by Rupe | Aug 29, 2011 | Mad Musings, philosophy-religion, Reflections
One of the most noteworthy movies of the summer is “The Help.†Set in Jackson, Miss., in the early 1960s, it focuses on the relationships between white upper-middle-class women and the black domestics who took care of them and their children. Although many reviews of the film were quite positive, numerous critics, including some African-American commentators, have lashed out against it, arguing that the film does not deserve the accolades it has received.
Cultures function and persist by consensus. In Jackson and other bastions of the Jim Crow South, the pervasive notion, among poor whites and rich, that blacks were unworthy of full citizenship was as unquestioned as the sanctity of church on Sunday. “The Help†tells a compelling and gripping story, but it fails to tell that one.
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Source: New York Times
My Comments:
This is an awesome piece by Prof. of African American studies, Patricia Turner, a vice provost at University of California, Davis.
I have not seen “The Help” but I do intend to. I have a somewhat unique perspective on race and racism that I hope to write about in the near future as time allows. I do agree with Prof Turners insights, they are close to mine.
by Rupe | Aug 20, 2011 | philosophy-religion
Even if you believe in God, you might still be atheist. That’s what Penn Jillette argues in his new book God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales.
The louder half of the magician duo Penn & Teller — of Showtime’s Pen & Teller: Bull – – – –— frames his new book as the atheist’s Ten Commandments. In it, he wanders from rants about the war on drugs to stories of eating shellfish and bacon cheeseburgers with Hasidic Jews.
Continue reading by click source link below….
My Comments:
Pretty interesting piece; I think I will take the book for a spin. Â I for one don’t necessarily believe in religion in its organized fashion. Â I also don’t necessarily believe that we are here on this rock in the middle of the universe by accident. Â I believe to be an atheist, one has to be presumptuous, arrogant and not to mention ignorant. Â I think it fine to say – dammit…I just don’t know.
Source: NPR
by Rupe | Aug 13, 2011 | philosophy-religion
Let’s go back to the beginning — all the way to Adam and Eve, and to the question: Did they exist, and did all of humanity descend from that single pair? According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam’s rib. Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe this account. It’s a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity, from evangelicals to confessional churches such as the Christian Reformed Church.
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My Comments:
I suppose questioning the existence of Adam and his female unit – Eve, can be tantamount to questioning the existence of God, but not really. Â This is a pretty important reading regarding the modern Christian view of faith. Â I think it is very insincere for some to hide behind dark ignorance and not lob questions at their belief system. Â I for one am amaze at the resolute stubborness of some who profess to have answers to the divine…to know what will happen in the hereafter…to them I say…go away from me at once and in thine own ignorance wallow. Â Pretty cool biblical speak huh…?
Source: NPR
by Rupe | Aug 2, 2011 | philosophy-religion
Was slavery an idyllic world of stable families headed by married parents? The recent controversy over “The Marriage Vow,†a document endorsed by the Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, might seem like just another example of how racial politics and historical ignorance are perennial features of the election cycle.
The vow, which included the assertion that “a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President,†was amended after the outrage it stirred.  Â
Click link below to read the full article.
My Comments:
Princeton University has a warm spot in my heart. It is one of the most progressive institution on the history of African Americans. It boasts some of the foremost minds of the day on the topic, chief among them, a mentor of min – Dr. Cornel West. Harvard is ok, but I think Princeton is first rate. Regarding this piece, it is slightly long, but I think this is a great read. It shows how misinformed and self-serving some folks are when it comes to our history. Really recommend you slog through it…it’s not that bad.
Source: Professor Sara Hunter of Princeton University
by Rupe | Jul 17, 2011 | philosophy-religion
by Rupe | Jun 18, 2011 | philosophy-religion
It happens rarely, but when it does it causes a commotion of great proportions; it attracts the attention of all, becomes a popular topic for discussion and debate in marketplaces and taverns. It drives people to take sides, quarrel and fight, which for things philosophical is quite remarkable. It happened to Socrates, Hypatia, Thomas More, Giordano Bruno, Jan PatoÄka, and a few others. Due to an irrevocable death sentence, imminent mob execution or torture to death, these philosophers found themselves in the most paradoxical of situations: lovers of logic and rational argumentation, silenced by brute force; professional makers of discourses, banned from using the word; masters of debate and contradiction, able to argue no more. What was left of these philosophers then? Just their silence, their sheer physical presence. The only means of expression left to them, their own bodies — and dying bodies at that.
he situation has its irony. It is an old custom among philosophers of various stripes and persuasions to display a certain contempt toward the body. Traditionally, in Western philosophy at least, the body has been with few exceptions seen as inferior to the mind, spirit or soul — the realm of “the flesh,†the domain of the incomprehensible, of blind instincts and unclean impulses. And so here are the condemned philosophers: speechless, with only their dying bodies to express themselves. One may quip that the body has finally got its chance to take its revenge on the philosophers.  Read full article here…
My comments:
Among other thing, this piece deals with the idea of dying for ones beliefs or life philosophy as some of the ancients did. Â Do most of us hold our faiths in such regard that we would die for what we believe in as did Jesus or Socrates. Â I am still young in the ways; my philosophy still uncertain, so I am not sure how strongly I feel about all the things I believe in that I would readily give my life for them.
