In a recent TED talk techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci talked about a developing dystopian culture being fed to us by the advertising on Facebook, YouTube, and other social media sites. She described following a series of YouTube videos about Donald Trump, and how they quickly led to a series of white supremacist videos, which grew in … More Avoiding the Distopian Future
I am afraid of beauty. In fact, it terrifies me. Lest you begin to feel sorry for me, this is the way I think it should be. At some raw and primeval level, I believe we are all terrified of beauty. I know some of you will completely disagree with me. You will be … More The Terror of Beauty
Words, words, words…we are inundated with words. They come as promises. They come as protests. They come as expressions of frustration. Most of us have fallen to one side or another of the debates and word-wars of politics and social issues. And I say “fallen” purposely. We are all either falling for something, or falling … More A Voice from the Dark – Prophets of Exile
Last night, a facebook “friend” went on a tirade over a post in which I critiqued our culture. It was an obscene tirade. It was a stupid – and I am sure – a drunken tirade. Later, I was openly accused of being a supporter of pedophilia and rape by the same person. All this over … More Thou Shalt Be a Hater: The New Cultural Commandment
“To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.” (Titus 1:15) Every liberation is followed by a new oppression, or so it would seem in the light of history and human relationships. From Egypt to Babylon … More Our Experience and Our Interpretation of the World Around Us
Today, there was a meeting at Salem State University. The meeting was called, because students wanted to talk about the problem of racism. On the other hand, the Art Department wanted to discuss the issue of the First Amendment and censorship. At stake was an art piece in an exhibit entitled “The State of the … More KKK Art, Salem State, the Problem with America in Microcosm
The country vs. city, white vs. black, millennials vs. the rest of the voting population, those who believed we were better off vs. those who felt things have gotten worse, struggling middle class vs. the rest…these are a few of the battle lines drawn between the two parties in the system vying for our attention. … More Why the Nation is Divided 50/50: National Identities and Political Factions
In full disclosure, I am white Christian, and therefore would appear to be part of the power structure of conservatism, but I did not vote for Trump, and my own history shows me to be somewhat of a rebel to the system. If you don’t understand how Evangelical Christianity fell into what appears to be … More How Could the White Christians Do This to Us?
For me, one of the largest lessons of this election has to do with the ears of America. In a general sense, they are closed. This is not something I did not know, but I have been mildly surprised by the severity of this self-imposed deafness. Before the election of Donald Trump, the left spent … More A President Born from the Sewage of Reality TV: no one was listening
I am catching up on things I did not have time to do this October, even as I close up the last little loose ends of a busy, busy month. The things that happen in October embody some of the dreams I have for the rest of the world. A growing group of my friends and … More A Jew and a Gentile walk into a Cigar Shop…
Four days until the world ends. There is no hope. We are left with the options of a trigger happy, power hungry woman who wants to fill our nation with murderous emigrants, or an orange-haired baboon attempting to mimic The Joker with his finger on the nuke button. Make up your sandwich boards now, and … More Politics has Become an Apocalyptic Cult: The End is Nigh!
Today, Wikileaks tweeted that Julian Assange’s internet link was severed by the “state party”. Rumors of Assange’s death circled around, and with it the rumor that the 64 character string of code was a dead man’s code that released all the documents in Wikileaks hands. The debate over Wikileaks and it’s benefit and/or harm to democracy continues, … More Wikileaks and Democracy: Good or Bad? I Say Good.
Since watching the Republican National Convention last week I have been reading SHAM by Steve Salerno. SHAM is strong critique of the Self-Help and Actualization Movement. I can not help but see last week’s Republican Convention as a variation on the motivational/self-help theme. Now, I realize that these things are not directly connected. Tony Robbins … More The RNC a SHAM?
By Phil Wyman The following is not meant to persuade anyone’s choice in the upcoming Presidential election. Rather, these are personal observations and feelings about this year’s Presidential election cycle. They represent my own thoughts, and a growing number of people I have been meeting along the way. There are some of us, who truly … More The Case for Not Voting
The book Burning Religion is a study in the spaces between people in disagreement, between political and national views, between church and secular life, and even between nations. The rise of Donald Trump’s run for the Presidency, and last week’s successful “leave” Brexit vote in Britain highlights the issue of the spaces and the boundaries between … More Brexit, Trump, Fences and Neighbors
