OK. I have got past reading the feel-good novel, The Final Affair. See also here.)
This morning, Hope Church, Lancaster, held a really good vigil for Christchurch in Market Square. A black pastor from a church in Heysham read a passage from a sermon by Martin Luther King on "Love thy neighbor." A blind black guy whom we see walking around town spoke and sang. Afterwards, some of us took flowers to the mosque and handed them in to an imam who was teaching immigrant children from African countries.
Back to Poul Anderson's Tau Zero:
"They had emerged on an esplanade by the water. Across it, Stockholm's lights were kindling, one by one, as night grew upward among houses and trees."
-Poul Anderson, Tau Zero (London, 1973), CHAPTER 1, p. 9.
"Lindgren and he had spent the morning in a cruise around the Archipelago - a few hours amidst greenness, homes like parts of the islands where they grew, sails and gulls and sun-glitter across waves."
-op. cit., p. 10.
"...homes like parts of the islands..." is good. Anderson meets Larsson with the Stockholm setting although a few centuries later.
30 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I looked up the link you gave about the Methodist Hope Church, but I saw no explanation for why it held a really good VIGIL for Christ Church (another Methodist church?). So I thought this rather puzzling.
I've seen mention of Catholics, Jews, Puritans, Lutherans, Anglicans, Buddhists, and a few mentions of Islam in Anderson's works. But not, that I recall, the Methodists.
Sean
Sean:
The vigil was for the victims in Christchurch, New Zealand, is how I took it.
Kaor, Paul!
Now I get it. Your comments did seem rather obscure. Fortunately, the perpetrator was caught and I hope he gets the maximum punishment NZ law allows.
Sean
All,
Thanks, David. I thought that Christ Church would make sense as a topical reference. It might seem obscure to anyone reading the post in future. I linked to the Hope Church site simply because they were the organizers of the vigil.
Paul.
I got the punctuation of "Christchurch" wrong which didn't help. ("Christ Church.") Corrected.
At the vigil, there was condemnation not only of an individual murderous act but also of the widespread hostility which encourages such acts.
Kaor, DAVID and Paul!
David: Oops! I should have addressed you, not Paul!
Paul: I've seen comments that it might be more complicated than merely murderous hostility to Muslims. That the killer wanted simply to get his 15 minutes of sick and evil fame. That he was imitating things like the Columbine school killings.
And I regard ISLAM coldly and with dislike. Disliking the ideas and teachings of Islam is not the same as detesting Muslims as persons. I agree they, simply as persons, should be treated respect and courtesy.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
That clarifies matters. You meant "Christchurch," the city in NZ. Not "Christ CHURCH," which sounds like the name of a church.
Sean
Sean,
Indeed it does and we have a Christ Church in Lancaster!
Paul.
Sean,
One of my neighbors said, "I am Islamophobic." I said, "You're not!" He said, "I am." I said, "You're not!" Etc. When we got beyond that stage, he explained that, by "Islamophobia," he meant strong disagreement with and disapproval of Islam but not any hostility towards our Muslim neighbors. I explained that, when some of us campaign against Islamophobia, we mean precisely hostility to individual Muslims. He acknowledged that we were using one word in two different senses. But many politicians make speeches which encourage Islamophobia in the sense that I meant and indeed some of them explicitly express Islamophobia in that sense.
Paul.
Mr. Brooks:
You said that "I regard ISLAM coldly and with dislike."
Besides Roman Catholicism, what religions do you not "regard coldly and with dislike"?
Keith
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Halperin!
Paul: The confusion caused by your use of "Christ Church" instead of "Christchurch" is an excellent example of how people can misunderstand each other. And this has gotten me wondering if that NZ city was founded by devout Anglicans or Methodists (I still have Methodists on the brain!).
And the muddle caused by how you and your neighbor used "Islamophobia" is another example of the same kind of confusion. Btw, I agree with your narrower use of "Islamophobia" to mean irrational hostility towards Muslims as individuals. There has to be a better term for expressing disagreement with and dislike of ISLAM the religion.
Incidentally, I've wondered if your neighbor might like to try reading science fiction. And perhaps try some of the works of Poul Anderson?
Mr. Halperin: Islam is the only religion I strongly dislike due to its ideas, beliefs, teachings, laws, etc. Hinduism comes next because of how its teachings about Karma/Dharva strengthens and solidifies the brutalities of the caste system. To say nothing of how I disagree with its polytheism.
