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World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
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« Reply #200 on: January 10, 2021, 12:40:53 AM »

opinion of conservative Protestants who convert to Catholicism because of politics and intellectual respectability (will an evangelical be put on the Supreme Court? probably not anytime soon).

The cancer that is killing Catholicism, carrying with it a vastly more dangerous new form of the Americanist heresy. Arguably the most insidious internal theological threat to the Church since Leo XIII's time.
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World politics is up Schmitt creek
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« Reply #201 on: January 21, 2021, 09:41:04 AM »

Do you have a favorite Puritan theologian/work?

I've always been compelled by Jonathan Edwards, believe it or not. He was a Western Mass guy (preached first and most famously in Northampton--ironic given how ALATT that city is now!--and later in Stockbridge), someone who suffered for his beliefs when they differed from those of his congregation, and his "disinterested love" concept has some interesting affinities with the views of Jewish theologian Yeshayahu Leibowitz, another figure who's always really fascinated me.
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« Reply #202 on: January 21, 2021, 06:58:25 PM »

What are your preferred news sources for Japanese related news?

Do you torrent anime or simply stream it from various sites? Wondering, since I used to just stream from KissAnime but have begun torrenting in the past year or so due to the shutdown of that site.

Speaking of Jonathan Edwards, do you listen to sermons or homilies by contemporary ministers? From my very limited experience, it seems to me while Catholics and liberal Protestants often are excellent theologians in terms of books or academic lectures, it is confessional Evangelicals who tend to preach the most detailed and dense sermons due to differing traditions.
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« Reply #203 on: January 21, 2021, 09:08:50 PM »

What are your preferred news sources for Japanese related news?

For the most part I absorb it through osmosis from either jaichind (after I've run his posts through a mental Rothbardian-fashbertarian-to-normal-human-being translator) or an old friend of mine who lives near Nagoya. I'll sometimes read the Japan Times or the Asahi Shinbun when I want a more "professional" look at something. Very rarely Mainichi Shinbun or Yomiuri Shinbun.

Quote
Do you torrent anime or simply stream it from various sites? Wondering, since I used to just stream from KissAnime but have begun torrenting in the past year or so due to the shutdown of that site.

Since Heyday Heisei has been over for a couple of years and we're now well into Rewatch Reiwa, most of the anime that I watch is older stuff that still has relatively easy-to-find DVD sets. Sometimes I even find something that's still on YouTube broken into five-to-ten minute chunks like in the real good old days. The arm of copyright law is long, but apparently not quite that long, yet.

Quote
Speaking of Jonathan Edwards, do you listen to sermons or homilies by contemporary ministers? From my very limited experience, it seems to me while Catholics and liberal Protestants often are excellent theologians in terms of books or academic lectures, it is confessional Evangelicals who tend to preach the most detailed and dense sermons due to differing traditions.

I have some auditory processing issues related to my autism so I don't often listen to genres of work that I can read instead, no. I've heard some good sermons at a Baptist church I occasionally attended pre-COVID with an Eritrean refugee family I was doing resettlement work with, but other than that the only homiletic offerings I'm regularly exposed to are those of the (normal, sane) boomer priests of central Franklin County.
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« Reply #204 on: January 21, 2021, 11:55:56 PM »



Since Heyday Heisei has been over for a couple of years and we're now well into Rewatch Reiwa, most of the anime that I watch is older stuff that still has relatively easy-to-find DVD sets. Sometimes I even find something that's still on YouTube broken into five-to-ten minute chunks like in the real good old days. The arm of copyright law is long, but apparently not quite that long, yet.


What do you do for anime (such as LOGH) which are not available in the US on DVD or are simply older series where DVDs are out of print and highly expensive, if available at all? I'm guessing you've amassed a fairly large DVD collection over the years?

Read through the thread, so of my questions may be influenced by them:

-What is your assessment of Peronism in Argentina, both in its historic and contemporary forms? Certainly, the authoritarian and corrupt elements of Peron himself as well as other leaders of the movement can't be denied but at the same time their opponents were often even more authoritarian and brutal.

