Jan Guillou skriver om överklassens internatskolor. Tydligen vill någon nyöppna Solbacka!
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Our Lady for all Seasons
This is an extremely strange video, in which Catholic content-creator Cameron Bertuzzi (otherwise unknown) argues that the Marian apparitions at Zeitoun in Egypt 1968-71 provide better evidence for Christianity than the Bible?! Meltdowns from Protestants in the commentary section, but his claim *is* peculiar.
Bertuzzi´s point seems to be that *to a modern skeptic* a contemporary miracle is better evidence than a 2000 year old scripture. While that may sound obvious, it really isn´t. For instance, while huge crowds did see something unusual at Zeitoun, the interpretation that this was actually Mary is rooted in the Bible and Church tradition. So the veracity of the Bible and later traditions about Mary remains at the core even of this contemporary event. Otherwise, we might as well interpret a white lady moving around in Egypt as the goddess Isis!
To Bertuzzi, the fact that many - perhaps most - of the eye witnesses were Muslims strengthens the claim that the apparition must have been Mary, since she was seen hovering above a Christian church. But Muslims also revere Mary and very few of them converted to Christianity. If we take the eye witness testimonies seriously, this suggests that they might not have been entirely convincing to non-believers (in contrast to how the Bible describes Jesus appearing to Thomas and Paul, or the Holy Ghost descending upon the apostles at Pentecost and converting thousands). As far as I understand, people in the crowds *did* see very different things during the course of the events at Zeitoun.
Note also that Our Lady of Zeitoun didn´t appear above a Catholic church, but a Coptic Orthodox ditto. So if we accept their interpretation of the apparition at face value, we should convert to Monophysite Oriental Orthodoxy, not the Roman Catholic Church. If we, on the other hand, take our departure in the fact that many different people saw the apparition *without converting to the Coptic Orthodox Church*, the most reasonable pro-religious interpretation would be some kind of inclusivism or pluralism. Apparently, the Zeitoun apparitions were accepted as true by Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and even Nasser´s secular government! This sounds nothing like the Bible...
One person commenting the video states that the apparitions at most provide evidence for the supernatural in general. Not specific evidence for any one religion. This seems to be about right. In the Gnostic scriptures, Christ appears in different ways to different people: as a child, as an old man, and so on. Imagine if Christ would appear differently to each person in a large crowd. That wouldn´t be Catholic (or Coptic) Christianity anymore, but another religion entirely!
With those reflections, I end.
Theology, is that even a subject?
"Man With 200 IQ Explains Hell & God" is the somewhat click-baity title of this YouTube video. It´s a shorter excerpt from a four hour (!) interview with Chris Langan, the creator of CTMU or the Cognitive-Theoretical Model of the Universe. I don´t claim to "understand" the CTMU, but it seems to be a metaphysical system (i.e. a philosophy) rather than a testable scientific hypothesis sensu stricto. Judging by the above clip, it´s not just a philosophy but also a theology. Which I suspected long ago. Note the angry reactions in the commentary section from Christians!
Langan says that God cannot abide imperfection, and hence must cast out all that is imperfect. But who can then be saved? Everyone and everything is imperfect compared to God! The most imperfect people are the atheists, who deny their own higher selves, presumably the thin thread that connects us to the divine. Langan says that Richard Dawkins will end up in a psychic hell of his own making after his death, and then simply dissolve, his scattered life force being re-used in other parts of the cosmos?! In the commentary section to another YouTube video, Langan seems to threaten his atheist opponents with hell (or perhaps "warn" them). Ahem, how is this really different from any fundamentalist or cultist?
Langan is "Christian" in the sense that he sees Jesus as the most pure example of the ideal of perfection. Not even Buddha was this perfect (although the CTMU doesn´t reject him either). But since nobody can become perfect, how is salvation attained? Reincarnation? The answer (if any) isn´t included in this interview...
The main take away: if you make theological claims, expect theological answers...or a rejection of your entire system based on the fact that theology is meaningless.