I have nothing but respect for Judaism, the ancestral religion of Christianity. I affirm and believe that the revelation given to Israel thru the Patriarchs and Prophets was and remains valid. Where I have to disagree with Judaism was its refusal to accept Christ as the Messiah and Savior.
While I disagree with certain of its beliefs, I have nothing but respect for Zoroastrianism. I would bring to your attention G.K. Chesterton's discussion of that faith in THE EVERLASTING MAN, because I agree with his analysis of Zoroastrianism. I recall how GKC called that religion the best of the non-Judaic faiths.
And I have similar views of Buddhism, despite my thinking that is more a philosophy than a religion (due to Buddha being indifferent to questions about God or "gods"). I regard it as worthy of respect despite my disagreement with certain of its core ideas.
I also have a very high opinion of the philosophy called Confucianism, as explicated in basic texts like the ANALECTS, the MENCIUS, and HSUN-TZU. It reminds me of the Stoicism of Greco/Roman times (see the Emperor Marcus Aurelius' MEDITATIONS).
I could go on, but I hope this answers your question!
Sean
Sean,
Maybe the killer mainly wanted notoriety? But he chose a mosque rather than a supermarket or a Macdonalds. Muslims have become targets like Jews and other groups in the past.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I thought it was obvious, the killer chose a mosque rather than a supermarket, because an atrocity there would stand out more, be more GAUDY.
Sean
Thank you Sean. Please call me Keith.
This was very helpful.
Do you believe a belief system (religious or other)
's overall worth can be separated from the *effects its followers (sincere or otherwise) accomplish in its name?
Cheers,
Keith
* as objectively determined from outside te belief system on a utilitarian basis
Kaor, Keith!
Thanks, I'm glad my reply was of some interest and use. Yes, I believe a religious and philosophical system can evaluated on its intrinsic merits, independently of SOME of its adherents or believers. That is, I think many Muslims, as PERSONS, are better than their religion. And since I believe Islam incorporates evil or disastrous ideas, those of its followers who ACT on those ideas shows why it needs to be rejected.
A simple, clear example of one of those bad ideas being Mohammed's preaching of Jihad as a divinely mandated duty binding on all Muslims. It is plain from the Koran, hadiths, authoritative tafsirs, etc., that Mohammed literally meant that as the waging of war on all non-Muslims till they at least submit to the domination of Islam.
So, yes, those Muslims who don't act out the distasteful ideas within Islam are better than their faith.
Sean
Thank you again, Sean. Based on my people's religious traditions (I am an agnostic Jew) and particular experiences in life, I believe as the systems theorists state:
"The purpose of a (belief)system is what it does". For a belief system (from whatever origins) I equate that to how it effects the lives of those whom subscribe (in some way or another) to those beliefs, and how those persons effect the lives of those whom do not subscribe to those beliefs.... I will stop here.
On a different topic, if I were to reply to a very old posting (you have a Mirkheim of treasure here! )would you (as poster) be notified, or would it stay comfortably buried in say, 2014?
Also, how/where might I bring up Anderson-related topics not specifically on-topic for a given posting?
Finally, I would enjoy helping in some capacity with the Codex Andersoniensis or Anderson Concordance.
Hi Anon,
Until recently, I received email notifications of all comments but that unaccountably stopped. However, there is a page inside the blog that lets me see new comments.
You could submit an article to be published on the blog as a few guys have already done.
(Sorry. I must get something out of the oven.)
Paul.
I am not compiling a Codex but, if anyone else is, go for it!
Thanks,Paul. Sorry: Anon = Keith Halperin.
I think my comments would be too short for dull-fledged articles, such as: 1) Admiralty Center (located in/near the Rocky Mountains) is probably on the site of Colorado Springs- home of the US AF Academy and Cheyenne Mountain of the SAC...
2) Supposedly Technic Civilization is a successor to ours, but Anderson doesn't posit a long dark age between the decline of ours and the rise of theirs, but rather a century of recovery during the 21st Century...
3)From what we know now: planets like Cleopatra, Dathyna, and Dido would have undergone runaway greenhouses and be now be Venus-types, and Avalon would be pretty close to heading in that direction. In order to be habitable, Nike we would have to be a much younger, larger, warmer version than Mars, and not a somewhat older, larger, warmer version.
I thought I'd seen in an old posting someone was compiling something like a concordance of Anderson's works.
Cheers,
Keith
Kaor, Keith!
Apologies for being late responding. Sometimes I have to wait till when I get home from work before replying to comments addressed to me.
