a blog on the beautiful side of the world's religious traditions… and more
In 1945, two Egyptian brothers accidently discovered a large earthenware jar in the desert near the town Nag Hammadi filled with fifty-two texts that would become one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century.[1]Contained within these texts was a wealth of writing drawn from groups of early Christians who have been collectively labelled …
The mainstream of Catholic theological ethics throughout much of its history has largely either explicitly excluded or been indifferent towards animals as a moral category. Overall, the discussion of the treatment of animals has been minimal in the Catholic ethical tradition and, despite changing attitudes, the majority of Christians remain largely unconcerned with animals.[1] Indeed, …
Modern science has slowly unveiled a picture of the world that is radically different to conceptions derived from ancient Western cosmologies that generally have depicted a relatively static universe. Instead, the world as conceived by science reflects its evolutionary nature marked by a dynamic combination of indeterminate potentiality and causal laws that leads to a …
It's been several months since I last jumped on this blog, the longest gap I've had since starting it a couple of years ago. It's not that I've lost interest, but it's rather due to massive upheavals (positive ones) in my life since the end of July. I've now moved back to Australia with my …
One of the fundamental story structures that transcends culture time and place is known as the hero’s story, or the hero mono-myth. Many of the most famous stories in the world are in essence, the quintessential narrative of the hero. Think of Theseus and the Minotaur from the Ancient Greeks, the Buddha’s journey towards enlightenment, …
When I was in Sri Lanka in March, I spent one of my mornings in the country's national museum. Set in an enormous old white colonial building and founded by a British governor in the late 1800s, it showcases countless fascinating artefacts from across Sri Lanka's long and ancient history including remnants of its lost …
Every religion and spiritual tradition has them. Places where there is said to be a greater concentration of the sacred than in other locations. Usually, they are places of longstanding tradition where an important event occurred, be it the cave where Muhammad received his revelations, where Jesus was crucified, where the Buddha became enlightened, or …
Continue reading Uluru, Calvary, Mecca and the Bodhi Tree: Why Sacred Places are Sacred
What's probably the first thing you hear when someone is denouncing religion? When talking about Christianity, it's probably going to be the religion's violent history of the followers imposing their beliefs on others. The Crusades and the Inquisition are almost always the first examples that will come to mind and the conclusion is always the …
Continue reading The Crusades: Attempting to Understand the Dark Side of Religion
Spoilers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Game of Thrones It’s one of great perennial questions of morality, one that throughout history reappears time and again. If the end is good, do the means by which it is achieved justifiable? Is it ethical to harm people if it will bring a utopia that may eventually …
Continue reading Does the End Justify the Means? Avengers, Game of Thrones and Dictatorships
For more than a year, my first attempt at a novel has sat by the wayside unused. After numerous failed attempts at getting it published, and eventually deciding to send it to an editor (who gave me some harsh but fair criticism), I simply let it go and began pursuing another work after I did …
