Early March 2024, Pope Francis stated that “gender ideology is the ugliest danger of our time” (eg, Vatican News). I’ve never viewed gender ideology as a danger or a threat. It merely confuses me as I fail to understand it. In my view, gender ideology is a topic for the loud minority and irrelevant for the silent majority. Apparently, Pope Francis has a different...
Faith vs Religion
Ideology vs reality
There's a Dutch saying that translates like the shore will stop the ship (ie, #16). There's no English equivalent. To some extent, it means that you can only push someone or things so far before they break (eg, source). I was reminded of this saying after reading that the GOP in Alabama ignores court rulings. My blog title has an implicit question: Is reality (eg,...
Faith versus ideology
Recently, Pope Francis made an intriguing comment about faith versus ideology: “In other words, ideologies replace faith.” See National Review, 28 August 2023: Pope Francis Says ‘Reactionary’ U.S. Catholic Church Has Replaced Faith with ‘Ideology’. It's intriguing because any Religion = ideology. In my blogs, I separate faith from Religion. As I once said to someone...
If there’s only 1 God then why has God so many names?
In various blogs, I mentioned the various names of a Supreme Being, like Ahura Mazda, Allah, God, Jupiter, Odin, Shiva, Yahweh and Zeus. Recently, I wondered: if there’s just 1 God then why has God so many names?? The ultimate answer may well be in Mahatma Gandhi's message below. Scientists have never found any culture without evidence of...
Completed life
Until recently, I didn't appreciate this topic. In my view, it was a hobby horse (Dutch: stokpaardje) of the liberal-left. Today, my perspective is shifting following its drivers, being: (i) increasing life expectancy or demographics, (ii) being irrelevant to society, (iii) declining religion, and (iv) urbanisation. In many countries, the average age of the...
Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs?
Recently, I noticed this strange question above in an Aeon-Psyche article: Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no. Last Saturday, a new friend said the following: "Believing is in the nature of mankind; it's a clear feeling. You're almost born with it." I couldn't agree more with what he said. It was in a slightly...
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