For Ex-JWs – Sites to Explore

For Ex-JWs – Sites to Explore

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Sites for Recovering Jehovah’s Witnesses to Explore Scroll to the bottom if you’re not in the mood for this! Over the years, I’ve noted that the quality and helpfulness of former JW sites varies quite a bit. Some are very angry, while others are more compassionate. Some are able to create spaces to share insights with one another, some are more combative with peers. Some are focused on biblical interpretation, others on issues like abuse and shunning. More recently, I’ve…

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Fear, Contagion, and Scapegoating – Oh my

Fear, Contagion, and Scapegoating – Oh my

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The figure of the “evil other” is a pre-ethical fixation for the religiously-minded paranoid. Everything that one most dislikes or finds threatening can be projected upon others and (usually symbolically) murdered in the age-old tradition of the scapegoat. Such projection engenders – and feeds upon – symbolic (and real) violence. Predatory on the people who cannot bear to examine themselves, leaders of such movements play on fears of contagion, defilement and stain from without – from the evil others –…

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Derrida

Derrida

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I love humor, even when it’s aimed at my heroes. Jacques Derrida was hopelessly misunderstood by much of the American audience, but there is a grain of truth in much of this: The World’s Shortest Philosophy Books Dennett’s Philosophical Lexicon Philosophers’ Cause of Death Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Fair enough. But really… let’s think about intellectual courage… Yeah, Derrida has a lot going on. He is sometimes very difficult to read. And it’s easy to make fun…

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Sick and Tired

Sick and Tired

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125,830 People I’m so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I’ve spiked a fever at 105 degrees, and hovered around 100-101 most of the rest of the time. Vertigo and light-headedness. Fatigue and balance problems. Coughing. Sneezing. Aching, but I can’t rest (and I won’t take that medicine). Crossing my fingers that it doesn’t go into bacterial pneumonia like in many other cases. It’s been a week now, and I’ve racked up five sick days at work. That’s…

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Ne Me Quitte Pas: Song for a Melancholy Day

Ne Me Quitte Pas: Song for a Melancholy Day

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If you’re wanting to really enjoy some melancholia, and you’re a hopeless romantic like myself, it’s hard to beat “Ne Me Quitte Pas” by the Flemish/Belgian/French Jacques Brel. It’s the number one song on my self-pity list. My friend Hayley reminded me of the song recently on Facebook. I hadn’t realized how awful the English translations and revisionings have been until my other friend Dot pointed it out. My French isn’t that great. The first time I heard the song…

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Sleepy Sunday

Sleepy Sunday

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I’m having a nice lazy sleepy day today. I worked really hard yesterday, and so the house is all straightened up and very pleasant. Yesterday, I had the extra bonus of having our rugs professionally cleaned and disinfected (if you live in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend them). Spent a little time under the full moon last night – so serene and comforting. After my morning coffee, I played with the kitten, and caught up on Facebook, and listened…

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