From tension to crisis
Three unrelated YouTube videos...and yet, they kind of feel related anyway. The first deals with the looming crisis in cosmology (*another* crisis coming our way!) triggered by the inability of current models to account for the so-called Hubble tension. Or, not to mince words: that our measurements of the universe´s expansion rate don´t make any kind of fucking sense.
The second video is about an asteroid which *might* impact with Earth in 2032. As in: virtually no chance at all. So why do I see click-baity videos about it all over YouTube? Well!
The third video is Sabrine Hossenfelder whipping a new AI start-up, arguing that it´s a waste of investors´money. She always says that, of course, but so far, I don´t think you can say she´s ever been wrong. Maybe she should take a closer look at the Chinese super-laser program I mentioned in an earlier post...
Here´s Johnny
TJ Kirk (The Amazing Atheist) reviews "The Shining". Stanley Kubrick´s classical horror film is freely based on a novel by Stephen King...too freely, according to King himself who apparently wants everyone to know how much he hates it! TJ discusses why King loathed Kubrick´s version of the story. He reaches the conclusion that Kubrick was too much of a hard boiled pessimist for Stephen King´s tender tastes (yes, really).
The main character in "The Shining", Jack Torrance, is (in a certain sense) King´s alter ego. In the original novel, Jack does have some redeeming qualities, while in Kubrick´s film adaptation, he has none. The haunted Overlook hotel turns Jack mad in King´s story, while in Kubrick´s film, the hotel simply reveals a madness that was inside Jack from the start.
No idea if any of this is true (note that TJ admits never having read the novel), but it does make you wonder about certain things. "Eyes Wide Shut" cough cough cough...
The dark side of Xmas
The origins of Santa Claus turns out to be even more staggering than expected. Yes, the figure Americans call Santa Claus or "Santa" is indeed based on the 4th century Christian bishop from Asia Minor, Saint Nicholas. We knew that already. What I bet you didn´t know is that the saint took over many functions previously associated with the Greek god Poseidon, including many of the god´s shrines! Weirdly, there is even a tradition according to which Nicholas´ family was connected to this pagan cult.
When the cult of Saint Nicholas spread to the Slavs, the saintly figure was conflated with the old Slav god of wealth and cattle, but also with the Devil. Some of the stories surrounding Nicholas (or should we call him Old Nick?) are downright blood curdling. This curious conflation of Saint Nicholas and Satan later gave rise to the equally strange notion that Nicholas would appear on his feast day (December 6) together with both an angel and a devil. Note also that the devil-like figure Krampus is celebrated the night before Saint Nicholas Day.
When some enterprising 19th century artist created the modern Santa Claus by incorporating certain elements from the Norse god Odin, he clearly knew exactly what he was doing!
Don´t tell the Jehovah´s Witnesses, they will become even more certain than before that Christmas is demonic...
How to yap like a Jap
American Zen Buddhist Brad Warner (who lived and worked in Japan) tries to explain the extremely complicated Japanese writing system(s) and reaches the conclusion "Don´t try to learn Japanese". Surely startling for a Japanese-inspired Buddhist...
I knew that Japanese writing was complex, but not *this* complex. You learn new stuff every day!
Larger than a googolplex
One of the largest numbers ever conceived and used in a serious mathematical proof. Therefore God.
Paedophilia has never been so based
The Russian pop song "Sigma Boy", performed by two kids, has sparked some political controversy. Ukraine is accusing the song (which is popular on TikTok) of being pro-Russian propaganda, and similar claims have been aired by the German Volt party in the European Parliament. The song has been defended by a high ranking member of the Russian Duma, who believes "Sigma Boy" is taking a stand against "LGBT fascism".
Ahem, am I the only person who noticed that the song sexualizes children?
Actually, it seems that an Orthodox Christian organization in Russia has condemned the song for precisely this reason. They even want the song-writer investigated by the proper authorities! The irony is palpable. So Russian "soft power" is difficult to distinguish from paedophilia...
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