Latest Blog Posts for Sects and Violence in the Ancient World

• Evil That Men Do
  on Dec 20, 2016 in Books Current Events Literature Monsters Posts demons Election 2016 epilepsy Ewan Fernie Martin Luther The Demonic: Literature and Experience
  Theologians, for the most part, gave up studying demons a long while ago. With the advent of modern medical science, the descriptions of demonic possession in the New Testament seemed pretty clearly to be cases of epilepsy. Since people in … Co...
• The Naked Truth
  on Dec 19, 2016 in Current Events Feminism Posts Social Consciousness Donald Trump Eleanor Roosevelt Election 2016 Psycho Vladimir Putin
  As my regular readers know, I’m struggling. The shock is palpable. Even over a month and a half later, I still keep going over in my head the many, many reasons why Trump can’t be elected and wake up in … Continue reading →...
• My Stranger’s Keeper
  on Dec 18, 2016 in Current Events Environment Memoirs Posts Social Consciousness Weather altruism kindness selfishness
  He was a bearded young man, maybe in his twenties. He kind of reminded me of my own youth, only cooler. I was at a stop sign on a snow-covered hill with tires honestly a little more worn than they … Continue reading →...
• Identity Crisis
  on Dec 17, 2016 in Higher Education Memoirs Posts academia editor Geocaching Groundhog Day New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal
  It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day. The movie, I mean. As a child I was taught never to talk to strangers, but that’s a little hard to maintain in New York City. You’re never really alone there. Standing in … Continue reading →...
• Right to Remain Silent
  on Dec 16, 2016 in Current Events Posts Social Consciousness Dostoyevsky Election 2016 Matryoshka dolls media Putin Russia
  My daughter has a set of nesting Russian dolls. “Matryoshka dolls,” as they are known, fit one inside the other so when you open one you find another inside. Just when you think you’ve reached the last one, you see … Continue reading U...
• American Possession
  on Dec 15, 2016 in Current Events Monsters Movies Posts Religious Violence Science Social Consciousness demons Exorcism of Emily Rose post-truth science and religion supernatural
  Exorcism seems an especially appropriate trope these days. Embedded evil has to be faced squarely and forced out before it kills its host. I recently rewatched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. This is a most unusual horror film in that … Continue re...
• Making Believe
  on Dec 14, 2016 in Consciousness Current Events Posts Social Consciousness Brexit Election 2016 emotion Evolution insanity Pirate Party rationalization Ronald Reagan
  Sanity is always temporary. I can say that because we all know that no one acts rationally all the time. Our brains evolved (or were created, if you roll that way) for the simple purpose of survival, not reason. Reasoning, … Continue reading &#...
• Engendering Fear
  on Dec 13, 2016 in Books Current Events Feminism Movies Popular Culture Posts Social Consciousness and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film Carol J. Clover final girl gender horror movies Mary Poppins Men women
  We live in fear. At this point in history, it seems, with good reason. Horror films, apart from being considered low art, teach us to deal with some of these fears. I hadn’t been reading about the genre for very … Continue reading →...
• Surfeit of Ego
  on Dec 12, 2016 in Current Events Evolution Posts Social Consciousness Bill Clinton Donald Trump ethics morality Pope selfishness Tony Alamo
  In a world with finite resources, many commodities are in short supply. One clear overabundance is that of ego. We’ve seen that clearly in the long, long months of this year’s political campaign and the single month since then. Running … Co...
• Stand Up
  on Dec 11, 2016 in Current Events Natural Disasters Posts Social Consciousness Civil Rights democracy human rights politics post-truth post-truth politics
  At first glance, we had little in common. In fact, of all the people in the room the only one I knew was my wife. We were gathered together to find ways to defend ourselves against our government. Those who … Continue reading →...

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