Daf Yomi

“But in fact, the Gemara goes on to counter, there is a way for a gentile woman to become marriageable: All she has to do is convert to Judaism. Doesn’t this mean that she is legally akin to other forbidden women, who are not forbidden forever and always, but only under certain conditions? But the rabbis deny the parallel. ‘When she converts, she is a different body,’ they say: Conversion creates a new legal person, who did not exist before. It is only this new person who is marriageable, not the old, gentile version of her who has ceased to exist.”

"Converting for Love?" - Tablet Magazine, - http://www.tabletmag.com/?p=186707. Literary critic Adam Kirsch is reading a page of Talmud a day, along with Jews around the world.

Borges on Divine Things

“Ferrari: But we could say that in all poetry there’s an approximation to something else, beyond the words and the subject matter.

Borges: Well, language does not match up to the complexity of things. I think that the philosopher Whitehead talks of the paradox of the perfect dictionary, that is, the idea of supposing that all the words that a dictionary registers exhaust reality. Chesterton also wrote about this, saying that it is absurd to suppose that all the nuances of human consciousness, which are more vast than a jungle, can be contained in a mechanical system of grunts which would be, in this case, the words spoken by a stockbroker. That’s absurd and yet people talk of a perfect language, of a rich language, but in comparison to our consciousness language is very poor. I think that somewhere Stevenson says that what happens in ten minutes exceeds all Shakespeare’s vocabulary [laughs]. I believe it’s the same idea.”

"In March 1984, Jorge Luis Borges began a series of radio 'dialogues' with the Argentinian poet and essayist Osvaldo Ferrari. Forty-five of them have just been translated into English for the first time by Jason Wilson and will be published this month by Seagull Books as Conversations, Volume 1. What follows is Borges’s conversation with Ferrari about the existence of God." - NY Review of Books - http://bit.ly/1y7kyG3

Errol Morris on Peace

Errol Morris has made a series of short films on peace for the NY Times. He chose to focus upon three individuals who ostensibly had little power, influence, means or ability, but who nonetheless changed the world. The first two in particular, explicitly cite faith as crucial to their political perseverance. Morris, as always, simply asks the questions in childlike wonder at the amazing stories they tell. 

• Lemah Gbowee: The Dream - http://nyti.ms/1szfxq6
• Lech Walesa: The Shipyard - http://nyti.ms/1s5ITdL
• Bob Geldof: The Moment - http://nyti.ms/1szgDSy 

God Games

"Kit Eaton reviews Godus, the Sandbox and Godville, three free mobile games that let you control an entire world, not just a single character." - http://nyti.ms/1soP2Ue

It is an open question today whether and how video games foster religious thought. Nonetheless, I wonder if this is not rather the nexus where narcissism and atheism meet as the player displaces divinity.

The Myth of Religious Violence

“The popular belief that religion is the cause of the world’s bloodiest conflicts is central to our modern conviction that faith and politics should never mix. But the messy history of their separation suggests it was never so simple.”

Karen Armstrong, "The Myth of Religious Violence," The Guardian - http://bit.ly/1vBXP5U

Peculiar that she doesn't cite William Cavanaugh's excellent book by that title.

Theodicy? Seriously?

The Conversation, provides a forum for academic writing on issues of public concern. As the tagline for the website suggests, "academic rigour, journalistic flair." In any case, their editors are running a series on "Morality in 21st Century Australia," and I wrote a brief piece on theodicy which can be found here: http://theconversation.com/a-moral-world-in-which-bad-things-happen-to-good-people-30957

On Mental Virtues

“Fourth, there is humility, which is not letting your own desire for status get in the way of accuracy. The humble person fights against vanity and self-importance. He’s not writing those sentences people write to make themselves seem smart; he’s not thinking of himself much at all. The humble researcher doesn’t become arrogant toward his subject, assuming he has mastered it. Such a person is open to learning from anyone at any stage in life.”

"The Mental Virtues" - http://nyti.ms/1tIqUvl

On Atheist Factories

“For people born after 1960, having a college degree doesn’t cause religious disaffiliation—young, highly educated people are more likely to identify with a faith, according to a new study... There are a lot of sociological factors at work here, but all of them puncture the stereotype of perniciously secular higher education. Clearly, those God-defying philosophy professors need to work a little harder if they want to build their armies of atheist young people. ”

"It Turns Out Colleges Aren't Actually Atheist Factories" - http://theatln.tc/VUkSue

Teaching is not a Business

“While these reformers talk a lot about markets and competition, the essence of a good education — bringing together talented teachers, engaged students and a challenging curriculum — goes undiscussed... While technology can be put to good use by talented teachers, they, and not the futurists, must take the lead. The process of teaching and learning is an intimate act that neither computers nor markets can hope to replicate. Small wonder, then, that the business model hasn’t worked in reforming the schools — there is simply no substitute for the personal element.”

David L. Kirp, "Teaching is not a Business," http://nyti.ms/1m5Z4Tq

On the Term "Scientist"

“In response, Nature’s editor, Sir Richard Gregory... solicited opinions from linguists and scientific researchers about whether Nature should use ‘scientist.’ The word received more support in 1924 than it had thirty years earlier. Many researchers wrote in to say that ‘scientist’ was a normal and useful word that was now ensconced in the English lexicon, and that Nature should use it. However, many researchers still rejected ‘scientist.’ Sir D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, a zoologist, argued that ‘scientist’ was a tainted term used ‘by people who have no great respect either for science or the “scientist.”’ The eminent naturalist E. Ray Lankester protested that any ‘Barney Bunkum’ might be able to lay claim to such a vague title. ‘I think we must be content to be anatomists, zoologists, geologists, electricians, engineers, mathematicians, naturalists,’ he argued. ‘“Scientist” has acquired—perhaps unjustly—the significance of a charlatan’s device.’”

"The History of 'Scientist,'" The Renaissance Mathematicus - http://wp.me/py7Pg-Bv