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Distracted
Posting will be intermittent for the next couple of weeks. A picture is worth a thousand words. Check out my book Why Sane People Believe Crazy Things: How Belief Can Help or Hurt Social Peace. Kirkus Reviews called it an … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism
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What Is Humanity?
Back in the 1960s, the great rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote Who Is Man? based on lectures he gave at Stanford University. But to ask “who is man?” assumes that we’ve’ previously answered the question “what is man?” If humans are … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Life
Tagged Fukayama, Heschel, Human Dignity, Human life, Human Rights, Human worth, Identity, Justice, Materialism, Morality, Scientism, The other, What is man
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Some Comforting Thoughts
Life can be troubling, especially during periods of heated social conflict. Politicians and the media are no help. Most now devote themselves to fomenting hatred and division. Schools are no help. Most now devote themselves to replacing knowledge with superstition. … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Life, Psychology
Tagged Adages, Courage, Optimism, Perseverance, Serenity, Stoicism, Wisdom
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Do Great Individuals Shape History?
Is human history driven mainly by the actions of “great men”? It’s called the great man theory of history. Of course, the problem is that word “mainly.” Lots of things cause historical events. To say that a specific person was … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Life, Philosophy, Psychology, Society
Tagged Adam and Eve, Aristotle, Buddha, Calculus, Confucius, Einstein, Empress Theodora, Gilgamesh, Great Man Theory, Greatness, Hammurabi, Historiography, History, Isaac Newton, Jesus, Leibniz, Moses, Theories of History, Winston Churchill
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Don’t Pass Over History
Who are you? What are you? The answers define your identity and give you a sense of place in the universe. The “who” question has a simple answer: your name. But the “what” question has many answers. You are a … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Community, Easter, Exodus, Group identity, Historiography, History, Legitimacy, Morality, Moses, Passover, Personal Identity, Social order
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Cher Channels Ambrose Bierce
Cher, a pop singer who I loved for her 1990s music video featuring the animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head, has a new talent. Her April 14th statement channels the spirit of the 19th-century American writer Ambrose Bierce. His book The … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Beavis and Butt-Head, Cher, Hypocrisy, Illegal migrants, Immigration, Immigration policy, NIMBY, Open borders
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Do WMDs Make Religion Too Risky?
On his blog, philosopher Eric Kaplan posed a serious question (paraphrased here): If our weapons can destroy all life on earth, can we still afford to believe in a God who plays favorites? People sometimes claim that God is “… … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Epistemology, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, Psychology
Tagged Aggression, Atheism, Belief in God, Kin Selection, Philosophy of Religion, Religion, Sapolsky, Steven Weinberg, Theism, War
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