Hal G. P. Colebatch, whom I like to think of as a friend because we’ve exchanged a few e-mails, has a splendid defense of Christianity (and religion in general) in culture today at The American Spectator Online.
Hal G. P. Colebatch, whom I like to think of as a friend because we’ve exchanged a few e-mails, has a splendid defense of Christianity (and religion in general) in culture today at The American Spectator Online.
I agree, with a few minor comments. The early Romans did exalt work over idleness (for example, Cincinatus). The Talmudic Rabbis also had trades in addition to being Rabbis.
Religion looks different from the outside than from the inside. From the outside, it does look like a set of arbitrary restrictions (at least Judaism does). I don’t know how to communicate that point across the chasm, though.
Of course a friend!
A small comment on Ori Pomerantz – yes, as did Marcus Aurelius, but they saw the aceme of social status elsewhere – the gentleman made his wealth from faqrming and landowning. A striking thing about the Roman civilzation was how little it progressed scientifically, given its resources. I am saying in a book I am writing on the subject that if the Greeks had science without technology, the Romans had technology without science. This is, of coursde, a general aphorism, not a detailed analysis, but I think there is truth in it.
Nice to have you here, Hal.
Ori, if you’re interested, you might look up C.S. Lewis’ God In the Dock, and check out the essay, “Meditation in a Toolshed,” where he discusses “looking at” vs. “looking along.”