Scientific Thought, Silence, and Virtual Gnosticism
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12 (ESV)
At the Limits of Thought | David C. Krakauer at Aeon
From the article: "While understanding might satisfy our curiosity, with its narratives about cause and effect, prediction satisfies our desires, mapping these mechanisms on to reality. We now face a choice about which kind of knowledge matters more – as well as the question of whether one stands in the way of scientific progress."
History Will Judge the Complicit | Anne Applebaum at The Atlantic
A wide-ranging look into "why some people in extreme circumstances become collaborators and others do not," reviewing actors within German, Soviet, and Polish communist parties, then using that lens to examine current American political events through the stories of Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney, and the surprise of which man became a Trump collaborator after both denounced him prior to his election. Applebaum further examines many other instances of why American political elite abstain from expressing public criticism in order to stay close to Trump.
Assisted Suicide by Zoom | Wesley J. Smith at First Things
How COVID-19 has provided cover for eroding barriers to assisted suicide.
Virtual Gnosticism and the Church | Paul Tyson at Theopolis Institute
From the article: "Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but whether church should or even could seamlessly migrate to an on-line ‘space’ does not seem to get much serious attention. We just ‘innovate’ and do it. Perhaps this is because we are already perilously close to being gnostic in the way we understand religion itself."
No Safety in Silence | David Deavel at The Imaginative Conservative
From the article: “You may not be interested in radical politics. Alas, the practitioners of radical politics are interested in you.” You can also read about how a Catholic MIT chaplain was forced to resign for questioning the progressive party line while upholding Biblical truths.