Tag Archives: spirituality
Rocky Mountain Lowdown
Rocky Mountain Lowdown Jerry and I have about finished the first leg of a complicated journey, the part that took shape in the cities of Denver and Boulder in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. Jerry had some talks to … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, Bible, Biblical God, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, faith, fashion, freedom, guilt and innocence, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, immorality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, love, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, power, presence, propaganda, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, secular, self-deception, social conventions, 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, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "the true Israel", academic conference, academic papers, ancient land, annihilation of the Jews, anti-Israel, anti-semitism, argument, Boulder, chosen people, chosenness, Christian doctrine, Colorado, covenant, covenant with Israel, death camps, death of God, Denver, divine encounter, divine visions, Evil, Faith, false prophets, God, God and humankind, God's chosen people, God's existence, History, Holocaust, Holocaust survivor, human freedom, human rights, intellectual defense, Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish angels, Jewish army, Jews, Jews as witness, Nazi murders, Nazi regime, philosophical argument, philosophy, public intellectuals, Richard Rubenstein, Rocky Mountains, shamans, Shoah, spirituality, Supercessionism, the absence of God, the human story, The Jewish nation, the presence of God, the prophets, theology, trial of Adolf Eichmann, tribal women, tribe, truth, Ur of the Chaldees., witness
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About Confessions of a Young Philosopher
About Confessions of a Young Philosopher A few months have gone by since I actually put the concluding punctuation marks on Confessions of a Young Philosopher. Since then, it has been making its way through the strange maelstrom of the publishing … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, bureaucracy, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, immorality, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, novels, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, radicalism, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, 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 woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a life problematic, a writer’s quest, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", biographies, book agents, book reviewers, books assigned in courses, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, cultural breakthrough, Culture, exhibitionism, extra-sensitivity, fashionable taboos, good and evil, great editors, identity, invisibility, life secrets, literary quality, memoirs, Mind Control, moral rank-pulling, novels, Oppression, originality, paradigm shift, periodicals, philosophers, psychological rank-pulling, public jeering, public leering, publishing world, race, recognized niches, religion, search for identity, self-acceptance, self-definition, self-righteousness, self-understanding, sex, Socrates, spiritual seeker, spirituality, subjective amplifications, the book business, The Examined Life, the philosophic life, the reading public, trade presses, university presses, Zeitgeist
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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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“Presence”
“Presence” Our rabbi, whom our temple can no longer afford to employ, will be gone in a few more weeks. This Friday, the temple is holding a service in his honor and I am one of those in the lineup … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, chivalry, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, memoir, memory, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, politics, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, seduction, self-deception, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twenty-first century, Utopia, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "be here now", "being here now", 1776, absence, America, American covenant, Biblical covenant, biblical criticism, biblical Israel, chagrin, clock time, covenant, Declaration of Independence, employment contract, Eternity, farewells, feminine side of God, Femininity, forefathers, Fourth of July, frustration, hail and farewell, half-absence, higher criticism, History, homesickness, Independence Day, insolvency, Jewish continuity, Jewish memory, Jewish scholarship, Jewish temporality, Jewish theology, Jon D. Levenson, Jon D. Levenson's Sinai & Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible, living in the now, loss, maternal love, meditation, memory, moral courage, Mother, past present and future, patriotism, pop psychology, presence, Rabbi, rabbinate, sabbath, Shabbat, Shekinah, spirituality, temporality, Torah Study
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“God and Biography”
“God and Biography” When my journal entry doesn’t give me answers to the questions of my day, I sometimes ask myself: What would it have been like for me to live the same events recorded here, if there were no … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, mortality, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, power, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged Atheism, Bible, biographical subjects, biography, boarding school, British prep school, British public school, bullies, cancer, Christopher Hitchens, classical historians, clerical opinion, corrupted intellect, covenant, covenantal task, crony capitalist, cutting words, Daniel Dennett, deathbed conversion, debating skill, depravity, deserved tributes, evangelical Christians, fame, fashionable dodge, fashionable opinion, friendship, God, God and Israel, God's existence, gossip, grace of spirit, History, homophobe, horizontal explanation, intellectual fashions, intelligent hope, irresponsible gossip, Islamophobe, King James version, Larry Alex Taunton, Larry Taunton's The Faith of Christopher Hitchens, literary celebrities, literary talent, love of words, Loyalty, medicine for the soul, memoir, moral analysis, moral description, moral interpretation, off the record, Ontology, political correctness, psychoanalytic explanation, public atheism, public debate, public opinion, rabbis, racist, received opinion, religious authorities, Richard Dawkins, Roman empire, Sam Harris, secular history, secular humanism, self-understanding, sexist, sinners, social taboos, spiritual implications, spirituality, spritual interpretation, Tacitus, temple newsletter, the Establishment clause, The Four Horsemen of New Atheism, The New Atheism, theism, theologians, tools of a biographer, truth, uncorrupted intellect, unmentionable questions, vertical explanation, women friends, words as weapons
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“Learning to Ride”
“Learning to Ride” Fran, my therapeutic riding teacher, told me today that – – slow and steady – – I am putting together the different pieces of a rider’s ride. By degrees, I am getting “stabilized” in holding the position … Continue reading
Posted in culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, faith, fashion, femininity, gender balance, Hegel, history, literature, love, male power, memoir, motherhood, nineteenth-century, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, power, psychology, relationships, roles, sexuality, social conventions, spirituality, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of woman, theism, time
Tagged "Conversions: A Philosophic Memoir", adolescence, affinities, American teenagers, bescherte, Brooklyn, childhood make-believe, communist, companionship, coquetry, courtship, dating, dressage, earthiness, Flirting, gender roles, Gustave Flaubert, hamish, handicap, Hegel, identity, intellect, love, lovers, man/woman game, Marriage, Paris, partnerships, primitivity, providence, role models, Romance, sentimental education, spirituality, student demonstrations, the 60s, the counterculture, therapeutic riding, Yiddish
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“Integrity”
“Integrity” What is integrity? Is it a dull thing that you get by means of conformism and conventional thinking? Or is it interesting? It’s really, I think, neither conventional nor unconventional, neither conformist nor anti-conformist, neither respectable nor defiant of … Continue reading
Posted in art, culture, femininity, relationships, social conventions
Tagged Authenticity, belief system, candor, character, charm, compassion, con man, con-artistry, conformist, conventionality, eloquence, friendship, integrity, Joan of Arc, non-conformist, normativity, paradigm, seduction, spirituality, Success, talent, transparency, trust, truth, vice and virtue
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