The dangers of a fatalistic, pessimistic perception of history

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-full-israeli-experience.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121209

 

Op-Ed Columnist

The Full Israeli Experience

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: December 8, 2012

The dangers of a fatalistic, pessimistic perception of history:

quote: 

Today, alas, not only is the Israeli peace camp dead, but the most effective Israeli “bastard for peace,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak, is retiring. As I sat with Barak in his office the other day, he shared with me his parting advice to Israel’s next and sure-to-be-far-right government.

Huge political forces, with deep roots, are now playing out around Israel, particularly the rise of political Islam, said Barak. “We have to learn to accept it and see both sides of it and try to make it better. I am worried about our tendency to adopt a fatalistic, pessimistic perception of history. Because, once you adopt it, you are relieved from the responsibility to see the better aspects and seize the opportunities” when they arise.

If Israel just assumes that it’s only a matter of time before the moderate Palestinian leaders in the West Bank fall and Hamas takes over, “why try anything?” added Barak. “And, therefore, you lose sight of the opportunities and the will to seize opportunities. ...
I know that you can’t say when leaders raise this kind of pessimism that it is all just invented. It is not all invented, and you would be stupid if you did not look [at it] with open eyes.
But it is a major risk that you will not notice that you become enslaved by this pessimism in a way that will paralyze you from understanding that you can shape it. The world is full of risks, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a responsibility to do something about it — within your limits and the limits of realism — and avoid self-fulfilling prophecies that are extremely dangerous here.”

 

Value of Churches to the Community

The study, commissioned by Partners for Sacred Places, a religion-related historical preservation group in Philadelphia, assigns a dollar value to factors including the effect on individuals, safety net ministries, tourism and education. The study's first phase found that the average congregation in Philadelphia returned $4.3 million to its community. Raw data collected in Chicago suggests similar results, said Tuomi Forrest, executive vice president of Partners.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/religion/ct-met-church-water-fee-reversal-20121207,0,2604304.story

Chicago's religious leaders fight water fee

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter, December 7, 2012

Living Blissfully with the Mystery

Henry Miller’s Reflections on Writing

“Understanding is not a piercing of the mystery, but an acceptance of it, a living blissfully with it, in it, through and by it.”

Religion Among the Ranks of the Long Gray Line

B.J. Garrison

USMA Class of 2002

Religion Among the Ranks of the Long Gray Line

Posted: 12/06/2012 11:16 am

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bj-garrison/religion-among-the-ranks-of-the-long-gray-line_b_2250487.html

"Challenging Cadets, officers and NCOs to have meaningful discussions on all facets of Army life is one of the many reasons why the Academy exists. Rather than running away from the thought, we stress the need for critical thinking.

Is that hard to do in an atmosphere like West Point? Absolutely. But we revel in the difficult and solve the impossible. We members of the Long Gray Line have been taught to run to the problems and do what we can to help set things straight, and not run away cursing the ground of those who don't hold similar views as we retreat."

Evil from Conviction

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."

-Blaise Pascal (Pensees, 1670)

"Jamais on ne fait le mal si pleinement et si gaiement que quand on le fait par conscience."

lit: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it conscientiously.

Variant: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction (trans. W.F. Trotter)

Blaise Pascal, Pensées (# 894 or 895, depending on differing editions).

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Evil

Author

Profession: Philosopher

Nationality: French

Born: June 19, 1623

Died: August 19, 1662

Scripture which troubles me most

"Most people are bothered by those passages in Scriptures which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always notice that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand."

~ Mark Twain

Haiku

Haiku computer error message:

Chaos reigns within.

Reflect, repent and reboot.

Order shall return.

Three Kinds of Trouble

Never bear more than one trouble at a time.

Some people bear three kinds:

all they have had,

all they have now

and all they expect to have.

~ Edward Everett Hale, author

The Fans

"If you listen to the fans, you'll end up sitting with them."

~ Philadelphia Eagles head coach Joe Kuharich (1964-68)

Thrill and Agony

"Philadelphia is the only city, where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day."

~ Mike Schmidt, Phillies

Win or Lose

Philadelphia Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, to reporters:

"If I win, you can't hurt me. If I lose, you can't help me."

Controversies

"I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention."

~ Charles Barkley

I wish I had done more

"This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

~ Joe Paterno, Nov. 9, 2011

I wish I'd known

"I wish I'd known early what I had to learn late."

~ Richie Ashburn

Democrats and Republicans

"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy.

"The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club."

~ Dave Barry

The Machine and the Garden

The Machine and the Garden
An economy is a garden. It can be fruitful if well tended but will be overrun by noxious weeds if not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/opinion/ our-gardenbrain-economy.html?nl= todaysheadlines&emc=thab1_20120711

Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron Remembered by Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks

By Liz Raftery
Wednesday June 27, 2012 09:55 AM EDT
People.com
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20607376,00.html

A true trailblazer, Nora Ephron leaves behind a legacy of always knowing the right (and wittiest) thing to say. She was "an expert in all the departments of living well," according to Meryl Streep – one of many paying tribute to the late author-journalist-screenwriter-director, who died Tuesday at 71.

"You could call on her for anything: doctors, restaurants, recipes, speeches, or just a few jokes, and we all did it, constantly," Streep – who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Julia Child in Ephron's Julie & Julia (2009) – wrote in an email to The New York Times. "Nora just looked at every situation and cocked her head and thought, ‘Hmmmm, how can I make this more fun?'"

Streep wasn't the only celebrity to remember Ephron fondly.

The filmmaker's Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You've Got Mail (1998) star, Tom Hanks, said he and wife Rita Wilson were devastated by her death.

"At a dinner table and on a film set she lifted us all with wisdom and wit mixed with love for us and love for life," Hanks said in a statement. "Rita and I are so very sad to lose our friend who brought so much joy to all who were lucky enough to know her."

"Bebbington Quadrilateral"

Barack Obama: Evangelical-in-Chief?

How Christians might think about the President's faith.

Judd Birdsall

posted 6/21/2012 10:53AM

The most widely accepted definition of evangelicalism comes from British historian David Bebbington. According to Bebbington, an evangelical is a Christian marked by four distinct emphases:

- "conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed;
- activism, the expression of the gospel in effort;
- biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible;
and what may be termed
- crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/juneweb-only/barack-obama-evangelical-in-chief.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=6300605&utm_
content=128812793&utm_campaign=2012

The Habit of Liking You

"Hang onto your old friends because there may come a day when there's no good reason for people to like you except out of habit."
~ Garrison Keillor

As Long As They Are Fighting

quotes from a sermon commenting on Mark 3:20-30

Rev. Brian Vinson, Millersport United Methodist Church,
Sunday, March 20, 2011
I am Convinced that Unity Leads to Victory
Mark 3:20-30
http://brian-sermons.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-am-convinced-that-unity-leads-to.html

quote from Ryan Bash:
“To be honest, I’m not sure Satan really cares about what churches fight about, as long as they are fighting. I’m not sure he has much interest in who’s right and who’s wrong, as long as we’re refusing to treat one another with love and grace in the midst of the disagreement.”

There are some of you who don’t hear from God and you, implicitly if not explicitly, blame God for it. If that’s not what you’re doing, what are you doing? What’s your excuse?
Are you studying the Bible? God speaks through his word. Are you asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the Word when you read it? Are you actively seeking others to discuss scripture with? Are you praying with other Christians?
If not, what’s your excuse? Really. What’s your excuse?

Posted by Brian Vinson at 7:42 AM