Monthly Archives: February 2019

Stuck in a Corner?

28 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by in Philosophy, Random Thoughts, Religion, Theology

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Last Friday, my wife and I had another couple for a games night which usually consists of a board game and several alcoholic drinks. This time, we never got to any game itself and we went into theological and philosophical discussions. My wife, however, tucked a bottle of wine under her arm and got into it alone (she is terribly bored by these subjects for her own reasons).

The know about the time I declared I didn’t believe in God. That was years ago and they politely challenged me to go over that position again. I’ve been silent for years about it because I work part time at a church. I can’t afford to lose my job either. My family is counting on me. I also can’t be completely honest with myself either because I don’t want to be cornered.

I decided a while ago to be satisfied with being politely quiet on the issue. There’s the contemplative view that allows me to escape directly answering questions like that. It keeps me safe and uncornered. My honest answer is, “I want to believe in God, but claim to be agnostic until I can satisfactorily answer the question publicly.” Well, it is true… to an extent. I actually have an answer, but I will keep it to myself for the time being.

In the meantime, between all the work and school work, I’m going to work on expositing my position for myself and hopefully others.

You Can’t Run for Office! You’re an Atheist!

21 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by in America, Atheism, politics

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Above is a screenshot of North Carolina’a state constitution, article 6. Section 8 flat out says, “You can’t run for office because you’re an atheist!” Section 7 requires the individual to swear, “so help me God.”

And it’s not just North Carolina. The list on thehumanist.com also lists Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.

Tennessee, my old home state, even stated that an elected official must believe in both God’s existence and a “future state of rewards and punishments.” I seriously doubt that many public figures adhere to believing in eternal punishments these days (but few would say so publicly, even if their public actions say otherwise).

This isn’t fair and it’s completely unreasonable. The assumption appears to be that a public official is more likely to behave if he think’s God is going to hold him accountable after death. But why hasn’t belief in God stopped individuals from cheating on their spouses, commuting tax evasion, shooting their neighbors, or even raping innocent people? You can still believe in God and do terrible things. The same goes for atheists. Both believers and nonbelievers of God have the potential for good and evil.

And any church-going southern evangelical Christian will tell you that it’s not the belief in God that counts, it’s the relationship. But again, that has never completely deterred all sorts of evil.

These constitutions must be amended in this new millennium, in the next decade even. People need justice systems and political systems to be fair in order to respect them.

The Odyssey, A Cup Of Tea, and a Fire(y?)

20 Wednesday Feb 2019

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I’m struggling to get through this book. There’s laundry to be done, dishes piled up and a crap ton of emails I didn’t get to at work today just calling to me from my laptop. I’d rather be wasting my time playing Stardew Valley on my phone or watching some more on season one of One Piece.

But hey, it’s sleeping outside and I’m toasty and getting caffeinated off of green tea and ginger. Not too shabby (if the little people would stay asleep).

Tried to get a rental from Enterprise today without success. My wife’s van got a preliminary estimate of $5,646 of damage to it last Wednesday…. and we’re still sharing one car to go four places in the morning. We keep joking that we’ll need to get divorce lawyers if the rental doesn’t work out soon! (Side not: how the hell does the phone autocorrect “divorce” to “socioeconomic”????? That’s just trying a little too hard, Siri.)

And… yep. That’s about it. Overall, the day has gone well for me with little to complain of.

Late School Nights

19 Tuesday Feb 2019

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I’m sitting on my meditation pillows trying to read the Odyssey (a little over 300 pages in this version) before midnight Wednesday. I’m not even on page 30. Ugh how I wish I could keep my attention on the task at hand. Instead I eat to barely stay awake to read 3 pages before I pass out. I’m struggling.

1 year and that masters in done…. I’ve officially been a student for 25 years when I exclude the 2 years I took breaks. A quarter century learning, another using that knowledge, and another to forget it all. Might even get a bonus round at the end, but who knows. Right now, I’m trying to pronounce Greek names (mans struggling even though I took a years work of Greek before!

No Way I’d Have Ever Believed – My Apologies

13 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by in Religion

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(Photo Credit: Idan Arad)

I’m having to read through Genesis-Leviticus in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) for my current graduate course. Some of the things I used to try and make excuses for are even worse now: Abraham’s near murder of Isaac, God making Pharaoh’s heart so He can kill all of the firstborns in Egypt (from tiny babies to the elderly), etc.

