In the Church Times Andrew Linzey writes about animal cruelty in First hit the pets, then the people.
And last week, in the Church Times Harriet Baber wrote about gun control in How to survive in a violent world.
Andrew Clitherow writes the Guardian’s Face to Faith column about the cul-de-sac of formal religion.
Luis Rodriguez writes in The Times that We must work to discover the meaning of suffering.
Linzey’s article is interesting, an his insights that cruelty to animals often ripples over into cruelty to humans is valid. As are his comments that abusers will do things to animals and then threaten the human witnesses with doing similar to them unless they satisfy their whims. The need for respect for animals is part of the fabric of Jewish mitzvah and kosher food. The ideas are well popularised in the following article, to which I referred my daughter when she decreed that she will not eat lamb as it is a baby animal that has not had a chance… Read more »
Linzey’s article is very fine — it reminded me of the childhood pastime of the President of the United States of inserting firecrackers into the rectums of frogs
Presumably the boy Bush was trying to develop some sort of missile system to protect him from the nature park and its toady weapons of mass destruction, or rather he hated the zoo keeper. One of the stances in Buddhism is that compassion for animals is part of compassion for yourself and for others. As sentient beings we should have concern for the proper treatment of all sentient beings. Oh dear, Giles Frser has been promoted or relegated to subscription status, or a week late. Now, what about the Church Times Leader, which says: “Nobody seriously believes that Dr Williams… Read more »
OK, my piece mentioned previously is written and uploaded.
http://www.change.freeuk.com/learning/relthink/eucharistpm.html
There is an introduction here:
http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/simulacration.html
I now feel a lot happier.
Okay, Pluralist. I’ll brush up on Baudrillard, who I thought was better off neglected, in an attempt to see through your, uh, simulation…. or was that a simulacra…
Pluralist, glad you feel happier but the details went over my head (acadamia and details have never been amongst my strong suits). Joke Adam carefully explaining to Eve the Latin name for a Dodo bird and why it is the best name possible, Eve replying “It’s dead, what does its name matter now?” Monty Python and parrot pet shop joke come to mind. One thing that has struck me in reading the bible is yet again we have to beware of God’s two sided swords. Jesus exhorted us to eat and drink in remembrance of him. Some have taken that… Read more »
Curtis – he is dead now, like that Dodo bird Cheryl, gone to that great simulacra in the sky. Of course my piece of writing is a simulation of an argument – what else could it be? Thanks for looking.
Pluralist Your work is a fine work and you spent many hours on it. One of the frustrations of the current era is watching scrolls disappear through editorial contrivance. So in editable forums, souls delete their errors and pretend they never happened, forum administrators block and expunge writings they can’t co-opt. Authors and their texts are blacklisted because part of their message is “unsuitable” and so the good and valid points are lost as well. There needs to be the pragmatism of Jeremiah who writes the scroll as it needs to be written (much to the frustration of the king… Read more »
It would be a funny session with the Inquisition in the days of the Internet, wouldn’t it? “Do you deny that you wrote…” “Of course not – I can give you the URL if you want.” “Confess!” “What about?” Sorry folks, but the notion of orthodoxy is sectarian – only maintained by artificial boundaries. There are traditions and inheritances and guidelines, but that’s about it in this world. One of my main reactions to reading the material put out by the likes of Archbishop Akinola is something on the lines, “What are you on about?” If you want a broad… Read more »