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Roy
Quasi-Infallible Egocentric Tyrant
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Posted: Wed May 27th, 2009 05:27 am |
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Faith in the future
John Gray
“Religion is proving perfectly compatible with modernity in all its forms, high and low.” This conclusion by John Micklethwait, editor of the Economist, and Adrian Wooldridge, the magazine’s Washington bureau chief, seems calculated to enrage secular rationalists of all stripes.
Whether Marxian or Millian, socialist or liberal, secular rationalists have held one tenet in common: religion belongs to the infancy of the species; the more modern a society becomes, the less room there is for religious belief and practice. Never questioned, this is what lies behind the hot-gospel sermons of evangelical atheists: if you want to be modern, say goodbye to God.
At bottom, the assertion that religion is destined to die out is a confession of faith. No amount of evidence will persuade secular believers that they are on the wrong side of history, but one of the achievements of God Is Back is to show how implausible, if not ridiculous, their view of history actually is.
The notion that modernity and religion are at odds is a generalisation from the experience of some parts of Europe. Europe is now largely post-Christian and the majority no longer follows any conventional creed, but things are otherwise in much of the rest of the world, and notably so in the US, which, during most of its history, has been intensely religious and self-consciously modern.
European Enlightenment thinkers have tended to see the US as the exception that proves the rule – an unexplained lag in a universal trend towards secularisation.
Against this view, Micklethwait and Wooldridge show that modernisation and an increase in religiosity go together in much of the world.
Some of the most powerful sections of the book feature narratives of religious communities in improbable places – prosperous, highly educated Chinese, among them scientists and academics, coming together in contemporary Shanghai to read and discuss the Christian Bible, for example.....more..
John Gray’s latest book is “Gray’s Anatomy: Selected Writings” (Allen Lane, £20). He will be in
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"The force and degree of a man's inner benevolence evokes in others a proportionate degree of ill-will" - Gurdjieff
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." — George Orwell
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*Phil*
Opinionated Interventionist
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Posted: Wed May 27th, 2009 02:46 pm |
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It is my personal observation of the chinese communities everywhere I go that the immigrants and students almost all go to church. Most of the chinese I meet have PhDs. Their education levels are stellar yet contrary to atheist belief about religion being ignorant superstition these highly educated chinese pray to God and actively participate in church. I am sure these chinese influence society and policy back in their home country.
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Pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo!
Galactic Signature: Blue Self-Existing Monkey
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Garden Queen
Honored Fellow Grover
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Posted: Sun May 31st, 2009 04:55 pm |
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My Hospice pastor for my Mother lived in China as a missionary for a long time. He speaks and teaches chinese. We have wonderful conversations. Recently he had a family here stay with him while their child married an american. He said it was the most incredible , loving time for both of them. When they had to leave they told him they had never felt the depth of love they experienced in their home. They wept with joy.
We talked about how if only the leaders could take off their "armour' and go stay a week and LIVE the daily stuff in each other"s homes. Breakfast, work and see how
people are NOT LIKE THE MOVIES OR THE MEDIA PORTRAY EACH OTHER.
I really have grown to respect and love this man's visits . I have introduced him to Needleman and whatever I read.
I will show this article to him Phil. Thanks
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*Phil*
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Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 04:44 pm |
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AMEN.
American media is a dog's breakfast. Unfit for consumption. It seems everything has to be scandalous, Politically correct, disgusting or catastrophic.
In asia some of the most popular movies and TV shows are simple "slice-of-life". The collective experience we all share in one way or another.
The chinese movie The Way We Are is an example:
2008 Hong Kong Film Awards
* Won: Best Director (Ann Hui)
* Won: Best Screenplay (Lou Shiu Wa)
* Won: Best Actress (Paw Hee-Ching)
* Won: Best Supporting Actress (Chan Lai Wun)
* Nominated: Best Film
* Nominated: Best New Performer (Juno Leung)
It is about a mother and her son who live in one of China's mega apartment complexes:
The son is a high school student looking for a summer job and goes to Bible Studies and a lonely elderly neighbor is befriended by the family. "Paw, Leung and Chan are seen happily having dinner together" at the end of the movie.
