sophia_sadek's Journal

3:05pm: got literacy? (part 8)
Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, is the site of a magnificent structure, Hagia Sophia, erected during the reign of Emperor Justinian. In English, the name means "Holy Wisdom." Justinian was a champion of illiteracy who stole the property of wisdom schools and heretical churches, murdered their stubborn protagonists, and destroyed the economy of the Roman domain. ( With plundered booty, he ... )

4:08pm: got literacy? (part 7)
Fundamentalists assert that witchcraft is a sin. They say this with confidence as they practice one of the oldest forms of witchcraft known to humanity. ( For an illiterate individual to ... )

4:14pm: got literacy? (part 6)
One of the best examples of the rotten fruit of fundamentalist illiteracy is the word "sodomy." In the Jewish myth, the residents of Sodom threaten a divine messenger with gang rape, yet sodomy does not mean gang rape. It is associated with homosexual affection instead. ( People who would never rape ... )

4:04pm: got literacy? (part 5)
In the history of the Anglican Church, the Celtic clergy are portrayed as being uninterested in converting the Angles and Saxons from their Pagan ways. This runs counter to the history of Celtic missions onto the continent. What seems more likely is that the Celtic clergy had more respect for Pagan tradition than the Roman Church. ( In any event, the Celtic ... )

4:03pm: got literacy? (part 4)
In the story of Patrick and the Druid, Patrick insists that druidic heroes were condemned to the bad place because they did not worship Jesus. The Druid argued that their heroes reflected the values that Jesus taught. They stood for justice against the oppressor. They defended the rights of the oppressed. ( To the illiterate Christian, this ... )

2:33pm: got literacy? (part 3)
It is quite easy to figure out how fundamentalist interpretations come about. Imagine that you have just assassinated an automobile mechanic in anticipation of taking over his business. He has a bunch of manuals about cars that you can't understand. After all, you never went to school to study the craft of machine maintenance. ( It's easier to steal ... )

4:04pm: got literacy? (part 2)
Fundamentalism is a form of enforced illiteracy. Its practitioners must memorize written words, but they are not allowed to know what those words originally meant. Every memorized passage is ascribed an incorrect significance. Any variation from the standard of error constitutes heresy. ( To know the truth would be a ... )

4:13pm: got literacy?
When I review the tremendous advantages I had in life, I am very thankful that I was not forced to study Latin and Greek. This qualifies me as an intellectual virgin. Instead, I voluntarily studied gallicized Latin and germanized Greek. ( My friends observed that ... )

4:08pm: got capital? (part 8)
Despite the shallowness of Michael Moore's approach to cinematic journalism, he does come up with probing insights. Redd misses out on things like the inside view of the Republic Window incident and the spotlight on shady insurance practices. By shunning the flamboyant film maker, people have been misled into catastrophic pitfalls. ( The holes in Moore's cheese ... )

4:02pm: got capital? (part 7)
One of the first signs of trouble in any relationship is when one partner takes out life insurance on the other partner. It points to a crass materialism, a fearful dependency, and a potential to benefit from the demise of the partner. "Don't you want to protect me from hardship in case anything happens to you?" ( If he loved you, he ... )

4:03pm: got capital? (part 6)
How an individual receives Michael Moore's mockumentary about the American economic system varies according to ethnic prejudice. A racist of northern European origin could see support for a Jewish conspiracy in the way poor whites are evicted by the policies of rich Jews. ( Likewise, a racist member of ... )

4:01pm: got capital? (part 5)
I could have waited until Michael Moore's latest film came out on DVD to watch it on the cheap. Had I done so, I would have missed out on two valuable experiences. One of those was the experience of being in a theater with a fundamentalist who obviously detested the film. ( When others laughed at the humor ... )

4:06pm: got capital? (part 4)
America today is not much different than was Greece before the advent of Pythagoras. The majority of the populace have an infatuation with Jewish myths remarkably similar to the Greek infatuation with Homeric myths. The Stone Age god of Judah has replaced the Bronze Age Apollo. ( The Vicar of Caesar has replaced ... )

