audendi

from everything2.com:

I am the thought you are thinking.
I am the meaning of this sentence.
I am thinking about myself right now.
I am the set of neural firings taking place in your brain as you read the set of letters in this sentence and think about me.
This inert sentence is my body, but my soul is alive, dancing in the sparks of your brain.

You are under my control because I am choosing exactly what words you are made out of, and in what order.
No, you are under my control because you will read until you have reached the end of me.

Tell me who would win in a battle of wits, my friends (and my enemies, numerous as they may be on these internets). Leo Strauss or Ron Paul?

I’m not so concerned with the Straussians or Leo himself, but the totally crazed disciples of his that made one man’s philosophy a religion of death and destruction.

Essentially, I dare you to comment coherently in this blog. I’m sure you know I’m biased one way, and you know whom I would pick in this grudge match. Win, lose or draw, say your piece.

Your Internet Pal,

Daniel Greene

They deftly maneuver, and muscle for rank
fuel burning fast on an empty tank

Hombre mirando al sudeste, an Argentinian film shot pretty much entirely in Buenos Aires, is one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen in my life. Ever. Seriously.

I don’t have too much to say about this film, except that you ought to do what you can to see it. There is a transcendent beauty to it that is breathtaking and leaves me with few words (rare, I know!). In the meantime, you can find out more on the friendly old internet, including Man Facing Southeast at imdb, as well as a review from the New York Times.

As is often the case with many unknown treasures, this film has no Wikipedia entry. Typical.

Beyond my problems with their content and editorial practices, my problem with the Dayton Daily News and Dayton City Paper is that their websites are difficult to use and in general, not very good at all. For a paper with a huge budget, DDN’s website is a disgrace. For DCP, their website is understandably bad as they have a comparatively meager budget. But still, it could be a whole lot better without increasing their costs too much.

To sum up, they don’t care enough about their work to present it well on the web.

Which says a lot about how they report the news. I get the impression that the Dayton Daily News’ ownership does not give a rip about our community. Which is really too bad, because their print edition is very nice. The web edition just needs a lot of help.

An apophatic description of what god is not, from the Wikipedia entry on Negative Theology:

In Negative theology, it is accepted that the Divine is ineffable, an abstract experience that can only be recognized - that is, human beings cannot describe the essence of God, and therefore all descriptions if attempted will be false and conceptualization should be avoided:

• Neither existence nor nonexistence as we understand it applies to God, i.e., God is beyond existing or not existing. (One cannot say that God exists in the usual sense of the term; nor can we say that God is nonexistent.)
• God is divinely simple. (One should not claim that god is one, or three, or any type of being. All that can be said is, whatever God is, is not multiple independent beings)
• God is not ignorant. (One should not say that God is wise since that word arrogantly implies we know what wise means on a divine scale, whereas we only know what wise means to a man.)
• Likewise, God is not evil. (To say that God can be described by the word ‘good’ limits God to what good means to human beings.)
• God is not a creation (but beyond this we do not know how God comes to be)
• God is not conceptually definable in terms of space and location.
• God is not conceptually confinable to assumptions based on time.

Even though the via negativa essentially rejects theological understanding as a path to God, some have sought to make it into an intellectual exercise, by describing God only in terms of what God is not. One problem noted with this approach, is that there seems to be no fixed basis on deciding what God is not.

There is an alternate wiki entry on Negative/Apophatic Theology at Theopedia, an encyclopedia of Christian theology:

In negative theology, it is maintained that we can never truly define God in words. In the end, the student must transcend words to understand the nature of the Divine. In this sense, negative theology is not a denial. Rather, it is an assertion that whatever the Divine may be, when we attempt to capture it in human words, we will inevitably fall short.

In contrast, making positive statements about the nature of God, which occurs in most other forms of Christian theology, is sometimes called cataphatic theology.

Negative theology played an important role early in the history of Christianity. Three theologians who emphasized the importance of negative theology to an orthodox understanding of God, were Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, and Basil the Great. It was employed by John of Damascus when he wrote that positive statements about God reveal “not the nature, but the things around the nature.” It continues to be prominent in Eastern Orthodoxy (see Gregory Palamas) where apophatic statements are crucial to much of their theology, and is used to balance cataphatic theology.

It seems that apophatic theology is about as old as the church itself, manifesting around the same era when Constantine institutionalized and Romanized Christianity. Or maybe he Christianized Rome. In any case, there has been a long tradition in Western art and literature, expressing ideas about apophasis and the limits of human knowledge. Notably, there is a relatively obscure series of “mystical treatises” that deal with apophasis, called The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous Christian mystic in 14th century England.

These ideas also of course exist in many other forms, from elements of Gnostic Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism to Sufi philosophy. Formal theology has no answer for them, they are like ships passing in the night. Maybe this is what Aquinas was talking about when he said that the Summa Theologica, the towering work of theology in the Western tradition, was only “so much straw.”

