Writings, Reviews, Cultural Criticism
Professor Harold Wells, who teaches Systematic Theology in Toronto at Emmanuel College, has written a big book with a simple message: The Christic Center: Life-Giving and Liberating (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2004). In fact, the message appears clearly in the title.
I found a bible tract—more like a glossy magazine than a tract—in the mailbox and, for some inexplicable reason, I started to read it. The tract is devoted entirely to sin, which begs the question: why do its authors know so much about the subject?
Today, I celebrated my second sacrament (communion) in a progressive church, and during the service, I found more answers to questions I have posed in a previous rant about life in a progressive context.
The book has 16 chapters each devoted to a distinct social justice issue. These issues fall into two broad categories: 1) domestic concerns such as religion and public schools, abortion, and the penal system; and 2) concerns arising from the global economy such as corporate responsibility, debt relief and environmentalism.
Trying to inveigle oneself into the life of a church is a daunting undertaking. It reminds me of something I did when I was in high school. I was friends with an observant Conservative Jew, and as we were talking at lunch one day, we decided to have a bit of an interfaith exchange.
I went to the airport to pick up my in-laws from vacation, and because their flight was delayed, I went to the nearest news stand to find something to read. I couldn’t help but notice the headline for the “Sun: Found in Dead Sea Cave … Lost Book of the Bible”.
Music creates strong associations which end up, through some organic process, becoming melded to our personal identity. This music is not “out there” as an object to be grasped for a time and then returned once we are done with it; this music is “our” music.
It’s been only 10 years since the first browsers (Mozilla & then Netscape) were widely distributed, making the internet readily accessible to average computer users. Immediately, early adoptees, futurists, & pundits announced wild possibilities for a radical social realignment. They declared that, like Rocky Balboa, the little guy had a shot at the title…
On Sunday, we went to West Hill United Church which holds itself out as a “progressive community of faith.”
I just had to laugh. I was walking past a box, like the newspaper boxes, that displayed a free Summer 2005 syllabus for The Learning Annex. The cover features what I presume to be their most popular course: “Is There Life After Death? Find Out!” I hope I’m not the only person who thinks this…
The Interpretation of Cultures, by Clifford Geertz (New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, 1973) is a collection of anthropological essays which combines a theoretical examination (how we should think about thinking about cultures) with field work (thinking about cultures). First collected in 1973, the volume has been reissued because its ideas simply will not go away. His writings may have wider application and a more urgent relevance than is apparent at first glance.
My sister-in-law called with a grammatical question. A family argument had arisen. They wanted to know the correct use of the comparative. Here are the options: 1. He is bigger than me. 2. He is bigger than I.
Three posts ago, I concluded by pointing out the usefulness of hypertext. It is a tool which enables us in certain directions. Afterward, in a more reflective mood, it occurred to me that hypertext is both analogical, and a facilitator of analogical thinking.
Summer reading, nothing freshly published, just books that have sat unread on my shelves, books I’ve been meaning to read but have brushed aside in favour of more immediate demands.
Looking back on some of my earliest rants, I see that I was personal, and reading them now makes me wince (a little like watching an interview of Anne Heche shortly after she had broken up with Ellen Degeneres).