Tag Archives: John the Baptist

The Contemporary World’s Metaphysical and Epistemic Grand Canyon: Are You a Brooding Romantic or a Rational Universalist?

In his essay, “Grandeur, profundity, and finitude“, atheist pragmatist philosopher, Richard Rorty, tries to walk us back from what he sees as our two chief metaphysical and epistemic precipices: romanticism and rational universalism. He starts with romanticism (84): The romantics became convinced … Continue reading

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Jesus and John the Baptist Depicted in Their Mothers’ Wombs—with Halos!

This is a trippy Armenian Christian image of Mary meeting up with Elizabeth while Jesus and John the Baptist are still in their bellies: The softness and sympathy of the women’s exchange of glances—so humane and accessible—is rather curiously contrasted with the mature and severe … Continue reading

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Did the New Republican Party Chairman, Michael Steele, Try to Lie His Way Out of Some Indiscreet Remarks? And Did He Really Compare Stem Cell Research Doctors to Nazi Holocaust Doctors?

So says Salon.com today: He got in trouble in 2006 for making some unguarded remarks disparaging then-President Bush to a group of reporters. His name was supposed to be kept off the comments, but when it quickly became obvious who … Continue reading

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Crying (Softly) in the Wilderness?: Leon Wieseltier (Mildly) Channels John Ruskin

In the “Washington Diarist” column of the August 27 New Republic, Leon Wieseltier expresses angst at the direction of contemporary American culture, and is unimpressed by all of our contemporary whiz-bang technological advancement, asserting that things of real value have been dying—and are … Continue reading

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