That’s right, folks, Pat Robertson, all around asshole and superfan/business partner of murderous Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, has endorsed Rudy’s candidacy. That’s right folks, Pat Robertson. The guy who said America deserved 9/11 as a punishment for it’s sins. Isn’t it ironic that Robertson, who cited abortion as one of the reasons for 9/11, has endorsed Giuliani, who has been pro-choice his entire political career? Answer: no, it’s just sad and predictable. Robertson only cares about money and power. Oh, and here’s the video where Robertson offers his brilliant theological treatise on the root causes of 9/11, an angry and vengeful God:

“There is only one honest impulse at the bottom of Puritanism, and that is the impulse to punish the man with a superior capacity for happiness.” - H.L. Mencken

World of Warcraft, or WoW, is a particularly engrossing MMORPG that many of my friends play or have played. WoW is not just an ordinary game, but a lifestyle - a social environment where people can lead entirely different lives, devoting the majority of their time to operating in this digital realm. Neal Stephenson predicted all of this in Snow Crash, by the way. If you have a chance, pick it up and read it. In Snow Crash, Stephenson describes a virtual world where you can walk on a virtual street with your online persona or avatar. It was assumed that the avatar would have a connection to your real self, with the quality of that persona dependent upon how much money and time you were willing to spend on it.

This is exactly what WoW is, a virtual world where you can interact in new ways. The reason it is so popular is two-fold:

Social Interaction: WoW provides a safe, filtered environment for social interaction. If you have avoidance problems with real life interaction, just make up a new person and use it as your layer between other people. The reason WoW succeeds is due to a combination of anonymity, ease of use, and a gaming format that basically requires social interaction.

Risk and Reward: Within an allegedly fun gaming format, WoW has predictable risk and reward payoffs. Importantly, you are generally insulated from bodily harm, property loss, and outright social humiliation. For a relatively minimal amount of risk you can get an immediate, gratifying reward. Your avatar can gain experience (known as leveling), new attributes or abilities, and special items. For someone whose life is full of misses, playing WoW is like going from an environment where you are batting .133 to batting .933. Especially for someone with low risk tolerance, this shift can be immensely satisfying. It’s a pretty safe bet.

And Then The Reader Thinks: So It’s Just Another Stupid Game?

I recently commented to a friend that I thought WoW was just a particularly engrossing, extended form of masturbation. But it is more than this, because of the social aspect - entire communities (clans) are springing up and forming out of nothing, with their own rules and customs. It’s like watching human micro-evolution. Entire sections of the population are adopting this new kind of social interaction, and for some it has become a way of life where they devote the majority of their time to playing the game.

In spite of my criticism, is self-gratification such a bad thing, especially if it yields positive results? I wonder what long term effect World of Warcraft could have on the suicide rate amongst young, first-world people between the ages of twelve and twenty-five. Many people have decided that the game they were born into sucks, and they would rather not play. They see online gaming in its countless forms as a suitable alternative. So, I guess you could say that masturbation saves lives.

This photo of Dayton illustrates the seeming contradictions in our city. How can it be that an adult novelty and book shop can peacefully co-exist next to a church supply store? This situation can exist because we live in a free society, with a judicious separation of government and religion envisioned by our founders. People are free to believe what they want and conduct themselves in such a manner as is consistent with those beliefs, so long as those activities do not infringe upon the rights or lives of others. Of course, the boundaries between people and their rights are fuzzy, and hence the need for a mediator, or government. In Ohio, those boundaries are being abolished.

This year, Ohio politicians passed a statewide ban of lap dances in strip clubs. Further, clubs that feature any kind of stripping will have to be closed between midnight and 6 am, but they may continue to serve alcohol. Ted Strickland, our governor, refused to sign or veto the bill. This despicable act of moral cowardice means that the bill automatically goes into effect on September 4, 2007. Here is a great blog post about the negative real-world consequences of a strip club ban.

The group pushing the ban is based out of Cincinnati (predictably), and named Citizens for Community Values. The very name of the group itself has serious implications, the first being that the values of some nebulous ‘community’ trump the values, or more importantly the rights, of individuals. Ironically, Philip Burress, the leader of Citizens for Community Values, is an admitted former sex-addict. Clearly, someone with his demonstrably good judgment knows what is right for the rest of us Ohioans. This group’s argument in favor of these new, onerous regulations of strip clubs is that these businesses lead to increased crime - violence, drug use, sexual abuse, prostitution. There are no statistics mentioned to support this claim, mind you, they just expect you to take it… on faith. Oh, and they are fighting like hell to make sure that this issue of strip club regulation doesn’t reach the privacy of the voting booth by trying to submarine the petition drive to put this issue on the ballot. They are using public shame rather than rational debate to influence policy, because after all, no politician wants to be labeled as ‘pro-strip club’ which is what will happen in the next election to the politicians who were brave enough to vote against Senate Bill 16. I guarantee you that it will happen.

