temple, self love, self-respect, suffering, suffering of innocents, Suffering Servant, survival, Talmudic study, Talmudics, The 36 righteous, The New York Review of Books, the prophetic spirit, the Shekinah, theology, Thomas Sowell, Thomas Sowell's "Conquests and Cultures: An International History", tolerance, Truth Force, victim, wandering Jew, Western culture, Yiddish
1 Comment
“Happiness”
“Happiness” “Call no man happy until he is dead,” said Solon, the ancient sage, to Croesus. Croesus was “rich as Croesus,” as the saying goes, and king of Lydia. So he was nonplussed at Solon’s reluctance to admit that he … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, autonomy, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, history, history of ideas, identity, idolatry, institutional power, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, masculinity, memoir, philosophy, poetry, political, power, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, sex appeal, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, twentieth century, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Quiz Show", "the pursuit of happiness", academic fight, acupuncture, Advice, Ancient Lydia, Ancient Persia, anguish, Aristotle, bird baths, bird watching, birds, birthright, Brooklyn College, Carl Mangione PT, celebrity, Charles Van Doren, cheating, college curriculum, Columbia class of 1925, confession, Croesus, Cyrus the Great, Declaration of Independence, despair, divine gifts, family honor, grace, gratitude, hairdresser, handicap, Henry M. Rosenthal, human rights, identity, ingratitude, insincerity, Jennifer Kelly hairstylist, Kinetic syndrome, Mark Van Doren, memoir, misery, mortification, Mr. Right, national scandal, Nicomachean Ethics, non-advice, normality, physical therapy, problem of evil, reputation, resignation, Richard Firnhaber acupuncture, right to happiness, sell out, selling one's birthright, sincerity, Solon, suffering, the emotional norm, The History of Herodotus, the human norm, the mental norm, the physical norm, the psychical norm, TV idol, TV Quiz Show, unhappiness, walking handicap, wickedness
Leave a comment
“It’s Cancer!”
“It’s Cancer!” Years ago, Esquire magazine ran an article on the state of cancer research and treatment. It included this line: “When you’re playing against the Big Casino, the odds are with the House.” I don’t know whether I thought … Continue reading
Posted in life and death struggle, philosophy, psychology, relationships, the examined life
Tagged anxiety, cancer, chemotherapy, cure, death, doctors, fear, illness, Leo Bronstein, life and death, life review, love, meditation, Michael and Edith Wyschogrod, problem of evil, psycho-somatic illness, radiation treatment, reductionism, suffering, theology
2 Comments
Michael Wyschogrod
Michael Wyschogrod When the Jewish Review of Books arrived a few days ago, I noticed with pleasure the cover article, “Michael Wyschogrod and the Challenge of God’s Scandalous Love.” Good! I thought. Michael is being attended to and treated as … Continue reading →