Bože! independent catholic ideas, identity & theology
OC/IC Theology – Ways of Doing Theology
Scanning For Your Humanity
The other day I made a brief post wondering out loud about the new body scanners, and the associated “enhanced pat down” in American airports; asking if the process had crossed a line dehumanising travellers. Well, It seems that this is now definitely the case as this article shows. Again I’m wondering why I’m not [...]
Body Scanners: Theology & Ethics?
I’ve been reading, with fascinated horror, the many articles now available about the widespread introduction of full body scanners in American airports. Security experts, including our own Home Office and Department for Transport have stated that these scanners simply don’t improve airport safety. What they have done, however, is created a storm of protest. The [...]
The Bible – How Do You Use It?
This morning’s news trawl dropped me into a number of posts and articles that touched on what one article referred to as “biblical literacy”. That is to say, it explored the amount which people understood modern UK society to be influenced by, or shaped by the biblical narrative. It’s a fascinating idea but one that [...]
Curious News
This morning’s troll through news of interest draw two un-related stories to my curiousity. First is an item in yesterday’s (Tues. 12 Oct) Guardian about the apparent competition between denomonational representatives at the site of the Chilean mining disaster. Each claiming that God was listening to them, and that it is through their (individual) intervention [...]
Comedy & Theology
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Indie Manifesto
Last night I handed my PhD thesis over to my supervisor. In theory this means I have crossed the threshold from darkness into light – I am now exiting the cave. What comes next? I’m not sure, I know at some point in the not too distant future there is somethign called “the submission” followed [...]
Readings In Original Sin
Last night I began reading Alan Jacobs’ Original Sin A Cultural History. This should be an interesting journey. I’m making a concerted effort to wrestle with an idea, a concept, a theory of the human condition that has fascinated and horrified me ever since I first learned about it. To my mind, Augustine’s theory of [...]
Empty
Last week my office was re-decorated. It was about time too. I’d never changed the colour of the walls which as you can see were a nausiating “Crayola Sunshine Yellow”. Preparing for the arrival of the decorator I had to empty the room in which I spend so much of my time. The bird had [...]
Editing A Theme
If you’ve not already noticed I’ve been editing my thinking on the “spiritual but not religious” idea as I go along. Looking at the conversation developing here, as well as thinking about various tangents (thus my first post on it here). Thanks to Sam Urfer I’m quoting from the Onion: “Father Clancy Donahue of St. [...]
What is “Religious”? What is “Spiritual”?
This little “sapling” of a conversation deserves more than its getting. Looking at not only my own initial response on Twitter, as well as the response of others (see previous post) I’m realising that these two words are very “loaded”. Huw, rightly observes that the underlying question remains unanswered – what is our working definition [...]
“Spiritual But Not Religious”?
Last week my friend and fellow Indie-Easterner Huw posed this question on Twitter: “Define ‘Spiritual but not religious’.” My initial response encompassed two ideas that I’ve encountered over the years from a significant number of people who describe themselves as being “spiritual but not religious”. First is the idea that the “institution” of religion impedes [...]
Bad Theology
Here in the UK the Guardian has a regular column called “Bad Science” which exposes . . . well, “bad” science, pseudo science, and “popular science” ideas – like homeopathy. Maggi Dawn has suggested on her blog the brilliant idea of a “Bad Theology” column. So what bad theologies, or pseudo theological ideas would you [...]
It Came, It Went, And I Completely Missed it
I just realised this morning that we’ve been working on this project, we call the “Theo-blog” for four years and . . .one month (well 4 years, 1 month, and 3 days) now. Happy birthday blog! When I started this experiment back in April 2006 I never imagined that it would have the staying power [...]
The Fast – What’s It All About Anyway?
It’s finally here – today is “clean monday”, the fast has begun. So here’s the question: what is “the fast” all about anyway? Athanasius writing in the fourth century said that a bit of moderate asceticism was useful for everyone – not just ascetics (read – monks, virgins, nuns and vowed widows). But the age [...]
It’s All Fake!
Have a look at this vid of behavioral economist Dan Ariely describing an interesting experiment involving fake fashion – you know the ones – you find “Gucci”, “Prada” handbags and sunglasses being sold for £5 at street vendors all over London. In the experiment he discovers that wearing fake fashion items seems to . . [...]
Gobble Gobble . . . . eeeek!
Three curious but very interesting essays on “thanksgiving” and its affect or relationship to theology & praxis. First is this from Religion Dispatches an Indian perspective, with what I think is a very positive ending: “Without a major shift in the way humans thinks about the earth, humans are not only causing the extinction of [...]
Hateful “Prayer”?
Faithlab has this interesting snippet about a fundamentalist in California who is openly “praying” for the death of President Obama. They observe (I think correctly) that this is contrary to Jesus’ own example. What is “prayer”? If we accept that it is that dialogue we have with God throughout the day – then is it [...]
Burn Less Incense, Build Green Cred
The Economist has a good article on some recent (and not so recent) moves linking religious communities with addressing ecological issues (not just climate change, I’d say). They report that a recent meeting of religious leaders, Prince Philip and Ban Ki-moon resulted in various action plans according to one’s tradition. The Daoists for example have [...]
ReX – Notes On Religious Share Index
“Alternatively, if one denomination unexpectedly adopts an aggressive policy of buying shares in another, then the resulting volatility will make it hard accurately to assess the underlying reality.” Mark Vernon’s essay in the Guardian Online playing with the imagery of possible parallels between the language, dynamic, and psychology of the eddies of spiritual and religious [...]
Indie Folk In the News
Thanks to Siobhan, we’ve got this rather neat article on indie folk in CO. Tweet
Time Check, Anicetus & Photios the Martyrs
Let’s check in with the calendar – yup – its the 10th Wednesday after Pentecost. It’s so easy to loose track of the simple things – yes? Anyway today is the commemoration of Anicetus the Martyr. Anicetus, ike Euplus who we commemorated yesterday, openly “presented himself” to the authorities boldly declaring that all those who [...]
All Shapes & Sizes
I realised this morning that I’d posted this last week – without a heading. Fixed now. In a further addition to it – or perhaps a tangent. This weekend I was suddendly struck by the most obvious thing regarding saints. Look at the variety of life and personality commemorated throughout the year as examples of [...]
Celebrating The Diaconate
Today we commemorate the deacons Prochor, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas mentioned in Acts 6.5. They were chosen by the community to serve the social ministry needs of the community so that the Disciples could maintain their focus on teaching and study. According to tradition two became bishops (Prochor and Timon), the other two – it [...]
New Book
After many months of indecision I have finally published my MA thesis on the emergence of the Virgin Mary as a figure of female asceticism in the third and fourth centuries. You can pick up a copy by clicking here. Primarily through the writings of Origen and Athanasius I trace the development of the image [...]