After three centuries of competing ideas about what the new Christianity was about, the “Fathers” of the church ? (there were no mothers admitted) got together and constructed a mishmash of bits and pieces taken from other cults and beliefs and told the world “This is Christianity. This is what to believe. Argue at your …
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There was no single moment of creation, but a gradual evolution, with many false starts and dead ends. Various tools were added to help species survive. Eyes are a good example. But survival is not a foregone conclusion. Many species have been and gone, and maybe we are in self-destruct mode ourselves owing to selfishness, …
Maybe it is the influence of a new book called “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern” by Stephen Greenblatt, but suddenly I am receiving emails from people intrigued by Epicureanism. This is a promising development, especially for Americans in despair about the future of their country and disillusioned by what passes for Christianity in …
The Stoic philosopher Seneca disapproved of roof gardens. (How astonishing that even the Romans had roof gardens. They had a talent for urbanism, but surely they weren’t short of space.) Seneca asked: “Is it not living unnaturally to plant orchards on the top of towers, or to have a forest of trees waving in the …
Jane asks “shouldn’t we be doing something?”. O.k , here are some ideas. It’s early in the morning so my brainpower is limited: 1. Make time to protest more to elected representatives. Start with the right-wing media monopolies. Why should Murdoch have the final say as to who runs Britain? Why should there be 5 …