-Do you believe the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki were justified? Related to this, do you think the atomic bomb or Soviet entrance into the Pacific War was the primary cause of Japan's unconditional surrender?

-Why are you strongly opposed to joining AAD?

-Do you take an interest in alternate history as a genre? I find some of the published stuff has interesting ideas and/or good plots but the actually historical development in most of them tends to be implausible. As a result, I prefer online alternate history which often are extremely detailed in its depictions of different histories.

-I have a bit of a working theory that what I would call the "Peripheral West" (there probably should be a better term, given I don't think many of these countries besides the Latin American are really Western) in which I would include Latin America (especially the Southern Cone and Brazil), Turkey, and the developed parts of East Asia (especially Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) are more "Western than the West" in its embrace of Western musical and literary traditions compared to Europe and North America. There are also certain other similarities such as the extreme popularity of TV melodramas (K-Dramas and telenovelas are world famous these days and apparently Turkish dramas are becoming increasingly popular too). Certainly it seems to me that Continental European writers such as Goethe, Andre Gide, and others are much better known in Seoul or Tokyo then in the United States. Related to this, do you think Japanese writers or artists often have an older view of Europe as their default, shaped heavily by history books, 19th Century novels, and midcentury movies? The popularity of vaguely late 19th/early 20th Century Western settings and aesthetic in cities, fashions, vehicles etc. in manga and anime seem to attest to this.
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World politics is up Schmitt creek
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« Reply #205 on: January 22, 2021, 10:54:58 AM »



Since Heyday Heisei has been over for a couple of years and we're now well into Rewatch Reiwa, most of the anime that I watch is older stuff that still has relatively easy-to-find DVD sets. Sometimes I even find something that's still on YouTube broken into five-to-ten minute chunks like in the real good old days. The arm of copyright law is long, but apparently not quite that long, yet.


What do you do for anime (such as LOGH) which are not available in the US on DVD or are simply older series where DVDs are out of print and highly expensive, if available at all?

I have a friend who's a member of some pirating subreddit and I get torrents from her. I used Kissanime until it went down, though.

Quote
I'm guessing you've amassed a fairly large DVD collection over the years?

I'd say I have complete sets of about two dozen series and one or two discs of several more, yeah.

Quote
-What is your assessment of Peronism in Argentina, both in its historic and contemporary forms? Certainly, the authoritarian and corrupt elements of Peron himself as well as other leaders of the movement can't be denied but at the same time their opponents were often even more authoritarian and brutal.

It's hard to know what to make of Peronism because the Peron mantle has been claimed by so many different forces that, other than a vague #populism Purple heart, seem to have little in common to North American eyes. I think you're right that comparing Peron to his contemporary opponents typically redounds to his credit, which is saying a lot because I also think that at certain points in his career he could reasonably be described as parafascist. He's similar to Vargas in that respect.

Quote
-Do you believe the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki were justified? Related to this, do you think the atomic bomb or Soviet entrance into the Pacific War was the primary cause of Japan's unconditional surrender?

I absolutely do not think they were justified and neither does any moral theologian or moral philosopher I respect. Everybody from Camus and Orwell to the various postwar Popes has condemned the bombings, and the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes establishes that indiscriminately targeting population centers in wartime is an intrinsic evil. I don't really care what forced Japan's unconditional surrender because I think that Japan's unconditional surrender turned out to be pointless, and I'm saying that as someone who's not at all an Imperial Japan apologist. If MacArthur was always going to insist on keeping Hirohito anyway, then the Allies should have accepted the conditional surrender that the Japanese had offered earlier where that was their main precondition. The naval blockade plus the Soviets entering the Pacific Theater probably still would have forced them to accept an occupation that would have democratized the country.

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-Why are you strongly opposed to joining AAD?

"Atlas but with laxer moderation and with lots of the early-2010s posters I had beef with in my first few years on the forum still actively posting" sounds like an absolute hellscape.

