"I'm a Sufi," she explained
Saturday May 26, 2007
What a pleasure to read Rebecca Mead's "Talk of the Town" entry in the current New Yorker, detailing conversations she had at a Manhattan cocktail party to honor the actress Ellen Burstyn, who has just written a memoir, and the...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Pleasure? I wanted to throw rocks at the lot of them.
Yes, but see, I'm perverse in that I take pleasure in something called "hathos" -- the pathos involved in hating something so much it's pleasurable. Hathos=Schadenfreude.
"The pleasure is to read what passes for religion among these overprivileged celebs"... there isn't much difference between their modern Myths and ancient Myths such as the Myths of Orthodoxy... what "passes for religion" throughout history, the long established Myths of the world, is most likely as much a mismatch with Reality as these modern Myths... any "dramatic reading" about Orthodoxy would show this... think about it... faith hope love joy peace to all...
:::::::happy little trees:::::::::
And a happy little brook.
A "drunken Christopher Hitchens" sounds redundant, like saying "black Black Labrador Retriever."
:::::::happy talking angels:::::::
godisaheretic, I'm just curious. What draws you to beliefnet, as your posts often seem designed as an attempt to discredit the beliefs of others here? Are you attempting to proselytize others to your lack of belief in orthodoxy?
Rod: I'm perverse in that I take pleasure in something called "hathos" --the pathos involved in hating something so much it's pleasurable. Wow, that's exactly why I read your blog. I'm mildly disgusted to realize I share that character trait with you.
We're here to serve the worthy and the unworthy. Glad to have been a help.
Celebrity spirituality is a misnomer. The only thing those people worship are themselves. God, Buddha,Karma,Kabbalah or whatever, has nothing to do with it. It's just a nice patina to give their self-worship a name and a form of respectability. They lecture the rest of the world on whatever sins or causes are currently fashionable when they themselves are among the worst offenders due to their wealth and privileged position. For someone to make several million dollars for a few scenes of playing let's pretend or singing some songs is scandalous. I see that a consumer group in Rome has been protesting the ridiculous ticket prices to Streisand's upcoming concert there. More power to the little people!
"We're here to serve the worthy and the unworthy. Glad to have been of help." this strikes a bit of a false note, seeing as you get so hysterical about the "personal attacks" of certain of your critics, whose comments you still furiously set about deleting asap.
dear cs... Bnet certainly has helped me to see how orthodoxy is a mismatch with Reality... I mean... I believe in God wholeheartedly... but for me it's important to discern that all of the Myths in the world are surely inaccurate representations of the Reality of God... whatever that is... no one knows... though God surely is far greater than what any Myths say... I mean... I don't see how the extreme claims of orthodoxy are in any way superior to the extreme claims of these celebs... so... it could be said that I'm just here to serve the worthy and the unworthy... though I have faith and hope that to the Reality of God there is no "unworthy"... faith hope love joy peace to you...
Are celebrities annoying? Indeed they are. Are they often foolish and overly self-involved? Probably. Are they fellow-creatures deserving of compassion? Undoubtedly. It s true that Buddhist teachers have spoken of an unwise compassion, but I doubt that was meant to apply to people who want to save the rainforest. Really--that s not such a bad cause to take up. One would think a crunchy person might even appreciate this concern. Admittedly, the hostess with her dogs kinda creeps me out. But that s just my personal reaction, hardly a moral outrage. I imagine there have been orthodox persons who were silly about their pets, too. April Kramer . . . married . . . twenty-eight years . . . (and to a man). Wait, I thought that was good. Confused now . . . . The Swarovski crystals peace sign? http://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/SWAROVSKI+CRYSTAL+CUBE+ROSARY/cid=135/page_no=1/edp_no=9808/shop.axd/ProductDetails It s a rosary--only 250 dollars. Or how about a jeweled cross for only 260 dollars? http://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/18KT+GOLD+ORNATE+CROSS+WITH+CUBIC+ZIRCONIA/cid=77/page_no=1/edp_no=7029/shop.axd/ProductDetails That s quite a bargain, based on other gem-encrusted holy emblems I ve seen on sale elsewhere. They lecture the rest of the world on whatever sins or causes are currently fashionable when they themselves are among the worst offenders due to their wealth and privileged position. Oh, yeah. Now that I can get behind. Lecturing people about economics, politics, biology, family life, and other things they know little about, while living in mansions and participating in weird rituals and gathering in exclusive all-male conclaves, clad in gold brocade and lace outfits . . . oh, wait. We weren t talking about the bishops, were we. I know this probably sounds snotty, but it isn t meant to be. I m not a big fan of hathos, and I don t hate silly people in the Church. I m just saddened that Christians indulge our own foolishness while beating to death the gnats of secular folly with the big honking beam we keep handily stuck in our own eye.
