Collie's Bestiary

Originally written in the late '90s regarding the reading list of a truly fascinating anthropology class. The papers are extremely light — basically just some quick review and discussion questions. I include them here mostly because the books were excellent and well worth reading for thoughtful perspectives on women's roles in a variety of religions. [...]

Originally written in the late '90s regarding the reading list of a truly fascinating anthropology class. The papers are extremely light — basically just some quick review and discussion questions. I include them here mostly because the books were excellent and well worth reading for thoughtful perspectives on women's roles in a variety of religions. [...]

"When facts fail you, words come in handy." – Goethe Frankly, I deplore most of the "talking heads" garbage (yes, I call it that deliberately) I've seen or read recently. Simplistic framing of complex issues into "us vs. them" is damned stupid, and I'm tired of having my intelligence insulted so. It's gotten to the [...]

What is the form this mental organization takes? Dr. Lakoff believes our personal morality is framed by our family structure as children. There are two rough types or classes of family: the "strict father" paradigm and the "nurturing parents" paradigm. The "strict father" is a definite patriarch of his family, in control of his dependents [...]

Originally posted November 2004 Credits: To Bob, of course, due to his irritating (but this time helpful) habit of always leaving the radio on! ;) The emotional quality of what we moderns call our thought produces an extreme violence of conviction combined with extreme incoherence in our arguments. – Jacques Ellul I don't like politics. [...]

Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit Another critic I found on the web saw double standards in Wills' book — a desire within Wills to dispense with ritual even as he promoted it. However, the critic's examples of this which I read demonstrated a double standard only if the "Church" is equated to the current ritual-bound, [...]

Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit Why compelling? So why is the book so riveting? There are several reasons I found it so. Firstly, it's always fascinating to read the thoughts of the religiously devout — who can also see the terrible attrition of belief due to the lure of secular power.

A fascinating, eye-opening review of biblical & ancient textual exegesis concerning current papal "hot button" issues.

Understanding ourselves For completeness, let's look at a dictionary definition for spirituality as well. Doing so helped clarify religiosity; let's see if it helps here too: Spirituality: concern with things of the spirit, which is defined as: a fundamental emotional and activating principle determining one's character; any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible (or [...]

Two modern-day examples of the secularity of organized religion: President Bush recently asked the Pope (the leader of another nation) to put pressure on Catholic bishops in the United States to support Bush's presidential campaign by speaking out against same-sex marriage and encouraging a Constitutional amendment on marriage. Will Bush be asking the leaders of [...]