All forms of Augustinian-Calvinistic theology—and any worldview that smacks of determinism such as Paganism, Islam, Hinduism, and non-theistic determinism, (Harris, Coyne, Cashmore, etc.) where humans are only "puppets" of God, Allah, Brahman, the Cosmos, etc.
All wars, especially self-righteous attacks and intentional slaughters of civilians
But what about “just wars”?
Of all the many wars the U.S. has engaged in over 250 years only the first part of World War 11 could be considered defensive and engaged in within the requirements of ‘just war’ rules!
The Japanese government attacked the U.S. military at Pearl Harbor in 1941, shelled Fort Stevens, near Astoria, Oregon, dropped two bombs in southern Oregon, etc. America’s early responses were defensive.
Disease and poverty and the death of the young (no matter what the cause)
Abortion-on-Demand
Superstition, illusion, dogma
Intolerance, cruelty
Racism, prejudice, enslavement
Sexual immorality, polygamy, etc.
Loss of hopes and dreams
Most of the ideological and religious isms which cause our world so much woe. Islam, nationalism, sexism, Christian fundamentalism
Denial of free speech, denial of freedom of religion
Political Correctness
Right-wing politics and Republican/Democratic two-party system and the current spending of millions on ads for political campaigns, inane, delusionary sound-bites, simplistic answers to complex problems (No Child Left with a Mind;-)
Playing the Race Card (regardless which racial group plays it); engaging in the “Blame Game”
Being treated as a thing or an object, being ignored, dissed, all unfriendliness, lack of eye contact
'
Conformity, especially in worldview, not thinking, not seeking
Arrogance, put-downs, disparaging comments, ad hominem
Rigid rote rituals—liturgical church rituals, responsive readings, formal music, most formal weddings, formal funerals, graduations, calisthenics, military parades, etc.
Not achieving a goal
Chitter-chatter, formal meals with small talk
Insomnia every night (since being paralyzed for 3 weeks after a motorbike accident at 18 years of age)
Long 19th century archaic poems and modern dadaistic ones
Music--Gangsta rap, disco pop, honky-tonk country, vulgar lyrics, sleazy music videos
All forms of profane, senseless ‘uh’ speech including obscenity (f-this-and-that), profanity (Jesus-H-Christ:-(, and the sleazy
In movies--explosions, car crashes, clichéd dialog, weak acting, and all other hackneyed over-done plot killers
In books—plodding, overly long abstract, descriptive or convoluted dry prose
No to fantasy! For some uncertain reason strongly dislike almost any fantasy in novels, movies, TV shows. I did read The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien but really disliked it, thought the plot was slow and fragmented, and strongly disapproved of the themes. A number of times I started the Lord of the Rings, but each time got bored, was frustrated with what seemed to be poor prose, got as far as page 80 and quit never to return. As for the movies that everyone loved, I nearly fell asleep in the one I saw, didn’t like the plot, the lack of a romantic relationship among all the confusing characters, and the vicious war-violence…
And speaking of TV, hardly ever watch the thing. Because we have cable, there are something like 230 channels, but nearly all of them drivel, inane, superficial, salacious, pontificating, political propaganda, cliched…Sadly even the few fairly well made dramas, for inexplicable reasons, fixate on dark twisted plots and themes, with hardly in light in them, and no honest-to-goodness heroes.
Places—flat land and barren desert, like west Texas, southern Arizona, southern Wyoming, Midwestern States such as Kansas
Animals—yapping little dogs, vicious large dogs, hyperactive dogs
Architecture—Severe modern concrete
Dry abstract and technical writing
Beer, (except for Israeli black beer)
Pork
Tourist junk
Pulling weeds
What a bunch of losers;-), especially the heavier worsts...
Enough of that.
Now let's light a candle or open the skylight,
Daniel Wilcox
2 comments:
Hello, Dan,
Oh-oh, you are a difficult person to please.. Paganism? Ooh, I could start a long debate here re: paganism does not deny free will or self- assertion/personal choices/personal power... Even in Greek mythology, where Fate was one of the powerful (and often feared) forces, it was not something even Gods would control..Gods were subjects of Fate just as regular humans were... Anyway, I could go on and on... and on.
Then again, you say you dislike "denial of free speech" and "denial of freedom of religion," so from that follows you would not deny me an opportunity to speak up - or at least would not be against my believing in the way I choose to believe....
Insomnia sucks.
Do you think it's more difficult to find meaningful conversations as we get older because, perhaps, we get more "determined" in our ways, and less open minded? I find myself walking away from conversations quite often because I feel more and more that the person I am conversing is talking "at me", not with me. Nothing I would say would change his/her mind, nothing I could propose would make the slightest difference in the outcome. So, I decide not to waste my time - and theirs - and go home to stitch...
Have a good week,
Katya
Hi Katya,
Paganism is a wide very wide field. Probably some forms of paganism do subscribe to human choice.
But the paganism of the Greeks that I taught for many years as a literature teacher was extremely depressing and hopeless--how, for instance, Oedipus, though he doesn't want to, has no way to avoid killing his father because the fates have decreed it.
It seems the same fatalism was a center point in the Viking religion. I don't know whether that is true of English or African paganism.
What deeply troubles me are the New Agers who claim that 9/11 was the will of the Gods and claim that there is nothing wrong with cancer, etc.
Of course, you and C.S. Lewis, and many others have had a very different and very positive experience with paganism.
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