Archive for 2009

God is inadequate

From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: there is no objective view of “God”: each generation has to create the image of God that works for it.  The same is true of atheism.  The statement “I do not believe in God” has meant something slightly different at […]

This week is going to make me tired

Normally at the end of the week, I post a bunch of interesting articles.  (You’d better not tell me you think they’re boring.)  This week I’m too busy for that.  By about this time next week I will have taken two (terrifyingly hard) tests, outlined a review paper, written a research prospectus, alternately beaten and […]

Fall break

My university doesn’t have a fall break.  In addition to generally being a cruel policy, it ensures that by this point in the semester I absolutely hate all of my classes.  This semester would be more manageable than some, but I’m going to a conference in November.  I’m really excited about the conference, but missing […]

Maybe capitalism isn’t the best philosophy

E.O. Wilson in Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge: To suppose that the living standard of the rest of the world can be raised to that of the most prosperous countries, with existing technology and current levels of consumption and waste, is a dream in pursuit of a mathematical impossibility.  Even to level out present-day income […]

A History of God

I’ve been reading Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam for the last few months.  She isn’t trying to prove the existence of God, but traces how people have imagined God and the kinds of relationships they think they’ve had with him.  Fundamentalism, the brand of Christianity I’m […]