A man stands in front of you. He holds two pills, one in each hand. You can choose Christian Zeolatry or Nietzschean Self-Creation. There is no third option.
Would highly recommend reading Nietzsche chronologically. Seeing where his thought grows and where it declines is important to being able to take what’s good from the man as he is an embodiment of philosophical paradoxes.
God/Religion might be the thing that humanity crystallizes around, but it will not be the cause of the crystallization. It will take an imminent existential trauma before we can ever share a unifying ideology again.
"Immiseration" itself becomes less traumatic the higher our standard of living rises. It's very difficult for us to conceive of how little a Medieval serf actually had to live for.
I think, like myself twenty years ago when I used the assignment to talk about reproductive ethics in a college class to show a clip of Monty Python's Every Sperm is Sacred, you or perhaps Trueman misses the real critique of IVF, namely the wasted embryos. Without that, I'd be on board with promoting the technology as a boon to the barren, with it, it's legitimately troubling, at least, from a religious perspective.
Speaking of Trueman, what a name to write this book, huh?
Minor points aside, this is a topic that is incredibly timely as we as a society seem increasingly desperate to answer the ages old question, "Who are we?" Collectively, individually, superficially and ontologically, we seem to be thrashing around looking for a satisfying reason to continue to exist.
It's me. And I wouldn't say I missed it. I would say that I'm my opposition to abortion lies on a continuum. I realize this is an oversimplification, but if I have to choose between zero disposed embryos and zero children. And one child and 30 disposed of embryos, I'm going to choose the latter, particularly given how big of a problem fertility is at the moment. But I recognize that disposing of embryos is a significant evil. But bringing a child into the world is a great good.
Would highly recommend reading Nietzsche chronologically. Seeing where his thought grows and where it declines is important to being able to take what’s good from the man as he is an embodiment of philosophical paradoxes.
God/Religion might be the thing that humanity crystallizes around, but it will not be the cause of the crystallization. It will take an imminent existential trauma before we can ever share a unifying ideology again.
Agreed, but I think in the past general immiseration was enough, but these days it does seem to take something singularly traumatic.
"Immiseration" itself becomes less traumatic the higher our standard of living rises. It's very difficult for us to conceive of how little a Medieval serf actually had to live for.
yes, I think if we were brought down to medieval serf standards a lot of people would gain religion
I think, like myself twenty years ago when I used the assignment to talk about reproductive ethics in a college class to show a clip of Monty Python's Every Sperm is Sacred, you or perhaps Trueman misses the real critique of IVF, namely the wasted embryos. Without that, I'd be on board with promoting the technology as a boon to the barren, with it, it's legitimately troubling, at least, from a religious perspective.
Speaking of Trueman, what a name to write this book, huh?
Minor points aside, this is a topic that is incredibly timely as we as a society seem increasingly desperate to answer the ages old question, "Who are we?" Collectively, individually, superficially and ontologically, we seem to be thrashing around looking for a satisfying reason to continue to exist.
It's me. And I wouldn't say I missed it. I would say that I'm my opposition to abortion lies on a continuum. I realize this is an oversimplification, but if I have to choose between zero disposed embryos and zero children. And one child and 30 disposed of embryos, I'm going to choose the latter, particularly given how big of a problem fertility is at the moment. But I recognize that disposing of embryos is a significant evil. But bringing a child into the world is a great good.
I think that's justifiable, but also it's a stickier point that the 'mere' mechanization of life.
This is a very good practical and Christian compatible defense of IVF. Not a positive good, but also not a uniform evil. I like it. Thanks.
> I’ve long maintained that civilizations must cohere around a religion
Certainly Sam Huntington thought so in his *Clash of Civilisations* thesis.
Also, you've spelt Zealotry wrong.