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For those with strong enough stomachs to endure watching the supposed 'honor killing' of Dua Khalil, recently shown on CNN, perhaps the only long-term good that could come out of such a twisted atrocity is that the world has another sacrificial symbol of how human beings should not treat one another. I couldn't help but think of two other young women. One, the woman of the New Testament who was about to be stoned when Jesus called out "You who have no sin among you, cast the first stone" (John 8: 1-11). That woman lived and apparently became a disciple of Christ. And the other woman that comes to mind is Jane Creba, the Toronto teen who was gunned down on Boxing Day 2005 by a downtown shooter.

Will humanity ever learn?

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Jumping off the Global Warming bandwagon —

I recall reading in some prehistory or possibly geography textbook that the Earth has passed through cycles of significant climate change. There have been warmer and cooler times in Earth's history, the scientists tell us, and the current trend of global warming is nothing new. Given this, can we be certain that human pollution is a significant cause of 21C global warming? This is a valid scientific question that many seem unwilling to consider. The following film suggests that part of the reason science has become propaganda is that people are making money out of all the hype. Agree or not, The Great Global Warming Swindle is worth looking at—for those willing to admit uncertainty, that is.

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Conspiracy theorists compensating for powerlessness? —

Sociologist Rudi Volti's Society and Technological Change is an engaging textbook for anyone interested in the confluence of technology and society. Browsing through it I noticed his comments on UFOs and conspiracy theories:

A fair number of UFO adherents claim that their government is engaged in a massive conspiracy to prevent the general public from being aware of the existence of UFOs...but a cover-up of the required magnitude would be impossible for even the most well-organized government to pull off. Still, conspiracy theories strike a resonant chord with people who feel they have been excluded from decision-making, both political and technological (p. 14).

What Volti doesn't mention is that some may just be trying to make a fast buck...

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I was quite surpised to see that the taxpayers' dollars are going toward this site. Check out the 'X-Files' for UFOs within Library and Archives Canada.

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Meditation and Contemplation: What's the buzz? —

I was in the library the other day and came across a wonderful little book by Evelyn Underhill. I'm not talking about her famous work on mysticism. That's a gem that all serious religion scholars would no doubt treasure. I'm talking about a work she published many years before that, just before the outbreak of WW-I, called Practical Mysticism: A little book for normal people (1914).

In my dealings with people on and off the web I encounter all different types of seekers. Some claim to meditate. Others talk about contemplation. From a Catholic perspective these two terms overlap but generally there's a semantic difference. The difference is that, for the most part, meditation may lead to more elevated forms of contemplative understanding.

As Underhill puts it in Practical Mysticism:

Now meditation is a half-way house between thinking and contemplating: and as a discipline, it derives its chief value from this transitional character (p. 46).

The strength of this definition is that it's not 'this or that,' 'black or white,' as so many fundamentalists and conservatives depict the world. Rather, it's a developmental approach. And I personally think that's far more conducive to world peace (a goal of any sincerely religious person) than ranting and raving about how bad everybody else is.

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I guess this won't thrill most people but I found an outstanding little book on mysticism yesterday at the secondhand bookstore: Mysticism in World Religion by the Rev. Sidney Spencer (Penguin, 1963). It's relatively rare, probably because it doesn't have a big shiny cover and endorsements from all the latest luminaries in comparative religion. But it's good and I highly recommend it.

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It aint necessarily so...  —

I was in a secondhand bookstore the other day and almost picked up a Catholic book on how to interpret the Bible. At the last minute I decided not to buy it (even though it only cost $2.99) because it seemed a bit too introductory for my purposes. EWTN has a good article showing how Catholics differ from Fundamentalists when it comes to the interpretation of scripture. And I thought this quote summed up the Catholic approach of think but don't get lost in thought alone:

Catholic exegesis does not have the right to become lost, like a stream of water, in the sands of a hypercritical analysis. Its task is to fulfill, in the church and in the world, a vital function, that of contributing to an ever more authentic transmission of the content of the inspired Scriptures.

The St. Paul Center also outlines some of the complexities re biblical interpretation.

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If you think evo-devo is a defunct 70's New Wave band, maybe it's time to brush up on your science. Here's a fascinating, if somewhat technical, podcast at skeptico.com featuring an interview with Dr. Michael Shermer. Not to be missed!  

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New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy online... —

I almost bought this book at a used bookstore the other day but thought I should check the library first. Turns out the entire book is online at Bartelby.com.

Fun for browsing...

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Are all religions the same? Are all spiritualities the same? Here's an article that blames the Beatles for a watered down Christianity. Although this may seem like another reactionary Christian tract, the author does make the valid point that for many Christians Jesus is not just another one of many avatars nor a mere prophet.

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