Year: 2009

Forgiving Holocaust Deniers?

As a Christian, I believe in the redemptive quality of the creation (and humanity).

That being said, I dare not speak for Pope Benedict XVI, but I can’t imagine why this move was made:

Anger, Dismay as Pope Reinstates Holocaust Denier

Has the work of John Paul II and his outreach to Jews been made null with this move? John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter (and participant in the NPR story linked above) calls this move a “disaster” for Jewish-Christian relations.

The Anti-Defamation League’s Director Abraham Foxman sums it up well:

This decree sends a terrible message to Catholics around the world that there is room in the Church for those who would undermine the Church’s teachings and who would foster disdain and contempt for other religions, particularly Judaism. Given the centuries-long history of anti-Semitism in the Church, this is a most troubling setback.

We need you back, Prof. Goodman. This world is ready for the types of healing you described when you told us of your vision or real and honest Jewish-Christian dialogue. I wish you were there to temper my righteous indignation on such issues.

Welcome to the Holodeck

Are you real? What does that mean, anyway?

Our world may be a giant hologram – space – 15 January 2009 – New Scientist: “The idea that we live in a hologram probably sounds absurd, but it is a natural extension of our best understanding of black holes, and something with a pretty firm theoretical footing. It has also been surprisingly helpful for physicists wrestling with theories of how the universe works at its most fundamental level.”

Maybe Mr. Moriarty had it right all along…

The End of Solitude

Great piece:

The End of Solitude – ChronicleReview.com: “This is what the contemporary self wants. It wants to be recognized, wants to be connected: It wants to be visible. If not to the millions, on Survivor or Oprah, then to the hundreds, on Twitter or Facebook. This is the quality that validates us, this is how we become real to ourselves — by being seen by others. The great contemporary terror is anonymity.

So we live exclusively in relation to others, and what disappears from our lives is solitude. Technology is taking away our privacy and our concentration, but it is also taking away our ability to be alone.”

Lots to reflect on there.