Ever since I started following the work of Dr. Peter Rollins a few years ago, I’ve occasionally heard him mentioned a certain philosopher. Because I am American and have had limited exposure to the English accent spoken in Peter’s home city of Belfast, I always thought he was talking about someone named “John McMarion.” It’s …
I can’t believe it’s only 10 days until this Lenten practice is finished for 2023. Forty days of daily theological/mystical/atheistic study seems insurmountable, viewed all in one piece. But by the end of today, we’ll have completed 3/4 of this decentralizing, destabilizing non-tradition. As intense and, at times, tiring as it’s been, I’m going to …
Today’s reflection is sort of in my wheelhouse and sort of not. It is, in that it’s all about art. It isn’t, in that the art in question is abstract expressionism. Not exactly the milieu of this fantasy artist who strives for realism in her paintings. So, yay! I get my horizons expanded. 😊 Barnett …
In 1943, French philosopher Simone Weil (pronounced “vay”) died at the age of 34 after a lifetime of poor health, a tuberculosis infection, and, possibly, self-starvation. She wrote extensively throughout her life, but her writings didn’t become famous until a decade or two after her death. Born into an affluent Jewish family, she was noted …
If I am mathing right, we are now in our fourth week of Atheism for Lent 2023. As I wrote yesterday, we’re now delving into the thinkers who — let’s see if I get this right, too — negate the negation of the negation of the negation of the affirmation. Or somesuch. At any rate, …
This coming AfL week, we’ll be looking at thinkers who propone “death of God” theology from within confessional Christianity. All of these thinkers are well-read in the atheistic thinkers we looked at last week. This week’s confessional Christian thinkers remain sensitive to the idea that our beliefs in God speak about ourselves as much as …
Welp, love him or loathe him, today we’re talking about Sigmund Freud, who was a chain-smoker and underwent more than 30 cancer surgeries. Guess he had quite the oral fixation. He was also a Jewish atheist, and his four sisters died in Nazi concentration camps. The Nazis had burned his books in 1933, and he …
I am on Day 9 of covid and the brainfog has finally mostly cleared — mostly — so I think yesterday will have been my final “covid edition” of Afl’23. Thank Ipthar. Considering what a hard time I’ve had getting through today’s reading, I’ve decided the brainfog is still present, so I’ve made this a …
In 1869, a girl was born in the Russian Empire in what is now Lithuania. She was born into an Orthodox Lithuanian Jewish family consisting of various siblings, an emotionally distant mother, and an extremely abusive father who didn’t think Jewish girls needed an education beyond knowing how to prepare gefillte fish and make babies. …
Today is my Day 7 for covid, and it’s the first day since getting sick that I’ve woken up feeling slightly better. I was able to cook breakfast for 10yo and myself without having to sit down and, having cooked breakfast, I don’t feel like I must immediately lie down again. I still feel like …