Great book review here about ‘crunchy cons’:

Dreher spends a good portion of his book criticizing the holy reverence of the corporate-controlled “free market” that has hijacked modern conservatism, often at the expense of families, local communities, and the environment — three priorities conservatives like Russell Kirk, whom the author evokes as one of his biggest philosophical influences, used to place the foremost value on: “The fundamental difference between crunchy conservatives and mainstream conservatives has to do with the place of the free market in society. Crunchy cons believe in the free market as an imperfect but just and effective means to the good society. When the market harms the good society, it should be reined in.”

That’s exactly what last week’s Learning Church was arguing (not posted yet).

The weekend fisher has posted a very helpful list of Scriptural quotations, on a theme close to my heart: here.

Windy walk this afternoon (see here for context). I thought I’d do a subdued piccie, as there will doubtless be lots of dramatic ones. Normally, after the tide has been in, the beach is completely smooth. This is what the wind does on a small scale.

(Stolen shamelessly from Post Secret.)

Found in the comments at Winds of Change:

Jim Collins wrote a important book called “Good to Great”, and in it he described a conversation he had with Admiral James Stockdale before he died (yes, Ross Perot’s running mate).

Stockdale was one of the most decorated sailors in naval history. He was a naval aviator shot down over North Vietnam and held in POW camps for over 7 years. He organized the prisoners and kept men alive and sane, including himself. To escape being used as a propaganda tool, he mutilated his own head with a razor so they couldnt be put on film. When they tried to put a hat on him, he used a stool and his fists to destroy his own face. No-one has ever sacrificed more or endured more for his country than James Stockdale did.

Collins interviewed Stockdale about his survival, and he asked him an interesting question: who didn’t survive and why:

“I didn’t say anything for many minutes, and we continued the slow walk toward the faculty club, Stockdale limping and arc-swinging his stiff leg that had never fully recovered from repeated torture. Finally, after about a hundred meters of silence, I asked, “Who didn’t make it out?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “The optimists.”

“The optimists? I don’t understand,” I said, now completely confused, given what he’d said a hundred meters earlier.

“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say,‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

Another long pause, and more walking. Then he turned to me and said, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

To this day, I carry a mental image of Stockdale admonishing the optimists: “We’re not getting out by Christmas; deal with it!”

We must confront the most brutal realities and carry on with faith nonetheless. This is now known as the Stockdale Paradox, but it has been faced in every war by every people at one time or another. We are facing it now.

We must confront the most brutal realities and carry on with faith nonetheless. Precisely.

Beyond even this, our geographical and archaeological investigations have shown that the Christian religion is highly culturally conditioned, and the advent of historical criticism of the Biblical texts has shown the evolution of belief in Jesus as the Christ. In sum, the traditional Christian claims concerning the uniqueness, centrality and divinity of Jesus have been deconstructed. In the form that they have existed, from c.100AD through to c.1750 AD, they are no longer tenable. Using the language of idolatry, the Christian church has been progressively stripped of its attachment to idols, the idols of institutional authority and rational primacy. Instead of seeking certainty in God, the Church has succumbed to the desire to find certainty in worldly matters, in dogmas and institutions. In this situation there is a classic Christian course that the Church must follow. It must confess its sin, repent, and turn around once more, demonstrating through a renewed commitment to the life shown in Christ that it can truly incarnate the love of God that was demonstrated in Jesus. If it does not, the judgement that God has already shown upon it will prove terminal.

I wrote that a little while before I was first ordained. It’s intriguing just how far I have come (I came in through the liberal door). Sentences two and three I now find quite shocking. The rest I still agree with, pretty much.

Note to self: go back and read this slowly. It’s very good.

Patrik tagged me with an impossible meme: “Name three (or more) theological works from the last 25 years (1981-2006) that you consider important and worthy to be included on a list of the most important works of theology of that last 25 years (in no particular order).”

It’s impossible because you would have to be installed as a polymath to try and do it justice (maybe we should ask our front bench of bishops? I’m sure Tom and Rowan could do the question justice).

This is my attempt at an answer:

1. The Darkness of God, Denys Turner
2. At the Origins of Modern Atheism, Michael Buckley
3. Theology and Social Theory, John Milbank

The list reflects my own interests: mysticism and philosophy of religion.

I submitted my ‘Misplacing the Apocalypse’ post to the Energy Bulletin site, and was delighted that it got published. Gave a large boost to the site-traffic, and also provoked a discussion at The Oil Drum. Most of which has made me think about starting to write something more specific, to respond to some criticisms, but I think I’ll wait until the Learning Church sequence is done (the talks will be turned into a book this summer).

However, I am most appreciative that the post has now been translated into French!

A simple thought: the time to act to pre-empt all the various catastrophes looming was in the 1970’s – after the publication of things like Silent Spring and the original Limits to Growth report.

There is nothing that we can now do to prevent hitting the wall. The issue is no longer that of trying to prevent what is coming (and therefore appealing to people in this way – “do this because it will save the world”, which is wrong on all sorts of levels). The issue is about building arks – sowing the seeds that will flourish after the fire has burned away most of the above ground foliage. That is the pitch now: do this, because this will survive the coming catastrophe. Be a part of the future. Do not be a part of the time that is passing. Be a part of the wave of the future. Reach out to future generations; be one of those remembered with gratitude. Unlike Tony Blair. Idiot.

As I say: a simple thought.