Quote
-Do you take an interest in alternate history as a genre? I find some of the published stuff has interesting ideas and/or good plots but the actually historical development in most of them tends to be implausible. As a result, I prefer online alternate history which often are extremely detailed in its depictions of different histories.

I'm actually writing a very long and elaborate alternate history story right now, although it's unapologetically ASB so you might not like it very much. It gets very deep down into the political and cultural nitty-gritty, though.

Quote
-I have a bit of a working theory that what I would call the "Peripheral West" (there probably should be a better term, given I don't think many of these countries besides the Latin American are really Western) in which I would include Latin America (especially the Southern Cone and Brazil), Turkey, and the developed parts of East Asia (especially Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) are more "Western than the West" in its embrace of Western musical and literary traditions compared to Europe and North America. There are also certain other similarities such as the extreme popularity of TV melodramas (K-Dramas and telenovelas are world famous these days and apparently Turkish dramas are becoming increasingly popular too). Certainly it seems to me that Continental European writers such as Goethe, Andre Gide, and others are much better known in Seoul or Tokyo then in the United States. Related to this, do you think Japanese writers or artists often have an older view of Europe as their default, shaped heavily by history books, 19th Century novels, and midcentury movies? The popularity of vaguely late 19th/early 20th Century Western settings and aesthetic in cities, fashions, vehicles etc. in manga and anime seem to attest to this.

I absolutely think that the Japanese popular consciousness still has an "Old Europe" idea, yes. In Japanese bookstores you'll find plenty of stuff by and about late-C19/early-C20 figures like Tolstoy and even William Morris that would be much more squirreled-away in most bookstores in the US. Japan's period of most intense and most self-conscious contact with the West was the Meiji Era (kazoku ladies in corsets and bustles cheating on their husbands at the Rokumeikan, etc.). I do think that when many Japanese people think of Europe they think of Japan's own Westernization, and when they think of Japan's own Westernization they think of the Meiji/Victorian/Edwardian/Belle Epoque/Gilded Age/whatever.
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« Reply #206 on: January 22, 2021, 11:09:57 AM »
« Edited: January 22, 2021, 11:14:54 AM by Alcibiades »

What is your view on religious education in schools? From what I gather, it is considered a violation of the First Amendment in the US, so it is banned in public schools, but in the UK (where of course there is no separation of church and state) it is a compulsory subject in all schools. At my CofE primary school, from what I can remember, lessons were largely focussed on Christianity, but I quite enjoyed the subject at my nonreligious secondary school, where I took it for the first three years and it was titled ‘Religion and Philosophy’; there were standard religious studies topics examining the beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, but there were also units on the philosophy of religion, including arguments for and against the existence of God and the Ancient Greek influence on Christian philosophy, as well as covering ethics from a more secular perspective. How does this sound to you, and would you, if it were possible, like to see something like this in US public schools? As I said, I enjoyed it and it was delivered in a fair, balanced way, but I can imagine that at Catholic or CofE schools the focus might lead to non-Christians feeling excluded.
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« Reply #207 on: January 22, 2021, 11:22:39 AM »

What is your view on religious education in schools? From what I gather, it is considered a violation of the First Amendment in the US, so it is banned in public schools, but in the UK (where of course there is no separation of church and state) it is a compulsory subject in all schools. At my CofE primary school, from what I can remember, lessons were largely focussed on Christianity, but I quite enjoyed the subject at my nonreligious secondary school, where I took it for the first three years and it was titled ‘Religion and Philosophy’; there were standard religious studies topics examining the beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, but there were also units on the philosophy of religion, including arguments for and against the existence of God and the Ancient Greek influence on Christian philosophy, as well as covering ethics from a more secular perspective. How does this sound to you, and would you, if it were possible, like to see something like this in US public schools? As I said, I enjoyed it and it was delivered in a fair, balanced way, but I can imagine that at Catholic or CofE schools the focus might lead to non-Christians feeling excluded.