____________________
Pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo!
Galactic Signature: Blue Self-Existing Monkey
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Garden Queen
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Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 05:56 pm |
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Thanks Phil.
Amazing! Perhaps it will stay that way! Do you speak Chinese? Somehow I feel
it would be beneficial to know it in the future!
I love that picture! For some reason it does not look like the places in St Louis that
have been trashed with broken windows etc.
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*Phil*
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Posted: Tue Jun 2nd, 2009 04:26 pm |
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I just completed Comprehensive Chinese Language I, a university accredited course. The next level begins in the fall.
Here is an aerial view of the mega complex
It was developed by the Chinese government 10 years ago in collaboration with private builders to be a self-sustaining paradise community of 370,000 people. It has upper, middle and lower class housing centers. It is surrounded by fish farms and a wetlands nature park.
Unfortunately it had too little of just about everything. Occupancy, employment and income level has been steadily declining as a result. It became a crises a couple of years ago and the government has stepped in to fix the problems:
It had no hospital.
No library.
Insufficient recreation facilities.
Insufficient indoor social areas.
The factories expected to be developed appeared too far to the north and no road for residents to get there.
No commuting light rail line available for residents to get to jobs in Hong Kong to the south.
In general residents complain that the place has no sense of community.
The YMCA has built and opened a couple of branches there which will help too. But a community that large needs 5 or 6 YMCA's.
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Pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo!
Galactic Signature: Blue Self-Existing Monkey
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Garden Queen
Honored Fellow Grover
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Posted: Tue Jun 2nd, 2009 06:06 pm |
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That is amazing!
Governments just do not know how to create a paradise do they!!
It surely looks pretty but one wonders about the passage in the halls and elevators by the families. If there are burglaries etc..such as were in the tall gov housing places
Soo many different perspectives here.
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*Phil*
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Posted: Wed Jun 3rd, 2009 02:19 pm |
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China doesn't have the comprehensive welfare system that we have. They'll subsidize housing in high cost areas and medical care cost is socialized and varies according to ability to pay. People know they have to earn a living on their own and don't expect much from the government.
I've heard of cat burglars rappelling down the side of the buildings so in some apartment complexes they put bars over their balconies and windows even though they are many floors above ground level. In other areas apartment complexes don't need bars over the balconies because they have layers of security forces and no one ever complains when security brutalize criminals. I have found most apartment biuldings, no matter what the income level, have dark and dingy hallways. No graffiti or shady types hanging around, they just dont wash the floors and paint the walls in the common areas as much as we would here.
The great majority of Chinese are very religious and family centered.
____________________
Pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo!
Galactic Signature: Blue Self-Existing Monkey
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Garden Queen
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Posted: Wed Jun 3rd, 2009 07:20 pm |
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This is amazing Phil. A lot of Americans do not know this...however , a lot of people in all countries think we all are immoral, greedy etc. from the media.
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*Phil*
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Posted: Wed Jun 3rd, 2009 08:23 pm |
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I've never felt in danger or had any experiences with crime over there. Once in a while I encounter beggars and they range from creatively funny and entertaining to rude and obnoxious but beggars are universal.
There is a chinese book titled "The Ugly American." I haven't read it but just about every literate chinese has at least heard of it if not read it. But China now has their own moral problems with greedy grasping status conscious citizens. They feel American media and politicians are terribly biased and unfair against China.
____________________
Pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo!
Galactic Signature: Blue Self-Existing Monkey
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Roy
Quasi-Infallible Egocentric Tyrant
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Posted: Wed Jun 10th, 2009 09:10 pm |
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Great report on what appears to be top-down solutions' limitations.
They forgot to ask people what they wanted, and they ended up with "Alphaville', famouse mediocre French sci-fi picture.
Good luck with that Chinese, Phil, with learning to distinguish tense by tone!
If the power shift thingy works out, the Chinese people will finally be driving the bus.
____________________
"The force and degree of a man's inner benevolence evokes in others a proportionate degree of ill-will" - Gurdjieff
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." — George Orwell
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