4:02pm: got capital? (part 3)
The ancient school of the Cynics - founded by Diogenes, a student of Socrates - had a wonderful perspective on material wealth and labor management. Their goal was to live life to its fullest without the burdens of capital ownership. Once an individual has responsibility for a heap of treasures, they must act on that responsibility. ( To do so ethically requires ... )

4:05pm: got capital? (part 2)
Capitalists have a reputation as economic parasites. By lending their material assets to a chosen individual, they reap a return on the industry of those employed by the borrower. The people employed by the passed over individual feel resentment when their role becomes redundant. They see the prosperous, and those who invested in them, as the source of their sorry condition. ( If only the parasites could convince ... )

4:14pm: got capital?
In a conversation with a casual acquaintance named Redd (a pseudonym), I brought up the latest Michael Moore film. Since it deals with the subject of the financial industry, I thought Redd might have an interest in watching the movie. He scoffed at the film maker and expressed enmity toward the man. ( Redd professed to being ... )

4:07pm: got skin? (part 8)
One of the Fathers of the Roman Church wrote critically of the practice of abstaining from eating meat. Pagan philosophers had promoted a vegetarian diet as more natural given the non-predatory make-up of the human physique. Poor people resorted to eating animals out of desperation. ( The proto-Catholic attacked the vegetarian ... )

4:17pm: got skin? (part 7)
During my stay in Japan, working on a game networking system, I noticed many of the differences between Japan and America. Japanese culture is more refined with an emphasis on quality of craftsmanship. There is also a very different mental vibe in Japanese thought patterns. As a "strange" gaijin, I was offered odd jobs by merchants to help attract more customers. ( I even had the opportunity ... )

3:13pm: got skin? (part 6)
A student of ours works with "emotionally disturbed" (ED) students at a public high school. After watching the documentary, she asked one of the students to consider viewing the film. He had no interest in the movie, claiming that it couldn't be accurate because it didn't include his favorite professional gamer as its subject. ( As a gamer himself, he probably feared ... )

4:03pm: got skin? (part 5)
The maker of "Second Skin" doesn't consider obsessive participation in RPGs to be a form of addiction. For him, it is merely an alternative reality. Of course, the same could be said of taking drugs. It's just a parallel world that fills a void in the blandness of mundane existence. ( Experts interviewed in the film ... )

4:15pm: got skin? (part 4)
The documentary follows an addict through his journey away from the game world. His path led him to stay with the mother who lost her adult son to suicide. Neither appreciated the efforts of the other. The mother wasn't a trained social worker, nor did she seem like a positive role model. ( The addict didn't feel ... )

4:03pm: got skin? (part 3)
Although RPG play has socially stifling aspects, it also presents some positive social opportunities. The documentary portrays some couples who met initially in game space. It also shows a commune of gamers who play in a shared living space. ( Not all players experience ... )

4:14pm: got skin? (part 2)
One of the sadder aspects of RPGs is the tendency for them to absorb talent and distract it from more positive applications. Boys with potential for creativity and growth get sucked into the game world. It slows their maturation by keeping them from experiencing a more realistic level of social interplay. ( For some reason, girls aren't ... )

4:34pm: got skin?
A while back, I read something about fundamentalist opposition to RPGs (role playing games). It wasn't until I saw a recently released documentary on the subject that I understood to what the fundies were referring. I had mistakenly assumed they were talking about the "Dungeons and Dragons" phenomenon of my college years. ( I didn't make the connection ... )

4:14pm: got purpose? (part 8)
The Greek word "logos" has two different meanings depending on whether it is defined by the cult leader or by the Greeks. There is a reason why the cult leader chooses to define it differently than the original meaning of the word. The cult leader depends on corruption of language in order to corrupt consciousness. ( He depends on corruption of ... )