I think a generalized education in philosophy that would include, but not specifically focus on, philosophy of religion could probably past First Amendment muster, and would likely do a world of good assuming it were taught by competent teachers. When I was in (private but nonsectarian) high school I actually had a conversation with my principal about the possibility of including something like that, but was told that it would be too controversial among The Parents. My earliest formal education in religion was actually at a Unitarian Universalist church, believe it or not; my mother knew I was interested in religion and had social relationships with people in that congregation so she had a wonderful Santa Claus-looking older guy called Mr. Reilly instruct me in the basics of the Bible (including confessional vs. historical-critical readings), world religions, etc. Perhaps something like that could also be tied into world history classes when topics like Classical Antiquity or the Reformation are covered.
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« Reply #208 on: January 22, 2021, 11:24:29 AM »

What's the deal?
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« Reply #209 on: January 22, 2021, 11:28:49 AM »

If you could go back and redo one thing from the past 5 years, what would it be?
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« Reply #210 on: January 22, 2021, 11:37:41 AM »

What is your view on religious education in schools? From what I gather, it is considered a violation of the First Amendment in the US, so it is banned in public schools, but in the UK (where of course there is no separation of church and state) it is a compulsory subject in all schools. At my CofE primary school, from what I can remember, lessons were largely focussed on Christianity, but I quite enjoyed the subject at my nonreligious secondary school, where I took it for the first three years and it was titled ‘Religion and Philosophy’; there were standard religious studies topics examining the beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, but there were also units on the philosophy of religion, including arguments for and against the existence of God and the Ancient Greek influence on Christian philosophy, as well as covering ethics from a more secular perspective. How does this sound to you, and would you, if it were possible, like to see something like this in US public schools? As I said, I enjoyed it and it was delivered in a fair, balanced way, but I can imagine that at Catholic or CofE schools the focus might lead to non-Christians feeling excluded.

I think a generalized education in philosophy that would include, but not specifically focus on, philosophy of religion could probably past First Amendment muster, and would likely do a world of good assuming it were taught by competent teachers. When I was in (private but nonsectarian) high school I actually had a conversation with my principal about the possibility of including something like that, but was told that it would be too controversial among The Parents. My earliest formal education in religion was actually at a Unitarian Universalist church, believe it or not; my mother knew I was interested in religion and had social relationships with people in that congregation so she had a wonderful Santa Claus-looking older guy called Mr. Reilly instruct me in the basics of the Bible (including confessional vs. historical-critical readings), world religions, etc. Perhaps something like that could also be tied into world history classes when topics like Classical Antiquity or the Reformation are covered.

How might this interact with a "sociology of religion"?
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If my soul was made of stone
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« Reply #211 on: January 22, 2021, 11:41:36 AM »

Obligatory heathen questions: is there a pagan tradition that you most respect or simply find interesting from a historical or anthropological perspective? What is your view of the numerous controversial hypotheses connecting portions of Christian iconography and ritual to earlier pagan traditions (e.g. the infamous alleged Isis > Mary connection)?
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« Reply #212 on: January 22, 2021, 12:37:40 PM »
« Edited: January 22, 2021, 12:43:06 PM by Away, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe! »

Obligatory heathen questions: is there a pagan tradition that you most respect or simply find interesting from a historical or anthropological perspective?

I have a lot of respect for polytheistic reconstructionism assuming it's not teamed with far-right politics. Most of my pagan acquaintances are reconstructionists and they tend to be incredibly serious about understanding the histories and cultural contexts of the religions they seek to practice in a way that I really admire. I have a mixed opinion of British Traditional Wicca; lots of its seminal figures were incredibly clever and enterprising people (Doreen Valiente, for example, was obviously a far more talented liturgist than someone like Annibale Bugnini or other sad sacks who made the liturgical movement in Christianity such a mixed bag), but I dislike its dualism (especially since that dualism also enshrines heteronormativity in an incredibly central position in the religion) and the deeply right-wing political commitments of many of its founders (Ronald Hutton's The Triumph of the Moon, a history of Wicca and its antecedents that you really should read if you haven't already, describes Gerald Gardner making magic circles with books including Quintin Hogg's The Left Was Never Right). I don't know a ton about other Wiccan traditions, but one of my old classmates practices some sort of Dianic Wicca and it seems to have been really good for her so far.

