Writings, Reviews, Cultural Criticism
Not being a particularly religious man, I don’t know how one goes about nominating a person for a sainthood. So how does it work? Is it like the Oscars? Maybe that comparison is too crass. The Nobel Peace Prize, then? Are there nominations and then deliberations?
The Piss Christ scandal reminds me of the chocolate Jesus scandal, only this scandal has gone one better … or two … or three. In the case of the chocolate Jesus, the scandal was the work itself.
The problem with atheists is not that they don’t believe in God, but that they don’t believe in belief.
On Friday I did something I haven’t done in a while: I went to church. I’m a lapsed church-goer. Over the past couple years, I’ve attended a grand total of five religious services (not including funerals which typically are an insult to the term “religious”).
Life on earth could thrive. Life on earth could soar. Right now things seem stuck. What holds us down? What keeps us from a higher living? I’ve offered a couple suggestions. What flags would you put on those mooring lines?
The title of this post is tongue-in-cheek, of course, with a tip of the hat to Bertrand Russell’s 1927 lecture “Why I am not a Christian.” I don’t intend my own reflection here as an argument for or against a position; instead, I intend it to elicit a curious (and accidental) lesson from Russell, a lesson which is lost on most proponents of Progressive Christianity.
ean Vanier’s Becoming Human serves as an excellent companion piece to Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not A Gadget which I reviewed earlier this month. You may recall Lanier’s thesis: in creating software that facilitates online interaction, designers often contribute to alienating experiences because they fail to give prior thought to the question of what it means to be human.
In Rome there is a grand hotel. I’ve been there myself and can attest first-hand to its grandeur: the well-appointed lobby and the urbane concierge, the bellhops in their scarlet uniforms, the majestic ballroom that has entertained dignitaries from around the world, the five-star restaurant which caters sumptuous banquets, the luxurious rooms with their beds and draperies and gold-plated faucets.
I note three things distinctive about the writing style of Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Buddhist monk and founder of the Order of Interbeing): The first is its simplicity.
When Lois Wilson submitted a request to transfer her church membership, board members of the receiving church asked the minister: “Who is Lois Wilson?” The minister, Rev. Doug Norris, answered: “She”s 90 pounds of piss and vinegar.”
There’s a facebook group called: We can find 1,000,000 people who DO believe in Evolution before June.
According to the New York Times, an estimated 700 evangelical churches in the U.S. have mixed martial arts ministries. Yes. Rub your eyes and read that again.
What do the British Museum and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have in common? Not much it seems. Certainly not much when it comes to thinking about culture-as-collaboration and online file-sharing.
I think of Payback, Margaret Atwood’s analysis of the mythic grounding of debt as a cultural phenomenon, and I wonder if, in the long run, MJ’s hold on the popular imagination will come to be understood through his extraordinary indebtedness.
The Rev. Rick Warren claims that he’s not now nor has he ever been anti-gay or anti-gay marriage. It’s not enough that this contemptible little man should spearhead a campaign for California Proposition 8, but he turns on a dime and denies that he ever took such a stand.