[AGL] frustration

[Igor Loving]

On this morning of all mornings, the story of Christianity can seem smooth, 
straightforward, even sweet. With its angels and shepherds and luminous star 
in the sky, Christmas understandably tends to the cheerful; the faithful 
ponder the crèche, not the cross. Amid all this, it is unsettling to recall 
that Christianity is a confounding, often paradoxical faith. A father who 
sacrifices his son? A king who dies a criminal's death? A God whose weakness 
is his strength? Even St. Paul admitted that faith in Jesus required, if not 
what Samuel Taylor Coleridge later called a "willing suspension of 
disbelief," then at least an honest acknowledgment that much about the new 
religion surpassed understanding. There were often as many questions as 
answers. When the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she is to bear Jesus, her 
first, shaky words are: "How can this be, since I know not a man?" On the 
morning of the Resurrection, terrified by the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene 
runs to Peter and John to say: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, 
and we do not know where they have laid him." We do not know. And so it was 
that the faith now confessed by two billion people was born in fear and 
confusion.

THE VICTORY OF REASON
How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.
By Rodney Stark.
281 pp. Random House. $25.95.

TAKING RELIGIOUS PLURALISM SERIOUSLY
Spiritual Politics on America's Sacred Ground.
Edited by Barbara A. McGraw and Jo Renee Formicola. 344 pp. Baylor 
University Press. Paper, $34.95.

PRAYER
A History.
By Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski.
Illustrated. 415 pp. Houghton Mifflin Company. $29.95.

First Chapter: 'Prayer' (December 25, 2005)
First Chapter: 'The Victory of Reason' (December 25, 2005)

Forum: Book News and Reviews
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Andy Rash
Christianity is difficult, both in practice and in theory. Following in the 
Judaic tradition of valuing human reason, Christians treasure the mind as a 
gift of God, and the faithful are called to use his gifts to the fullest; to 
fail to do so is a sin. Every believer, says the author of the First Epistle 
of St. Peter, should "be ready always to give an answer to every man that 
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." The admonition is a good 
one, for it encourages the faithful to ask questions, and in asking 
questions, one enters the debate about God and man that began with the 
ancient pagans.

The suggestion that Christianity is a matter of both intellect and 
imagination, however, has fallen from popular favor. Many secularists see 
the whole business as fanciful, or, at best, as a comforting tale impossible 
to square with empirical truths. To literalist believers, imagination is 
beside the point: in their eyes, inerrant Scripture teaches humankind all it 
really needs to know.

The current clash between secularism and religion in America is not new, but 
it is fierce. From Salem in the 17th century, to the Scopes trial in the 
20th, to abortion rights, stem-cell research and "intelligent design" in the 
21st, it appears that such conflicts will, as Jesus said of the poor, be 
always with us. Now as in the past, it is fashionable for many on the left 
to caricature the faithful as superstitious and stiff-necked; on the right, 
conservatives attack the skeptical with anything but Christian charity. Yet 
whether one believes or disbelieves, many of us would like to see a calmer, 
more measured conversation about faith and reason than we have had in recent 
years. We might well begin with those on each extreme acknowledging that 
life is essentially mysterious: the world does not lend itself to simple 
explanation. "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" 
Paul wrote. "How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his 
ways!" For the secular, there is Hamlet: "There are more things in heaven 
and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

In my view, allowing for the existence of a transcendent order seems sounder 
than flatly denying the possibility altogether. "Reason itself is a matter 
of faith," G. K. Chesterton wrote. "It is an act of faith to assert that our 
thoughts have any relation to reality at all." Light can neither enter into 
nor emanate from a closed mind, and intellectual humility - acknowledging 
what we do not, and cannot, know - is often the beginning of wisdom.

There is not much humility to be found in the pages of Rodney Stark's 
provocative new book, "The Victory of Reason." If one had been asked to 
choose in the ninth century A.D. which part of the world would dominate the 
others for much of the coming millennium, one would almost certainly have 
put money on the world of Islam - not on Western Europe. Why Europe and its 
New World colonies rose to pre-eminence after the close of the Middle Ages 
is arguably the single greatest puzzle of modern history. Stark, however, is 
not puzzled. His answers are crisp, certain and to the point. Four decades 
ago the historian William McNeill credited Europe's ascent to its taste for 
war, its navigational techniques and its resistance to disease; more 
recently - and more vividly - Jared Diamond argued that guns, germs and 
steel decided the fate of the world. Now comes Stark, a prolific sociologist 
of religion, with a different argument. "Christianity," he writes, "created 
Western Civilization." He believes that the Christian emphasis on reason was 
the motive force in the West's rise to global dominance: "While the other 
world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone 
embraced reason and logic as the primary guide to religious truth."



Charlie Loving




>From: "Wayne Johnson" <cadaobh at shentel.net>
>Reply-To: survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s 
><austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
>To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
><austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>,"Ghetto2 Regular" 
><GHETTO2 at LISTS.WHATHELPS.COM>
>Subject: Re: [AGL] frustration Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2005 09:55:16 -0500
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>
>Ok.  Let's cool down there, Captain.
>
>First of all, it isn't a matter of "appearance" that is important, it is 
>"role playing" that is crucial.  Attitude is all.  So, if you have some old 
>Madras bedspreads hanging around (uh, figuratively speaking) than you are 
>all set.  If not, then try multi-colored beach towels (those without 
>Annette Funicello will do nicely) and a couple of red-neck bandanas for 
>your "head piece".
>
>Second.  Sit in a comfortable chair and smile. Smile benignly.  Smile 
>because you be The Man!
>
>Third.  I don't know diddly squat about Quanza/Kwanza, to my shame and 
>chagrin, and you should probably ignore all of the above.
>
>Fourth.  Have a good Boxing Day.
>
>wayneJ
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Clark Santos
>   To: Ghetto2 Regular ; survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze 
>in the 60s
>   Sent: Monday, December 26, 2005 9:49 AM
>   Subject: [AGL] frustration
>
>
>   I've packed my Santa hat away, lit nine fucking candles last night, 
>found some boxer gifts, and now I can't find my Quanza hat and robe. The 
>purchase of all these accouterments for the "happy holidays" can drive a 
>person on Social Security to the poorhouse with the cost of medicine These 
>days. How can I celebrate the day of unity without my afro costume?
>
>   EL PATRON