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What is your view of the numerous controversial hypotheses connecting portions of Christian iconography and ritual to earlier pagan traditions (e.g. the infamous alleged Isis > Mary connection)?

I think a lot of the specific hypotheses involved are complete BS, which is a shame because there really is a "there" there in terms of Christianity's relationship with its pagan antecedents, but people miss that forest for non-trees like "OMGOSH MARY AND ISHTAR ARE BOTH CALLED 'QUEEN OF HEAVEN' SO THEY MUST SECRETLY BE THE SAME FIGURE!!!" and "Christmas is really just Saturnalia, the Christians have Stolen it from paganism, it's Stolen Property That Must Be Returned"--the latter in particular is a comically presentist "intellectual property"-focused take on how religions develop that absolutely no actual theologian or religious studies scholar takes at all seriously, other than maybe Bart Ehrman up on his "the Deutero-Pauline corpus is forged and plagiarized in exactly the sense that we understand forgery and plagiarism today" high horse. I love looking at things like all those churches in the British Isles that were built on pagan ritual sites and then dedicated to St. Michael to keep the old gods away, or philosophers like Boethius who weren't exactly Christian but clearly wrote in conversation with the nascent Christian intellectual tradition, and seeing how that relationship worked in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The pagan substrate in Christianity, especially Catholicism, really is fascinating stuff, and I think it's a shame that people don't take it seriously and instead focus on either Pepe Silvia-esque non-connections, "THEY TOOK OUR JERBS FESTIVALS!" IP-mongering, or "Pachamama"-bashing radtrad racism.
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« Reply #213 on: January 22, 2021, 12:53:01 PM »

I have a mixed opinion of British Traditional Wicca; lots of its seminal figures were incredibly clever and enterprising people (Doreen Valiente, for example, was obviously a far more talented liturgist than someone like Annibale Bugnini or other sad sacks who made the liturgical movement in Christianity such a mixed bag), but I dislike its dualism (especially since that dualism also enshrines heteronormativity in an incredibly central position in the religion) and the deeply right-wing political commitments of many of its founders (Ronald Hutton's The Triumph of the Moon, a history of Wicca and its antecedents that you really should read if you haven't already, describes Gerald Gardner making magic circles with books including Quintin Hogg's The Left Was Never Right). I don't know a ton about other Wiccan traditions, but one of my old classmates practices some sort of Dianic Wicca and it seems to have been really good for her so far.

It seems we agree almost completely regarding our perceptions of Wicca. Valiente was in my view very gifted (the Charge of the Goddess is probably the only text I personally consider sacred) and far more the brains of the operation than Gardner's general gentrified hippie nonsense, although there are a few black marks on her legacy as well (her brief involvement with the National Front, for one, although she came to her senses upon realizing how socially reactionary they really were). Zsuzsanna Budapest, the founder of the main current of Dianic Wicca, is an extremely vocal transphobic crank and general grifter, although if one can take the non-problematic parts of that tradition and enjoy them for what they are I can respect that. My own "tradition" is syncretic rather than strictly reconstructionist because I'm picky enough to find something that I dislike in just about everything and reluctant to commit to being part of a group, but I have much respect for those who genuinely put effort into reconstructionism rather than just trying to pass their ideas off as the Real Tradition That Survived The Burning Times (tm), and of course eclectics like me would have precious little to draw from without them.

Your take on my other question was spot-on as well. I admit to somewhat intentionally choosing that question as a bit of a landmine, and you answered as strongly as I'd expect from anyone.
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Battista Minola 1616
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« Reply #214 on: January 22, 2021, 06:13:53 PM »

What is your opinion of the 1929 Concordat and eventually of its 1984 revision [thanks, Craxi]?