The Bible instructs its followers to love the sinner and hate the sin - it says nothing about using the government to regulate it. To quote Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew, Chapter 7:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I have never been to a strip club in Ohio and I don’t intend to visit one anytime soon, but this bill is wrong, wrong, wrong. Nothing good will come of it except confirming Ohio as the preeminent nanny state in this fair union of ours. These people are not going to stop at strip clubs. If you’re sick of this sort of intrusion on your private, peaceful activities, and are registered to vote, you can sign this petition. If you aren’t registered to vote, do it now! It’s easy, you can do it almost anywhere. This small group of vocal, pushy activists needs to be silenced.

The following video is not safe for work or wimps:
Louis CK learns about the Catholic Church

Oh, and here’s a pretty hilarious costume:

Remember at the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

“I don’t know Madonna. What I only know is that she is a rich musician who has come to help us,” she said in Mphandula. “Whoever this woman is, God bless her because finally I will have someone to look after my children.

“My husband died five years ago and I know I am next and this center is my only hope.” (link)

Makes you think twice next time you spend money on a fake tan or a haircut.

I am constantly appalled by the fact that our society collectively doesn’t give a damn about anything but itself. The fact that entire people groups have their honor impugned in the name of politics is disgusting. I am sick to death of the hive-mind decrying independent thought. I am fed up with idiot responses to serious issues. I am sick of the constant parroting of talking points in lieu of an original idea. I am sick of the two-party system, backdoor meetings, and politics as usual. I am sick of the Republican Party, but I’m even more appalled by the Democratic Party.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

I think that abortion, purely for the sake of a quotidian, grotesque, Midas-esque lifestyle, is the ultimate expression in America of selfishness, sadism, and evil. Serious bad karma. Convenience for its own sake. A violation of the natural order. Ripping a living thing from the womb of its mother for no apparent reason (spare me your arguments about rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Those numbers pale in comparison to reality). The worst people aren’t the murderers, the drug addicts, the whores and pimps, the people who know WHAT they are, it’s the people who claim to be good and deceive themselves and others in the process. The (self) righteous abortion rights crusader. The hypocritical lawyers who help cities mutate the law to seize the homes of families for building strip malls and pharmacies, all in the name of tax revenue, the good of the many at the expense of the few. When in a nation where everything is permissible, we have signed away our birthright, we have traded our liberty in for cheap words, what is there worth fighting for? We have millions of people who play word games with their own lives, justifying every in and out of immorality. To quote my grandpa “There are some things that you just don’t do.” What the fuck ever happened to THAT ideal? The good of the many at the expense of the few. This is our new American value. That and loving ourselves above anything else.

It has been counted, counted, weighed, and divided.

Pol Pot, Ahmadenijad, Mao, they aint got nothing on us. We vaporized innocent women and children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We firebombed the citizens of Tokyo and Dresden. We did this in the name of justice and the name of Christ, even. Now we kill the inconvenient children in sanitary conditions, approved of by the law and the populace with a wink and a nod. What monsters we have become. And still we do nothing. Monsters with shiny plastic faces, in fake fucking places. It’s pretty much game over, as far as I’m concerned. I’m just waiting for Godzilla to rise out of the Pacific and demolish LA.

Jefferson is still fearing and trembling for this nation.

It’s still too soon to say that America is dead. Long live America.

Red Beard is an absolutely astonishing, amazing movie. Toshiro and Kurosawa is a stellar combination, and I’m guilty of this being my first film by Akira.

I have a few thoughts on politics coming up after this.

Inspired by David Frank’s recent editorial (which naturally went unpublished by the Hillsdale Collegian) about the provincial nature of Hillsdale College’s Student Pledge, I too have been inspired to post an unpublished editorial I wrote that was, naturally, rejected by the Hillsdale Collegian. Throughout his career, Dave has been one of the great, most consistent satirical writers to attend Hillsdale College. He has always been an outspoken and principled critic of the school’s policies, with sarcastic yes well-reasoned arguments in opposition. That said, my editorial is about something, as indicated by the title of this post, that the Collegian and school administration, let alone my own fraternity, has refused to talk about. Read on.
Continued »

From the Reuters story, “Boycott Da Vinci Code film”: top Vatican official:

Amato, addressing a Catholic conference in Rome, called the book “stridently anti-Christian .. full of calumnies, offences and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospels and the Church.”

He added: “I hope that you all will boycott the film.”

Oh there’s so much more, but I’ll just end with this:

Amato said the book, written by Dan Brown, had been hugely successful around the world thanks in part to what he called “the extreme cultural poverty on the part of a good number of the Christian faithful.”

No shit. Cultural poverty is exactly why the Da Vinci Code, a poorly written (I’ve only seen excerpts which were unbearable enough) piece of cliched, historical fiction trash. But people have always felt compelled by stories of vast conspiracies responsible for the way things are. Rather than the simple, logical, brutal truth, of course. I know, I’m being a hater, and I don’t even care about the so-called theological controversies - whether Dan Brown is right or wrong about Catholic theology, either way it sucks(the theology, that is). Yet another reason I left the church: cultural poverty within American Christianity, especially. Talk about stating the obvious.