Tom Storm

:up: Yes, looks that way to me too. Tony Judt wrote a good book on this called, Ill Fares The Land.

Not really. I generally avoid the news and I'm not on social media. The cant and mawkish promises are nauseating, and political journalism just feels ...

Yes, that’s my conclusion. It ties into a point I often make: just because someone professes morality or is a strong member of a church doesn’t necess...

Great quote you provided by Spinoza - ...But some people think the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus rests on the assumption that God is one and the same...

Do you have any initial thoughts on my original post? This seems like it's right in your wheelhouse. I can't help but feel that the idea of a "ground ...

That is very interesting and looks like a lifetime of study is requited to get on top of. Do you rate Hart as a theological thinker? When he writes of...

Nice. I've never quite got my head around natura naturans, do you consider it a useful frame? I think I've heard you say Spinoza is not a pantheist bu...

Thank you.

Nicely worded. Much of this matches the reading I have done. Do you find this model resonates?

I guess some more nuanced information on what it means to say God is Being itself. What does it mean to say God is the fundamental existence or essenc...

I’d like someone who is across the literature to outline a clearer picture. Tillich aside, the notion of Being seems intriguing. As I said earlier, I ...

It’s superficially similar to deism. I think Tillich would say that there was no creator who, disinterested, has moved on (as in Deism) but rather we ...

It may be worth looking into Bernardo Kastrup's study of Jung. He sees Jung as an early form of analytic idealism. The Book is Decoding Jung's Metaphy...

Yes. Very nicely put. And funny. In understand completely. It's a big subject. I'm not really trying to clear anything up personally, I am more intere...

Yes, that's pretty much what I thought, based on my rudimentary reading. All I'm really trying to do here is generate more interesting discussions abo...

No. You need some familiarity with the literature to understand the concepts. Bear in mind this is not my area of expertise. The arguments are nuanced...

The idea of a more sophisticated theology is not "loosey-goosey." It has deep roots, going back to the early Church Fathers who wrote extensively abou...

That's fine. Thanks for stopping by.

I have known atheists who have become theists after reading more sophisticated writing on the notion of God. Many atheists are interested in enlargeni...

i'm not sure I'm following you. Take a paragraph or two to articulate your point.

Isn't it obvious that ideas develop? If you're going to say you don't believe in God, you'd better be sure what you mean by 'God,' right? The developm...

Perhaps not immediately. But I’ve certainly heard these discussions over the past 30 years, and they sometimes do explore this concept. But even if th...

I doubt that, I'm an atheist, and this is an area of interest for me. Many atheists I know have wrestled with the ideas of Jung, Tillich or Robert Sok...

Yes, I think this is probably accurate. I'd be interested how others see this.

In my experience (and I’ve debated many in person), they generally point to specific things like flight, crossing roads, or the efficacy of medicine. ...

Not really. I agree the word is used differently. I'm explaining why I make a distinction and advocating for my preference. This is a site devoted to ...

Indeed, that’s generally what I recommend. If you have a good reason for believing something, you don’t need faith. Reasonable confidence in one’s ski...

I recall the issue being a fairly serious concern back in the 1970’s. it had nothing to do with technology although back then TV was sometimes blamed....

I can’t see ready agreement on projects, goals or methods, but as a variation on the old peace corps idea it might attract some people if it is volunt...

Which I would have preferred when I was a student at school. I went to a very expensive elite school. It was Christian, and we had a daily chapel serv...

:up:

:up:

I went to a Billy Shorten campaign speech at a local town hall before the 2019 Federal Election. My partner then was helping the local Labor candidate...

My partner helped support one of their campaigns. Disorganized, collectivist shenanigans. Could be... I only drink it at home.

I did this throughout the 1980's as they gleefully thrust neo-liberalism upon us. And boring too. I have Greens Adam Bant and Ellen Sandall as my Fede...

May 3. I think it's going to be a very dull campaign. Anything you think we should watch for?

A framework is a structured way of describing an approach, while an objective measurement implies a standard that is independent of personal or cultur...

Looks like political art out of the old USSR. https://russomilitare.com/img/products/740/long_live_our_dear_stalin_700.jpg

:up: I think this could be an interesting thread.

Is this conflating moral objectivity with the ability to have meaningful moral discourse? The moral relativist can have a moral framework, let's say t...

This is certainly worth stating. The assumption that cupidity is the sole motivator seems banal. Such a conclusion involves a degree of mind reading o...

God is an idea with many interpretations. The cartoonish, literalist account of God is the easiest to undermine. People focus on it most because Bibli...

Well this is only true if you think of god as a magic sky wizard with a plan. The literalist account in Islam and Christianity, for instance. But if y...

That's a pithy and reasonable observation and I've often had similar reactions.

No worries. And I hope my response didn't seem crusty. All good. We're just fumbling our way through these things. :up:

Nice.

I can get behind that but this is a subtle idea and flies against traditions, etc. What is your response against the view that if we make morality tog...

Yes, I think this may well be the critical matter - "made" by our actions.

:up: Fair enough.

Sounds like you have a lot of challenges to manage. Your question has much more impact hearing this. For what it's worth, I wish you well. You've been...