Do you prefer Hepburn-shiki romaji or Kunrei-shiki romaji? Do you have any interest in the Chinese language?
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« Reply #215 on: January 22, 2021, 08:12:21 PM »

What is your opinion of this?
https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=416028.0
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« Reply #216 on: January 22, 2021, 11:24:10 PM »
« Edited: January 22, 2021, 11:27:17 PM by Away, haul away, we'll haul away, Joe! »

What is your opinion of the 1929 Concordat and eventually of its 1984 revision [thanks, Craxi]?

I don't know enough about the details to say, but my instinct is to be highly skeptical of the specifics of any pair of agreements reached when Mussolini and Craxi were the leaders on the Italian side. I support the overall solution of a tiny ecclesial city-state that recognizes and is recognized by a secular Italy, though, especially since my understanding is that the Concordat makes it clear that the Vatican City State is a new entity rather than a rump Stato della Chiesa.

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Do you prefer Hepburn-shiki romaji or Kunrei-shiki romaji?

I prefer Hepburn over Kunrei overall, although whether I prefer traditional or modified Hepburn depends on what specific feature of the system is being discussed. For example, I prefer to keep the syllabic ん as n, which is what it is in modified Hepburn, but for the particle を I prefer the traditional Hepburn wo.

I briefly mis-parsed this question as "Do you prefer Katharine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn?" so I'll answer that one as well: I used to prefer Audrey hands-down but lately Katharine has been really growing on me.

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Do you have any interest in the Chinese language?

Chinese is a language, or series of languages really, that I admire from a safe distance; I took one semester of it and could not get the tones right to save my life.
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« Reply #217 on: January 23, 2021, 12:47:21 AM »

Do you drink soda and if so what is your favourite variety?

Do you have an especial dislike for city or town in Massachusetts and New England more broadly?
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« Reply #218 on: January 23, 2021, 07:21:54 AM »

I briefly mis-parsed this question as "Do you prefer Katharine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn?" so I'll answer that one as well: I used to prefer Audrey hands-down but lately Katharine has been really growing on me.

Lmao. Audrey Kunrei and Katharine Kunrei, anyone?
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« Reply #219 on: January 23, 2021, 02:20:34 PM »


When I figure that out, I'll let you know.

If you could go back and redo one thing from the past 5 years, what would it be?

Five years ago I was in an intense relationship that ended shortly after; I'm still very close friends with the woman involved but I would have liked to have ended the relationship itself a little more gracefully than the way it in fact ended. That, and I wish I'd made an actionable decision about applying to Ph.D. programs immediately after getting my master's in 2017 rather than still mulling it over even now.

What is your view on religious education in schools? From what I gather, it is considered a violation of the First Amendment in the US, so it is banned in public schools, but in the UK (where of course there is no separation of church and state) it is a compulsory subject in all schools. At my CofE primary school, from what I can remember, lessons were largely focussed on Christianity, but I quite enjoyed the subject at my nonreligious secondary school, where I took it for the first three years and it was titled ‘Religion and Philosophy’; there were standard religious studies topics examining the beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, but there were also units on the philosophy of religion, including arguments for and against the existence of God and the Ancient Greek influence on Christian philosophy, as well as covering ethics from a more secular perspective. How does this sound to you, and would you, if it were possible, like to see something like this in US public schools? As I said, I enjoyed it and it was delivered in a fair, balanced way, but I can imagine that at Catholic or CofE schools the focus might lead to non-Christians feeling excluded.

I think a generalized education in philosophy that would include, but not specifically focus on, philosophy of religion could probably past First Amendment muster, and would likely do a world of good assuming it were taught by competent teachers. When I was in (private but nonsectarian) high school I actually had a conversation with my principal about the possibility of including something like that, but was told that it would be too controversial among The Parents. My earliest formal education in religion was actually at a Unitarian Universalist church, believe it or not; my mother knew I was interested in religion and had social relationships with people in that congregation so she had a wonderful Santa Claus-looking older guy called Mr. Reilly instruct me in the basics of the Bible (including confessional vs. historical-critical readings), world religions, etc. Perhaps something like that could also be tied into world history classes when topics like Classical Antiquity or the Reformation are covered.