If I hadn’t have been brought up in church and taught to believe in the Bible, I never would have. It’s brutal and unjust and if there is to be any theology that unites the whole, it has to dismiss God’s “schizophrenia” to exalt one personality over another. I don’t say any of this to bash believers of Christianity or Judaism (or even Islam for that matter). But if I hadn’t have been brought up religious, I never would have believed that this is a God worth following.

But then again, very few people bother reading the books they claim to believe. Forgive me if I offend You or you. Know that I have no joy writing this. Just honesty.

Just a note…..

My breaking point was when I applied the interpretative method (hermeneutics) of evangelical fundamentalism to the New Testament’s interpretation of the Old Testament. I found that it didn’t work. Fundamentalists would argue with the apostles if they were side by side. Test it and see.

Chasing Cars

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

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Life is never like the songs you used to sing.

Sometimes chasing cars means not wanting to say goodbye instead of being lost together with your love.

When we are young, we love magic. When we are old, we love ghosts. Neither truly exists in the present. Both are wanting more than is possible.

The Eternal Nature of Love

06 Wednesday Feb 2019

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I was supposed to be reading Gilgamesh when I flipped over to some Love Poems from the Ramesside period of 1300-1100 BCE. One describes a girl’s shyness over a boy who rides in on his horse. Another is a boy’s depressed state that he blames on his love (he says he’ll feign terminal illness just so she’ll see him one last time). Yet another describes how a girl will seduce a boy by getting him to go swim with him while she wears her new sheer swimsuit from Memphis.

Love is a biological thing I guess. When I was younger, I never would have admitted it. It seems so real – like the most real thing that could exist. But it’s all hormones and emotions tied into a drive to keep the species going while providing an existential excuse to continue on through the hardships of life. Not a bad bargain I guess. And yet it sucks to see life through the eyes of wisdom. Know why the Teacher in Ecclesiastes sounds so depressing? Because wisdom is depressing when viewed with temporal human eyes. That’s why love appeals to us. It causes us to go beyond ourselves. The mountains at sunrise, the roar of the beach, the completion of a song, and the best paintings in the world – these all draw people beyond theirselves. They point to the existence of things beyond the mind of mankind. This is where my ontology meets reality. This is why it matters and how I can agree with Graham Harman about the centrality of aesthetics in philosophy (although I not as strongly).

But seriously, love hasn’t changed because it’s tied to human nature – every magnificent moment and every damned disaster.

It Begins: My Final Year of My M.A. in Humanities

04 Monday Feb 2019

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(Image by Janko Ferlič)

5:05 AM – My new routine has begun. I’m up and getting ready for the gym. And then my daughter stumbles in and asks me “What does stink bug poop look like?” Wow. Hopefully that’s not part of the routine.

The class I start today is Ancient World. It probably should have been the first class I took, but oh well. It’s the Epic of Gilgamesh this week. I’ve read part of it before but I can’t remember much.

I also have to cut the caffeine completely again because my sleep cycle gets jacked up and I get evil from that (plus food deprivation from a die-t).

6:21 – time to get in the house and get started.

Pressing Pause on Harman’s OOO Intro

02 Saturday Feb 2019

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When I purchased Harman’s OOO Intro, I also got his The Quadruple Object – and I’m glad for it now. I find myself agreeing at a distance with Harman and came to realize that he hasn’t made clear what he means by either “real object” or “direct” (as in direct knowledge or direct contact between real objects with real/sensual objects). I’m hoping that switching to QO will allow me to fairly weigh out Harman’s position. There is much to like but, I fear, he has traveled a long road after taking an early wrong turn. He’ll get close to his destination, but not quite. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will agree with him more, but I’m clearly in the New Realists camp (closer to Ferraris).

I Actually Watched Punxsutawney Phil This Morning

02 Saturday Feb 2019

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Seriously….

My daughter insisted on watching it this morning and I am blown away that there were thousands of people standing in 6 degree F weather, listening to intentionally exaggerated parodies of songs dedicated to a ground hog…. but hey they sure made it a fun all nighter for those people marking it off their bucket list!

At least I can mark it off my list for watching it on TV.