I'm really not some kind of humorless prig, ya know. If somebody waved this article at me and said "Look at this! Can you believe how silly!" I'd probably have laughed heartily.
I guess it's the degree of rancor and moral judgment that sets me off. They're EEEVIL! They should have rocks thrown at them! Ehh. Get a grip.
It's not nice to laugh at celebrity spirituality. Unless, of course, it's Scientology.
Oh, I don't think these are EEEVIL people, just completely ridiculous ones.
Heh heh heh. I'm with you there, Insane Kitten.
Oh, and I don't blame you, Rod. This is silliness on quite a grand scale. I might suggest, though, that reading About the Town is a near occasion of sin for anyone who has a propensity to wrath and scorn. ; ) I myself have not infrequently had the Sunday NY Times taken away from me on grounds that a) my head may explode and b) everybody's tired of listening to me rant.
But, take note, it is a near certainty that giah only shares the good news of "all religions are equally wrong in God's eyes" with the Christers. And mebbe teh Joos. Some religions are more wrong than others, I suppose.
If we're going to have happy little trees, a brook, and talking angels, we must do our Bob Ross Channeling correctly: ((everybody whisper)): ::::"There -- lots of happy little clouds...":::: We MUST have HAPPY little clouds. :-) (the "zhoup, zhoup" when painting leaves is optional).
Bernie Hathos is my uncle.
"Let he who has not sinned. . . .
here's some more of what "passes for religion" among some other celebs: a few thousand years ago, God made a small Middle Eastern tribe into the Chosen People (though there is another opinion that the tribe self-proclaimed themselves "Chosen")... God personally slaughtered many Egyptians to free that little tribe... then God personally gave Moses some instructions up on a mountain... these instructions are a part of the only true so-called "revelation" and none of the other worldwide claims of "revelations" are true... to fulfill that "revelation", God somehow sent "His Son" to be born of a virgin... the "Son" was executed as a part of God's "plan"... but he came back to life in three days... after about 40 days, he finished his stuff and then flew up into the clouds on his way to "Heaven" as if it is in the "up" direction... yes... some celebs actually believe the above is literally true... wow... the things that some celebs will believe... .. faith hope love joy peace to all...
"The pleasure is to read what passes for religion among these overprivileged celebs"... This coming from lips that kiss centuries old bone forgeries...priceless!
About what I thought--GIAH likes a good canned hunt.
...Safer that way...
An outside comment on what I read here, a sort of self corrective missile if you will:
I have been reading your column Rod a number of months now. I try real hard not to read the comments because I have learned that they are generally not contributory to the issue but ocassionally curiosity grips the cat and he wanders into the mess.
I cannot help but wonder why you tolerate so much of this. What I see are agitators who revel in being hostile to virtual everything, (quite modern,) others are just lame brains who think with their gut, and then there others who simply cannot think but given their training just react, too many years of University I suspect and no time actually spent on developing wisdom. It might be nice to see some actual real developement of thought here. I think you sort of propel the mediocrity by having so many posts each day that you almost prohibit deep development of much, sort of a world of sound bites. When I read others on here, I, like someone else who posted just feel like I need to run. Your commenters generally make me feel hopeless and adrift in a sea of mundacity. Yet I think all of them feel quite eductated and competent to address all the issues of the day. I had hoped to find thoughtful people contributing knowledge to discussion that led somewhere. What I find instead is a forum for expressing more modern atrophies of thought. Sorry but this particular comment box got me riled enough to write. I will promise myself to shut up again, until my self discipine fails me. But then, perhaps, by then I will have found some serious thinkers somewhere else. Take this as customer feedback. God I wish I had not written so why did I press the send button.
Oh well I will take comfort in the fact that no one will read it anyway. Whew.....
"Presbyterians won t bother you, with your yoga and your Buddhas and your cursing. It s not like they re Methodists," really should go on a coffee mug.
