tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post614527932966342164..comments2024-03-28T12:56:13.118+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Review of Against Inclusiveness by James KalbBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-54452357520104600332013-06-26T21:09:04.570+01:002013-06-26T21:09:04.570+01:00Point taken. It seems to me that the agreement bet...Point taken. It seems to me that the agreement between both of you is that Hope must be placed (as indeed it must) in some portion of the Christian Church; but the basis for reasoning as to which part of the Church it should be placed in, is somewhat different.Arakawahttp://arakawa.github.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-21286510563422140642013-06-26T20:59:33.569+01:002013-06-26T20:59:33.569+01:00@A - I don't think there is a symmetry. Things...@A - I don't think there is a symmetry. Things are genuinely more pessimistic in the UK - mostly because Christianity (of all denominations, but especially including Roman Catholicism, which has collapsed very rapidly in recent decades) is so very weak here - and the LDS church is low in numbers and thinly spread.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-35464528858847205972013-06-26T18:44:06.052+01:002013-06-26T18:44:06.052+01:00Incidentally, this review has convinced me to keep...Incidentally, this review has convinced me to keep an eye out for the ebook version of Kalb's book, that should be coming out eventually.<br /><br />The thoughts on 'coolness' you quoted in particular jibed with a recent conversation I had elsewhere; the thought came up that the post-Fall world is like a monastery, with peculiar condition of penance imposed on anyone living there, meant to assist in spiritual development. Actual monasteries are a way to intensify these conditions which are, in fact, generally available.<br /><br />(For instance, monasteries can impose a discipline of labour that tries to preclude sloth, despondency, or acedia; but it's a thing to be vehemently shunned in any sort of life whatsoever.)<br /><br />But in general, life in a monastery is more or less the polar opposite of 'cool'. (If it's being presented or perceived as 'cool', something has gone wrong.) So 'coolness' in general is just one of the ways in which the monastic attribute of life -- and the attendant spiritual discipline -- is rejected, as symbolizing the "boring" parents being rebelled against (and thus, transitively, God the Father).<br /><br />Thus any pursuit of coolness leads to burning out (self-destruction), selling out (upgrading to some other form of evil), or "growing up" and embracing the monastic ("staid and boring") attributes of life, such as patience, hard work, and the acceptance of one's station in life.<br /><br />The latter course, incidentally, does not preclude taking various enjoyments as they come in the course of proper living, even ones that other people happen to idolatrously worship as 'cool'; though they certainly cannot be the main focus and pursuit of life.<br /><br />To expand on the point that it is possible to correctly enjoy what other people treat as 'cool':<br /><br />The most bizarre aspect of the 'coolness' culture is some of the mass media that results from the attempt to straight up associate in the viewer's mind that (Sin=Cool). This identification has gone to the point that now sin is being used as a selling point for otherwise entirely ordinary things; sometimes one sees an advertisement that takes something like strawberry jam or laundry detergent, and tries to convince the viewer that, unlike the competitor's detergent, using Brand X detergent is a hideous transgression against all that is good and holy (and this is therefore Cool or Exciting).<br /><br />This does not mean that strawberry jam or laundry detergent is now suddenly evil, unless of course one is using it for the specific (perverse) purpose of making a statement about how Cool (sinful) you are.Arakawahttp://arakawa.github.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-55843042075165983482013-06-26T16:01:21.130+01:002013-06-26T16:01:21.130+01:00It's interesting that US writer Kalb looks acr...It's interesting that US writer Kalb looks across the pond to the (European-based) Catholic Church as the source of a possible revival, whereas you are looking in the opposite direction to the (USA-based) Mormon Church, hoping to see the same thing.<br /><br />I'm wondering if there's (a slight bit) of a 'the grass is greener' effect going on here....Arakawahttp://arakawa.github.comnoreply@blogger.com