OK, *this* video is interesting.
Most American Catholics are liberals (not just one Joe Biden), the majority of members of the notoriously super-creationist Missouri Synod actually believe in evolution, most Southern Baptists support female pastors (except, I suppose, the male pastors), and a large portion of charismatics never speak in tongues.
Hmmm...
Note also the funny quip that while most US Christians aren´t technically Trinitarian, most Unitarians aren´t unitarian!
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| - I´m God, bro, just trust me! |
A disturbing list of traits which may mark a group as a cult. They sound...familiar, somehow.
Was early Christianity a cult? What about the Catholic Church 100 years ago? Certain political organizations would also fit the bill, some more than others.
Either the list was compiled by the Devil himself to sow doubts in our puny little minds about the Ultimate Ruchira Avatara. Or something to that effect.
Or cultism is forever with us. Thank God for the routinization of charisma!
Joshua from the YouTube channel "Ready to Harvest" explains the microchurch movement, which I suppose is distinct from the home church ditto! Or is it?
The microchurches seem to be a kind of "affinity groups", without trained pastors or a centralized organization. Indeed, they hardly have any internal structure either - at least not on paper. Nor is there any church building. The emphasis is on "missional living", Bible study and slow recruitment through bringing in friends and family.
I can see at least two problems with this approach. First, the microchurches are really a missionary strategy (theologically, they seem to be evangelical). The point of each microchurch is to train each member in forming new microchurches. Every member must count on being "sent out" at some point. So they are not exactly one big cozy family! Joshua also explicitly says that many microchurches are geared towards penetrating and evangelizing "subcultures". Surfers or bikers, say.
Second, leaders virtually always emerge in every human setting. If there are no formal structures, how can the leaders be held formally accountable for anything? A common problem in all these subcultural milieux is precisely "the tyranny of structurelessness" behind which the mask of Führerschaft lurks. Funny evangelical Christians make the same mistake as radical feminists, anarchists or hippies!
Third, the microchurches sound frankly cultic. A small high-commitment group based on cliquish ties which attempts to fly under the radar, while trying to bring in new members by befriending them on the beach...yeah, like we never heard *that* before.
I think I rather join an Anglican church and stay in the back pews, thank you!
I admit I have no idea what my man Brad is talking about here, but then, even he has some problems grasping the concept. It´s either the grandmama of all koans, or some kind of deep Mahayana philosophy. Or maybe both, LOL.
The idea seems to be that when the Buddha (or anyone else) becomes enlightened, everything else in the entire universe (including the planet Earth itself) will become enlightened as well, instantly and simultaneously.
And yet, here we are. Unenlightened, as it were. So wazza up with the buddhahood? Brad tries to enlighten (sic) us about this by reading from some Zen commentary. It´s interesting after a fashion, but ultimately he can only say that it´s a mystery...and introduce us to his little pet dog!?
I have no idea what the Science Mama is talking about here. Apparently, space-time is doomed due to some kind of mathematical model known as "the aplituhedron". Or maybe it´s just media hype. As usual!
Best line: "One shouldn´t confuse mathematics with reality". Or, I suppose, amplituhedrons.
Bingo.
Richard Carrier argues that Kamala Harris can still win, that Millennials really are getting poorer, and that remote work isn´t less productive than office work.
I admit I only read the first part (I skimmed the rest)...
The portion on election polls is very interesting, to be sure. But note that Carrier doesn´t factor in conscious manipulation of the polls, or outright election fraud. Nor does he prove that the pollsters no longer undercount Trump voters. He merely asserts it.
Dude, I did notice!
But sure, we´ll know in five days. Or make that two months. Meanwhile...while remote work may not be less productive than office work (I mean, why should it be?), there are obviously other problems with it. But I suppose that´s another survey, still waiting to be made!
Three models of critical thinking
En rolig rubrik från Aftonbladets sajt. Den blir ännu roligare om man betänker den senaste turbulensen kring Biden, när han låtsades bita bäbisar under ett Halloween-firande i Vita Huset.
Munkavle var det, ja.
Knappast någon överraskning. Visa gärna detta för förvirrade vänsterradikaler som vill "organisera sexarbetare" (istället för att avskaffa sexarbetet). Hedonistiska libertarianer bryr sig antagligen inte alls...
Centerstudenter öppnar för samarbete med SD...och blir genast synade av just SD.
Bjuder in C-förbund på lunch (med rejäla köttbitar)
Iran is planning an attack on Israel with drones and missiles from Iraqi territory. Once again showing that Dubya and the Straussian Neo-Cons didn´t know what they were doing when they invaded Iraq back in 2003. The liberated Shia Muslims don´t seem particularly grateful and mostly support Iran...
In hindsight, the US should simply have bribed some Baathist general to stage a coup against Saddam Hussein, and then accepted some kind of neutrality from the neo-Baath regime. Instead, the adventurism of the Bush admin led to the Iranian mullahs extending their influence all over the Middle East.
I´m sure *nobody* saw this coming back in 2003, naaah.