Knowing you, Chris, it will.
dear anon... you do realize that your post really didn't add anything to this discussion about what "passes for religion"? and you do realize that you insulted all of us posters here as not being "serious thinkers"? here's some serious thought on the topic at hand (which you of course are free to reject as being not of the serious quality you so desire)... celebs who embrace the outlandish ancient Myths of Orthodoxy are not superior to the celebs who embrace the outlandish modern myths quoted in the blog... um... please respond if you have some serious thought to add... though... no offense, but I don't expect it... no one seems willing to actually try to defend the idea that the ancient Myths of Orthodoxy are somehow more accurate representations of Reality than those modern myths... ... faith hope love joy peace to you...
dear Dale... yes, Orthodoxy seems to be a poor defenseless animal... no surprise, though... most all Myths seem quite defenseless... but yes... it's safer for you to not actually engage any of the specifics... faith hope love joy peace to you too...
Thanks for the admission that you hunt only Christians and Jews. It allows me to discount your position accordingly. Not that I'm able to make heads or tails of your position, other than it appears to be "I'm modern and right, and you're backwards and wrong. QED." Whatever helps you feel good about yourself, I suppose.
Not that I'm able to make heads or tails of your position, other than it appears to be "I'm modern and right, and you're backwards and wrong. QED." That's every single post by GIAH. Every. Single. One. One stops reading after a while.
Yes, but see, I'm perverse in that I take pleasure in something called "hathos" -- the pathos involved in hating something so much it's pleasurable. Hathos=Schadenfreude. Just out of curiosity, Rod, this is a made-up word, right? (I'm a classicist and I teach Latin and classical Greek, and it's a new one on me. I can't find it in my classical Greek dictionary.) I think one of my favorite made-up words is one that the late Steve Allen coined to describe the pervasive stupidity in society: "dumbth".
no, Dale... there's no admission that I "hunt only Christians and Jews"... you missed the "most all Myths" part... I would say I'm not here to hunt but to serve... and it does "feel good" to serve.. in the context of this blog... where the blogger is Orthodox... it's only appropriate to compare the modern myths of these celebs to Orthodox Myths... but... I can't make heads or tails of your position... since you're not offering any response to the details in question... in the context of this blog: ancient Orthodox Myths are just as dubious as these modern celeb myths... and that's reinforced by the dodging... but that's safer for you, I suppose... ... faith hope love joy peace to you...
brother Rod... I'm sure you're very busy, so I don't expect any response to the comparison between ancient Orthodox Myths and these modern myths... plus... I suppose you might have a lot to lose if you came to see Orthodoxy for the Myth it is... but... thanks for allowing me the space to share... in the context of this Orthodox-leaning blog, it's obvious that some of the topics will be appropriate for questioning the background noise that's behind the post... in the context of this topic... it sure seems fair to question what "passes for religion" for the Orthodox... as you pass judgment on what passes for religion among others... I'd ask if you think so... but you're busy... and I know... "one stops reading"... that's OK... faith hope love joy peace to you...
Thanks, Rod--nice to know it isn't just me.
Oh, and one more thing, giah: If you'd be so kind, post some links to threads where you've shared your thoughts in non-Christian/non-Jewish formats. E.g., "Mr. Muslim/Hindu/Shinto, your beliefs are a myth and you're dodging the truth."
"...I take pleasure in something called "hathos" -- the pathos involved in hating something so much it's pleasurable. Hathos=Schadenfreude." and "I think about how snotty and cruel (but funny) my own writing used to be before I had kids, and I just shake my head. It's fatally easy to make fun of everything when you don't have a stake in it." Seems so.
Dale... what part of "all Myths" don't you get? it's a reasonable conclusion that all the world's Religions are Myths that are mismatches with Reality... now... this blog begins and ends with Orthodoxy... if I see a topic involving "Mr. Muslim/Hindu/Shinto", I'll have to decide how to respond accordingly... oh... and one more thing... you're still not responding to any of the details in these comments... is that dodging? or just playing it safe? it's reasonable to question what "passes for religion" for the blogger here, brother Rod, when he questions what "passes for religion" for others... obviously... so don't give me the credit... Rod opened up Orthodox beliefs for criticism by questioning the beliefs of others... faith hope love joy peace to all...
Ta-ta, giah. It was a simple request, which you were unable to answer in your gassy emission: show me links to any non-Christian/Jewish boards where you do the same thing. Your response? "...you're scared... ...you can't answer me....CO2....CO2....Orthodoxy is stupid...." Translation: You slag Christians and Jews exclusively. About what I expected, but still slightly disappointing. I was hoping for better, but you proved to be an unremarkable member of the Herd of Independent Minds. If you ever develop something resembling (1) substantive arguments, and (2) courage to proclaim your beliefs to all religious folk of every stripe, drop me a line. I'm easy to find. Failing that, I will never acknowledge you again.
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