How might this interact with a "sociology of religion"?

Presumably if it were tied into a world history class there could be an element of that as well. But generally speaking I think "sociology proper" is best approached in the form of the old-school civics classes that most high schools don't really have anymore. I also think it should be a gen ed requirement at all colleges and universities that have those.


Very interesting. Assuming I'm interpreting the infoboxes correctly, there's a lot I like (homosexuality accepted but both male and female adultery shunned) and some I dislike (the purely temporal priesthood). If I were living in the actual High Middle Ages but somehow had all the social and cultural views I have now I'd probably side with this group over both the papacy and most of the IRL proto-Protestant outfits.

Do you drink soda and if so what is your favourite variety?

I rarely drink soda but when I do it's almost always either Sprite or Mexican Coke. Very occasionally Jarritos at a Mexican restaurant or Ramune at a Japanese restaurant.

Quote
Do you have an especial dislike for city or town in Massachusetts and New England more broadly?

I have an extreme personal hostility towards Great Barrington, Massachusetts the reasons for which I don't really want to get into. I've avoided the South Berkshires for almost a decade now with no plans to stop avoiding the South Berkshires in the future, although I love the North Berkshires. Other than that, I cordially dislike most of Metrowest and much of central and western Connecticut.
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exnaderite
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #220 on: January 23, 2021, 11:22:27 PM »

Which "celebrity" Catholic clergy do you most identify with?
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WMS
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #221 on: January 24, 2021, 09:45:24 AM »

Do you drink soda and if so what is your favourite variety?

I rarely drink soda but when I do it's almost always either Sprite or Mexican Coke. Very occasionally Jarritos at a Mexican restaurant or Ramune at a Japanese restaurant.
Which flavor of Jarritos? Answers other than Tamarind are incorrect btw Cheesy
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Continential
The Op
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« Reply #222 on: January 24, 2021, 10:48:05 AM »

What is your opinion about distributism?
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Battista Minola 1616
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« Reply #223 on: January 24, 2021, 11:48:02 AM »

How does it feel to receive so many questions in your Ask Me Anything(s) compared to the average poster? Especially questions not prompted by your own 'bumps'.

[it's ironic that I would ask this question - this is my fifteenth or so post in this thread]
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World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
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« Reply #224 on: January 24, 2021, 12:30:50 PM »

Which "celebrity" Catholic clergy do you most identify with?

I'm tempted to say "none of them" but I dislike Bishop Barron much less than I dislike most of the others. Barron's defenses of Vatican II against the radtrad turn-back-the-clock squad are particularly good. I've also had some personal dealings with Father James Martin, mostly via mutual acquaintances in the Catholic press, that have been mostly positive and productive.

Which flavor of Jarritos? Answers other than Tamarind are incorrect btw Cheesy

Mango. Sorry.

What is your opinion about distributism?

I like most of the concepts behind it, but I (sincerely) have the same criticism of it that some right-wing Catholic scholars (disingenuously) have of the social doctrine of the Church from Pius XI onward, namely that many of its seminal figures appear to be motivated by the desire to crowd out "merchants" from the economic system for basically antisemitic reasons. I think it can be redeemed from that, though, because there are obviously many, many reasons to seek to reduce the power of finance capital that aren't antisemitic, and many, many non-antisemitic thinkers who wish to do so. Even so, it's hard to look at a writer like Belloc and not suspect that the Jew-bashing and the hatred of capitalism might have been connected for him.

How does it feel to receive so many questions in your Ask Me Anything(s) compared to the average poster? Especially questions not prompted by your own 'bumps'.

It feels pretty good, but I'm not shocked because I've been on the forum for a decade and have a pretty distinctive identity as a poster. Sanchez had a very active AMA too for the same reasons.
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