Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
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The pope's new book
« on: 2007-01-25 02:22:57 » |
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[Blunderov] Strangely, the three things the Pope decries, progress, science and freedom, are the very things most likely to render his own existence redundant. Not of course that he is alone in his antipathies; Wittgenstein for instance was not wildly enthusiastic about what he thought science had to offer the world and he probably would have found only limited meaning to the concepts of "freedom" and "progress".
majikthise
January 23, 2007 The pope's new book
Robin at 3QD points to an interesting review of Pope Benedict's new book, Values in a Time of Upheaval.
Here's an excerpt from Amir Taheri's opening passage:
Although Pope Benedict does not quite tell us what "upheaval" he is referring to in the title of his new book, it soon become clear that he observes the present condition of mankind as a whole and Europe in particular with a degree of pessimism unexpected from a Christian prelate. After all, Christianity is known as the "faith of hope."
The first cause of the Pope's pessimism is the domination of the world by what he calls "the three mythical values of today". These are progress, science and freedom.
I haven't read the book, but if Taheri's paraphrases are accurate, the Ratz is articulating some very disturbing ideas. As if it weren't enough to come out against, science, progress, and freedom, the pope also seems to have an unseemly obsession with the fact that white Europeans aren't having enough babies.
If anyone has read the book, I'd be interested to hear how your impressions square with Taheri's.
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