Just over a week ago I submitted my doctoral thesis. One of the most enjoyable parts of the final few weeks of this process was writing the acknowledgements. Before sitting down to do this, I had thought to myself: "I'm not going to be one of those people who writes pages and pages of acknowledgements. It's self-indulgent and a bit too much like showing off. Surely a paragraph or two will be enough."
Become a Consumerist Today
My name is Ron and I am a lad from London.
I am a consumerist.
My life is all about consuming cars, motorbikes, haircuts and films.
I will be a millionaire in ten years.
This is what I believe.
Take it or leave it.
The world is a stockpile of raw materials.
Iron ore, copper, soil, plants, animals are there for the taking.
We turn this stuff into commodities like fridges, tellies, golf clubs.
Nice!
I am a selfish calculating machine.
George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish clergyman and writer who profoundly influenced the fiction and non-fiction works of C.S. Lewis. One of Lewis’s lesser-known publications is an edited collection of MacDonald’s writings: the book can be hard to find in print now, but a dear friend gifted my a copy of it two years ago, offering me a valuable 'guided tour' of MacDonald's profound, if at times abstruse, writings on life and faith.
The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison (2015) is one of the most illuminating books I've read recently. I'd like to enthuse with you about a book that gave me much food for thought regarding Christianity as a 'religion' as well as the nature of 'science'.
Trying to redeem the humble 'tract'. Saying something important in just 400 words.
How do you Make Sense of Evil and Suffering?
I’m sure you’ve noticed all the evil and suffering in the world.
Ponder the wars, rapes and murders that we hear about on a daily basis.
It’s probably over the top to mention Hitler but you get my point.
Former England football manager Glenn Hoddle was sacked because of his take on evil.
In 1999 he said that disabled people deserve to suffer because of their bad karma.