Over at The Stone, philosopher Peimin Ni explains what kung fu is and how it applies to contemporary life. Anything can be kung fu, so long as it is carefully cultivated, deliberately practiced, and artfully pursued:
[A]ny ability resulting from practice and cultivation could accurately be said to embody kung fu. There is a kung [...]
Tags:art of living·Buddhism·Buddhists·Caine·Chinese philosophy·Confucianism·Confucians·Daoism·Daoists·exclusivism·Grasshopper·inclusive·kung fu·Kung Fu for Philosophers·Peimin Ni·tolerance
In a recent post on Supernaturalism and the Paranormal, I hypothesized a connection between supernatural-religious beliefs on the one hand and paranormal beliefs on the other. My thinking was that if someone is inclined to believe in anything that is non-measurable, non-empirical, and non-material (i.e., “supernatural”), then s/he may be more inclined to be religious [...]
Tags:Craig Martin·Diverse Supernatural Portfolios·ecumenical·empiricism·ESP·exclusivism·ghosts·Joseph Baker·Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion·materialism·paranormal·psi·religiosity·Scott Draper·supernaturalism·telekinesis·tolerance
Over at HuffPo Religion, a well meaning Matthew Anderson suggests that all American junior-senior high school students should be required to take a minimum of two classes on world religions so as to be exposed to something other than their parents’ religion. He supposes that these courses would foster tolerance and lead to a more [...]
Tags:believing versus thinking·Buddhism·Christianity·ecumenical·essentialized categories·essentializing·genealogy of religions·high school curriculum·Hinduism·History·history of world religions·Islam·Judaism·junior high curriculum·Mathew Anderson·paleolithic supernaturalism·religious classes·religious teaching·rise of organized religions·The Case for Blending Church and State·theology·tolerance
In a terse news item from Jerusalem last week, the AP reported that orthodox Jews rioted when construction crews broke ground for a new hospital building. The cause of the rioting? It was believed that Jews were buried there in an ancient cemetery and that the graves were being desecrated.
During the excavation, however, Israeli archaeologists [...]
Tags:grave desecration·Greco-Roman polytheism·incense altar·intolerance·orthodox Jews·paganism·pagans·Stephen Prothero·tolerance
Gallo-Roman Temple Complex Discovered
August 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, History, Pagans, Ritual
Over at The Guardian, Pierre Le Hir reports on the discovery of an “enormous religious site” or temple complex in the French countryside near Le Mans, which during the first through third centuries common era (C.E.) was known as Vindunum. As viewers of HBO’s spectacular but short-lived series “Rome” and readers of Julius Caesar’s Commentarii [...]
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Tags:Celtic·Celtic gods·celts·Commentaries on the Gallic Wars·Commentarii de Bello Gallico·exclusivism·Gallic·Gallic gods·Gauls·intolerance·Julius Caesar·Le Mans·Mars Mullo·Mithras·Muslim·mystery cult·Obama·pagan pantheon·pagans·Persian deity·Pierre Le Hir·religious site·ritual offerings·Roman·Roman gods·Rome·salvage archaeology·syncretic·syncretism·temple complex·tolerance·Vindunum