What you said about "systems analysis" does seem applicable to what I said about Islam (and other faiths). Except I would have added that not all believers of a faith like Islam will act out, carry out, or implement some of its questionable commandments.
I would be very flattered indeed if you were interested enough in one of my guest articles or comments to give some remarks of your own. Where might them in the archives for 2014? Unfortunately, as Paul said, something went wrong and readers are no longer getting automatic emailed notifications.
My pretentiously titled CODEX ANDERSONIANUS is a rather chaotic notebook I started in 2010 or 2012 containing lists, notes, first drafts of some of my essays, quotations from Anderson, etc. By now, the CODEX is close to some 200 pages of mostly long hand manuscript. I have sometimes fancied that monks centuries from now might copy this CODEX (assuming it survived) after our civilization falls.
I have sometimes mentally toyed with the notion of publishing my correspondence with Poul Anderson. I wrote 24 sometimes far too long and argumentative letters to PA, and he did me the honor of replying to every single one of them! I have wondered if it might be possible to publish these letters (my letters plus Anderson's replies). And I would prefer to include after these letters the best and most interesting of the guest essays Paul was kind enough to "publish" in his blog. That would be a true CODEX ANDERSONIANUS!
You are not the first to suggest the Colorado Springs region might be where the Admiralty we see in Imperial times was built. The Navy of the Solar Commonwealth which succeeded the once independent nations of Earth, such as the US, might have taken over the facilities in Colorado Springs and Cheyenne Mountain. And that in turn was taken over and expanded by the Empire.
But it is plain from the Technic stories that Anderson conceived of Technic Civilization as descended from our Western civilization. So I can imagine the 21st century as a time of recovery from the anarchic era we are still enduring that began with the assassinations at Sarajevo in 1914.
Sean
Keith,
A terrestroid planet without a large moon should become like Venus? I believe so.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
There has been serious speculations, in and out of fiction, on the possibility of terraforming Venus. We see mention of a not quite satisfactory terraforming of Venus in the Technic series, and Anderson wrote a Psychotechnic story called "The Big Rain" (ASTOUNDING, October 1954). That latter story gives us some suggestion on how Venus might be made habitable.
In addition, the late Jerry Pournelle, in his collection of articles called A STEP FARTHER OUT (Ace Books, 1980) includes an article titled "The Big Rain" (deliberately taken from Anderson's story) explaining how he believed Venus could be terraformed for real, using technology available at that time.
Despite being first printed so loag ago, in 1979, Pournelle's A STEP FARTHER OUT remains an invaluable source for ideas of what could at least be TRIED in space, if only we could start getting SERIOUS about getting off this rock!
Sean
@ Sean: No apologies needed, and thank you again.
If I replied to these older comments, would you (and Paul as posters) receive them?
If you would like any assistance on getting the C A further along, please let me know and we can discuss off-forum.
I would enjoy seeing your P A correspondence, and I bet others would, too.
I've usually seen the term "Solar Commonwealth" but IMSM, in Satan's world there's mention of "Terran Commonwealth" which might be a constituent part of the S C?
Here're some links to Cytherian/Venusian terraforming:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Venus
https://terraforming.fandom.com/wiki/Venus
https://thesciencegeek.org/2016/02/16/terraforming-venus/
@Paul: I believe the "No Big Moon = Venus Theory" (a la Roland) is no longer considered valid. Instead, it's now believed that terrestroid planets receiving > 110% of Terran insolation from a G-type star undergo what is called the "Moist Greenhouse Effect" (https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/138055/what-is-a-moist-greenhouse-effect), which will happen to Terra in ~ 1 GY, and why I mentioned Avalon being close to that point.
Cheers,
Keith
Keith,
If you reply to an old comment, I will know and will inform Sean.
Paul.
Kaor, Keith and Paul!
I'm in haste, so I can't respond fully. But I would very happy to see comments addressed to me in older blog pieces.
Sean
Thank you, Gentlemen. Be careful for what you ask for- I have a great deal to say, and some portion of it may actually be useful, interesting, and/or amusing (at least to me).....
Keith
Keith,
That's enough.
If there seems to be any communication lag blog-wise, email me.
Paul.
Thank you, Paul.
Keith
Kaor, Keith!
No problem! I'm a night owl, meaning I'm all TOO used to staying up way too late!
Who knows, I might contact some publisher and inquire if a book comprising my correspondence with Poul Anderson and a selection of my articles just MIGHT be of some faint interest.
Sean
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